Space Daily articles from February 2005

Space Daily archives from February 2005

Cassini's Radar Spots Giant Crater On Titan.(Brief Article)
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 17 (SPX) -- A giant impact crater the size of Iowa was spotted on Saturn's moon Titan by NASA's Cassini radar instrument during Tuesday's Titan flyby. Cassini flew within 1,577 kilometers...

Researchers Find Clear Evidence Of Human-Produced Warming In World's Oceans.
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SAN DIEGO, Feb. 18 (SPX) -- Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, and their colleagues have produced the first clear evidence of human-produced warming in the...

Scientists Take Aim At Dark Energy Problems.
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Feb. 17 (SPX) -- A panel of physicists and astronomers have been previewing emerging theories and experiments aimed at solving the mystery of dark energy, an invisible force that dominates the universe at...

Planets Galore: 12 New Discoveries Announced.
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 17 (SPX) -- The past four weeks have been heady ones in the planet-finding world: Three teams of astronomers announced the discovery of 12 previously unknown worlds, bringing the total count of...

BAE Systems To Develop 60mm Mortar Guidance Systems.(United States. Advanced Research Projects Agency contracts)(Brief Article)
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers NASHUA, N.H., Feb. 15 (SPX) -- BAE Systems has been selected by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Advanced Technology Office to convert a 60 millimeter mortar into a precision guided munitions...

Fossils Push Human Emergence Back To 195,000 Years Ago.
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 17 (SPX) -- When the bones of two early humans were found in 1967 near Kibish, Ethiopia, they were thought to be 130,000 years old. A few years ago, researchers found 154,000- to 160,000-year-old...

Northrop Grumman Conducts Wargame In Support Of Anti-Missile System At JNIC.
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers COLORADO SPRINGS, Feb. 18 (SPX) -- Northrop Grumman, in partnership with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency, completed a five-day wargame this month at the Joint National Integration Center (JNIC), where many operator...

Northrop Grumman Demonstrates Moving Target Engagement Capability For USAF.(U.S. Air Force)(Brief Article)
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BALTIMORE, Feb. 17 (SPX) -- Northrop Grumman recently performed successful high-speed captive flight tests of its multi-mode air-to-ground terminal guidance seeker during moving-target engagement exercises at Eglin...

Purdue Proves Concept Of Using Nano-Materials For Drug Discovery.
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Feb. 18 (SPX) -- Researchers at Purdue University have built and demonstrated a prototype for a new class of miniature devices to study synthetic cell membranes in an effort to speed the...

Robots Walk With Close-To-Human Efficiency.
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 (SPX) -- Robots that walk like human beings are common in science fiction but not so easy to make in real life. The most famous current example, the Honda Asimo, moves smoothly but on large, flat...

People Propel Shuttle Engine's Return To Flight.(Space Shuttle Main Engine)
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb. 18 (SPX) -- When Tony Mendez looks at a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME), he sees a highly durable, specialized, complex machine that's done for more than 20 years exactly what it was...

Lockheed Martin To Develop Sensor For Interstellar Boundary Explorer Mission.(Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Laboratories)
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PALO ALTO, Calif., Feb. 18 (SPX) -- The Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center (ATC) will lead the development of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX)-Lo sensor for the recently selected NASA Small Explorer...

Ultrasound For Astronauts.
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Feb. 17 (SPX) -- When you hear the word "ultrasound" you probably think of pregnant moms and their babies. Add one more to that list: astronauts. Nobody's pregnant in space, but astronauts...

Brightest Explosion Ever Observed Overwhelms Telescopes.
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SOUTHAMPTON, England, Feb. 18 (SPX) -- Scientists have detected a flash of light from across the Galaxy so powerful that it bounced off the Moon and lit up the Earth's upper atmosphere. This "giant flare" was the...

Indian Space Delegation At University Of Leicester For New Satellite Mission.
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers LEICESTER, England, Feb. 17 (SPX) -- The University of Leicester has played host to a delegation of space scientists from India to discuss plans for collaboration over a future mission. The University houses the...

Flashes In The Sky: Earth's Gamma-Ray Bursts Triggered By Lightning.
February 18, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 18 (SPX) -- A great mystery was set in motion a few years ago when a spacecraft designed to measure gamma-ray bursts - the most powerful explosions in the Universe - found that Earth was actually...

Northrop Grumman Begins Upgrade To Joint STARS Air-Traffic Management Systems.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers MELBOURNE, Fla., Feb. 21 (SPX) -- The U.S. Air Force's fleet of E-8C aircraft will receive updated air-traffic management systems under a $103 million, three-year system design and development contract recently...

Cassini's Cameras View Titan In A Different Light.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BOULDER, Colo., Feb. 21 (SPX) -- Cassini's third close approach to Titan on Tuesday, February 15 yielded intriguing new views of the planet-sized moon, as the spacecraft's powerful cameras looked at and through the...

Saturn's Moons Titan And Enceladus Seen By Cassini.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 18 (SPX) -- NASA's Cassini spacecraft has had a busy week, snapping stunning new images of two of Saturn's moons -- smoggy Titan on Feb. 15 and wrinkled Enceladus on Feb. 16. Visible in...

Single Molecule Switch Opens The Door To Biomolecular Electronics.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers TEMPE, Ariz., Feb. 21 (SPX) -- A team of scientists led by biophysicist Stuart Lindsay from the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University have created the first reproducible single molecule negative differential...

Third Earth Observation Summit Agrees On Ten-Year GEOSS Action Plan.(Global Earth Observation System of Systems)
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BRUSSELS, Feb. 21 (SPX) -- Around 60 nations and more than 40 international organisations joined ESA and host, the European Community, at the Third Earth Observation summit last Wednesday. History was made at the...

Benefits Of Space For All Citizens.(European Space Agency)
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BRUSSELS, Feb. 18 (SPX) -- Over 40 nations and around 20 international organisations, including ESA, came together in Brussels, last Thursday and Friday, to exchange views on policies related to international...

Blast Affected Earth From Halfway Across The Milky Way.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 21 (SPX) -- Forget "Independence Day" or "War of the Worlds." A monstrous cosmic explosion last December showed that the earth is in more danger from real-life space threats than from...

NovAtel Components Used In Leica Geosystems' New SmartStation.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CALGARY, Alberta, Feb. 21 (SPX) -- NovAtel has announced that they have achieved another major goal of their cooperative agreement with Leica Geosystems with the announcement of Leica Geosystems' new SmartStation, the...

Maps.com Introduces Industry's First Unlimited Location Mapping Service.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Feb. 21 (SPX) -- Maps.com has launched NavPro, the industry's first unlimited mapping service that can also generate optimized driving routes for up to 18 stops. This new service not only...

iAnywhere Simplifies RFID Network Deployments With New Software Solution.(Radio Frequency Identification)(iAnywhere Solutions Inc)
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers DALLAS, Feb. 21 (SPX) -- iAnywhere Solutions has launched RFID Anywhere, a platform that helps enterprises plan, develop, deploy and manage radio frequency identification (RFID) network solutions. With an advanced...

Station Crew Prepare To Restock The Pantry.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers HOUSTON, Feb. 21 (SPX) -- The International Space Station crew is preparing for the arrival of fresh supplies aboard a Russian cargo ship. The seventeenth Progress to go to the Station is set to launch on Feb. 28 from...

Mars Exploration Rover A Clocks Up 400 'Sols' On Mars.(Brief Article)
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 17 (SPX) -- The Spirit rover passed its 401st sol, or Martian day, Thursday, marking 311 more sols than its original mission design, NASA officials said. After more than 13 Earth months on...

A Revolution In Oceanic Exploration Reveals An "Alien" World On Earth.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (SPX) -- Scientists can now visualize the ocean floor in remote areas of the Arctic, observe rockfish hideouts, and see live images of coral cities thousands of meters under the sea's surface. Soon...

Raymarine Unveils New Satellite TV System 45 STV.
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers NASHUA, N.H., Feb. 21 (SPX) -- Raymarine announced last Thursday that the company is launching a satellite television system for boaters that will give them access to high-quality satellite television while at sea....

ATK Successfully Tests Full-Scale Space Shuttle Motor.(Alliant Techsystems Inc)(Brief Article)
February 22, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers MINNEAPOLIS, Feb. 21 (SPX) -- Alliant Techsystems tested a full-scale Reusable Solid Rocket Motor (RSRM) Feb 17 in support of NASA's Return to Flight program. Initial results indicate the test was completely...

AValonRF To Demonstrate It's "No Moving Part" Tracking Antenna Receivers.(tracking antenna systems)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SAN DIEGO, Feb. 17 (SPX) -- AValonRF will present and demonstrate it"s "no moving part", Tracking Antenna receivers, Tuning Range - 460MHz-2.5GHz, C Band, KU Band, at the AUVSI chapter meeting in San Diego on February...

Ariane 5 Technology Turns The Lights On.(European Space Agency )
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, Feb. 22 (SPX) -- Soon we may be able to fill the bath, turn the lights on and play our favourite CD without moving from our chair or pressing a button. Technology, developed by ESA for European spacecraft, is...

Astronomers Measure Mass Of Smallest Black Hole In A Galactic Nucleus.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (SPX) -- A group led by astronomers from Ohio State University and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have measured the mass of a unique black hole, and determined that it is the smallest...

String Theorist Explores Dark Energy And Our Unique 'Pocket' Of The Universe.(Leonard Susskind)
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINTON, D.C., Feb. 18 (SPX) -- Some celestial bodies are so cold that methane freezes; others are so hot that nuclear reactions occur. And then there's Earth, with a benign temperature hovering in the narrow range...

Billions Investment Needed for Hydrogen Infrastructure by 2012, Says ABI Research.(Brief Article)
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers OYSTER BAY, N.Y., Feb. 16 (SPX) -- The embryonic automotive fuel cell industry - whether or not aided by governments - must invest some US$2 billion in creating a hydrogen fueling station infrastructure by 2012 if...

Protected Areas Where Planets Can Form.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BLOOMINGTON, Ind., Feb. 22 (SPX) -- A new theory of how planets form finds havens of stability amid violent turbulence in the swirling gas that surrounds a young star. These protected areas are where planets can...

Can Bioregenerative Life Support Systems Make Strawberries.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Feb. 23 (SPX) -- What will it be like for our future astronauts, traveling through the dark expanse of space to the Moon, Mars and beyond, millions of miles from everything they know and love?...

Einstein@Home Goes Live In Search For Gravitational Waves.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (SPX) -- A new grassroots computing project dubbed Einstein@Home, which will let anyone with a personal computer contribute to cutting edge astrophysics research, was officially launched at the...

Looking Through The Hubble Space Telescope With An Artist's Eye.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CHICAGO, Feb. 21 (SPX) -- Although derived from scientific data, the spectacular images from the Hubble Space Telescope circulate far beyond the scientific community. From postage stamps to the cover of Pearl Jam...

Priming The Human Primate.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BOSTON, Feb. 22 (SPX) -- Researchers have learned that despite the 99 percent similarity between the DNA of humans and our closest relative, the chimpanzee, a significant difference occurs in the places along the...

Boeing to Sell Rocketdyne Propulsion Unit to Pratt & Whitney.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers ST. LOUIS, Feb. 22 (SPX) -- Boeing announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement to sell its Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power business to Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies company, for approximately $700...

Hyperventilating Grasshoppers.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., Feb. 23 (SPX) -- A new study investigating the respiratory system of insects may have solved a mystery that has intrigued physiologists for decades: why insects routinely stop breathing for...

Exploring The Other Globe.(SMART missions)
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., Feb. 22 (SPX) -- The European Space Agency's SMART missions - Small Missions for Advanced Research and Technology - are designed to test new spacecraft technology while visiting various places...

NASA Statement On False Claim Of Evidence Of Life On Mars.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Feb. 18 (SPX) -- News reports originally reported by Space.com on February 16, 2005, that NASA scientists from Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., have found strong evidence that life may exist on...

Life On Mars? New Data Could Reveal Places To Search.(Brief Article)
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PROVIDENCE, R.I., Feb. 23 (SPX) -- Mars Express, Europe's first mission to the Red Planet, has generated a slew of new data about the mineral composition of the planet's dry, dramatic surface. In six new papers...

Rover Passes 400 'sols' on Mars.(mars probes)(Brief Article)
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., Feb. 17 (SPX) -- The Spirit rover passed its 401st sol, or Martian day, Thursday, marking 311 more sols than its original mission design, NASA officials said. After more than 13 Earth months on...

Mars Express Imagery Appears To Reveal Frozen Sea On Mars.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers LONDON, Feb. 23 (SPX) -- The discovery, by an international team of scientists led by University College London (UCL), the Open University (OU), and the Free University of Berlin, of a frozen sea close to the equator...

New Nuclear Friction In West.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 (SPX) -- The Bush administration is risking yet another nuclear controversy in the West as the president's Energy Department hems and haws over what to do about a huge pile of radioactive waste...

Super-Heavy Nuclei Take Shape In 'Extreme' New Theories.(scientific research)
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Feb. 21 (SPX) -- Advanced computational methods and supporting experiments, including work performed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory, are giving scientists a better...

Ultra-Cold Temperature Physics Opens Way To Understanding And Applications.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Feb. 22 (SPX) -- Researchers doing ultra-cold temperature physics may not have to wear parkas, but they are producing the coldest temperatures ever and exploring model quantum systems that might lead to...

World's Smallest Synchrotron, MIRRORCLE-6X, Now Commercially Available.(Brief Article)
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SHIGA, Japan, Feb. 22 (SPX) -- Synchrotron light, the highly prized output from a synchrotron (a particular type of particle accelerator), is an extremely powerful investigative tool in many fields of science and...

Solar Tadpoles Wave At Astrophysicists.(Brief Article)
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WARWICK, England, Feb. 23 (SPX) -- Researchers at the University of Warwick's Department of Physics have gained insight into the mysterious giant dark "tadpoles" that appear to swim towards the surface of the Sun...

Seismic Rocker Aims To Cut The Noise.
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 22 (SPX) -- A Canadian seismologist is arguing that our understanding of the structure of the Earth's interior is based on the equivalent of fuzzy ultrasound images that leave room...

ESO's Two Observatories Merge.(European Southern Observatory)(La Silla is merged with Paranal)
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers GARCHING, Germany, Feb. 22 (SPX) -- On February 1, 2005, the European Southern Observatory (ESO) merged its two observatories, La Silla and Paranal, into one. This move will help Europe's prime organisation for...

Muon Opportunists: Detecting The Unseen With Natural Probes.(Earth is showered constantly by particles called muons that are created by cosmic rays)
February 23, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (SPX) -- Earth is showered constantly by particles called muons that are created by cosmic rays, and clever scientists are finding ways to use them as probes of dense objects, including a massive...

NASA Developed Tools For Successful Air Travel Program.
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., Feb. 28 (SPX) -- After developing several tools used in many of the nation's busiest airports and air traffic control centers, NASA has completed its pioneering Advanced Air Transportation...

Scientists Discover Why The North Pole Is Frozen.
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 28 (SPX) -- Ice has been building up in the Arctic for 2.7 million years. Until now, no-one has been able to prove what mechanism brought about this accumulation of ice. However, a team of...

The Greatest Saturn Portrait...Yet.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BOULDER, Colo., Feb. 27 (SPX) -- While cruising around Saturn in early October 2004, Cassini captured a series of images that have been composed into the largest, most detailed, global natural color view of Saturn and...

Alaskan High Schoolers Help NASA Record, Share 'Earth Music'.
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 28 (SPX) -- In the tiny town of North Pole, Alaska, the sun currently creeps into view for just three or four hours a day. Temperatures typically crash in February to minus-30 degrees Fahrenheit...

Row 44 And Hughes Network Systems To Offer Broadband Access For Airlines.(Brief Article)
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers MALIBU, Calif., Feb. 28 (SPX) -- Row 44 has announced an exclusive agreement with Hughes Network Systems to bring broadband connectivity to North American commercial and business aircraft. Testing of the service...

An Earth-Mars Laser Link, The Optiputer, And Cinema-Quality Digital Video.
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Feb. 28 (SPX) -- Researchers will announce some of the latest breakthroughs and innovations in optics-based communications at OFC/NFOEC 2005-a joining together of two leading meetings in the optical...

Iridium Subscribers and Revenue Up 23 Percent.(Iridium Satellite L.L.C.)
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BETHESDA, Md., Feb. 25 (SPX) -- Iridium Satellite LLC, the global supplier of mobile satellite communication services, today said that it had more than 114,000 subscribers as of December 31, 2004, a 22.5% increase...

Big Brother's Space Program.
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers HONOLULU, Feb. 28 (SPX) -- Winston Smith compulsively smoothed the tatty blue bib overalls that marked his status as a member of the Outer Party. It was a rare event when he was called out of his cubicle at the...

NASA Awards Grant To UT Southwestern To Study Space Radiation Exposure.(UT Southwestern Medical Center)
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers DALLAS, Feb. 28 (SPX) -- UT Southwestern Medical Center has won a highly competitive, $9.8 million NASA Specialized Center of Research (NSCOR) grant that will allow researchers to study the effects of radiation on...

Long-View To Titan.(Saturn probes)
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers GARCHING, Germany, Feb. 28 (SPX) -- On January 14, 2005, the ESA Huygens probe arrived at Saturn's largest satellite, Titan. After a faultless descent through the dense atmosphere, it touched down on the icy surface...

NASA Chooses QuVIS Servers For Return To Flight Program.
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers TOPEKA, Kan., Feb. 28 (SPX) -- Following extensive technology trials and imagery comparisons, QuVIS servers were selected from a broad field of competitors and are now being used in conjunction with the U.S....

Schepens Scientists Regenerate Optic Nerve For The First Time.(Schepens Eye Research Institute)
February 28, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BOSTON, Feb. 28 (SPX) -- For the first time, scientists have regenerated a damaged optic nerve - from the eye to the brain. This achievement, which occurred in laboratory mice and is described in the March 1, 2005...