EU-DIGEST

Labels: Space Exploration, US

Two more pieces of Europe, and of Italy in particular, are getting ready to join the ISS (International Space Station). Twelve years of design, development and hard work came to fruition with the formal handover of Node 3 from ESA to NASA on 20 November. The ceremony took place in the Space Station Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Florida, USA. The handover completed the final major element of the barter agreement between ESA and NASA signed in Turin (Italy) on 8 October 1997 under which ESA provided Nodes 2 and 3 plus additional equipment and knowhow in return for transportation of the European Columbus Laboratory to the ISS by Space Shuttle.

Labels: ESA, EU, Space Exploration, Space Station

Europe's First Space Station Commander Takes Charge

Belgian astronaut Frank De Winne has taken the helm of the International Space Station (ISS) Saturday, becoming the first European ever to command the $100 billion orbiting laboratory. De Winne, 48, of the European Space Agency, officially took charge of the orbiting laboratory's Expedition 21 mission after the last commander, Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, departed on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft headed for Earth. Until now, all station commanders have been either American or Russian. "I've always been proud to be European," De Winne said Tuesday during an in-space press conference. "Europeans, of course, have a big heritage as explorers. It's a big honor for me to be the first European commander of the International Space Station." De Winne launched to the station in May 2009, making his second trip into space. He is due to spend a total of about six months in orbit.

Labels: EU, Space Exploration

Man will return to Moon by 2025, says European Space Agency's Director General

The Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA) has said he's sure that mankind will go back to the Moon as soon as 2020 or 2025.“Yes, I am sure mankind will go back to the Moon. The Moon is just three days away from Earth, and it used to take three days to go from Paris to Marseille a little over a hundred years ago, so I don’t see why we shouldn’t go back to the Moon. However, the aim would no longer be to plant a flag there,” Dordain said.

“The idea would be to use the Moon as just another part of our environment, in order to make scientific progress, or to establish a warning system against asteroids or anything else threatening Earth, or as a source of resources to take back to Earth,” he added.

Labels: EU, Space Exploration

UN's "outer space people" tackle asteroids, climate change

They call them the "people in outer space". But besides stopping extra-terrestrial arms races, this tiny UN office has very down-to-earth goals: to help poor countries develop crops and help manage natural disasters. Overshadowed by its larger UN siblings -- like the World Health Organisation, the nuclear watchdog IAEA or the refugee agency UNHCR -- the Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and its 27 employees sits almost forgotten in the vast hallways of the United Nations headquarters in Vienna. "If we do make contact with aliens, who do you think should be representing mankind?" jokes UNOOSA director Mazlan Othman.

Labels: Space Exploration, United Nations

Europe's new space truck takes shape

"It's clear from space history that often it was not the prototype that experienced the problems; it was the mission that came later. That's why specific attention has to be paid to what we do now." Nico Dettmann is in charge of producing the European Space Agency's (Esa) next space freighter. He knows the near-flawless maiden voyage of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) last year does not mean the second flight is guaranteed to turn out the same way. Attention to detail is everything. The follow-up ship - dubbed Johannes Kepler - is slowly being assembled. Its propulsion and avionics units are being prepared in Bremen, Germany. Its pressurised module which will hold the cargo - air, water, scientific equipment, food, and clothing - to be taken to the space station is being built in Turin, Italy. The various segments should come together in September, into a single line of assembly that will lead to a launch in November 2010. Thereafter, ATVs will fly every year for three years.

Labels: ESA, EU, Space Exploration

Life support pilot plant paves the way to Moon and beyond

A pilot plant inaugurated yesterday in Barcelona, Spain, is testing regenerative life support system technologies that could one day recycle waste products and supply essential food, water and oxygen to humans living on the surface of the Moon or Mars. MELiSSA, short for Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative, is an artificial ecosystem to recover food, water and oxygen from waste (faeces and urine), carbon dioxide and minerals. The laboratory will help in the development of technology for a future regenerative life support system for long-duration human space exploration missions, for example to a lunar base or to Mars.

Labels: ESA, EU, Space Exploration

Europe's Space station module handed over

Europe has rolled out its last major module for the space station. The cylindrical Node 3 - to be known as "Tranquility" - was constructed by Thales Alenia Space in Turin, Italy. Once attached to the station, it will house life support gear as well as being home to the Cupola, a giant "bay" window that was also built in Europe.

Node 3 will be shipped shortly to the Kennedy Space Center in the US, from where it will catch a ride to the station in the back of a shuttle. The delivery of Node 3 concludes a barter arrangement made between Europe and the US, in which Europe agreed to supply two connecting nodes, 2 and 3, in return for a free trip into space for its Columbus science laboratory.Some 7m in length and about 4.5m in width, Node 3 is built around the same design principals as Europe's other space station contributions. Columbus, Node 2, the ATV space freighter, and the Multi-Purpose Logistics Modules (which serve as the packing boxes for major re-supply missions carried out by the US shuttle) all have a similar cylindrical look about them.

Labels: ESA, EU, Space Exploration

The European Space Agency's Herschel and Planck spacecraft launched deep into space to be the worlds eye in the Universe

For the complete report from BBC NEWS click on this link

Space the New Frontier - Lift-off for European telescopes - by Jonathan Amos

Europe's Herschel and Planck telescopes have blasted into space on an Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou in French Guiana. The satellites are being sent into orbit to gather fundamental new insights into the nature of the cosmos. The Ariane lifted clear of the launch pad at 1312 GMT (1412 BST) on a flight that lasted just under half an hour. Mission controllers in Germany made contact with the telescopes just a few minutes after they had separated from the rocket's upper-stage. The ascent through the Earth's atmosphere was just the first stage in what will be a long journey for the astronomical satellites. They will spend the next two to three months making their way out to observation positions some 1.5 million km from Earth on its "night side". The long cruise will allow engineers to check out sub-systems and commission the telescopes' instruments.

Herschel is the largest telescope anyone has yet tried to put in space. Its 3.5m-diameter primary mirror is one-and-a-half-times the size of Hubble's main reflector. Today's launch was also the 30th consecutive success for the Ariane 5, Europe's heavy lifter rocket.

Labels: Ariane5, ESA, EU, Europe, Space Exploration

Space the New Frontier - Chinese Space Junk "Buzz" Shuttle, Hubble Telescope - by Tariq Malik

NASA on Wednesday tracked a piece of space junk leftover from a Chinese anti-satellite test in 2007 that zoomed past the shuttle Atlantis and the attached Hubble Space Telescope, which astronauts plucked from orbit earlier in the day. The satellite debris flew about 1.7 miles (2.8 km) ahead and a bit below Atlantis at its closest approach, but it was well clear of the shuttle and did not require the astronaut crew to move the spacecraft. "No action was required for the crew," said NASA commentator Pat Ryan on NASA TV.

Ryan said the piece of debris was small, about 4 inches (10 cm) in size. It buzzed by Atlantis at about 7:28 p.m. EDT (2328 GMT). In addition to flying in front of Atlantis, the space junk was about 492 feet (150 meters) below and just over 2.4 miles (4 km) outside the shuttle's orbital plane, Ryan said.

Labels: Space Exploration

Russia to unveil spaceship plans - by Anatoly Zak

The Russian space agency is expected to unveil development plans for a next-generation manned spacecraft tomorrow,April 6.The proposed new spacecraft should enter into service sometime towards the end of the next decade. It will replace the venerable three-seat Soyuz capsule, which has carried Russian cosmonauts into orbit for more than four decades. The Earth-orbiting version of the ship would have a mass of 12 tonnes, carry a crew of six, along with no less than 500kg of cargo; while its "lunar cousin" would weigh 16.5 tonnes, have four seats and be capable of delivering and bringing back 100kg of cargo.In recent years, Russia and Europe did look at the possibility of developing the next-generation vehicle together, but the two parties could not agree on the work share. Europe will now separately pursue the possibility of upgrading its robotic ATV space freighter to a manned ship, but still using some Russian technology.

Labels: EU, Russia, Space Exploration

Ariane-5 Europe's successful heavy lifter space craft poised for take off at the ESA Kourou space center in Guiana (North East Coast of South America)

For the complete report from BBC NEWS click on this link

European Space Agency has launched its Goce gravity mapping satellite - and leads new space exploration wave - by Jonathan Amos

Goce left Earth at 1421 GMT on a modified intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in north-west Russia. The mission will give scientists new insights into how the interior of the planet is structured and provide key information on how the oceans move. The satellite is part of an armada of European spacecraft being sent up to study the planet.

Also being ordered is the Sentinel series of spacecraft which will be part of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) project, a joint undertaking with the EU. GMES will pull together all the information obtained by environmental satellites, air and ground stations to provide a comprehensive picture of the planet. Its quest is to generate continuous, cross-calibrated, long-term data-sets that can be used to inform European policies to deal with global change. The Sentinels are needed to fill in data gaps. In addition, Europe is in the process of upgrading its weather platforms, building a third generation of its Meteosat series, and introducing a new class of polar orbiting satellites known as Metop. This huge fleet of Earth-pointing spacecraft will return an avalanche of data on the health of the planet.

Labels: Earth, ESA, EU, Pollution and the environment, Russia, Space Exploration

Ariane on launch pad

For the complete report from the BBC NEWS click on this link

Ariane makes final launch of 2008 - by Jonathan Amos

Europe's Ariane 5 rocket has wrapped up its 2008 campaign with another dual launch from the Kourou spaceport.It was the sixth flight for an Ariane 5, in a year that also saw the rocket start to service the International Space Station (ISS). Saturday's Ariane 5 mission marks the 42nd launch of Europe's workhorse rocket. In March, it lofted the "Jules Verne" freighter to the International Space Station. Next year's highlights include the dual launch of two European Space Agency telescopes - Herschel and Planck. Both will be sent out to an observing position some 1.5 million km from Earth, to study the Universe at far-infrared and microwave wavelengths.

Labels: Ariane5, ESA, EU, Space Exploration

U.S. and Europe join forces for future Mars missions - by Stephen Clark

NASA and the European Space Agency have agreed on a strategic partnership for future robotic missions to explore Mars, officials announced last week. Ed Weiler, the associate administrator for NASA's science mission directorate, unveiled the plan during a Thursday news conference announcing a two-year delay of the agency's next Mars rover.The next two Mars rovers, NASA's Mars Science Laboratory and ESA's ExoMars mission, are multi-billion dollar flagship missions. "It will be a long term cooperation where NASA could contribute to an ESA-led mission, like ExoMars, and ESA could contribute to NASA-led missions," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA director general. The partnership will help lay the groundwork for the Mars Sample Return mission, which is likely to cost between $6 billion and $8 billion, according to Weiler.

Labels: ESA, EU, Nasa, Space Exploration, USA

Europe earmarks nearly 10 billion euros for space exploration

Ministers from 19 countries on Wednesday agreed to commit nearly 10 billion euros (12.8 billion dollars) to Europe's space program, it was announced here. The decision by the 18 members of the European Space Agency (ESA), along with Canada, included a compromise on spending for the International Space Station (ISS), which will become ESA's biggest budgetary item, sources said. ESA Director General Jacques Dordain said ministers approved spending of 9.65 billion euros to maintain current programs and launch future projects, added to which were 300 million euros in outstanding commitments.

Labels: ESA, EU, Space Exploration

Race Heats Up: China, India, Europe push ahead as U.S. program slows to a crawl - by Mark Kaufman

China conducted its first spacewalk last month. The European Space Agency is building a roving robot to land on Mars. India recently launched a record 10 satellites into space on a single rocket.Although the United States remains dominant in most space-related fields -- and owns half the military satellites currently orbiting Earth -- experts say that the nation's superiority is diminishing, and many other nations are expanding their civilian and commercial space capabilities at a far faster pace. "We spent many tens of billions of dollars during the Apollo era to purchase a commanding lead in space over all nations on Earth," said NASA Administrator Michael D. Griffin, who said that his agency's budget is down by 20 percent in inflation-adjusted terms since 1992. "We've been living off the fruit of that purchase for 40 years and have not ... chosen to invest at a level that would preserve that commanding lead."

In a recent in-depth study of international space competitiveness, Futron, a technology consulting firm in Bethesda, Md., found that the globalizing of space is unfolding more broadly and quickly than most Americans realize. "Systemic and competitive forces threaten U.S. space leadership," the company president, Joseph Fuller Jr., concluded.

Labels: China, ESA, India, Space Exploration, US

China space walk: Astronaut's 'small step' hailed as giant leap for the country - by Richard Spencer

China space walk: Astronaut's 'small step' hailed as giant leap for the country - by Richard Spencer

The Chinese have also been unusually keen to acknowledge the role of the Russians in their space program, a sign of how the two former Communist countries are once again moving closer as they see a chance to loosen the dominance of the world's only superpower. Last month, China expressed its support for the "positive role" Russia was playing in the Caucasus, at a summit of central Asian states.

Labels: China, Space Exploration

European GPS: Second test satellite for Galileo launched, reaches orbit

A second experimental Giove-B satellite for the EU's Galileo satellite navigation project was launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan early Sunday.The satellite, a 500-kilogram cube constructed by Astrium and Thales Alenia Space, is to take over from the first test satellite Giove-A, launched in December 2005. Giove-B contains an atomic clock, the most precise on Earth but never before sent into space, which falls behind by less than a nanosecond a day. The precision is particularly important for the localisation system, which is based on the calculation of time that passes between the emission and signal reception.

The long-delayed European project is meant to challenge the dominance of the US-built Global Positioning System (GPS), which is widely used in satellite navigation devices in vehicles and ships. The two experimental satellites are to be followed, some time later, by some 30 satellites placed in permanent orbit at an altitude of 20,000 kilometres (12,400 miles).

Europe's Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot, in an interview with French Sunday newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, called Galileo "a tool of sovereignty for Europe." He said: "We can no longer live in a world that is more and more dependent on global positioning while remaining reliant on one single American system. It is evident, Galileo is a tool of sovereignty for Europe."

Labels: EU, GPS, Space Exploration

Galileo: towards an agreement for its launch

The European Parliament will have to approve, in the April 22 session, the regulation that will allow the implementation of the European satellite navigation program's following the negotiation's failure for the concession's contract, which would have to entrusted the Galileo's management to some privates. The program, that will benefit from 3.4 billion Euro for 2007-2013, aims at realizing the first global radio-navigation infrastructure for civilian purposes.

Labels: EU, Galileo, GPS, Space Exploration

Space Station crew enters Europe's Jules Verne ATV

The astronauts on board the International Space Station performed final ATV hatch opening at around 10:30 CEST (08:30 UT) Saturday morning, clearing the way for the crew to start unloading Jules Verne’s cargo delivery. The hatches between ISS and Jules Verne ATV were opened for the first time at around 12:15 CEST (10:15 UT) on Friday, at which time the crew briefly entered ATV to place an air filtering device. The so-called ‘air scrubber’ was left to run for 8 hours removing any unwanted gasses or small particles of debris that may be floating around. Immediately after hatch reopening this morning, the lights inside Jules Verne ATV were turned on and the air scrubber dismounted. The crew will now install portable breathing apparatus, a fire extinguisher and the handrails which help the astronauts move around inside ATV.

Over the next weeks the crew will remove the 1150 kg of dry cargo delivered by Jules Verne – including fuel, clothes, equipment as well as two original manuscripts handwritten by Jules Verne and a XIXth century illustrated edition of his novel ‘From the Earth to the Moon’. In addition the crew will pump 856 kg of propellant, 270 kg of drinking water and 21 kg of oxygen into Zvezda’s tanks.

Labels: Europe, Space Exploration

RosCosmos and ESA to Build a Manned Spacecraft

Russian Federal space agency RosCosmos and European Space Agency discuss a possibility of joint project, resulting in a manned space vehicle. RosCosmos press service reports that engineers from both countries talk about joint piloted spaceship for Russian and European needs. Realization of this ambitious project requires top level decision and interstate agreement, since countries would have to depend on each other in many aspects. After scientists finish their discussions, governments will start negotiations.

Labels: Europe, Russia, Space Exploration

European Cargo Ship Touches Base - by Alexandre Carst

After two successful rehearsals, the European cargo ship, Jules Verne, flawlessly docked at the International Space Station (ISS) at about 10:40 a.m. This is the first of many automated resupply ships to come that are to make runs back and forth to the ISS. "It was a first for Europe and we achieved it on the first try," ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain said, during a post-docking webcast. "I think it's an incredible technical feat." The European Space Agency has spent over a decade developing and building the cargo ship and the total cost was of $1.3 billion Euros. Much depended on the ATV’s success, as now, funds adding up to more than $350 million for other ESA space projects have been made available.

The European ATV is the first brand new ship to visit the ISS in nine years, coming after NASA's U.S. space shuttles and Russia's Soyuz and Progress vehicles. The spacecraft, also known as an Automated Transfer Vehicle, carried 8 tons of supplies, including fresh food, water and equipment. Some handwritten manuscripts of the science fiction writer, Jules Verne, are also aboard the ship. Besides its supply function, the ATV has a secondary objective; it will be used to push the ISS into a higher orbit.

Labels: EU, Space Exploration

Shooting a Par-3 hole in space: Three steps to the European ATV docking

Jules Verne ATV is lining up for Europe's first-ever automated docking in space. Following two demonstrations, the final 'putt' must be more accurate and gentle than on any rolling golf green. Now that the vessel is 'on the green' - in a parking orbit 2000 m ahead of the ISS - ATV mission controllers must pace the spacecraft through two pending and crucial demonstration dockings, moving successively closer to the ISS, and then finally go for an actual rendezvous and docking attempt on 3 April.

Labels: ATV, ESA, Space Exploration

Engineers fix glitch in new European space cargo ship - by Jason Palmer

Though mission officials described Jules Verne's launch as "absolutely perfect", they noticed a glitch once the Ariane launch vehicle broke away and communications were established with the ATV. A detector noted a pressure anomaly in one of the ATV's four "propulsion chains". These are the valve and control systems between the tanks holding fuel and oxidiser and the thrusters, where they are mixed to propel the craft. There was a slight pressure difference in two pipes that separately ferry the fuel and oxidiser from the tanks to the thrusters.An electronics box that detected the pressure difference then turned off the affected chain, rerouting the propellants through the other three chains. The box then turned itself off, "just in case the anomaly is in the box itself", said ESA's ATV program manager John Ellwood at a press conference after the launch. Now, after working through the night, engineers have switched the electronics box back on. All of the ATV's systems are working perfectly.

Later on Tuesday, the ATV performed its first manoeuvres in space, using its main engines to move closer to the orbit necessary to rendezvous with the space station. Even before the glitch was fixed, mission managers emphasized that the mission was not in any jeopardy, since the ATV can propel itself using only three propulsion chains.

Labels: ATV, ESA, EU, Space Exploration

Anxious moments as Europe's freighter makes maiden flight to space station - by Ian Sample

The largest, most complex spacecraft Europe has built is being readied for its maiden flight early tomorrow from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. The 20-tonne robotic space freighter, crammed with fuel, food and spare parts is due to blast off at 4.03am GMT on a mission to deliver much-needed supplies to the international space station more than 200 miles overhead.The spacecraft is so complex, the operating manual runs to 28 volumes. Named Jules Verne after the visionary French science fiction author, it is the first of many ATVs due to be launched at 18-month intervals until 2015. Each will dock with the space station for up to six months, before being filled up with waste and jettisoned to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. "It's Europe's biggest spacecraft, it's by far the most complex, and it's been an amazing journey already. Now we're getting excited at seeing the fruits of our labour ready to fly," said John Ellwood, ATV project manager.

The launch will be an anxious moment for European space officials.The rocket had to be strengthened to lift the ATV, which weighs more than twice the heaviest payload an Ariane 5 has ever attempted to place in orbit The space center uses the faster rotation of the Earth at the equator to give launches a free boost. Rockets launching eastwards from the site can gain an extra 1,000mph compared with launches closer to the poles. Almost six tonnes of the ATV's cargo is fuel that it will use to reach the space station and boost it to a higher orbit. A further 860kg (1896lb) of hydrazine fuel will be pumped from the ATV into the space station's own tanks. The rest of the cargo hold will carry 20kg of oxygen, 270kg of water, 136kg of spare parts for Europe's Columbus science module and half a tonne of food.

Labels: ESA, EU, Space Exploration

For the complete report from the DLR click on this link

Space exploration: Europe sets a course for the ISS

Europe will receive its own access to the International Space Station (ISS) by means of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) space transporter. As the most complex spacecraft ever to be built in western Europe, the ATV represents a significant milestone for European space. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen is coordinating the communication between the ATV control centres, located throughout the world. In addition, the German re-igniteable upper stage engines of Ariane 5 were tested at the DLR facility in Lampoldshausen. The first ATV, which commenced its journey to the ISS in March 2008, is named after the French visionary and science fiction author Jules Verne. Four additional ATTV flights are planned for 2009, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

All ATVs are launched by Ariane 5 rocket from Kourou, French Guyana using a re-igniteable upper stage. As a result of the ATV flights, the Ariane 5 is now also an element of the logistics plan for the ISS. After separating itself from the upper stage the ATV performs the required rendezvous and docking manoeuvre at the space station by itself, monitored by the ATV control centre in Toulouse.The Automated Transfer Vehicle is an unmanned spacecraft that can transport freight to the ISS. It is approximately ten metres long and has a diameter of 4.5 metres. With its solar panels unfolded the ATV has a span of over 22 metres. The total mass of the Jules Verne when loaded and ready to launch is almost 20 tonnes.

Labels: EU, Space Exploration

After four-year wait, Europe's Columbus docks at station

After four years' delay and last minute space- walk hitches, the Columbus laboratory docked onto the International Space Station on Monday, opening a new chapter for Europe in space flight. " Columbus is now officially a part of the ISS," NASA officials said on the NASA TV transmission of the docking. In a precision transfer that took about two hours, a robotic arm operated from inside the space station manoeuvred Columbus out of the cargo bay on the Atlantis shuttle and into its permanent place at the Harmony portal that was installed last year. "Beautiful work," a ground control official in Houston, Texas, said. "The newest member has touched metal to metal." French astronaut Leopold Eyharts will be the first to enter the Columbus module.

Labels: EU, Europe, Space Exploration

For the complete report from the International Herald Tribune click on this link

Space for Europe - by Giovanni Bignami

When the aging Shuttle brings the European Space Agency's Columbus module up to the International Space Station on Thursday and its crew screws it all together, participating nations will finally be close to using its relatively short exploitation period. Scientists from around the world will only have about 10 years to use the facility - for it is also aging, having taken a good two decades to build. Now is the time, especially for Europe, to start planning the post-space station future of manned space travel. The Shuttle will be abandoned in two years. Access to the space station will then only be possible with that old workhorse, the Soyuz, based on essentially the same technology that shot Yuri Gagarin into orbit in 1961. Now that the Cold War is over, Soyuz is open to Americans and Europeans alike, but the cost of a ticket is likely to go up.The Kourou spaceport offers Europe an opportunity to give a long-term, post-ISS future to its manned space program. European decision-makers need to take an initiative that will establish a strong collaboration with NASA and demonstrate the innovative spirit and boldness of European industry and science.Certainly, the high-lift Ariane launcher, equipped with its Automatic Transfer Vehicle (which will have its maiden flight on Feb. 22 from Kourou) could come in handy for a new orbital infrastructure.

Labels: ESA, EU, Kourou, Space Exploration

EU-"Columbus sets sail for space station"

Space shuttle Atlantis launched this afternoon, setting sail with a seven member crew and a new European-built science lab christened Columbus for the International Space Station. Commanded by Steven Frick, the astronauts aboard the planned 11-day mission also includes German and French crewmen, as well as four Americans, one of whom has become the 300th U.S. citizen to enter space. "We know the Columbus module has been many years in the making and we're looking forward to doing our part to bring it up," radioed Frick from Atlantis' flight deck shortly before launch. "We're looking forward to a great flight and coming back to see our families in two weeks."

Labels: EU, Space Exploration

Sweden - Texus 44 - ESA's first launch in 2008

The sounding rocket Texus 44 was successfully launched today from the Swedish Space Corporation’s launch facility Esrange Space Center in northern Sweden. The launch took place at 11:30 (UT) and the rocket provided 376 seconds of weightlessness time for the 4 experiments on board. The Texus project is a sounding rocket programm with the primary aim to investigate the properties and behaviour of materials, fluids and biological samples in a weightlessness environment. Texus 44 is funded by ESA (European Space Agency) and carried out jointly by DLR, EADS Astrium, Kayser-Threde and Swedish Space Corporation.

Labels: EU, Space Exploration, Sweden

Iran unveils space center, launches rocket capable of carrying a satellite; US concerned

Iran launched a research rocket and unveiled its first major space center, state television reported Monday, the latest steps in a program many fear may be cover for further development of its military ballistic missiles. State television showed live images of the event, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad issuing the launch order. Iran has long declared a goal of developing a space program, but the same technology used to put satellites in space can also be used to deliver warheads. The country's space program, like its nuclear power program, has provoked unease abroad.

Labels: Iran, Space Exploration

Astronauts arrive in Florida for Thursday launch - by Mark Carreau

The Atlantis astronauts arrived at NASA's Kennedy Space Center on Monday morning, prepared to lift off this week on a delayed mission to the international space station with Europe's Columbus science module. The 11-day mission is scheduled for launch at 1:45 p.m. CST Thursday. Thursday's weather outlook includes a 60 percent chance of stormy weather linked to the passage of a cold front. Conditions are expected to improve significantly on Friday and Saturday, if the rain and lightning associated with the passage force a postponement.

Labels: EU, Space Exploration

Two years in space for Galileo satellite

Since January 2006, Galileo signals have been broadcast by GIOVE-A, and received all around the globe. At ESA’s research and technology centre in the Netherlands, a laboratory is checking both the instruments on board the spacecraft that generate the signals and the receivers on the ground. This testing and calibration has allowed the specialists to confirm the success of the mission, which is a good sign for the rest of the programme.To reach operational status, Galileo needs a constellation of 30 satellites and an associated network of ground stations spread all around the globe. This phase has just been confirmed with the decisions taken by the European Union, which has agreed on a financing package of 3.4 billion Euros and proposed to entrust ESA with the full deployment of Galileo by 2013.

Labels: Communication, EU, Galileo, Space Exploration

China’s space effort undergoing a sea change - by James Oberg

For its first week in space, China's lunar orbiter circled Earth in elongated orbits with ever-increasing high points. Like a child in a swing pumping both legs to fly higher, the Chang'e spacecraft repeatedly fired its small thrusters to test its steering before the big jump all the way to the moon. On Wednesday, the jump began. Between now and Nov. 5, any aiming or propulsion errors could be catastrophic. The true test of China's aspirations beyond Earth orbit is well under way.

Labels: China, Space Exploration

China's lunar probe completes 2nd orbital transfer

China's lunar probe Chang'e-1 is expected to arrive at the apogee of more than 70,000 kilometers from the earth on early Saturday morning after having completed its second orbital transfer on Friday, according to the moon probe team. Chang'e-1, China's first moon orbiter, is now moving on a 24-hour orbit and it is forecast to arrive at the apogee at around5:30 a.m. on Saturday. "Such a long distance will not be a challenge for our monitoring system. We have successfully accomplished missions to monitor a satellite which flies even further away from the earth," said Tang Ge, head of orbit monitoring and controlling office of the Beijing Aerospace Control Center (BACC).

"It still has about 1.19 million kilometers to go before it reaches the moon orbit as planned," said Zhang. According to Zhang, the moon orbiter will experience another two orbital transfers before it begins to fly to the moon in a real sense on Oct. 31.

Labels: China, Space Exploration

Europe Unveils Space Plane for Tourist Market - by Peter B. de Selding

Europe's biggest aerospace company, EADS, has concluded that carrying wealthy tourists to 100 kilometers in altitude for several minutes of weightlessness could be a multi-billion-dollar industry in 20 years and is seeking co-investors to build a rocket plane it already has designed.

EADS's Astrium division, prime contractor for Ariane 5 rockets and for Europe's contribution to the international space station, said a group of its engineers has spent two years quietly designing a vehicle that looks like a business jet with exceptionally long wings and a rocket engine powered by liquid methane and liquid oxygen. The company unveiled the project in Paris June 13.

Labels: EU, Space Exploration

Europe's Ariane 5 rocket has set a new benchmark for a commercial launch - lifting into orbit a two-satellite payload weighing 9.4 tons. The huge 50 meter-long rocket lifted off from Kourou in French Guiana at 19:29 local time (22:29 GMT), the BBC reported. The Astra 1L and Galaxy 17 platforms it put into space will deliver television signals and other communication services to Europe and North America.

Labels: European technology, Space Exploration

Europe to develop its own exploration on the Moon and Mars

Scientists working with the European Science Foundation (ESF) are to publish a research programme in May for the exploration of the Moon and Mars. The Aurora Programme was established by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2001 as part of Europe's contribution to the international endeavour to explore the solar system. The programme will aim to combine scientific and technological goals when it sends its flotilla of robotic probes to pave the way for humans to land on Mars in the 2030s. 'Aurora is not science-driven in the same way as the mandatory science programme of ESA [the European Space Agency],' says Dr Jean-Claude Worms, of ESF. 'It's a technology-driven programme though it does of course have an important science component.'

Indeed, the first Aurora mission to be launched in 2013 or 2014 will be ExoMars, a robotic spacecraft equipped with solar arrays to generate electricity and navigate autonomously with the help of software and optical sensors. Once on the red planet, it will release a rover carrying a laboratory able to analyse rock and soil samples for signs of life.

Labels: EU, Mars, Space Exploration, the Moon

Improving SME participation in Europe’s space business

More than 100 professionals from European small- and medium-sized enterprises, research institutes and space industry organisations met in Italy last week at the 4th SineQuaNet Workshop to discuss how the SineQuaNet project can increase the participation of SMEs in the European space

Labels: Economy, EU, SME, Space Exploration

European Agency Finds Many Ice Deposits Located at Martian South Pole

European Space Agency Mars Express found that the ice located at the south pole of Mars is up to 2.2 miles deep. Scientists believe the ice at the south pole on Mars has enough water that it would be able to cover the entire planet with an ocean up to 36 feet deep. Radar studies done by the European Space Agency's Mars Express has initially concluded that not only is the ice up to 2.2 miles deep in some locations, it is almost completely pure water.

The Mars Express revealed the ice cap is composed of 10 percent dust, 90 percent water, numbers that are surprising to scientists. Scientists previously believed the ice cap had more dust.

Labels: Space Exploration

A virtual visit to Kourou, French Guiana and European Space exploration

European Space Exploration designed to benefit humanity.

Labels: Space Exploration

Hughes Quits Sea Launch For Arianespace European Space Agency

Arianespace will launch the Spaceway-3 communications satellite for Hughes Network Systems LLC. An August liftoff is scheduled aboard an Ariane 5 vehicle from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana.

Hughes will operate the Ka-band satellite, built by Boeing Satellites Systems Inc., as part of its new broadband satellite network to provide multimedia services throughout North America. According to TelecomWeb news break sister e-letter Satellite Today, the bird had been scheduled to be lofted into orbit by Sea Launch before the end of July, but Hughes switched vehicles following that launch provider's Jan. 30 failure that destroyed the SES New Skies' NSS-8 satellite. That was the first of six Sea Launch missions scheduled for 2007; besides Hughes, Sea Launch's other customers include Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co., DirecTV, PanAmSat Corp. and EchoStar Communications Corp.

Spaceway-3 marks a second customer's switching from Sea Launch to Arianespace. SES Americom plans to launch its AMC-21 satellite in the 2008 second quarter aboard an Ariane 5 rocket. The satellite previously had been scheduled to be placed into orbit by Sea Launch's planned Land Launch rocket. The schedule for the remainder of Sea Launch's 2007 manifest remains uncertain. following the loss of a Zenit-3SL vehicle and the SES New Skies NSS-8 satellite Jan. 30.

Labels: Space Exploration, Wireless Communications

Germany joins the space race in a giant leap of confidence - by Roger Boyes

Germany is planning to land an unmanned craft on the Moon in an ambitious revival of a dream that has haunted the nation since the 1930s. “Why shouldn’t we do it alone?” asks Walter Doellinger, director of the German Air and Space Centre. “We have the technology, we have the know-how and we have the experience with robots.”

There have been clear signals from the German Government, led by the Chancellor, Angela Merkel, who is a physicist, that it is willing to put up €300 million (£202 million) over five years for the initial funding of the Lunar Exploration Orbiter.

Labels: Space Exploration

Europeans Unlikely to Back Russia's Manned Space Vehicle - by PETER B. de SELDING

BERLIN — European governments tentatively have declined to take a role in Russia’s Clipper manned space vehicle project, saying Europe would not have control over the program and would be limited to being a small industrial contributor, according to European government officials.

Russia has proposed that ESA and Japan join Clipper as an alternative to NASA’s Crew Exploration Vehicle. Japanese officials have said they are evaluating the idea and that they would be more likely to join the Russian program if Europe did.

Labels: Space Exploration