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Working with wireless power specialists LaserMotive, Lockheed Martin has successfully completed preliminary tests of a new laser refueling system that extended the flight time of its Stalker unmanned aerial drone to over 48 hours. More »
from Gizmodo
Building a satellite, that’s not really much of a problem anymore. Getting them launched, well, that’s what separates the big boys from the wannabes. Virgin’s Richard Branson believes he has the answer to that — LauncherOne. The delivery system for Earth orbiters is based around the WhiteKnightTwo, the same launch platform used by SpaceShipTwo to reach its sub-orbital heights. The tube-like rocket of the LauncherOne is carried up to 50,000 feet by its mother ship, before detaching and initiating its two-stage rocket engines. The current design is capable of delivering 500-pound payloads into Low Earth Orbit, while lighter satellites of 225 pounds could reach Sun-Synchronous Low Earth Orbit. Virgin Galactic says it has already signed up its first customers, including SkyBox Imaging and GeoOptics. Sadly, there’s no word on when or how much it’ll cost to get the spy satellite you built in your backyard placed in the heavens. Check out the video and the PR after the break.
Update: We now know another of Virgin Galactic’s customers. Asteroid mining startup Planetary Resources has announced that it will “launch several constellations of Arkyd-100 Series spacecraft in the coming years aboard LauncherOne.”
from Engadget
Looks like playing games and watching sci-fi flicks didn’t do the University of Iowa’s Jack Scudder any harm. The NASA-funded researcher has been studying elusive magnetic portals connecting the Earth and Sun, and now he’s figured out how to find them. The portals, also known as X-points in Scudder-speak, are born from the mingling of Earth’s magnetic field with incoming solar winds. These astral connections create flux transfer events (we’ve got Doc Brown’s attention) — high-energy particle flows responsible for, among other things, the eerie twinkling of the polar auroras. Off the back of Scudder’s data wizardry, NASA‘s planning the 2014 Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS), sending four craft into the void to observe the portals. Each spacebot is capable of locating them, and when one is found, inviting the others ’round for a study date. Taking a leaf from Scudder’s book, Engadget researchers have tracked down a NASA video detailing the mission, located beyond the fold for your convenience.
from Engadget
The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space was established to drum up interest in experiments by folks outside of NASA. The organization has had a rocky first year but now is starting to show what it can do.
from News
Airbus said it plans to invest roughly $600 million to build an assembly line in Alabama, marking the European plane maker’s first major factory on rival Boeing’s home turf.
Believe it or not, the only countries to have docked a human-helmed spacecraft in the first 50 years of spaceflight were Russia and the US. That small community just got bigger, as China’s Shenzhou-9 has successfully docked with the Tiangong-1 module put in orbit for just such a test. The link-up is being used for experiments in the short term, but it’s a key step in a program that will ultimately lead to a full-fledged Chinese space station. On top the wider ambitions, the docking also marks a victory for gender-neutral space travel: Liu Yang, one of three crew members, is the country’s first female spacefarer. China’s space program has a long road ahead, but it’s clear the International Space Station won’t be alone for much longer.
from Engadget
