16/02/10

Starship pilots: speed kills, especially warp speed
Star Trek fans, prepare to be disappointed: travelling at warp speed is as lethal as standing in front of the Large Hadron Collider beam at full power. (The New Scientist)

Cupola windows unwrapped on mission's last spacewalk
Astronauts Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick completed their third and final spacewalk Tuesday night, activating another ammonia coolant loop for the space station's new Tranquility module and removing the coverings on the seven-window observation deck. (Spaceflight Now)

Phobos flyby season starts again
Today Mars Express began a series of flybys of Phobos, the largest moon of Mars. The campaign will reach its crescendo on 3 March, when the spacecraft will set a new record for the closest pass to Phobos, skimming the surface at just 50 km. The data collected could help untangle the origin of this mysterious moon.(ESA)

 

15/02/10

Primordial giant: The star that time forgot
The colossal explosion of an "impossible" star may open a window onto the earliest days of the cosmos. (The New Scientist)

Iran unveils new space rocket and satellite designs
Iran has revealed the development of a new Simorgh space booster and three new satellites, including an imaging spacecraft that may provide Iran with a rudimentary space reconnaissance capability. (Spaceflight Now)

 

12/02/10

Space Station gains a new room: Node-3 installed
Almost exactly two years after the Columbus laboratory was added to the Space Station, the hi-tech Node-3, also ‘made in Europe’, was installed on the ISS this morning. (ESA)

International Space Station receives its Tranquility
The new Tranquility module became part of the International Space Station at 1:20 a.m. EST, giving the orbiting outpost a new utility room and gym with a grand window on the world. Spacewalkers Bob Behnken and Nick Patrick prepped the module for removal from the shuttle payload bay and then worked to install umbilicals after it was attached to the station. (Spaceflight Now)

NASA moon plan was an illusion, wrapped in denial
The space agency's planned return to the moon was never going to get off the ground, says Henry Spencer.(The New Scientist)

 

11/02/10

Space 2020: what NASA will do next
The US space agency is on the cusp of its most radical change in decades – where will it lead? (The New Scientist)

Sun-watching spacecraft launch planned for today
A second attempt is underway at Cape Canaveral to launch the Atlas 5 rocket carrying the Solar Dynamics Observatory, a NASA spacecraft that will stare directly at the Sun continuously for the next decade to observe the star's behavior and how it influences life on Earth. Liftoff is scheduled for 10:23 a.m. EDT (1523 GMT).(Spaceflight Now)