Stumble It!
USA Today has four different views on space from Konrad Dannenberg, Mike, Griffin, Elon Musk, & Thomas Stafford.
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space (spās)
n.
1. space beyond the atmosphere of the earth.
Staff
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prag·ma·tism (prgm-tzm)
n.
A way of approaching situations or solving problems that emphasizes practical applications and consequences.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Mars Rover Gets First Victoria Crater View
Opportunity has made its first stop in the Victoria Crater on Mars.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Popular Science Space Plane
The October issue of Popular Science is out with Michael Belfiore's piece on EADS Astrium's new tourist spaceship design.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Carnival of Space #21 is Up
This week's Carnival of Space is up:
http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2007/09/carnival-of-space-week-21-xprize.html
Many of the posts were about the recent announcement by Google for the Lunar contest.
Scientific American October Issue on The Future of Space Exploration
I The following are some of the stories that are now available online and they are as follows:
"Racing Past the Moon"
Today competition matters less than conquering space.
“To the Moon and Beyond”
By Charles Dingell, William A. Johns and Julie Kramer White
Humans are returning to the moon. This time the plan is to stay a while.
“Five Essential Things to Do in Space”
By George Musser
Planetary scientists have a quintet of goals for exploring the solar system.
Also, this article includes an interesting multimedia presentation that summarizes the 5 goals for exploring the solar system. This can be found here:
Thursday, September 13, 2007
More on the ESA SpaceX Falcon 9 Contract
Elon Musk says that while the European satellite contract SpaceX received is not on the launch manifest, it is the seventh [whoops] launch contract for the Falcon 9 (including three COTS). It will be their first geostationary launch.
Note: I was incorrect, it wasn't ESA per se, but Avanti Communications Group using ESA money.
New X-Prize Annoucement Today
After 1:00 CST we should know what all the hype is about. Spaceref has some interesting stuff:
[NASA] Deputy Administrator Dale will participate in an announcement regarding the X PRIZE Foundation at the X PRIZE stage at 10:30 a.m., Sept. 13. She will unveil the NASA 50th anniversary logo at 12:30 p.m. at the mini stage in the
Exploration Pavilion. Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin also will speak.
I think I know what it is, but I will wait for the announcement. It is really cool.
[update 11:27 am] You can watch the video teaser at The X-Prize web site.
[update 2:13 pm CST] Welcome to the Google Lunar X-Prize.
Here are the rules:
COMPETITION GUIDELINES: To win the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a team must successfully land a privately funded craft on the lunar surface and survive long enough to complete the mission goals of roaming about the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending a defined data package, called a “Mooncast”, back to Earth.
PRIZES: The total purse of the Google Lunar X PRIZE is $30 million (USD).
• GRAND PRIZE: A $20 million Grand Prize will be awarded to the team that can soft land a craft on the Moon that roams for at least 500 meters and transmits a Mooncast back to Earth. The Grand Prize is $20M until December 31st 2012; thereafter it will drop to $15M until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation
• SECOND PRIZE: A $5 million Second Prize will be offered as well, providing an extra incentive for teams to continue to compete, and increasing the possibility that multiple teams will succeed. Second place will be available until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation
• BONUSES: An additional $5 million in bonus prizes can be won by successfully completing additional mission tasks such as roving longer distances (> 5,000 meters), imaging man made artifacts (e.g. Apollo hardware), discovering water ice, and/or surviving through a frigid lunar night (approximately 14.5 Earth days). The competing lunar spacecraft will be equipped with high-definition video and still cameras, and will send images and data to Earth, which the public will be able to view on the Google Lunar X PRIZE website.
Links for More Info:
Carnival of Space #20 is Up
This week's Carnival of Space is up:
http://flyingsinger.blogspot
Thank you for your interest in the carnival.
Best wishes.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
NASA COTS to Recompete
NASA has decided to recompete the $175 million left on RocketPlane/Kistler's COTS agreement. NASA removed Rp/K recently for failing to meet funding milestones.
ESA Selects SpaceX
The European Space Agency has selected SpaceX's Falcon 9 to launch the HYLAS communications satellite technology demonstrator.
Japan to Launch Lunar Orbiter on Friday
Japan is set to launch an orbiter called SELENE to the Moon on Friday.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
The Sea is Burning
A "Garage" Scientist, John Kanzius , has found a way to burn sea water (yes sea water) by shooting radio waves at it. A Penn State researcher, Dr. Rustum Roy, has recreated the experiment.
Monday, September 10, 2007
Rocketplane/Kistler Looses COTS
NASA has terminated their COTS agreement with Rocketplane/Kistler for not meeting the funding milestones. Hopefully the money meant for them will go to SpaceDev or T/Space.
Aviation Week has the full story.
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