Iran's Third Orbital Satellite Operational

Iran continues to advance their ability to reach the final frontier with a new weather satellite. Weighing in at 110 pounds, 'Navid' will orbit the Earth 15 times a day for 2 months before its destructive re-entry in the Earth's atmosphere in April 2012.

NASA Deep Space Waypoint Near Moon ?

Leonard David has review the proposal in Space.com and The Huffington Post Science.

NASA Announces 3rd-Round CubeSat Space Mission Candidates for 2013-2014 Flights

NASA has selected 33 small satellites to fly as auxiliary payloads aboard rockets planned to launch in 2013 and 2014. The proposed CubeSats come from universities across the country, the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, NASA field centers and Department of Defense organizations.

CubeSats are a class of research spacecraft called nanosatellites. The cube-shaped satellites are approximately four inches long, have a volume of about one quart and weigh less than three pounds.

The selections are from the third round of the CubeSat Launch Initiative. After launch, the satellites will conduct technology demonstrations, educational research or science missions. The selected spacecraft are eligible for flight after final negotiations and an opportunity for flight becomes available. The satellites come from the following organizations:

Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio-- Air Force Research Lab, Wright-Patterson AFB-- California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo-- Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.-- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge-- Montana State University, Bozeman-- Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. (2 CubeSats)-- NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.-- NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.-- NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in partnership with the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena (2 CubeSats)-- NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Fla.-- The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation, Silver Spring, Md.-- Saint Louis University, St. Louis-- Salish Kootenai College, Pablo, Mont.-- Space and Missile Defense Command, Huntsville, Ala. (2 CubeSats)-- Taylor University, Upland, Ind.-- University of Alabama, Huntsville-- University of California, Berkeley-- University of Colorado, Boulder (2 CubeSats)-- University of Hawaii, Manoa (3 CubeSats)-- University of Illinois, Urbana (2 CubeSats)-- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor-- University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, N.D.-- University of Texas, Austin-- US Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.-- Virginia Tech University, Blacksburg.

Thirty-two CubeSat missions have been selected for launch in the previous two rounds of the CubeSat Launch Initiative. Eight CubeSat missions have been launched (including five selected via the CubeSat Launch Initiative) to date via the agency's Launch Services Program Educational Launch of Nanosatellite, or ELaNa, program.

Happy Valentine's Day

Heart-shaped astronomical objects mark Valentine's Day.

NASA's 2013 Budget Overview: ExoMars Out; Commercial Crew Program In Favor

The Obama administration is requesting $17.7 billion for NASA in its fiscal 2013 budget -- down slightly from 2012 levels -- doubling the amount spent on development of new commercial manned spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station and giving a substantial boost to the delayed and over-budget successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, reports SpaceflightNow. The budget request is the lowest for NASA in four years, notes The Washington Post. The Mars robotic program with Europe took an expected hit, reports the BBC.

NASA deputy administrator Lori Garver, a widely known advocate for development of commercial spacecraft, said the Obama administration remains “committed to ensuring that our astronauts are once again launched from U.S. soil on American-made spacecraft, and this budget provides the funds to make this a reality.”

NASA's latest budget proposal leaves Europe without a key partner for a proposed two-spacecraft mission to collect and return soil samples from Mars. The so-called Exobiology on Mars, or ExoMars, probes are targeted to launch in 2016 and 2018.

The budget comes as Obama is seeking re-election and it is widely regarded in Washington as a document that has little chance of being voted into law as is. The House and Senate will commence review and Congressional hearings before acting on the final budget document later this year with political wrangling over the specifics ahead.

The Planetary Society had strong words for the NASA budget document saying, the Obama Administration "is proposing a budget for Fiscal Year 2013 that would force NASA to walk away from planned missions to Mars, delay for decades any flagship missions to the outer planets, and radically slow the pace of scientific discovery, including the search for life on other worlds."

"Why spend money on NASA when we need that money here on Earth?" There are two answers to this offered by Phil Plait, "The Bad Astronomer", actually: a short, practical one, and a longer, more philosophical one. But both give the same answer: spending money on space exploration is important, and we should be spending more, not less.

"Friendship 7" Premieres Thursday on NASA TV to Mark 50-Yrs from America's 1st Orbit

The first orbital spaceflight by an American, John Glenn, on Feb. 20, 1962, is highlighted in a new, NASA Television documentary premiering this Thursday at 8 p.m. EST. NASA's first orbital human spaceflight aboard the Friendship 7 spacecraft was 50 years ago this week.

ESA's Vega Boosts from Spaceport Kourou

Vega, ESA's new launch vehicle, is ready to operate alongside the Ariane 5 and Soyuz launchers after a successful qualification flight this morning, February 13, 2012, from Europe's Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.

With Vega extending the family of launchers available at the spaceport, Europe now covers the full range of launch needs, from small science and Earth observation satellites to the largest missions like ESA's supply freighters to the International Space Station.

The first Vega lifted off at 10:00 GMT from the new launch pad, and conducted a flawless qualification flight. Vega's light launch capacity accommodates a wide range of satellites -- from 300 kg to 2500 kg -- into a wide variety of orbits, from equatorial to Sun-synchronous. Its reference mission is 1500 kg into a 700 km-high circular Sun-synchronous orbit.

Vega will thus add to Europe's set of launch services next to the Ariane 5 heavy-lifter and the Soyuz medium-class launcher already in service. The combination of these three systems operating from French Guiana will also improve the efficiency of Europe's launch infrastructure by sharing its operating costs over a larger number of launches.

New Mexico and Colorado debate human spaceflight liability and immunity law

The state legislatures of New Mexico and Colorado are taking different tracks with efforts to adopt legal regimes to promote space tourism by limiting liability for commercial spacecraft launched that carry fee-paying passengers in the near-term future. New Mexico protects a single launch firm while Colorado protects the industry.

New Mexico state legislators rejected a proposal that would have provided commercial space launch providers liability immunity beyond those previously enacted to the benefit of Virgin Galactic operating from New Mexico's Spaceport America. Gov. Susana Martinez has asked the New Mexico legislature to give the proposal a second look-see prior to adjournment in a last ditch effort. Two committees killed respective House and Senate bills at the behest of New Mexico Trial Lawyers.

“It's always a concern when we're not competitive with surrounding states," Martinez said. "You have this in other states, where they have done exactly this. They have actually put into legislation laws that limit the liability of the spacecraft that take them into space."

New Mexico adopted a spaceflight liability and immunity protection in a compromise limited to Virgin Galactic operations at Spaceport America two years ago. The 2012 bill, now in serious jeopardy, would expand the protection to other commercial space launch firms considering Spaceport America as a launch location.

Meanwhile, the Colorado's legislature space flight liability and immunity bill has cleared a Senate Committee without opposition from the state's trial lawyers guild. Under the bill's provisions, commercial spaceflight firms could be sued only for the death or injury of fee-paying passengers in cases of gross negligence or intentional injury. The bill requires participants of spaceflight activity to sign an agreement and warning statement acknowledging the limitation of liability.

The limited liability bill, if passed in Colorado, would take effect on Aug. 7, 2012 unless a referendum is filed against it, requiring it to be approved by voters in November 2012. If approved, Colorado would become the fifth state with a version of limited liability for human spaceflights.

Gov. John Hickenlooper announced last year that Colorado wanted to be on the forefront of a budding industry through which average Americans would either travel to space on a tourism jaunt or be able to travel across the globe quickly on suborbital flight.

The action of the New Mexico and Colorado legislatures come on the heels of 'Change Agent' Virginia (2007), Florida (2008) and Texas in 2011 passing similar human spaceflight liability and immunity laws. More states may follow in the competitive future in the NewSpace race. In each state, trial lawyers have expressed concern with liability limitations for space firms. Nevertheless, all but New Mexico have sought to accommodate the fledgling industry.

The FAA has issued rules including mandatory training and medical fitness evaluations for crew members and preflight testing for companies seeking licenses to take passengers. Under those rules, space tourists must be informed of the serious risks associated with human space flight, and must undergo basic training.

International NEOShield Development Underway for Global Defense

NEOShield is a new international consortium to address impact threats to Earth, and to organize, prepare and implement mitigation measures. Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) have hit our planet in the past and are widely believed to have been responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs.

The primary aim of NEOShield is to investigate in detail the three most promising asteroid threat-reduction techniques: kinetic impactors, gravity tractors, and the explosive blast-deflection method.

The European Commission is providing a significant amount of funding to support the initiative. The undertaking consists of research institutes, universities and industrial partners in Germany, France, the United Kingdom and Spain, as well as in the U.S. and Russia.

Asteroid defense has been a topic of wide interest internationally and within the United States over the past two decades. Dr. David Morrison is one of the leading experts within the United States on asteroid defense. Some see asteroid mining as a viable space resource future with multiple applications - such as steam-powered spaceships.

Reagan on Space Technology: "The benefits of today and the prospects of tomorrow"

The late President Ronald Reagan's message in support of space exploration. "The benefits of today and the prospects of tomorrow" must be realized by the populace in the 21st century.

Cosmic Journeys: Birth of the Moon

Scientists have been reconstructing the history of the moon by scouring its surface, mapping its mountains and craters, and probing its interior. What are they learning about our own planet's beginnings? Cosmic Journeys gives some of the latest insights on the birth of the moon and the theory put forth by Dr. William Hartmann on the formation in this 24-minute video.

Frozen water on the surface of the moon, hidden deep in the shadows of numerous lunar craters, are thought to provide new economic opportunities in the years to come. There is a treasure trove of new surafce lunar science and resource measurements to undertake in the decades ahead. Humanity is slowly looking back to the moon with new theories, new economic and exploration ideas and an array of lunar and solar system science concepts.

The Chinese government and Russian space scientists are advancing humanities return to the moon by the early 2020's while it is left to the American private sector to determine if enterprise may thrive on the lunar surface in the next few years to come. With a degree of certainly, humanity, nationality aside, will forge the two-world Earth-Moon system in the first half of the 21st century.

SpaceShipTwo flights to be scheduled in 2014

A short film showcasing the Virgin Galactic test flight program as the project continues and grows closer to the first regularly scheduled commercial space flights from the high desert of New Mexico. The video, narrated by Virgin Galactic owner Sir Richard Branson. show the spaceships. The first flights are expected to commence from Spaceport America at $200,000 per seat in 2014 aboard SpaceShipTwo. Nearly 500 tickets have been pre-paid.

Peter Diamandis' Dream Job: Asteroid Miner

X PRIZE Chairman/CEO Peter Diamandis reveals his next big project for the first time.

New book goes on sale Tuesday, February 28, 2012.

The Abundance Book: The future is better than you think. In Abundance, space entrepreneur turned innovation pioneer Peter H. Diamandis and award-winning science writer Steven Kotler document how progress in artificial intelligence, robotics, infinite computing, ubiquitous broadband networks, digital manufacturing, nanomaterials, synthetic biology, and many other exponentially growing technologies will enable us to make greater gains in the next two decades than we have in the previous two hundred years. We will soon have the ability to meet and exceed the basic needs of every man, woman, and child on the planet. Abundance for all is within our grasp.

"Dreaming Big" with Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, an astrophysicist, author, and director of the American Museum of Natural History's Hayden Planetarium, explains how national aspirations for space exploration lead to concrete social and political benefits--economic growth, educational development, student engagement, innovation in other fields, and national security in an interview with Foreign Affairs Editor Gideon Rose.

Dr. Tyson notes that such accomplishments take time, so presidents and policymakers must make decisions affecting the space program with a much longer term in mind. Tyson's article "The Case for Space" will be published in the next issue of Foreign Affairs, on newsstands February 28, 2012.

The Robotic Surface Exploration of Mars

Dr. John L. Callas, of NASA'S Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, conducts a 60-minute seminar on "The Robotic Surface Exploration of Mars" on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at Dartmouth University.

For many years, two intrepid robotic explorers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been conducting field geology day after day on Mars at two different locations on the surface. Originally designed for a 90-Martian day mission, the rovers have exceeded that requirement by more than two dozen times. The rovers have traversed great plains, climbed mountains, descended into deep craters and survived rover-killing dust storms and frigid winters. Importantly, as the rovers move, each day becomes a brand new mission with new sights and new geology to explore. Each rover has made significant discoveries in understanding the Red Planet and both rovers have found evidence of past habitable environments that could possibly have supported life.

Although Spirit's mission has concluded after six years, great adventures still lie ahead for Opportunity even after eight years of operation on Mars. Soon, Opportunity will be joined on the surface by another, larger, more capable rover, the Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity (scheduled to land in August 2012).

Orion, the Blue Marble, MoonKAM and a Mars Penny at NASA This Week Feb. 10, 2012

Huntsville's U.S. Space & Rocket Center was the third scheduled stopover on a cross-country journey for a test module of the Orion spacecraft. The Journey, which started from White Sands, New Mexico made stops in Oklahoma City and Dallas where Orion was placed on display.

Guests were able to meet Orion and Space Launch System team members and were even able to sign their names to a piece of flight hardware. The Orion module's final destination was the Kennedy Space Center; there, it'll be one of several used by NASA to test and develop the future spacecraft. Orion's first orbital flight test is scheduled for 2014.

Also, a new Blue Marble image from space -- in HD, Grail Sees the Far Side of the Moon, how a Lincoln penny will help the Curiosity rover see better on Mars, NASA Technology news and more.

Masten's Xaero Free Flight Successful

After rigorous adherence to Masten Space Systems' "modify, test, modify" philosophy, Xaero has finally been unleashed from the safety tether, and performed a successful free flight hover Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012. Improvements to the control algorithms were validated under tether earlier in the week, followed by careful analysis of Xaero's flight performance. The result is a picture perfect 22 second hover flight.

Felix Baumgartner ready to freefall from edge of space at Roswell, New Mexico in Aug 2012

Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner and the Red Bull Stratos team are making the final preparations for their attempt to break Colonel Joe Kittinger’s 52-year-old record by freefalling 36,576 metres (120,000 feet or 23-miles up) from a balloon in the stratosphere from a location in Roswell, New Mexico this coming August 2012, reports The Telegraph and MSNBC.

Red Bull Stratos will attempt to break four records at the same time that have remained unbroken for more than 50 years: the highest manned balloon flight 36,576 metres / 120,000 feet), the highest skydive, the first person to break the speed of sound during freefall, and the longest freefall (about 5 minutes 30 seconds).

Red Bull Stratos will attempt to make history and deliver valuable learnings for medical and scientific advancement that will aid the exploration of space in future years.  More from Red Bull.

If Baumgartner is successful in the summer of 2012 with the 23-mile jump, the expectations will rise to undertake a space diving effort later this decade as animated below.

Eric Anderson Stresses Strategic Investment of Space Settlement and National Space Policy

Space Adventures' Eric Anderson notes that now is the time for us to bring the greater topic of space exploration to the forefront, and create a national conversation about its value to society.

"The human race needs to acknowledge that it is a strategic objective to begin to enable the settlement of the solar system," Anderson says. "Talk to the people who matter, write Op-Ed, meet with your Congressman and let's bring [space exploration] to the forefront."

It is also interesting to note a recent comment by political commentator Bill Whittle that, "Every serious proposal of going back to the moon now consists of private companies."

Astronaut Don Pettit: physics in space

International Space Station Expedition 30 astronaut Don Pettit uses knitting needles and water droplets to demonstrate physics in space through 'Science off the Sphere.' This is part of the first video in a series for a partnership between NASA and the American Physical Society to share unique videos from the International Space Station with students, educators and science fans from around the world.

Astrobotic Will Extend the Internet to the Moon and Seek Lunar Resources

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based Astrobotic Technology, Inc., a privately held seed-stage company formed by Carnegie Mellon professor Red Whittaker and his associates, ushers in a new era of space exploration with the Tranquility Trek lunar lander/rover. The firm plans launch to the moon in late 2014 or early 2015, still under contract to SpaceX for a Falcon 9 mission.

Astrobotic hopes to be the first to land their spacecraft "Red Rover" on the Moon, using the lander, named "Artemis Lander". The firm's customers will ultimately decide where it lands robotic rovers on the Moon.

Israeli Google Lunar X-Prize Team Planning Moon Mission: Students Pick Landing Sites

Israel Aircraft Industries officially launched the Space IL Project, which is competing for the Google LunarX Prize aimed at generating interest among space explorers in safely landing an unmanned vehicle on the surface of the moon.

Haviv Rettig Gur, of the Jewish Agency, says that Space IL, conceived a year ago, is the brainchild of three young engineers, Yariv Bash, Kfir Damari and Yonatan Winetraub, and operates as a not-for-profit enterprise.

Alternatively, Team Selenokhod is the only Russian team to enter the Google Lunar X PRIZE competition. The team's robotic model is almost revolutionary due to its non-traditional system of movement, and the way in which it incorporates several new technical solutions. A Russian Dnepr or Rokot will boost the Selenokhod robot to attempt a precision landing near the Surveyor 3 landing site.

Rocket City Space Pioneers Includes Alabama 4th Graders in Private Moon Mission

The Rocket City Space Pioneers have invited Alabama public school fourth graders to help name RCSP's moon-bound lunar lander. The RCSP team, led by Huntsville-base Dynetics, is comprised of businesses, educational institutions and non-profit organizations that are competing for the Google Lunar X Prize. Author Homer Hickam kicks-off the event.

Meanwhile, the Santiago, Chile-based Alumnos de la Universidad Austral de Puerto Montt integran el "Team Angelicum" plans to land a robot rover on the Moon in 2015.

Shell Oil Backs X-Prize Exploration Efforts

Shell Oil Company has demonstrated its backing of exploration on and off the planet. Many other energy companies are coming to the realization of the vast resources that go untapped today. Through investment in a new generation of people and technologies, the future is about exploration, innovation and change.

China has sights on the Moon

China has released a high-resolution, full-coverage image of the Moon. The photo is the first of its kind to be so detailed, with the above video report by Mark Morris. China initiated the Chang’e lunar exploration program in 2004 to send unmanned probes to the Moon. The first phase of the programme achieved two lunar orbiting missions in 2007 and 2010. The next phase of the program aims to soft land on the Moon by 2013, followed by returning of lunar soil samples to the Earth by 2017. China plans to land taikonauts on the lunar surface by 2022, some suggest inside the Asian government.

World Economic Forum: Day without Satellites

Ray Johnson, Senior Vice-President and Chief Technology Officer, Lockheed Martin Corporation, USA; Geraldine Naja, Head, Strategic Studies, European Space Agency (ESA), Paris; Michel de Rosen, Chief Executive Officer, Eutelsat, France; Brian Weeden, Technical Adviser, Secure World Foundation, USA; and moderated by • Ram S. Jakhu, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law, Institute of Air and Space Law, McGill University, Canada discuss for 1:45:26.

- What would happen if the use of satellites were lost for a day?

- What technological advances are needed to make progress?

- How can space technology help manage disasters and conflicts?

- What future challenges are in store for the exploration of space?

Solar Magnetic Filament Impact Feb. 9th?

After a quiet weekend with no flares of any significance, the sun went back to work on Monday morning and launched a bright coronal mass ejection (CME) into space. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded the expanding cloud during the early hours of Feb. 6th, 2012.

A Huge Magnetic Filament has lifted off the solar corona. This disturbance has an associated solar tsunami (Hyder Flare). Shortly after a significant halo coronal mass ejection (CME) was observed and it appears will have components heading earth's way as the filament was in an earth facing position with the majority of the mass heading slightly above or northerly, however this still may deliver a glancing blow to the earth Thursday, Feb 9, 2012. Aurora watchers should be on alert this week.

There have been reports around the world of powerful and immense manifestations of acoustic-gravity waves, most likely generated by very large-scale energy processes. Some have called them "Space Quakes." These processes include powerful solar flares and huge energy flows generated by them, rushing towards Earth's surface and destabilizing the magnetosphere, ionosphere and upper atmosphere. Thus, the effects of powerful solar flares: the impact of shock waves in the solar wind, streams of corpuscles and bursts of electromagnetic radiation are the main causes of generation of acoustic-gravitation waves following increased solar activity, reports GeoChange Journal.

There has been significant scholarly interest in the association of atmospheric energy with earthquakes in recent years as well. 

Aqua AIRS: Visions of Weather and Climate

One of the primary instruments on NASA's Aqua spacecraft is the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), which is providing a detailed three-dimensional view of the atmosphere. This new view is helping scientists to better understand the climate system and is proving of great value also in several practical applications, including weather forecasting.

Robonaut ISS Checkout Overview

NASA Deputy Project Manager Nic Radford discuss the challenges of testing a state of the art humanoid robot in space. A full scale mock-up of R2 recently made an appearance at the University of Virginia's College at Wise to be greeted by nearly 5,000 students from throughout school districts in the Appalachian Mountains Virginia.

More from The Kingsport Times News and WCYB-TV 5 about one of the Robonaut-2 software engineers coming back to his native area to talk with students about the development of R2.

Team America Rocket Challenge Set for May 12, 2012 in The Plains, Virginia for Top 100

Brittany Barns of the STAR team in Wise VA.

Nearly 700 teams of middle and high school students across 48 states, the District of Columbia and the Virgin Islands are gearing up for the 2012 Team America Rocketry Challenge, the world's largest student rocket contest and a critical piece of the aerospace industry's workforce development pipeline.

The 10th anniversary competition is the most challenging in the history of the event. This year, each team is tasked with designing and building a rocket carrying a two egg payload to 800 feet and back during a 43- to 47-second flight without cracking. A strict limit on liftoff weight forces students to focus on designing the payload bay while building a lighter, stronger rocket. The top 100 teams will advance to the National Finals May 12, 2012 at Great Meadow in The Plains, Va.

Sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association, the National Association of Rocketry and more than 30 industry partners, the contest aims to inspire middle and high school students to pursue careers in science, math and engineering.

Teams are competing for up to $60,000 in scholarships and prizes, as well as an opportunity to participate in NASA's Student Launch Initiative. Raytheon Company provides funding for the winning team to defend America's 2011 championship title at the international fly-off at the Farnborough International Air Show in July against teams from the UK and France.