Yes, it’s Earth Day. So we’ll follow the Sun instead. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory released it’s first images and video. The spacecraft’s three instruments will likely revolutionize the study of heliophysics, much as Hubble did for astronomy.
The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) will study the motions and magnetic fields at the Sun’s surface to figure out what’s happening inside.
The Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) is a bunch of four telescopes will check out the corona, the outer layer of the Sun’s atmosphere. The AIA filters will observe across ten wavelength and provide 725 km resolution.
And the Extreme Ultraviolet Variability Experiment (EVE) will gauge the Sun’s energy in extreme-ultraviolet wavelengths.
Space shuttle Discovery lands at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Tuesday, April 20, 2010. Discovery and the STS-131 mission crew, Commander Alan Poindexter, Pilot James P. Dutton Jr. and Mission Specialists Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson, Clayton Anderson and Japanese astronaut Naoko Yamazaki returned from their mission to the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls.
During a postlaunch news conference at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the 6:21 a.m. EDT liftoff of space shuttle Discovery was hailed as a great success.
Calling the launch, "a great start to a great mission," Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations, said the successful liftoff was a tribute to the team at Kennedy that got the vehicle ready to fly.
Mike Moses, chair of the Mission Management Team, said it was, "a spectacular launch and picture-perfect countdown." He outlined a few minor technical issues that were recorded, but that the spacecraft and crew were ready to start an action-packed mission.
Expressing his happiness that they were able to launch on the first attempt, Pete Nickolenko, STS-131 launch director, said he was proud of the teams that make such a difficult job look so easy.
Also on hand was Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency President Keiji Tachikawa, who noted that this will be the first time two Japanese astronauts will be in space at the same time, as Discovery’s Mission Specialist Naoko Yamazaki joins Expedition 23 crew member Soichi Noguchi for the STS-131 mission.
Discovery and crew will spend 13 days in space on their mission to the International Space Station.
EchoStar Corp. and MVS Comunicaciones SA ended their agreement to buy Satelites Mexicanos SA for $267 million after the Mexican satellite operator’s bondholders objected to the deal.
Satmex, as the company is known, failed to get approval from holders of a majority of bonds within the 17 days allotted under the agreement, EchoStar said Tuesday in a U.S. regulatory filing.
El Economista suggests they’re holding out for a minimum of $500 million. Not sure it’s such a good idea to wait. If Satmex-5 fails, how much would the company be worth then? I say cash out now while you still can.
The Mexican government owns 20% of the company, so it would be interested to get their take on this.
Orbital Sciences reaches agreement to acquire spacecraft development and manufacturing business of General Dynamic’s subsidiary GD Advanced Information Systems. [SatNews – 03/05/2010]
RRsat Global Communications Network signs agreement with ISG Media of India to provide fiber connectivity, playout and distribution for satellite broadcast in Europe and North America. [SatNews – 03/05/2010]
GlobecCast’s new Content Acquisition and Distribution division signs agreement with Chinese content provider ZN Animation to deliver content to Video on Demand viewers throughout Europe. [SatNews – 03/05/2010]
GOES-P satellite, NASA and NOAA’s environmental satellite completing the N -O series, is successfully launched from Cape Canaveral. [NASA web site – 03/04/2010]
OmniGlobe Networks EMEA signs Letter of Intent to acquire entire issued share capital and assets of privately-held Sat-Comm Ltd. [SatNews – 03/04/2010]
Telesat expresses support for Canadian government’s commitment to remove foreign ownership restrictions on Canadian satellite operators. [SatNews – 03/04/2010]
Iridium provides satellite voice and data communications for 2010 Iditarod sled dog race. [Market Watch – 03/04/2010]
European Satellite Operators Association representative takes part in Commercial Satellite Critical Infrastructure Protection workshop with experts working on critical national security and emergency programmes from the European Commission, the US Department of State, and Department of Defense and others. [SatNews – 03/04/2010]
TiVo wins court ruling against Dish Network and EchoStar for patent infringement with Digital Video Recorder software. [Business Week – 03/04/2010]
Global VSAT Forum called upon to expand reach of the GVF VSAT Installation & Maintenance Training Programme. [SatNews – 03/04/2010]
Gilat is chosen by Satcom Systems to deliver SkyEdge II network for broadband internet connectivity in Africa. [Market Watch – 03/03/2010]
iDirect announces launch of Talia Home by Talia Limited, providing consumer-focused internet and telephone communications service in MENA, using iDirect Evolution technology. [SatNews – 03/03/2010]
Tachyon Networks announces availability of new end-to-en d fixed and mobile broadband satellit solutions for Southwest Asia using ultra-small aperture terminals. [SatNews – 03/03/2010].
UN and Iridium rush satellite phones to Chili to help restore vital communications links. [PC World – 03/02/2010]
MTN supplies satellite communications system for Oasis Of The Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship. [Space Daily – 03/02/2010]
Upstar Comunicacoes selects Eutelsat to broadcast ZAP, the new satellite TV bouquet of Angola. [PR Newswire – 03/02/2010]
New satellite mobile broadband service OverHorizon, based in Arlington, VA, selects Arianespace to launch its first satellite. [Space News Examiner – 03/01/2010]
NASA announces plans to launch small cube-shaped satellites for educational and not-for-profit organizations. [Space Daily – 03/01/2010]
SES WORLD SKIES announces plans to join leading broadcaster, programmers, TV makers, and technology providers in series of extensive tests aimed at accelerating delivery of 3DTV. [SatNews – 03/01/2010]
Soldiers provide communications support in Haiti, working with a variety of networks and satellite links. [DVIDS – 03/01/2010]
SatMAX receives 2nd U.S. Navy order for its satellite communications repeater system. [CNN Money – 03/01/2010]
Project M is a JSC Engineering Directorate led mission to put a lander on the moon with a robot within a 1,000 days starting Jan 1., 2010. “M” has significance in two ways. First, it is the Roman numeral for 1,000. And “M” is the first letter for “Moon”.
There’s so much that goes into a space mission. Years of planning and hundreds of support people on the ground. Check out this NASA video of mission control, leading up to the landing itself…
Expedition 22 Flight Engineer T.J. Creamer made first use of the new system Friday, when he posted the first unassisted update to his Twitter account, @Astro_TJ, from the space station. Previous tweets from space had to be e-mailed to the ground where support personnel posted them to the astronaut’s Twitter account.
"Hello Twitterverse! We r now LIVE tweeting from the International Space Station — the 1st live tweet from Space! 🙂 More soon, send your ?s"
This personal Web access, called the Crew Support LAN, takes advantage of existing communication links to and from the station and gives astronauts the ability to browse and use the Web. The system will provide astronauts with direct private communications to enhance their quality of life during long-duration missions by helping to ease the isolation associated with life in a closed environment.
During periods when the station is actively communicating with the ground using high-speed Ku-band communications, the crew will have remote access to the Internet via a ground computer. The crew will view the desktop of the ground computer using an onboard laptop and interact remotely with their keyboard touchpad.
Astronauts will be subject to the same computer use guidelines as government employees on Earth. In addition to this new capability, the crew will continue to have official e-mail, Internet Protocol telephone and limited videoconferencing capabilities.
A couple of soon-to-be former space shuttles are going to be transferred to museums and the like. Now NASA has reduced the cost of such a transfer to $28.8 million…
The original RFI in December 2008 noted that a potential shuttle recipient would have to pay an estimated $42 million for the cost of "safeing" an orbiter, preparing it for display and ferrying it to a U.S. destination airport. NASA has updated the requirements and tasks needed to make each orbiter safe for disposition. The agency will not ask recipients to provide the funds for this activity. Except for cost and scheduled delivery changes, the 2008 and 2010 RFIs are virtually the same. In this follow-up RFI, NASA revised the estimated display preparation and ferrying costs to $28.8 million.
The schedule for transferring the orbiters may be six months earlier than originally anticipated. NASA also desires to make selections a year before receipt of the orbiters, so recipient organizations will have sufficient time to conduct any fundraising activities necessary to support preparation and ferry costs.
RFI responses are due to NASA by 11:59 p.m. EST on Friday, Feb. 19, 2010. Organizations that responded to the original RFI do not need to resubmit a full response, but should clarify their positions with respect to these changes.
NASA is planning to transfer space shuttle Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum. Shuttle orbiters Endeavour and Atlantis will be available for placement no earlier than July, 2011.
Check NASA’s RFI page for more details. Got the space and money? Get it for your people.
With a wingspan of 15 feet and a length of 27.5 feet, the X-37 looks like a tiny space shuttle. It has a blunt (though windowless) nose, and one rocket engine bell instead of the shuttle’s three. Two cargo doors open just as the shuttle’s do, revealing a four- by seven-foot bay. Like the shuttle, the X-37 was designed for low Earth orbits—in the latter’s case, altitudes of 125 to 575 miles. And the craft will fly like a shuttle, reentering the atmosphere with the orbiter’s 40-degree nose-high attitude. After reentry, it will change to a 20-degree nose-down glide and, flying at up to 220 mph, land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, with Edwards Air Force Base as an alternate.
