News
(ScienceDaily) Recipe for water: Just add starlight
The European Space Agency's Herschel infrared space observatory has discovered that ultraviolet starlight is the key ingredient for making water in space. It is the only explanation for why a dying star is surrounded by a gigantic cloud of hot water vapor.
(Discovery News) NPR: Keeping Trapped Chilean Miners Sane (Featuring Discovery News)
In response to the article "Can NASA Help Trapped Chilean Miners?", Discovery News space producer Ian O'Neill was asked to appear as a guest on NPR's "Talk of the Nation" program.
(Space Politics) Garver: “a lessening of tensions” in the NASA budget debate
In a luncheon speech Tuesday at the AIAA Space 2010 conference in Anaheim, California, NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver sounded an optimistic and even a bit of a conciliatory note about the ongoing debate in Congress about the future direction of the space agency. “All four bills, I believe, do acknowledge that there are things [...]
(Space Travel) NASA Provides Assistance To Trapped Chilean Miners
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 02, 2010 - On Aug. 5, the San Jose copper and gold mine near the northern town of Copiapo, Chile, collapsed, trapping 33 miners about a half mile underground.
The Chilean government spoke with the United States Department of State to request NASA's technical advice related to the agency's life sciences research activities.
On Aug. 31, a NASA team of experts arrived in Santiago as part of NASA's commitment to provide U.S. assistance. NASA's assistance is only a small contribution to the Chilean government's overall rescue effort.
On Sept. 1, the team began three days' worth of meetings in Copiapo.
The NASA team includes two medical doctors, a psychologist and an engineer. Dr. Michael Duncan, deputy chief medical officer in NASA's Space Life Sciences Directorate at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, is leading the team. The other team members are physician J.D. Polk, psychologist Al Holland and engineer Clint Cragg.
NASA's long experience in training and planning for emergencies in human spaceflight and its protection of humans in the hostile environment of space may have some direct benefits that can be useful to the rescue.
Environments may very well be different, but human response both in physiology and behavioral responses to emergencies is quite similar. Some of the results acquired through NASA's research may be applicable to the trapped miners.
(Space Daily) Scientists create 'smarter' materials
Waterloo, Ontario (UPI) Sep 1, 2010
New "smart materials" could revolutionize the manufacture of diverse products ranging from medical devices to automotive components, Canadian researchers say. Scientists at the University of Waterloo in Ontario have developed a process dubbed Multiple Memory Material Technology that could allow engineers to incorporate far greater functionality into devices, a university release said We
(Space Daily) Satellite Navigation Steers Unmanned Micro-Planes
Paris, France (ESA) Sep 02, 2010
An unmanned aircraft system guided by satnav has been developed within ESA's Business Incubation Centre to provide rapid monitoring of land areas and disaster zones. The planes have already helped Spanish farmers in Andalusia to fight land erosion. The German start-up company MAVinci has developed the new system that uses autonomous micro-air vehicles (MAVs) with a wingspan of less than tw
(Space Daily) Sony unveils new e-readers, adds touchscreen to all models
Washington (AFP) Sept 1, 2010
Sony, battling Amazon and Apple in the electronic book reader race, unveiled its latest devices on Wednesday and expanded their availability to Australia, China, Italy, Japan and Spain. Sony cut the size and weight of all three of its e-readers while expanding the use of touchscreens to all models - allowing users to turn pages with a swipe of the finger like the Apple iPad. The Japanes
(Space Daily) ISRO Finalises Chandrayaan-2 Payload
Bangalore, India (PTI) Sep 02, 2010
The payloads to be carried by India's second unmanned moon mission Chandrayaan-2 targeted for launch in 2013 were announced Monday and there will be seven onboard instruments for a range of lunar experiments. The payloads finalised by a National Committee of Experts were announced by Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). Three of the seven payloads are new. The country's prestig
(Space Daily) LockMart Advancing on Next-Gen Commercial Remote Sensing System For GeoEye
Sunnyvale CA (SPX) Sep 02, 2010
The Lockheed Martin team developing GeoEye's next-generation, high-resolution commercial Earth-imaging satellite system known as GeoEye-2, has successfully completed on-schedule a System Requirements Review (SRR), an important program milestone that precedes the Preliminary Design Review. With launch scheduled to support start of operations in 2013, Lockheed Martin is developing GeoEye-2 u
(Space Daily) NIST Ultraviolet Source Helps NASA Spacecraft Measure Origins Of Space Weather
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 02, 2010
With a brilliant, finely tuned spark of ultraviolet (UV) light, a physicist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) helped NASA scientists successfully position a crucial UV sensor inside a space-borne instrument to observe a "hidden" layer of the Sun where violent space weather can originate. Dark spots on the Sun release particles and electromagnetic fields into spac