Daily Space News
Orion removed from NASA control – MOD positioning for commercial role
NASA managers are pushing through the shutdown of the Constellation Program (CxP) at a pace, with a series of memos showing all the Ares test flights have already been cancelled, along Orion ‘defunded’ and returned to the sole control of contractor Lockheed Martin. Meanwhile, MOD director Paul Hill has written to NASA administrator Charlie Bolden, requesting the Agency promotes MOD to the commercial sector.
Orion, Dragon and PDRing into Transition:
The surprise loss in the Constellation cull was Orion, when it was hoped the vehicle would survive the expected death of the Ares Program by transferring its role to another launch vehicle, such as an EELV (Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle).
China chooses first women astronauts
Beijing (AFP) March 10, 2010 - China has selected its first two women astronauts to serve on a team that will undertake future missions launched by the nation's burgeoning space programme, state media reported Wednesday.
Japanese baby-bot with runny nose teaches parenting skills
Tsukuba, Japan (AFP) March 10, 2010 - It giggles and wiggles its feet when you shake its rattle, but will get cranky and cry from too much tickling: Meet Yotaro, a Japanese robot programmed to be as fickle as a real baby.
COMS Flies To Kourou
Toulouse, France (SPX) Mar 11, 2010 -
It is the "Swiss Army Knife" of satellites. COMS (Communications, Oceanography and Meteorology Satellite) is the first European 3-axis stabilised geostationary observation satellite to carry three payloads dedicated to meteorology applications, ocean observation and telecommunications.
SpaceX Static Fire Update
Hawthorne CA (SPX) Mar 11, 2010 -
SpaceX has performed our first Static Fire for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. We counted down to an T-2 seconds and aborted on Spin Start. Given that this was our first abort event on this pad, we decided to scrub for the day to get a good look at the rocket before trying again. Everything looks great at first glance.
Atom smasher set for high speed bash by early April: CERN
Geneva (AFP) March 10, 2010 - The world's most powerful atom smasher will be brought up to unprecedented power by early April, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research said on Wednesday.
Arabsat 5A Satellite Shipped To Launch Site
Toulouse, France (SPX) Mar 11, 2010 -
The first Arabsat 5th generation satellite today left the Astrium facilties in Toulouse and was loaded in Blagnac airport on an Antonov cargo airplane that will transport it to French Guyana in view of an April launch into geostationary orbit.
Catastrophic Event Halted Star Birth In Early Galaxy
London, UK (SPX) Mar 11, 2010 -
Scientists have found evidence of a catastrophic event they believe was responsible for halting the birth of stars in a galaxy in the early Universe. They report their results in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Mysterious Cosmic Dark Flow Tracked Deeper Into Universe
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Mar 11, 2010 -
Distant galaxy clusters mysteriously stream at a million miles per hour along a path roughly centered on the southern constellations Centaurus and Hydra. A new study led by Alexander Kashlinsky at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., tracks this collective motion - dubbed the "dark flow" - to twice the distance originally reported.
China Plans To Launch Third Unmanned Moon Probe Around 2013
Beijing, China (XNA) Mar 11, 2010 -
China plans to launch its third unmanned probe to the moon, Chang'e-3, around 2013 and expects to complete the three-phase moon mission in 2017, an official said here Wednesday.
