Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
December 12, 2011
IRON AND ICE
Is Vesta the Smallest Terrestrial Planet
Huntsville AL (SPX) Dec 12, 2011
NASA's Dawn spacecraft spent the last four years voyaging to asteroid Vesta - and may have found a planet. Vesta was discovered over two hundred years ago but, until Dawn, has been seen only as an indistinct blur and considered little more than a large, rocky body. Now the spacecraft's instruments are revealing the true complexity of this ancient world. "We're seeing enormous mountains, valleys, hills, cliffs, troughs, ridges, craters of all sizes, and plains," says Chris Russell, Dawn princ ... read more

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ROCKET SCIENCE

DLR tests Australian spacecraft
Can new types of engine make spaceflight easier and more economical? This question is being investigated by researchers at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR ... more
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MERCURY RISING

Structural model of the BepiColombo Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter at ESTEC
The BepiColombo Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter Structural Model arrived at ESA's European Space Research and Technology Centre in the Netherlands on 7 November 2011, having been flown from Japan. ... more
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MARSDAILY

Life possible on 'large parts' of Mars: study
Australian scientists who modelled conditions on Mars to examine how much of the red planet was habitable said Monday that "large regions" could sustain life. ... more
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SATURN DAILY

Cassini to make closest apporach to Dione
In an action-packed day and a half, NASA's Cassini spacecraft will be making its closest swoop over the surface of Saturn's moon Dione and scrutinizing the atmosphere of Titan, Saturn's largest moon ... more
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MARSDAILY

Opportunity to Stop and Study Rocks
Opportunity is currently exploring one of the candidate sites for winter, on the north end of "Cape York" on the rim of Endeavour Crater. On Sol 2792 (Dec. 1, 2011), the rover bumped backwards ... more
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MARSDAILY

Russia could join ExoMars as full partner
Russia could become a full partner in a planned U.S.-European Mars exploration project, a European Space Agency (ESA) spokesman has said. The Space News International website quoted Franco Bon ... more
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LAUNCH PAD

NASA Announces Launch Date and Milestones for Spacex Flight
NASA has announced the launch target for Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) second Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration flight will be Feb. 7, 2012, pending completi ... more
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Military Space News, Nuclear Weapons, Missile Defense
AI powered SAR imagery analysis tool launched by SATIM and ICEYE
Ghosts of the Deep: China's AJX-002 XLUUV and the Geopolitics of Undersea Power
Global Invacom unveils XRJ transceiver for government and defense satcom
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LAUNCH PAD

O3b signs agreement with Arianespace for third Soyuz launch
O3b Networks Limited, the developer of a new global, high-speed, satellite-based Internet network for telecommunications operators and ISPs, has exercised the first of the two options in its contrac ... more
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MARSDAILY

e2v imaging sensors launched into space on NASA mission to Mars
The Mars Science Laboratory is a long-term robotic exploration to assess if Mars is, or ever has been, an environment that can support life. It will be the biggest, most capable robot to ever land o ... more
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MARSDAILY

Russia may join European Mars mission
Russia could become a full partner in a planned U.S.-European Mars exploration mission, a European Space Agency spokesman said. ... more
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MARSDAILY

Failed Mars probe to fall to Earth
A Russian spacecraft that failed to head for Mars after its November launch will fall back to Earth Jan. 9, experts said. ... more
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LAUNCH PAD

SpaceX mission to space station set for February
SpaceX will fly its Dragon capsule on an unmanned mission to the International Space Station in February, marking the first-ever bid by a private company to dock at the orbiting lab, NASA said Friday. ... more
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DRAGON SPACE

China honors its 'father' of space efforts
China says it is commemorating the centennial birth anniversary of Qian Xuesen, considered the country's father of space technology. ... more
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MOON DAILY

Hundreds of NASA's moon rocks missing: audit
Researchers have sticky fingers when it comes to NASA's moon rocks and meteorites, and hundreds of samples have gone missing after being loaned out by the US space agency, an audit said Thursday. ... more
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EXO LIFE

SETI Search Resumes at Allen Telescope Array
The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) is once again searching planetary systems for signals that would be evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Among its first targets are some of the exoplanet candi ... more
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AI tool accelerates SAR image analysis with automated object detection
Fossil energy 'significant' driver of climate-fuelled heatwaves: study
Ethiopia's mega-dam ranks 15th globally
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EXO LIFE

Tidal Locking Could Render Habitable Planets Inhospitable
Tidally-locked planets - planets with one side perpetually facing their star while the other remains shrouded in darkness - tend to be warmer on one side than the other. The presence of an atm ... more
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IRON AND ICE

Asteroid Vesta in a Rainbow-Colored Palette
This image using color data obtained by the framing camera aboard NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows Vesta's southern hemisphere in color, centered on the Rheasilvia formation. Rheasilvia is an impa ... more
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ROCKET SCIENCE

Europe's Vega rocket launch set for early 2012
Europe's new Vega rocket, which can place a 1.5-ton satellite into low-Earth orbit, is expected to see its first launch early next year, Arianespace chief Jean-Yves Le Gall said Thursday. ... more
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DRAGON SPACE

Philatelic Cover Reveals the secret names of second Taikonaut team
"The names of the seven military pilots selected in 2010 to form China's second group of taikonauts, which have been a closely guarded secret for the last 18 months, appear to have been released to ... more
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MARSDAILY

Mars Opportunity Rover Finds Rich Vein Of Gypsum Water Deposits
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found bright veins of a mineral, apparently gypsum, deposited by water. Analysis of the vein will help improve understanding of the history of wet envir ... more
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TECH SPACE

Much Ado about Space Debris
In recent days there has been a hutesium et clamor, otherwise known as a hue and cry, for a cleanup of space debris. The demand to remove all that space trash is admirable. The human race has been c ... more
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ROCKET SCIENCE

NASA Ready to Test Upgraded J-2X Powerpack
For engineers working on the J-2X engine program, installation of the upgraded J-2X powerpack on the A-1 Test Stand on Dec. 5 had to feel like a long-awaited holiday gift. The powerpack consis ... more
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MARSDAILY

Opportunity Spent Holiday at 'Turkey Haven'
Opportunity spent the Thanksgiving holiday at a location called "Turkey Haven," on the north end of Cape York on the rim of Endeavour Crater. This particular location provided favorable northe ... more
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24/7 Energy News Coverage
New fabrication method expands material options for quantum devices
Nuclearn secures $10.5 million to expand AI platform for nuclear operations
China penalises popular app Xiaohongshu over content
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MARSDAILY

New Tool for Touring Mars Using Detailed Images
An improved tool has been introduced for viewing channels, dunes, boulders and other features revealed in the huge image files from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on ... more
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LAUNCH PAD

Boeing Receives USAF Reusable Booster System Contract
Boeing has received a $2 million contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) to define requirements and design concepts for the Reusable Booster System (RBS) Flight and Ground Experi ... more
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LAUNCH PAD

Soyuz' second mission from French Guiana is readied at the Spaceport
One of four mission campaigns currently underway for Arianespace is entering its final phase with the payload integration and completion of basic build-up for the Soyuz that will perform this medium ... more
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ROCKET SCIENCE

Lockheed Martin Selected USAF for Reusable Booster System Flight Demonstrator Program
Lockheed Martin has been selected by the U.S. Air Force for a contract award to support the Reusable Booster System (RBS) Flight and Ground Experiments program. The value of the first task order is ... more
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LAUNCH PAD

On the record with Arianespace
Arianespace Chairman and CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall and members of the company's management team are in Washington, DC this week for their traditional year-end visit and holiday event. While in the US na ... more
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STATION NEWS

Astronaut TJ Creamer Learns Space Station Science From the Ground Up
He traveled 65,200,000 miles around the planet while living aboard the International Space Station for 161 days, but a new journey has led astronaut TJ Creamer to the Marshall Space Flight Center in ... more
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LAUNCH PAD

United Launch Alliance Marks Five Years of Mission Success With 56 Launches in 60 Months
United Launch Alliance was formed just five years ago, bringing together the world's two most experienced launch teams and two highly reliable launch systems, Atlas and Delta. ULA's unparalleled rec ... more
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SATURN DAILY

What's That Sparkle in Cassini's Eye?
The moon Enceladus, one of the jewels of the Saturn system, sparkles peculiarly bright in new images obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft. The images of the moon, the first ever taken of Ence ... more
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