A video about the future of transportation featuring Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides and Apollo astronaut/man-about-town (and-everywhere-else) Buzz Aldrin. It’s slickly done, but someone needs to tell them that there are actually flying cars. I saw two of them at Oshkosh back in 2009.
DRDO likely to test fly hypersonic plane by early next year
Brahmand.com
DRDO expects to test fly India’s indigenous hypersonic technology demonstrator vehicle (HSDTV) by early next year, the defence agency’s Chief V K Saraswat said Friday.
“We have conducted ground testing of the vehicle for nearly 20 seconds. It has performed well. We are hopeful to flight test it by early next year at Mach 6-7 speed,†Saraswat told reporters during Aero India 2011…
Comet Tempel 1 as Seen by NASA’s Stardust NASA’s Stardust-NExT mission took this image of comet Tempel 1 at 8:39 p.m. PST (11:39 p.m. EST) on Feb 14, 2011. The comet was first visited by NASA’s Deep Impact mission in 2005. Stardust-NExT is a low-cost mission that will expand the investigation of comet Tempel 1 initiated by NASA’s Deep Impact spacecraft. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology […]
A showdown between the Obama Administration and Congress is looming over the respective funding levels for NASA’s commercial human space flight program, its heavy-lift vehicle development effort, and climate research efforts. The crux of the problem: NASA is trying to quickly close the human spaceflight gap, develop a HLV to unrealistic requirements, and protect the planet. Something might have to give as the government faces strong pressure to reign in spending.
Sound like a looming cluster**** for NASA? Oh, you betcha!
ESA’s second Automated Transfer Vehicle, will be launched on Tuesday, 15 February 2011, at 22:13:27 GMT (23:13:27 CET) by an Ariane 5 from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou to deliver seven tons of critical supplies and reboost the International Space Station. The launch will be shown live on ESA’s website. NASA TV coverage of the launch from the northern coast of South America will begin at 3:45 p.m. CST. ESA is […]
ESA PROGRAM UPDATE
Three crewmembers of the virtual flight to Mars have ‘landed’ on their destination planet and two of them today took their first steps on the simulated martian terrain. The highlight of the Mars500 mission lasted for one hour and 12 minutes, starting at 13:00 Moscow time.
A note from NSS Executive Director Gary Barnhardt: The National Space Society and the Space Exploration Alliance invite you to participate in the annual Legislative Blitz in Washington, D.C. from February 27 to March 1. The 2011 Blitz comes at a crucial moment. In September 2010, Congress passed the NASA Authorization Act of 2010. It is now time for Congress to enact legislation that appropriates the required funding in compliance […]
NASA’s Stardust-NExT mission spacecraft will fly by comet Tempel 1 on Monday evening. Live coverage on NASA TV and via the Internet begins at 8:30 p.m. PST (11:30 p.m. EST) from mission control at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Coverage also will include segments from the Lockheed Martin Space System’s mission support area in Denver.
The closest approach is expected tonight at approximately 8:40 p.m. PST (11:40 p.m. EST).
The mission team expects to begin receiving images on the ground starting at around midnight PST (3 a.m. on Feb. 15 EST). Transmission of each image will take about 15 minutes. It will take about 10 hours to complete the transmission of all images and science data aboard the spacecraft.
For NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and downlink information, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/ntv .
The live coverage and news conference will also be carried on one of JPL’s Ustream channels. During events, viewers can take part in a real-time chat and submit questions to the Stardust-NExT team at: https://www.ustream.tv/user/NASAJPL2 .
A post-flyby news conference is planned on Feb. 15 at 10 a.m. PST (1 p.m. EST).
House Republicans have decided that they, rather than President Barack Obama, should run foreign policy as it relates to NASA’s international outreach efforts. House appropriators have inserted a provision into a proposed continuing resolution to fund that government that prohibits any joint cooperation between NASA and China on space.
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Reactions are beginning to come in concerning the President’s budget proposal for NASA. Highlights thus far:
- Commercial Space Federation is very pleased
- The Planetary Society’s Bill Nye is channeling Clara Peller (NOT in a good way)
- Aerospace Industries Association is wondering where the “Sputnik moment” is in this budget
Statements are reproduced after the break. I’ll update this page as reactions come in. Check back regularly.
On The Space Show this week: 1. Monday, Feb. 14, 2011 , 2-3:30 PM PST. We welcome back Robert (Bob) Zimmerman for space news updates and more. 2. Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011, 7-8:30 PM PST: We welcome back Dr. Alan Stern to discuss more about suborbital scientific and academic research flights, their coming conference in Orlando, FL and much more. We will also get an update on New Horizons. 3. […]
