Free Republic

Iridium Communications Inc. today unveiled its next-generation “Iridium 9602” satellite data transceiver at its annual Partners Conference in Phoenix, Ariz. The Iridium 9602 is a full-duplex short-burst data (SBD) transceiver designed for embedded applications in the rapidly growing market for remote asset tracking and monitoring solutions. The product, which is the culmination of a two-year R&D program, has completed prototype testing, and Iridium expects to begin commercial deliveries in June. “The smaller, lower-cost Iridium 9602 will serve as the data communication engine for a wide range of portable tracking and monitoring devices, leveraging Iridium’s global coverage and low-latency, two-way data...

Facing a looming gap in its mobile satellite communications coverage, the U.S. Navy plans to tap a new service developed by commercial provider Iridium Communications LLC as it waits for its next-generation constellation to come on line. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), which buys commercial satellite capacity on behalf of Pentagon users, plans to spend about $20 million this year on the Netted Iridium service, Bruce Bennett, DISA’s director of satellite communications, teleports and services, said in a Dec. 14 interview. DISA spent about $70 million on Iridium mobile satellite services in 2009, and the total amount should increase...

WASHINGTON - Iridium Satellite LLC confirmed today that one of its satellites was destroyed Tuesday in an unprecedented collision with a spent Russian satellite and that the incident could result in limited disruptions of service. According to an e-mail alert issued by NASA today, Russia's Cosmos 2251 satellite slammed into the Iridium craft at 11:55 a.m. EST (0455 GMT) over Siberia at an altitude of 490 miles (790 km). The incident was observed by the U.S. Defense Department's Space Surveillance Network, which later was tracking two large clouds of debris. "This is the first time we've ever had two intact...

Police were seeking help Thursday locating a stolen truck that was carrying radioactive material. The white 2001 Ford F-350 was taken Wednesday morning from the Sunlight Food Mart at 1935 South Jupiter Road in Garland. Garland police Lt. Scot Bunch said the truck has a cab-over camper and flames painted on the hood and front quarter panels. It has the name Bonded Inspections Inc. on the sides, and Texas license plate 5YL-T51. ------------------------------------------------------- Anyone with information about the theft or the suspect can call the Garland Police Department at 972-485-4840 or the investigating officer at 972-205-2060.

Terrestrial Evidence of a Nuclear Catastrophe in Paleoindian Times by Richard B. Firestone & William Topping The Paleoindian occupation of North America, theoretically the point of entry of the first people to the Americas, is traditionally assumed to have occurred within a short time span beginning at about 12,000 yr B.P. This is inconsistent with much older South American dates of around 32,000 yr B.P.1 and the similarity of the Paleoindian toolkit to Mousterian traditions that disappeared about 30,000 years ago.2. A pattern of unusually young radiocarbon dates in the Northeast has been noted by Bonnichsen and Will.3,4 Our research...

Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Hearing Charter: Future Markets for Commercial Space Future Markets for Commercial Space April 20, 2005 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon 2318 Rayburn House Office Building Purpose: On Wednesday, April 20, at 9:30 a.m., the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics will hold a hearing to examine the future of the commercial space market and the government's role in that future. Last year, the President signed into law the Science Committee's Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act, which dealt with regulating one aspect of commercial space - private, human suborbital flights, which are generally intended for space tourism....

Chinese Scientist Sentenced Over Iridium BEIJING - A Chinese nuclear scientist has been given a suspended death sentence for planting radioactive materials in the office of a business rival, sickening the man and 74 other people, official newspapers reported Monday.   Nuclear medicine researcher Gu Jiming stashed a case containing pellets of iridium 192 above ceiling panels at a hospital in the southern city of Guangzhou, the Beijing Evening News reported. Soon after the victim — identified only by his surname, Liu — began complaining of fatigue, loss of appetite, headaches and vomiting, the paper said. A medical checkup two...

<p>SAN DIEGO — A small pellet of radioactive material disappeared just south of California's border with Mexico, prompting the U.S. Customs Service to put its inspectors on alert.</p> <p>Mexican authorities confirmed Friday that an inch-long capsule of iridium-192 disappeared from a truck in Mexico earlier this week. It was unclear whether the equipment was stolen or fell off the truck.</p>