POLLUTION SENSING SATELLITE DELAYED - The `Next Generation Earth Monitoring and Observation and Aerosol Monitoring' (NEMO-AM) satellite, which will analyse pollution levels in Indian cities and towns is being delayed by a year. Isro's Canadian partners in the project, Space Flight Laboratory (SFL) of University of Toronto have demanded a year to develop the satellite's extremely complicated polarimetric sensors and optics.NEMO-AM will be ready by 2018, Space Applications Centre director Tapan Misra told TOI. NEMO-AM is among Isro's most important high-performance nano-satellite missions in the country. The nano-satellite, 2x2x1 feet and weighing 15 kg, will be launched 500 km above the earth.    More
(Source: Times of India - Oct 10)

CHINA'S 'HEAVENLY PALACE' SPACE STATION WILL GO DOWN IN FLAMES - "Beijing, we have a problem." Since it first went up in 1998, the International Space Station has played host to astronauts from more than a dozen countries -- but not one of them was from China. In fact, in 2011, the U.S. Congress passed a law specifically prohibiting Chinese access to the ISS over concerns about "national security." This, of course, has the Chinese a bit miffed. And as we mentioned last year, China has been planning to build its own, all-made-in-China space station instead. Slated for completion by 2022, the Tiangong 3, or "Heavenly Palace," space station will probably comprise three separate-but-linked modules, with a pair of laboratories flanking a central living habitat. Heavenly Palace is expected to go into service just as America and Russia are preparing to disassemble their International Space Station for obsolescence.   More
(Source: Motley Fool - Oct 10)

CUBESATS: TINY PAYLOADS, HUGE BENEFITS FOR SPACE RESEARCH - CubeSats are miniature satellites that are commonly used in low Earth orbit for applications such as remote sensing or communications. As engineers become more familiar with the technology, CubeSats are also being considered for flights outside of Earth orbit — particularly to locations such as Mars or Jupiter. The design was first proposed in the late 1990s by two professors: Jordi Puig-Suari of California Polytechnic State University and Bob Twiggs of Stanford University. They were trying to help students gain engineering experience in satellites, which are traditionally expensive to build and launch. Inspiration for the CubeSat came in part from the miniature toy craze of the day, Beanie Babies, according to Spaceflight Now.   More
(Source: Space.com - Oct 8)

ROSCOSMOS SETS OCTOBER 19TH AS LAUNCH DATE FOR NEXT SPACE STATION CREW - After reviewing the documents on operations that were carried out to repair the technical malfunction of the Soyuz MS-02 manned transport vehicle (MTV) the State Commission resolved that the space ship may be launched to the International Space Station (ISS). Based on quality assurance tests of MTV Soyuz MS-02, the specialists of Rocket and Space Corporation Energiya determined that the control equipment was activated by the landing system cable, which was jammed during the test operations. After the cable malfunction was fixed, engineers ran a full trial of the space ship.   More
(Source: Space Ref - Oct 8)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, AIR FORCE STATION, BRACE FOR MATTHEW - Launch pads and critical facilities at the Kennedy Space Center and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are braced for the onslaught of Hurricane Matthew overnight Thursday, one of the most powerful storms to threaten Florida’s Space Coast since the dawn of the space age 50 years ago. The National Hurricane Center is predicting heavy rain, dangerous storm surges and winds gusting up to 140 mph along Florida’s east coast with the eye passing just off shore or directly over Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. Satellite observations of Matthew show the hurricane features “a distinct eye surrounded by very deep convection,” the National Hurricane Center reported in its 11 a.m. EDT update. “Data from an Air Force reconnaissance plane traversing the eye of the hurricane also indicate that Matthew has strengthened.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 7)

ORBITAL CRS-5 LAUNCHING HOT AND BRIGHT SCIENCE TO SPACE - Orbital ATK is scheduled to send new science experiments to the International Space Station in early October on its sixth Commercial Resupply Services (CSR) mission. The Cygnus spacecraft will blast off from Wallops Island, Virginia atop an Antares rocket, carrying supplies for the crew along with dozens of experiments, including studies on fire in space, the effect of lighting on sleep and daily rhythms, collection of health-related data, and a new way to measure neutrons. Low-temperature fires with no visible flames are known as cool flames. In previous combustion experiments aboard the space station, researchers observed cool flame burning behaviors not predicted by models or earlier investigations.    More
(Source: Space Daily - Oct 7)

ARIANE 5 GOES ON TEST RUN AFTER LAUNCHING TWO SATELLITES - An Ariane 5 rocket lifted two communications satellites to space Wednesday to connect rural Australians with the rest of the world through high-speed Internet and extend television and data services over India, then completed experiments in orbit aimed at helping designers craft Europe’s next-generation launcher. The 180-foot-tall (55-meter) launcher lit its Vulcain 2 main engine at 2030 GMT (4:30 p.m. EDT; 5:30 p.m. local time) Wednesday, completed a computer-controlled readiness check, then sent commands to ignite two large solid rocket boosters. The twin boosters, consuming pre-packed ammonium perchlorate and powdered aluminum fuel, powered up with an explosive rush of energy to drive the Ariane 5 off its launch pad at the Guiana Space Center, a sprawling facility the size of Martinique on the northern coast of South America.   More
(Source: SpaceFlight Now - Oct 7)

WATCH HURRICANE MATTHEW BARRELING TOWARD LAND, AS SEEN FROM THE SPACE STATION - Floridians, brace yourselves—literally. "Severe" Hurricane Matthew is sweeping its way at 12 miles per hour across the Bahamas, and reaching toward the east coast of Florida by Thursday night. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) expects this motion to continue for up to the next 48 hours, at Category 3 or even higher (for reference, Hurricane Katrina was a 5). But already, it’s a monster of a storm, as you can see in this new video captured from orbit by the International Space Station, and posted online by NASA. This is the second video of Hurricane Matthew captured from the space station; the first was taken two days ago.    More
(Source: Motherboard - Oct 7)

IRAN PLANS TO LAUNCH THREE SATELLITES INTO SPACE - Head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Mohsen Bahrami says the country is planning to send three home-made satellites into space. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday on the occasion of World Space Week, Bahrami said Sharif Sat would be put into orbit by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2017). He added that Amirkabir and Nahid I satellites would be put into space during the next Iranian calendar year. The ISA chief noted that Sharif Sat is a remote-sensing satellite and Nahid I is a communications satellites. He further stated that the preparation process for domestically-manufactured Sadr satellite is also underway.   More
(Source: Press TV - Oct 6)

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