GOLD-MEDAL VIEWS! INCREDIBLE IMAGES SHOW RIO SUMMER OLYMPICS FROM SPACE - Multiple satellites orbiting high above Earth have captured spectacular images of Rio de Janeiro, the city hosting this summer's Olympic Games. The streets of Rio and the massive structures built to house the games are visible in snapshots of Rio from orbit taken by Earth-observing sensors named Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) and Deimos-2, operated by the Vancouver-based UrtheCast, an Earth imagery company that operates satellites and two HD cameras on the exterior of the International Space Station (ISS). The Maracanã Stadium, which housed the opening ceremony on Aug. 5 and will host the closing ceremony on Aug. 21, is one structure that is clearly visible in a video that brings together multiple images taken by the UrtheCast sensors.    More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 16)

NASA VIDEO SHOWS METEOR SHOWER… FROM ABOVE! - Late last week marked the peak of the annual Perseid meteor shower, generally one of the most dependable shooting star shows of the year. You can usually spot about a meteor per minute streaking across the sky, leaving behind a momentary trail of vaporized rock that fades rapidly as it cools in the upper atmosphere. Meteors burn up about 90 - 100 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. So what happens if you happen to be 400 km up, orbiting the Earth? What would it look like if you were looking down, toward the Earth, during a meteor shower? That video was made on Aug. 10, 2016 using a camera on the International Space Station, specifically designed to look for meteors from above.   More
(Source: Slate Magazine - Aug 15)

SPACEX LAUNCHES SECOND JCSAT MISSION VIA FALCON 9 - SpaceX launched Japan’s JCSAT-16 communications satellite in the early hours of Sunday via a Falcon 9 rocket, with lift off occurring from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral at the start of a two-hour launch window that opened at 01:26 local time (05:26 UTC). Once again, a return of the first stage to SpaceX’s drone ship was successful. Making its eighth launch of the year, the Falcon 9 delivered JCSAT-16 into a geosynchronous transfer orbit. It is the second mission that SpaceX have flown for JCSAT-16’s operator, Sky Perfect JSAT Corporation, following the successful launch of JCSAT-14 in May.   More
(Source: NASASpaceFlight - Aug 14)

WATCH SPACEX COUNT DOWN TO LAUNCH OF JCSAT-16 SATELLITE AND A ROCKET LANDING - SpaceX is due to launch a second satellite for a Japanese communication company tonight, followed by another rocket landing attempt in the Atlantic Ocean. The JCSAT-16 satellite is to be launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida atop SpaceX’s two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, during a roughly two-hour window that opens at 1:26 a.m. ET Sunday (10:26 p.m. PT Saturday). SpaceX is scheduled to live-stream the countdown via its website and YouTube, beginning about 20 minutes before liftoff. This mission comes a little more than three months after the California-based company put JCSAT-14 into orbit for SKY Perfect JSAT, one of the Asia-Pacific region’s leading satellite operators. JCSAT-16 will serve as an in-orbit backup for SKY Perfect JSAT’s fleet, which provides video distribution and other data services in Asia, Russia, Oceania, the Middle East and North America.   More
(Source: GeekWire - Aug 14)

THE U.S. AIR FORCE WANTS TO DETONATE PLASMA BOMBS IN THE SKY - Radio communication is a weak point for most military operations — it is often not long enough or strong enough to adequately meet soldiers’ needs. The U.S. Air Force’s “go big or go home” solution to improve their long-distance calls? Supercharge the atmosphere by detonating aerial plasma bombs attached to tiny satellites, reports New Scientist. The Air Force is asking for help in developing plasma bombs, which would be delivered to the atmosphere by tiny cube satellites and then detonated to release ions upon arrival. The Air Force is working with several research teams, each of which is tasked with coming up with their own design for the plasma bombs. The first stage of the project is theoretical, requiring researchers to come up with an atmospheric plasma delivery method. Selected researchers then will be invited to test their proposal in a vacuum chamber simulator and eventually on exploratory flights.    More
(Source: Digital Trends - Aug 13)

UMASS-LOWELL STUDENTS TO DESIGN SATELLITE FOR NASA - A team of students from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell has been awarded $200,000 by federal aviation officials to design and build a satellite. The miniature satellite named "SPACE HAUC" for the school's River Hawk mascot will be launched into orbit in two years, with the intention of it circling the earth for a year, capturing and transmitting data. "SPACE HAUC will give me and my fellow students valuable hands-on experience in astronautical engineering research and development," mechanical engineering student and project's program manager Dat Le said in a statement.   More
(Source: MassLive.com - Aug 13)

SPACEX TO LAUNCH SATELLITE, LAND ROCKET EARLY SUNDAY: WATCH IT LIVE - SpaceX will attempt another rocket landing during the launch of a commercial communications satellite early Sunday morning (Aug. 14), and you can watch all the dramatic action live. SpaceX's two-stage Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to launch the JCSAT-16 satellite at 1:26 a.m. EDT (0526 GMT) Sunday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. About 9 minutes later, the rocket's first stage will attempt a soft landing on a robotic "drone ship" in the Atlantic Ocean, a few hundred miles off the Florida coast. You can watch it all live here at Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX.   More
(Source: Space.com - Aug 13)

CHINESE SATELLITE WILL TEST 'SPOOKY' EINSTEIN CLAIM - Sometime this month, China is planning to launch a satellite that could be a first step towards establishing a “hack-proof” communications network. The satellite is a collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. It will be launched from China’s Jiuquan satellite launch centre in Inner Mongolia aboard a Long March 2D rocket. It will test the quantum phenomena that govern the sub-atomic world of particles.   More
(Source: The Guardian - Aug 12)

CHINA SAYS NEW SATELLITE WILL HELP SAFEGUARD INTERESTS AT SEA: CHINA DAILY - A newly launched satellite will help China protect its maritime interests, the official China Daily newspaper reported on Thursday amid growing tensions over disputed territory in the South China Sea. The "Gaofen 3" satellite that was launched on Wednesday has a radar system that captures images from space with a resolution down to 1 meter (3 feet) and can operate in all weathers, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defence told the newspaper. "The satellite will play an important role in monitoring the marine environment, islands and reefs, and ships and oil rigs," the China Daily said, citing project leader Xu Fuxiang. "Satellites like the Gaofen 3 will be very useful in safeguarding the country's maritime rights and interests," he added, according to the newspaper.   More
(Source: Reuters - Aug 12)

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