: Accessibility links Text only Skip to content Skip to local navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk search Help Accessibility Help Access keys help Previous Main Decisions imminent on US human spaceflight plans Jonathan Amos 13:10 UK time , Thursday , 28 January 2010 If you've been following the long-running debate on the future of US human spaceflight , and what should replace the shuttle , then you ought to take a look at two articles just published in Florida newspapers . The Orlando Sentinel and Florida Today were both party to a briefing with unnamed Nasa and administration officials , and Sally Ride America's first female astronaut and a member of the presidential panel convened to consider spaceflight options . The Florida media are right on top of this story , as you would expect them to be . If the space shuttle is retired later this year as planned , it is Florida which has most to lose in terms of jobs some 7,000 all up PDF Mb The message emerging from the briefing appears to be that Obama has made his mind up . He will run with the recommendation of his Augustine panel and contract out the launch of US astronauts to commercial operators , and he will
Meet SSTL at a show in 2010 Space blog Meet SSTL at a show in 2010 The SSTL Group is attending a number of shows in 2010 where it will present its latest satellite subsystems , satellite communications and civilian and commercial earth observation mission capabilities . Experts from SSTL and its American operation SSTL US will be on hand to discuss your latest space challenges and how they might be . solved SATTECH Singapore 28-30 January 2010. The Global Space and Technology Convention GSTC is the world’s premier Space Convention showcasing the latest technology in space engineering and . design ASS Guidance Control Conference Breckenridge , Colorado , USA 6-10 . February Join SSTL US LLC at the AIAA Guidance , Navigation , and Control GN Conferencefor the latest developments in GN technology , with a unique focus on theory and applications in aeronautics and . astronautics HOSDB 2010 Farnborough 16-18 March 2010. Join SSTL on stand F17. The HOSDB 2010 exhibition is a UK event showcasing the latest security equipment for law enforcement and public security . It focuses on : Crime and Policing , Security and Counter Terrorism , Identity Management and Border . Security Satellite
Adding punch to the National Research Council’s recent report on detecting near-Earth objects is the first asteroid detection by WISE, the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer. We’ve focused in these pages primarily on WISE’s ability to spot nearby brown dwarfs, but the mission is going to map the entire sky in infrared light and its discoveries [...]SSTL is on BBC Breakfast today Space blog SSTL is on BBC Breakfast today As part of its mini-series looking at the state of British manufacturing , BBC Breakfast's Tim Muffett visited SSTL's headquarters in Guildford to find the secrets of its success . The video report gives a sneak peak at cleanroom operations and mission control . Mr Muffet also catches up briefly with SSTL CEO Matt Perkins and Business Development Manager Phil Davies to discuss how SSTL hs carved a unique niche in the international space market with its low cost alternatives to conventional space . missions If you missed BBC Breakfast this morning , or if like many Space Blog visitors you are from abroad you can watch the video report Surrey satellite firm weathers the recession online . This entry was posted by Robin Wolstenholme on Tuesday , January 26. 2010 at 09:13. and is filed under In the news You can leave a response or trackback from your own blog . All new comments are subject to moderation before being displayed . Defined tags for this entry : engineering satellite space sstl space research careers academic surrey Related entries by : tags Meet SSTL at a show in 2010 Green light for Galileo
Keeping up with Tibor Pacher isn’t easy. My opponent on a bet about the future of interstellar flight (see the Long Bets site for details), Tibor has many irons in the fire, including what appears to be a labor of love called MiniSpaceWorld (MSW). The exhibit, now in its planning stages, will showcase the state [...]
If you haven’t read George Dyson’s fascinating history of Project Orion, let me recommend it to you highly. Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship (Henry Holt, 2002) fires the imagination with the audacity of the project, a nuclear pulse rocket that would have exploded atomic bombs behind the vehicle, using the world’s [...]
Something rather bizarre was observed in the asteroid belt on January 6. Ray Villard at Discovery News has just posted an exciting article about the discovery of a comet… but it’s not your average, run-of-the-mill kinda comet. This comet appears to orbit the Sun, embedded in the asteroid belt.
Comets don’t usually do that, they tend [...]Post from: Astroengine.comCould P/2010 A2 be the First Ever Observation of an Asteroid Collision?
: : Accessibility links Text only Skip to content Skip to local navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk search Help Accessibility Help Access keys help Previous Main Next Methane on Mars : Esa and Nasa get down to business Jonathan Amos 17:09 UK time , Monday , 18 January 2010 After all the talk , it's now for real . Having spent most of last year working out how they could explore Mars together Nasa and Esa posted their first Announcement of Opportunity on Monday . It's a call to scientists to propose instruments for a satellite to be sent to the Red Planet in 2016 Europe will build it the Americans will launch it . Researchers on both sides of the Atlantic will be involved in developing its sophisticated sensors . The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter TGO as it is known currently , will circle the Red Planet looking for methane and other substances that might indicate the presence of life . Methane at Mars is a really intriguing subject , not least because on Earth we know this gas to be associated with life processes . The gas was first detected in the Martian atmosphere in 2003 by the Mars Express orbiter and by Earth-based observations . Subsequent mapping has found
Which planet does Tethys orbit again?
I do admit, I’m terrible with names, but I never forget a face. In this case, the face I didn’t forget was a little moon orbiting Saturn (it’s the one that looks like the Death Star from Star Wars). However, after seeing this photo, I doubt I’ll ever forget Tethys’ [...]Post from: Astroengine.comTethys Plays Hide and Seek with Cassini
Artist concept showing the descent and landing of Huygens. Image credit: NASA/JPL/ESA The Huygens pr
I mean, is the spaghettification of John Cusack using awesome 2012 doomsday graphics too much to ask? Instead of an improbable alien spacecraft appearing over the White House, why not use a black hole, producing so much tidal shear that it rips the building apart brick-by brick? Oh, and then have all the matter being [...]Post from: Astroengine.comHow are Black Holes Used in the Movies?
Green light for Galileo satellites Space blog Green light for Galileo satellites Today at 12:30 in Brussels , the EC announced that the SSTL and OHB-System team has been selected by ESA to supply 14 navigation satellites for the deployment phase of the Galileo satellite navigation system in a deal worth 560m Euro . Galileo satellite The two companies agreed to work together as a core team” on Galileo at the end of 2007, with OHB taking the role of prime contractor and builder of the spacecraft bus” and SSTL taking full responsibility for the navigation payloads onboard the satellite that will form the heart of the Galileo navigation . system SSTL Group CEO Dr Matt Perkins is delighted with the : news The award of this contract is an important step for SSTL . Our satellites are already providing operational services for many government and commercial customers and we are pleased to have a major role within Europe’s flagship Galileo programme . The experience gained on GIOVE-A will help us to ensure the contract will be a success for the EC and ESA . This programme will also help to establish SSTL as a provider of communications and navigation satellites into other . markets It was
Forget building gravitational wave detectors costing hundreds of millions of dollars (I’m looking at you, LIGO), make use of the most accurate cosmic timekeepers instead and save a bundle.
The North American Nanohertz Observatory for Gravitational Waves (NANOGrav) is a proposal that involves closely monitoring the regular flashes of spinning neutron stars (or pulsars) to [...]Post from: Astroengine.comDetecting Gravitational Waves on the Cheap
The first results from NASA’s Kepler exoplanet hunter are in and a perplexing early result has been announced. Yes, the space telescope is working fine, and no, it hasn’t spotted an alien homeworld (yet), but the Kepler team have uncovered something pretty cool.
Kepler may have discovered a new class of celestial object (possibly).
But before we [...]Post from: Astroengine.comHas Kepler Discovered a New Class of Celestial Object?
: Accessibility links Text only Skip to content Skip to local navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk navigation Skip to bbc.co.uk search Help Accessibility Help Access keys help Previous Main Next Salute the Spirit of exploration Jonathan Amos 21:43 UK time , Saturday , 2 January 2010 We ended 2009 with one anniversary , and we start 2010 with . another Six years ago on 4 January GMT Nasa's Deep Space Network picked up a signal sent 170 million km across the Solar System to . Earth The Spirit rover PDF had landed on . Mars Engineers promised an initial operational mission of 90 Martian days and yet , this plucky six-wheeled mobile geologist just kept on rolling . and rolling . and . rolling The US space agency has warned though , that this remarkable robot's days may now be numbered . For the past nine months the vehicle has been stuck in a sand trap . With just four working wheels five intermittently Spirit cannot get the traction it needs to free . itself The concern is that the rover will not be able to position its solar panels to make the most of what will soon be a faint winter sun on the Red Planet . Without sufficient power , the robot will not be able to heat its systems , neverGalileo satellite's 4th birthday today Space blog Galileo satellite's 4th birthday today SSTL is celebrating the 4th anniversary of the launch of its historic GIOVE-A satellite today . As the first of the G alileo I n O rbit V alidation E lement satellites , GIOVE-A was the first step in Europe's visionary Galileo satellite navigation programme when it was launched on December 28th 2005. During the past 4 years , SSTL and GIOVE-A have contributed significantly to the testing and validation of technologies vital to the now imminent operational constellation of satellites . The 660 kg GIOVE-A satellite was built by SSTL for ESA in just 30 months at a cost of just 28m . Euros SSTL CEO Dr . Matt Perkins commented SSTL is proud of its involvement with the Galileo programme and the continuing success of GIOVE-A . This mission has clearly demonstrated the effectiveness of SSTL’s small satellite approach for the delivery of operational . missions GIOVE-A was the first part of the in-orbit validation programme for Galileo , broadcasting the first signal to successfully secure the critical Galileo frequency filing with the International Telecommunications Union ITU at 17:25 GMT on the 12th
Physicists working in space plasmas have made clever use of the Ulysses spacecraft and the solar min