Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News

September 29, 2014

Galactic getaway
Beijing (XNA) Sep 29, 2014
The sky's no longer the limit for Chinese tourists. Space is the final frontier for the country's wealthy travelers. Most have already traveled to the ends of the Earth - many, like Beijing banker Tong Jingjing, have visited the poles - and some seek to journey even farther. About 10 percent, or 32, of the people who've signed up for private space flights offered by the US company XCOR Aerospace are Chinese. "There is new wealth being generated in China with much of it being young wealth, (p ... read more

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China's first space lab in operation for over 1000 days Tiangong-1, China's first space lab, has been in orbit for 1092 days since it was launched on September 29, 2011. The space lab, which is in sound condition, is able to complete more operation time ... more		Planets with Oddball Orbits Like Mercury Could Host Life Mercury has an oddball orbit - it takes longer for it to rotate on its axis and complete a day than it takes to orbit the sun and complete a year. Now, researchers suggest photosynthesis could take ... more		Opportunity's Heading to a Small Crater Called 'Ulysses' Opportunity is on the west rim of Endeavour Crater heading towards "Marathon Valley," a putative location for abundant clay minerals. The rover is headed to a near-term target, a small crater named ... more
				NASA Expands Commercial Space Program On the heels of awarding groundbreaking contracts to U.S. commercial space companies to ferry American astronauts to the International Space Station, NASA has released a request for proposals (RFP) ... more		Delta IV Booster Integration Another Step Toward First Orion Flight Engineers took another step forward in preparations for the first test flight of NASA's new Orion spacecraft, in December. The three primary core elements of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta I ... more

Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison & Memory Foam Mattress Review

Turning the Moon into a cosmic ray detector Scientists from the University of Southampton are to turn the Moon into a giant particle detector to help understand the origin of Ultra-High-Energy (UHE) cosmic rays - the most energetic particles ... more		Yelena Serova becomes first Russian woman aboard space station The International Space Station welcomed its first female cosmonaut yesterday. Russian Yelena Serova arrived along with two colleagues after a six-hour trip aboard Russia's Soyuz spacecraft. After blasting off from Kazakistan, Serova became just the fourth Russian woman in space. ... more				Soft robotics 'toolkit' features everything a robot-maker needs A new resource unveiled by researchers from several Harvard University labs in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin provides both experienced and aspiring researchers with the intellectual raw ... more
				New RFID technology helps robots find household objects Mobile robots could be much more useful in homes, if they could locate people, places and objects. Today's robots usually see the world with cameras and lasers, which have difficulty reliably recogn ... more		Fingertip sensor gives robot unprecedented dexterity Researchers at MIT and Northeastern University have equipped a robot with a novel tactile sensor that lets it grasp a USB cable draped freely over a hook and insert it into a USB port. The sen ... more

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

Blackout? Robots to the Rescue Big disasters almost always result in big power failures. Not only do they take down the TV and fridge, they also wreak havoc with key infrastructure like cell towers. That can delay search and resc ... more		Crew including first woman cosmonaut in 17 years blasts off for ISS A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying an American astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts, including the first woman cosmonaut in 17 years, blasted off on schedule Friday, Russian mission control said. ... more				Orion Recovery Tests Help Teams Prepare for December Flight NASA, Orion prime contractor Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy successfully completed the third round of tests to practice recovering Orion when it splashes down off the coast of San Diego at the en ... more
Crew selected for eight-month Mars simulation The six astronaut-like crew members of the next Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) mission has been selected. For the next mission, starting October 15, the participants will b ... more		India's Mars Orbiter Cost Only 11 Percent of NASA's Maven Probe: Reports India's Mangalyaan orbiter reached Mars' orbit Wednesday, becoming the first spacecraft from an Asian country to reach the red planet, but the country hit another record by making the cheapest space ... more		NASA Rover Drill Pulls First Taste From Mars Mountain NASA's Curiosity Mars rover has collected its first taste of the layered mountain whose scientific allure drew the mission to choose this part of Mars as a landing site. Late Wednesday, Sept. ... more		China Exclusive: Mars: China's next goal? Mars receives two visitors from the Earth this week. NASA's new spacecraft MAVEN entered the orbit around Mars on Sept. 21 to hunt for the planet's lost water. and India's first Mars probe has reach ... more

	New milestone in the search for water on distant planets Astronomers have found water vapor in the atmosphere of a planet about four times bigger than Earth, in the constellation Cygnus about 124 light years - or nearly 729 trillion miles - from our home ... more		A Giant Among Earth Satellites The International Space Station has been called a stepping stone to other worlds. NASA hasn't forgotten, however, that the behemoth space station is also on the doorstep of Earth. "We're seein ... more

New ISS Trio Launches to Expand Expedition 41 to Six		Opening doors to space		Clear skies on exo-Neptune		Managing Orbital Debris and Space Traffic		India's spacecraft beams back first Mars photos
Heritage of Earth's water gives rise to hopes of life on other planets		Interstellar molecules are branching out		Robot cheerleading squad showcases sensor technology		Boeing unit, Liquid Robotics to collaborate on maritime surveillance		Arianespace's lightweight Vega launcher is readied for its mission with the European IXV spaceplane

One Last Slumber

Distant planet's atmosphere shows evidence of water vapor

NASA technologies to be studied for commercialization

SpaceX cargo ship arrives at International Space Station

Elon Musk, Rick Perry attend groundbreaking for Texas spaceport

India wins Asia's Mars race as spacecraft enters orbit

India Mars mission enters orbit

Soyuz Rocket Awaiting Launch at Baikonur Cosmodrome

Asteroid named for University of Utah makes public debut

Back to Driving

CME Week: Coronal Mass Ejections at Mars

Russia to Launch Full-Scale Moon Exploration Next Decade

Democracy has spoken, Pluto should be a planet

Why India went to Mars

Japanese Firm Plans Space Elevator to Run by 2050

Midland International Receives FAA Spaceport License Approval

India successfully testfires its maiden Mars mission's liquid engine

Halfway through Blue Dot mission

NASA Seeks Best and Brightest for Space Technology Fellowships

Yeast, the final frontier

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