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Boeing’s Private Space Taxi to Take Flight by 2016

April 27, 2012 by ·

With NASA’s space shuttle fleet now permanently grounded, aerospace giant Boeing is aiming to fly astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a new private spaceship as early as 2015 or 2016, company officials say.

Boeing’s CST-100 capsule (short for Commercial Space Transportation-100) is being designed to ferry astronauts to and from the space station and other destinations in low-Earth orbit. The spacecraft will initially launch from Florida atop United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket, but the company is not ruling out other booster options in the future, officials have said.

The capsule is being designed as part of a NASA program that supports the development of a new fleet of commercially built spaceships to fill the gap made by the retirement of the shuttle program. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Science, Space Programme, Technologies ·

Water In Mars Regions May Have Rudimentary Life

December 13, 2011 by ·

Water in Mars regions may have rudimentary life Sydney: Patches of Mars sub-surface could contain water and sustain a rudimentary form of life, such as martian microbes, reveals a study.

“Our models tell us that if there is water present in the Martian sub-surface, then it could be habitable,” said doctoral student Eriita Jones from the Planetary Science Institute of the Australian National University.

“We know that there is a hot, deep biosphere on Earth that extends to around five kilometres. If there is a hot deep biosphere on Mars, our modelling shows that it could extend to around 30 kilometres,” study co-author Charley Lineweaver added. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Research & Study, Science, Solar System ·

Scientist: Satellite Must Have Crashed Into Asia

October 24, 2011 by ·

A defunct German research satellite crashed into the Earth somewhere in Southeast Asia on Sunday, a U.S. scientist said — but no one is still quite sure where.

Most parts of the minivan-sized ROSAT research satellite were expected to burn up as they hit the atmosphere at speeds up to 280 mph (450 kph), but up to 30 fragments weighing a total of 1.87 tons (1.7 metric tons) could have crashed, the German Aerospace Center said.

Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts, said the satellite appears to have gone down over Southeast Asia. He said two Chinese cities with millions of inhabitants each, Chongqing and Chengdu, had been in the satellite’s projected path during its re-entry time. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Science, Solar System, Space Programme ·

Search On For Amateur Science Ideas

September 26, 2011 by ·

Snail “GPS”, Facebook psychology and crowd dynamics at music gigs: these were just some of the ideas submitted during last year’s search for “citizen science” projects.

Now, Radio 4 is launching its search for the next BBC Amateur Scientist of the year.

A panel of judges, chaired by Nobel Prize-winning geneticist Sir Paul Nurse, will select four finalists. The shortlisted entrants will then have their ideas turned into real experiments, with the help of a professional scientist. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Humanities, Research & Study, Science ·

NASA Unveils New Launcher Design For Mars

September 20, 2011 by ·

NASA has unveiled its design selection for a massive new launcher capable of powering manned space flights well beyond low-Earth orbit and ultimately to Mars.

NASA chief Charles Bolden made the announcement of the design for the new Space Launch System, which the space agency touted as the most powerful rocket since the Saturn V rocket put US astronauts on the moon.

“President Obama challenged us to be bold and dream big, and that’s exactly what we are doing at NASA,” said Mr Bolden. “While I was proud to fly on the space shuttle, tomorrow’s explorers will now dream of one day walking on Mars.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Science, Solar System, Space Programme ·

Earth ‘May Have Had Two Moons’

August 10, 2011 by ·

Earth may once have had two moons, the one that shines at night today and a smaller companion, according to a new theory.

A collision between the two created the mountainous highlands on the moon’s far side that have long puzzled scientists, according to this theory.

The side of the moon facing the Earth and the side facing away have strikingly different topographies. While the near side is relatively low and flat, the far side is high and mountainous with a much thicker crust.

Scientists have proposed different theories to explain this lack of symmetry. One leading idea is that gravitational tidal forces reshaped the moon’s crust and made it lopsided. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Science, Solar System, Space Programme ·

What’s Next For U.S. Space Program?

July 12, 2011 by ·

Looks like America will just have to ride shotgun.

The Atlantis space shuttle launched into orbit Friday, marking the final flight of the 30-year-old space shuttle program. That leaves the United States without any vehicles capable of human spaceflight.

Some experts believe that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s abandoning of spaceflight could have far-reaching implications on scientific discovery. Others say the focus of tomorrow’s engineers will shift to new areas that may have been overlooked if their efforts were spent on the costly travel.

Either way, it is the end of an era.

“I grew up with the shuttle, it was my generation’s Apollo,” said Laura Venner, a NASA ambassador and educator for New Jersey. “It’s something that makes you so proud and patriotic.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Humanities, Science, Space Programme, Technologies ·