The 2013 Cosmo Power List
(Source: Cosmopolitan)
Cosmo went to the women who upgraded our world this year and asked them
their secrets to building and enjoying their power. Get inspired! Karen
Nyberg, a NASA flight engineer/astronaut sent Cosmo her answers from
the International Space Station. Click here. (9/23)
Looming Government
Shutdown Worries Contractors (Source: Politico)
Defense firms, already reeling under sequestration, are now scrambling
to prepare for a possible government shutdown, if a budget compromise
is not reached by the Oct. 1 deadline. "In an industry that has been as
hard-hit as the defense industry has been hit, first in the terms of
the budget decline and now the adverse impact of sequestration ... and
then you compound that with a furlough situation and a shutdown," said
Elizabeth Ferrell. "It's just piling on to an already complicated
financial situation." (9/23)
Dragon Capacity Changes Push Back Flight Date (Source: Aviation Week)
SpaceX's Dragon capsule will rendezvous with the International Space
Station in 2014, not in December as planned, because of changes the
company plans to make to the ship's carrying capacity. "We're
developing a major upgrade to Dragon to triple the amount of science
that we carry up and back," said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell.
(9/23)
Zero2Infinity, a New Way for Space Tourism (Source: Space Safety)
Lluc Palerm, a young engineer and winner of the “$pace is Business”
competition, currently works at Zero2Infinity, a Spanish start-up that
is trying challenge Virgin Galactic and Space Expedition Corporation
with an innovative idea on “space” tourism using stratospheric
balloons. He wants to use high-altitude balloons to carry four
passengers and two pilots to smoothly ascend to around 36km. Then they
will experience a cruise of between one and two hours and descend with
a guided parafoil. Click here.
(9/23)
When Darkness Falls: the
Future of the US Crewed Spaceflight Program (Source: Space
Review)
The future of NASA's human spaceflight program remains uncertain as the
agency, Congress, and others debate destinations and deadlines. Roger
Handberg argues that, if the program is to have a future, it will
require much different approaches to cooperation and funding than in
the past. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2371/1
to view the article. (9/23)
Commercial Crew Prepares
for its Next Phase (Source: Space Review)
As three companies continue work on development of commercial crew
transportation systems, NASA is preparing to release a call for
proposals for the program's next phase. Jeff Foust reports on the
status of the companies' work on crew transportation issues and the
policy and budget issues the program is facing. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2370/1
to view the article. (9/23)
Replacing the ISS
(Source: Space Review)
While NASA has hopes of extending the life of the ISS to as late as
2028, eventually the station will need to be retired. Eric Hedman
examines what kind of station, or stations, should replace it, who
should build it, and how. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2369/1
to view the article. (9/23)
Chinese Weather Satellite
Successfully Launched (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
China launched a weather satellite Monday into a speedy perch over
Earth's poles, beginning a three-year mission to provide Chinese
meteorological authorities with imagery and data for incorporation into
weather forecasts. The Fengyun 3C spacecraft blasted off aboard a Long
March 4C rocket from the Taiyuan spaceport. The three-stage
liquid-fueled launcher was supposed to boost the 4,850-pound satellite
to a sun-synchronous orbit approximately 540 miles above Earth.
The Life and Death of
Buran, the USSR Shuttle Built on Faulty Assumptions
(Source: Ars Technica)
Just before dawn on the morning of Nov. 15, 1988, the mood at Baikonur,
the Soviet Union’s launch site, was tense and businesslike. It was a
cold morning marked by low cloud cover, a persistent drizzle, and
warnings of gale force winds. Weighing the odds, Soviet space officials
decided to take their chances. At 8:00am local time, exactly on
schedule, Energiya roared to life and Buran took flight.
There’s certainly truth to reports that the Soviets copied the American
shuttle, but the two vehicles aren’t identical. And while imitation may
be the sincerest form of flattery, this wasn’t what the Soviets had in
mind when they decided to build a space shuttle of their own.
Faced with the poorly understood threat of a military space shuttle,
the Soviets decided that copying the American spacecraft exactly was
the best bet. The logic was simple: if the Americans were planning
something that needed a vehicle that big, the Soviets ought to build
one as well and be ready to match their adversary even if they didn’t
know exactly what they were matching. Click here.
(9/22)
Explanation for Unusual
Ring Formation in the Van Allen Radiation Belts (Source:
SpaceRef)
Since the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in 1958, space
scientists have believed these belts encircling the Earth consist of
two doughnut-shaped rings of highly charged particles -- an inner ring
of high-energy electrons and energetic positive ions and an outer ring
of high-energy electrons.
A team of scientists reported the surprising discovery of a previously
unknown third radiation ring -- a narrow one that briefly appeared
between the inner and outer rings in 2012 and persisted for a month.
Scientists have successfully modeled and explained the behavior of this
third ring, showing that the extremely energetic particles that made up
this ring (ultra-relativistic electrons) are driven by very different
physics than typically observed Van Allen radiation belt particles.
Click here.
(9/23)
Cygnus Delays ISS
Berthing Following GPS Discrepancy (Source:
NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft was into the final leg of berthing with the
International Space Station (ISS) on Sunday morning, prior to a
discrepancy relating to the way the ISS and Cygnus determine GPS data.
The fascinating issue can be fixed via an update to Cygnus’ software,
allowing for a second rendezvous and berthing attempt no earlier than
Saturday. (9/21)
XCOR and ULA Hit
Milestone in Liquid Hydrogen Engine Program (Source:
SpaceRef)
XCOR and ULA announced significant progress today in the XCOR/ULA
liquid hydrogen (LH2) engine development program. "We are happy to
announce that we have successfully operated our liquid hydrogen pump at
full design flow rate and pressure conditions," said XCOR Chief
Executive Officer Jeff Greason.
Conceived as a lower-cost, risk-managed program, the XCOR LH2 engine
program is intended to produce a flight-ready cryogenic upper-stage
engine in the 25,000 lbf thrust class with growth potential up to
50,000 lbf thrust or more. When complete, it should cost significantly
less to produce and be easier to operate than competing rocket engine
technologies. (9/23)
Curacao Plans for Space
Travel in 2014 (Source: Guardian)
Commercial space travel could come to Curacao as early as 2014. Curacao
Airport Holding managing director Maurice Adriaens announced the
projected launch date for the ambitious project, during his
presentation at the Caribbean ICT Roadshow, which took place at the
Curacao World Trade Centre from September 9-10.
The island of Curacao is tipped to host SXC’s second launchpad, the
first being located in an Air and Space Port in the Mojave desert,
United States. Spaceflight participants will be launched from the
Curacao spaceport into suborbital space above the surface of the Earth
and then safely looped back to Earth. (9/23)
Mission to Moon Will
Boost Research and Awareness (Source: China Daily)
China could take advantage of its Chang'e-3 lunar exploration mission
to boost international cooperation on space exploration and promote
space education and awareness among the public, a leading expert from
the U.S. said. Speaking on the sidelines of a Galaxy Forum workshop
held in Beijing, Steve Durst said the sharing of imaging technologies
would be key to such exchanges.
"We will use the ultraviolet lunar telescope aboard the Chang'e-3 to
conduct astronomical imaging for educational purposes," he said, "and
with an exchange in kind, researchers from China National Space
Administration and National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese
Academy of Sciences can use the ILO-X and ILO-1 instruments in 2015."
The ILO-X and ILO-1 are lunar telescopes that will go to the moon with
a privately sponsored lunar lander in 2015, according to Durst, who
initiated the Galaxy Forum events in 2008 to advance public awareness
of space, particularly among students. (9/23)
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