Latest Space News 2011-09-21

BepiColombo Mercury explorer to be launched on Ariane

An unexpected labor strike halted the launch of a European Ariane 5 rocket on Tuesday.

NASA’s falling UARS satellite could offer a unique skywatching opportunity for anyone lucky enough to see it.

NASA JSC Solicitation: Engineering Product Integration Contract

In the nebula 6500 light-years from Earth, hot newborn stars that formed from clouds of hydrogen gas shine brightly with ultraviolet light. This intense radiation in turn excites the surrounding hydrogen cloud, making it glow a distinctive shade of red

NASA wants you to build apps.

Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, the first and last people on the moon, are among four people who will testify.

An index of Articles for the Space guide site.

This near-infrared photograph of the Earth was taken by the Galileo spacecraft at 6:07 a.m. PST on Dec. 11, 1990, at a range of about 1.32 million miles. The camera used light with a wavelength of 1 micron, which easily penetrates atmospheric hazes and enhances the brightness of land surfaces. South America is prominent near the center; at the top, the East Coast of the United States

The threat of a large asteroid or comet colliding with Earth is very real. How will we stop the destruction of Earth? Is there a plan to combat the, potentially, greatest threat to life on Earth?

Recent research suggests that neutron stars may gradually transform into ‘strange’ stars – i.e. in stars made up primarily from the ‘strange’ quark. The conventional wisdom is that the electric field of a such a hypothetical strange star (made up

The Higgs boson is meant to give mass to everything, including itself. It’s also its own antiparticle. That isn’t a boson, that’s a Zen riddle written into reality by some kind of Cosmic Buddha – which hasn’t stopped scientists seeking

“Columbus forced everyone to rethink, redesign and rebuild their world view.That’s what we’re doing here. To put it in 15th-century terms, we’ve reached the Canary Islands.” Dimitar Sasselov, professor of astrophysics and director of Harvard University’s Origins of Life Initiative

NASA next year will fund the development of at least two space taxi systems that could return astronauts to orbit aboard U.S. vehicles by late 2016, James Dean reports this morning in FLORIDA TODAY. The agency this week released draft terms of a contract that aims to complete designs of those systems by 2014, after which one or more would be chosen for a follow-up phase that builds and tests

Three people training to fly to the International Space Station later this year say they are confident in the Russian Soyuz rocket that will launch them toward the outpost, Todd Halvorson reports in this morning’s FLORIDA TODAY. Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, U.S. astronaut Don Pettit and European astronaut Andre Kuipers have no qualms about riding a rocket similar to one that suffered a

NASA’s Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite is expected to fall to the ground on Sept. 23.

Crew training for space station mission are confident in Russian Soyuz rocket that will launch them later this year.

Santa Barbara, CA (SPX) Sep 21, 2011 Humanity’s relationship to fire – including wildfires, burning of fossil fuels, controlled burns, and human-caused fire – is the focus of a report by an international team of scientists. The team was organized by UC Santa Barbara’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS). Fire, both friend and foe, is a controversial force in the world

Kourou, French Guiana (ESA) Sep 21, 2011 The clock is ticking for the first Soyuz flight from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. The rocket, which will carry the first two satellites of Europe’s Galileo navigation system into orbit, is being prepared for launch on 20 October. Final assembly began on 12 September of the three-stage Soyuz ST-B

Moffett Field CA (SPX) Sep 21, 2011 When NASA announced the discovery of over 1,200 new potential planets spotted by the Kepler Space Telescope, almost a quarter of them were thought to be Super-Earths. Now, new research suggests that these massive rocky planets may be the result of the failed creation of Jupiter-sized gas giants. Most astronomers currently believe planets are created by a method

Kourou, French Guiana (SPX) Sep 20, 2011 The 60th Ariane 5 launch vehicle has rolled out at the Spaceport for tomorrow night’s liftoff on a mission that will carry another dual-satellite payload at the service of Arianespace’s international customer base. Moving atop one of two large mobile launch tables in service for Ariane 5

Orlando, Fla. (UPI) Sep 20, 2011 Astronauts who’ve spent long periods in space have experienced blurred vision, a problem that could jeopardize long missions like a trip to Mars, NASA says. In a NASA survey of about 300 astronauts

Beijing (AFP) Sept 20, 2011 China said Tuesday it will launch its Tiangong-1 space module later this month, marking its first step towards building a Chinese space station. The Asian giant sees its space programme as a symbol of its global stature, growing technical expertise, and the Communist Party’s success in turning around the fortunes of the formerly poverty-stricken nation

Bethesda MD (SPX) Sep 20, 2011 In addition to the Global Positioning System, Tang, Velcro, direct to home (DTH) television, new medical instruments and improved national security, there are many other benefits that have come from our 50 years of investing in the high technologies of space flight. Here are a few. Astroglide, a brand of personal lubricant manufactured by BioFilm Inc

There always seems to be something to worry about – an asteroid that might find its way to the ground or a solar flare that threatens to devastate the Earth. Alas these events never transpire, but that doesn’t stop the rush of stories to notify you of the potential threat. … Read Full Post

The liftoff date is nearing for the first test of China’s space station module.