Space Tourism, Space Transport and Space Exploration News
January 16, 2017
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ROBO SPACE
Robots need 'kill switches', warn Euro MPs



Brussels (AFP) Jan 12, 2017
The unstoppable rise of robots in our everyday lives requires urgent EU rules such as "kill switches", European Parliament members warned Thursday as they passed a resolution urging Brussels into action on automaton ethics. Mady Delvaux, a Socialist MEP from Luxembourg, led the campaign and warned that Europe is passively standing by as robots take an increasingly powerful role that will grow even stronger with the emergence of driverless cars. To encourage EU action, Delvaux tabled a resolution ... read more

ROBO SPACE
Textron begins testing Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle
Textron Systems Unmanned Systems began on-water testing for the 4th-generation Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle, a project for the U.S. Navy. ... more
TECH SPACE
York Space Systems signs Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
York Space Systems, an aerospace company specializing in complete space segment customer solutions and the manufacture of small and medium class spacecraft, this week announced the execution of a Co ... more
MOON DAILY
The moon is older than scientists thought
A UCLA-led research team reports that the moon is at least 4.51 billion years old, or 40 million to 140 million years older than scientists previously thought. The findings - based on an analysis of ... more
EXO WORLDS
Looking for life in all the right places with the right tool
Researchers have invented a range of instruments from giant telescopes to rovers to search for life in outer space, but so far, these efforts have yielded no definitive evidence that it exists beyon ... more
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SATURN DAILY
Huygens: 'Ground Truth' From an Alien Moon
After a two-and-a-half-hour descent, the metallic, saucer-shaped spacecraft came to rest with a thud on a dark floodplain covered in cobbles of water ice, in temperatures hundreds of degrees below f ... more
DRAGON SPACE
China launches commercial rocket mission Kuaizhou-1A
The rocket Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) has sent three satellites into space in its first commercial mission on Monday. The rocket, carrying the satellite JL-1 and two CubeSats XY-S1 and Caton-1, blast ... more
MOON DAILY
New map of the Moon under creation in China
Chinese scientists are drawing a 1:2.5 million scale geological map of the Moon. Ouyang Ziyuan, first chief scientist of China's lunar exploration program, said five universities and research ... more
IRON AND ICE
NASA's Newly Announced Mission Could Solve the Mystery of Water on Asteroid Psyche
Discovered in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis, Psyche is one of the ten most-massive asteroids in the asteroid belt. Although Psyche is thought to be a world made of metal, scientist ... more
MARSDAILY
HI-SEAS Mission V crew preparing to enter Mars simulation habitat
The crew has been selected, and research studies confirmed for the 2017 mission of the University of Hawai?i at Manoa's Hawai?i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS). At approximat ... more


How the Moons That Came Before Collided to Form the Moon

OUTER PLANETS
How a moon slows the decay of Pluto's atmosphere
Pluto's relationship with its moon Charon is one of the more unusual interactions in the solar system due to Charon's size and proximity. It's more than half of Pluto's diameter and orbits only 12,0 ... more
EXO WORLDS
VLT to Search for Planets in Alpha Centauri System
ESO has signed an agreement with the Breakthrough Initiatives to adapt the Very Large Telescope instrumentation in Chile to conduct a search for planets in the nearby star system Alpha Centauri. Suc ... more

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Russia to face strong competition from China in space launch market
In the decade to come Russia will face strong competition from China for the commercial launch of satellites for developing countries, according to Ivan Moiseev, director of the Institute of Space Policy."China is trying to expand its space launching services, developing new boosters for different segments of the market," Moiseev told RIA Novosti. "It has constructed a new spacecraft launc ... more
Vega And Gokturk-1A are present for next Arianespace lightweight mission

Antares Rides Again

Four Galileo satellites are "topped off" for Arianespace's milestone Ariane 5 launch from the Spaceport

HI-SEAS Mission V crew preparing to enter Mars simulation habitat
The crew has been selected, and research studies confirmed for the 2017 mission of the University of Hawai?i at Manoa's Hawai?i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS). At approximately 3:30 p.m. on January 19, 2017, six astronaut-like crewmembers will enter a geodesic dome atop Mauna Loa on the island of Hawai?i as part of an eight-month research study of human behavior and perf ... more
New Year yields interesting bright soil for Opportunity rover

Hues in a Crater Slope

3-D images reveal features of Martian polar ice caps



The moon is older than scientists thought
A UCLA-led research team reports that the moon is at least 4.51 billion years old, or 40 million to 140 million years older than scientists previously thought. The findings - based on an analysis of minerals from the moon called zircons that were brought back to Earth by the Apollo 14 mission in 1971 - are published Jan. 11 in the journal Science Advances. The moon's age has been a hotly d ... more
How the Moons That Came Before Collided to Form the Moon

New map of the Moon under creation in China

Solar storms could spark soils at moon's poles

How a moon slows the decay of Pluto's atmosphere
Pluto's relationship with its moon Charon is one of the more unusual interactions in the solar system due to Charon's size and proximity. It's more than half of Pluto's diameter and orbits only 12,000 or so miles away. To put that into perspective, picture our moon three times closer to Earth, and as large as Mars. A new study from the Georgia Institute of Technology provides additional in ... more
Lowell Observatory to renovate Pluto discovery telescope

Flying observatory makes observations of Jupiter previously only possible from space

York U research identifies icy ridges on Pluto

Looking for life in all the right places with the right tool
Researchers have invented a range of instruments from giant telescopes to rovers to search for life in outer space, but so far, these efforts have yielded no definitive evidence that it exists beyond Earth. Now scientists have developed a new tool that can look for signs of life with 10,000 times more sensitivity than instruments carried on previous spaceflight missions. Their report appears in ... more
VLT to Search for Planets in Alpha Centauri System

Could dark streaks in Venusian clouds be microbial life

Hubble detects 'exocomets' taking the plunge into a young star

Next Cygnus Mission to Station Set for March
Orbital ATK has completed a significant mission milestone for NASA's next International Space Station cargo mission. The Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) of the Cygnus spacecraft has arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for processing and assembly before launch. The OA-7 mission is targeted to launch on Thursday, March 16 from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in ... more
Ruptured oxidant tank likely cause of Progress accident

ISRO set to increase vehicle capacity to accommodate more space launches

SpaceX launches, lands rocket for first time since Sept blast



China launches commercial rocket mission Kuaizhou-1A
The rocket Kuaizhou-1A (KZ-1A) has sent three satellites into space in its first commercial mission on Monday. The rocket, carrying the satellite JL-1 and two CubeSats XY-S1 and Caton-1, blasted off from northwestern China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center at around 12:11 p.m. Monday Beijing Time, according to a statement from the center. The KZ-1A was developed from the Kuaizhou-1 r ... more
China Space Plan to Develop "Strength and Size"

Beijing's space program soars in 2016

China Plans to Launch 1st Mars Probe by 2020 - State Council Information Office

NASA's Newly Announced Mission Could Solve the Mystery of Water on Asteroid Psyche
Discovered in 1852 by Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis, Psyche is one of the ten most-massive asteroids in the asteroid belt. Although Psyche is thought to be a world made of metal, scientists have recently found the presence of water on this minor planet. The new findings which baffled researchers, could be confirmed and further studied by a newly announced NASA mission to this small sol ... more
Asteroid sleuths go back to the future

Asteroid buzzes Earth

White House releases strategy in case of 'killer asteroid'



U.K. Defense Ministry finalizes laser weapon system contract
Britain's Ministry of Defense has awarded MBDA and other industry partners a $36 million contract to produce a Laser Directed Energy Weapon demonstrator. The contract, which aims to allow Britain's first laser weapon to enter service by the mid-2020s, will task contractors to assess the technology's capabilities. Project leaders hope to demonstrate the system in 2019. "The U.K. h ... more
U.S. Air Force issues RFP for aircraft laser weapons

Northrop Grumman to develop next-gen fighter laser system

UK to start laser gun program

SBIRS GEO Flight 3 encapsulated for launch
The U.S. Air Force's next Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite, built by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), was encapsulated on Jan. 7 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where it will launch on Jan. 19 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Encapsulation refers to the sealing of the satellite in a protective launch vehicle fairing-one of the last steps a sat ... more
US would 'not necessarily' shoot down NKorean missile: Pentagon

U.S. Air Force prepares SBIRS satellite for launch

S. Korea vows US missile system as opposition lawmakers head to China



Huygens: 'Ground Truth' From an Alien Moon
After a two-and-a-half-hour descent, the metallic, saucer-shaped spacecraft came to rest with a thud on a dark floodplain covered in cobbles of water ice, in temperatures hundreds of degrees below freezing. The alien probe worked frantically to collect and transmit images and data about its environs - in mere minutes its mothership would drop below the local horizon, cutting off its link to the ... more
NASA image showcases Saturn's sun-soaked north pole

Cassini offers a crash course in ring world orbital mechanics

Saturn's bulging core implies moons younger than thought

Zeroing in on the true nature of fluids within nanocapillaries
Shrinking the investigation of objects down to the nanometer scale often reveals new properties of matter that have no equivalent for their bulk analysis. This phenomenon is motivating many current studies of nanomaterials which can reveal fascinating new phenomena. It inspired a group of researchers at the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) to explore the extent of our ... more
Nano-chimneys can cool circuits

The researchers created a tiny laser using nanoparticles

Nanoscale 'conversations' create complex, multi-layered structures



China to set up gravitational wave telescopes in Tibet
China is working to set up the world's highest altitude gravitational wave telescopes in Tibet Autonomous Region to detect the faintest echoes resonating from the universe, which may reveal more about the Big Bang. Construction has started for the first telescope, code-named Ngari No.1, 30 km south of Shiquanhe Town in Ngari Prefecture, said Yao Yongqiang, chief researcher with the Nationa ... more
MIT researchers reveal new technique for measuring gravity

A population of neutron stars can generate gravitational waves continuously

LISA Pathfinder's pioneering mission continues

Our galaxy's black hole is spewing out planet-size 'spitballs'
Every few thousand years, an unlucky star wanders too close to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. The black hole's powerful gravity rips the star apart, sending a long streamer of gas whipping outward. That would seem to be the end of the story, but it's not. New research shows that not only can the gas gather itself into planet-size objects, but those objects then are flung througho ... more
CU Boulder to lead operations for NASA black holes mission

LIGO expected to detect more binary black hole mergers

Venerable Radio Telescope Sets Standard for Universal Constant



Textron begins testing Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle
Textron Systems Unmanned Systems began on-water testing for the 4th-generation Common Unmanned Surface Vehicle, a project for the U.S. Navy. The testing support's the U.S. Navy's Unmanned Influence Sweep System program. Textron Systems received a $33.8 million contract in October 2014 to provide a vessel for the project. The Navy tasked the company with designing, developing and qualify ... more
Robots need 'kill switches', warn Euro MPs

Cheery robots may make creepy companions, but could be intelligent assistants

Amazon Alexa virtual assistant shines at tech show

UAV performs first ever perched landing using machine learning algorithms
The very first unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to perform a perched landing using machine learning algorithms has been developed in partnership with the University of Bristol and BMT Defence Services (BMT). The revolutionary development of a fixed wing aircraft that can land in a small or confined space has the potential to significantly impact intelligence-gathering and the delivery of aid in a h ... more
GenDyn offers Bluefin SandShark mini-drone for sale online

Britain sets out legal basis for drone killings

Liteye, Tribalco to deliver AUDS systems to U.S. armed forces

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