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May 25, 2012

SpaceX readies space station rendezvous Washington (AFP) May 24, 2012 - The US company SpaceX on Thursday prepared for the climax of its Dragon capsule's landmark mission to the International Space Station with a high-stakes bid to latch on to the orbiting research lab. The unmanned, cargo-carrying supply ship on Friday aims to become the first privately owned craft to berth with the $100 billion space station, thereby restoring US access to the space outpost af ...more

Neil Armstrong gives rare interview - to accountant Sydney (AFP) May 24, 2012 - The famously private Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, has been coaxed into giving a rare interview - with an Australian accountant. The 82-year-old has long been reluctant to discuss the 1969 mission that enthralled the world, and has granted only a handful of interviews since. But the Certified Practicing Accountants of Australia convinced him to film an hour-long one ...more

Get ready for the transit of Venus! Paris, France (ESA) May 25, 2012 - Scientists and amateur astronomers around the world are preparing to observe the rare occurrence of Venus crossing the face of the Sun on 5-6 June, an event that will not be seen again for over a hundred years. The occasion also celebrates the first transit while there is a spacecraft orbiting the planet - ESA's Venus Express. ESA will be reporting live from the Arctic island of Spitsberge ...more

NASA Funded Research Shows Existence of Reduced Carbon on Mars Washington DC (SPX) May 25, 2012 - NASA-funded research on Mars meteorites that landed on Earth shows strong evidence that very large molecules containing carbon, which is a key ingredient for the building blocks of life, can originate on the Red Planet. These macromolecules are not of biological origin, but they are indicators that complex carbon chemistry has taken place on Mars. Researchers from the Carnegie Institution ...more

Did Ancient Mars Have a Runaway Greenhouse? Moffett Field CA (SPX) May 25, 2012 - Cosmic impacts that once bombed Mars might have sent temperatures skyrocketing upward on the Red Planet in ancient times, enough to set warming of the surface on a runaway course, researchers say. According to scientists, these findings could potentially help explain how this cold, dry world might have once sustained liquid water, conditions potentially friendly for life. The largest crate ...more

Opportunity Drives to Dusty Patch of Soil Pasadena CA (JPL) May 25, 2012 - The rover drove on Sols 2949, 2951, 2953 and 2955 (May 10, 12, 14 and 17, 2012), totaling just over 46 feet (13.9 meters). The rover is positioning to reach a pristine patch of dust on the surface. The plan ahead is to use the robotic arm instruments to investigate the patch of dust. Dust covers much of Mars and this patch is an opportunity to perhaps determine the origin of the dust from its ch ...more

The 2012 Transit of Venus Huntsville AL (SPX) May 25, 2012 - On June 5th, 2012, Venus will pass across the face of the sun, producing a silhouette that no one alive today will likely see again. Transits of Venus are very rare, coming in pairs separated by more than a hundred years. This June's transit, the bookend of a 2004-2012 pair, won't be repeated until the year 2117. Fortunately, the event is widely visible. Observers on seven continents, even a sli ...more

NASA Offers Guidelines To Protect Historic Sites On The Moon Washington DC (SPX) May 25, 2012 - NASA and the X Prize Foundation of Playa Vista, Calif., announced Thursday the Google Lunar X Prize is recognizing guidelines established by NASA to protect lunar historic sites and preserve ongoing and future science on the moon. The foundation will take the guidelines into account as it judges mobility plans submitted by 26 teams vying to be the first privately-funded entity to visit the ...more

The Older We Get, The Less We Know Cosmologically Cambridge MA (SPX) May 25, 2012 - The universe is a marvelously complex place, filled with galaxies and larger-scale structures that have evolved over its 13.7-billion-year history. Those began as small perturbations of matter that grew over time, like ripples in a pond, as the universe expanded. By observing the large-scale cosmic wrinkles now, we can learn about the initial conditions of the universe. But is now really t ...more

Colliding galaxy cluster unravelled Amsterdam, Holland (SPX) May 25, 2012 - An international team of astronomers has used the International LOFAR Telescope from ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, to study the formation of the galaxy cluster Abell 2256. Abell 2256 is a cluster containing hundreds of galaxies at a distance of 800 million lightyears. "The structure we see in the radio images made with LOFAR provides us with information about the o ...more

DeLorme inReach Two-Way Satellite Communicator Now Connects With iPhone, iPad and iPod touch Yarmouth ME (SPX) May 25, 2012 - DeLorme has announced that its award-winning inReach is now compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. This innovation makes it possible for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch to access an array of two-way satellite communications capabilities with the inReach and the DeLorme Earthmate App. inReach turns an iPhone, iPad or iPod touch into a global two-way satellite communicator for use outside ...more

Spirent Launches New Entry-Level Multi-GNSS Simulator Paignton, UK (SPX) May 25, 2012 - Spirent Communications has announced the launch of its new GSS6300M Multi-GNSS simulator designed for integration, verification and production testing where a quick and accurate functional test is needed. The platform supports simulation of signals from individual or combined GPS/SBAS, GLONASS and Galileo constellations, with eight satellites per constellation. The GSS6300M supports ...more

Observatory needs repair after winter disaster Denver CO (SPX) May 25, 2012 - Repairs will begin on the DU-operated Meyer-Womble Observatory on Mount Evans this summer after it was severely damaged by high winds during the winter. A current bid to replace the dome sets the repair price at $72,000, all of which will be covered by DU's disaster insurance policy. The Meyer-Womble observatory was built and gifted to DU in 1996 with an upgraded NASA 24 inch telescope. Th ...more

DLR presents innovations in robotics at AUTOMATICA 2012 Bonn, Germany (SPX) May 25, 2012 - The Robotics and Mechatronics Center (RMC) at the German Aerospace Center is exhibiting at AUTOMATICA, the leading international exhibition for automation and mechatronics, which is being held in Munich. A total of 15 exhibits demonstrate some of the cutting-edge research in the current RMC portfolio, including cross-disciplinary areas such as spaceflight robotics, medical robotics and industria ...more

How To Keep A Mars Tumbleweed Rover Moving On Rocky Terrain Raleigh NC (SPX) May 24, 2012 - New research from North Carolina State University shows that a wind-driven "tumbleweed" Mars rover would be capable of moving across rocky Martian terrain - findings that could also help the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) design the best possible vehicle. "There is quite a bit of interest within NASA to pursue the tumbleweed rover design, but one of the questions rega ...more

Courses Available In 2012 Space Vehicle Mechanisms Solid Rocket Motor Design and Applications Launch Vehicle and Spacecraft Acoustic Testing and Analysis Launch System Performance and Trajectory Design Launch Vehicle Systems Design and Engineering

Nea Kameni volcano movement captured by Envisat Paris, France (ESA) May 25, 2012 - Archived data from the Envisat satellite show that the volcanic island of Santorini has recently displayed signs of unrest. Even after the end of its mission, Envisat information continues to be exploited for the long-term monitoring of volcanoes. Santorini is a picturesque Greek island in the south Aegean Sea and the most active volcanic centre in the South Aegean Volcanic Arc. The ...more

SpaceX Launches NASA Demonstration Mission to ISS Cape Canaveral FL (SPX) May 24, 2012 - The second demonstration mission for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program is under way as SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifted off Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 3:44 a.m. EDT. "I want to congratulate SpaceX for its successful launch and salute the NASA team that worked alongside them to make it happen," NASA Administrator ...more

CU astronaut-alumnus Scott Carpenter looks back at 50th anniversary of Aurora 7 mission Boulder CO (SPX) May 24, 2012 - On May 24, 1962, University of Colorado Boulder alumnus Scott Carpenter lifted off from Earth in NASA's Aurora 7 space capsule mounted atop a Mercury-Atlas rocket at Cape Canaveral, Fla., swiftly climbing to roughly 165 miles in altitude. The NASA astronaut and his capsule were swept into Earth's orbit, eventually speeding around the planet at 17,000 miles per hour - a velocity roughly equ ...more

Extremely Rare Transit of Venus to Occur on June 5, 2012 Washington DC (SPX) May 24, 2012 - A few hours before sunset on June 5th, 2012 residents of the Washington, DC metropolitan area will have a chance to witness one of the rarest celestial phenomena known: a "Transit of Venus". Such an event occurs when the planet Venus passes almost exactly between the Earth and the Sun, and they are incredibly rare. Since first predicted by the German mathematician and astronomer Johannes K ...more

NASA hails 'new era' in exploration Washington DC, (IANS) May 24, 2012 - NASA head Charles Bolden has hailed a "new era" in exploration after the launch of the first cargo delivery to the space station Tuesday by a private company, BBC reported. On board the California-based company's own Falcon 9 rocket, the Dragon capsule rocketed into the sky from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. In his reaction over the launch, Bolden said: "Today marks th ...more

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