1187 replies to this topic

[wjfox]

List of nearest terrestrial exoplanet candidates

http://en.wikipedia....anet_candidates

[Time_Traveller]

Feb 13 set as new date for Europe's Vega rocket



The European Space Agency (ESA) said on Friday that the first launch of a long-awaited light rocket, Vega, which had been pencilled for February 9, would take place on February 13.


From http://www.space-tra...rocket_999.html

[Time_Traveller]

The Milky Way’s Magnetic Personality



Now an international team of scientists, including those at the Naval Research Laboratory, have pooled their information and created one of the most high precision maps to date of the Milky Way’s magnetic fields. Like all galaxies, ours has a magnetic “personality”, but just where these fields come from and how they are created is a genuine mystery. Researchers have always simply assumed they were created by mechanical processes like those which occur in Earth’s interior and the Sun. Now a new study will give scientists an even better understanding about the structure of galactic magnetic fields as seen throughout our galaxy.

From http://www.universet...ity/#more-93337

[Time_Traveller]

ExoMars cooperation between Nasa and Esa near collapse





The American space agency looks set to pull the plug on its joint missions to Mars with the European Space Agency.

From http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-16906740

Oh thats what we all need NASA breaking it off with the European Spacy Angency, Luckily the ESA are going to ask the Russians instead.

Edited by Time_Traveller, 06 February 2012 - 05:00 PM.

[wjfox]

^

[Craven]

Too bad Chinese aren't very cooperative from what I remember.

[Logically Irrational]

[Logically Irrational]

And for fun...

[Deadbolt]

I hope that one day we get past these giant bombs and onto genuine space planes.

[Time_Traveller]

Surface of Mars an unlikely place for life after 600 million year drought

Mars may have been arid for more than 600 million years, making it too hostile for any life to survive on the planet's surface, according to researchers who have been carrying out the painstaking task of analysing individual particles of Martian soil. Dr Tom Pike, from Imperial College London, will discuss the team's analysis at a European Space Agency (ESA) meeting on 7 February 2012.



From http://www.marsdaily...rought_999.html

[Logically Irrational]

Private Rocket Builder Has High Hopes for 'Year of the Dragon'
http://www.space.com...pacex-test.html

"Today marks the start of the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese calendar and this year, SpaceX's Dragon will become the first privately developed spacecraft to visit the International Space Station," SpaceX officials wrote in a statement today. "Space travel is one of the most difficult of all human endeavors, and success is never a guarantee. This flight introduces a series of new challenges and new magnitudes of complexity; if even the smallest thing goes wrong, we will be forced to abort the mission."

Today, SpaceX has a $1.6 billion deal to provide 12 unmanned cargo flights for NASA. The other company — Orbital Sciences Corp., in Virginia — is also planning its first launch to the orbiting lab later this year.

SpaceX launched its first Dragon capsule on a short test flight in December 2010 in a historic milestone that marked the first flight and retrieval of a private space capsule. But that flight, which orbited Earth twice before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, was only a trial run.

The real test will come in March or shortly thereafter, when the first Dragon capsule pulls up to the International Space Station and astronauts aboard the outpost grab it using a robotic arm.

"There will be challenges along the way, but SpaceX will again make history and become the first private company to send a spacecraft to the Space Station," SpaceX officials wrote. "We take this responsibility very seriously and will not stop until we succeed."

[Raklian]

I hope that one day we get past these giant bombs and onto genuine space planes.

Take a look at the Skylon project - it is covered in the timeline. It is hoped that the world's first 'spaceplane' will enter into service sometime in 2020's.

[Time_Traveller]

Mars Express radar gives strong evidence for former Mars ocean



ESA's Mars Express has returned strong evidence for an ocean once covering part of Mars. Using radar, it has detected sediments reminiscent of an ocean floor within the boundaries of previously identified, ancient shorelines on Mars.

From http://www.marsdaily..._ocean_999.html

[Time_Traveller]

Iran to launch new generation of satellites



Iran is planning to send a new generation of satellites into orbit to mark the 33rd anniversary of the Islamic republic's establishment, Defence Minister Brigadier General Ahmad Vahidi has said.

Tehran plans to launch the country's first manned mission into space by 2019, the media report said.

From http://www.space-tra...llites_999.html

[Time_Traveller]

Rare Martian meteorite given to science



A Martian meteorite - an incredibly rare object - has been given to science to help unravel the Red Planet's secrets.

From http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-16943200

[wjfox]

Nasa Details Real-World Applications Of Space Technology In Annual 'Spinoff' Magazine

Huffington Post UK
Michael Rundle
First Posted: 8/02/2012 10:34

The real-world benefits of space travel are sometimes condensed to little more than astronaut ice cream and zero-gravity pens.

But the aerospace industry has contributed thousands of practical technologies for use on Earth - and Nasa wants to tell you all about it.

For the last 35 years Nasa has released an annual publication designed to showcase some of the most useful applications of space tech and how they've flourished in the past year, in an effort to prove that fact to the world.

This year's Spinoff Magazine lists 44 of these technologies, from LED chips initially developed to grow plants on the Space Shuttle that are now being used as a non-invasive painkiller, to a nontoxic biodegradable disinfectant first used to clean food in space and now being commercialised back home.

Read more: http://www.huffingto...982.html?ref=uk

[Craven]

Great things for those whiners who say it's a waste to explore space.

[Time_Traveller]

Augmented reality promises astronauts instant medical knowhow



A new augmented reality unit developed by ESA can provide just-in-time medical expertise to astronauts. All they need to do is put on a head-mounted display for 3D guidance in diagnosing problems or even performing surgery.

From http://www.spacedail...nowhow_999.html

[Time_Traveller]

SpaceX to Launch AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 in 2014



Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), the world's fastest growing space launch company, and Asia SatelliteTelecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat), the leading regional satellite operator in Asia, has announced an agreement to launch two AsiaSat communications satellites using SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in 2014.

From http://www.space-tra...n_2014_999.html

[Time_Traveller]

Vega rocket set for maiden voyage



Europe's Vega rocket is finally set to make its maiden flight on Monday.

From http://www.bbc.co.uk...onment-16986043