Monthly Archives: October 2012

SpaceX cargo ship reaches International Space Station

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A private company successfully delivered a half-ton of supplies to the International Space Station early Wednesday, the first official shipment under a billion-dollar contract with NASA.

9:52 a.m. CDT, October 10, 2012

After a 2-1/2 day trip, Space Exploration Technologies' Dragon cargo ship positioned itself 33 feet away from the $100 billion research complex, a project of 15 countries, which has been dependent on Russian, European and Japanese freighters for supplies.

"Looks like we tamed the Dragon," commander Sunita Williams radioed to Mission Control in Houston.

"We're happy she's on board with us. Thanks to everybody at SpaceX and NASA for bringing her here to us. And the ice cream," she said.

The Dragon's cargo includes a freezer to ferry science samples back and forth between the station and Earth. For the flight up, it was packed with chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream, a rare treat for an orbiting crew.

Williams and Hoshide attached the capsule to a docking port on the station's Harmony connecting module at 9:03 a.m. EDT (1303 GMT).

It is expected to remain docked to the station for about 18 days while the crew unloads its 882 pounds (400 kg) of cargo and fills it with science experiments and equipment no longer needed on the outpost.

The flight is the first of 12 planned under a $1.6 billion contract NASA placed with privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, to deliver cargo to the station.

The U.S. space agency's second supplier, Orbital Sciences Corp, plans to debut its Antares rocket later this year. A demonstration run to the station is planned for February or March.

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SpaceX cargo ship reaches International Space Station

SpaceX Dragon Capsule to Dock with Space Station Today

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SpaceX's robotic Dragon cargo ship is slated to arrive at the International Space Station early this morning (Oct. 10) for a nearly three-week stay.

The Dragon spacecraft has been chasing down the huge orbiting lab since launching Sunday night (Oct. 7) atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. If all goes according to plan, the unmanned capsule will approach the station in a series of cautious steps early today, then finally be snagged by its huge robotic arm at 7:17 a.m. EDT (1117 GMT).

NASA will broadcast the action live on NASA TV and online. You can watch the Dragon docking webcast live here beginning at 4 a.m. EDT (0800 GMT).

Dragon will have to pass a series of "go/no go" tests this morning, beginning at 5:13 a.m. EDT (0913 GMT), as it sidles up to the station. The aim is to assure SpaceX and NASA engineers that it's operating nominally during approach and poses no threat to the $100 billion orbiting lab or its three current residents. [Video: Dragon Launches Toward Space Station]

If it passes all of these trials, NASA astronaut Sunita Williams and Japanese spaceflyer Akihiko Hoshide will grapple the capsule using the station's 58-foot (18 meters) robotic arm. They'll guide Dragon to the Earth-facing side of the orbiting lab's Harmony module, where it will be bolted in place for an 18-day stay.

Dragon is embarked on the first-ever bona fide cargo mission to the space station by a private vehicle. It's carrying 1,000 pounds (454 kilograms) of supplies and scientific experiments, and it will return to Earth on Oct. 28 with a different load of gear totaling about 2,000 pounds (907 kg).

Dragon's mission is the first of 12 unmanned supply runs California-based SpaceX will make to the station under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA. The space agency also inked a $1.9 billion deal with Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp. to fly eight cargo missions with its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft.

The Dragon capsule has visited the station once before. This past May, it became the first private vehicle ever to dock with the 430-ton orbiting complex on a historic demonstration mission intended to show that SpaceX was ready to begin making its contracted flights.

Orbital Sciences, for its part, plans to test-fly the Antares rocket for the first time later this year.

With its venerable space shuttle fleet now retired, NASA is looking to private American vehicles to fly both cargo and crew to low-Earth orbit. The space agency hopes at least two different commercial spaceships are ready to carry crew by 2017; until then, the nation will be dependent on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to ferry its astronauts to the space station and back.

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SpaceX Dragon Capsule to Dock with Space Station Today

Dragon cargo ship captured, berthed to space station

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After a flawless final rendezvous, a commercial SpaceX cargo ship is captured by the International Space Station's robot arm and attached to a docking port for unloading.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo ship was captured by the International Space Station's robot arm early Wednesday after a smooth rendezvous. The astronauts operating the arm then attached the cargo craft to the forward Harmony module's Earth-facing docking port.

After getting off to a rocky start with an engine failure during launch Sunday, a commercial cargo capsule loaded with a half-ton of equipment and supplies -- including ice cream -- carried out a flawless final approach to the International Space Station early Wednesday, pulling up to within 60 feet so Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, operating the lab's robot arm, could pluck it out of open space for berthing.

Making the first of at least 12 cargo deliveries under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, the SpaceX Dragon capsule, after a successful test flight last May, is the first commercially developed spacecraft to visit the station, the centerpiece of a push to restore U.S. resupply capability in the wake of the space shuttle's retirement last year.

Hoshide used the station's robot arm to latch onto a grapple fixture on the side of the Dragon capsule at 9:56 a.m. PT as the two spacecraft sailed 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California.

"Houston, station on (channel) two, capture complete," Expedition 33 commander Sunita Williams radioed. "Looks like we've tamed the dragon. We're happy she's on board with us. Thanks to everybody at SpaceX and NASA for bringing her here to us. And the ice cream."

Williams and Hoshide then maneuvered the Dragon capsule to the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module and locked it in place at 12:03 p.m., completing the rendezvous and berthing.

"The control center team here and the team out at Hawthorne (Calif.) at SpaceX just did a phenomenal job of making a pretty complex ballet in space look pretty easy," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's director of space operations. "And it was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. But they just did a great job, and it's great to have the Dragon spacecraft on board the space station."

Space station commander Sunita Williams photographs the approaching Dragon cargo ship during its final approach to the lab complex Wednesday.

The long-awaited commercial cargo mission began with a spectacular launch Sunday night from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. But during the climb to space, one of the Falcon 9 booster's nine first-stage engines malfunctioned and shut down, forcing the flight computer to fire the other engines longer than planned to compensate for the shortfall.

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Dragon cargo ship captured, berthed to space station

Space Station Arm "Tames" Dragon Capsule—SpaceX Docking Is a First

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For the second time in five months, the commercial rocket company SpaceX has successfully docked its Dragon capsule at the International Space Station (ISS)this time on its first official cargo run under a supply contract with NASA.

"Looks like we've tamed the Dragon," station commander Sunita Williams, a U.S. Navy officer, told controllers on the ground after the ISS's robotic arm had grabbed the unmanned craft just before 7 a.m. ET, accomplished with the assistance of Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshideh. (Related: "Robot Arm to Grab Robotic ShipA Space Station First.")

"We're happy she's on board with us."

SpaceX's Dragonthe first and only commercial spacecraft to berth at the stationmade contact with the station 252 miles (406 kilometers) above Earth. The capsule is packed with nearly a thousand pounds (450 kilograms) of essential supplies and gear, as well some arguably nonessential chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream and, for a school science experiment, some Silly Putty.

High-flying SpaceX, founded by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, won a nearly U.S. $1.6 billion contract with NASA in 2008 to supply the space station via a dozen flights in the years ahead.

Unlike any government-owned capsules supplying the ISS, the SpaceX Dragon is designed to return intact to Earth, and so can be used as a two-way ferry. The capsule brought back 1,300 pounds (590 kilograms) of science experiments and space hardware after its test berthing in May and will do the same later this month.

SpaceX Contract an Investment in the Future?

Today's first formal berthing at the International Space Station under the NASA cargo-supply contract was broadly cheered as a milestone, and perhaps a harbinger of much more to come.

"I think it would be fair to say the successful docking under the NASA contract is parallel to the early days of the commercial airline industry," said John Logsdon, space policy emeritus professor at George Washington University and longtime NASA adviser.

"The government paid airline owners to deliver the mail and gave the early industry the financial support it needed to grow," he said. "Clearly, NASA is hoping the same will happen herethat giving commercial space companies contracts to supply the space station will act as a huge boost to the early commercial space industry."

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Space Station Arm "Tames" Dragon Capsule—SpaceX Docking Is a First

Space station pulls in SpaceX cargo ship

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A privately built robotic space capsule arrived at the International Space Station early Wednesday, making the first routine commercial cargo delivery to the orbiting lab under a billion-dollar deal with NASA.

The unmanned Dragon spacecraft was captured by station astronauts using the outpost's Canadian-built robotic arm after an apparently flawless approach by the cargo-laden space capsule, which was built by the private spaceflight company SpaceX. It is the first of 12 resupply flights SpaceX will fly for NASA under a $1.6 billion deal.

"Looks like we've tamed the Dragon," station commander Sunita Williams said as the spacecraft was grappled. "We're happy she's onboard with us. Thanks to everyone at SpaceX and NASA for bringing her to us and the ice cream."

The astronauts' chocolate-vanilla swirl ice cream, a rare treat for the space station crew, was a last-minute item packed along with the nearly 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms) of supplies riding up to the orbiting lab on the Dragon capsule. [Photos: SpaceX's Dragon Arrives at Space Station]

The SpaceX spacecraft was captured at 6:56 a.m. ET by Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide as the space station soared 250 miles (402 kilometers) above the Pacific Ocean, just west of Baja California. The capsule was attached to an Earth-facing docking port on the station at 9:03 a.m. ET.

The Dragon's hatch was scheduled to be opened on Thursday but because the tasks associated with the hookup went so quickly, the astronauts opened the hatch early and got a sneak peek inside the Dragon on Wednesday.

SpaceX launched the Dragon spacecraft into orbit on Sunday atop the company's Falcon 9 rocket from its pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It is expected to spend at least three weeks linked to the space station and be filled with nearly 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms) of blood samples, other experiments and station gear for the return trip to Earth.

"This is a big moment in the course of this mission and for commercial spaceflight," said SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur who founded the company in 2002. "We are pleased that Dragon is now ready to deliver its cargo to the International Space Station."

SpaceX officials watched over the Dragon capsule's arrival from the company's mission control center in Hawthorne, Calif., while NASA monitored the orbital rendezvous from its station Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The spacecraft is expected to splash down in the Pacific Ocean near Southern California on Oct. 28.

The Dragon was a welcome sight for the space station's crew. "It's nice to see Dragon flying over the U.S.," Williams said during the space rendezvous.

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Space station pulls in SpaceX cargo ship

Masterpiece Models Lands Half Size Hubble Space Telescope Replica at The Museum of Flight-Seattle, WA

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VANCOUVER, WA--(Marketwire - Oct 11, 2012) - Masterpiece Models, a boutique model making studio and workshop which specializes in custom fabrication at any scale, was commissioned by The Museum of Flight in December of 2011 to create a half size replica of the Hubble space telescope for their new Charles Simonyi Space Gallery which is scheduled to open to the public on November 10, 2012.

The replica, which has been installed at the Museum in Seattle, hovers above NASA's Full Fuselage Trainer (FFT), which was used for more than 30 years to train every person who flew on the space shuttle. NASA's retired astronaut trainer was delivered to The Museum of Flight during the Summer of 2012 over the course of three flights on a Super Guppy cargo plane from Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX.

"The deployment and subsequent repair of the Hubble Space Telescope were some of the most important -- and dramatic -- stories in the history of the Space Shuttle Program. Masterpiece Models' one-half scale model of the Hubble will certainly add to the visitor experience at the Museum's Space Shuttle Trainer exhibit, and help them visualize the telescope which has greatly broadened our understanding of the universe," says Chris Mailander, Museum of Flight Director of Exhibits.

Masterpiece Models began work on the space telescope in February 2012 and had the near exacting model completed within 6 months of the start date without the help of any plans from NASA or the Museum due to various security reasons. Masterpiece Models is also known for constructing other museum quality models such as a full size replica of the Mars Rover on display at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), an 11' long Nimitz Class aircraft Carrier for the Qatar Museum Authority, a 1/48th scale replica of the International Space Station (ISS), for the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center among many other equally impressive projects.

"This was one of the largest and most complex replicas ever built by Masterpiece Models," comments Masterpiece Models Founder, John Geigle. "Fabricating a scale replica has its own set of unique problems to solve. This replica, however, was especially challenging. There is a lot more than meets the eye when it comes to creating a strong yet lightweight model. The educational values to this replica go a long way to delve into the history of the Space Shuttle and the exploration of deep space."

Aside from Masterpiece Models' obvious specialty in creating museum quality exhibits, they also have a casting facility for not only casting, but vacuum forming and molding as well. In addition, a part of Masterpiece Models is solely devoted to making military and science fiction model kits. Masterpiece Models was recently acquired by fine art corporation Masterpiece Investments in July of this year. Masterpiece Investments previously acquired digital 3D production studio Additive Workshop in 2010. Today, the combined artistic and production capabilities of this 'fine art meets high-tech' innovative group, which Masterpiece Models has recently joined, are literally endless.

To learn more about Masterpiece Models, visit http://www.masterpiecemodels.com. For more information on The Museum of Flight and the opening for the new Space Shuttle Trainer exhibit, visit http://www.museumofflight.org.

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Masterpiece Models Lands Half Size Hubble Space Telescope Replica at The Museum of Flight-Seattle, WA

Sarah Brightman Announces 'Dream' Space Flight

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British soprano and crossover singer Sarah Brightman confirmed on Wednesday that she will travel to the International Space Station as a space tourist.

I am planning to become a space flight participant and I have received a confirmation from [Russias space agency] Roscosmos that I can start the preparation for my flight, Brightman told a news conference in Moscow.

Brightman, 52, said she had been approved medically and would undergo six months of training in Russia after a 15-month world tour promoting her new album, Dream Chaser, which is scheduled for release in January 2013.

This voyage is a product of a dream, my dream. Finally it can be a reality. I am more excited about this than anything I have done in my life to date, Brightman said, adding that she would spend 10 days aboard the ISS and maybe even "sing a song from space."

The head of manned space missions at Roscosmos, Alexei Krasnov, confirmed at the same news conference that Brightman could travel to the orbital station aboard the Soyuz space craft in October 2015 together with a Russian cosmonaut and a NASA astronaut chosen for a year-long experimental mission on the ISS.

Brightman, known for her roles in West End musicals such as Cats and The Phantom of the Opera, will become the eighth private individual to make the trip to the ISS, which has been off limits to space tourists since 2010 as its crew grew from three to six astronauts.

The commercial flights to the ISS for space tourists are organized through US-based company Space Adventures, which has been authorized by Roscosmos to select and contract candidates for space tourist trips.

The price of a 10-day trip to the ISS for a tourist is estimated at about $35 million.

Space tourists started flying to the ISS in 2001. Dennis Tito, an American businessman and former NASA scientist, became the first space tourist when he visited the ISS in 2001.

He was followed by South African computer millionaire Mark Shuttleworth in 2002, and Gregory Olsen, a U.S. entrepreneur and scientist, in 2005.

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Sarah Brightman Announces 'Dream' Space Flight

The Next Era in Space Travel and Exploration Continues as Endeavour's Final Flight Ends

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LOS ANGELES, CA--(Marketwire - Oct 11, 2012) - The space shuttle Endeavour will be traveling through the streets of Los Angeles to her new and final home at the California Science Center on Friday, October 12. It will bring a bittersweet end to a notable era in U.S. space exploration, but an exciting new era of privatized space exploration is already well under way.

"While we bid a fond farewell to the Space Shuttle program and the era of spaceflight it represents, I've never been more excited than now about our opportunities going forward," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, which has conducted two multi-million-dollar prizes, helping spur massive private investment and research in space exploration in recent years.

"We're now in an era where space exploration no longer is only done by a few highly trained, government-employed specialists," Diamandis said. "Since 2001, we've seen the first space tourists, the first private space companies and even, earlier this year, the first privately developed and operated capsule to travel to the International Space Station."

"Sometimes, these private initiatives will work in cooperation with the government organizations that funded and conducted space travel in the past," Diamandis commented. "Sometimes they will operate independently of government involvement and support, potentially dramatically accelerating exploration and research opportunities."

The new era in private space exploration began in earnest in 2001, when Santa Monica investor Dennis Tito paid $20 million to Space Adventures (www.SpaceAdventures.com) to fly aboard a Russian Soyuz mission to the International Space Station. Many other private space efforts have happened since:

Pursuit of these X PRIZE Foundation competitions has spurred a flurry of investment and technological development by private companies trying to create reusable space vehicles.

In the process, they have helped create a private space industry that is an increasingly viable partner with public space agencies, so much so that SpaceX founder (and X PRIZE Trustee) Elon Musk told ABC's "Nightline" that his company expects to be able to send humans to Mars in "roughly 12 to 15 years."

"The X PRIZE Foundation can be proud of its role in helping midwife this Fourth Era of Spaceflight and Exploration," Diamandis said. "The opportunities before us are remarkable, and we intend to continue our special role in encouraging private investment and research to open the skies for us all."

ABOUT X PRIZE FOUNDATION Founded in 1995, the X PRIZE Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is the leading organization solving the world's Grand Challenges by creating and managing large-scale, high-profile, incentivized prize competitions that stimulate investment in research and development worth far more than the prize itself. The organization motivates and inspires brilliant innovators from all disciplines to leverage their intellectual and financial capital for the benefit of humanity. The X PRIZE Foundation conducts competitions in five Prize Groups: Education; Exploration; Energy & Environment; Global Development; and Life Sciences. Active prizes include the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, the $10 million Archon Genomics X PRIZE presented by Express Scripts, the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE, and the $2.25 million Nokia Sensing X CHALLENGE. For more information, go to http://www.xprize.org.

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The Next Era in Space Travel and Exploration Continues as Endeavour's Final Flight Ends

Singer Sarah Brightman Will be Next Space Tourist

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Singer Sarah Brightman at a press conference on October 10 to announce her upcoming space flight.

Roscosmos and Space Adventures are re- starting space tourism flights, and the next space tourist will be singer Sarah Brightman, who will head to the International Space Station on a Soyuz rocket. Brightman, 52, announced her trip at a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday, saying that she hopes her trip which will likely take place in 2015 will be a catalyst for the hopes and dreams of people around the world.

I dont think of myself as a dreamer. Rather, I am a dream chaser, said Sarah Brightman. I hope that I can encourage others to take inspiration from my journey both to chase down their own dreams and to help fulfill the important UNESCO mandate to promote peace and sustainable development on Earth and from space. I am determined that this journey can reach out to be a force for good, a catalyst for some of the dreams and aims of others that resonate with me. Brightman is a UNESCO Artist for Peace Ambassador, and is a classical soprano who also has topped the music charts with her pop music.

Coincidently, her new album is titled Dream Chaser, and she soon starts a world-wide tour to promote her new album. A trip to space would be the ultimate promotion tour. See a video below of her latest single, Angel, which includes footage from early space flight and recent views from the ISS. Brightman said space exploration has inspired her all her life.

Russia halted orbital space tourism in 2009 due to the increase in the International Space Station crew size, using the seats for expedition crews that would normally be sold to paying spaceflight participants.

Along with Brightman at the press conferece were Alexey Krasnov, Head of Roscosmos Piloted Programs Department and Eric Anderson, Chairman of Space Adventures, a space tourism company that has arranged all previous tourist flights to the Space Station.

The schedule for her flight will be determined very shortly by Roscosmos and the ISS partners, Brightman said, adding she had been approved medically and will do six months training in Russia.

This past July, Ms. Brightman completed and passed all of the required medical and physical evaluations, said Krasnov. Shes fit and mentally prepared for our spaceflight training program. We will work closely with Space Adventures in supporting Ms. Brightmans spaceflight candidacy.

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Singer Sarah Brightman Will be Next Space Tourist

New blastoff for Sarah Brightman: flight to space

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MOSCOW (AP) Sarah Brightman's voice, beloved by audiences and renowned for its three-octave range, rocketed to fame more than two decades ago as the heroine of "The Phantom of the Opera." Now the world's biggest-selling soprano is heading to outer space.

On Wednesday, Brightman told a news conference in Moscow that she has booked a trip to the International Space Station. Brightman, who had a hit in 1978 with "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper" and has sold more than 30 million records, will become the first recording artist in space.

The British singer said that after touring the world in 2013 for her new album, Dreamchaser, she will spend six months in Russia's Star City cosmonaut training center.

"I think of myself not just as a dreamer, but as a dream chaser," she said.

Brightman, a UNESCO ambassador, said the trip would also serve as a way to promote the U.N. agency's message, by encouraging women's education in the sciences and environmental awareness. She hinted at the possibility of doing a promotional "space concert."

She wouldn't give a precise time for her mission, but Alexei Krasnov, the head of manned programs at the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said she would likely make it in the fall of 2015.

Krasnov said the price tag for the flight was in "tens of millions of dollars," but refused to name a precise figure.

Brightman teamed up with the private company Space Adventures, which organizes trips for private space explorers. When questioned about the expense of the journey, Eric Anderson, co-founder and chairman of Space Adventures, wouldn't give a figure but joked that "it's a round-trip flight."

Previous flights have cost the adventurous travellers over $20 million each, according to several of the participants.

The cost should be of little concern for Brightman, who has grossed millions of dollars from her tours and albums. Brightman, ex-wife of Broadway playwright Andrew Lloyd Webber, said in a 2008 interview with the Guardian that she had offered to return the money she won in their divorce settlement, worth 6 million pounds.

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New blastoff for Sarah Brightman: flight to space

Singer Sarah Brightman books flight to space station

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Fulfilling a lifelong dream, singer Sarah Brightman has booked a seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a 10-day visit to the International Space Station.

Soprano Sarah Brightman, believed to be one of the world's wealthiest classical crossover performers, has booked a seat on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a 10-day visit to the International Space Station.

The launch schedule has not been announced, but the first available flight is believed to be in mid- to late-2015.

"As I'm sure you may know, I'm planning to become a spaceflight participant and have been recently approved to begin my spaceflight training by the Russian space federation, having passed the necessary medical and physical tests," she said today, reading prepared remarks at a news conference in Moscow.

Sarah Brightman will begin training for a flight to the International Space Station after a tour next year to promote a new album, the singer said during a Moscow news conference Wednesday.

"The final scheduling and details of my trip by Soyuz rocket to the International Space Station will be determined very shortly by Roscosmos and the ISS partners," she noted.

Brightman said she will go on tour next year to promote a new album, visiting five continents before returning to Russia to begin six months of mission-specific training.

"This extraordinary voyage has been many months in the planning but more accurately, has been many years in the making," she said. "Throughout most of my life, I felt an incredible desire to take the journey to space that I have now begun."

She said her dream began in 1969 when she was 8 years old watching Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon

"There, as a small an incredulous child, I watched a man bound gently from the steps of a rocket ship and land on the surface of the moon," she said. "This really was an adventure, it was something miraculous. For me, it was an epiphany.

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Singer Sarah Brightman books flight to space station

Abbie Cornish turns heads at Seven Psychopaths screening in stunning Roland Mouret dress

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By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 22:16 EST, 10 October 2012 | UPDATED: 00:26 EST, 11 October 2012

She was stunning in a floral applique gown at the Los Angeles premiere of her latest film, Seven Psychopaths.

And Abbie Cornish once again was turning heads botanicals as the movie screened in New York on Wednesday night.

The 30-year-old actress was stunning in a Roland Mouret bustier dress with a washed-out print and fishtail flare.

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Simply stunning: Abbie Cornish wore a white Roland Mouret bustier dress with a washed-out floral print at the New York City premiere of her new film, Seven Psychopaths

The Australian star wore the white figure-hugging frock to the event at Clearview Chelsea Cinemas in the downtown Manhattan district.

The Sucker Punch star paired the dress with a silver clutch and matching manicure as she smiled down the red carpet.

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Abbie Cornish turns heads at Seven Psychopaths screening in stunning Roland Mouret dress

NASA identifies Mars rover's mysterious bright object

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The strange bright object that halted the Curiosity rover's scooping activities has been partially identified by NASA. There go our space alien fantasies.

This ChemCam image shows rover's bright object.

It looks like the latest Mars mystery has been solved. Dashing the hopes of the many people who thought the Curiosity rover had located their lost keys or earrings, NASA has decided that a strange, bright object found on the surface is actually a piece of plastic.

According to a NASA status report, "The rover team's assessment is that the bright object is something from the rover, not Martian material. It appears to be a shred of plastic material, likely benign, but it has not been definitively identified."

This means some of the mystery is taken out of the equation, but we can still speculate about what that little piece of plastic fell off from and why. Perhaps Curiosity is shedding its winter coat. Maybe the space police are going to come along and write it a ticket for littering.

An image of the object taken by the rover's micro-imager ChemCam shows it looking very different from the Martian surface around it. On closer inspection, I think it looks a bit like a space slug, but that's just wishful thinking on my part.

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NASA identifies Mars rover's mysterious bright object

NASA pleased with flawless SpaceX docking

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After getting off to a rocky start with an engine failure during launch Sunday, a commercial cargo capsule loaded with a half-ton of equipment and supplies, including ice cream, carried out a flawless final approach to the International Space Station early Wednesday, pulling up to within 60 feet so Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, operating the lab's robot arm, could pluck it out of open space for berthing.

Making the first of at least 12 cargo deliveries under a $1.6 billion contract with NASA, the SpaceX Dragon capsule, after a successful test flight last May, is the first commercially developed spacecraft to visit the station, the centerpiece of a push to restore U.S. resupply capability in the wake of the space shuttle's retirement last year.

Hoshide used station's robot arm to latch onto a grapple fixture on the side of the Dragon capsule at 6:56 a.m. EDT (GMT-4) as the two spacecraft sailed 250 miles above the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California.

"Houston, station on (channel) two, capture complete," Expedition 33 commander Sunita Williams radioed. "Looks like we've tamed the dragon. We're happy she's on board with us. Thanks to everybody at SpaceX and NASA for bringing her here to us. And the ice cream."

Williams and Hoshide then maneuvered the Dragon capsule to the Earth-facing port of the forward Harmony module and locked it in place at 9:03 a.m., completing the rendezvous and berthing.

"The control center team here and the team out at Hawthorne (Calif.) at SpaceX just did a phenomenal job of making a pretty complex ballet in space look pretty easy," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's director of space operations. "And it was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. But they just did a great job, and it's great to have the Dragon spacecraft on board the space station."

The long-awaited commercial cargo mission began with a spectacular launch Sunday night from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. But during the climb to space, one of the Falcon 9 booster's nine first-stage engines malfunctioned and shut down, forcing the flight computer to fire the other engines longer than planned to compensate for the shortfall.

The Dragon capsule ended up in a useable orbit, but the engine failure prevented the Falcon 9 second stage from boosting a small secondary payload, an Orbcomm data relay satellite, into its planned orbit. As it was, SpaceX flight controllers had to quickly revise the Dragon rendezvous sequence to keep the craft on course and to conserve propellant.

All of that went off without a hitch and the spacecraft moved into position for grapple right on schedule.

The capsule will remain attached to the space station for the next three weeks while the lab crew unloads science gear, spare parts and crew supplies, including ice cream packed in a science freezer as a special treat for the three-person crew. The capsule will be re-packed with no-longer-needed hardware, failed components and experiment samples for return to Earth around Oct. 28.

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NASA pleased with flawless SpaceX docking

NASA Dawn spacecraft traveling to dwarf planet

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LOS ANGELES (AP) Next and final stop: The biggest object in the asteroid belt.

After spending a year gazing at a giant asteroid, NASA's Dawn spacecraft on Wednesday began the cruise toward an even bigger target a voyage that will take nearly three years.

Ground controllers received a signal from Dawn that it successfully spiraled away from the asteroid Vesta and was headed toward the dwarf planet Ceres.

The departure was considered ho-hum compared with other recent missions think Curiosity's white-knuckle "seven minutes of terror" dive into Mars' atmosphere. Firing its ion propulsion thrusters, Dawn gently freed itself from Vesta's gravitational hold Tuesday night. Since its antenna was pointed away from Earth during the maneuver, NASA did not get confirmation until the next day.

It was "smooth and elegant and graceful," said chief engineer Marc Rayman of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the $466 million mission.

Launched in 2007, Dawn is on track to become the first spacecraft to rendezvous with two celestial bodies in a bid to learn about the solar system's evolution.

Dawn slipped into orbit last year around Vesta about the size of Arizona and beamed back stunning close-ups of the lumpy surface. Its next destination is the Texas-size Ceres.

Vesta and Ceres are the largest bodies in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter that's littered with space rocks that never quite bloomed into full-fledged planets. As cosmic time capsules, they're ideal for scientists trying to piece together how Earth and the other planets formed and evolved.

During its yearlong stay at Vesta, Dawn used its cameras, infrared spectrometer, and gamma ray and neutron detector to explore the asteroid from varying altitudes, getting as close as 130 miles above the surface.

Dawn uncovered a few surprises. Scientists have long known that Vesta sports an impressive scar at its south pole, likely carved by an impact with a smaller asteroid. A closer inspection revealed that Vesta hid a second scar in the same region evidence that it had been whacked twice within the last 2 billion years.

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NASA Dawn spacecraft traveling to dwarf planet

ATK Obtains $50M Contract from NASA

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Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK) has received a contract, worth $50 million, from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to complete its engineering development and risk reduction examinations as a part of the Advanced Concept Booster Development for the Space Launch System (SLS).

Per the contract, Alliant will help NASA to manage important technological challenges during manufacturing of advanced booster requirements for its SLS program. The company will use cost-saving materials and procedures to develop a lithium-ion battery-powered electric thrust vector control system, lightweight composite rocket motor case, high-performance propellant and an advanced nozzle. These advancements will conclude with a combined booster static test firing of these utilized technologies.

The U.S. SLS will offer a completely new facility for human exploration beyond earth orbit. In addition, it will support the commercial as well as international transportation service partners to the International Space Station. This system is designed to be safe, flexible and affordable for crew or cargo missions to continue the U.S.s journey toward space discovery.

Driven by the installation of this modern technology including advanced booster design, NASA will help in reducing the cost of operations while minimizing risks under its SLS system program. In addition, this new initiative will provide higher reliability and greater performance than current NASA requirements, and will subsequently help to boost the capability of NASAs heavy launch system.

Alliant and NASA jointly took few initiatives to minimize costs related to the SLS system. The company has already made significant progress toward developing the first ground test motor and advancements of cost-saving processes for manufacturing solid rocket booster for SLS system. The company primarily uses Value Stream Mapping (VSM) process, which helps to recognize incompetent processes and requirements of the system. Utilizing this process, the company spotted more than 400 changes and improvements, which have already received NASA approvals.

Arlington, Virginia-based Alliant Techsystems Inc. provides aerospace and defense products to the United States government agencies. The company also supplies ammunition and related accessories to law enforcement agencies and commercial customers. Alliant Techsystems Inc. currently has a short-term Zacks #2 Rank (Buy rating) and competes with Rockwell Collins Inc. (COL) and Elbit Systems Ltd. (ESLT).

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ATK Obtains $50M Contract from NASA

Industrial Nanotech, Inc. Signs Distributor Agreement with DuPont

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NAPLES, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Industrial Nanotech, Inc. (Pink Sheets:INTK), an emerging global leader in nanotechnology based energy saving solutions, today announced that the Company has entered into a distribution agreement with DuPont Powder Coatings Andina to serve as a distributor in Columbia and Venezuela for the Companys patented Nansulate(R) product line of thermal insulation and protective coatings for the Oil and Gas Industry. Since 2004, Nansulate(R) coatings have been used as an innovative solution for effective thermal insulation and corrosion prevention for pipes, tanks, and other equipment and for the prevention of corrosion under insulation (CUI).

We look forward to working with DuPont Power Coatings Andina, stated Francesca Crolley, V.P. Business Development for Industrial Nanotech, Inc. They have a broad and extensive experience in the design, manufacture and supply of high-performance protective coatings focused on Oil & Gas and specialized industry. Their knowledge and experience supplying external coatings for pipelines and storage tanks, industrial process plants, petrochemicals, refineries, water industry, mining industry and many other sectors will greatly benefit the growth of our products in this region, as well as offer the opportunity for their company to supply leading edge sustainable technology to their customers."

One of the world's largest suppliers of powder coatings for heat setting, DuPont Powder Coatings has sixteen independent companies and fifteen research and development laboratories in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. DuPont Powder Coatings is a leading manufacturer of powder coatings in North America and the industry leader in decorative and functional coatings of high quality heat setting.

About DuPont Performance Coatings

Founded in 1922 and headquartered in Wilmington, Del., DuPont Performance Coatings is the leading global manufacturer, marketer and distributor of advanced coating systems primarily for the transportation industry. The company comprises four segments: refinish, OEM, industrial liquid and powder. The company operates manufacturing sites on six continents, serving customers in 120 countries directly and through 4,000 distributors.

About DuPont

DuPont has been bringing world-class science and engineering to the global marketplace in the form of innovative products, materials, and services since 1802. The company believes that by collaborating with customers, governments, NGOs, and thought leaders we can help find solutions to such global challenges as providing enough healthy food for people everywhere, decreasing dependence on fossil fuels, and protecting life and the environment. DuPont has been operating in Columbia since 1963. For more information, visit http://www.dupontpowder.com.co

About Nansulate(R)

Nansulate(R) is the Company's patented product line of award winning, specialty coatings containing a nanotechnology based material and which are well-documented to provide the combined performance qualities of thermal insulation, corrosion prevention, resistance to mold growth, chemical resistance and lead encapsulation in an environmentally safe, water-based, coating formulation. The Nansulate(R) Product Line includes industrial, residential, agricultural and solar thermal insulation coatings. Additional information about the Company and its products can be found at their websites, (www.inanotk.com) and (www.nansulate.com). Blog: http://www.nansulate.com/nanoblog, Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NanoPioneer, Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Nansulate.

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Industrial Nanotech, Inc. Signs Distributor Agreement with DuPont

'Nanotechnology Revolution' Drives Big Growth to a Small Industry

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A conversation with the Pixelligent Technologies CEO about what is behind the latest nanotech boom and what it means to the industry.

Since moving its operations to Baltimore in 2011, nanocrystal additive manufacturer, Pixelligent Technologies, has seen the kind of explosive growth and market success that seems only possible in business school fantasies and start-up legends.

In these past 17 months, the company has seen its customer pipeline increase tenfold and has grown to include some of the world's largest chemical-polymer manufacturing companies, prompting a 150% increase in its workforce and an expansion to a 13,000-square-foot facility.

According to CEO Craig Bandes, though this success appears to have struck fast, it has been long in coming for the industry.

"For ten years, people have been saying nanotechnology is going to hit next year," he joked. "Well, now it is actually happening and these companies are finally seeing that nanotechnology is real -- that it is having real, significant impacts in a number of different technologies and products."

"There is a convergence going on between a receptive market that is out there looking for nano-enabled solutions and companies like Pixelligent that have cracked the code on the technology." - Craig Bandes, CEO, Pixelligent Technologies

Of course, this newly realized and matured technology wouldn't mean much without a receptive market. Luckily, today's manufacturers seem very much in the mood for progress.

"In the industrial world, there is a real focus now on how to incorporate next-generation materials into what they are doing today," he explained. "There is a convergence going on between a receptive market that is out there looking for nano-enabled solutions and companies like Pixelligent that have cracked the code on the technology."

This convergence is translating into what many are calling a "nanotech revolution," as the long-awaited mainstream adoption of the technology finally takes hold.

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'Nanotechnology Revolution' Drives Big Growth to a Small Industry