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India commercial rocket takes off
India's first commercial rocket has been launched into space.
The rocket, a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), took off from the Sriharikota base in southern India at 1530 Indian time (1000 GMT).
It is carrying a 352kg Italian satellite which will gather information about the origins of the universe, the AFP news agency reports.
India's space programme includes an unmanned mission to the Moon which is due to take place next year...
Read More.. Posted on:29 Apr 2007 |
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Space Station Astronaut to Return to Earth Early
American astronaut Sunita Williams will return home from her mission to the International Space Station (ISS) a bit early this summer due to delays associated with NASA?s next shuttle flight, the space agency announced Thursday.
Williams, an ISS Expedition 15 flight engineer, is now set to return to Earth in June aboard the space shuttle Atlantis following an 11-day assembly mission by the orbiter's STS-117 astronaut crew. Her replacement, NASA astronaut Clayton Anderson, will join the STS-117 crew roster as a late addition, NASA officials said. ..
Read More.. Posted on:29 Apr 2007 |
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Atlantis heads for launch pad
Lumbering along with a top speed of one-mile-per-hour, space shuttle Atlantis emerged from Kennedy Space Center's mammoth Vehicle Assembly Building this morning for the trek to the newly refurbished launch pad 39A.
The trip, which should take about six hours, began at 8:19 a.m. EST.
Atlantis spent eight days inside the 52-story VAB being attached to its external fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters atop a mobile launching platform. The stay was extended a day while technicians examined erratic readings from a pressure sensor inside the right-hand booster. A new sensor will be installed at the launch pad. ..
Read More.. Posted on:15 Feb 2007 |
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Satellite could see shadow of extra dimensions
A satellite to be launched next year could see signs of extra dimensions in the afterglow of the big bang, a new study says.
Some theories – such as string theory – that attempt to unify all known forces into a single "theory of everything" posit the existence of extra spatial dimensions beyond the three familiar ones.
But string theory has proven stubbornly resistant to experimental tests (although some physicists say it could be tested in the Large Hadron Collider scheduled to open by the end of 2007)...
Read More.. Posted on:15 Feb 2007 |
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New Theory Explains Mysterious Dark Galaxies
The darkest galaxies in the universe, made nearly entirely of matter which researchers think can zip right through normal matter with virtually no effect, now might be explained by a new scientific model that sheds light on their strange existence.
The normal matter of which the stars, planets, moons and people consist only makes up roughly a sixth of all matter in the universe. The rest is dark matter, the existence of which is only inferred by the gravitational effects it has on light and normal matter.
Scientists have proposed that some or most dark matter interacts with normal matter very weakly, meaning it can pass right through us and the planet with virtually no effect. There are believed to be as many as 10,000 dark matter particles in any given cubic meter of space in the solar system...
Read More.. Posted on:15 Feb 2007 |
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NASA Needs Fake Moondust
NASA needs more moondust. And not just a few sterile baggies of moondust. NASA engineers need tons of it - or a suitable simulant.
NASA has lots of new plans for lunar gadgets and lunar equipment, given the new plans to return to the Moon. Since we've been there before, and we've gathered samples, we know what a problem moondust can be.
The lunar soil (or regolith) covering the Moon's surface is a complex material that is sharp and abrasive - with interlocking glass shards and fragments. It is a powdery grit that gets into everything, jamming moving parts and abrading spacesuit fabrics. It can also get into living spaces, where it is impossible to brush off, due to ease with which lunar dust picks up electrostatic charges. And can even irritate the lungs of astronauts. Astronaut Jack Schmitt had a case of "lunar dust hay fever" during his stay on the Moon. ..
Read More.. Posted on:03 Jan 2007 |
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Mars Rovers: On The Roll To New Targets
NASA’s Opportunity and Spirit Mars rovers are on the prowl. Science teams are plotting out new escapades for the twin robots—new destinations certain to reveal more secrets from the red planet.
Within Meridiani Planum, the Opportunity rover is relaying great pictures of Victoria Crater and its walls, said Steve Squyres, lead scientist of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) project from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
So far, the story at Victoria is surprisingly similar to what rover scientists saw at Endurance Crater, a feature they closely studied for months back in 2004. ..
Read More.. Posted on:30 Dec 2006 |
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Planet-hunting space telescope launched
A small European satellite began its mission Wednesday to peer into the blinding light of nearby stars in an attempt to discover the first rocky planets outside our solar system.
The craft was launched at 1423 GMT (9:23 a.m. EST) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz rocket and attached Fregat upper stage successfully deployed the COROT spacecraft into orbit about 50 minutes after liftoff. ..
Read More.. Posted on:28 Dec 2006 |
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Russia launches trio of navigation satellites
The latest additions to Russia's indigenous satellite navigation system successfully arrived in orbit Monday after a nearly four-hour ride aboard a Proton rocket.
Three 3,000-pound satellites were packaged atop the Proton launcher. The Christmas delivery was right on target, and the rocket reached the correct orbit about 12,000 miles high with an inclination of around 64.8 degrees.
Liftoff of the Proton K rocket was at 2018 GMT (3:18 p.m. EST) from Complex 81 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
The booster included a Block DM upper stage that conducted two burns to deliver the satellite trio into the proper orbit.
The three spacecraft are upgraded members of Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System, the nation's counterpart to the U.S. Global Positioning System. ..
Read More.. Posted on:28 Dec 2006 |
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Shuttle Landing a 'Great Christmas Present,' NASA Says
The space shuttle Discovery’s apparently flawless landing Friday capped a successful construction mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and has NASA celebrating the holidays a bit early, top agency officials said Friday.
“Christmas came three days early for us,” NASA launch director Mike Leinbach said after the shuttle touched down here at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). “It was great timing for us and it was a great Christmas present.”..
Read More.. Posted on:24 Dec 2006 |
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