Editor’s Note: As the Planetary Defense Conference gets underway in Flagstaff, Ariz., NASA reports progress on a sensor designed to detect asteroids and comets.

PASADENA, Calif. (NASA PR) — An infrared sensor that could improve NASA’s future detecting and tracking of asteroids and comets has passed a critical design test.

The test assessed performance of the Near Earth Object Camera (NEOCam) in an environment that mimicked the temperatures and pressures of deep space. NEOCam is the cornerstone instrument for a proposed new space-based asteroid-hunting telescope. Details of the sensor’s design and capabilities are published in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Optical Engineering.

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Golden Spike Is Sending Nations and People To The Moon, Join In!

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/golden-spike! -is-sending-nations-and-people-to-the-moon-join-in/x/2114811

The lunar frontier beckons. And here’s your chance to help– Never before has the public had a direct opportunity to help build a space program like this!

Who We Are: We’re the Golden Spike Company, a private business led by former NASA leaders, space scientists, and space engineers that is working to launch human expeditions to the surface of the Moon, beginning by 2020.

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WhiteKnightTwo/SpaceShipTwo Flight Test Summaries Via Scaled Composites Flights: 114/CF01 Date: 12 Apr 13 WK2 Flight Time: 1.6 hours SS2 Flight Time: 10.8 minutes SS2 Pilot: Stucky SS2 CoPilot: Alsbury WK2 Pilot: Mackay WK2 CoPilot: Kalogiannis WK2 FTE: Glaser GS Crew: Tighe, Bourgeois, Reid, Knupp, Bassett, Jaster, Verderame, Keller, Cassebeer, Zeeb, Morgan, Gould, Colby, Kroese, Flynn, Shane SS2 Objectives: In flight nitrous vent test Launch weight expansion PF01 mission rehearsal SS2 […]

This week on The Space Show with David Livingston… 1. Monday, April 15, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): No show today as I am teaching my UND Space Studies class. 2. Tuesday, April 16, 2013 2013, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 PM CST): We welcome DR. BILL FARRAND, Senior Research Scientist, Space Science Institute. We will be discussing Mars Rovers and much more. […]

WALLOPS ISLAND, VA (Orbital PR) — On Saturday, Orbital conducted the wet dress rehearsal for the Antares rocket in preparation its Test Flight scheduled for later this week on April 17. Late in the countdown, at about T-16 minutes, the test was halted because the launch team had detected a technical anomaly in the process. Orbital has determined that a secondary pyro valve aboard one of the two first-stage engines […]

Hi everyone. I’ve traded balmy Phoenix for nippy Flagstaff as I have gone from the Space Access Conference to the Planetary Defense 2013 Conference. There was a special public session last night on the February meteor explosion over Russia. The conference gets started this morning and runs through Friday afternoon. Some big news: Lori Garver is in the house! She’s not on the schedule, but I expect NASA’s deputy administrator […]

The numbers are in on Arianespace’s 2012 profits– and they are (less than) spectacular. Euros Dollars Percent Increase Over 2011 Revenues 1.329 billion 1.75 billion 31.5 Net Income 1.7 million 2.22 million 6 Government Subsidy 70 million 91.55 million NA Net Income Without Subsidy (68.3 million) (89.33 million)  NA

Amstelveen, 10 April 2013 (KLM PR) — KLM today announced it has launched a promotional campaign, Claim your place in Space, towards its customers to support Space Expedition Corporation (SXC), a revolutionary space project that aims to launch the first commercial space trip from Curacao.

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Mojave, California (Virgin Galactic PR) — History continues to be made in the skies above the Mojave Desert. Hot on the heels of last week’s nitrous venting and feather test, SpaceShipTwo achieved another successful first today with a spectacular “Cold Flow” flight. The test objectives were successfully met, advancing another important step towards powered flight. In preparation for SpaceShipTwo’s first powered flight, the test teams from Scaled Composites and Virgin […]

BOULDER, CO (SAS PR) — Special Aerospace Services, a leader in aerospace systems engineering solutions, announced on April 10, 2013, that it has signed a teaming agreement with Ukrainian-based hardware and aerospace technology manufacturer, Yuzhnoye SDO. The teaming agreement will provide Ukrainian rocket engine technology, systems, and services to the U.S. market.

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