Space & Astronomy

Deep Space Industries has announced plans to launch a fleet of asteroid prospecting spacecraft.The first venture of its kind, the "FireFly" spacecraft are equipped with low-cost cubesat components and will save money by piggy-backing in to space on the back of communications satellite launches. Weighing in at 25kg, the first spacecraft is set to launch in 2015 on a voyage of up to six months. Later, larger versions willlaunch on longer missions that will seek to return samples from potentially valuable asteroid targets."This is the first commercial campaign to explore the small asteroids that pass by Earth," said Chairman Rick Tumlinson.

"Using low cost technologies, and combining the legacy of our space program with the innovation of today"s young high tech geniuses, we will do things that would have been impossible just a few years ago." Deep Space Industries announced today thatit will send a fleet of asteroid-prospecting spacecraft out into the solar system to hunt for resources to accelerate space development to benefit Earth.  

View: Full article |  Source: Spaceref.com  

The European Space Agency is appealing for ideas for a future mission to study asteroid deflection.The concept of sending a crew on a mission to prevent a catastrophic asteroid impact has been explored in science fiction for years in movies such as "Armageddon" and "Deep Impact", but in reality how close are we to such a solution ? In an effort to work towards a method to save us from a possible threat from space, the European Space Agency is seeking research ideas for a joint US–European mission called AIDA that will send two probes to collide withasteroids.It is hoped that the results will provide enough data to determine whether it would be possible for a probe to alter the course of an asteroid.

Because both spacecraft will be able to operate independently, one of them will still be able to complete the mission if the other fails. "Both missions become better when put together - getting much more out of the overall investment," said mission study manager Andrés Gálvez. "And the vast amounts of data coming from the joint mission should help to validate various theories, such as our impact modelling." A space rock several hundred metresacross is heading towards our planet and the last-ditch attempt to avert a disaster – an untested mission to deflect it – fails. This fictional scene of films and novels could well be a reality one day. But what can space agencies do to ensure it works?  

View: Full article |  Source: ESA  

Despite recent setbacks, a reform of the Russian space agency will see a large output increase by 2020.Russia"s space endeavors have met with a slew of setbacks recently including a failed Mars probe and a botched telecoms satellite launch. To combat these errors, a new state program has been released detailing efforts to increase space industry development and obtain a 16-percent sharein the space technology market by 2020.The projects listed in the reform include the construction of Russia"s new Angara launch vehicle, development of the Vostochny space port and improvements to the Glonass satellite navigation system.

The overall price tag of the new program is thought to be as much as $69 billion with hopes for additional contributions from private investors in the not-too-distant future. An ongoing reform ofRussia’s ailing space industry should double its output by 2020, according to a new state program published on Saturday.  

View: Full article |  Source: Rian.ru  

The Kepler space telescope has once again identified a promising Earth-like world around a distant star.The newly discovered planet is only 1.5 times the diameter of the Earth and orbits in the habitable zone, the region in which the temperature is sufficient to allow liquid water to exist on the surface. The planet takes 242 days to orbit its star and is abit closer to it than the Sun is to the Earth."It"s a big deal," said astrophysicist Mario Livio.

"It"s definitely a good candidate for life." Kepler astronomer Natalie Batalha was also enthusiastic about the discovery. "This was very exciting because it"s our fist habitable-zone super Earth around a sun-type star," she said. A possible alien planet discovered by NASA"s Kepler space telescope is themost Earth-like world yet detected beyond our solar system, scientists say.  

View: Full article |  Source: Space.com