http://www.spacemart.com/index.html Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST en-us A pencil-slim rocket is scheduled to lift into space from South America on Monday, carrying a billion-dollar bet that Europe can grab a juicy slice of the market to place satellites in low orbit. The maiden flight of Vega culminates a decade-long plan to turn Europe's space base in Kourou, French Guiana, into the world's most versatile launch platform. The launcher 30 metres (100 feet) l]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST Private space company SpaceX says late April is its new target for a launch of its Falcon 9 rocket and a Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. SpaceX has been working with NASA to demonstrate its Dragon capsule is ready to begin regular cargo resupply runs to the ISS. NASA said last week the launch from Cape Canaveral could occur by early April, but SpaceX's latest t]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST A US Supreme Court decision requiring a warrant to place a GPS device on the car of a criminal suspect leaves unresolved the bigger issue of police tracking using mobile phones, legal experts say. The top US court ruled 9-0 in January that police violated the rights of a suspected drug dealer when they placed a GPS, or Global Positioning System, tracking device on his vehicle without a warra]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST ESA and Eurockot have signed contracts for launching two ESA satellites: Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-3A will fly in 2013 on Rockot vehicles from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia for Europe's GMES programme. The contract signing by Matthias Oehm, Chief Executive Officer of Eurockot Launch Services GmbH, and Volker Liebig, Director of ESA's Earth Observation Programmes, took place at ]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST Astrogenetix has entered into a Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA that commits to providing the critical resources needed to continue utilizing the International Space Station (ISS) and to further the development of important on-orbit microgravity vaccines and therapeutic drug experiments. Astrogenetix entered into a similar SAA in 2009 resulting in 12 successful missions on the Space Sh]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST Russia intends to build the world's most powerful laser research station at an estimated cost of $1.5 billion, a Russian nuclear official said. The station would likely be constructed near the Sarov Federal Nuclear Center in Russia's Nizhny Novgorod region, Ildar Ilkayev, head of the center, said Thursday. He did not say when construction of the laser facility would begin. ]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST Satellite telephony was thought to be secure against eavesdropping. Researchers at the Horst Gortz Institute for IT-Security (HGI) at the Ruhr University Bochum (RUB) have cracked the encryption algorithms of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), which is used globally for satellite telephones, and revealed significant weaknesses. In less than an hour, and with simple]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST The first space tourist may be flying around the moon already five years from now if Space Adventures company has its way. The Virginia-based private space exploration company recently announced plans to offer trips around the moon to space tourists. Passengers willing to pay the $150 million ticket price would launch into space aboard a three-seat Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Upon reaching s]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST Iran on Friday successfully sent another domestically-made satellite, named 'Navid-e Elm-o Sana'at' (Promise of Science and Industry), into orbit. The satellite was sent to space following a decree by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday morning via videoconference. Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, Minister of Science, Research and Technology Kamran Daneshjou and Head of]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST China's space-tracking ship Yuanwang VI concluded its 154-day trip on Thursday after covering more than 30,000 sea miles. The ship returned to the port of China Satellite Maritime Tracking and Controlling Department in east Jiangsu province. Since September 2011, Yuanwang III, Yuanwang V and Yuanwang VI had sailed out in succession to maritime areas in the Pacific to carry out 12 tac]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST A Japanese-developed robot that mimics the movements of its human controller is bringing the Hollywood blockbuster "Avatar" one step closer to reality. Users of the TELESAR V don special equipment that allows them not only to direct the actions of a remote machine, but also to see, hear and feel the same things as their doppelganger android. "When I put on the devices and move my body, I]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST Just as every race car driver has a pit crew to keep them on track on the way to a victory quickly and safely, the seven aerospace companies that have teamed up with NASA's Commercial Crew Program have their own PIT Crews, called Partner Integration Teams, to help guide them in their race to space. They're not packing an arsenal of air compressors, fuel, or even spare tires, though. Instea]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST It's almost time to light a candle for one of the world's most intriguing spacecraft. No, I don't mean ignite the rocket for launch. The second mission of the X-37B robot spaceplane is approaching the one-year mark on its mission. On March 5, it will celebrate this milestone, assuming that the spacecraft is still in orbit. Nobody knows exactly when X-37B will return to Earth. Right now, th]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST The Black Point Lava Flow in northern Arizona offers a research haven for NASA's Desert Research and Technology Studies (RATS) team of scientists and engineers, because this rough, dusty terrain, with its extreme temperatures that swing from hot to cold, resembles other places in the solar system. On this bleak landscape, NASA crews can test robotic systems and extravehicular equipment; ad]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST A new augmented reality unit developed by ESA can provide just-in-time medical expertise to astronauts. All they need to do is put on a head-mounted display for 3D guidance in diagnosing problems or even performing surgery. The Computer Assisted Medical Diagnosis and Surgery System, CAMDASS, is a wearable augmented reality prototype. Augmented reality merges actual and virtual realit]]> Sun, 12 FEB 2012 20:04:51 AEST