Free Republic

The Duke of Edinburgh, who has been keen on ships and sailing ever since his days as a naval officer, will give the clipper ship, City of Adelaide a royal sendoff next month in Greenwich. The Duke of Edinburgh will see off the ship after it docks next to its well-known sister ship, The Cutty Sark, on the River Thames. The City of Adelaide, a 150 year old ship with a rich history will embark on its journey home to South Australia. The City of Adelaide is the last remaining ship that carried emigrants from across Europe to Australia in...

Europe is eying Russia’s proposed crew-carrying Clipper spaceship, not only for use in International Space Station operations, but also to carve out their role in future Moon, Mars and beyond exploration. The Russian Clipper would be a sporty replacement for the venerable Soyuz spacecraft and would feature abilities like those touted for NASA’s drawing board vision of a Crew Exploration Vehicle, or CEV. It is expected that a decision on Europe’s future involvement in the Russian Clipper concept will be made this December at a European Space Agency (ESA) Ministerial Council meeting.