Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

May 01, 2014

Court blocks US plan to buy Russian rocket engines
Washington (AFP) May 01, 2014
A US court has blocked a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Boeing from buying Russian-made rocket engines, after private rocket operator SpaceX filed a lawsuit protesting the contract. The preliminary injunction against the deal between the US Air Force and United Launch Systems was issued late Wednesday by Judge Susan Braden of the US Court of Federal Claims. The ruling blocks ULS, its parent company United Launch Alliance, and the Air Force from making payments to any entity subject to the ... read more

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Spitzer and WISE Telescopes Find Close, Cold Neighbor of Sun NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Spitzer Space Telescope have discovered what appears to be the coldest "brown dwarf" known - a dim, star-like body that surprisingly is as fros ... more		MDA selected to define robotic concepts for deep-space missions MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates has received two contracts from the Canadian Space Agency to define critical technologies and assess potential contributions that Canada could make to future spac ... more		Mars Rover Switches to Driving Backwards Due to Elevated Wheel Currents Opportunity is exploring south of "Solander Point" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover is headed to a region of clay minerals seen from orbit. Opportunity drove six times on Sols 36 ... more
				Orion Undergoes Simulation Of Intense Launch Vibrations Lockheed Martin and NASA engineers have verified that the Orion spacecraft successfully passed an important environmental test called Multi-Point Random Vibration Testing. This test shakes the space ... more		Target on Mars Looks Good for NASA Rover Drilling The team operating NASA's Curiosity Mars rover plans to proceed in coming days with the third-ever drilling into a rock on Mars to collect a sample for analysis. The rover used several tools t ... more

CubeSats, SmallSats and MicroSats

Second O3b satellite cluster delivered for upcoming Arianespace Soyuz launch O3b Networks spacecraft for Arianespace's next launch to help "bridge the digital divide" have been delivered to French Guiana, marking a key step in preparations for this upcoming Soyuz mission fro ... more		Commercial liftoff for Europe's smallest launcher The third launch by Europe's new small launcher, Vega, has delivered Kazakhstan's first satellite for high-resolution Earth observation into its planned orbit. Liftoff of flight VV03 from Euro ... 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		Search for life on exoplanets more difficult than thought A new study from the University of Toronto Scarborough suggests the search for life on planets outside our solar system may be more difficult than previously thought. The study, authored by a ... more
				NASA Seeks to Evolve ISS for New Commercial Opportunities As part of NASA's continuing effort to open low-Earth orbit to commercial space opportunities, the agency is seeking feedback on ways it can help create greater access to and use of the Internationa ... more		Arianespace to launch Indonesia satellite BRIsat On behalf of Stephane Israel, who is on duty at the CSG in French Guiana for a launch campaign, Jacques Breton, Arianespace Senior Vice-President, Sales and Customers, signed a contract on April 28t ... more

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

International Conference on Protection of Materials and Structures From Space Environment

Startup in the Land of the Rising Sun; A Japanese Solar Venture - by Bradley L. Bartz

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Twins Mark and Scott Kelly to participate in long-term space travel study [VIDEO] Identical twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly are going to be part of an experiment in long term space travel to gauge the health effects of a mission to Mars. ... more		Alien planet's rotation speed clocked for first time Tired of the nine-to-five, the eight-hour work day? At least Earth's 24-hour day leaves some time for eating and sleeping. On Beta Pictoris b, the alien planet with only eight hours in its day, there'd only be time for work, work, work. ... 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		Astronomical Forensics Uncover Planetary Disks in NASA's Hubble Archive Astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have applied a new image processing technique to obtain near-infrared scattered light photos of five disks observed around young stars in the Mikulski ... more
				NASA Partners with LittleBits Electronics on STEM Activitie NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Innovative Partnerships Office has entered into a Space Act Agreement with littleBits Electronics, Inc., New York, N.Y., to collaborate with the Aura Mission on ac ... more		Traces of recent water on Mars The southern hemisphere of Mars is home to a crater that contains very well-preserved gullies and debris flow deposits. The geomorphological attributes of these landforms provide evidence that they ... more

Second O3b satellite cluster delivered for upcoming Arianespace Soyuz launch

Court blocks US plan to buy Russian rocket engines

Commercial liftoff for Europe's smallest launcher

Target on Mars Looks Good for NASA Rover Drilling

Mars Rover Switches to Driving Backwards Due to Elevated Wheel Currents

Traces of recent water on 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

	Drill Here? NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Inspects Site The team operating NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is telling the rover to use several tools this weekend to inspect a sandstone slab being evaluated as a possible drilling target. If this target ... more		Asteroids as Seen From Mars; A Curiosity Rover First A new image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is the first ever from the surface of Mars to show an asteroid, and it shows two: Ceres and Vesta. These two - the largest and third-largest bodie ... more		Seven Samples from the Solar System's Birth by Aaron L. Gronstal for a href="http://www.astrobio.net/">Astrobiology Magazine /a> At this year's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), scientists reported that, after eight painstaking ... more		Metabolism may have started in our early oceans before the origin of life The chemical reactions behind the formation of common metabolites in modern organisms could have formed spontaneously in the earth's early oceans, questioning the events thought to have led to the o ... 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

No Plans to Produce Zenit Rocket in Russia		Russia Gives Green Light to Super-Heavy Rocket Project		Russia sends two satellites into space		ViaSat Awarded Damages in Patent Infringement and Breach of Contract Lawsuit Against Space Systems/Loral		It's a "go" for Arianespace's Vega launch with Kazakhstan's first Earth observation satellite
Orion Feels the Vibe During Tests at Kennedy Space Center		Equipped with New Sensors, Morpheus Preps to Tackle Landing on its Own		Orion Exploration Design Challenge Winner Announced		Mission to Mars		Space terrorism, floating debris pose threats to US

Solved: Mysteries of a Nearby Planetary System's Dynamics

SpaceX sues US Air Force over satellite contracts

Curiosity spots asteroids from the surface of Mars

An Earth-sized planet that might hold liquid water

Vega for third Arianespace mission, carrying Earth observation spacecraft

Pentagon scientists show off life-size robot

Close collaboration in optical communication between space and Earth

AVX To Present At The 2014 Space Parts Working Group

China village gunning for tourists

MESSENGER Completes Its 3,000th Orbit of Mercury, Sets Mark for Closest Approach

Astronomers discover Earth-sized planet in habitable zone

ATK Announces Contract Award from ULA to Build Composite Launch Vehicle Structures

Russia to Test Launch New Angara Rocket June 25

Spiders in Space Weave a Web of Scientific Inspiration for Spider-Man Fans

A Star's Early Chemistry Shapes Life-Friendly Atmospheres

Impact glass stores biodata for millions of years

No Official Confirmation of NASA Severing Ties with Russian Space Agency

NASA Selects Commercial Crew Program Manager

Astronauts Complete Short Spacewalk to Replace Backup Computer

Some astronauts at risk for cognitive impairment, animal studies suggest

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