March 9 News Items

No Hiding Place (Source: The Economist)
Back when scientists were first trying to track bird migration, birds were given coloured rings to wear on their legs, so that binocular-wielding “twitchers” from around the globe could see which went where. Now, larger birds can be fitted with radio transmitters powerful enough to be heard in space by satellites. That, however, is not enough for Martin Wikelski of Princeton University. He wants to build a system that can follow birds of almost any size—and large insects, too. The rule of thumb used by zoologists is that a transmitter worn by a flying animal should weigh no more than a twentieth of the weight of the individual wearing it.

The smallest transmitters powerful enough to talk to satellites now available for general use weigh just under ten grams. That sets the body-weight limit at 200 grams and thus disqualifies four-fifths of bird species and two-thirds of mammals as too small to track. But Dr Wikelski and a group of like-minded colleagues from a range of disciplines proposed setting up a satellite-tracking system based on one-gram transmitters. The International Co-operation for Animal Research Using Space (ICARUS), as they call it, would revolutionise the way animal behaviour is studied, by allowing pests and disease carriers to be followed as well as by providing the answers to some important conservation questions.

ESA Seeks Proposals for Exploration Mission (Source: ESA)
ESA's Aurora Space Exploration Program invites proposals for the Next Exploration Science and Technology (NEXT) mission. Envisaged for launch in the period 2015-2018, the technological goal of NEXT is to demonstrate key enabling capabilities, such as descent and precision landing, as needed for a future Mars Sample Return mission. Proposals and suggestions are sought from Industry, Technical Centers and the Scientific Community for mission concepts that would combine technology development with first class science. Proposals are due by April 13. Visit http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMS8ZP11ZE_index_0.html for information.

Atlas Launches From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket thundered off an oceanside pad at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport on Thursday night, hurling six experimental military satellites toward orbit. A radio signal transmission problem and a sticky propulsion system valve prompted a short delay in the countdown. A U.S. Navy operation off the coast of Cape Canaveral was generating radio signals at a frequency that would have jammed rocket destruct signals if they had to be sent.