Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

May 02, 2013

The Well-Built Italian
Bethesda MD (SPX) May 02, 2013
The name "VEGA" is an acronym for Vettore Europeo di Generazione Avanzata, which translates to "Advanced Generation European Carrier Rocket." VEGA is a new, expendable space launch vehicle now in use by Arianespace and launched from the Guiana Space Centre located in Kourou, French Guiana. This vehicle is an Italian creation that was jointly developed by the Italian Space Agency (ISA) and the European Space Agency (ESA). Although the concept began as a pure Italian venture, serious development sta ... read more

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On Course for Shenzhou 10 In a matter of weeks, the longest Chinese human space mission to date will lift off from a launchpad in Jiuquan. The Shenzhou 10 spacecraft will carry two men and one woman to a rendezvous with the ... more		Checkout is underway with O3b Networks' four satellites to be orbited on the next Arianespace Soyuz launch The first four satellites to serve O3b Networks in providing emerging market connectivity worldwide have entered their checkout phase at the Spaceport, readying them for a June flight on Arianespace ... more		Scientists Use Laser to Find Soviet Moon Rover French scientists successfully used a laser to find the Soviet-era Lunokhod 1 rover on the surface of the moon, 42 years after the first planetary exploration vehicle to land on another celestial bo ... more
				Astronaut Finds 'Bullet Hole' in ISS Solar Panel A small object, possibly a meteoroid, has flown through a solar panel on the International Space Station, leaving a "bullet hole," Canadian astronaut and Expedition 35 commander Chris Hadfield has s ... more		Cassini Gets Close-Up Views of Large Hurricane on Saturn NASA's Cassini spacecraft has provided scientists the first close-up, visible-light views of a behemoth hurricane swirling around Saturn's north pole. In high-resolution pictures and video, sc ... more

Responsive Access To Space And Space Materials Symposiums

Two New Exoplanets Detected with Kepler, SOPHIE and HARPS-N An international team of astronomers, including Alexandre Santerne of the EXOEarths team at CAUP, has identified and characterized two new exoplanets thanks to combined observations from the Kepler ... more		NASA to pay Russia $424 mln more for lift into space NASA said Tuesday it will pay $424 million more to Russia for giving US astronauts a lift to the International Space Station. ... more		EU states to hold talks on 'drone wall' to protect bloc Denmark military intel fails to identify source of drone flights Lithuania eases rules on shooting down drones		Robot-building helps Canadian kids develop skills for high-tech world A Canadian group is using robots to teach elementary school students hands-on skills it says will serve them well in an increasingly technological world. ... more
				Opportunity in Standby as Commanding Moratorium Ends During a moratorium on commanding this month while Mars passed nearly behind the sun - a phase called solar conjunction - NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity entered a type of standby mode. ... more		SNC's Hybrid Rocket Engines Power SpaceShipTwo on its First Powered Flight Test Sierra Nevada Corporation's (SNC) Space Systems is proud to announce that its Hybrid Rocket Motor propelled Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo (SS2) sub-orbital vehicle on its first ever powered flight. ... more

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NASA Extends Crew Flight Contract with Russian Space Agency NASA has signed a $424 million modification to its contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) for full crew transportation services to the International Space Station in 2016 with re ... more		Hot-fire Tests Steering the Future of NASA's Space Launch System Engines Engineers developing NASA's next-generation rocket closed one chapter of testing with the completion of a J-2X engine test series on the A-2 test stand at the agency's Stennis Space Center in Missis ... more		NASA ISRO radar satellite beams first Earth images from space Morocco High Atlas whistle language strives for survival China warns Papua New Guinea over Australian defence deal		The Day NASA's Fermi Dodged a 1.5-ton Bullet NASA scientists don't often learn that their spacecraft is at risk of crashing into another satellite. But when Julie McEnery, the project scientist for NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, check ... more
				Saturn's youthful appearance explained As planets age they become darker and cooler. Saturn however is much brighter than expected for a planet of its age - a question that has puzzled scientists since the late sixties. New research publ ... more		Apollo-Era Test Stand Being Prepared for SLS Core Stage Testing Before NASA's new Space Launch System (SLS) flies to space on its inaugural mission in 2017, it will fly in place at the agency's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The B-2 Test Stand at Ste ... more

The Well-Built Italian

Checkout is underway with O3b Networks' four satellites to be orbited on the next Arianespace Soyuz launch

O3b Networks' first four satellites arrive for the next Arianespace Soyuz launch

Opportunity in Standby as Commanding Moratorium Ends

Dutch reality show seeks one-way astronauts for Mars

Accurate pointing by Curiosity

Scientists Use Laser to Find Soviet Moon Rover

Characterizing The Lunar Radiation Environment

Russia rekindles Moon exploration program, intends setting up first human outposts there

'Vulcan' wins Pluto moon name vote

Public to vote on names for Pluto moons

The PI's Perspective: The Seven-Year Itch

	SpaceShipTwo Breaks Sound Barrier In First Rocket-Powered Flight Virgin Galactic has completed the first rocket-powered flight of its space vehicle, SpaceShipTwo (SS2). The test, conducted by teams from Scaled Composites (Scaled) and Virgin Galactic, officially m ... more		Spacecraft returns dramatic images of massive hurricane on Saturn NASA says the Cassini spacecraft has sent back the first close-up, visible-light views of a behemoth hurricane swirling around Saturn's north pole. ... more		Stress to rest On Sunday, ESA's bedrest volunteers began lying down for their second three-week session with their heads angled below the horizontal to help research the effects of weightlessness on the human body ... more		Against-the-clock rehearsal for Station immunology test Simply getting anything into space is tough, but doing so against a strict deadline can be really stressful. Researchers in an ESA laboratory nervously checked the clock as they extracted immune cel ... more

JUNO begins decade-long mission to probe neutrino mysteries

SFL Missions to Deliver Spacecraft Buses for HawkEye 360 RF Signal Detection Expansion

Voyager debuts first space based multi cloud region to advance orbital data processing

Space Weakens Human Immune System		NASA's Chief Defends Commercial Spaceflight Agreements		NASA Prepares For International Space Biology Research Mission		Asteroid Could Fly 8,600 Km From Earth in 2026		O3b Networks' first four satellites arrive for the next Arianespace Soyuz launch
Virgin Galactic tourist spaceship breaks sound barrier		How Would You Like Your Assistant - Human or Robotic?		Research suggests people willing to interact with more 'smart' objects		Bizarre binary star system pushes study of relativity to new limits		Astronomer studies far-off worlds through 'characterization by proxy'

On the record with... Stephane Israel, Arianespace Chairman and CEO

NASA Invites the Public to Fly Along with Voyager

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NASA Probe Observes Meteors Colliding with Saturn's Rings

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Humans feel empathy for robots

Google's Brin keeps spotlight on future technologies

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NASA Prepares For International Space Biology Research Mission

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Space debris problem now urgent - scientists

Baby sea turtles and flipper-driven robot reveal principles of moving on sand

The SPHERES Have Eyes

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