Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

August 14, 2013

Researchers Slow Light to a Crawl in Liquid Crystal Matrix
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 14, 2013
Light traveling in a vacuum is the Universe's ultimate speed demon, racing along at approximately 300,000 kilometers per second. Now scientists have found an effective new way to put a speed bump in light's path. Reported in The Optical Society's (OSA) open-access journal Optics Express, researchers from France and China embedded dye molecules in a liquid crystal matrix to throttle the group velocity of light back to less than one billionth of its top speed. The team says the ability to slow light ... read more

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ATK Awarded Contract by Orbital Sciences to Support Stratolaunch System ATK (ATK) has received a contract from Orbital Sciences Corporation (ORB) to provide first and second stage propulsion for the Air Launch Vehicle (ALV) that Orbital is designing and building for Str ... more		Challenges and Practices for Space Mechanisms - Part 2 Release and Deployment Mechanism Challenges. Challenges associated with release and deployment systems often include the impracticality of complete and independent redundancy and difficulties in sim ... more		Avionics: The Central Nervous System of NASA's Space Launch System The nervous system in the human body controls everything a person does, including walking, thinking and feeling. Avionics is much like that complex collection of nerves and cells, only instead of a ... more
				ISS Boosting Biological Research in Orbit Studying the science of biology in microgravity opens a world of possibilities! Research ranges from plant growth to cell growth and from bacterial virulence to strength in human bones. The scope of ... more		Researchers identify 12 'easy' candidates for asteroid mining Researchers in Scotland say they have identified 12 easily retrievable asteroids that could be moved close enough to Earth for them to be mined. ... more

MRO Swapping Motion-Sensing Units NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is switching from one motion-sensing device to a duplicate unit onboard. The veteran orbiter relies on this inertial measurement unit (IMU) for information about changes in orientation. ... more		New NASA Mission to Help Us Learn How to Mine Asteroids Over the last hundred years, the human population has exploded from about 1.5 billion to more than seven billion, driving an ever-increasing demand for resources. To satisfy civilization's appetite, ... 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		Reading a Message from ET Right now, sophisticated radio telescopes are listening to the cosmos, waiting for a transmission from an extraterrestrial civilization. The Allen Telescope Array operated by the SETI Institute is j ... more
				Space to become tourist destination in the future In the future traveling into space will become a holiday option. Orbital Technologies, a Russian space exploration firm, is now planning to complete a space hotel in 2016. According to the company C ... more		Japanese Cargo Craft Captured, Berthed to ISS The fourth Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency H-II Transfer Vehicle, or HTV-4 was installed on its berthing port on the Earth-facing side of the International Space Station's Harmony node at 11:38 a ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Opportunity Reaches Base of 'Solander Point' Opportunity is at the base of 'Solander Point' on the rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover arrived at the edge of Solander Point with a series of drives on Sols 3385 and 3387 (Aug. 1 and Aug. 3, 2013) ... more		HI-SEAS Mission Now in its Final Days The Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) is nearing the end of its 120-day mission on the northern slope of Mauna Loa. Six people have been living in a space habitat located 8,00 ... 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		EUTELSAT spacecraft ready for integration to Ariane 5 Arianespace Payload processing for Arianespace's next dual-passenger Ariane 5 flight is moving forward as the EUTELSAT 25B/Es'hail 1 satellite is readied for its upcoming liftoff from the Spaceport ... more
				College of Law launches doctorate in space law The University of Nebraska College of Law will open a new frontier in space law by launching a doctorate of juridical sciences degree (J.S.D.) program later this month. For the past five years ... more		Twin astronauts to be studied 'as one' in space research If, as proposed by President Obama, a manned mission is on its way to Mars in the mid-2030s, and if perhaps in the distant future mankind attempts to journey beyond the limits of our solar system, scientist will want to know some answers to a most pressing question: How does long-term exposure to the zero gravity of space affect the human body? ... more

EUTELSAT spacecraft ready for integration to Ariane 5

Next Ariane 5 is readied to receive its dual-satellite payload

Russia to restart Proton rocket launches after crash

MRO Swapping Motion-Sensing Units

Opportunity Reaches Base of 'Solander Point'

NASA launches new Russian-language Mars website

NASA Selects Launch Services Contract for OSIRIS-REx Mission

Environmental Controls Move Beyond Earth

Bad night's sleep? The moon could be to blame

Pluto Science Conference Exceeds Expectations

SciTechTalk: Grab your erasers, there are more moons than we thought

NASA Hubble Finds New Neptune Moon

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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

NASA Selects Launch Services Contract for OSIRIS-REx Mission		Big ice may explain Mars' double-layer craters		Talking robot sent to ISS to 'get along' with humans		SkySweeper Robot Makes Inspecting Power Lines Simple and Inexpensive		NASA's Space Launch System Completes Preliminary Design Review
Full Curiosity Traverse Passes One-Mile Mark		Mission Criticality of Space Mechanisms - Part 1		Alphasat deploys its giant reflector in orbit		Curious craters on Mars said result of impacts into ancient ice		NASA's Firestation on way to ISS

NASA Begins Launch Preparations for Next Mars Mission

'Printable' micro-machines could bring improved bionic limbs

Mars rover hoping to yield more secrets, one year on

Russia to restart Proton rocket launches after crash

New Explorer Mission Chooses the 'Just-Right' Orbit

"Pandora" virus - covert threat from space?

NASA Curiosity Rover Approaches First Anniversary on Mars

Japan Delivers Hardware ISS Robotic Refueling Test

Next Ariane 5 is readied to receive its dual-satellite payload

Pluto Science Conference Exceeds Expectations

NASA technologist makes traveling to hard-to-reach destinations easier

Space cadets in Washington for one-way ticket to Mars

Japanese rocket takes supplies, robot to space station

Study: Teleportation would have a slight time-to-transmit problem

'Blinking' stellar system may yield clues to planet formation

Weekly recap from the International Space Station expedition lead scientist

Robot turning Japanese children into master calligraphers

Pulsating star sheds light on exoplanet

Launch Vehicles for Achieving Low and High Orbits

Alexander's space clinic

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