Saturn Spotted Giving
Birth to New Moon (Source: WIRED)
According to an April 14 release from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
the Cassini spacecraft has documented the formation of a small, icy
object within the rings of Saturn that may be a new moon. Additionally,
the new object may provide clues to the formation of the planet’s known
moons.
Images captured with Cassini’s narrow angle camera show disturbances at
the very edge of Saturn’s A ring, which is the most distant of the
planet’s large, luminescent rings. One of these disturbances is an arc
measuring approximately 20 percent brighter than its surroundings, 750
miles long and six miles wide. Scientists also discovered unusual
protuberances in the typically smooth profile at the ring’s edge.
Scientists believe the arc and protuberances are caused by the
gravitational effects of a nearby object.
Scientists say that the object is not expected to grow any larger, and
may even be falling apart. However, the process of its
formation and outward movement aids in our understanding of how
Saturn’s icy moons, including the cloud-wrapped Titan and ocean-holding
Enceladus, may have formed in more massive rings long ago. (4/15)
Students Creating
Satellite in Kazakhstan (Source: Tengri News)
A sophomore spacecraft inventor Nazifa Baktybayeva from Kazakhstan's
Pavlodar is working on creation of a real satellite. Ms. Baktybayeva
has been working on the the in-orbit satellite along with her fellow
students from the Kazakhstan State Technical University. “The work is
almost finished. Technical documentation has been completed and is in
full compliance with the state regulations.
We are planning to start buying the materials soon and then start
assembling the spacecraft,” the young scientists said. The satellite
with a symbolic name Polytech #1 will give an opportunity for students
to conduct research based on materials obtained from space. (4/14)
Texas Rocketry Students
Taking a Shot at Nationals (Source: Morning Valley Star)
Six members of the Harlingen High School Engineering and Technology
Club are preparing their rocket to compete in next month’s the national
finals for the Team America Rocketry Challenge in Manassas, Va. Some of
the students have been members of this extracurricular club for two and
three years, and this is the first time they‘ve qualified to compete in
the national event. (4/14)
Foreign Ministry: Ukraine
is Not Going to Sell Rocket Tech (Source: LB.UA)
Ukraine's Foreign Ministry denies talks on the sale of the production
technology of 'Satan' intercontinental ballistic missiles. "Information
about the alleged conduct negotiations with enterprise managers"
Pivdenmash "(Dnepropetrovsk) with representatives of foreign countries
about selling technologies intercontinental ballistic missiles does not
correspond to reality," - said the diplomat. (4/9)
Sierra Nevada Ranked as
Space Innovator (Source: SNC)
Sierra Nevada Corp. announced that Fast Company magazine ranked SNC as
one of the “World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Companies in Space.” Fast
Company recognized SNC for “resurrecting the spaceplane” calling SNC’s
Dream Chaser® spacecraft the, “…biggest contribution to the nascent
commercial spaceflight industry” and the “…smaller, and arguably
smarter take on the defunct Space Shuttle.” (4/15)
Canadian (B.C.) Aerospace
Industry Gets $1M in Help (Source: Global News)
British Columbia’s aerospace industry is getting a $1-million lift from
the provincial government, in a bid to expand the sector in the face of
“unprecedented global growth.” The money is being given to the Pacific
division of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, a
non-profit group that advocates for its members on policy issues. The
announcement was made in the Vancouver Island community of Sidney,
B.C., Tuesday, the home of Viking Air Limited, which manufactures de
Havilland aircraft products. (4/10)
Startup Aims To Pair Old
Satellites with Operators Needing Quick Capacity Boost
(Source: Space News)
Four commercial satellite industry veterans have formed a company
designed to match aging in-orbit satellites whose owners are willing to
lease them with satellite operators in need of short-term capacity in
advance of launching their own asset. Gapsat Development Group Ltd.,
headquartered in the British Virgin Islands, expects to broker its
first deal this year, said Gregg Daffner, the startup’s chief
executive. (4/15)
Europe Weighs
Galileo-compatibility Mandate for Smartphones (Source:
Space News)
The European Commission, fearing that marketing its Galileo satellite
navigation system will not be enough to ensure adoption of the service,
is now weighing whether to mandate Galileo adoption not only in
European critical infrastructures, but also in selected areas including
smartphones. (4/15)
Google Tried to Design a
Space Elevator (Source: Fast Company)
A working space elevator is still, sadly, not a reality. But sci-fi
geeks may be excited to know that some of the most intelligent and
imaginative minds on Earth have indeed looked into the logistics of
building such a fanciful contraption. Rich DeVaul, head of Google X's
Rapid Evaluation team, has confirmed for the first time ever that
Google's super hush-hush R&D lab actually tried to design one.
Click here.
(4/15)
Hawthorne Unveils SpaceX
Rocket Monument (Source: Daily Breeze)
Hawthorne city leaders on Monday afternoon unveiled a towering monument
of a rocket on the city’s main drag to honor its most celebrated
corporate citizen — the space transportation company SpaceX. “Space X
is not just a tenant, they are a partner in the city of Hawthorne,”
Mayor Chris Brown said during a brief address before the unveiling.
The monument is a 25-foot replica of a Falcon Heavy, the world’s most
powerful rocket. Resting at a 45-degree angle on a thick support
column, the tip of the rocket reaches 37 feet at its highest point. At
night the rocket is backlit by 27 red LED lights emulating thrusters. A
light in the front casts a green glow onto the monument, which weighs a
hefty two tons. (4/15)
Homeless Vets Get Day at
KSC (Source: Florida Today)
"It is great that these people are doing this for us," said the
59-year-old veteran, who is homeless. "It's something that will stay
with us. I can tell this to my grandkids. I'll go back to the camp and
think about what I saw today." Greene was one of three homeless
veterans who were treated to a special day at the space center Monday.
The idea was sparked by a KSC employee, Trudy Veach, who also is an
American Legion Auxiliary volunteer who helps homeless veterans.
Greene, who served in the Navy from 1974 to 1978, and the others
cheered after getting off the Space Shuttle Experience attraction. "I'm
so happy," Pierce said after the first two hours at KSC. "They need to
feel they are part of the community. They deserve every moment of
happiness we can give them. Yes, they are going back to the woods, but
they've had a chance to have a good day and enjoy this." (4/15)
DubaiSat-2 Fully
Operational (Source: Gulf Today)
The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (Eiast)
has announced that DubaiSat-2’s in-orbit commissioning is complete and
the satellite is now fully operational. The satellite had undergone the
Launch and Early Operations Phase (Leop) starting last Nov 21, 2013.
This phase requires testing for the satellite to verify and validate
the operation of the system and subsystem level electronics of the
spacecraft and how they function under the harsh space environment.
(4/15)
Land Rover Announces
Global Partnership With Virgin Galactic (Source: Land
Rover)
Land Rover, the British brand synonymous with adventure, has revealed a
long-term global partnership with Richard Branson's pioneering
commercial spaceline, Virgin Galactic. Demonstrating their shared
vision of pioneering spirit, technological innovation and sense of
adventure, the partnership was announced against the backdrop of
SpaceShipTwo, the world's first commercial passenger carrying
spacecraft, together with Land Rover's new Discovery Vision Concept
vehicle.
The partnership will see Land Rover vehicles become part of daily life
for the Virgin Galactic team and for all 'Future Astronauts', the space
experience will now begin with Land Rover as they arrive in New Mexico
for training, and continue to the moment they drive from the space
terminal building to the waiting spaceship. Land Rover will base a
fleet of vehicles at the Virgin Galactic test center in the Mojave
Desert, California and at its astounding operational New Mexico base,
Spaceport America. (4/14)
Former Astronaut Aims to
Create Rocket Engine to Allow Speedy Travel to Mars
(Source: Washington Post)
Franklin Chang Diaz got hooked on space exploration in 1957, when he
was 7 and fascinated by the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik. Eleven
years later, Steve Nadis writes in Discover magazine, Chang Diaz came
from his homeland of Costa Rica to live with relatives in the U.S.; he
had $50 in his pocket and knew barely a word of English.
Within a decade he had earned a PhD in plasma physics from MIT. He
became an astronaut, completing seven space shuttle missions and
logging some 1,600 hours in space. He spent 25 years with NASA, then
retired to work full time on a goal he’d had ever since graduate
school: creating a super-fast rocket engine.
His VASIMR VX-200 — the name stands for “variable specific impulse
magnetoplasma rocket” — has the potential to get astronauts to Mars in
39 days, he says, more than three times as fast as current engines
could. His company, Ad Astra, says it “is engaged in a friendly
competition with his former employer, trying to create the rocket of
the future.” (4/14)
NASA Signs Deal with
SpaceX for Shuttle Launch Pad (Source: SEN)
After four months of negotiations, NASA on Monday signed a lease with
Space Exploration Technologies to take over one of the mothballed space
shuttle launch pads at the Kennedy Space Center. Terms of the agreement
were not immediately available, though NASA spokesman Allard Beutel
said the property agreement runs for 20 years. “As part of the
agreement, SpaceX will be responsible for the operations and
maintenance of the pad at their own expense,” Beutel wrote.
NASA selected SpaceX over a rival bidder, Blue Origin, a startup rocket
company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin filed a protest
over the selection process, postponing NASA’s decision until December.
The U.S. space agency had hoped to have a lease signed by Oct. 1,
saving itself about $100,000 a month in maintenance costs. (4/14)
Recovery Crews Positioned
to Retrieve Falcon 9 First Stage (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Soon after the Falcon 9's first stage shuts down and separates from the
launcher's upper stage -- a milestone expected to occur less than three
minutes after liftoff -- the cylindrical 12-foot-diameter first stage
will relight some of its engines for a braking maneuver. A few minutes
later, the stage will ignite an engine again just above the water for a
landing burn to set the rocket down into the sea at a slow velocity.
The splashdown is expected a few hundred miles northeast of Cape
Canaveral, roughly due east of the Georgia-South Carolina border. The
rocket is fitted with four landing legs made of carbon fiber and
aluminum honeycomb. The 25-foot-tall legs will extend down and outward,
deploying during the first stage's descent. "We have a boat downrange,
and we will perform an entry burn and a landing burn," Hans Koenigsmann
said, adding the test will pretend the Atlantic Ocean is actually a
landing pad.
Teams are standing by to pluck the intact stage or fragments from the
water and return them to SpaceX for analysis. The company hopes to
achieve a controlled return of a Falcon 9 first stage to a precision
landing in a touchdown zone near rocket's launch site before the end of
2014, but Koenigsmann admitted that is ambitious and will depend
largely on how Monday's attempted water landing works out. (4/14)
Meteorite Impacts Could
Have Fostered Life on Early Earth (Source: Science)
Could meteorite impacts on Earth have provided a habitat for early
life? That’s the question being raised by a new study, which reports
the first possible identification of fossil microbial traces from
within an impact crater. The researchers were looking at rocks from the
Ries crater (inset) of southern Germany, a 24-kilometer-wide depression
formed about 14.6 million years ago by a meteorite crashing into Earth
with the force of 1.8 million Hiroshima bombs.
The energy of impacts that create such craters can be high enough to
melt rock; these melts cool rapidly, forming impact glass—a smooth,
dark rock, similar to its volcanic cousin, obsidian—which contains
various microscopic structures and crystals. Among the structures in
the Ries glasses are peculiar curved and tubular features, about
one-millionth to three-millionths of a meter in diameter. While
previously thought to be simply unusual types of crystals, the team’s
study revealed that the tubules may be biological in origin. (4/14)
Eutelsat To Pay Down Debt
of Satmex Subsidiary (Source: Space News)
PARIS — Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat will redeem $360 million in
bonds, carrying an average 9.6 percent annual interest, from
bondholders in Eutelsat Americas, the former Satmex fleet operator that
Eutelsat purchased in January. In an example of the kind of transaction
that was beyond the reach of the former Satmex, Eutelsat is redeeming
the bonds three years ahead of their May 2017 maturity date for 104.75
percent of their principal value, or $377 million, plus accrued and
unpaid interest to May 15 of this year. (4/14)
Satellite Operators Press
ESA for Reduction in Ariane Launch Costs (Source: Space
News)
European commercial satellite fleet operators, including the world’s
four largest by annual revenue, have written the European Space Agency
urging that it find immediate ways to reduce Ariane 5 rocket launch
costs and, in the longer term, make the next-generation Ariane 6
vehicle more attractive for smaller telecommunications satellites.
ESA governments are scheduled to decide in December whether to proceed
with full development of an Ariane 6 rocket, to fly starting in 2021.
The rocket’s principal design objective is that, by its 15th launch, it
can be built and launched for a cost of no more than 70 million euros,
or $96 million at current exchange rates. (4/14)
Recently Launched
Amazonas 4A Suffers Power-System Glitch (Source: Space
News)
Hispasat’s Amazonas 4A telecommunications satellite, launched March 22,
has suffered an anomaly in its power system but is stable in orbit,
Madrid-based Hispasat announced April 14. Built by Orbital Sciences
Corp., Amazonas 4A is intended to expand Hispasat’s presence in Latin
America. Hispasat has declined to say where the satellite ultimately
will be operated, but it is being tested at 51 degrees west longitude.
One industry official said the satellite has been unable to fully
deploy one of its solar arrays. A Hispasat spokeswoman on April 14 said
this is not the case, but that a power subsystem aboard the satellite
has malfunctioned. Hispasat and Orbital have begun an investigation
into the cause of the defect and a possible solution is being devised
but it is too soon to determine what happened and whether it can be
corrected, the spokeswoman said. (4/14)
Rogozin Invites Best
Minds to Create Anti-Asteroid Technology (Source: Space
Daily)
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said there was no means capable of
diverting asteroids from Earth and invited the best minds to help
create such a technology, Itar-Tass reports. "This is a dangerous
phenomenon. Those who think that we know everything about the far
reaches of deep space and that no catastrophe will happen are seriously
wrong," Rogozin said. (4/14)
German Space Research
Center Under Espionage Attack (Source: Space Daily)
Germany's aeronautics and space research center has for months been the
target of a suspected cyber attack by a foreign intelligence service, a
German news weekly reported. Der Spiegel said that several computers
used by scientists and systems administrators at the Cologne-based DLR
center had been infiltrated by spy programs. "The government classes
the attack as extremely serious because it, among other things, is
aimed at armament and rocket technolgies," Spiegel said. (4/14)
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