Boeing to Base X-37B Spy
Plane at Former KSC Shuttle Facility (Source: Orlando
Sentinel)
A spy plane used by the U.S. Air Force is about to get a new home: a
garage at Kennedy Space Center that once housed NASA orbiters during
the space shuttle era. The move was announced Friday by Boeing, the
Chicago-based company that built the X-37B spy plane and is in charge
of repairing the spacecraft whenever it returns to Earth.
Previously, Boeing had refurbished the 29-foot-long spacecraft at
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, but the company decided to
relocate its fix-up shop in Florida, where the vehicle now launches. In
keeping with the secretive nature of the program, Boeing would not
release funding or employment details. But any transfer of work to KSC
is welcome news to an area that lost thousands of jobs when NASA
retired the shuttle in 2011. (1/3)
Iran Plans Satellite
Launch in February (Source: PressTV)
An Iranian aerospace official says the country plans to launch an
indigenously designed and manufactured satellite into orbit in early
February next year. Deputy head of Iran Space Agency (ISA), Hamid
Fazeli, said that final tests are being carried out on several
indigenous satellites. They include Sharif Sat, developed by Iranian
students and academics from Sharif University of Technology, and AUT
Sat, developed by Iranian scientists at Amir Kabir University of
Technology. (1/3)
China Moon Rover Stamps
and Medallions Celebrate First Lunar Landing (Source:
Collect Space)
China's postal service and largest bank are marking the country's first
moon landing by launching new stamps and medallions featuring the
Chang'e-3 probe and Yutu rover. China Post Wednesday (Jan. 1) released
its second set of postage stamps commemorating the lunar mission, which
on Dec. 14 marked the first moon landing in 37 years. (1/3)
Biggest Ever Satellite
Constellation to be Launched (Source: The Telegraph)
They are no bigger than a bread tin, but the Dove satellites are set to
break new ground in space exploration.
A flock of 28 are to be put into orbit from NASA's station at Wallops,
about 170 miles south east of Washington DC. They are radically
different from conventional monster satellites. Not only are they
smaller, but they fly far lower than traditional satellites, orbiting
at around 310 miles above the earth rather than more than 500 miles. Editor's Note:
This is not the biggest constellation of satellites ever launched. (1/3)
Watch Full-Length Blast
for SpaceShipTwo's Rocket Engine (Source: NBC)
Virgin Galactic had to postpone a rocket-powered test flight of its
SpaceShipTwo craft last month, due to cloudy weather - but the space
tourism company still managed to end the year with a blast. The
company’s end-of-the-year video, released on Monday, shows a
full-duration firing of SpaceShipTwo’s hybrid rocket motor during a
ground test. This was the first public airing of footage showing a
56-second burn, which is said to be long enough to send the rocket
plane past the boundary of outer space. Click here.
(1/2)
Dark Matter Search
Considers Exotic Possibilities (Source: Scientific
American)
Ever since astronomers realized that most of the matter in the universe
is invisible, they have tried to sort out what that obscure stuff might
be. But three decades of increasingly sophisticated searches have found
no sign of dark matter, causing scientists to question some of their
basic ideas about this elusive substance.
In October the most sensitive experiment looking for proof of the
leading candidate for dark matter—theorized particles called WIMPs
(weakly interacting massive particles)—reported null results,
disappointing scientists once again. Now some researchers are
reexamining dark matter candidates once written off as unlikely, and
considering less satisfactory ideas such as the possibility that dark
matter will turn out to be made of something more or less undetectable.
(1/3)
FAA Renews New Mexico
Spaceport License (Source: Aviation Week)
Good news for the New Mexico Spaceport: The FAA has renewed its
operator license. That means space flights from the facility can happen
as soon as the ships are ready and other flights from the facility can
continue. Spaceport America was first licensed by the FAA in December
2008. Licenses must be renewed every five years. A Nov. 12 launch
marked Spaceport America's 20th vertical launch since it opened. (1/3)
Mojave Space Port
Prepares for Witt's Departure (Source: Taft Midway
Driller)
Boardmembers at the Mojave Air and Space Port held their last meeting
of 2013 on Dec. 17, during which they discussed the announcement of CEO
Stuart Witt’s retirement, reviewed the status of the year’s original
objectives, and unanimously approved funds for the final completion of
the new event center. (12/28)
Joint Mission with India
Studied as NASA Seeks Earth Science Savings (Source: Space
News)
Seven years after an independent review board cited the importance of
two ambitious Earth science missions, NASA officials are investigating
ways to perform scaled-back versions of the original projects that fit
within current budget projections.
NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) are conducting a
study to determine the feasibility of launching a spacecraft equipped
with L-band and S-band synthetic aperture radars to observe a variety
of phenomena, including changes in global vegetation, wetlands,
coastlines and soil moisture.
If the project proceeds, it would be the first satellite built jointly
by NASA and ISRO, NASA spokesman Stephen Cole said. The proposed
NASA-ISRO mission would meet nearly all of the important scientific
objectives of the radar portion of the Deformation, Ecosystem Structure
and Dynamics of Ice (DESDynI) mission. (1/2)
Aerospace Will Lift
Defense Sector in 2014 (Source: The Hill)
The defense industry will continue to be under pressure this year as
sequestration and the drawdown in Afghanistan take their toll on
spending, but the aerospace industry will lift the entire sector to 5%
growth, a new report says. "It is likely that 2014 will bring high
single to double-digit levels of growth in the commercial aerospace
sub-sector, as experienced in 2012 and expected in 2013, given the
dramatic production forecasts of the aircraft manufacturers," says the
study by Deloitte. (1/2)
Cost Cuts Won't Come Easy
for Air Force (Source: Delaware News Journal)
The Air Force is urging members to consider early retirements and
taking a long list of other steps to cut costs to manage its way
through sequestration – steps that could mean fewer service members are
forced to take on more work. The F-35 fighter jet program, however, is
expected to grow despite the budget-trimming efforts. (1/2)
ESA Says It Is on Track
To Reduce Its Station Costs by 30 Percent (Source: Space
News)
The European Space Agency (ESA) says that by late 2015, if not earlier,
it will reduce its annual space station operating costs by 30 percent
compared with 2010. But the agency declined to provide details on where
the savings would come from, what the total cost reduction will be and
what effect they will have on science and industrial research at the
international space station. (1/2)
SpaceX Set for Monday
Launch Attempt at 5:06 p.m. (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX has confirmed plans for a 5:06 p.m. Monday launch of a Falcon 9
rocket carrying a Thai broadcasting satellite from the Cape Canaveral
Spaceport. The launch of Thaicom 6 had been planned for today, but
SpaceX pushed it back to perform more rocket inspections. (1/2)
Freezing Forecast Forces
Antares Launch Delay (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Orbital Sciences has pushed back next week's launch of a commercial
resupply mission to the International Space Station by at least one day
to Wednesday to dodge frigid temperatures expected on Virginia's
Eastern Shore. Liftoff of the privately-developed Antares rocket was
set for Tuesday after a three-week delay from mid-December to make room
for spacewalks to repair a problematic ammonia coolant loop on the
space station, but the long-range forecast for early next week predicts
freezing temperatures. (1/3)
Restless Americans Look
To Mars One For New Home (Source: Aviation Week)
No people are seemingly more eager and suited than Americans to leave
the Earth for a new life on Mars. The notion emerges from the
demographics behind the 1,058 men and women selected by Mars One this
week to proceed with future rounds of a global selection process by the
Dutch non-profit to identify those best suited to settle the red
planet. Trips are scheduled to begin in 2025.
Just more than 202,000 people from 107 nations, 24% of them from the
U.S., responded to a call for applicants from the private initiative in
April, far ahead of the 10% from second-place India. Moving quickly,
Mars One dramatically cut the large number of September candidates to
the more manageable pool of just more than 1,000 on Dec. 30.
Twenty-eight percent of those advancing in the selection process
consider the U.S. home, well ahead of second-place Canada with 7%. (1/2)
The Terror in a Space
Odyssey (Source: Huffington Post)
Iran's announcement that it has sent a monkey into space has caused a
bit of a stir. Space exploration- that highest frontier of
transformative technology pushing out beyond the Earth- has long
reigned as futuristic and radical as science can get. This latest
excursion that suggests life can exist outside of Earth's confines
re-invigorates the mystery of whether a similar bounty of life exists
elsewhere in the universe.
On reflection, all the excitement seems a bit much. It's not the first
time a monkey has been launched into space. Ever since the 1940s the
US, France, Russia and others have been launching flights containing
primate cargo. Fruit flies, tortoises, worms, mice, guinea pigs, cats,
dogs and frogs have all been rocketed on one way trips into space too.
Space must be dotted with as many dead animals as there are black
holes. Click here.
(1/3)
BioServe Will Conduct
Experiments in Space (Source: BCBR)
BioServe Space Technologies will launch an experiment to the
International Space Station next week that ultimately could lead to new
drugs that work better on antibiotic-resistant diseases and infections.
BioServe is a NASA-funded research center in the aerospace engineering
sciences department at the University of Colorado-Boulder. Funding
information for the antibiotics experiment was not immediately
available. (1/3)
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