Really Rocket Science

The Telegraph (U.K.) published an image gallery featuring Astronomy Photograph of the Year Martin Pugh, who happens to be an amateur.

A few words from the photographer: ‘An extremely popular imaging target, it was an absolute “must do” for me. My objective was to produce a high-quality, high-resolution image, blending in Hydrogen-Alpha data to enhance the nebulosity. If I could change something about this photograph I would expand the frame to include the Flame Nebula, and then expand it further to pick up the Great Orion Nebula to create a superlative wide-field vista of this region.’

What’s in the picture: The Horsehead Nebula, is a dark cloud of gas and dust. The gas, dust and other materials condense to form dense knots, which will eventually become stars and planets. New stars have already formed inside part of the dust cloud, as can be seen on the bottom left.

Equipment: SBIG STL11000 CCD camera guided with adaptive optics; 12.5-inch RC Optical Systems Ritchey-Chrétien telescope; Software Bisque Paramount ME mount; 19 hours of exposures

What competition judge Chris Lintott thought: ‘I think this is the perfect deep-sky image; perfectly composed, it grabs your attention straight away. When you look closer, the detail is absolutely stunning, whether it’s the fine structure in the curtain behind the horse or the subtle details on the edge of the dark nebula itself.’

Check out the others on Flickr. Good stuff.

Nimiq-5 is successfully launched into orbit by International Launch Services from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on an ILS Proton for Telesat.
[SatNews – 09/17/2009]

NASA Lunar satellite begins detailed mapping of Moon’s South Pole
[Reuters – 09/17/2009].

Iridium joins mobile satellite industry companies and emergency response community in ProTECTS Alliance to develop two-way satellite data solutions for improve tracking, messaging, and emergency communications.
[Reuters – 09/17/2009]

Russia will push back its satellite mission to Mars’ moon until 2011, which will also delay the joint launch of China’s first Mars probe.
[SatNews – 09/17/2009]

Space Foundation in Colorado Springs releases white paper stating that developing nations should look to space-based technology to overcome infrastructure and access issues.
[SatNews – 09/17/2009]

Artel leases Ku-band transponder on Astra 3B from SES World Skies to provide U.S. Department of Defense with broadband, IP voice, data, and video solutions across a variety of regional operations.
[Satellite Today – 09/17/2009]

Satellite Operators create Coalition for Competitive Launches aiming at enhancing worldwide competition in the commercial launch market.
[Reuters – 09/16/2009]

China announces development of fourth space center, Wenchang Center, and a space analyst claims China intends to challenge the U.S. and Russia dominated commercial satellite launch market.
[UPI – 09/16/2009]

European Space Agency takes practical step towards 3D television at home, delivered by satellite, as part of its Advance Research in Telecommunication Systems program.
[SatNews – 09/16/2009]

KVH extends mini-VSAT Atlantic Ocean coverage into Greenland and northern Europe, and as far south as the horn of Brazil.
[Reuters – 09/16/2009]

SES World Skies signs multi-year, multi-transponder capacity deal in Africa with Netcom.
[Satellite Today – 09/16/2009]

Researchers at a meeting in Spain report discovery of a rocky planet five times larger than Earth beyond the solar system.
[SatNews – 09/16/2009]

Tampa Microwave announces entry into VSAT market with manpack satellite terminal and outdoor modem module.
[Reuters – 09/16/2009]

German telecommunications provider atrexx will offer satellite-based communications via Eutelsat’s EUROBIRD 4A to the Iraq region.
[PRLog – 09/16/2009]

Intelsat and the Global VSAT Forum announce agreement to facilitate training for technicians in deployment of state-of-the-art satellite systems.
[Reuters – 09/16/2009]

Gilat announces that China Unicom is deploying its SkyAbis cellular backhaul solution to enhance GSM mobile connectivity in the Xinjiang region.
{Reuters – 09/15/2009]

Australian DEFENCE awards $94m contract for construction of three new satellite ground terminals to improve communications with forces deployed around the world.
{The Australian – 09/15/2009]

Verimatrix signs pure satellite content protection deal with TV operator in Asia.
[Satellite Today – 09/15/2009]

SES World Skies signs multiyear, two-transponder deal with Galaxy Backbone to provide government broadband connectivity in Nigeria.
[Satellilte Today – 09/15/2009]

Inmarsat launches Enhanced Super Quiet Time low-cost FleetBroadband calling service.
[Satellite Today – 09/15/2009]

OmniGlobe contracts with ARABSAT to provide 12 new backhauling platforms for transmission of SCPC TV streams throughout Arab world countries.
[SatNews – 09/15/2009]

Hughes technology announces that Bantel Telecom, a satellite communications provider in the Caribbean and Central American, will use the Hughes HN System to provide KU band service in Columbia under a contract with Union Temporal Conectando.
[Reuters – 09/15/2009]

GlobeCast’s Content Exchange sharing and transfer solution receives Inmarsat certification.
[Satellite Today – 09/15/2009]

Bolivia’s president seeks United Nations assistance to acquire a communications satellite for his impoverished Andean country.
[Reuters – 09/14/2009]

SES to expand reach of its satellite-based broadband service ASTRA2Connect to Africa on NSS-12 under agreement with Intersat Africa.
[SatNews – 09/14/2009]

Russia plans launch of weather satellite Meteor-M on board a Soyuz 2.1b carrier rocket from Baikonur September 22.
[SatNews – 09/14/2009]

Beaverton, Oregon inventor claims his "launch loop" would greatly reduce the cost of space travel.
[Portland Examiner – 09/14/2009]

WBMSAT PS – Satellite Communications Consulting Services

Students at MIT sent a weather balloon up with a camera. It reached 93,000 feet. That’s cool.

It cost them less than $150. That’s dope.

The summary, via Wired:

Meet the $150 (almost to) Space Camera.

Bespoke is old hat. Off-the-shelf is in. Even Google runs the world’s biggest and scariest server farms on computers home-made from commodity parts. DIY is cheaper and often better, as Justin Lee and Oliver Yeh found out when they decided to send a camera into space.

The two students (from MIT, of course) put together a low-budget rig to fly a camera high enough to photograph the curvature of the Earth. Instead of rockets, boosters and expensive control systems, they filled a weather balloon with helium and hung a styrofoam beer cooler underneath to carry a cheap Canon A470 compact camera. Instant hand warmers kept things from freezing up and made sure the batteries stayed warm enough to work.

Of course, all this would be pointless if the guys couldn’t find the rig when it landed, so they dropped a prepaid GPS-equipped cellphone inside the box for tracking. Total cost, including duct tape? $148.

Great photos, too. Here’s a video…

It may not be a catchy name, but the ESO discovery is nevertheless very significant.

The longest set of HARPS measurements ever made has firmly established the nature of the smallest and fastest-orbiting exoplanet known, CoRoT-7b, revealing its mass as five times that of Earth’s. Combined with CoRoT-7b’s known radius, which is less than twice that of our terrestrial home, this tells us that the exoplanet’s density is quite similar to the Earth’s, suggesting a solid, rocky world. The extensive dataset also reveals the presence of another so-called super-Earth in this alien solar system.

The ESA’s P.R. folks put it in better pespective:

The confirmation of the nature of CoRoT-7b as the first rocky planet outside our Solar System marks a significant step forward in the search for Earth-like exoplanets. The detection by CoRoT and follow-up radial velocity measurements with HARPS suggest that this exoplanet, CoRoT-7b, has a density similar to that of Mercury, Venus, Mars and Earth making it only the fifth known terrestrial planet in the Universe.

The search for a habitable exoplanet is one of the holy grails in astronomy. One of the first steps towards this goal is the detection of terrestrial planets around solar-type stars. Dedicated programmes, using telescopes in space and on ground, have yielded evidence for hundreds of planets outside of our Solar System. The majority of these are giant, gaseous planets, but in recent years small, almost Earth-mass planets have been detected demonstrating that the discovery of Earth analogues – exoplanets with one Earth mass or one Earth radius orbiting a solar-type star at a distance of about 1 astronomical unit – is within reach.

 A little too hot for us. The work of astronomers continues, worldwide, day and night.

GeoEye wins $50m National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency contract extension.

[Satellite Today – 09/11/2009]

NASA and Alliant Techsystems conduct successful stationary firing test of the five-segment solid development motor for the first state of the Ares 1 crew launch vehicle in development for the Constellation program.
[R&D Magazine – 09/11/2009]

Artel leases four full Ku-band transponders from SES World Skies on Astra 3B to be launched next year.
[Satellite Today – 09/11/2009]

Japan’s H-2B rocket successfully launches an H-2 Transfer Vehicle, Japan’s first unmanned cargo vehicle, designed to transport supplies to the International Space Station.
[SatNews – 09/10/2009]

Globecast leases occasional use capacity from Intelsat, spanning the operator’s entire satellite fleet.
[SatNews – 09/10/2009]

Expand Networks enhances Clear Satellite managed service offerings with its WAN optimization technology.
[SatNews – 09/10/2009]

MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates will provide RADARSAT-2 satellite imagery to the European Space Agency to provide information on ice and disaster mapping in support of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security program.
[SatNews – 09/10/2009]

Thales Alenia Space and Indosat announce successful placement of the Palapa-D satellite into geostationary orbit; solar panels and antennas have been deployed and In Orbit Testing will begin.
[SatNews – 09/10/2009]

NHK Global Media Services signs multi-transponder, multiyear renewal and expansion contract with Intelsat.
[SatNews – 09/10/2009]

First Advance Extremely High Frequency military communications satellite built by Lockheed Martin for U.S. Air Force begins final test phase at Lockheed’s Sunnyvale, California facilities.
[Reuters – 09/10/2009]

Eutelsat Communications Receives Award as Fixed Satellite Services Operator of
the Year by Euroconsult for Second Consecutive Year.
[Reuters – 09/10/2009]

Faster more affordable broadband satellite services attract backup, mobile, and continuity applications, and U.S. government announces joint military/civilian agency purchase of estimated $5b worth of commercial satellite services over next five years.
[Network World – 09/10/2009]

U.S. and Canada sign framework to collaborate on activities for peaceful exploration and use of outer space.
[SatNews – 09/09/2009]

SpaceX Falcon-1e wins launch contract with Astrium to launch an Earth observation satellite.
[Satellite Today – 09/09/2009]

Telespazio Brasil selects Gilat for 1,200-site broadband satellite communications network to serve major financial institutions.
[Reuters – 09/09/2009]

NASA award contract modification to L-3 Communications Integrated Systems for further development engineering in support of the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy mission (SOFIA).
[SatNews – 09/09/2009]

Harris Corporation receives ‘Type Approval’ certification from Inmarsat for new RF-7800B Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) satellite terminals to provide Global high-speed IP based communications.
[Reuters – 09/09/2009]

Nagravision conditional access system to be used by HD PLUS GmbH, and SES ASTRA company, to support its new HD offering in Germany
[SatNews – 09/09/2009]

Recent Hubble telescope repair is called "an extreme makeover" and the telescope "now is significantly more powerful than ever, well-equipped to last into the next decade."
[SatNews – 09/09/2009]

SIRIUS XM announces SIRIUS FM-5 satellite has been placed into service, increasing broadcast power and delivering improved reception to SIRIUS subscribers.
[Reuters – 09/09/2009]

STM announces its subsidiary, STM Norway AS, will build a new SatLink DVB-RCS hub for Telenor Satellite Broadcasting.
[SatNews – 09/09/2009]

U.S. Air Force 45th Space Wing successfully launches a government communications satellite from Cape Canaveral aboard an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle.
[Patrick Air Force Base News – 09/08/2009]
[SatNews – 09/08/2009]

Globecast contracts with Eutelsat for two 36 Mhz transponders on the ATLANTIC Bird 1 and W2A satellites for three years.
[SatNews – 09/08/2009]

Satellite Users Interference Reduction Group will host three-day conference in Cannes, France for satellite interference problem solving discussions.
[SatNews – 09/08/2009]

Argentina’s ARSAT-1 payload will be built by Thales Alenia Space.
[SatNews -09/08/2009]

Harris Corporation adds broadband satellite capability to Falcon III(R) RF-7800M multiband manpack radio, extending its range through integration with the Harris RF-7800B BGAN satellite terminals.
[Reuters – 09/08/209]

SES rejects idea of building dedicated broadband satellite, saying terrestrial broadband rollout will challenge viability of satellite broadband in the long run.
[RapidTVNews – 09/08/2009]

SES WORLD SKIES – the new name for SES AMERICOM-NEW SKIES is announced.
[SatNews – 09/07/2009]

Eutelsat announces signing of contract with International Launch Services for mid-November 2009 launch of W7 satellite, following notification by Sea Launch that it would be unable to meet the required time frame for the launch.
[Reuters – 09/07/2009]

Baltimore native leads University of Vermont team in development of thrusters on a chip (using steam) for maneuvering future NASA ‘nanosatellites’ (10 – 20 lb satellites).
[Baltimore Sun – 09/07/2009]

SES sees stimulus plans as threat to satellite Internet service, giving the edge to terrestrial technology.
[Financial Times – 09/07/2009]

WBMSAT PS – Satellite Communications Consulting Services

 SES World Skies. That’s it: the name selected for the combined Americom New Skies. Although in today’s press release, it’s being calling a re-branding. Get this…

SES WORLD SKIES’ satellites and the people and technologies behind them are enabling a world of possibilities, innovations and business platforms around the world – from the delivery of advanced HD and DTH across The Americas, Asia, Africa and other regions to the global connectivity that is the lifeline for businesses offering enterprise, government, mobile and maritime communications services to millions of people in virtually every corner of the globe.

Funny, I just see a new name and logo. I think it will take much more effort to give this name some character and personality. The "ambition and satellites" line doesn’t work for me (“Because we design and build our satellites to support your ambitions.” from this pitch/PDF).

The yellow logo looks good on a background of dark suits…

Nice Photoshop hack job: Bednarek is taller than McGuirk.

Look! There’s a Facebook page. And Twitter, too. Let me share this with you: the SES splash page is more than a little annoying. And don’t even get me started on the Google Site Search (doesn’t work; search for "Bednarek" shows no results).

ABI Research expects location based services revenues to grow 156 percent from $1.7B in 2008 to $2.6B in 2009 due in large part to popularity of GPS based smart phones.
[Satellite Today – 09/04/2009]

Euroconsult report expects commercial data and satellite-based Earth observation sales to top $1B in 2009, and to nearly quadruple by 2018.
[Satellite Today – 09/04/2009]

Thales Alenia performs three perigee boost maneuvers on Palapa-D satellite to successfully place it in a correct Geostationary Transfer Orbit after problems in the third stage of the Chinese launch vehicle resulted in an incorrect orbit.
[SatNews – 09/03/2009]

Astrium awards $27.3m contract to QinetiQ for a solar-electric propulsion system for the European Space Agency’s BepiColombo satellite mission to the planet Mercury
[Satellite Today – 09/03/2009]

ORBCOMM and SpaceX announce agreement for SpaceX to launch 18 ORBCOMM Generation 2 satellites between 2010 and 2014.
[SatNews – 09/03/2009]

Industry Canada issues call-for-applications for "Broadband Canada: Connecting Rural Canadians" initiative launched by the government under its stimulus program.
[Satellite Today – 09/03/2009]

SES ASTRA signs reseller agreement with Telekomunikacja Polska S.A. for marketing of its ASTRA2Connect broadband service in Poland.
[SatNews – 09/03/2009]

Thrane & Thrane receives major contract from Italy’s largest telecoms company, Telecom Italia, to provide capacity expansion for its Furino Land Earth Station gateway.
[SatNews – 09/03/2009]

Raytheon uses special test equipment to simulate on-orbit antenna performance to integrate a flight worthy Main Mission Antenna and update antenna control software for Iridium satellites.
[Reuters – 09/03/2009]

TIE Technologies signs satellite simplex data agreement with Globalstar, planning to integrate the data network into its virtual gateway, providing worldwide data communications.
[Reuters – 09/03/2009]

SES will be cautious with its growth strategy even with booming demand for satellite broadcasting and telecommunications in emerging markets, with an eye to preserving its investment grade credit rating.
[Wall Street Journal – 08/03/2009]

Ground Control partners with GeoData Publishers to provide state-of-the-art maritime satellite communications to TDI-BI fleet of research vessels, keeping them connected across the globe.
[Reuters – 09/03/2009]

RRsat announces signing of PRO TV International of Romania to provide programming to Romanian ex patriots in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East via the Hotbird satellite.
[SatNews – 09/03/2009]

Significant investments are being made in infrastructure development in Angola to meet demand for mobile services, including developing Angola’s own satellite, per Frost and Sullivan report added to offering of Research and Markets.
[Reuters – 09/03/2009]

Humax selects Broadcom’s DTV and panel processors to enable next generation digital video broadcast platforms addressing the European DTV market.
[Reuters – 09/03/2009]

Genesis Networks announces that ETV of India has contracted with Genesis for fully manage video transmission solution from ETV’s studios in Hyderabad, India, to the DirecTV facility in Los Angeles, California.
[SatNews – 09/03/2009]

DirecTV sues five people in Michigan and Virginia for illegal redistribution of its programs.
[Wall Street Journal – 09/03/2009]

Newtec’s TCP acceleration software TellitNet is integrated by SatPath Systems into their SkySwitch VSAT terminals to optimize communications by satellite; system will be provided to Chinese high end users in partnership with ZTT of Beijing.
[SatNews – 09/02/2009]

Tandberg to demonstrate at IBC 2009 how world’s first MPEG-4 AVC HD 4:2:2 encoder and receiver that support 1080p50/60 HD with 10-bit precision can enable migration of high quality HD video from MPEG2 to MPEG4, offering substantial bandwidth savings.
[SatNews – 09/02/2009]

Marshall Communications shows VIPs on budget and on schedule projects to provide hybrid architecture using emerging standards-based, SATCOM, and wireless technology to extend global communications and services to the tactical edge.
[SatNews – 09/02/2009]

Thuraya will showcase several specialized satellite products at the Defence Systems and Equipment International show in London September 8  – 11.
[SatNews – 09/01/2009]

China plans to start construction of its own orbital space station in 2020 according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
[SatNews – 09/01/2009]

EADS Astrium delivers the Amazonas 2 satellite to Arianespace in Kourou in preparation for September 29 launch.
[Satellite Today – 09/01/2009]

Applied Satellite Technology Ltd launches a maritime VSAT broadband service built on the iDirect Intelligent Platform, introducing higher bandwidth data rates as well as a flat-fee service model to its customers.
[Reuters – 09/01/2009]

Hughes do Brasil signs agreements with two Brazilian cellular operators to provide turn-key managed service connecting 79 regional base transceiver sites to their GSM networks.
[Satellite Today – 09/01/2009]

Frost and Sullivan recognizes Hughes for leadership in the North American Satellite Broadband Services market.
[Reuters – 09/01/2009]

ScheduALL announces that SES AMERICOM-NEW SKIES is using its ScheduLINK transmission and optimization software to manage special events and occasional use bookings in The Hague, Netherlands, and Princeton, New Jersey.
[SatNews – 09/01/2009]

SDN Global offers emergency management backup solution to 911 call centers with its Public Safety Access Terminal, connecting administrative phone lines, internet access, and connection to data applications over same satellite link.
[Reuters – 09/01/2009]

TIE Technologies acquires Point B Telematics, Inc, of Seattle, a fleet management and asset tracking software company and operator of WIMFleet.
[Reuters – 09/01/2009]

Globalstar subsidiary SPOT LLC announces availability of SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger, with capability to email or SMS text the user’s location in a "request for help" to friends or family.
[TMCnet – 09/01/2009]

Newtec to unveil at IBC 2009 its 4CPM modulation and coding scheme, which will dramatically increase the speed and bandwidth efficiency of the satellite return link of its Sat3Play self-installable system providing broadband and VoIP to home users.
[SatNews – 09/01/2009]

M.H. Simonsen ApS chooses KVH TracPhone to reduce communication costs ad improve crew welfare on its tankers.
[Reuters – 08/31/2009]

EuroSkyPark awards SES Astra contract to provide it with Astra2Connect broadband service.
[Satellite Today – 08/31/2009]

WBMSAT PS – Satellite Communications Consulting Services

Ever see the "satellite bowl" in New York’s Museum of Modern Art? A small one costs $38, and $48 for the large, via the MoMA shop.

We’ve got a better idea. Look at what the folks at Design without Reach came up with: 6 pair of chopsticks and a rubber band…

Now go enjoy the Labor Day weekend. Check out yesterday’s spacewalk…