(Space Politics) Draft export control lists released
Last week, a Commerce Department official said that the administration’s long-awaited revisions to Category XV of the US Munitions List, which covers satellites and related components, would be published in draft form soon for public review. Those lists appeared as planned: Friday’s Federal Register includes both the draft revised Category XV list as well as [...]
(Space Fellowship) Hubble Sees a Swirl of Star Formation
This beautiful, glittering swirl is named, rather un-poetically, J125013.50+073441.5. A glowing haze of material seems to engulf the galaxy, stretching out into space in different directions and forming a fuzzy streak in this image. It is a starburst galaxy — a name given to galaxies that show unusually high rates of star formation. The regions where new stars are being born are highlighted by sparkling bright blue regions along the galactic arms. Studying starburst galaxies can tell us a l [...](Commercial Space Watch) ULA Delta IV Launches GPS IIF-4
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket successfully launched the fifth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS-5) satellite for the U.S. Air Force at 8:27 p.m. EDT today from Space Launch Complex-37. This mission launched just nine days after ULA successfully launched the GPS IIF-4 satellite last Wednesday, May 15.
"United Launch Alliance and our many mission partners continue to focus on mission success, one-launch-at-a-time," said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president, Mission Operations. "We are honored to work with such a strong industry and government team and deliver another critical communication capability to orbit to support our nation's warfighters throughout the world." This mission was launched aboard a Delta IV Medium-plus configuration vehicle using a single ULA common booster core powered by a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) RS-68 main engine, along with four ATK GEM 60 solid rocket motors. The five-meter diameter upper stage was powered by a PWR RL10B-2 engine with the satellite encapsulated in a five-meter diameter composite payload fairing. The WGS-5 launch marked the third flight of the Delta IV medium+ (5,4) configuration and the 22nd flight of the Delta IV family of launch vehicles.
This was the first Delta IV launch following the low engine performance that was identified on the successful Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF-3 launch last October. Although the GPS IIF-3 spacecraft was accurately placed into the required orbit, ULA, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) and our U.S. Air Force teammates embarked on an investigation to determine why the upper stage engine performance was lower than expected. Prior to this mission, rigorous hardware inspections along with vehicle and operational design modifications were implemented to prevent a recurrence of the fuel leak in the RL10 engine that was the direct cause of the low engine performance on the GPS IIF-3 launch.
"The team has worked tremendously hard and exceptionally well to complete a robust investigation and get us to a successful launch today," said Sponnick. "We sincerely thank the PWR team and our customer community for working with us throughout the investigation and flight clearance process, as well as the involvement from senior industry technical advisors."
Wideband Global SATCOM provides anytime, anywhere communication for the warfighter through broadcast, multicast, and point to point connections. WGS is the only military satellite communications system that can support simultaneous X and Ka band communications. ULA's next launch is the Atlas V MUOS-2 mission for the U.S. Navy scheduled for July 19, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
The EELV program was established by the United States Air Force to provide assured access to space for Department of Defense and other government payloads. The commercially developed EELV Program supports the full range of government mission requirements, while delivering on schedule and providing significant cost savings over the heritage launch systems.
ULA program management, engineering, test, and mission support functions are headquartered in Denver, Colo. Manufacturing, assembly and integration operations are located at Decatur, Ala., and Harlingen, Texas. Launch operations are located at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
For more information on ULA, visit the ULA Web site at www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321). Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch and twitter.com/ulalaunch.
(Discovery News) The Wow! Signal: Intercepted Alien Transmission?
36 years ago, a brief radio signal was detected by an observatory in Ohio. Could it have been an extraterrestrial transmission? Continue reading →(ScienceDaily) Cosmic swirly straws: Galaxies fed by funnels of fuel
Computer simulations of galaxies growing over billions of years have revealed a likely scenario for how they feed: a cosmic version of swirly straws. The results show that cold gas -- fuel for stars -- spirals into the cores of galaxies along filaments, rapidly making its way to their "guts." Once there, the gas is converted into new stars, and the galaxies bulk up in mass.(Space Fellowship) Science and Maintenance for Station Crew, New Crew Members Prep for Launch
The three Expedition 36 crew members currently living and working aboard the International Space Station wrapped up another busy week of science experiments and research Friday, while three new crew members continued preparations in Kazakhstan for a launch to the orbiting laboratory on Tuesday. Flight Engineer Chris Cassidy harvested some of the plants that are part of the Seedling Growth experiment. This looks at how plants grow in space, which is important not only for studying how plants [...](Discovery News) Neptune and Uranus Possess Weird Jet Streams
Uranus and Neptune have some of the strongest winds in the solar system, but those winds are confined to relatively thin layers of their atmospheres. Continue reading →(ScienceDaily) Research effort deep underground could sort out cosmic-scale mysteries
Scientists have begun delivery of germanium-76 detectors to an underground laboratory in South Dakota in a team research effort that might explain the puzzling imbalance between matter and antimatter generated by the Big Bang.(Discovery News) Private Firm Sets Sights on First Moon Base
NASA may not be going to the moon anytime soon, but private companies plan to do so.(ScienceDaily) Detection of the cosmic gamma ray horizon: Measures all the light in the universe since the Big Bang
Radiation from all galaxies that ever existed suffuses the universe with a diffuse extragalactic background light (EBL). Measuring the EBL is as fundamental to cosmology as measuring heat from the Big Bang (cosmic microwave background) at radio wavelengths. Researchers describe the best measurement yet of the evolution of the EBL over the past 5 billion years, based on observations from radio waves to gamma rays from NASA spacecraft and ground-based telescopes.(ScienceDaily) Bacterium from Canadian high Arctic offers clues to possible life on Mars
The recent discovery of a bacterium that is able to thrive at minus 15 degrees Celsius, the coldest temperature ever reported for bacterial growth, is exciting because it offers clues about some of the necessary preconditions for microbial life on Mars.(Discovery News) Hubble's Best Ever View of a Giant Cosmic... Donut?
In brand new observations made by Hubble of the famous Ring Nebula, astronomers have discovered its true shape. Continue reading →(Space Fellowship) Station Crew Ramps Up Science After New Treadmill Installed
The Expedition 36 trio aboard the International Space Station is stepping up science work after several days of treadmill installation activities. The crew also had an opportunity during an orbital pass to photograph the tornado damage surrounding Oklahoma City, but it appeared cloud cover obscured the area. Commander Pavel Vinogradov set up and worked with the ongoing Russian experiment Kulonovskiy Kristall. The study observes the dynamics of charged macroparticle systems in a magnetic fiel [...](Discovery News) For Rent: Shuttle Launch Pad
NASA on Thursday posted a “For Lease” sign on one of its space shuttle launch pads, as it continues to downsize and revamp the Kennedy Space Center following the program’s retirement. Continue reading →(ScienceDaily) Accurate distance measurement resolves major astronomical mystery
Astronomers have resolved a major problem in their understanding of a class of stars that undergo regular outbursts by accurately measuring the distance to a famous example of the type.(Space Fellowship) Spacefleet Updates
The UK private space organisation "Spacefleet" has a new website at http://spacefleet.co.uk. The organisation also has several new news items and more imagery of the EARL spaceship design. Founded in 2004, Spacefleet's goal is developing a novel low-cost launch system for human and cargo to LEO. Contractor Found For Scale EARL Model They have recently found a contractor and agreed terms on building a scale model of the EARL spacecraft. http://www.kingfisher-aviation.com/ "We [...](euronews) Living in Space
Every day, 400 kilometres above our heads, there are astronauts living in space. Their home is the ISS, the frontier outpost of human exploration,…
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(Space Fellowship) Herschel Space Observatory Finds Galaxy Mega Merger
PASADENA, Calif. - A massive and rare merging of two galaxies has been spotted in images taken by the Herschel space observatory, a European Space Agency mission with important NASA participation. Follow-up studies by several telescopes on the ground and in space, including NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope, tell a tale of two faraway galaxies intertwined and furiously making stars. Eventually, the duo will settle down to form one super-giant elliptical galaxy. [...](euronews) Croatia researchers work on getting honey bees to hunt for landmines
Croatian officials estimate that since the beginning of the Balkan Wars in 1991, 2,500 people have been killed by landmines. During the four-year…
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