July 5, 2013

Astronomers Discover Mysterious Extragalactic Radio Bursts (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Astronomers have detected several short bursts of radio waves they believe are coming from as-yet unknown sources from outside our galaxy. Astronomers reported the discovery of four such bursts, lasting for several milliseconds each, in observations by the Parkes radio telescope in Australia. Astronomers have not identified specific sources of the bursts but conclude they originate from outside the Milky Way galaxy at distances of up to several billion light-years. The busts, which may take place as frequently as every ten seconds over the whole sky, could be linked to magnetic neutron stars known as magnetars as they collapse into black holes. (7/5)

Northrop Fends Off Lockheed to Win $490 Million Air Force Training Contract (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Northrop Grumman has fended off a rival bid from Lockheed Martin to win a training-simulation contract potentially worth $490 million to support the U.S. Air Force's next-generation air-combat virtual-training network, industry experts said Wednesday. Virginia-based Northrop Grumman — one of Florida's largest defense contractors — will perform the work at its Orlando military-training operation. Terms call for the work to be completed by June 30, 2018. (7/3)

Archaeological Site Could Sink Commercial Spaceport Location (Source: Tampa Bay Times)
Space Florida, the state's aerospace economic development agency, wants to build a commercial spaceport next to Kennedy Space Center. Local business and government officials are all for the chosen site, seeing it as a way to boost the future of the Space Coast now that America's shuttle program has ended. But the past sometimes reaches out to trip the future.

The property along the Volusia-Brevard county line where Space Florida wants to build its spaceport turns out to be already occupied. It contains the ruins of an 18th century English plantation, complete with slave villages, a sugar factory and a rum distillery. National Park Service officials have declared it "one of the most significant properties in North America."

But the past sometimes reaches out to trip the future. The property along the Volusia-Brevard county line where Space Florida wants to build its spaceport turns out to be already occupied. It contains the ruins of an 18th century English plantation, complete with slave villages, a sugar factory and a rum distillery. National Park Service officials have declared it "one of the most significant properties in North America." (7/5)

Proton Rocket Blasted Off 0,4 Seconds Earlier Than Planned (Source: Russia & India Report)
The Proton-M rocket blasted off from the launch pad 0.4 seconds earlier than planned, Roscosmos head Vladimir Popovkin told reporters. It can be said definitely for the present that the rocket blasted off earlier than planned. When asked how earlier, he answered "0.4 seconds."

The Proton started taking off when the engines did not begin to work as planned, and combustion chamber pressure was 90 atm instead of 150 atm. First, the sequence diagram to start the rocket began working. As the rocket did not work as planned, the regular sequence diagram began working, and at the moment, something happened, he said. (7/5)

Company Hopes to Launch Thai Space Tourist by End of Year (Source: The Hindu)
A Bangkok agent has been selected to recruit the first Thai space tourist by the end of the year for a ticket price of 135,000. Amsterdam-based Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) said it had selected Thai travel agent Khiri Voyages to book its first Thai private astronaut, who would undergo training in the Netherlands and blast off by the end of this year or early in 2014.

SXC is competing with Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic to provide the first regular commercial flights for space tourists. Khiri Voyages said it had launched a Thai-language website to recruit Thais who are fit and adventurous enough — as well as rich enough — to make the trip into space. Only one passenger will fly with the pilot of the Lynx Mark I or Mark II space jet, which will take off from either the Mojave Desert in California or from Curacao in the southern Caribbean Sea. (7/5)

How NASA Steers the International Space Station Around Space Junk (Source: ars technica)
The Space Station isn't just sitting up there, static and unmoving. The ISS' orbit decays due to atmospheric drag at the rate of about two kilometers per year; it must periodically be boosted in order to maintain its height. Moreover, the entire massive structure is mobile—it can be rolled and pitched and yawed, or even moved ("translated," in NASA parlance) in three dimensions to avoid a potential collision with debris. Click here. (7/5)

Ukraine Called on Brazil to Stir Up financing of Cyclone-4 Project (Source: KMU)
Ukraine has called on Brazil to find financing in order to continue realization of the Cyclone-4 project.
Prime Minister Mykola Azarov announced during a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil Antonio Patriota. “An objectively successful project of our cooperation appears the Cyclone-4 Alcantara. The reliable realization of this project will contribute to increasing the authority of both your and our countries...

"In this complex situation the Government of Ukraine has approved a decision: for realization of this project to draw credit resources. We hope that the Brazilian side would use every opportunity to continue financing of their part of the project,” he said. Mykola Azarov stressed that Brazil appeared the principal strategic trade and economic partner of Ukraine in Latin America and in whole the economic relations between the two states were developing not bad. (7/3)

Asteroid Mining: Start of Evil Eempire or New Epoch in Human History? (Source: Examiner)
actor Rainn Wilson, who plays Dwight in the sitcom “Office,” held what is presumed to be a mock debate with Planetary Resources co-founder Peter Diamandis on a Google Hangout, with Wilson attacking the idea of asteroid mining and Diamandis defending. Wilson, it is suggested jokingly, compared Planetary Resources to the evil empire in “Star Wars” and the evil corporation which attempts to despoil the tall, blue aliens in “Avatar.” Diamandis countered that there is a lot of wealth and resources to be had among the asteroids and it would be better to get it there than on Earth.

While Wilson is making joking references to movies, private business in space has not been given a good press in the movies. The “Alien” movies featured an evil space mining company, for example. Even one of the cheesier James Bond movies, “Moonraker,” depicted a private space entrepreneur who wanted to destroy human life and take over the world in the typical Bon villain megalomania style.

Planetary Resources’ business plan is considerably more benign than that. After using space telescopes, such as the one being crowd funded, to located suitable asteroids and follow on space probes to narrow the candidates down. Then the transports will be sent to nudge asteroids into more accessible locations, say in a high Earth orbit, and the mining robots can go to work. Click here. (7/4)

Missile Defense Test Planned at California Spaceport (Source: Launch Alert)
The 30th Space Wing,  the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, and U.S. Northern Command are scheduled to conduct a flight test involving the launch of a Ground-Base Interceptor July 5, between the hours of 11:30 a.m. and 3:37 p.m. PDT from North base. The interceptor will defend against a ballistic missile target launched from the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands. (7/2)

KSC Visitor Complex Launches New Website (Source: KSCVC)
June 2013 was an exciting month filled with new beginnings for Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex with the June 29 grand opening of Space Shuttle AtlantisSM, the world’s most comprehensive and interactive attraction devoted to NASA’s 30-year Space Shuttle Program.
 
Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex also launched a new website at its familiar URL of www.KennedySpaceCenter.com. A visually engaging and easy-to-navigate online portal for people interested in learning more about – and purchasing tickets to – Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, the new website boasts an innovative design that creates an interactive and engaging experience for the user. (7/2)