NASA’s Suomi NPP polar-orbiting weather satellite captured dramatic footage of an ‘extensive fracturing event’ in the Arctic ice sheet this winter, and the scale of this event is causing some concern. The time-lapse video compresses down over two months worth of observations into just over a minute, to show the full magnitude of the event. [ Related: Arctic sea ice hits yearly max, but still dwindling ] Suomi NPP view on February 23, 2013The fracturing started in late January, as a warm-weather system over Alaska fed an ocean current known as the Beaufort Gyre Continue reading
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Liberty second stage one step closer to production
ARLINGTON, Va., June 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ –Astrium, the number one company in Europe for space technologies and systems, has successfully completed a set of tests on tank structures proving that key design and manufacturing processes used for Ariane launchers are ready for production of the Liberty commercial launch vehicle second stage with ATK (ATK). Download film of the tests at: http://46.218.194.177/astrium/ASTRIUM_LIBERTY The tests covering load-carrying cryogenic tanks demonstrate that existing Astrium processes can be leveraged to confirm the overall Liberty schedule and enable a speedy entry into service and into orbit. Astrium is also working on leaner production processes for the second stage to bring best value to the Liberty launch vehicle. Continue reading