October 3, 2011

Good Morning,

China takes the first big step in setting up its own permanent space station; another launch later this year. Take a look at the second article for all the details on this project.

Until Next Time,
Erin

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Wearable fabric antenna is rescue aid

PARIS - A Finnish company says it has developed a wearable search-and-rescue antenna that can be sewn into clothing. Patria Aviation Oy developed the antennae with input from the European Space Agency. The special antenna produced by Patria has been designed for use by the Cospas-Sarsat worldwide search-and-rescue satellite system, an ESA release said Wednesday. Cospas-Sarsat, sponsored by Canada, France, Russia and the United States, and started during the Cold War, has been operating for almost 30 years and has helped to rescue more than 26,000 people in distress. It operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and is intended reduce the time required to alert rescue authorities in emergencies. When a carrier is in distress, an emergency beacon is activated and the signal is picked up by satellites orbiting Earth that report the person's position to rescue authorities. Patria's fabric antenna, meant to works as part of a Cospas-Sarsat distress transmitter, is made from highly flexible, lightweight material that is robust against water exposure and moist conditions and resistant to wear and tear, the company said.


China launches first space lab module

BEIJING - China says it has successfully launched the first module of its planned orbiting space lab from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest. Carried into orbit Thursday by a Long March-2FT1 rocket, the unmanned Tiangong-1 module will test docking with another spacecraft to be launched this year, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported. The test will pave the way for China to become the third country in the world to operate a permanent space station around 2020, Xinhua said. China's President Hu Jintao watched the launch from the Beijing Aerospace Flight Control Center. The Tiangong-1 will orbit Earth for about a month, awaiting the launch of a Shenzhou-8 unmanned spacecraft and when the two vehicles rendezvous they will conduct space docking tests. The 8.5-ton Tiangong-1, 34 feet long with a diameter of 11 feet, will be able to provide room for two to three astronauts to live and work, Chinese officials said.


Supercomputer models universe

SAMTA CRUZ, Calif. - U.S. scientists have released what they say is the most accurate simulation of the universe to date that will provide a new benchmark for cosmological studies. Physicists at the University of California, Santa Cruz, said the so-called Bolshoi supercomputer simulation is the most accurate and detailed cosmological simulation to date and is a powerful tool for understanding cosmic mysteries such as galaxy formation, dark matter and dark energy. "In one sense, you might think the initial results are a little boring, because they basically show that our standard cosmological model works," physics Professor Joel Primack said in a university release Thursday. "What's exciting is that we now have this highly accurate simulation that will provide the basis for lots of important new studies in the months and years to come." The initial release of data from the Bolshoi simulation began in early September. "We've released a lot of the data so that other astrophysicists can start to use it," he said. So far it's less than one percent of the actual output, because the total output is so huge, but there will be additional releases in the future." Primack and Anatoly Klypin, professor of astronomy at New Mexico State University, headed the team that produced the Bolshoi simulation, with Klypin writing the code for the simulation run on the Pleiades supercomputer at the NASA Ames Research Center in California.


'Bubble-blowing' galaxy photographed

PARIS - A distant galaxy that appears to be blowing bubbles has been captured in images from the Hubble Space Telescope, European astronomers said. The galaxy -- dubbed Holmberg II -- features intricate glowing shells of gas created by the energetic lifecycles of many generations of stars, a release from the European Space Agency said Thursday. Holmberg II has both dense star-forming regions and extensive barren areas with less material stretching across thousands of light years. It has neither the spiral arms typical of galaxies like the Milky Way nor the dense nucleus of an elliptical galaxy, which makes it, gravitationally speaking, a gentle haven where fragile structures such as the observed bubbles can hold their shape, astronomers said. The colorful image combines visible and near-infrared exposures taken by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, they reported.


NASA tests engine set for human launches

WASHINGTON - NASA says it has conducted a second test of the rocket engine selected for the Space Launch System to resume sending humans into deep space. The 40-second test of the J-2X rocket engine Wednesday took it to the 99 percent power level to gain a better understanding of start and shutdown systems, as well as modifications that had been made from previous test firing results, a NASA release said. The test at NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi came just two weeks after the agency confirmed plans for the second stage of the SLS to be powered by J-2X engines. The liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen J-2X is being developed for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne.

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