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| August 16, 2012 |
 Hypersonic vehicle fails flight test: US Air Force Washington (AFP) Aug 15, 2012 - A flight test of an experimental unmanned vehicle designed to fly at hypersonic speeds has ended in failure, the US Air Force said Wednesday. The X-51A Waverider was dropped from a B-52 bomber Tuesday and launched by a rocket booster as planned but the flight was over in seconds after a control fin malfunctioned, the Air Force said in a statement. The faulty control fin meant that the ve ..more |  |
 10-year plan for space physics put forward Washington (UPI) Aug 15, 2012 - U.S. scientists have released a report recommending research for the next decade on the sun, sun-Earth connections and the origins of "space weather." An 18-month effort by more than 85 solar and space physicists and space system engineers of the National Research Council resulted in the report that lays out four scientific goals in solar and space physics, a release from the National A ..more |  |
 Second Flight Instrument Delivered for James Webb Space Telescope Washington DC (SPX) Aug 16, 2012 - The second of four main instruments to fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope (Webb) has been delivered to NASA. The Fine Guidance Sensor (FGS) will enable the telescope to accurately and precisely point at the correct, intended objects for it to observe. The FGS is packaged together as a single unit with the Near-Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph (NIRISS) science instrument. ..more |  |
 Proba-1 microsat snaps Olympic neighbourhood Paris, France (ESA) Aug 16, 2012 - This Olympics has been watched from all over the world - and beyond. Benefiting from a cloudless sky, this view of London's Olympic Park was captured by the smallest imager aboard ESA's smallest mission: the High Resolution Camera on the Proba-1 microsatellite. The Olympic Park, dominated by the circular Olympic Stadium, is visible towards the base of this 5 m-resolution image, with Victor ..more |  |
New system could predict solar flares, give advance warning West Lafayette, IN (SPX) Aug 16, 2012 - Researchers may have discovered a new method to predict solar flares more than a day before they occur, providing advance warning to help protect satellites, power grids and astronauts from potentially dangerous radiation. The system works by measuring differences in gamma radiation emitted when atoms in radioactive elements "decay," or lose energy. This rate of decay is widely believed to ..more |  |
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NASA STEREO observes 1 of the fastest CMEs on record Huntsville AL (SPX) Aug 16, 2012 - On July 23, 2012, a massive cloud of solar material erupted off the sun's right side, zooming out into space, passing one of NASA's Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft along the way. Using the STEREO data, scientists at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. clocked this giant cloud, known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME, as traveling between 1,800 and 2, ..more |  |
 Ball Aerospace Incorporates Enhanced Data Communication for JPSS-1 Satellite Boulder CO (SPX) Aug 16, 2012 - Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. will incorporate essential data communication enhancements for the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS-1), currently under development for an early 2017 launch. JPSS is the Nation's next generation polar-orbiting operational environmental satellite system, procured by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), through the National Aeron ..more |  |
 Autonomous robotic plane flies indoors Boston MA (SPX) Aug 14, 2012 - For decades, academic and industry researchers have been working on control algorithms for autonomous helicopters - robotic helicopters that pilot themselves, rather than requiring remote human guidance. Dozens of research teams have competed in a series of autonomous-helicopter challenges posed by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI); progress has been so rapid tha ..more |  |
First Flight of the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle Joint Base Mcguire-Dix-Lakehurst, NJ (SPX) Aug 13, 2012 - Northrop Grumman and Hybrid Air Vehicles Limited announce the successful completion of the first flight of the U.S. Army's Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle (LEMV) in historic Lakehurst, N.J., the birthplace of the nation's storied military airship past. The LEMV, a first-of-its-kind airship, took to the sky at 6:49 p.m. Eastern time and flew for more than 90 minutes over Lakehurst Naval ..more |  |
 STSS Demonstration Satellites Participate in Test of Next-Gen Aegis BMD Weapon System Pacific Missile Range Facility, HI (SPX) Aug 15, 2012 - The Space Tracking and Surveillance System (STSS) demonstration satellites participated in a test of the next generation of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) weapon system, designated FTM-16 E2a, when a Standard Missile-3 Block 1B interceptor successfully engaged a short-range ballistic missile target May 10. Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC), as the prime contractor, and Ray ..more |  |
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 Gilat Announces Major Milestone in NBN Interim Satellite Service in Australia Canberra, Australia (SPX) Aug 16, 2012 - Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd has successfully completed the deployment of the first 10,000 VSATs (Very Small Aperture Terminals) with Optus as part of NBN Co's Interim Satellite Service. The joint effort between Optus and Gilat, first announced in May 2011, will include up to 48,000 Gilat SkyEdge II VSATs expected to be deployed over the next three years. Gilat is responsible for the VSAT ..more |  |
MEADS Multifunction Fire Control Radar Finishes Integration and Test Events At Italian Test Range Orlando FL (SPX) Aug 15, 2012 - The first Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) has been integrated with a MEADS battle manager and launcher at Pratica di Mare Air Force Base near Rome, Italy. The objectives of the integration test series were to demonstrate that the MEADS TOC could control the MEADS MFCR in coordination with the MEADS Launcher. At Pratica di Mare, the M ..more |   |
US Army certifies soldiers ready to defend battlespace with JLENS Huntsville AL (SPX) Aug 15, 2012 - Combatant commanders moved one step closer to being able to detect, track and engage threats such as swarming boats and incoming cruise missiles, around the clock, from hundreds of miles away. In June 2012, the first class of U.S. Army soldiers completed mission operator training on the Raytheon JLENS elevated, persistent over-the-horizon sensor system. "Now that the classroom studies and ..more |  |
Hinode scientists' stellar effort keeps Sun mission 'burning bright' London, UK (SPX) Aug 16, 2012 - Whilst the most powerful earthquake since records began hit Japan in 2011, triggering a massive tsunami which devastated much of the country, space scientists involved in one of the 'brightest' international Sun missions continued working tirelessly at the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science in Sagamihara, Japan, to capture new data from our turbulent star. These latest Hinode res ..more |  |
 Meteor Smoke Makes Strange Clouds Washington DC (SPX) Aug 15, 2012 - Anyone who's ever seen a noctilucent cloud or "NLC" would agree: They look alien. The electric-blue ripples and pale tendrils of NLCs reaching across the night sky resemble something from another world. Researchers say that's not far off. A key ingredient for the mysterious clouds comes from outer space. "We've detected bits of 'meteor smoke' imbedded in noctilucent clouds," reports ..more |  |
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New atmospheric compound tied to climate change and human health Boulder CO (SPX) Aug 15, 2012 - An international research team led by the University of Colorado Boulder and the University of Helsinki has discovered a surprising new chemical compound in Earth's atmosphere that reacts with sulfur dioxide to form sulfuric acid, which is known to have significant impacts on climate and health. The new compound, a type of carbonyl oxide, is formed from the reaction of ozone with alkenes, ..more |  |
 NASA Historic Test Stands Make Way for New Reusable Robotic Lander Neig Huntsville, AL (SPX) Aug 16, 2012 - The landscape around two historic test stands at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., has changed and now features a free-flying robotic lander that will demonstrate automated rendezvous and capture technology. This guidance, navigation and control software could aid in the capture of orbiting space debris, in-space docking with a fuel depot, docking of a robotic lander ..more |  |
 India to launch Mars mission: PM New Delhi (AFP) Aug 15, 2012 - India plans to launch a space probe that will orbit Mars, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh confirmed on Wednesday after press reports that the mission was scheduled to begin late next year. The project would mark another step in the country's ambitious space programme, which placed a probe on the moon three years ago and envisages its first manned mission in 2016. "Our spaceship will go nea ..more |  |
Orbiter Views New Mars Rover In Color Pasadena CA (JPL) Aug 15, 2012 - The first color image taken from orbit showing NASA's rover Curiosity on Mars includes details of the layered bedrock on the floor of Gale Crater that the rover is beginning to investigate. Operators of the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter added the color view to earlier observations of Curiosity descending on its parachute, and one ..more |  |
 Closing in on the Border Between Primordial Plasma and Ordinary Matter Upton, NY (SPX) Aug 15, 2012 - Scientists taking advantage of the versatility and new capabilities of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC), an atom smasher at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, have observed first glimpses of a possible boundary separating ordinary nuclear matter, composed of protons and neutrons, from the seething soup of their constituent quarks and gluons that permeated t ..more |
