Note: First it was an asteroid with its own tiny moon, now rings. What an amazing era for studying our own solar system. From the European Southern Observatory Top News “Observations at many sites in South America, including ESO’s La Silla Observatory, have made the surprise discovery that the remote asteroid Chariklo is surrounded by […]
Following the Earthly introduction of Vulcan Ale in 2013, the Federation of Beer announced this week its newest Star Trek licensed product, Warnog Klingon Ale. The new beer, which is a Dunkelweizen incorporating a rye malt, is described a having a “flavor profile which is both unique and familiar” with “an aroma of “mild bananas […]
Image Credit: Virgin Galactic If 2014 really is the year the commercial suborbital industry finally takes off, one NASA program is ready to take advantage of the opportunity and help it gain altitude. It is the agency’s Flight Opportunities Program, which originally began in 2009 as the Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research program. Since then, it […]
From NASA: The next trio of crew members destined for the International Space Station is now looking forward to a Thursday arrival at the orbiting laboratory after their Soyuz spacecraft was unable to complete its third thruster burn to fine-tune its approach. Soyuz Commander Alexander Skvortsov and Flight Engineers Oleg Artemyev of the Russian […]
While NASA is currently do doing very little to apply the successful contract approach of funded Space Acts Agreements the agency used to good effect in the COTS and CRS programs where its deep space plans are concerned, the agency is continuing to work around the edges with unfunded Space Act Agreements. Today, NASA announced […]
JAXA, the Japanese Space Agency, announced today that it has selected Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to develop Japan’s next generation, flagship launch vehicle. From the official announcement: “The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) made an announcement to the private sector on February 27, 2014, to compare their proposals and select a prime contractor who can […]
Image Credit: NASA Today finds two launch vehicles and two capsules at their respective pads waiting for blast-off to the International Space Station. First up is the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, scheduled to launch expedition 39 at 5:17 pm EDT today. The crew consists of Oleg Artemyev, Alexander Skvortsov, and Steve Swanson. […]
Image Credit : NASA NASA Media Release SpaceX has confirmed it will target its next cargo mission launch to the International Space Station from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, for 10:50 p.m. EDT, Sunday, March 30. NASA Television launch coverage begins at 9:45 p.m. for the company’s third contracted resupply mission to the […]
RD-180 What exquisite timing. In a week where the Russian built RD-180 main engine, used to power the United Launch Alliance Atlas V, has come under heavy scrutiny, word comes out that Orbital Sciences has dropped its lawsuit against ULA over access to the engine. From a Space News article on the issue: “The parties […]
Mars Gully Before From NASA: A comparison of images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in November 2010 and May 2013 reveal the formation of a new gully channel on a crater-wall slope in the southern highlands of Mars. These before-and-after images are available […]
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