30 September 2007
Satcoms
Ghana Floods: End of
TSF Support Mission to UN
Globecomm
Systems Awarded Multiple Contracts from US Government Agencies Valued At US$
7.0 Million
Hughes Ships More Than
300,000 DVB-S2/Ipos with ACM Broadband Satellite Terminals
World-Wide
Broadcast
DISH Network Launches Four More Regional Sports
Networks in High Definition
International News Channel France 24 Broadcasts
Across Africa on SES New Skies Satellite
Smithsonian Networks Completes First Distribution
Deal With DirecTV
Westar Satellite
Services Opens Broadcast On-Ramp Facility in Chicago
Earth Observation
NASA Awards NOAA Goes-R
Instrument Contract
Preparing to
Measure Snow with Candidate Explorer CoReH2O
Military Space
General Dynamics Awarded US$ 24 Million Army
Contract For WIN-T Satellite Communications Terminals
Globecomm Systems Awarded Two Contracts from US
Government Agencies for Auto-Explorer Portable Satellite Terminals
Harris Corporation Selected For Potential US$
10.7 Million Follow-On Contract To Support Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program
Rockwell Collins Performs
Over-The-Air Satellite Communications Milestone Test
Science
Fluid Theory Confirmed By Foton Space
Experiment
Foton-M3 Experiments Return
To Earth
Spaceflight Shown to Alter
Ability of Bacteria to Cause Disease
Astronomy
A Grand Vision for European Astronomy - Europe
Unveils Its Scientific Strategies for the Next 20 Years
Ball Aerospace Completes Primary Mirror And
Detector Array Assembly Milestones For Kepler Mission
The Best Map of Our Galaxy
Yet
Stars
Explosion Reveals Tiny
Magnetic Island
Into The Chrysalis -
VLT Interferometer Detects Disc Around Aged Star
Orphan Stars Found In Long Galaxy
Trail
Skinny Dusty Disc Found in the
Heart of the Ant Nebula
UA Astronomers
Pinpoint Origin of Nature's Most Powerful Magnetic
Bursts
Black
Holes
Collaboration Shines Possible Light On Objects
'Weirder Than Black Holes'
NASA
Resurrects NuSTAR Mission To Image Massive Black Holes
Small Explorer Mission to Detect Black Holes
Scheduled for 2011 Launch
Sun
Lockheed Martin Awarded NASA Contract to Design
and Build Solar Ultraviolet Imager for GOES-R Satellite
Series
Earth
Extraterrestrial Impact Likely Source Of Sudden
Ice Age Extinctions
NASA Research
Indicates Oxygen on Earth 2.5 Billion Years Ago
Mars
Heat-Sensing ASU Camera Finds
Possible Cave Skylights on Mars Volcano
MIT Observations Give Precise Estimate of Mars
Surface Ice
Opportunity Reaches First
Target Inside Crater
NASA Mars
Exploration Rover Opportunity Status: 'Shaking' Off the Dust and Getting Back
to Work
NASA Mars Exploration Rover
Spirit Status: Spirit Makes Progress Across "Home
Plate"
Asteroids
MIT Tether Could Aid Asteroid
Missions
Comets
SOHO
Mission Discovers Rare Comet
SOHO's
New Catch: Its First Officially Periodic Comet
Extra-Solar Planets
Scientists Model a Cornucopia of
Earth-Sized Planets
Manned
Space
IMAX Camera Returns to Space to Chronicle Hubble
Space Telescope
NASA, NSBRI Select 17
Proposals In Space Radiation Research
Successful Test of Jules Verne ATV
Software
Space
Tourism
Space Adventures Announces 1st Second Generation
Astronaut Plans Flight to International Space Station
Technology
Carnegie Mellon Building Robot
for Lunar Prospecting
SRI
International's M7 Robot to Perform First-Ever Surgical Demonstration in
Zero-Gravity Flight
YES2 Student
Payload Released From Foton-M3
Launch Services
Constellation Services International and United
Launch Alliance Agree to Study Launching the LEO Express Cargo Canister on
Atlas V Launch Vehicle
Launch
Services - Dawn
NASA Spacecraft Is A 'Go' For Asteroid
Belt
Orbital's Dawn Spacecraft Ready
for Launch on 3-Billion-Mile 8-Year Journey to Explore Main Asteroid
Belt
Dawn Spacecraft Successfully
Launched
NASA's Dawn Spacecraft
Enroute to Shed Light on Asteroid Belt
United Launch Alliance Successfully Launches
Dawn Mission for NASA
Orbital-Built
Dawn Spacecraft Successfully Launched From Cape Canaveral On 3-Billion-Mile,
8-Year Asteroid Rendezvous Mission For NASA
In Orbit
Foton-M3 Experiments Monitored From Ground
Stations
Launches
Dawn
Launch
Schedule
Business
EchoStar Considering Spin-Off of Technology And
Infrastructure Assets From DISH Network US Consumer Business
GeoEye Secures Insurance For Its Geoeye-1 Earth
Imaging Satellite
SeaMobile Completes
Holmdel Teleport Transaction
Shareholder Class Action Filed Against
Orbcomm
Spirent Communications
Announces Enhanced Global Support For Satellite Test
Products
Products and
Services
CapRock Communications Launches an Enhanced
Remote Video Streaming Service
GigaSat
FA-120 Flyaway Systems, Now With Added "Turtle Power"
GMV's Smartrings 2.0 Advanced Solutions for
Telecommunications Satellite Payload Reconfiguration
Events
ESA and India Tighten Relations at IAC
2007
ESA Trains Next Generation of
Earth Observation Scientists
NASA AMES
to Co-Sponsor International Space Station Workshop
People
Com Dev Announces Appointment of Terry Reidel to
Board Of Directors
Integral Announces
Appointment of New Chief Financial Officer William M. Bambarger,
Jr.
Satcoms
Ghana Floods: End of
TSF Support Mission to UN
(26 September 2007) Télécoms
Sans Frontières' (TSF) support mission to the United Nations Disaster
Assessment and Co-ordination (UNDAC) team in Ghana will end on Thursday,
September 27th.
Globecomm Systems
Awarded Multiple Contracts from US Government Agencies Valued At US$ 7.0
Million
(24 September 2007) Globecomm Systems Inc., a leading
provider of satellite-based communications infrastructure solutions and
services on a global basis, today announced that the company has been awarded
multiple contracts from U.S. Government agencies valued at US$ 7.0
million.
Hughes Ships More Than 300,000
DVB-S2/Ipos with ACM Broadband Satellite Terminals World-Wide
(24
September 2007) Hughes Network Systems, LLC , the world's leading provider of
broadband satellite network solutions and services, today announced that it has
shipped more than 300,000 broadband satellite terminals compliant with the
DVB-S2/IPoS air interface standard, including the Adaptive Coding Modulation
(ACM) feature since being introduced in mid 2006.
Broadcast
DISH Network Launches Four More Regional Sports
Networks in High Definition
(26 September 2007) DISH Network, home
of the best sports and movies in HD as well as the best HD DVR in the industry,
announced today the launch of four regional sports networks in high definition
(HD).
International News Channel France
24 Broadcasts Across Africa on SES New Skies Satellite
(24 September
2007) SES New Skies, an SES company, announced today that France 24 is now
broadcasting across Africa on the NSS-7 satellite located at the orbital
position of 338° East.
Smithsonian
Networks Completes First Distribution Deal With DirecTV
(24
September 2007) Smithsonian Networks today announced it has signed its first
carriage agreement with DirecTV and will begin broadcasting its original
programming on a new linear High Definition channel, Smithsonian Channel, on or
about September 26.
Westar Satellite
Services Opens Broadcast On-Ramp Facility in Chicago
(21 September
2007) Westar Satellite Services has opened a new "on-ramp" facility in Chicago
to serve broadcasters and large companies throughout the
Midwest.
Earth
Observation
NASA Awards NOAA Goes-R Instrument
Contract
(24 September 2007) NASA, in co-ordination with the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Geostationary Operational
Environmental Satellites Program, has awarded an instrument contract to
Lockheed Martin Corporation, Bethesda, Md.
Preparing to Measure Snow with Candidate
Explorer CoReH2O
(21 September 2007) Scientists from Europe and the
US met in the Alps this summer to discuss progress on campaign activities in
support of the candidate CoReH2O mission.
Military Space
General Dynamics Awarded US$ 24 Million Army
Contract For WIN-T Satellite Communications Terminals
(24 September
2007) General Dynamics Satcom Technologies has been awarded a US$ 24 million
contract from the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command in Fort
Monmouth, N.J., to provide specialised satellite communications earth terminals
and support services for the Joint Network Node-Network (JNN-N) program, now
known as Increment One of the Warfighter Information Network-Tactical
(WIN-T).
Globecomm Systems Awarded Two
Contracts from US Government Agencies for Auto-Explorer Portable Satellite
Terminals
(25 September 2007) Globecomm Systems Inc., a leading
provider of satellite-based communications infrastructure solutions and
services on a global basis, today announced that the company has been awarded
two contracts from U.S. Government agencies for Auto-Explorer portable
satellite terminals valued at US$ 4.0 million.
Harris Corporation Selected For Potential US$
10.7 Million Follow-On Contract To Support Defense Meteorological Satellite
Program
(25 September 2007) Harris Corporation, an international
communications and information technology company, has been selected for a
potential 5-year, US$ 10.7 million follow-on contract to provide technical
engineering and support for the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP)
ground system.
Rockwell Collins
Performs Over-The-Air Satellite Communications Milestone Test
(26
September 2007) Rockwell Collins successfully completed over-the-air downlink
acquisition tests with the U.S. Milstar satellite constellation as part of the
Family of Advanced Beyond Line-Of-Sight Terminals (FAB-T)
program.
Science
Fluid Theory Confirmed By Foton Space
Experiment
(24 September 2007) In scientific research, there is
great satisfaction when theoretical work is eventually supported by
experimentation.
Foton-M3 Experiments
Return To Earth
(26 September 2007) The re-entry capsule for the
Foton-M3 spacecraft, which has been in low-Earth orbit for the last 12 days,
successfully landed this morning in an uninhabited area 150 km south of the
town of Kustanay in Kazakhstan, close to the Russian border, at 09:58 CEST,
13:58 local time.
Spaceflight Shown to
Alter Ability of Bacteria to Cause Disease
(25 September 2007) Space
flight has been shown to have a profound impact on human physiology as the body
adapts to zero gravity environments.
Astronomy
A Grand Vision for European Astronomy - Europe
Unveils Its Scientific Strategies for the Next 20 Years
(28
September 2007) Today, and for the first time, astronomers share their global
Science Vision for European Astronomy in the next two decades.
Ball Aerospace Completes Primary Mirror And
Detector Array Assembly Milestones For Kepler Mission
(25 September
2007) Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. has successfully completed two
significant milestones for the Kepler Mission: the precision coating process of
Kepler's primary mirror, and the integration of the detector array
assembly.
The Best Map of Our Galaxy
Yet
(27 September 2007) It has been ten years since the release of
the Hipparcos and Tycho catalogues, the first astrometric catalogues produced
from observations in space.
Stars
Explosion Reveals Tiny Magnetic
Island
(20 September 2007) ESA's XMM-Newton, has provided new
insight into puzzling celestial objects known as magnetars.
Into The Chrysalis - VLT Interferometer Detects
Disc Around Aged Star
(27 September 2007) A team of European
astronomers has used ESO's Very Large Telescope Interferometer and its
razor-sharp eyes to discover a reservoir of dust trapped in a disc that
surrounds an elderly star.
Orphan Stars
Found In Long Galaxy Trail
(27 September 2007) Astronomers have
found evidence that stars have been forming in a long tail of gas that extends
well outside its parent galaxy. This discovery suggests that such "orphan"
stars may be much more prevalent than previously thought.
Skinny Dusty Disc Found in the Heart of the Ant
Nebula
(27 September 2007) Using ESO's Very Large Telescope
Interferometer and its unique ability to see small details, astronomers have
uncovered a flat, nearly edge-on disc of silicates in the heart of the
magnificent Ant Nebula.
UA Astronomers
Pinpoint Origin of Nature's Most Powerful Magnetic Bursts
(27
September 2007) University of Arizona astronomers have pinpointed the origin of
powerful bursts from nature's most magnetic objects.
Black Holes
Collaboration Shines Possible
Light On Objects 'Weirder Than Black Holes'
(25 September 2007)
Researchers from Duke University and the University of Cambridge think there is
a way to determine whether some black holes are not actually black.
NASA Resurrects NuSTAR Mission To Image Massive
Black Holes
(21 September 2007) NASA announced today its intent to
restart a small scientific satellite mission it had cancelled in 2006 because
of funding pressures created in part by the shift in the agency's focus to
manned missions to the moon and Mars.
Small Explorer Mission to Detect Black Holes
Scheduled for 2011 Launch
(21 September 2007) NASA has given the
go-ahead to restart an astrophysics mission that will provide a greater
capability for using high-energy X-rays to detect black holes than any existing
instrument has.
Sun
Lockheed Martin Awarded NASA Contract to Design
and Build Solar Ultraviolet Imager for GOES-R Satellite Series
(25
September 2007) Lockheed Martin has been awarded a US$ 178 million contract by
NASA to design and build the agency's Solar Ultraviolet Imager
(SUVI).
Earth
Extraterrestrial
Impact Likely Source Of Sudden Ice Age Extinctions
(25 September
2007) At the end of the Pleistocene era, woolly mammoths roamed North America
along with a cast of fantastic creatures - giant sloths, sabre-toothed cats,
camels, lions, tapirs and the incredible teratorn, a condor with a 16-foot
wingspan.
NASA Research Indicates
Oxygen on Earth 2.5 Billion Years Ago
(27 September 2007)
NASA-funded astrobiologists have found evidence of oxygen present in Earth's
atmosphere earlier than previously known, pushing back the timeline for the
rise of oxygen in the atmosphere.
Mars
Heat-Sensing ASU Camera Finds Possible Cave
Skylights on Mars Volcano
(25 September 2007) A heat-sensitive
camera designed at Arizona State University and flying on NASA's Mars Odyssey
orbiter has led a team of Mars geologists to find seven small, deep holes on
the flanks of Arsia Mons, a giant volcano on Mars.
MIT Observations Give Precise Estimate of Mars
Surface Ice
(25 September 2007) An MIT-led team of planetary
scientists has found that the southern pole of Mars contains the largest
deposit of frozen water in the inner solar system, outside of Earth.
Opportunity Reaches First Target Inside
Crater
(26 September 2007) NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity
has reached its science team's first destination for the rover inside Victoria
Crater, information received from Mars late Tuesday confirms.
NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity Status:
'Shaking' Off the Dust and Getting Back to Work
(26 September 2007)
The skies continue to clear over the Opportunity site, and the dust is falling
from both the sky and the rover.
NASA
Mars Exploration Rover Spirit Status: Spirit Makes Progress Across "Home
Plate"
(26 September 2007) Spirit is healthy after finishing a
remote sensing campaign at Site 2 on "Home Plate."
Asteroids
MIT Tether Could Aid Asteroid
Missions
(25 September 2007) Using a tether system devised by MIT
researchers, astronauts could one-day stroll across the surface of small
asteroids, collecting samples and otherwise exploring these rocks in space
without floating away.
Comets
SOHO Mission Discovers Rare Comet
(26
September 2007) The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has discovered a
rare periodic comet.
SOHO's New Catch:
Its First Officially Periodic Comet
(25 September 2007) It is
nothing new for the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) to
discover another comet - it has already found more than
1350.
Extra-Solar
Planets
Scientists Model a Cornucopia of Earth-Sized
Planets
(24 September 2007) In the Star Wars movies fictional
planets are covered with forests, oceans, deserts, and
volcanoes.
Manned
Space
IMAX Camera Returns to Space to Chronicle Hubble
Space Telescope
(24 September 2007) IMAX Corporation and Warner
Bros. Pictures announced Monday that, in co-operation with NASA, the IMAX 3D
camera is scheduled to return to space in 2008 aboard the space shuttle during
STS-125 for production of a new film.
NASA, NSBRI Select 17 Proposals In Space
Radiation Research
(24 September 2007) The crews of future missions
to the moon and Mars could face serious health risks from exposure to space
radiation.
Successful Test of Jules
Verne ATV Software
(28 September 2007) For the first time, the
compatibility of the final Jules Verne Automatic Transfer Vehicle flight
software has been successfully tested this month with the rest of the vast ISS
flight software by international teams at the NASA Software Verification
Facility (SVF) in Houston.
Space
Tourism
Space Adventures Announces 1st Second Generation
Astronaut Plans Flight to International Space Station
(28 September
2007) Space Adventures Ltd., the world's leading space experiences company,
announced today that famed game developer Richard Garriott, son of former NASA
astronaut Owen Garriott, has begun preparations for a "commercially active"
mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Technology
Carnegie Mellon Building
Robot for Lunar Prospecting
(26 September 2007) Researchers in the
Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science
are building a robotic prospector for NASA that can creep over rocky slopes and
then anchor itself as a stable platform for drilling deep into extraterrestrial
soils.
SRI International's M7 Robot to
Perform First-Ever Surgical Demonstration in Zero-Gravity Flight
(25
September 2007) SRI International, an independent non-profit research and
development organisation, today announced that it will conduct the first-ever
robotic surgery demonstration in a simulated zero-gravity environment.
YES2 Student Payload Released From
Foton-M3
(25 September 2007) The Second Young Engineers' Satellite
(YES2) was activated and separated from the Foton-M3 spacecraft earlier
today.
Launch
Services
Constellation Services International and United
Launch Alliance Agree to Study Launching the LEO Express Cargo Canister on
Atlas V Launch Vehicle
(25 September 2007) Constellation Services
International, Inc. (CSI) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with United
Launch Alliance (ULA) to pursue the potential of launching its LEO Express
cargo canisters on Atlas V launch vehicles. Destinations could include the
International Space Station (ISS) and other commercial orbital
destinations.
Launch Services -
Dawn
NASA Spacecraft Is A 'Go' For Asteroid
Belt
(25 September 2007) Launch and flight teams are in final
preparations for the planned Sept. 27 lift-off from Pad 17-B at Cape Canaveral
Air Force Station, Fla., of NASA's Dawn mission.
Orbital's Dawn Spacecraft Ready for Launch on
3-Billion-Mile 8-Year Journey to Explore Main Asteroid Belt
(26
September 2007) Orbital Sciences Corporation announced today that it is in
final preparations for the launch of its Dawn spacecraft on a historic NASA/Jet
Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) mission to rendezvous with and study Vesta and
Ceres, the two largest asteroids in the main belt between Mars and
Jupiter.
Dawn Spacecraft Successfully
Launched
(27 September 2007) NASA's Dawn spacecraft began its 1.7
billion-mile journey through the inner solar system to study a pair of
asteroids Thursday at 7:34 a.m. EDT.
NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Enroute to Shed Light on
Asteroid Belt
(27 September 2007) NASA's Dawn spacecraft is on its
way to study a pair of asteroids after lifting off Thursday from the Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:34 a.m. EDT.
United Launch Alliance Successfully Launches
Dawn Mission for NASA
(27 September 2007) United Launch Alliance
successfully launched a Delta II Heavy expendable launch vehicle today from
Space Launch Complex 17-B at 7:34 a.m., EDT carrying NASA's Dawn
spacecraft.
Orbital-Built Dawn
Spacecraft Successfully Launched From Cape Canaveral On 3-Billion-Mile, 8-Year
Asteroid Rendezvous Mission For NASA
(27 September 2007) Orbital
Sciences Corporation announced today that Dawn, its first interplanetary
spacecraft, was successfully launched this morning from Cape Canaveral,
Florida.
In
Orbit
Foton-M3 Experiments Monitored From Ground
Stations
(25 September 2007) Ever since the launch of Foton-M3 on 14
September, a team of 65 engineers and scientists have been intensively
monitoring the 45 experiments on board the unmanned spacecraft from ground
stations in Sweden and Moscow, sending up commands to make adjustments when
necessary.
Launches
Dawn
Launch
Schedule
Business
EchoStar Considering Spin-Off of Technology And
Infrastructure Assets From DISH Network US Consumer Business
(25
September 2007) EchoStar Communications Corporation today announced that its
Board of Directors has directed management to pursue a possible separation of
its businesses into two distinct publicly traded companies.
GeoEye Secures Insurance For Its Geoeye-1 Earth
Imaging Satellite
(26 September 2007) GeoEye, Inc., a leading
producer of satellite and aerial imagery and geospatial information, today
announced that it has successfully secured approximately US$ 270 million of
launch and first-year on-orbit insurance for its next-generation GeoEye-1
satellite.
SeaMobile Completes Holmdel
Teleport Transaction
(26 September 2007) SeaMobile Enterprises, a
dominant global service provider of at-sea communications, connectivity and
content services, announced the acquisition of a teleport facility located in
Holmdel, New Jersey, from SES Americom.
Shareholder Class Action Filed Against
Orbcomm
(25 September 2007)The following statement was issued today
by the law firm of Schiffrin Barroway Topaz & Kessler, LLP:
Spirent Communications Announces Enhanced Global
Support For Satellite Test Products
(26 September 2007) Spirent
Communications, the leading global provider of navigation and positioning test
systems, announces improvements to customer support capabilities across the
world.
Products and
Services
CapRock Communications Launches an Enhanced
Remote Video Streaming Service
(26 September 2007) CapRock
Communications, a global leader in satellite communications, today announced
its next-generation remote video streaming service.
GigaSat FA-120 Flyaway Systems, Now With Added
"Turtle Power"
(24 September 2007) At the recent DSEI exhibition in
London, the multi award winning UK manufacturer GigaSat launched a new range of
fully integrated solid state BUCs to complement its highly acclaimed FA-120 and
FA-100 flyaway systems.
GMV's
Smartrings 2.0 Advanced Solutions for Telecommunications Satellite Payload
Reconfiguration
(26 September 2007) GMV, a privately-held satellite
ground segment software company located in Rockville, Md. and Madrid, Spain,
has launched SmartRings 2.0, the latest version of its telecommunications
satellite payload reconfiguration tool, SmartRings.
Events
ESA and India Tighten Relations at IAC
2007
(25 September 2007) The 58th International Astronautical
Congress (IAC 2007) is taking place this week from 24 to 29 September in
Hyderabad, India, with the theme 'Touching humanity: Space for improving
quality of life'.
ESA Trains Next
Generation of Earth Observation Scientists
(27 September 2007) More
than 60 students from 18 European countries gathered at the Universidade Nova
de Lisboa in Portugal to attend a six-day advanced training course devoted to
exploiting ESA Earth Observation remote sensing data for land applications,
such as forestry, fires, floods and water availability.
NASA AMES to Co-Sponsor International Space
Station Workshop
(25 September 2007) Researchers, educators, venture
capitalists and NASA officials will convene at NASA Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, Calif., Oct. 2-4 to begin identifying and crafting pioneering
research opportunities for the International Space Station.
People
Com Dev Announces Appointment of Terry Reidel to
Board Of Directors
(25 September 2007) Com Dev International Ltd., a
leading manufacturer of space hardware subsystems, today announced that Terry
Reidel has been appointed to its Board of Directors, as well as the Board's
Audit Committee and Human Resources and Compensation Committee.
Integral Announces Appointment of New Chief
Financial Officer William M. Bambarger, Jr.
(25 September 2007)
Integral Systems, Inc. today announced that the Board of Directors has named
William M. Bambarger, Jr., as the company's new Chief Financial Officer,
effective September 25, 2007.
