NASA scientists and engineers are testing new technologies using the K9 rover in a granite quarry near Watsonville, Calif., in preparation for future missions to Mars. The demonstration will be conducted at Graniterock’s A.R. Wilson Quarry Site in Aromas, Calif. Scientists chose the quarry site for the field experiment and to test its autonomous operational capabilities in a remote, non-vegetated location.
October 29th, 2003
Space Medicine Workshop Give Tomorrow’s Space Workers A Chance To Design In
A long duration mission onboard the International Space Station or a future visit to Mars, could mean astronauts spending up to two years travelling and living in space. How will they cope with living in zero gravity and in a confined space for such long periods, what effect will it have on their mental and physical health, and what happens if they become ill during the mission? Last week’s Space Medicine Workshop was designed to stimulate students to come up with answers that could improve the quality of life in space as well as on Earth.
October 28th, 2003
China to send three men into space for seven days next time
Next time China shoots off a manned space craft it will carry three astronauts on a seven-day mission in orbit, state media said Tuesday, citing a leading space engineer.
October 27th, 2003
Young Space Elite Emerges From Manned Space Program: Experts
Tens of thousands of young Chinese professionals working for China’s manned space project are becoming experienced and increasingly important for the country’s future in the space sector, senior space experts say.
October 22nd, 2003
Op/Ed: The Return of the Dragon
China’s leaders are surrounded by reminders of their nation’s long and eventful history. As a matter of fact, the residential compound where many of those leaders live, the Zhongnanhai, is part of the Forbidden City, the six hundred year old former home of the Chinese emperors. So it’s a safe guess that as they watched China’s first astronaut rise into orbit on their television screens last week, at least some of the men who rule China were thinking about their country’s first age of exploration.
October 20th, 2003
On eve of space age, China is keen not to miss out on new era of exploration
As a new era of exploration unfolds with man’s slow progress into space, many Chinese are motivated by a wish to avoid the errors of their ancestors half a millennium ago. China was left as a passive onlooker when the Europeans started charting and conquering the world in the 15th century, a fact that has been subject to new reflection after the successful launch of Shenzhou V.
October 16th, 2003
Space could be Chinese by the year 2050, experts say
It is the year 2053. Zhang Jianwei, a Chinese air force colonel, peeps out of the cockpit of his “Ziqiang VIII” space shuttle to catch a last glimpse of the Jiuquan Space Center before blasting off to Mars. Sitting next to him is Neil Glenn, a US Air Force major who has been invited to visit China’s “Red Horizon” base on Mars, as a goodwill gesture to the American losers in the race to send a man to the red planet.
October 16th, 2003
New Facility Will Help Protect Space Crews From Radiation
Imagine a human spacecraft crew voyaging through space. A satellite sends a warning; energetic particles are being accelerated from the sun’s corona, sending dangerous radiation toward their spacecraft, but the crew isn’t worried. Long before their journey, researchers on Earth conducted experiments to accurately measure the hazards of space radiation and developed new materials and countermeasures to protect them.
October 13th, 2003
NASA Research Team Successfully Flies First Laser-Powered Aircraft
Ever since the dawn of powered flight, it has been necessary for all aircraft to carry onboard fuel – whether in the form of batteries, fuel, solar cells, or even a human “engine” – in order to stay aloft. But a team of researchers from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards, Calif., and the University of Alabama in Huntsville is trying to change that.
October 13th, 2003
MTI and Harris Further Develop Micro Fuel Cells for Military
MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc., a subsidiary of Mechanical Technology Inc. and Harris Corporation announced Friday an agreement that builds on work completed under an earlier project and advances their joint development of micro fuel cell systems for portable military communications equipment.