• Virgin Galactic & SwRI announce research flight contracts

    Updated: 2011-02-28 16:18:10
    Skip to main . content HS Home Space for All Space Transport News Archives About Contact NewSpace Log 11 NewSpace Log 10 SFF NewSpace 10 Space Access 10 On Twitter On Facebook NewSpace Employment Jobs Place your job ad here Further details Bigelow Aerospace Blue Origin Masten Space Scaled Composites The Spaceship Company SpaceDev SNC SpaceX Tethers Unlimited TGV-Rockets XCOR 2011 Next-Gen Suborbital Researchers Conference Orlando , Florida Feb.28-Mar 2, 2011 Space Access'11 Phoenix , AZ Apr . 7-9, 2011 ISDC 2011 Huntsville , Alabama May 18-22, 2011 2nd Int . IAA Conf . on Private Human Access to Space Arcachon , France May 30-June 1, 2011 NewSpace 2011 NASA Ames July 28-31, 2011 Space Access Int . . Conf Paris , France Sept 21-23, 2011 Tip Jar Regular readers can support HobbySpace with a

  • XCOR announces global network of payload integrators for Lynx

    Updated: 2011-02-28 16:12:06
    Skip to main . content HS Home Space for All Space Transport News Archives About Contact NewSpace Log 11 NewSpace Log 10 SFF NewSpace 10 Space Access 10 On Twitter On Facebook NewSpace Employment Jobs Place your job ad here Further details Bigelow Aerospace Blue Origin Masten Space Scaled Composites The Spaceship Company SpaceDev SNC SpaceX Tethers Unlimited TGV-Rockets XCOR 2011 Next-Gen Suborbital Researchers Conference Orlando , Florida Feb.28-Mar 2, 2011 Space Access'11 Phoenix , AZ Apr . 7-9, 2011 ISDC 2011 Huntsville , Alabama May 18-22, 2011 2nd Int . IAA Conf . on Private Human Access to Space Arcachon , France May 30-June 1, 2011 NewSpace 2011 NASA Ames July 28-31, 2011 Space Access Int . . Conf Paris , France Sept 21-23, 2011 Tip Jar Regular readers can support HobbySpace with a

  • Alternative chemistries for life and estimating the frequency for communicating with an extrasolar civilization

    Updated: 2011-02-28 16:00:15
    : skip to main skip to sidebar Alien Life We reside during a remarkable time , an age when humanity is about to cross a threshold . We are about to leave the nest and meet alien life . This blog is dedicated to the science of astrobiology : understanding space , the field of our search exploring the one example we have of life and its abode , our Earth reaching for the stars imagining what extraterrestrial life may be like and encouraging science education . Please join me for daily updates on the ultimate human . adventure Monday , February 28, 2011 Alternative chemistries for life and estimating the frequency for communicating with an extrasolar civilization Welcome Alien Life tracks the latest discoveries and thoughts in the various elements of the famous Drake Equation Here's today's :

  • The Moon as you’ve never seen it before

    Updated: 2011-02-28 15:41:10
    Home Science News Articles Videos Cinema Archives About Contact You are here : Home The Moon as you’ve never seen it before Today is The Moon as you’ve never seen it before Posted on February 28, 2011 by Ashley Corbion Einstein said : I like to think that the Moon is there , even if I am not looking at it” . Everyone has already stared at the Moon for at least a few seconds , especially when it’s full , and seen some of the lunar maria , those dark , basaltic plains formed by ancient volcanic . eruptions If you are lucky enough to own a telescope , the Moon can be a really wonderful object to observe even a simple pair of binoculars can reveal beautiful details of our satellite’s surface Recently , NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter LRO created the most accurate map ever of the near side

  • Virgin Galactic Makes Second Suborbital Contract Announcement

    Updated: 2011-02-28 15:12:12
    Home SpaceRef OnOrbit SpaceRef Canada Astrobiology GeneRef Newsletter Sign In This is not a NASA Website . You might learn something . It's YOUR space agency . Get involved . Take it back . Make it work for YOU . Important Disclaimer nasawatch spaceref.com Voice 1.703.787.6567 RSS Feed Twitter Advertising Archives Support Virgin Galactic Makes Second Suborbital Contract Announcement XCOR Was First By Keith Cowing on February 28, 2011 10:10 AM No Comments Virgin Galactic to Fly Scientists to Space Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic , LLC , the world's first commercial spaceline , announced today the first ever commercial contracts to fly scientists into space for the purpose of conducting research experiments . Virgin Galactic's signed contract with the Southwest Research Institute is

  • Virgin Galactic to Fly Scientists to Space

    Updated: 2011-02-28 15:06:45
    Commercial Space Watch: Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, LLC, the world's first commercial spaceline, announced today the first ever commercial contracts to fly scientists into space for the purpose of conducting research experiments.

  • End of the Shuttle, Foam and Nerves

    Updated: 2011-02-28 14:55:28
    , Home About Links People’s History Mars NASA current featured history moon private Feb 28, 2011 Posted by Ray Katz in NASA current End of the Shuttle , Foam and Nerves The Space Shuttle : Nixon's folly , ably flown by NASA I always thought the shuttle was a mistake . Too many parties made demands on NASA . So we got a deadly combo : crew and heavy lift vehicle combined—with virtually no crew safety . systems The Pentagon wanted this to launch big satellites and have a large stable manned spying platform . James Beggs , the NASA administrator back then , should have said no . But he gave them what they asked for and made impossible promises of cheap , frequent manned . spaceflights We lost two crews and shuttles.at this late date , I am fearful about losing a third . It will probably be

  • Space Show Covers Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference

    Updated: 2011-02-28 14:08:53
    Skip to content Parabolic Arc Space Tourism and Much More News Search About Me Archives Parabolic Reading List Polls Archive XCOR Announces Suborbital Payload Integration . Space Show Covers Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference Posted by Doug Messier on February 28, 2011, at 6:08 am in News Comments : no responses 0 Comments The Space Show for this week SPECIAL TIME : Monday , Feb . 28, 2011 6:30-7:30 PM PST : Live from the Next Gen Suborbital Conference in Orlando , Florida , our guests are David McBride Director , NASA Dryden Spaceflight Center where CRuSR is managed and Dr . Alan Stern NSRC meeting organizer SPECIAL TIME : Tuesday , March 1, 2011, 5:00-6:00 PM PST : Live from the Net Gen Suborbital Conference in Orlando , Florida , our guests are Brett Alexander , President

  • Astronaut Steve Bowen Suits Up for Spacewalk

    Updated: 2011-02-28 14:07:00
    Commercial Aviation Defense MRO Space Business Aviation INDUSTRY : SEARCH Find Companies , Products or Services Search Sponsored : by Home AW Connect Products Publications Publications Aviation Week Space Technology Business Commercial Aviation Defense Technology International Overhaul Maintenance ShowNews Market Briefings Aviation Daily Aerospace Daily Defense Report The Weekly of Business Aviation Industry Tools Aviation Week Intelligence Network BCA Aircraft Network MRO Prospector Events Knowledge Center Industry Jobs Subscription Services Advertising About Us Get Four Free Issues Of Aviation Week Space Technology Blog Search Search all Aviation Week.com blog content On Space Report item as : required X Obscenity vulgarity Hate speech Personal attack Advertising Spam Copyright

  • Hopping 'Bot Bound for Moon

    Updated: 2011-02-28 13:22:00
    Discovery News - Space News: A new robot rover would move by firing downward and sideways-facing rocket nozzles.

  • XCOR Announces Suborbital Payload Integration Network

    Updated: 2011-02-28 13:03:30
    Skip to content Parabolic Arc Space Tourism and Much More News Search About Me Archives Parabolic Reading List Polls Archive Astrogenetix Continues Work on Staphylococcus . Space Show Covers Next-Generation Suborbital . XCOR Announces Suborbital Payload Integration Network Posted by Doug Messier on February 28, 2011, at 5:03 am in News Tags : Lynx XCOR Comments : no responses 0 Comments XCOR PR February 28th , 2011, Orlando , FL , : USA At the commencement of the 2011 Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference NSRC being held in Orlando , Florida , XCOR Aerospace announced its initial team of suborbital payload integration specialists who will begin taking orders and facilitating experiment development and integration for commercial , educational and government suborbital research

  • Michael Vassar Speaks to Yale Students on the Singularity

    Updated: 2011-02-28 09:23:16
    Coverage from Yale Daily News: Twenty to 60 years from now, the advent of computers with above-human intelligence could transform civilization as we know it, according to Michael Vassar, president of the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence. In a talk with around 35 students and faculty members in William L. Harkness Hall on Sunday, Vassar [...]

  • Video Mashup: Galaxy Collision That Began 100 Million Years Ago

    Updated: 2011-02-28 08:40:00
    This new composite image from the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Hubble Space Telescope, and the Spitzer Space Telescope shows two colliding galaxies more than a 100 million years after they first impacted each other. The continuing collision of the Antennae...

  • "WOW!" The Infamous 1977 'Extraterrestrial Signal'

    Updated: 2011-02-28 08:20:00
    August 15, 1977: the night before Elvis Presley died, at 11:16 p.m. an Ohio radio telescope called the Big Ear recorded a single pulse of radiation that seemed to come from somewhere in the constellation of Sagittarius at the 1420...

  • Nikola Danaylov at Singularity Weblog Agrees that Transhumanism has Already Won

    Updated: 2011-02-28 01:44:06
    At Singularity Weblog, Nikola Danaylov writes: The technological singularity goes mainstream again (and again). The last 12 months or so we have witnessed an unparalleled growth of mainstream coverage of transhumanism, the singularity, artificial intelligence and Ray Kurzweil. Some of the more notable mentions include: PBS on Ray Kurzweil and the Singularity; the NY Times’ [...]

  • NASA funding posterized

    Updated: 2011-02-28 01:10:14
    A reader refers me to this article Funding the Final Frontier - Fast Company, which in turns points to a large graphical representation of the NASA budget at The Future of NASA - GOOD.is.

  • Watching Discovery rendezvous with the ISS

    Updated: 2011-02-28 00:55:45
    Observation of spacecraft with amateur telescopes gets better and better. Today's Space Weather report includes several images taken from the ground of Discovery approaching the ISS, including the image shown below from amateur astronomer Rob Bullen of Gloucestershie, England and his 8-inch telescope:

  • Extremely High Resolution Rendering of Grass and Trees: Kévin Boulanger, Creator of Neptune 3D

    Updated: 2011-02-27 23:47:31
    Download link here. Other videos. Personal homepage of Kévin Boulanger. Boulanger’s academic website hasn’t been updated in a couple years, this is because he was allegedly tapped to work for EA.

  • Astronauts 4Hire - "The Beer has Landed"

    Updated: 2011-02-27 22:53:59
    Skip to main . content HS Home Space for All Space Transport News Archives About Contact NewSpace Log 11 NewSpace Log 10 SFF NewSpace 10 Space Access 10 On Twitter On Facebook NewSpace Employment Jobs Place your job ad here Further details Bigelow Aerospace Blue Origin Masten Space Scaled Composites The Spaceship Company SpaceDev SNC SpaceX Tethers Unlimited TGV-Rockets XCOR 2011 Next-Gen Suborbital Researchers Conference Orlando , Florida Feb.28-Mar 2, 2011 Space Access'11 Phoenix , AZ Apr . 7-9, 2011 ISDC 2011 Huntsville , Alabama May 18-22, 2011 2nd Int . IAA Conf . on Private Human Access to Space Arcachon , France May 30-June 1, 2011 NewSpace 2011 NASA Ames July 28-31, 2011 Space Access Int . . Conf Paris , France Sept 21-23, 2011 Tip Jar Regular readers can support HobbySpace with a

  • Briefs: Robonaut-1 update; Robonaut 2 video & critique

    Updated: 2011-02-27 18:46:31
    : Skip to main . content HS Home Space for All Space Transport News Archives About Contact NewSpace Log 11 NewSpace Log 10 SFF NewSpace 10 Space Access 10 On Twitter On Facebook NewSpace Employment Jobs Place your job ad here Further details Bigelow Aerospace Blue Origin Masten Space Scaled Composites The Spaceship Company SpaceDev SNC SpaceX Tethers Unlimited TGV-Rockets XCOR 2011 Next-Gen Suborbital Researchers Conference Orlando , Florida Feb.28-Mar 2, 2011 Space Access'11 Phoenix , AZ Apr . 7-9, 2011 ISDC 2011 Huntsville , Alabama May 18-22, 2011 2nd Int . IAA Conf . on Private Human Access to Space Arcachon , France May 30-June 1, 2011 NewSpace 2011 NASA Ames July 28-31, 2011 Space Access Int . . Conf Paris , France Sept 21-23, 2011 Tip Jar Regular readers can support HobbySpace with

  • Briefs: NACA founding; Shuttle picts

    Updated: 2011-02-27 18:13:40
    Here is the first of a two part article on the history of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor of NASA whose R&D approach NASA might try to return to: NACA takes first steps toward space - Alamogordo Daily News. === Some interesting pictures of the Shuttle: A shadow across the Shuttle - Bad Astronomy/Discover Magazine

  • Naturally Jupiter

    Updated: 2011-02-27 17:37:24
    As we know, Jupiter’s Southern Equatorial Belt has been missing beneath its icy clouds for almost a year now. While astronomers are able to use instruments like Keck – complete with infrared and adaptive optics – we here on Earth have to take our views of Jupiter a little more naturally. (...)Read the rest of [...]

  • Video: Robonaut-1: Balloon Burst and Freefall

    Updated: 2011-02-27 12:36:41
    : : Monday , February 28, 2011 About On Orbit Advertise Here Contact Information Feedback Log Out Home Blogs Features Recent Posts Video : Robonaut-1 : Balloon Burst and Freefall Submitted by keithcowing on Sun , 02 27 2011 05:36. Gadgets Blog Space Exploration Make sure watch in HD More Robonaut-1 mission video and imagery will be released in conjunction with a presentation at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference being held in Orlando 28 Februrary to 2 . March Co-sponsored by the Challenger Center for Space Science Education this mission is one in a series of flights conducted by Quest for Stars , a California-based non-profit educational organization that uses off-the-shelf hardware and a little ingenuity to allow students to place experiments at the edge of space at

  • A Record 19 Near-Earth Asteroids Sighted

    Updated: 2011-02-27 02:03:10
    The Pan-STARRS PS1 telescope on Haleakala, Maui has created a new record, discovering 19 near-Earth asteroids on the night of January 29. "This record number of discoveries shows that PS1 is the world's most powerful telescope for this kind of...

  • Grid issues causing a reduction of wind in Chinas Energy Plans

    Updated: 2011-02-27 01:08:44
    skip to main skip to sidebar February 26, 2011 Grid issues causing a reduction of wind in Chinas Energy Plans According to a report by the State Electricity Regulatory Commission SERC unused wind-generated electricity amounted to 2.8 billion kilowatt-hours in the first six months of 2010 due to insufficient transmission capabilities and grid connection . China needs extensive upgrades to its power grid to take advantage of the wind farms . Its wind-power resources are concentrated primarily in the provinces and regions of Northwest China , such as the Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang Uygur autonomous regions and Gansu province , while most of the energy consumption is along the heavily populated coastline , according to the 2010 China Wind Power Outlook . The State Grid , China's largest power

  • Robomara 2011 - a robot marathon

    Updated: 2011-02-27 00:29:47
    skip to main skip to sidebar February 26, 2011 Robomara 2011 a robot marathon The VStone company and the city of Osaka organized a robot marathon . The robots must complete 422 laps of a 100 meter course . The course is a full length marathon 26.2 miles 42.2km and was scheduled for three days from Feb 24- 27 One of the robots won . today After 422 laps of a 100-meter track , two robots found themselves only inches apart as coming out of the final turn . The Vstone team took first place , with an autonomous robot very literally walking a thin red line to victory thanks to a head-mounted camera , finishing with time of 54 hours , 57 minutes , 50.26 seconds . Seeing as how this is the very first robot marathon , I guess that makes it a world record time too . In second place not two seconds

  • An Advanced Lithium Ion Battery Based on High Performance Electrode Materials

    Updated: 2011-02-26 21:47:14
    skip to main skip to sidebar February 26, 2011 An Advanced Lithium Ion Battery Based on High Performance Electrode Materials An Advanced Lithium Ion Battery Based on High Performance Electrode Materials In this paper we report the study of a high capacity Sn−C nanostructured anode and of a high rate , high voltage Li[Ni0.45Co0.1Mn1.45 O4 spinel cathode . We have combined these anode and cathode materials in an advanced lithium ion battery that , by exploiting this new chemistry , offers excellent performances in terms of cycling life , i.e . ca . 100 high rate cycles , of rate capability , operating at 5C and still keeping more than 85 of the initial capacity , and of energy density , expected to be of the order of 170 Wh kg−1. These unique features make the battery a very promising energy

  • An oldie but goodie…

    Updated: 2011-02-26 20:35:04
    This video is several years old, but I don’t think I’ve linked to it before on the blog.  It is a 5+ minute long presentation, narrated by the astronomer Neil deGrasse Tyson.  It gives a very quick overview of carbon nanotubes and how they are grown in a furnace (and then pulled off to longer [...]

  • From the 'X Files' Dept: : "Apollo 18 -The Secret Mission"

    Updated: 2011-02-26 17:16:59
    Apollo 18 is a totally realistic and terrifying movie about a secret Apollo 18 mission to the moon and the discovery of intelligent and deadly extraterrestrial life. This movie, directed by Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego, scheduled for release at a theater near...

  • Amazing Shuttle launch video from an airplane window

    Updated: 2011-02-26 16:23:11
    Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Blogs Bad Astronomy Caturday : the demon on the couch E.T . phone in the sequel Amazing Shuttle launch video from an airplane window When Discovery thundered into space on Thursday afternoon , I was in an airplane heading to Florida to visit family . I was hoping I might be able to see it , but my timing was off and it was already in orbit before I was close enough to see . it But not everyone was so unfortunate YouTube user NeilMonday got a fantastic view Set the resolution to 720p for the best view of it . Wow . I’m not sure how far away the plane was from the launch , but I’m guessing it was over 100 km 60 miles

  • Aging Portfolio.org

    Updated: 2011-02-25 20:52:44
    About: The International Aging Research Portfolio (IARP) is an independent non-profit initiative serving the aging research community, academic, corporate, patient advocacy and charitable funding organizations worldwide. The AgingPortfolio.Org system is a flexible and highly scalable knowledge management system developed to enable funding organizations to collaborate, track, analyze, structure, make decisions and set directions for future [...]

  • SDO Captures a Monster Solar Prominence

    Updated: 2011-02-25 19:59:11
    The Sun continues to be active! A large-sized (M 3.6 class) flare occurred near the edge of the Sun on February 24, 2011, and it blew out a gorgeous, waving mass of erupting plasma that swirled and twisted over a 90-minute period. This event was captured in extreme ultraviolet light by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory [...]

  • First Photos: Shuttle Discovery's Trail Into Space As Seen from Over 70,000 Feet in a Balloon

    Updated: 2011-02-25 19:55:39
    : Monday , February 28, 2011 About On Orbit Advertise Here Contact Information Feedback Log Out Home Blogs Features Recent Posts First Photos : Shuttle Discovery's Trail Into Space As Seen from Over 70,000 Feet in a Balloon Submitted by keithcowing on Fri , 02 25 2011 12:55. Gadgets Blog Space Exploration Florida as seen from the edge of space . Photo credit mandatory Quest for Stars Challenger . Center This photo was taken from an an altitude of over 70,000 feet still being determined exactly at 5:20 pm EST on 24 February 2011. The camera used was the lowest resolution camera on board the Robonaut-1 balloon a Motorola Droid X smartphone . You can see the plume left by Space Shuttle Discovery as it headed into space . We will be releasing more images of greater resolution and HD video very

  • SDO Image: Monster Solar Prominence

    Updated: 2011-02-25 17:33:18
    : Monday , February 28, 2011 About On Orbit Advertise Here Contact Information Feedback Log Out Home Blogs Features Recent Posts SDO Image : Monster Solar Prominence Submitted by keithcowing on Fri , 02 25 2011 10:33. Pavilion Lake When a rather large-sized M 3.6 class flare occurred near the edge of the Sun , it blew out a gorgeous , waving mass of erupting plasma that swirled and twisted over a 90-minute period Feb . 24, 2011 This event was captured in extreme ultraviolet light by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft Some of the material blew out into space and other portions fell back to the surface . Because SDO images are super-HD , we can zoom in on the action and still see exquisite details . And using a cadence of a frame taken every 24 seconds , the sense of motion is , by

  • Self-Templating of Metal-Driven Supramolecular Self-Assembly: A General Approach toward 1D Inorganic Nanotubes

    Updated: 2011-02-25 17:09:31
    : skip to main skip to sidebar February 25, 2011 Self-Templating of Metal-Driven Supramolecular Self-Assembly : A General Approach toward 1D Inorganic Nanotubes Chemistry of Materials Self-Templating of Metal-Driven Supramolecular Self-Assembly : A General Approach toward 1D Inorganic Nanotubes The rational design of one-dimensional 1D inorganic nanomaterials directed by self-assembled soft matters is one of the most attractive subjects in modern chemistry . In this work , the self-templating approach based on metal−cholate supramolecular self-assemblies is reported , which is distinct from the traditional soft template method . Under the framework of self-templating , metal ions can serve as both the inorganic precursor and constituent of the template additional precursors which may

  • Penn Physicists Develop Scalable Method for Making Graphene

    Updated: 2011-02-25 17:06:45
    skip to main skip to sidebar February 25, 2011 Penn Physicists Develop Scalable Method for Making Graphene New research from the University of Pennsylvania demonstrates a more consistent and cost-effective method for making graphene Other methods make expensive custom copper sheets in an effort to get them as smooth as possible defects in the surface cause the graphene to accumulate in unpredictable ways . Instead , Johnson’s group electropolished” their copper foil , a common industrial technique used in finishing silverware and surgical tools . The polished foil was smooth enough to produce single-layer graphene over 95 of its surface area . Chemistry of Materials Effect of Substrate Roughness and Feedstock Concentration on Growth of Wafer-Scale Graphene at Atmospheric Pressure The

  • Photos: ATV-2 docking With the Space Station Service Module

    Updated: 2011-02-25 14:33:37
    ATV2 "Johannes Kepler" docked successfully at the Service Module aft port at 10:59am EST on 24 February 2011. ATV hooks were closed at 11:06am, Service Module hooks at 11:09am. These photos were taken by Cosmonaut Dimitri Kondratyev. Photos Via Roscosmos read more

  • Did Earth Once Share Its Orbit with a Mars-Sized Planet? New Kepler Data Suggests "Yes"

    Updated: 2011-02-25 09:00:00
    Hidden in the mass of data from the Kepler telescope is a planetary system that has two of its apparent planets share the same orbit around their star. If the discovery is confirmed, it would support the theory that Earth...

  • Michio Kaku on 2013 Solar Maximum: “It Would Paralyze the Planet Earth”

    Updated: 2011-02-25 08:55:26
    Maybe it’s nothing at all! Maybe. Still, I have enough room in my thoughts to consider this, even if the probability is low. I don’t think anyone has the expertise to say for sure one way or the other. A real analysis would involve probability distributions over solar energy flux and expensive tests on electronic [...]

  • Discovery Heads to Space Station on Its Final Mission

    Updated: 2011-02-25 02:38:23
    The final flight of space shuttle Discovery lifted off from NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 4:53 p.m. EST Thursday to deliver a new module and critical supplies to the International Space Station. read more

  • Saudi Arabia in talks to supply more oil to make up shortfall from Libya

    Updated: 2011-02-24 23:05:00
    skip to main skip to sidebar February 24, 2011 Saudi Arabia in talks to supply more oil to make up shortfall from Libya Financial times- Saudi Arabia is considering two options to supply oil to make up for the shortfall from Libya The first would be to boost production and send more crude through the east-west pipeline , linking the country’s largest oilfields in Eastern province with the Red Sea port of Yanbu , for shipment to . Europe Another possibility would be a swap arrangement , whereby West African oil intended for Asian buyers is redirected to Europe , with Saudi Arabia stepping in to supply . Asia Right now , there are active talks in order to implement what is needed , 8221 the Saudi official said . He stressed that the kingdom retains spare capacity of some 4m barrels a day

  • STS-133 Launches on Historic Final Mission for Shuttle Discovery

    Updated: 2011-02-24 22:57:55
    Overcoming a down-to the-last second problem, space shuttle Discovery made history today, launching on its final mission to orbit. The most-traveled orbiter is carrying a crew of six astronauts and one human-like Robonaut, along with a new permanent storeroom and supplies for the International Space Station. After waiting nearly four months following the detection of [...]

  • Old Mans War will be made into a movie

    Updated: 2011-02-24 21:02:45
    skip to main skip to sidebar February 24, 2011 Old Mans War will be made into a movie Paramount Pictures has acquired screen rights to the John Scalzi novel series Old Man’s War , with Wolfgang Petersen attached to direct and David Self adapting the tale into a large-scale science fiction . project Scott Stuber will produce through his Stuber Pictures banner , with Petersen also producing . The hero is a 75-year old man who , having lost the love of his life , is amenable to trading his old carcass for a younger , genetically enhanced body so that he can combine the experience of age with the strength of youth and join an outer space military coalition sent to protect human colonies in outer space . Inductees agree to leave their past lives on earth behind , and are promised land on

  • Europe's ATV supply ship docks safely with Space Station

    Updated: 2011-02-24 16:00:00
    Eight days after launch, ESA's latest Automated Transfer Vehicle, Johannes Kepler, completed a flawless rendezvous and docking with the International Space Station at 17:08 CET (16:08 GMT) to deliver essential supplies. The approach and docking were achieved autonomously by its own computers, closely monitored by ESA and French space agency (CNES) teams at the ATV Control Centre in Toulouse, France, as well as the astronauts on the Station. read more

  • SwRI and XCOR Sign First Ever Commercial Reusable Suborbital Vehicle Scientific Flight Contract

    Updated: 2011-02-24 13:08:01
    February 24th, 2011, Mojave, CA, USA:   In a first for the reusable suborbital launch vehicle industry, XCOR Aerospace announced today that the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), a commercial entity, has purchased six suborbital flights to carry SwRI experiments as pathfinder missions for other SwRI suborbital clients.  This is the first such contract SwRI has issued, and XCOR is proud to be chosen for this opportunity.   <pread more

  • Previously Unseen Galaxy-Sized Bubbles Extend from the Milky Way

    Updated: 2011-02-24 09:00:00
    An analysis of data from a NASA Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope turned up massive, previously unseen galactic structures. A group of astrophysicists located two massive bubbles of plasma, each extending tens of thousands of light-years, emitting high-energy radiation above and...

  • The Moons of Asteroid Kleopatra

    Updated: 2011-02-24 08:40:00
    An image of the 217 kilometer long asteroid Kleopatra, discovered in 1880, taken by the Keck II telescope with adaptive optics, before (left) and after processing. The asteroid, shaped like a dog bone, has two moons, the outer Alexhelios and...

  • NASA Launches Antarctic Balloons to Study Radiation

    Updated: 2011-02-24 08:10:00
    A research balloon launched in December of 2010 from McMurdo Station in Antarctica (below), as a test run ay 112,000 feet for launches in 2013 and 2014 of 20 such balloons to float in the circular wind patterns above the...

  • Sick day

    Updated: 2011-02-24 05:54:30
    Yes, even on a Space Elevator… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDeAvjiMhbw

  • Discovery waits for her final flight

    Updated: 2011-02-23 23:00:18
    Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Blogs Bad Astronomy Creationists suffer defeat in Oklahoma How far away is the Moon Discovery waits for her final flight NASA just posted this lovely picture of the Space Shuttle Discovery sitting on its pad , awaiting the command to light her engines and take her final flight into . space Click to embiggen . The picture was taken a couple of weeks ago note the thin crescent Moon on the left . In fact , the sight of the Moon and the Orbiter together makes me a little sad . The Shuttles can’t get Americans back there , and barring this and one more flight of Endeavour later this year , it’ll be a while before we can

  • The Milky Way's 50 Billion Planets: Do Odds Increase that Advanced Technological Civilizations Exist at the Edge of the Galaxy?

    Updated: 2011-02-23 18:00:14
    The Kepler space telescope has mapped more than 1,200 planets in one tiny corner of our Milky Way Galaxy. Based on that sample, scientists say that there are approximately 50 billion planets in the entire galaxy based on a conservative...

  • Will NASA's WISE Space Mission Prove that 'Tyche' -Planet X- Exists?

    Updated: 2011-02-23 09:30:00
    In November 2010, the scientific journal Icarus published a paper by astrophysicists John Matese and Daniel Whitmire, who proposed the existence of a binary companion to our sun, larger than Jupiter, in the long-hypothesized "Oort cloud" -- a faraway repository...

  • Discovery's Final Flight to Deliver Humanoid, "Robonaut"

    Updated: 2011-02-23 08:50:00
    NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is in final count down to the final launch of the space shuttle Discovery this Thursday. The 11-day mission will deliver Robonaut, a humanoid robot, to the International Space Station, along with a new... </a

  • Life in the Hadal Zone: Earth's Extremeophiles Could Foreshadow What Lies Beneath Jupiter's Europa

    Updated: 2011-02-23 08:20:00
    Wonder what life of Jupiter's moon, Europa, might look like? Checkout a new species of archaebacteria, Pyrococcus CH1,discovered thriving on a mid-Atlantic ridge within a temperature range of 80 to 105°C and able to divide itself up to a hydrostatic...

  • Extreme Worlds: The Moon’s Inner Core Revealed

    Updated: 2011-02-23 00:27:48
    Everyone knows that Earth's Moon is cold, dead chunk of rock, right? Hold on there, Sparky, not so fast! While it's true that it was once thought that the moon was an inert, lifeless ball, scientists have known since the days of the Apollo astronauts that there's much more going on inside our moon than meets the eye.

  • Another Fun Comment

    Updated: 2011-02-22 20:24:38
    Here’s another fun, somewhat provocative comment, made by a member of aRocket: All of this discussion assumes that space exploration is, of itself, a valuable goal.  As I see it, the only real deliverable of space exploration is that it keeps that VERY SMALL percentage of the population not content with beer and football entertained. [...]

  • ISEC welcomes Robert “Skip” Penny as a new Director

    Updated: 2011-02-21 02:33:34
    ISEC is very pleased to announce that Robert “Skip” Penny has joined its Board of Directors effective immediately.  A brief bio: Robert E. “Skip” Penny, Jr. graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1970 with a Bachlor of Science degree. Over his 20 year Air Force career, he held a breadth of command and staff [...]

  • Discovery’s last voyage is go for February 24

    Updated: 2011-02-19 14:00:42
    Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Blogs Bad Astronomy MESSENGER’s family portrait Lovely , frigid ripples Discovery’s last voyage is go for February 24 The last scheduled launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery has been set for February 24 at 16:50 Eastern time . You can keep up with the latest info and NASA’s launch blog on their Shuttle website The launch will be live , as usual , on NASA TV As it happens I’ll be on a plane traveling to Florida to visit family at that time , so ironically I’ll be headed toward the launch but won’t be able to see it . The launch window is a very short ten minutes , so if they delay it at all maybe it’ll be for a day

  • MESSENGER’s family portrait

    Updated: 2011-02-18 17:30:40
    Subscribe Give a Gift Archives Customer Service SEARCH Health Medicine Mind Brain Technology Space Human Origins Living World Environment Physics Math Video Photos Podcast RSS Blogs Bad Astronomy Dialing in a radio eclipse Discovery’s last voyage is go for February 24 MESSENGER’s family portrait On March 17, just a month from now , NASA’s MESSENGER probe is scheduled to enter orbit around Mercury , the smallest planet in the solar system . No other mission from Earth has ever done this , and for the first time we’ll get high-resolution maps of the entire . globe On its way down , the spacecraft was commanded to turn around and look outward , toward space . It took a series of images of what it saw this astonishing family portrait of the solar system Click it to ensolarsystemate it and see

  • Good Quote from Rep. Hall

    Updated: 2011-02-18 17:12:19
    From NASAWatch/Spaceref: “While it is true that prudent investments in science and technology will almost certainly yield future economic gains and will allow our knowledge economy to grow, it is also true that these gains can be thwarted by poor decision-making,” Chairman Hall said. “Americans expect and deserve better. With our unemployment hovering at over [...]

  • Slice of History: Cesium-Lithium Test System

    Updated: 2011-02-18 09:40:35
    By Julie Cooper Each month in “Slice of History” we’ll be featuring a historical photo from the JPL Archives. See more historical photos and explore the JPL Archives at https://beacon.jpl.nasa.gov/. Cesium-Lithium Test System — Photograph Number 383-5651Ac As early as 1961, JPL’s Propulsion Division was working on a new type of power system for future spacecraft that would [...]

  • NASA Budget for 2012

    Updated: 2011-02-18 05:37:22
    NASA’s 2012 Budget Estimate Overview can be found here (pdf). The Budget Summary can be found here (pdf). Funding Highlights: Provides $18.7 billion, the same amount the agency received in 2010. Funding focuses on areas that will improve the Nation’s space capabilities, strengthen our competitive edge, and prepare the next generation of leaders in the field. The Budget [...]

  • The ITAR/Immigration Bifecta of Suck

    Updated: 2011-02-16 21:44:05
    I know I’ve written about this topic before, but I think it’s worth bringing it up again. When you combine the stupidity of ITAR as it exists with the difficulty of getting even a green-card for your typical foreign engineering student studying in the US, you get a particularly pathetic situation. While they’re in school, [...]

  • ISEC Releases its first ISEC Report

    Updated: 2011-02-16 06:05:57
    I am very happy to announce that the International Space Elevator Consortium (ISEC) has released its first ISEC Report (formerly known as ISEC Red Team Studies).  In our first strategic plan (2010), we set out a goal of releasing a report every year addressing the ISEC Theme for the year.  In 2010, our theme was [...]

  • Out of This World? The Mars Climate Change Mystery

    Updated: 2011-02-16 00:15:46
    By Erik Conway, writing for My Big Fat Planet Mars has been a grand scientific mystery ever since the first modern images were beamed back from the Mariner 4 spacecraft in 1965. Those snapshots showed a moon-like, cratered surface — not what we expected. Scientists had assumed that Mars would have an Earth-like atmosphere, composed mainly [...]

  • More adventures

    Updated: 2011-02-14 06:05:18
    And, while I’ve been not up-to-date in my blogging lately, our intrepid explorers have posted 3 of their latest adventures. In the first, we get a belated Christmas wish… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lByYr2SDIF4 . In this next snippit, we see proof that one cannot escape ‘civilization’, even on a Space Elevator… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JwDpha8hOM . And finally, we have a band concert that is truly Grunge… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qth8ze3SDUY . I hope [...]

  • Gearing up for JSETEC 2011

    Updated: 2011-02-13 03:12:23
    Shuichi Ohno, the president of the Japan Space Elevator Association (JSEA) sent me an email with some links to videos put on YouTube.  These videos show some of the preparation work underway for the third annual Japan Space Elevator Technical & Engineering Competition (JSETEC) to be held in August of this year. These three videos (shot [...]

  • Astrobotic Technology Signs SpaceX Contract for Lunar XPrize Mission

    Updated: 2011-02-11 15:22:58
    Falcon 9 / Lunar Mission Image Credit: Astrobotic Technology Astrobotic Technology, Inc., a spinoff from Carnegie Mellon University, announced the signing of a contract with SpaceX to launch its Lunar XPrize mission using a Falcon 9 rocket. Astrobotic intends to launch as early as December 2013. The mission includes a rover designed to operate for three months, and [...]

  • Announcing the 2011 Artsutanov and Pearson prizes

    Updated: 2011-02-07 04:08:41
    In 2010, ISEC announced the Yuri Artsutanov & Jerome Pearson prizes, prizes established to foster research into Space Elevator related topics.  There were no winners in 2010, though we had two papers that qualified for Honorable Mentions in the Artsutanov Prize. The Pearson Prize, sponsored by the Leeward Space Foundation, is open to all Undergraduate students.   [...]

  • “Commercial” STS Modest Proposal

    Updated: 2011-02-03 20:47:27
    So, according to Rob Coppinger, USA has proposed to operate the Shuttle “commercially” as part of their CCDEV proposal. For a cool, $1.5B/yr over the next six years, they’ll provide two shuttle flights per year. Personally, I think this is mostly a terrible idea. While offering fixed-price services, and moving to FAA regs is nice, [...]

  • 400,000 Visits

    Updated: 2011-02-03 02:54:08
    Wow. Selenian Boondocks officially passed the 400,000 site visits mark sometime this afternoon. For a blog mostly focused on such a small niche topic (space technology, politics, and business), it’s kind of cool to reach a milestone like this. Thanks everyone for all the support, especially when the blogging ends up being so light sometimes! [...]

  • Get Your Daily Dose of Awe @The Daily Galaxy Facebook Page

    Updated: 2011-02-02 13:00:45
    Link & Share The Daily Galaxy Facebook Page

  • Amusing Observation: SpaceX and HEFT Report Page 38

    Updated: 2011-02-02 06:50:23
    So, a group of rocket engineers starts making claims about how they’re going to revolutionize the industry and deliver a vehicle for far less than has been the traditional norm. When asked how they are going to do this, they talk about stuff like “vertical integration”, “keeping stuff simple”, using a “clean-sheet approach”, and “borrowing [...]

  • New Posts on the ASM Update Blog

    Updated: 2011-02-02 04:33:12
    FWIW, there’s new blog posts on what we’ve been up to at ASM over the last few months, and on some validation on our concept for doing an ISS micro reentry vehicle.

  • Rocks and Stars with Amy: This Year I Saw the Universe

    Updated: 2011-02-01 22:27:57
    By Amy Mainzer With WISE, I roamed the skies — seeing everything from the closest asteroids to the most distant galaxies. When I was a kid, maybe 6 or 7, I remember reading the encyclopedia about Andromeda, Mars and Jupiter. After that, I spent a lot of my free time (and a fair amount of gym [...]

  • FWIW: My thoughts on Nautilus-X MMSEV

    Updated: 2011-02-01 04:38:19
    I know all of you have been just dying to hear what I think about the Nautilus-X MMSEV vehicle that’s been discussed all over the blogosphere in recent days. Ok, probably not, but I figured I ought to get my opinions on record anyway. I’ll start with my positive impressions first. Most importantly, I like [...]

  • Random Thoughts: DCSS-Derived Dual-Fluid Depot

    Updated: 2011-02-01 00:47:48
    I was somewhat surprised that my earlier Dual-Fluid Depot post generated as much interest as it did.  I didn’t think there were many people who cared about depots who hadn’t read any of the papers by Frank Zegler, Bernard Kutter, or myself on the topic.  But I wanted to include an intro just for sake [...]

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