In 1969 Apollo 11 launched atop a Saturn 5 rocket. The five F-1 engines on the first stage of that rocket dropped into the Atlantic Ocean as planned, minutes after take-off. And there they have remained, at the bottom of the ocean, undisturbed - until now. Jeff Bezos, founder of Blue Origin as well as Amazon.com, announced that an effort to located [...]
Archive for March, 2012
SpaceX Announces Independent Safety Advisory Panel for Commercial Crew
The following press release was published by SpaceX on March 29, 2012. Source: SpaceX Hawthorne, CA – Today, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), one of the leading private companies working to restore America’s ability to carry astronauts to the Space Station, announced it has assembled a team of outside experts to help the company create the world’s safest human spaceflight system. [...]
NASA Announces Aeronautics Research Institute
Source: NASA. MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA’s Ames Research Center will host a virtual institute to solicit and foster innovative ideas that address technological challenges facing aviation and the U.S. air transportation system today and in the future. Jaiwon Shin, NASA’s associate administrator for aeronautics research in Washington, and Ames Director S. Pete Worden signed an agreement Tuesday establishing the [...]
ATV Successfully Docks with ISS
Source: ESA ESA’s ATV Edoardo Amaldi has completed the first stage of its docking with the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station. The docking occurred smoothly when ATV’s docking probe was captured by Zvezda’s docking cone at 00:31 CEST ( 22:31 GMT). The docking probe is now retracting, to be followed by the hooks between the two craft closing. The data [...]
Stephen Hawking Receives Robert A Heinlein Memorial Award
The National Space Society published the following press release on March 28. Source: National Space Society The National Space Society (NSS) is pleased to announce Dr. Stephen Hawking as the 14th recipient of NSS’s Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award. The award will be presented to Dr. Hawking at a special ceremony at the Cooks Branch Conservancy in Montgomery, Texas on [...]
Russia is Developing a Nuclear Space Engine by 2017
According to press agency RIA Novosti, Russia is developing a Megawatt-class nuclear propulsion system for long-range manned spacecraft. “At present we are testing several types of fuel,” said Denis Kovalevich, Skolkovo Foundation’s Nuclear Cluster head, “the engine is expected to be ready by 2017.” The source reports a government allocation of 500 million rubles ($16.7 million) in 2010 to start a project of a [...]
Missed Opportunity Shines Light on Satellite Repurposing
Russia deorbited the Express-AM4 communication satellite on March 25, despite pleas by startup company Polar Broadband Systems Ltd. to allow the wayward satellite to be put to a new use. The satellite reentered Earth’s atmosphere and landed in the Pacific Ocean. “It was getting a lot of discussion,” says William Readdy, one of the startup’s principals. “For whatever reason, we [...]
Beautiful View of Stars from the ISS
With all the wonderful observation imagery compiled by NASA’s Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth, the stars can get left behind. Alex Rivest compiled the imagery against a London PM music soundtrack. Star-trails processed using StarStaX. Credit: NASA / JSC / Editor – Alex Rivest / Music – London PM Staff WritersMore Posts
Soviet Weather Satellite Reenters Over Antarctica
The Meteor 1-1 weather satellite, first of its kind for the the Soviet Union, reentered over the Queen Maud Land region of Antarctica on Tuesday 27 after more than four decades in orbit. According to Col. Alexey Zolotukhin, Space Forces spokesman, “fragments of the Meteor 1-1 satellite entered the Earth’s atmosphere at 02:17 a.m. Moscow time on Tuesday [22:17 GMT Monday].” The Meteor [...]
Tomatoes for Mars: Canadian School Project Improves Space Gardening
Technology is not the answer for everything. Canadian scientists working on Life Support Systems for long duration missions have known this for a long time. Instead of developing sophisticated systems for recycling carbon dioxide and waste or providing water, food, and oxygen, they seek inspiration in nature. Plants have successfully provided food and air on Earth for millions of years, [...]
