SCOTUS  ProLife  BangList  Aliens  StatesRights  WOT  HomosexualAgenda  GlobalWarming  Corruption  Taxes  Congress  Elections  Obama  ACORN  TalkRadio  CopyrightList  Rally  WalterReed  TeaParty  TeaPartyExpress  TeaPartyRebellion  MarchOnDC  FreeperConvention  Donate 

Contribute to FR: $10 $20 $50 $100 Or mail checks to: FreeRepublic, LLC, PO Box 9771, Fresno, CA 93794

Keyword: space

Brevity: Headers | « Text »
  • NRO To Loft Several Big Satellites by Mid-2011

    11/08/2009 1:49:39 AM PST · by sonofstrangelove · 2 replies · 140+ views
    Space News ^ | 11/04/2009 | Warren Ferster
    Several high-priority and high-priced satellites crucial to U.S. national security are slated to launch over the next 15 to 18 months, according to Bruce Carlson, director of the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office (NRO). During a keynote address here at the Strategic Space Symposium, Carlson did not provide details of the upcoming missions. Most of the NRO’s satellite programs are classified. Carlson noted the launches to make the point that the NRO continues to perform its mission despite having had its struggles in recent years. But Carlson also said the NRO has suffered a steep decline in its research and development...
  • Kate Becker: Robots vs. humans: What's the next scene?

    11/06/2009 4:46:19 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 9 replies · 198+ views
    Daily Camera ^ | 11/06/09 | Kate Becker
    Scene 1: The White House Rose Garden. The President of the United States is standing before a crowd of amateur astronomers, students and teachers, with his science adviser by his side. In front of him: a telescope. The president bends down and presses his eye to the eyepiece. Flashbulbs pop. Scene 2: Kennedy Space Center. The Ares 1-X rocket sits on the launch pad, ready for its first test flight. More than 300-feet tall but fewer than 20 feet in diameter, it looks as precarious as a flying chopstick, but tomorrow's astronauts might ride a rocket like this one to...
  • China Declares Space War Inevitable

    11/06/2009 3:05:28 PM PST · by gaijin · 19 replies · 518+ views
    DOD Buzz ^ | Nov 4th, 2009 | Colin Clark
    The Obama adminstration must react responsibly to China’s declaration that military operations in space are inevitable, a top China expert says. “How will the US react to Chinese diplomatic efforts in light of the PLA’s blunt statements on space warfare? This is something the Obama administration has to take into account,” said Dean Cheng, China specialist at Washington’s Heritage Foundation. “Are we going to see outrage, any meaningful reactions to the Chinese statements or again that it was someone speaking out of school and we just aren’t sure.” Cheng was referring to what appears to mark a major shift...
  • Why Evolutionary-Based Science Is A Menace To Scientific Research, Discovery, and Progress

    11/06/2009 9:39:16 AM PST · by GodGunsGuts · 63 replies · 702+ views
    Why Evolutionary-Based Science Is A Menace To Scientific Research, Discovery, and Progress Evolutionary-based research always begins with the inaccurate and unscientific presupposition that the Theory of Evolution, i.e. the Big Bang, the spontaneous generation of life, and common descent, is true. Due to this systemic problem, scientific discovery and progress is severely hampered, not to mention the hundreds of millions of research dollars that are squandered every year. In a time in which almost ANY alternative thought is given a platform, the evolution industry is silencing dissenting scientific evidence, even when it’s from fellow evolutionists! See the growing list of...
  • Rocketeers Win $1 Million in Lunar Lander Contest

    11/05/2009 7:41:48 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 7 replies · 250+ views
    space.com ^ | 11/03/09 | Tarig Malik
    A California-based team of engineers has snagged a $1 million NASA prize by winning a pitched competition to fly homemade rockets on mock moon landing missions. Masten Space Systems of Mojave, Calif., successfully flew its rocket Xoie (pronounced Zoey) twice within a set time limit to qualify for the top Level 2 prize in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, a NASA-sponsored contest to build mock lunar landers.
  • U.S. eyes "intent" of China's space programs

    11/05/2009 7:35:40 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 4 replies · 145+ views
    Reuters ^ | 11/03/09 | Phil Stewart
    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military needs to deepen dialogue with China to better understand the intent of its space programs, a U.S. general said on Tuesday, after a Chinese commander announced plans to develop offensive military capabilities in space. General Kevin Chilton, head of the Pentagon's Strategic Command which coordinates U.S. military operations in space, said China-watchers had been "absolutely amazed" by the country's advances in its space programs over the past decade.
  • India's space ambitions taking off

    11/05/2009 7:23:10 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 4 replies · 173+ views
    Washington Post ^ | 11/04/09 | Emily Wax
    PANNITHITTU, India -- In this seaside village, the children of farmers and fishermen aspire to become something that their impoverished parents never thought possible: astronauts.
  • Aluminum Fuel Could Power Future Space Trips

    11/05/2009 7:14:25 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 5 replies · 340+ views
    Discovery News ^ | 11/03/09 | Eric Bland
    Nov. 3, 2009 -- Aluminum and water is usually a boring combination, but light a mixture of nanoaluminum and ice and the results are explosive. Scientists from Purdue University have created a new, environmentally friendly solid rocket fuel that recently sent a rocket screaming 1300 feet into the air using seven inches of nanoaluminum and ice. The new fuel could power missions to the moon or Mars while dramatically reducing the amount of on-board fuel.
  • Device Like 'Star Trek' Replicator Might Fly on Space Station

    11/05/2009 7:04:22 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 7 replies · 272+ views
    space.com ^ | 11/04/09 | Jeremy Hsu
    Space explorers have yet to get their hands on the replicator of "Star Trek" to create anything they might require. But NASA has developed a technology that could enable lunar colonists to carry out on-site manufacturing on the moon, or allow future astronauts to create critical spare parts during the long trip to Mars.
  • Virgin Galactic considers new satellite design

    11/05/2009 6:58:17 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 1 replies · 97+ views
    Flight International ^ | 11/04/09 | Rob Coppinger
    Virgin Galactic's proposed LauncherOne rocket may orbit a new mini satellite designed specifically for the launch vehicle to increase the payload's useful mass for power, propulsion or instruments. In conventional rockets adaptors integrate a spacecraft with the launcher but that means useful payload mass is reduced. A decision about a LauncherOne specific satellite could come following internal studies or Virgin Galactic's expected mid-2010 request for industry proposals.
  • Beam me up ... for a prize!

    11/05/2009 6:53:17 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 1 replies · 95+ views
    msnbc.com ^ | 11/04/09 | Alan Boyle
    Just days after $1.65 million was won in a NASA-backed rocket contest, it looks as if big money will be awarded in the $2 million Power Beaming Challenge as well. Like the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge, the Power Beaming Challenge is part of NASA's Centennial Challenges, a program aimed at encouraging new technologies that could be adopted by the space agency for future exploration. This particular competition could eventually lay the groundwork for future space elevators - but power-beaming technology is likely to be put to work even if those space elevators are never built.
  • Peter Diamandis: the joy of taking risks

    11/05/2009 6:46:06 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 1 replies · 61+ views
    New Scientist Space ^ | 11/04/09 | Ivan Semeniuk
    Peter Diamandis, CEO of the X Prize Foundation, wants to use our competitive instincts to make the world a better place. After handing out $10 million to the first private team to achieve suborbital space flight, he's extended his X-prize concept into earthly realms such as automotive engineering, genomics and health care. And while he still sends billionaires to the International Space Station as managing director of the firm Space Adventures, he's lately teamed up with futurist Ray Kurzweil to create the Singularity University, where young entrepreneurs are trained to think about global issues. Ivan Semeniuk spoke with Diamandis about...
  • China Declares Space War Inevitable

    11/05/2009 6:33:18 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 3 replies · 157+ views
    DOD Buzz ^ | 11/04/09 | Colin Clark
    The Obama adminstration must react responsibly to China’s declaration that military operations in space are inevitable, a top China expert says. “How will the US react to Chinese diplomatic efforts in light of the PLA’s blunt statements on space warfare? This is something the Obama administration has to take into account,” said Dean Cheng, China specialist at Washington’s Heritage Foundation. “Are we going to see outrage, any meaningful reactions to the Chinese statements or again that it was someone speaking out of school and we just aren’t sure.”
  • Starring Intelligent Aliens

    11/05/2009 6:20:51 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 8 replies · 221+ views
    Astrobiology Magazine ^ | 11/05/09 | Clara Moskowitz
    When scientists search the heavens for habitable worlds beyond Earth, they don't necessarily know what to look for. A new study has found that the most probable place to find intelligent life in the galaxy is around stars with roughly the mass of the sun, and surface temperatures between 5,300 and 6,000 Kelvin (9,100 and 10,300 degrees Fahrenheit) - in fact, stars very similar to our own sun.
  • Space Elevator Contest Heats Up

    11/05/2009 6:00:50 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 17 replies · 301+ views
    space.com ^ | 11/05/09 | Clara Moskowitz
    Pull me up, Scotty. At least one team has qualified for part of a $2 million prize up for grabs in this year's Space Elevator Games, a NASA-sponsored contest to build machines that can climb a cable in the sky – precursors for a futuristic transit system to space. On Wednesday, an entry by the Washington state-based team LaserMotive climbed a 3,000-foot (900-meter) tether suspended by a helicopter at a speed of about 8 mph (13 kph). The feat was the best performance yet of a miniature space elevator prototype, though still a long shot away from what would be...
  • NASA Drops Ares I-Y Flight-test

    11/05/2009 7:03:56 AM PST · by Yo-Yo · 6 replies · 227+ views
    Aviation Week ^ | Nov 4, 2009 | Frank Morring, Jr.
    NASA's Constellation Program has recommended dropping a planned follow-on to last week's successful Ares I-X flight-test because it doesn't have the funding necessary to get an upper stage engine ready in time. Instead, the Ares I-X engineering team will study the costs and benefits of going ahead with a 2012 launch previously dubbed "Ares I-X prime" that would flight-test a full five-segment Ares I solid-fuel first stage and the Orion crew exploration vehicle launch abort system at high altitude, according to Constellation Program Manager Jeff Hanley. Hanley said on Nov. 3 he has recommended to NASA headquarters that the Ares...
  • Pentagon eyes crash analysis on 1,300 satellites

    11/05/2009 12:58:18 AM PST · by sonofstrangelove · 15 replies · 372+ views
    Reuters ^ | 11/03/2009 | Andrea Shalal-Esa
    The U.S. military said on Tuesday it is now tracking 800 maneuverable satellites on a daily basis for possible collisions and expects to add 500 more non-maneuvering satellites by year's end. The U.S. Air Force began upgrading its ability to predict possible collisions in space after a dead Russian military communications satellite and a commercial U.S. satellite owned by Iridium collided on Feb. 10. General Kevin Chilton, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, called the collision the "seminal event" in the satellite industry during the past year and said it destroyed any sense that space was so vast that collisions were...
  • Space Weapons an "Inevitability," Says Commander-in-Chief of China Airforce

    11/04/2009 11:01:27 AM PST · by rtran1971 · 24 replies · 421+ views
    In a wide-ranging interview in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Daily, air force commander Xu Qiliang said it was imperative for the PLA air force to develop offensive and defensive operations in outer space. "We must build an outer space force that conforms with the needs of our nation's development (and) the demands of the development of the space age." "Only power can protect peace," the 59-year-old commander said in the interview given to coincide with this month's 60th anniversary of the founding of the PLA air force.
  • 40 Years Ago This Month: Apollo 12

    11/03/2009 8:57:44 AM PST · by chimera · 27 replies · 620+ views
    various | 11/3/2009 | chimera
    They say no one remembers No. 2, but the second manned lunar landing was memorable for a number of reasons. First, almost anyone familiar with the Apollo program remembers the launch. Apollo 12 was successfully launched in a rainstorm from Kennedy Space Center on Nov. 14th, 1969. As the Saturn V lifted from the launch pad, the familiar voice of Mission Commander Pete Conrad was heard on the air-to-ground loop playfully exclaiming, “That’s a LOVELY liftoff, that’s not bad at all!”, and indeed for a time it wasn’t. While normal at first, all hell broke loose about 30 seconds into...
  • ISRO to outsource rocket-work to private companies

    11/02/2009 5:58:48 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 13 replies · 209+ views
    The Economic Times ^ | 11/03/09 | Peerzada Abrar
    BANGALORE: For the first time since the success of India's maiden unmanned moon mission, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is ready to outsource more high-end work to private companies — everything from building more complicated systems to assembling it.
  • Rocketeers take lead in $1 million race

    11/02/2009 5:35:53 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 6 replies · 229+ views
    msnbc.com ^ | 11/02/09 | Alan Boyle
    Masten Space Systems' Xoie rocket prototype has apparently taken the lead in a nail-biting race for a million-dollar prize from NASA. The Masten team's "try, try again" effort at California's Mojave Air and Space Port was aimed at winning the top prize in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge's Level 2 contest. Although the contest's outcome hasn't been announced, it looks as if Friday's flight was good enough to best Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace, which qualified for the prize with its Scorpius rocket last month. A dark-horse team in the race, California-based Unreasonable Rocket, put in a valiant effort during several...
  • Let's go sailing on lakes of Titan!

    11/02/2009 5:32:45 PM PST · by KevinDavis · 29 replies · 474+ views
    Space scientists in the US and UK are planning an incredible mission to go sailing on an alien lake on the far side of the solar system. They are proposing a mission in NASA's low-cost Discovery series to launch an unmanned, nuclear-powered "boat" to Saturn's biggest moon Titan in 2015. It would bob about on a vast sea of liquid methane called Ligeia Mare, radioing home photos and other data for six months.
  • China's "father of space program" mourned across country AKA ChiCom spy is dead.

    11/02/2009 3:03:36 PM PST · by Kevin J waldroup · 9 replies · 378+ views
    Xinhua ^ | 2009-11-02 | Ouyang Dongmei
    China's "father of space program" mourned across country (Source: Xinhua) 2009-11-02   People in deep sorrow come to express condolences in a small mourning hall that was set up at Qian Xuesen's home, Beijing, Nov. 1, 2009. Qian, also known as Tsien Hsue-shen, died of illness in Beijing Saturday morning at the age of 98. He led the country's missile and aviation programs and played a significant role in developing China's first man-made earth satellite. (Xinhua/Gao Xueyu)     BEIJING, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- The death of China's legendary scientist Qian Xuesen has plunged many Chinese into deep sorrow and people...
  • Significance versus insignificance (your worldview matters!)

    11/02/2009 8:27:43 AM PST · by GodGunsGuts · 17 replies · 405+ views
    Creation Magazine ^ | December 2009 | Don Batten, Ph.D.
    The Bible tells us that God made mankind—male and female—“in His image” (Genesis 1:26, 27). This gives us humans a special significance in the cosmos. However, modern secular (godless) thinking minimizes this significance. As Voyager 1 reached the edge of our solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan asked NASA to instruct Voyager to turn around and take a picture looking back towards Earth. The grainy image showed our home as a tiny pale blue dot. In a book written soon after, atheist Sagan wrote, “our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are...
  • Planet hunt delayed (Kepler problem...Noise confounds NASA mission to find an Earth twin)

    11/02/2009 7:47:52 AM PST · by LibWhacker · 18 replies · 347+ views
    Nature ^ | 10/30/09 | Eric Hand
    NASA's Kepler mission is unlikely to detect any Earth-like exoplanets before 2011 due to an electronic glitchKepler, NASA's mission to search for planets around other stars, will not be able to spot an Earth-sized planet until 2011, according to the mission's team. The delays are caused by noisy amplifiers in the telescope's electronics. The team is racing to fix the issue by changing the way data from the telescope is processed, but the delay could mean that ground-based observers now have the upper hand in the race to be the first to spot an Earth twin. "We're not going to...
  • U.S. Air Force Studying Wider Use of MDA Radars for Space Tracking

    11/01/2009 1:44:45 AM PDT · by sonofstrangelove · 2 replies · 197+ views
    Space News ^ | 10/30/2009 | Turner Brinton
    The U.S. Air Force has hired Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems to study the possibility of integrating additional Missile Defense Agency (MDA) sensors into the U.S. Space Surveillance Network that tracks orbiting satellites, a Raytheon official said Oct. 28. The Tewksbury, Mass.-based company was awarded a $3 million contract from Air Force Space Command for a program called the Enterprise Sensing Prototype Architecture for Space Situational Awareness (ESP-SSA), Joe Chapa, Raytheon’s technical director for national theater security programs, said in an interview. The Air Force’s Space Surveillance Network employs a host of optical telescopes and radars around the world. The telescopes...
  • Darpa Looks To Send The Internet Into Orbit

    11/01/2009 12:03:21 AM PDT · by sonofstrangelove · 8 replies · 354+ views
    Space Mart ^ | 10/29/2009 | Noah Shachtman
    There've been satellites orbiting Earth for half a century. But getting information to and from them is still a pain. Which is why Pentagon research arm Darpa is looking to finally hook the orbiting spacecraft up with reliable broadband connections. It's part of a larger movement to extend terrestrial networks into space, and eventually build an "Interplanetary Internet." In the meantime, we might even get less-than-crappy satellite internet service - if the project works out, of course. Darpa recently issued a request for information about supplying "persistent broadband ground connectivity for spacecraft in low-Earth orbit." The idea would be to...
  • Can Life Exist on Other Planets?

    10/29/2009 8:08:40 PM PDT · by GodGunsGuts · 43 replies · 974+ views
    ACTS & FACTS ^ | October 2009 | Danny Faulkner, Ph.D.
    Many people make a distinction between the origin of life and the evolution of life. In this view, biological evolution refers to the gradual development of the diversity of living things from a common ancestor, while the ultimate origin of life is a separate question. This is a legitimate point, but evolution is about much more than just biology. The evolutionary worldview is that all of physical existence, both living and non-living, arose through purely natural processes. With this broad definition of evolution, abiogenesis--the spontaneous appearance of life from non-living matter--is a necessity. If life did arise on earth by...
  • Russians to ride a nuclear-powered spacecraft to Mars

    MOSCOW – A nuclear-powered spaceship that can carry passengers to Mars and beyond may sound like science fiction. But Russian engineers say they have a breakthrough design for such a craft, which could leapfrog them way ahead in the international race to build a manned spacecraft that can cover vast interplanetary distances. They claim they’ll be ready to build one as early as 2012. In a meeting with top Russian space scientists Wednesday, President Dmitry Medvedev gave the nuke-powered space craft a green light and pledged to come up with the cash to cover its $600-million price tag. “It’s a...
  • One Spectacular Big Bang(Pic of Ares Rocket Breaking Sound Barrier, Very Cool!)

    10/29/2009 7:41:47 AM PDT · by Reaganesque · 26 replies · 1,441+ views
    Gizmodo.com ^ | 10/29/09 | AP
    <p>Wonder at the impressive technological prowess of the genius engineers at NASA, as brave Ares launches. Be amazed at the sheer beauty of the mighty rocket as it it breaks the sound barrier, thundering the skies of this glorious nation.</p> <p>OK, so it looks like a flying condom.</p>
  • Russia develops design for spaceship with nuclear engine

    10/28/2009 9:39:49 PM PDT · by bogusname · 36 replies · 787+ views
    RIANOVOSTI ^ | October 28, 2009 | RIA Novosti
    FRYAZINO (Moscow Region), October 28 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos has developed a design for a piloted spacecraft powered by a nuclear engine, the head of the agency said on Wednesday. "The project is aimed at implementing large-scale space exploration programs," Anatoly Perminov said at a meeting of the commission on the modernization of the Russian economy. He added that the development of Megawatt-class nuclear space power systems (MCNSPS) for manned spacecraft was crucial for Russia if the country wanted to maintain a competitive edge in the space race, including the exploration of the Moon and...
  • Satellites: The Pentagon's Big Blind Spot

    10/28/2009 5:14:07 PM PDT · by Saije · 2 replies · 272+ views
    Business Week ^ | 10/27/2009 | Joel Schechtman
    In January 2007, the Chinese military launched a missile 500 miles into space, shattering an orbiting satellite. The assault was only a test that took out one of China's own weather satellites. But it sparked an international outcry over the country's willingness to use weapons in space. A spokesman for the U.S. National Security Council called the test "inconsistent" with efforts for international cooperation. Military experts have since become concerned that space could become the next battleground for global conflicts. Of particular concern is the lack of visibility with some missile strikes, such as China's in 2007. Some experts say...
  • Ares 1-X Test Launch

    10/28/2009 3:53:42 AM PDT · by FL_Native · 54 replies · 1,018+ views
    Today we will attempt to launch the Space Shuttle replacement again... "today's launch is the first test of the Ares I rocket NASA is designing to carry astronauts after the space shuttle is retired. The unmanned test rocket, called Ares I-X, is powered only by a four-segment shuttle solid rocket booster. Everything above that is a mock-up." Wednesday October 28, 2009 6:46 James Dean
  • Ares I-X Launch Live Thread (10/28/09 8:00 AM EDT)

    10/27/2009 6:13:12 PM PDT · by KevinDavis · 157 replies · 4,483+ views
    10/27/09 | Kevin Davis
    Well lets try it again..
  • Air Force's Secretive Space Plane Nears Maiden Voyage

    10/25/2009 1:32:54 AM PDT · by sonofstrangelove · 21 replies · 1,612+ views
    Space.com ^ | 22 October 2009 | Leonard David
    You would think that an unpiloted space plane built to rocket spaceward from Florida atop an Atlas booster, circle the planet for an extended time, then land on autopilot on a California runway would be big news. But for the U.S. Air Force X-37B project — seemingly, mum's the word. There is an air of vagueness regarding next year's Atlas Evolved Expendable launch of the unpiloted, reusable military space plane. The X-37B will be cocooned within the Atlas rocket's launch shroud — a ride that's far from cheap. While the launch range approval is still forthcoming, SPACE.com has learned that...
  • Mum's the Word for NASA's Secret Space Plane X-37B

    10/22/2009 5:04:59 PM PDT · by driftdiver · 15 replies · 768+ views
    Foxnews / Space.com ^ | Oct 22, 2009 | Leonard David
    You would think that an unpiloted space plane built to rocket spaceward from Florida atop an Atlas booster, circle the planet for an extended time, then land on autopilot on a California runway would be big news. But for the U.S. Air Force X-37B project — seemingly, mum's the word. There is an air of vagueness regarding next year's Atlas Evolved Expendable launch of the unpiloted, reusable military space plane. The X-37B will be cocooned within the Atlas rocket's launch shroud — a ride that's far from cheap. While the launch range approval is still forthcoming, SPACE.com has learned that...
  • Pu-238 Restart Denied with Final Passage of Energy Bill

    10/21/2009 12:43:45 AM PDT · by sonofstrangelove · 6 replies · 371+ views
    Space News ^ | 10/20/2009 | Brian Berger
    The U.S. Senate gave final passage to an energy and water spending bill Oct. 15 that denies President Barack Obama’s request for $30 million for the Department of Energy to restart production of plutonium-238 (pu-238) for NASA deep space missions. The House of Representatives originally approved $10 million of Obama’s pu-238 request for next year, but ultimately adopted the Senate’s position before voting Oct. 1 to approve the conference report on the 2010 Energy-Water Appropriations bill (H.R. 3183). The bill now heads to Obama, who is expected to sign it. NASA relies on pu-238 to power long-lasting spacecraft batteries that...
  • U.S. Intelligence Official Drops Hint About Next-Gen Spy Sat Capability

    10/21/2009 12:23:22 AM PDT · by sonofstrangelove · 12 replies · 649+ views
    Space News ^ | 10/20/2009 | Warren Ferster
    A new generation of electro-optical imaging satellites to be built by Lockheed Martin pending congressional approval will have an aperturesize of 2.4 meters, a senior U.S.intelligence official said. James R. Clapper, undersecretary of defense for intelligence, disclosed the aperture size — or diameter of the satellite’s primary imaging mirror — of the Next-Generation Optical satellite system Oct.19 during a keynote address here at the Geoint 2009 Symposium. Technical details and capabilities of the nation’s spy satellites typically are closely guarded secrets. Aperture size and altitude are the two factors that determine a satellite’s imaging resolution, which is the minimum size...
  • U.S. Losing Space Race

    10/20/2009 12:55:11 AM PDT · by sonofstrangelove · 57 replies · 1,404+ views
    DoD Buzz ^ | 10/19/2009 | Colin Clark
    The nation that made it to the Moon in 12 years now struggles to build a satellite in that time and is at risk of losing its preeminence in space. Those words come from one of the top four space intelligence lawmakers on Capitol Hill, Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, chairman of the House Select technical and tactical intelligence subcommittee, who spoke before an audience of some 1,200 intelligence practitioners and industry at the Geoint annual conference in San Antonio, Texas. Ruppersburger noted that 20 years ago the U.S. had 70 percent of the commercial satellite market which is now down to...
  • Science News or Tabloid Journalism?

    10/19/2009 8:43:31 PM PDT · by GodGunsGuts · 15 replies · 630+ views
    CEH ^ | October 19, 2009
    Oct 19, 2009 — Science news outlets have put out some bizarre headlines recently.  Readers can judge whether they should be blessed with the label “science” or belong instead at supermarket checkouts. Women are evolving fatter:  New Scientist and PhysOrg said that natural selection is making women shorter, plumper and more fertile.  “The take-home message is that humans are currently evolving,” said Stephen Stearns of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, North Carolina.  “Natural selection is still operating.” Killer algae heading north:  Science Daily said that toxic algae was a key player in mass extinctions in the past, and...
  • China works for Mars and Moon missions

    10/19/2009 5:36:27 PM PDT · by KevinDavis · 3 replies · 177+ views
    RIA Novosti ^ | 10/19/09
    MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti commentator Alexander Peslyak) - The launch of a Russian Phobos Grunt probe to Mars on October 16 has been delayed until 2011. The delay also affects China's first mission to Mars. The 240-pound Chinese Yinghou-1 spacecraft was to be mounted atop the Russian spacecraft for transport to the Martian orbit, where it was to be released before the Russian spacecraft landed on Phobos.
  • The International Space Station Discovers 'Planet 51'

    10/19/2009 5:12:50 PM PDT · by KevinDavis · 9 replies · 460+ views
    PR Newswire ^ | 10/19/09
    CULVER CITY, Calif., and THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION, Low Earth Orbit, The Milky Way Galaxy, Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- To celebrate the Solar System Premiere of Columbia Pictures' new animated comedy Planet 51, which will be released in theaters on Earth November 20, 2009, the film is currently orbiting the planet on the International Space Station!
  • Towards Other Earths: 32 New Exoplanets Found

    10/19/2009 11:08:33 AM PDT · by xcamel · 34 replies · 689+ views
    Science Daily ^ | 10/19/2009 | staff
    Today, at an international ESO/CAUP exoplanet conference in Porto, the team who built the High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher, better known as HARPS, the spectrograph for ESO's 3.6-metre telescope, reports on the incredible discovery of some 32 new exoplanets, cementing HARPS's position as the world’s foremost exoplanet hunter. This result also increases the number of known low-mass planets by an impressive 30%. Over the past five years HARPS has spotted more than 75 of the roughly 400 or so exoplanets now known.
  • NASA Discovers A Ring Around The Solar System

    10/18/2009 9:05:17 PM PDT · by Defiant · 41 replies · 1,602+ views
    NPR ^ | October 18, 2009 | unknown
    NASA scientists have discovered a mysterious ribbon around our solar system —- a stripe made of hydrogen —- that defies all current expectations about what the edge of the solar system might look like. Richard Fisher, the director of NASA's Heliophysics Division, tells NPR's Guy Raz that this discovery is a big moment for the scientific community. "We thought we knew everything about everything, and it turned out that there were unknown unknowns."
  • News to Note, October 17, 2009 (see especially STEM CELL STORY...FASCINATING!)

    10/18/2009 2:13:40 PM PDT · by GodGunsGuts · 3 replies · 491+ views
    AiG ^ | October 17, 2009
    News to Note, October 17, 2009: A weekly feature examining news from the biblical viewpoint (fascinating STEM CELL piece in story #5!)...
  • An Open Letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden From Robert Bigelow

    10/15/2009 6:36:42 PM PDT · by KevinDavis · 5 replies · 402+ views
    spaceref.com ^ | 10/14/09 | Robert T. Bigelow
    Editor's note: this article was originally published in Space News and is reprinted here courtesy of its author. On behalf of myself and all of us at Bigelow Aerospace let me first congratulate you on becoming NASA administrator. I'm sure the joy you must feel in being entrusted with leading such an extraordinary organization is only rivaled by the difficulty of the decisions you are now facing.
  • Seize Your Chance to Explore the Universe

    10/15/2009 6:15:24 PM PDT · by KevinDavis · 4 replies · 274+ views
    space.com ^ | 10/15/09 | Adrian Brown
    We all have a time for only a fleeting apprehension of Our Universe. Living for a finite time within our human bodies, we all perceive our surrounding Universe differently. Rene Descartes famously declared he could trust nothing more than the fact that he was a thinking, observing being. The very basis of experiencing life is our ability to observe.
  • "Significant Discovery" in Exoplanet Research

    10/15/2009 5:30:45 PM PDT · by KevinDavis · 9 replies · 495+ views
    Space Coalition Blog ^ | 10/15/09 | Leonard David
    Stand by for yet another "significant discovery" in the field of exoplanets. That's the word that will come out next week from an international gathering of exoplanet experts during a conference in Porto, Portugal. The new finding makes use of the European Southern Observatory's (ESO) High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher. Called HARPS for short, this device is a spectrograph for use with ESO's 3.6-meter telescope. B The noteworthy revelation is to be announced on Monday, October 19. Detailing the finding will be Stephane Udry of the Geneva Observatory in Switzerland, Xavier Bonfils of the Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Grenoble in...
  • Space exploration: European Ministers in Prague prepare a roadmap towards a common vision

    10/14/2009 7:19:18 PM PDT · by KevinDavis · 4 replies · 117+ views
    ESA ^ | 10/14/09
    ESA PR 26-2009. Ministers from the 29 European Space Agency and European Union Member States will meet in Prague on 23 October for the 1st EU-ESA International Conference on Human Space Exploration, to prepare a roadmap leading to the definition of a common vision and strategic planning for space exploration.
  • Nuclear-Powered Robot Ship Could Sail Seas of Titan

    10/14/2009 6:03:04 PM PDT · by KevinDavis · 9 replies · 351+ views
    space.com ^ | 10/14/09 | Jeremy Hsu
    One of NASA's next great adventures could take place with a raindrop-flecked camera bobbing around on extraterrestrial waves. Or at least, that's the hope of several researchers who want to sail an unmanned, nuclear-powered capsule on Saturn's moon Titan. Titan eerily resembles Earth with characteristics such as wind, rain and lakes, but all within the bounds of a frigid environment where methane and ethane replace liquid water. The many lakes dotting the moon's surface suggested an alternative mission proposal compared to the usual rovers and hard surface landers that NASA has sent to other destinations.