Space Daily articles from March 2005

Space Daily archives from March 2005

Widespread Arctic Warming Crosses Critical Ecological Thresholds.
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers KINGSTON, Ontario, March 1 (SPX) -- Unprecedented and maybe irreversible effects of Arctic warming, linked to human intervention, have been discovered by a team of international researchers led by Queen's University...

First Dark Matter Galaxy Comes Into View.
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CARDIFF, England, March 1 (SPX) -- A Cardiff-led team of astronomers has discovered an object that appears to be an invisible galaxy made almost entirely of dark matter -- the first ever detected. A dark galaxy is an...

Geo-Location Tracking Key To Singapore's Expanded Homeland Security Program.(Astrata Group Inc.)(Hazmat Transport Vehicle Tracking System)
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SINGAPORE, March 1 (SPX) -- An innovative vehicle tracking device, created for the Singapore Civil Defense Force (SCDF) by Astrata Group Incorporated, will play a prominent role in Singapore's expanded homeland...

Space Entrepreneur Walt Anderson Arrested For $200 Million Tax Scheme.(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, March 1 (SPX) -- The US Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service have arrested telecom businessman Walt Anderson on charges of failing to pay $200 million in federal and local taxes. In the late...

Progress Cargo Craft On Its Way to Space Station.(unmanned Russian cargo craft equipment and supplies)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, March 1 (SPX) -- An unmanned Russian cargo craft lifted off Monday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with about 2.3 tons of supplies and equipment for the International Space Station and...

ATV Communication System Sees Progress On Flight Testing.(Automated Transfer Vehicle)(Proximity Communication Equipment test)
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, Feb. 28 (SPX) -- An essential communications system to enable successful docking of Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) and the International Space Station (ISS) was today launched on board...

H-IIA F7 Third-time Ignition Experiment.(Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers TOKYO, March 1 (SPX) -- Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) would like to inform you that we acquired data on the third-time ignition experiment of the H-IIA Launch Vehicle No.7 (H-IIA F7) second stage engine as...

Northrop Grumman Wins Contract To Maintain The "Rayguns".(United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command)(Brief Article)
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers MCLEAN, Va., March 1 (SPX) -- The U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command has awarded Northrop Grumman Corporation a follow-on contract for operations and maintenance of lasers and facility-support systems used to...

Northrop Grumman Awarded Airborne Laser And Sensor Contract By US MDA.(United States.Missile Defense Agency )
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers MCLEAN, Va., March 1 (SPX) -- The U.S. Missile Defense Agency has awarded Northrop Grumman a $142 million follow-on contract for systems engineering, planning and logistics support for its Airborne Laser boost phase...

Probing The Sea Floor To Gain Understanding Of Early Life On Earth.
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SANTA BARBARA, Calif., March 1 (SPX) -- New keys to understanding the evolution of life on Earth may be found in the microbes and minerals vented from below the ocean floor, say scientists at the University of...

Sounding Out Mars.(Interview)
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., March 1 (SPX) -- The first week of May, the Mars Express spacecraft will unfurl its radar antenna. The Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding - or MARSIS - will have many tasks,...

High-Fidelity Patterns Form Spontaneously When Solvent Evaporates.
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CHAMPAIGN, Ill., March 1 (SPX) -- Resembling neatly stacked rows of driftwood abandoned by receding tides, particles left by a confined, evaporating droplet can create beautiful and complex patterns. The natural,...

Artificial Muscles Get A Grip On Human Hand.
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., March 1 (SPX) -- Six years ago a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory issued a unique challenge: build a robotic arm using artificial muscles that could arm wrestle a human. The results...

Prepping A Powerhouse To Return To Space.(Space Shuttle Main Engines )
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 1 (SPX) -- With the Space Shuttle's Return to Flight approaching in May, employees in one team at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida are looking forward to seeing three of their babies...

Newly Seen Force May Help Gravity In Star Formation.
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers GREENBELT, Md., March 2 (SPX) -- Scientists have pierced through a dusty stellar nursery to capture the earliest and most detailed view of a collapsing gas cloud turning into a star, analogous to a baby's first...

Shenzhen Man Set For Star Trek.
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SHENZHEN, China, March 1 (SPX) -- Chinese tourists have been taking the world by storm in recent years but one affluent and adventurous man in the booming southern China city of Shenzhen has set his sights higher -...

XM Radio's Satellite Delivered To Orbit.
March 2, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, March 1 (SPX) -- XM Satellite Radio has announced the successful launch of its XM-3 satellite. Liftoff occurred on February 28 at 10:51 pm EST off the Sea Launch Odyssey Launch Platform in open waters of...

Astronomers Measure Slowest Motion Across The Sky.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CAMBRIDGE, Mass., March 7 (SPX) -- In the March 4th issue of Science, astronomers reported that they had measured the slowest ever motion of a galaxy across the plane of the sky. This distant whirlpool of stars...

Test Marks Fifth Successful Intercept for Aegis BMD Team.(Ballistic Missile Defense)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers EL SEGUNDO, Calif., March 7 (SPX) -- The Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) Weapon System with the Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) successfully intercepted a ballistic missile target outside the earth's atmosphere during...

NASA's "Great Earth Observatory" Marks Five Years Of Climate Discoveries.(Terra satellite)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers GREENBELT, Md., March 2 (SPX) -- Five years ago this month, NASA's Terra satellite began measuring Earth's vital signs with accuracy, precision, and resolution the world had never seen before. This great Earth...

Spitzer Space Telescope Finds Bright Infrared Galaxies.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers ITHACA, N.Y., March 2 (SPX) -- A Cornell University-led team operating the Infrared Spectrograph (IRS), the largest of the three main instruments on NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, has discovered a mysterious...

Infineon And Spyrus Delivers First Advanced Crypto Algorithms Products.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 17 (SPX) -- Spyrus and Infineon Technologies have announced the availability of personal authentication and security products to support the Global Information Grid, utilizing the new suite of...

Insects, Viruses Could Hold Key For Better Human Teamwork In Disasters.(disaster relief)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CHAMPAIGN, Ill., March 2 (SPX) -- In a new and novel study, scientists are looking to nature - specifically, to ants, bees and viruses - for ways to improve human collaboration during disaster relief efforts. At...

Consigned To Cern The Last Component Of Cms Solenoid.(The largest superconducting solenoid in the world)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers ZURICH, Switzerland, March 2 (SPX) -- The largest superconducting solenoid in the world- able to generate a magnetic field 100,000 times stronger than Earth's - has finally been completed. Formed by five huge...

GeoVantage Brings High-Resolution Digital Orthophotography To NorthWest.(Olympic Resource Management)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SWAMPSCOTT, Mass., March 7 (SPX) -- GeoVantage has announced the delivery of a 540,000 acre imagery project to Olympic Resource Management. GeoVantage delivered one meter pixel resolution, multi-spectral...

Hobbit Fossil Likely Represents New Branch On Human Family Tree.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers ST LOUIS, Mo., March 7 (SPX) -- A fossil of a diminutive human nicknamed "the Hobbit" likely represents a previously unrecognized species of early humans, according to the results of a detailed comparison of the...

NASA Study Suggests Giant Space Clouds Iced Earth.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, March 7 (SPX) -- Eons ago, giant clouds in space may have led to global extinctions, according to two recent technical papers supported by NASA's Astrobiology Institute. One paper outlines a rare...

India Increases Science Budget By 24 Per Cent.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers NEW DELHI, March 7 (SPX) -- Government departments engaged in scientific research will now receive the rupees equivalent of US$3.8 billion in 2005-06, according to India's finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram....

HNS Reinforces Critical Nature Of Satellite Broadband In Government.(Huges Network Systems)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers GERMANTOWN, Md., March 7 (SPX) -- In testimony before the U.S. House Committee, last week, on Government Reform, Michael Cook, senior vice president of Hughes Network Systems, urged the Committee to include satellite...

Progress At The Station.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers HOUSTON, March 7 (SPX) -- The focus for the International Space Station crew this week was the arrival of the Progress cargo spacecraft. Expedition 10 Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov spent...

Hydrogen And Methane Provide Raw Energy For Life At 'Lost City'.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SEATTLE, March 7 (SPX) -- The hydrothermal vents were miles from where anyone could have imagined. One massive seafloor vent was an unheard of 18 stories tall. And all were creamy white and gray, suggesting a very...

Spirit Taking In Tennessee Valley.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., March 2 (SPX) -- Spirit has spent the last 70 sols climbing up the "Columbia Hills" to reach "Larry's Lookout," a point on "Cumberland Ridge." Having accomplished the trek up to Larry's Lookout,...

Mars Rovers Break Driving Records, Examine Salty Soil.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., March 3 (SPX) -- On three consecutive days, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity accomplished unprecedented feats of martian motion, covering more total ground in that period than either...

Lockheed Martin Completes Key Component Of SBIRS High Program.(Space-Based Infrared System)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 7 (SPX) -- Lockheed Martin has achieved a major milestone with completion and delivery of a sophisticated, high-performance communications subsystem integral to the infrared payload of the...

Purdue Researchers Use Enzyme To Clip 'DNA Wires'.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., March 2 (SPX) -- Researchers at Purdue University have attached magnetic "nanoparticles" to DNA and then cut these "DNA wires" into pieces, offering the promise of creating low-cost,...

Huge 2004 Stratospheric Ozone Loss Tied To Solar Storms, Arctic Winds.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BOULDER, Colo., March 2 (SPX) -- A new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder indicates that two natural atmospheric processes in 2004 caused the largest decline in upper stratospheric ozone ever recorded...

Russia Developing New Space Radars.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers MOSCOW, March 7 (SPX) -- Russia will orbit an entire constellation of high-resolution space radars in the next few years, reports RIA Novosti. Several enterprises and laboratories are busy developing these spacecraft,...

The Promise Of Modular Launch Vehicles.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PRAGUE, Czech, March 7 (SPX) -- It is not necessary to solve a problem EELVs versus HLLVs. The best solution is to connect both systems in a modular concept. At the present time, there exist four possible modules...

Rosetta performs ESA's closest-ever Earth fly-by.(European Space Agency)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, March 7 (SPX) -- The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft yesterday performed ESA's closest-ever Earth fly-by, gaining an essential gravity boost in its ten-year, 7.1 billion kilometre flight to Comet...

SkyTerra Communications Announces FCC Ruling for MSV Joint Venture.(United States. Federal Communications Commission)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers NEW YORK, March 7 (SPX) -- SkyTerra Communications, reported Friday that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released the text of its new rules for the deployment and operation by the Mobile Satellite Ventures...

Two Plus One Equals a Return to Flight Milestone.
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 7 (SPX) -- What do two Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Boosters plus one External Tank equal? Together, the fuel in the boosters and tank can generate 6.5 million pounds of thrust -- enough...

NASA Issues Solicitation For Crew Exploration Vehicle.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, March 2 (SPX) -- NASA's Exploration Systems Mission Directorate has issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV)- the spacecraft that will carry astronauts beyond low-Earth...

ILC Dover Exploring Intelligent Materials For Inflatable Structures.(Brief Article)
March 7, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers FREDERICA, DE, March 7 (SPX) -- ILC Dover has received notice of award from NASA on a program that will directly address many of the NASA exploration objectives and technical challenges noted in NASA's Human & Robotic...

Northrop Grumman Demonstrates Weapons Drop From New Medium-Altitude UAV.(unmanned aerial vehicle)
March 7, 2005... Byline: SAN DIEGO CA (SPX) MAR 07, 2005 NORTHROP GRUMMAN SUCCESSFULLY DEMONSTRATED THE ABILITY TO RELEASE A WEAPON FROM A MEDIUM-ALTITUDE, Long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) demonstrator during flight-testing conducted Feb....

Pemco Aviation Group Announces New Contract For Space Vector.(Brief Article)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 8 (SPX) -- Space Vector Corporation, California subsidiary to Pemco Aviation Group, has received a contract to build a medium range target vehicle for national missile defense testing. The...

New Technologies Applied To Shenzhou 6.(space craft)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BEIJING, March 7 (SPX) -- Huang Chunping, chief commander of rocket system of China's Manned Space Program confirmed that China would launch the Shenzhou VI this autumn. There would be two astronauts on the Shenzhou...

Rosetta's View Of Earth.(Brief Article)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, March 8 (SPX) -- After skimming by the Earth at just 1954 km on 4 March 2005, Rosetta turned its Navigation Cameras back towards our home planet and recorded a series of black and white images. These images...

First Inmarsat-4 Satellite Ready For Launch Thursday.
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 9 (SPX) -- The world's largest and most sophisticated commercial communications satellite, Inmarsat 4, is due to be launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 10 March. Designed and...

Jupiter: A Cloudy Mirror For The Sun?(observations using XMM-Newton telescope)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers GREENBELT, Md., March 8 (SPX) -- Astronomers using the European Space Agency's XMM-Newton telescope have discovered that observing the giant planet Jupiter may actually give them an insight in to solar activity on the...

Search For A Second Genesis On Mars.(Chris McKay's lecture on Martian life)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., March 9 (SPX) -- Chris McKay, a planetary scientist at the Ames Research Center, has long been investigating the coldest and driest places on Earth. These harsh environments - and the ability of...

Opportunity Continues South with New Mobility Software.
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., March 9 (SPX) -- After a busy week of driving with new mobility software, Opportunity continues to be in excellent health. The rover has traveled 450 meters (just over a quarter of a mile) in 6 sols....

Researcher Describes New Type Of Strong, Lightweight Metallic Material.
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers SAN DIEGO, March 8 (SPX) -- An engineering professor at the University of California, San Diego has described in the March issue of JOM (the Journal of the Minerals, Metals and Materials Society) the unique properties...

World's First Intergalactic Communication System Now Transmitting.(www.TalkToAliens.com)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers HARTFORD, Conn., March 8 (SPX) -- www.TalkToAliens.com, the world's first "Intergalactic Communication System" has announced that it is fully operational, and is transmitting phone calls from the public into deep...

New Solar-Powered Vehicle Barriers Give Anti-Terrorist Protection To Dam.(Brief Article)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers DUBLIN, Ohio, March 3 (SPX) -- Intelligent Perimeter Systems (IPS) has announced it has completed installation of an innovative perimeter security system at an undisclosed U.S. Bureau of Reclamation dam in the western...

The Circadian Clock: Understanding Nature's Timepiece.
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CALGARY, Alberta, March 8 (SPX) -- A cluster of brain cells less than half the size of a pencil eraser tells you when to wake up, when to be hungry and when it's time to go to sleep. The same cells also cause you to...

SAIC Demos Live-Fire Capability From Vigilante UAV.(Science Applications International Corp.)(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers MCLEAN, Va., March 7 (SPX) -- Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has announced the successful live-fire of four 2.75" unguided rockets from its Vigilante VTOL UAV (Vertical Takeoff and Landing...

Media Rollout For Shenzhou 6.(spacecraft)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WOLLONGONG, Australia, March 7 (SPX) -- China's second manned space launch is expected within nine months. The Long March 2F launch vehicle and the Shenzhou 6 spacecraft it will carry are both apparently in their...

Astronauts In Training For Second Manned Spaceflight.
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BEIJING, March 7 (SPX) -- China is training 10 astronauts in five pairs in the run-up to its second ever manned spaceflight, scheduled for this fall, a leading rocket expert has revealed. "About one month prior to...

Rep. Cox Obtains Fed Support For US Army Hydrogen Infrastructure Program.(Christopher Cox secures finance for Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc.)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, March 1 (SPX) -- Rep. Christopher Cox (R-CA), Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, announced that he has secured $2 million in the FY 2005 Defense Appropriations Bill for Irvine-based Quantum Fuel...

Satellites Guide World's Top Yachts Through Southern Ocean 'Iceberg Alley'.
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, March 8 (SPX) -- Three of the world's largest and fastest yachts are in the midst of a non-stop trans-global race, hurtling in excess of 25 knots - 46 kilometres per hour - through the Southern Ocean encircling...

Beijing Cabs To Have GPS Protection Against Hijacks.(global positioning system)(Brief Article)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BEIJING, March 7 (SPX) -- Beijing cabs will have GPS (Global Positioning System) devices installed in the future to protect them from being hijacked, according to industry sources. The devices, or "Terminal" as it...

Moonbeams Shine On Einstein, Galileo And Newton.(Albert Einstein, Galileo Galilei, Isaac Newton)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., March 7 (SPX) -- Thirty-five years after Moon-walking astronauts placed special reflectors on the lunar surface, scientists have used these devices to test Albert Einstein's general theory of...

India And Venezuela Sign MOU On Space Cooperation.(memorandum of understanding )
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers NEW DELHI, March 7 (SPX) -- A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on cooperation in space science and technology was signed today (March 5, 2005) between the Indian Department of Space (DOS) and the Ministry of Science...

First I-4 Satellite Shipped To Cape Canaveral For Final Checks Before Lift Off.(Brief Article)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 7 (SPX) -- The first I-4 satellite has arrived at Cape Canaveral in Florida, where it will undergo final checks and fuelling before it blasts into orbit. The huge spacecraft - weighing...

Spirit Perched At Larry's Lookout.(Brief Article)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA CA (JPL) MAR, 08, 2005, March 8 (SPX) -- Spirit's focus on sols 408 through 412 was the spectacular panorama from "Larry's Lookout." After completing that 4-sol effort, Spirit rolled to a nearby rock target...

Lockheed Martin's JASSM Successful In Flight Test.(Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers ORLANDO, Fla., March 7 (SPX) -- A Lockheed Martin Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), the world's first stealthy cruise missile, was successfully launched Thursday from an F-16 aircraft and precisely...

Fujitsu Develops 40Gbps Optical Switch Using Quantum Nanotechnology.(Fujitsu-Amd Semiconductor Ltd.)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers TOKYO, March 7 (SPX) -- Fujitsu and Fujitsu Laboratories announced last Friday the development of the world's first semiconductor optical amplifier enabling waveform re-shaping of high-speed optical signals at 40Gbps...

Scientists Work To Detect Mysterious Neutrinos.
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers LIVERMORE, Calif., March 7 (SPX) -- Livermore scientists are working to solve a 50-year-old question: Can neutrinos - a particle that is relatively massless, has no electric charge yet is fundamental to the make-up of...

DayStar Technologies Unveils LightFoil Photovoltaic Product For U.S. Military.
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers HALFMOON, N.Y., March 7 (SPX) -- DayStar Technologies has unveiled LightFoil for high specific power applications. This proprietary alternative energy solution is the first of many highly anticipated Photovoltaic Foil...

Intelsat General Introduces New Military/Government Broadband Service.(Communications Satellite Corp. INTELSAT Satellite Services)
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, March 8 (SPX) -- Intelsat General Corporation (IGC), a satellite networking service provider to the U.S. military and other government agencies, will launch its new GlobalConnex Network Broadband service...

New Water Filter Could Save Millions Of Lives.
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers LOS ANGELES, March 7 (SPX) -- The United Nations now estimates that five million people (mostly children) die each year from drinking contaminated water. To help solve this growing international problem a former...

CloudSat Concludes Environmental Testing.
March 8, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BOULDER, Colo., March 7 (SPX) -- CloudSat, part of the multi-satellite, multi-sensor NASA experiment designed to measure the properties of clouds, has successfully concluded its final environmental test and was mated...

Advanced Research Aircraft To Arrive At Colorado Facility This Week.(National Center for Atmospheric Research)
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BOULDER, Colo., March 10 (SPX) -- A new aircraft with exceptional research capabilities is scheduled to arrive at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Colo., this Friday. Known as HIAPER...

Young Universe Looks Like "Vegetable Soup".(universe)
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers CAMBRIDGE, MA, March 10 (SPX) -- What did the universe look like when it was only 2 to 3 billion years old? Astronomers used to think it was a pretty simple place containing relatively small, young star-forming...

Canada's Shrinking Ice Caps.
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers GREENBELT, Md., March 10 (SPX) -- Earth's ice-covered polar regions help to keep our climate cool and hold tremendous amounts of fresh water locked up in their glaciers, ice caps, and ice sheets. The ice contained in...

Messenger probe deploys magnetometer boom.(Mercury-bound Messenger spacecraft)
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA CA (JPL) MAR, 10, 2005, March 10 (SPX) -- The Mercury-bound Messenger spacecraft is now cruising with its sunshade facing the Sun and its Magnetometer boom extended, after a pair of long-planned and...

Scientists Solve Mystery Of Meteor Crater's Missing Melted Rocks.
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers TUCSON, March 10 (SPX) -- Scientists have discovered why there isn't much impact-melted rock at Meteor Crater in northern Arizona. The iron meteorite that blasted out Meteor Crater almost 50,000 years ago was...

Pluto's Horizon Gets Page One Treatment At NASA.gov.(Draft Environmental Impact Statement)
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, March 11 (SPX) -- In March 1930 the Lowell Observatory in Arizona announced the discovery of a small, odd world, roaming beyond the known planets in a region barely visible through the most powerful...

SSC To Upgrade Norway'S Maritime Surveillance System.(Swedish Space Corp., Norwegian Coastal Administration)
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers KIRUNA, Sweden, March 10 (SPX) -- The Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) has been awarded the contract to upgrade the MSS 5000 surveillance system for The Norwegian Coastal Administration (Kystverket). The system to be...

Moonrise above the Pacific Captured by Rosetta.(Brief Article)
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, March 10 (SPX) -- During last Friday's Earth-skimming fly-by, Rosetta's Navigation Cameras captured images looking down and ahead. While cloud formations, coastlines and continents are clearly visible, the best...

Space Shuttle In Shipshape Condition As Return To Flight Looms.(space shuttle Discovery enhancements)(Kennedy Space Center)
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, March 11 (SPX) -- When the crew members of the Space Shuttle Discovery lift off later this year from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., they'll be supported by two years of hard work by tens of thousands...

Double Volcanic Eruption In Eastern Russia.(Envisat observations)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS, March 11 (SPX) -- Acquired from orbit 800 kilometres away, this Envisat image shows two volcanoes erupting simultaneously on Russia's snowy Kamchatka Peninsula this week. Located in the Russian Far East,...

Interstellar Pioneers Of Earth Might Be Turned Off.(National Aeronautics and Space Administration says)
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers LOS ANGELES, March 9 (SPX) -- A little over 13 hours out from Sol, a veteran of the first space age - Voyager 1 - is working quietly in the depths of space as it travels away from our Sun at 17.163 kilometers per...

FY-3 Meteorological Satellite To Be Put Into Use.(Fengyun-3)(Brief Article)
March 10, 2005... Byline: Staff Writers BEIJING, March 10 (SPX) -- China will put into service a new meteorological satellite in 2007 to gather meteorological information at high altitude around the globe, said a chief engineer with China's meteorological...