A planned U.S. mission to investigate three ice-covered moons of Jupiter will demand fast-paced research, fabrication and realistic non-nuclear testing of a prototype nuclear reactor within two years, says a Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist. The roots of this build and test effort have been under way at Los Alamos since the mid-1990s, said David Poston, leader of the Space Fission Power Team in Los Alamos’ Nuclear Design and Risk Analysis Group.
February 11th, 2004
Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Transportion With Jovian Mission
February 9th, 2004
EADS Space Wins Contract To Define Mars Sample Return Missions
EADS Space has been awarded a EUR600k Study by ESA to carry out the first definition of a European Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission. The study will benefit from the combined resources of EADS Astrium and EADS Space Transportation. While EADS Astrium will define the overall mission and the spacecraft, EADS Space Transportation will be responsible for defining re-entry systems and a ‘Mars Ascent Vehicle’ – a small rocket to carry the precious sample up through the Martian atmosphere.
February 9th, 2004
EADS Astrium Wins Study For First European Mars Rover
EADS Space has been awarded a EUR900k study by ESA to carry out the first definition of a Rover to explore the Martian surface and search for life. The study led by EADS Astrium is part of ESA’s Aurora programme that aims to one day put a European astronaut on Mars.
February 2nd, 2004
NASA gets new funds for space shuttles and moon mission
The new US public budget unveiled Monday gives a big boost to spending on efforts to get the US shuttle back in space and to start moves to get manned missions to the moon and Mars.
February 1st, 2004
Thousands of files deleted on Spirit to fix computer trouble
A week-and-a-half after falling ill to computer woes, NASA on Sunday declared its Mars Exploration Rover Spirit was healthy again.
January 29th, 2004
Japan to change space policy, aims manned mission: report
Spurred by China’s success in its first-ever manned space flight, Japan plans a drastic review of its space policy and will consider launching manned space trips as well, a report said Thursday. The government will “consider realising a manned space flight by a Japanese astronaut at an early time”, the Yomiuri Shimbun daily said in its evening edition, without indicating a timeframe.
January 28th, 2004
Singaporean company plays timely role in Mars probe
FriarTuck, a small university-linked Singaporean company, revealed Wednesday it was responsible for creating and maintaining a unique staffing schedule for the historic NASA mission to Mars. The two-year-old company with only six employees had to create a flexible roster based on Mars time for the hundreds of scientists and engineers working on the mission, FriarTuck co-founder Martin Henz told reporters.
January 28th, 2004
Swiss scientists bid to fly plane on Mars
Scientists in Switzerland are developing an ultra-lightweight plane which could soar through the skies of Mars in about a decade’s time, with the help of balsa wood and model aircraft knowhow. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) chose the small solar-powered, “intelligent”, glider as a low-cost but high technology project for the European Space Agency’s (ESA) “Startiger III” technology programme, scientist Samir Bouabdallah said Wednesday.
January 26th, 2004
Russia, US can collaborate in Mars exploration: Putin
Russia and the United States can collaborate in exploring Mars, Russian President Vladimir Putin told US Secretary of State Colin Powell in talks Monday. Congratulating the envoy on the US mission that has seen two probes land on the surface of the Red Planet in the past three weeks, Putin said that Russia “has noted with interest President (George W.) Bush’s ambitious plans for the conquest of Mars,” the Interfax news agency reported. “I believe that in this area there are things we can do together,” Putin said.
January 22nd, 2004
Spirit Beeps It’s Alive And “Commandable”: NASA Official
NASA officials at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory have confirmed that the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has responded to an emergency command this morning by sending back a radio beep — an event which had been stated as a possibility, but not a certainty, at the end of this morning’s JPL press conference. “This means it’s commandable,” a JPL spokeswoman told SpaceDaily.