Space Daily articles from November 2006

Space Daily archives from November 2006

A Rare Transit Of Mercury Occurs On November 8.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- Usually you expect to see planets at night. But in broad daylight on Wednesday, November 8th, the planet Mercury will cross the face of the Sun. It will be visible in silhouette through a...

Astrolab Industry Day To Showcase European Research Technology On ISS.(Industry overview)
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NOORDWIJK, Holland, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- ESA will be hosting the 'ISS Research Technology from Europe' Industry Day on 7 November 2006 at the ESTEC facility in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. The event is open to...

BAE Systems To Produce Attack Pod Tester For US Air Force.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SAN DIEGO, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- BAE Systems has been selected to produce electronic attack pod testing equipment to protect U.S. Air Force F-15, F-16, and A-10 aircraft. The $3.3 million contract for the Electronic Attack...

Bats More Than Just Another Pretty Face.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers KRAU, Malaysia, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- Most people view bats as disagreeable things that go bump in the night, but there is much more to these small, winged mammals. Earthwatch volunteers from around the world are traveling...

GA-ASI And CBP Deploy Second UAS Along Southwest Border.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SAN DIEGO, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)/Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Office of Air and Marine, yesterday unveiled...

Genomics Builds Marine Know-How.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SORRENTO, Italy, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- CSIRO's Wealth from Oceans Flagship is exploring how modern genomics can contribute to marine conservation and management by providing data more effectively and perhaps yielding new...

Good Information -- It's Not All About The Brain.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers BLOOMINGTON, IN, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- A neuroscientist from Indiana University and a roboticist from the University of Tokyo have created a new way to objectively quantify an idea that philosophers, educators and...

Hinode Satellite Makes First Observations Of A Spooky Sun.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers BOSTON, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- Just in time for Halloween, astronomers have taken a haunting new portrait of the sun. In this color-coded image from the Hinode spacecraft, the sun glows eerily orange as though celebrating...

Indigenous Cryogenic Stage Successfully Tested.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MAHENDRAGIRI, India, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- ISRO has achieved a major milestone in the development of rocket systems for satellite launches. Cryogenic Upper Stage for GSLV was hot tested today (28th October 2006) at 6.20 pm...

LAUNCH Becomes First Magazine For Hobby Rocketry And Commercial Space Travel Enthusiasts.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NEW YORK, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- LAUNCH Magazine, a new bimonthly created by veteran editors, is the world's first glossy magazine focused on hobby rocketry and 21st Century space travel and exploration. Focused on...

Lockheed Martin Announces Experienced Team For Pursuit Of ADS-B Program.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers ROCKVILLE, MD, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- Lockheed Martin has announced its world-class team that will pursue the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast (ADS- B) program, the first...

Making Old Horizons New.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 1 (SPX) -- Since I last wrote in this space, September wound up, October came and went, and now November is now upon us. Up on New Horizons, we've completed another long series of important...

Minerals And Mountains On Mars.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers KINGSTON, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- A Queen's University researcher has discovered a mineral that could explain the mountainous landscape of Mars, and have implications for NASA's next mission to the planet. "Satellites...

NASA Awards Funding For Possible UA-Led Asteroid Sample-Return Mission.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers TUCSON, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- NASA announced today that it has awarded a University of Arizona-led team $1.2 million to further develop a proposed Discovery-class mission called "OSIRIS." OSIRIS would return a pristine...

New Research House To Guide Future Home Development.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NOTTINGHAM, UK, Nov. 1 (SPX) -- The University of Nottingham is helping to battle climate change on the home front with the construction of a new experimental house on campus that will cut 'greenhouse gas' emissions...

Raytheon Announces Revolutionary New 'Cockpit' For Unmanned Aircraft.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers FALLS CHURCH, Va., Nov. 1 (SPX) -- Raytheon Company has unveiled it's Universal Control System (UCS) -- a first of its kind unmanned aerial system (UAS) "cockpit" that revolutionizes operator awareness and efficiency,...

Raytheon CLAWS Marks Completion Of Technical Inspection.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers TEWKSBURY, Mass., Nov. 1 (SPX) -- Raytheon's Complementary Low Altitude Weapons System (CLAWS) completed a successful inspection earlier this month. Marine Corps and Defense Contract Management Agency officials...

Sea Launch Successfully Delivers Latest XM Radio Satellite To Orbit.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers LONG BEACH, Calif., Oct. 30 (SPX) -- Sea Launch Company today successfully delivered the XM-4 broadcast satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO). Early data indicate the spacecraft is accurately positioned and...

Twenty-Two Projects Keep Supercomputer Super Busy.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers OAK RIDGE, Tenn., Nov. 1 (SPX) -- With 54 teraflops of computing power, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Cray XT3 is helping solve scientific grand challenges, but scheduling the many research projects and keeping the...

University Of Maryland To Lead Another NASA Comet Mission.
November 1, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers COLLEGE PARK, Md., Nov. 1 (SPX) -- NASA has accepted a University of Maryland proposal to send the Deep Impact spacecraft on an extended mission to get a close-up look at Comet Boethin. The University of...

All Current Seafood Species Projected To Collapse By 2048.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers HALIFAX, Nov. 3 (SPX) -- Marine species loss is accelerating and threatening human well-being, according to a report published in the 3 November issue of the journal Science published by AAAS, the nonprofit science...

American Technology Announces New LRAD Orders.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SAN DIEGO, Nov. 3 (SPX) -- American Technology has announced it has received new orders totaling approximately $2.0 million for ATC's patent pending Long Range Acoustic Devices (LRAD) and support equipment. The...

Ancestor of Modern Trees Preserves Record Of Ancient Climate Change.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers BLACKSBURG, Va., Nov. 3 (SPX) -- About 350 million years ago, at the boundary of the Devonian and Carboniferous ages, the climate changed. There was no one around to record it, but there are records nonetheless in the...

Australia And China To Put Eyes In The Sky To Monitor Climate Change.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PROFESSOR JIXIAN ZHANG AND DR MURRAY CAMERON SIGN THE AGREEMENT NOV 1, 2006, Nov. 5 (SPX) -- Beijing, China (SPX) Nov 03, 2006 CSIRO and the Chinese Academy of Surveying and Mapping (CASM) have signed a research...

BAE Systems First Round From NLOS Cannon Firing Platform.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 3 (SPX) -- BAE Systems successfully fired the first round from the Future Combat Systems (FCS) Non-Line-of-Sight (NLOS) Cannon Firing Platform. The Firing Platform is an ultra-lightweight 38-caliber,...

Boeing Delta IV Launches Critical Military Weather Satellite.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers ST. LOUIS, Nov. 3 (SPX) -- A Boeing Delta IV rocket has successfully launched a Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite into orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The launch was the second...

CoBRA Software Introduces Support Tools For Explosives Response Community.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers ALEXANDRIA, Va., Nov. 3 (SPX) -- Defense Group announced the launch of the newest module for its CoBRA software, a series of tools aimed at supporting the explosives ordinance disposal and bomb tech community. CoBRA...

Cruising The Superhighway On A Beam Of Light.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers LOS ANGELES, Nov. 3 (SPX) -- The Internet is often called the information superhighway, but the real superhighway is the optical fiber that connects computers around the world at the speed of light, according to John...

General Dynamics Licenses Thor Ordnance Neutralization System.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers ST PETERSBURG, Fla., Nov. 3 (SPX) -- General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems has signed a licensing agreement with RAFAEL Armament Development Authority in Israel to provide Thor, a dual-mode, standoff ordnance...

Globalstar Prices Initial Public Offering Of Common Stock.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MILPITAS, Calif., Nov. 3 (SPX) -- Globalstar, Inc has priced its initial public offering of 7,500,000 shares (increased from 6,500,000) of common stock at $17.00 per share. All of the shares are being offered by...

Jumping The Oxygen Gap.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SEATTLE, Nov. 3 (SPX) -- Vertebrate creatures first began moving from the world's oceans to land about 415 million years ago, then all but disappeared by 360 million years ago. The fossil record contains few examples...

Light Weight Structural Ballistic Protection For Defence Vehicles.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SYDNEY, Nov. 3 (SPX) -- Armor Australia has recently met the first major contract milestone of a two year project to deliver and demonstrate a light weight, structural ballistic and blast resistant module system that...

NASA Snow Data Helps Maintain Largest And Oldest Bison Herd.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 3 (SPX) -- Grainy photographs of America's Old West recall a time when large bison herds migrated across wide prairie lands, 30 million strong, with the changing seasons determining their path...

New Airdrop System Offers More Precision From Higher Altitudes.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 3 (SPX) -- A new, self-steering airdrop system that's being field tested in Afghanistan represents a revolutionary step beyond traditional delivery methods, the commander of U.S. Central...

New Phylum Sheds Light On Ancestor Of Animals, Humans.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers GAINESVILLE, Fla., Nov. 3 (SPX) -- Genetic analysis of an obscure, worm-like creature retrieved from the depths of the North Atlantic has led to the discovery of a new phylum, a rare event in an era when most...

Northrop Grumman Appoints David Barakat Vice President Of Programs And Technology.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers LOS ANGELES, Nov. 3 (SPX) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation has announced the appointment of David H. Barakat as vice president of programs and technology. In this position, Barakat will provide the leadership for...

Raytheon Gets FAA Experimental Certificate for Cobra Unmanned Aircraft System.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers TUCSON, Nov. 3 (SPX) -- Raytheon's Cobra Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) is the third unmanned aircraft and the first of its size to receive an Experimental Airworthiness Certificate from the Federal Aviation...

The Lone Pale Blue Dot As Seen By Cassini.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Nov. 3 (SPX) -- A recent photo from the Cassini spacecraft shows the mighty planet Saturn, and if you look very closely between its wing-like rings, a faint pinprick of light. That tiny dot is Earth bustling...

Waves In The Atmosphere May Strengthen Tornadoes.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Nov. 3 (SPX) -- Giant waves of air rippling through the atmosphere might spin up or intensify tornadoes when they interact with powerful thunderstorms. One such wave rolling through a December 2000...

Z Machine Melts Diamond To Puddle.
November 5, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Nov. 3 (SPX) -- Sandia's Z machine, by creating pressures more than 10 million times that of the atmosphere at sea level, has turned a diamond sheet into a pool of liquid. The object of the...

Aegis Open Architecture Using Joint Single Integrated Air Picture Product.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MOORESTOWN, N.J., Nov. 7 (SPX) -- Lockheed Martin conducted a successful demonstration of simulated missile engagement in which the Integrated Architecture Behavior Model (IABM) was integrated into the Aegis Weapon...

Australian Army M113 To Be Upgraded With TALIN 500 Inertial Navigation System.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers CANBERRA, Australia, Nov. 6 (SPX) -- A new navigation system will provide the Army's fleet of M113 armoured personnel carriers with an unprecedented capability which also is expected to benefit Australian industry....

Bizarre Lunar Orbits.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 7 (SPX) -- Near the end of the mission of Apollo 16, on April 24, 1972, just before returning back home to Earth, the three astronauts released one last scientific experiment: a small...

Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Moves To On Orbit Stage.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers VANDENBERG AFB, Calif., Nov. 6 (SPX) -- The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F-17 Block 5D-3 spacecraft, built under contract for the U.S. Air Force by Lockheed Martin, was launched this morning from...

Early Earth Haze May Have Spurred Life.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers BOULDER, Colo., Nov. 6 (SPX) -- Hazy skies on early Earth could have provided a substantial source of organic material useful for emerging life on the planet, according to a new study led by the University of Colorado...

Energia To Participate In Beijing Exhibition.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers KOROLEV, Russia, Nov. 7 (SPX) -- S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia is currently taking part in the Russian National Exhibition in Beijing. The corporation's exhibit is displayed on the Federal Space...

ESA Joins UN Climate Talks In Kenya.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov. 6 (SPX) -- The United Nations annual summit on climate change this week in Nairobi, Kenya, seeks to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol strategy, which becomes obsolete in 2012, to...

European Defense Budgets Grow Slowly Despite Overseas Commitments.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NEWTOWN, Conn., Nov. 7 (SPX) -- Defense spending on the European Continent is stuck in slow motion as many nations scramble to pay for operational costs and maintain professional armies, according to a report by...

Irvin Aerospace Selected To Design Parachutes For Orion Spacecraft.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SANTA ANA, Calif., Nov. 6 (SPX) -- Irvin Aerospace, the world's first parachute engineering, design and manufacturing company founded in 1919, was selected by Jacobs Sverdrup for NASA to develop parachutes for NASA's...

Lockheed Martin Awarded US Army Contract To Provide Improved Signal-Location Systems.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers OWEGO, N.Y., Nov. 7 (SPX) -- Lockheed Martin has received a $42 million contract to provide U.S. Army surveillance aircraft with next-generation technology that will enable them to precisely locate the source of...

Monster Stellar Flare Seen By NASA Scientists Dwarfs All Others.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers GREENBELT, Md., Nov. 6 (SPX) -- Scientists using NASA's Swift satellite have spotted a stellar flare on a nearby star so powerful that, had it been from our sun, it would have triggered a mass extinction on Earth....

NASA Study Shows Titan And Early Earth Atmospheres Are Similar.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MOFFETT FIELD, Calif., Nov. 6 (SPX) -- Organic haze in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon, Titan, is similar to haze in early Earth's air -- haze that may have helped nourish life on our planet-- according to a NASA...

New Air Force Command To Fight In Cyberspace.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (SPX) -- The Air Force's new cyberspace command will redefine air power for the 21st century and bring the fight to a realm that the enemy has already exploited extensively, the general in charge of...

NORTHCOM Planning Will Be Challenge, Model, DoD Official Says.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers COLORADO SPRINGS, Nov. 8 (SPX) -- U.S. Northern Command's planning for catastrophic scenarios eventually may be used by other commands and agencies, a senior Defense Department official said here earlier this week....

Northrop Grumman Delivers Satellite Antennas That Aid In Nuclear Arms Control.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers CARPINTERIA, Calif., Nov. 6 (SPX) -- Northrop Grumman has delivered all V-Sensor deployable antenna assemblies that will be used to detect nuclear blasts as an adjunct payload on the Global Positioning Satellite 2F...

ORBCOMM Announces Pricing of Initial Public Offering.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers FORT LEE, N.J., Nov. 6 (SPX) -- ORBCOMM has announced the pricing of its initial public offering of 9,230,800 shares of common stock at a price of $11.00 per share. The underwriters in the offering have a 30-day...

Phil Sumrall Heads Development Of NASA's Future Heavy-Lift Launch Vehicle.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Nov. 7 (SPX) -- Phil Sumrall was a junior engineer at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., in the 1960s when he helped build the Saturn V rocket -- the most powerful launch...

Physicists Observe New Property of Matter.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers LOS ANGELES, Nov. 6 (SPX) -- Physicists at the University of California, San Diego have for the first time observed the spontaneous production of coherence within "excitons," the bound pairs of electrons and holes...

Putin Clears Space Pact With India.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MOSCOW, Nov. 6 (SPX) -- Clearing the way for joint space exploration and transfer of space technology to New Delhi, the Indo-Russian space cooperation agreement has been signed into a federal law by Russian President...

Raytheon Achieves Satellite Communications Milestone.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers MCKINNEY, Texas, Nov. 7 (SPX) -- Raytheon's Navy Multiband Terminal (NMT) is the first advanced, next-generation satellite communications (SATCOM) system to successfully log on to and communicate with the U.S....

Raytheon Names Doug Greenlaw Director Raytheon Virtual Technology Corporation.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Nov. 6 (SPX) -- Raytheon's Network Centric Systems has named Doug Greenlaw director of Raytheon Virtual Technology Corporation (VTC). Raytheon VTC is a leader in distributed simulation technology,...

Raytheon Next-Gen GPS Receiver Tracks Live Satellite M-code for the First Time.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Nov. 6 (SPX) -- Raytheon has achieved a key milestone on the Modernized User Equipment program by successfully acquiring and tracking for the first time a new M-code military signal transmitted by...

Researchers Explore Medicine In The Final Frontier.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers GAINESVILLE, Fla., Nov. 6 (SPX) -- On Mars, Earth probably looks like a pinprick in the sky, a bluish-green ball some 140 million miles away. But before astronauts can glimpse the view from the red planet, doctors...

Responsive Space Demonstrator Ready To Roll.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers KIRTLAND AFB, N.M., Nov. 7 (SPX) -- Officials are saying the December launch of a tactical satellite, dubbed TacSat-2, will serve as the predecessor for rapid satellite production, launch and operation. Managed by the...

Robotic Boat Geared.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers GLASSBORO, N.J., Nov. 6 (SPX) -- Though it looks like a miniature yellow catamaran, a craft designed by professors and students at Rowan University is not your father's toy boat. Indeed, the wooden boat actually is a...

Rockwell Collins Selected For DARPA Advanced Radio Technology Program.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers CEDAR RAPIDS, IO, Nov. 7 (SPX) -- The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected Rockwell Collins to lead an effort under the Analog Spectral Processors (ASP) program, an initiative aimed at...

Rocky Worlds.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers COROT, Due for launch in late 2006, Nov. 8 (SPX) -- Paris, France (SPX) Nov 06, 2006 The COROT space telescope is proceeding smoothly towards its launch in December 2006. Once in orbit, COROT will become the first...

Russian Arms Exports Rebounding.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers NEWTOWN, Conn., Nov. 2 (SPX) -- Predictions of an imminent decline in the Russian arms export market have been premature, according to a Forecast International Military Market Report. While the long-term picture...

Saab Carries Out IRIS-T Flight Test Trials For Sweden.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers FIRST FLIGHT TESTS WITH THE AIR-TO-AIR MISSILE IRIS-T, November 2006. Credit: Jonas Tillgren, Nov. 8 (SPX) -- Arlington VA (SPX) Nov 07, 2006 Saab has successfully carried out the first flight tests with the...

Seeking Out Meteorites.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers LONDON, UK, Nov. 7 (SPX) -- Monica Grady, a professor of planetary and space science at the Open University in the UK, is one of the world's meteorite experts. In addition to studying the finer details of these rocks...

Smiths Detection To Develop Portable Next-Gen Radiation Detectors.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PINE BROOK, N.J., Nov. 6 (SPX) -- Smiths Detection announces it has been awarded a contract with a potential total value, including options, of $222 million by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Domestic...

Space Sunshade Might Be Feasible In Global Warming Emergency.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers TUCSON, Nov. 6 (SPX) -- The possibility that global warming will trigger abrupt climate change is something people might not want to think about. But University of Arizona astronomer Roger Angel thinks about it....

Spitzer And Hubble Create Colorful Masterpiece.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (SPX) -- A new image from NASA's Spitzer and Hubble Space Telescopes looks more like an abstract painting than a cosmic snapshot. The masterpiece shows the Orion nebula in an explosion of infrared,...

SSTL Signs Contract With Federal Republic Of Nigeria For Supply Of EO Satellite.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers GUILFORD, UK, Nov. 7 (SPX) -- British satellite specialists Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) has signed a contract in Abuja for the supply of the NIGERIASAT-2 Earth observation satellite, related ground...

Steppin' Out From Shenzhou.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers GEELONG, Australia, Nov. 7 (SPX) -- China is drawing closer to staging its first spacewalk from a Shenzhou spacecraft. Details of the Shenzhou 7 mission, planned for late 2008, have been emerging slowly for months...

Supercomputer Center Boosts Storage Capacity To Mind-Boggling Numbers.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SAN DIEGO, Nov. 7 (SPX) -- None of our now-necessary devices, from the most fearsome research-computing arrays to run-of-the-mill office computers to cell-phones to iPods, can work without storage. That's why Richard...

Technologies Evaluated For The Future National Airspace System.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers EAST SYRACUSE, N.Y., Nov. 7 (SPX) -- Sensis Corporation is partnering with Federal and local government agencies as well as with leading aviation companies to identify and evaluate promising solutions for the...

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Squadron Continues Surveillance In Iraq.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq, Nov. 7 (SPX) -- While it has no onboard pilot, its small frame carries a high-performance camera that provides instant tactical information to ground troops in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The...

Unmanned Aircraft Trial Successfully Completed.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers CANBERRA, Australia, Nov. 6 (SPX) -- The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence, Senator Sandy Macdonald, today announced the successful completion of the recent Defence trial which assessed the...

Your Name Can Go To Mars.
November 8, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PASADENA, Calif., Nov. 7 (SPX) -- In 2007, The Planetary Society will send a specialized silica-glass DVD to Mars aboard Phoenix, NASA's newest Scout mission, led by Principal Investigator Peter Smith at the...

AMC-18 Launch Campaign Begins.
November 9, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers PARIS Nov. 8 (SPX) -- The activity pace is picking up for Arianespace's December heavy-lift Ariane 5 mission as final pre-launch preparations begin with SES AMERICOM's AMC-18 satellite payload. After arriving at...

An Old Discovery Could Boost Ethanol Production from Plant Fiber.
November 9, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers AMES Iowa, Nov. 8 (SPX) -- John Verkade remembers just how it happened some 40 years ago: One of his Iowa State University graduate students, David Hendricker, stopped by to report somebody was stealing a little...

Cubic Teams Up To Bid For US Northern Command And NORAD Services Business.
November 9, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers SAN DIEGO Nov. 8 (SPX) -- Cubic will provide major support as one of eight contractor teams to receive an Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract from the U.S. Air Force. The teams will be bidding...

Cut from Different Cloth.
November 9, 2006... Byline: Staff Writers GRONINGEN Holland Nov. 8 (SPX) -- A large survey, made with ESO's VLT, has shed light on our Galaxy's ancestry. After determining the chemical composition of over 2000 stars in four of the nearest dwarf galaxies to...