Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

April 25, 2014

SpaceX sues US Air Force over satellite contracts
Washington (AFP) April 25, 2014
SpaceX on Friday filed suit against the US Air Force for awarding billions of dollars to a single company for national security launches, and said the contracts might even violate sanctions against Russia. The US military spends billions yearly with United Launch Alliance, a joint operation of aerospace giants Boeing and Lockheed Martin, to launch government satellites. The Atlas V and Delta IV rockets are powered by Russian engines, which has raised concern among some lawmakers that such relian ... read more

Previous Issues

Apr 24

Apr 23

Apr 22

Apr 21

Apr 20

Curiosity spots asteroids from the surface of Mars For the first time, NASA's Curiosity rover has captured images of an asteroid from the surface of Mars - two of them, in fact. ... more		Astronomers discover Earth-sized planet in habitable zone University of Notre Dame astrophysicist Justin R. Crepp and researchers from NASA working with the Kepler space mission have detected an Earth-like planet orbiting the habitable zone of a cool star. ... more		MESSENGER Completes Its 3,000th Orbit of Mercury, Sets Mark for Closest Approach On April 20, MESSENGER completed its 3,000th orbit of Mercury and moved closer to the planet than any spacecraft has been before, dropping to an altitude of 199 kilometers (123.7 miles) above the pl ... more
				No Official Confirmation of NASA Severing Ties with Russian Space Agency Russia's Roscosmos space agency has yet received no official notifications from NASA on curtailing cooperation, and working contacts continue, Roscosmos chief Oleg Ostapenko said in an interview wit ... more		NASA Selects Commercial Crew Program Manager NASA has selected Kathy Lueders as program manager for the agency's Commercial Crew Program (CCP). Lueders, who has served as acting program manager since October 2013, will help keep the nation's s ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Astronauts Complete Short Spacewalk to Replace Backup Computer NASA Astronauts Steve Swanson and Rick Mastracchio have completed a short spacewalk to replace a failed Multiplexer/Demultiplexer (MDM) back up computer. They began the re-pressurization of the Ques ... more		Spiders in Space Weave a Web of Scientific Inspiration for Spider-Man Fans While spiders were busy spinning webs in space, researchers on Earth weaved their knowledge of this activity into educational materials to inspire and motivate students. Now, this free, Web-based gu ... more		Trump to U.N.: 'Your countries are going to hell' Taiwan running out of time for satellite communications, space chief tells AFP US lawmaker warns of military 'misunderstanding' risk with China		Some astronauts at risk for cognitive impairment, animal studies suggest Johns Hopkins scientists report that rats exposed to high-energy particles, simulating conditions astronauts would face on a long-term deep space mission, show lapses in attention and slower reactio ... more
				NASA Names Six New Members to Advisory Council NASA Administrator Charles Bolden has announced the appointment of six new members to the NASA Advisory Council (NAC). The group advises NASA's senior leadership on challenges and solutions facing t ... more		Launcher build-up begins for Arianespace's fifth Ariane 5 mission to orbit an ATV The Ariane 5 for Arianespace's fifth flight to service the International Space Station is now being assembled in French Guiana, preparing the launcher for its 2014 mission with another European Auto ... more

UAV Payloads 2014, 24 - 25 June - London, UK

International Conference on Protection of Materials and Structures From Space Environment

Nuclear Supply Chain Summit - April 28-29 Greenville SC

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

NASA Innovative Advanced Concept Program Seeks Phase II Proposals NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program is seeking proposals for technologies that could be used on future exploration missions. The new proposals will build on the most promising ideas d ... more		Arianespace's Vega launcher receives its "upper composite" for this month's launch The third Vega has completed its build-up at the Spaceport in French Guiana, allowing final checkout to begin ahead of this lightweight launcher's April 28 mission with the DZZ-HR Earth observation ... more		Toxic homes a lasting legacy of Los Angeles fires 'Greatest con job ever': Trump trashes climate science at UN Turkey facing worst drought in over 50 years		Upside-down planet reveals new method for studying binary star systems What looked at first like a sort of upside-down planet has instead revealed a new method for studying binary star systems, discovered by a University of Washington student astronomer. Working ... more
				45th Space Wing supports third SpaceX Launch for ISS Resupply mission The 45th Space Wing supported Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) successful launch of their Falcon 9 Dragon spacecraft from Space Launch Complex 40 here at 3:25 p.m. EDT April 18. A comb ... more		China issues first assessment on space activities A leading space research group in China released the country's first assessment of the current situation and future trends of international space activities on Thursday. The report was compile ... more

SpaceX sues US Air Force over satellite contracts

45th Space Wing supports third SpaceX Launch for ISS Resupply mission

Arianespace's Vega launcher receives its "upper composite" for this month's launch

Opportunity Rover Driving Up To Crater Rim

NASA Rover Opportunity's Selfie Shows Clean Machine

NASA's Human Path to Mars

John C. Houbolt, Unsung Hero of the Apollo Program, Dies at Age 95

NASA Completes LADEE Mission with Planned Impact on Moon's Surface

Russia plans to get a foothold in the Moon

Dwarf planet 'Biden' identified in an unlikely region of our solar system

Planet X myth debunked

WISE Finds Thousands Of New Stars But No Planet X

	Robonaut from the ISS gets new legs for Easter Robonaut R2, the first robotic humanoid working on the International Space Station, has finally received its legs. The 'present' to R2, delivered by a SpaceX rocket, marks one more milestone in spac ... more		Exoplanets Soon to Gleam in the Eye of NESSI The New Mexico Exoplanet Spectroscopic Survey Instrument (NESSI) will soon get its first "taste" of exoplanets, helping astronomers decipher their chemical composition. Exoplanets are planets that o ... more		First Potentially Habitable Earth-Sized Planet Confirmed By Gemini And Keck Observatories The first Earth-sized exoplanet orbiting within the habitable zone of another star has been confirmed by observations with both the W. M. Keck Observatory and the Gemini Observatory. The initial dis ... more		NASA's Human Path to Mars NASA is developing the capabilities needed to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and Mars in the 2030s - goals outlined in the bipartisan NASA Authorization Act of 2010 and in the U.S. National Spac ... more

How quantum computers can be validated when solving unsolvable problems

Neutrinovoltaic master formula published as pathway to scalable clean energy

Boeing defense workers reject deal to end strike

Opportunity Rover Driving Up To Crater Rim		NASA Rover Opportunity's Selfie Shows Clean Machine		John C. Houbolt, Unsung Hero of the Apollo Program, Dies at Age 95		Astronomers: 'Tilt-a-worlds' could harbor life		SpaceX Cargo Mission Launches to Space Station
NASA Completes LADEE Mission with Planned Impact on Moon's Surface		SpaceX supply capsule berths at ISS		Odd Tilts Could Make More Worlds Habitable		Go Big or Go Home - Shuttle Carrier Aircraft Doing Both, and More		Astronauts Prep for Spacewalk as Mission Managers Evaluate Busy Schedule

MEASAT-3b arrives in French Guiana; Ariane 5 delivered to Kourou

Planet Kepler 186 is good parallel to Earth, but there is little chance to detect life

NASA Mars Orbiter Spies Rover Near Martian Butte

Meteorites Yield Clues to Red Planet's Early Atmosphere

New Study Outlines 'Water World' Theory of Life's Origins

B3: the vitamin from outer space

Improving the human-robot connection

"RoboClam" hits new depths as robotic digger

ATK supplying hardware, composites for Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle

Russian Rockets used by the US

SpaceX launches Dragon capsule to ISS

Quest for extraterrestrial life not over: experts

Satellite telecom vulnerable to hackers: researchers

Continents May Be A Key Feature of Super-Earths

First Earth-sized planet found in 'habitable zone': NASA

The Path to Mars

NASA's Orion Spacecraft Powers through First Integrated System Testing

NASA Gears Up for Next Set of Engine Tests for Space Launch System

NASA to Conduct Unprecedented Twin Experiment

NASA Signs Agreement with SpaceX for Use of Historic Launch Pad

Free Newsletters - Space - Defense - Environment - Energy

Buy Advertising

Media Advertising Kit

Editorial & Other Enquiries

Privacy statement

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.