NASA’s Kepler Discovers Its Smallest ‘Habitable Zone’ Planets to Date WWW.GOODNEWS.WS – Video

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NASA #39;s Kepler Discovers Its Smallest #39;Habitable Zone #39; Planets to Date http://WWW.GOODNEWS.WS
http://goodnews.ws/ NASA #39;s Kepler mission has discovered two new planetary systems that include three super-Earth-size planets in the "habitable zone," the r...

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NASA's Kepler Discovers Its Smallest 'Habitable Zone' Planets to Date http://WWW.GOODNEWS.WS - Video

Antares rocket blasts into orbit for first time in test for NASA

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In its maiden flight to space, a commercially built 13-story rocket blasted off from a launch pad off the coast of Virginia in a test mission for NASA.

The Antares rocket, developed by Orbital Sciences Corp., roared into orbit after launching Sunday at 2 p.m. Pacific time from the newly built Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility.

PHOTOS: Orbital Sciences sends Antares to orbit

Although it was simply a test flight to reach orbit, the successful launch was another crucial step in NASAs plan to hand off space missions -- carrying cargo and crews -- to private industry now that the space shuttle fleet has been retired.

"Today's successful test marks another significant milestone in NASA's plan to rely on American companies to launch supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station, bringing this important work back to the United States where it belongs," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a statement.

NASA has invested about $288 million in seed money to help the Dulles, Va., company develop its technology, and has an additional $1.9 billion on the table with a contract for eight flights to transport cargo to the International Space Station in the coming years.

Antares launch was scheduled to take place Friday, but was delayed because of technical issues. High winds postponed the blastoff from Saturday to Sunday.

It was a picture-perfect launch from Wallops, with the Atlantic Ocean lapping against the surf in the near distance.

When the engines first ignited, the white rocket did not lift off from the pad for two full seconds because of its design. After 60 seconds, the vehicle was at more than 3 miles in altitude but still subsonic -- about 460 mph.

It wasnt until about nine minutes into the mission that the rocket was in orbit, at 155 miles in altitude and moving at 17,000 mph.

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Antares rocket blasts into orbit for first time in test for NASA

NASA Awards Z-2 Spacesuit Contract To ILC Dover

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Next Generation Spacesuit Designed to Meet Changing Mission Requirements

Frederica, DE - ILC Dover, the designer and manufacturer of NASA's space suits and a wide range of engineered film and fabric products, announced today it was awarded an 18 month contract to design, manufacture and test the next generation of NASA's Spacesuits - the Z-2. The new suit, designed for enhanced spacewalk capability, will operate at higher pressure levels than previous models, which will greatly improve exploration work efficiency.

"This contact is a testimonial to the continued trust and faith NASA and the Johnson Space Center (JSC) have in ILC Dover - a partnership that has existed since the Apollo space missions," said Patricia Stoll, Space Suit Assembly Product Manager, ILC Dover. "We are honored to have been awarded this contract and we look forward to working with NASA to develop the next generation space suit that may eventually walk on the surface of the moon or Mars."

The Z-2 will be designed to interface with NASA's portable life support system currently under development at JSC. The new suit will also be designed to interface with both classical air locks and NASA's latest suit port design.

ILC Dover will be working with the following teammates on this project: Air-Lock Inc., Analytical Mechanical Associates, University of Delaware Center for Composite Materials, Wolverine World Wide, Devilsfork Consulting, and the Philadelphia University.

The public will be able to track the various stages of manufacturing, testing and delivery of the Z-2 through a specifically designed section of ILC Dover's website: Click Here

About ILC Dover

Since 1947, ILC Dover has provided engineered solutions to complex customer problems, serving the aerospace, personal protection and pharmaceutical industries. Known for production of space suits for NASA, ILC is a world leader in the use of high-performance flexible materials, allowing for unique solutions to meet customer needs. ILC's innovative products have been used on the moon, on Mars and around the globe.

ILC Dover...creating what's next

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NASA Awards Z-2 Spacesuit Contract To ILC Dover

TEST ROCKET DEBUT: NASA Hires Company to Resupply Space Station

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April 21, 2013: Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Antares rocket lifts off from the NASA facility on Wallops Island, Va. The rocket will eventually deliver supplies to the International Space Station.AP

ATLANTIC, Va. A company contracted by NASA to deliver supplies to the International Space Station successfully launched a rocket on Sunday in a test of its ability to send a cargo ship aloft.

About 10 minutes after the launch from Wallops Island on Virginia's Eastern Shore, Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles declared the test a success after observing a practice payload reach orbit and safely separate from the rocket.

The Sunday launch comes after two previous attempts were scrubbed. A data cord that was connected to the rocket's second stage came loose just minutes before the rocket was set to lift off Wednesday, and company officials said they were easily able to fix the problem. A second attempt Saturday was scrubbed because of wind.

"It certainly was an amazing achievement for Orbital today, a great day for NASA and another historical day for commercial spaceflight in America. The flight today was just beautiful and it looks like the preliminary data says that all the objectives we established for the flight today were 100 percent met," said Alan Lindenmoyer, manager of NASA's commercial crew and cargo program.

The company from the Washington suburb of Dulles was one of two, along with California-based competitor SpaceX, chosen to supply the space station after NASA ended its three-decade-old shuttle program in 2011. The space agency turned to private companies for the job, saying it would focus on getting manned flights to asteroids and to Mars.

SpaceX was awarded a $1.6 billion contract by NASA in 2006 to make a dozen missions to restock the space station. Orbital got into the mix in 2008 when it was awarded a $1.9 billion contract for eight deliveries.

"We've been playing catch up, but we're about caught up," Frank Culbertson, executive vice president and general manager of Orbital's Advanced Programs Group, said Tuesday. "By the end of next year we should have an additional four or five cargo missions under our belt, so we're going to be moving fast."

SpaceX has connected with the space station three times.

This summer, Orbital plans to launch a rocket carrying its Cygnus cargo ship to see whether it can safely dock with the space station. During the scheduled demonstration flight, the cargo ship would carry about 1,600 pounds of supplies that include food, clothing and spare parts.

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TEST ROCKET DEBUT: NASA Hires Company to Resupply Space Station

‘E-medicine will improve Nigeria’s healthcare’

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John Ogunranti | credits: File copy

Professor of Anatomy and former Dean of the College of Medical Sciences, University of Jos, John Ogunranti, tells JUDE OWUAMANAM about his foray into electronic medicine practice

What is e-Medicine all about?

It is properly called electronic medicine. It involves the use of computers and information to study and practice medicine. The definition was first created and used by me in 2008 and demonstrated to the first audience at Imperial College, London which is the best medical technology institution worldwide. It was published in peer- reviewed top class academic journal of Medical Education in Edinburgh called Medical Teacher in 2009. Since then, it has become popular in the international scene in medical jargon.

Are you saying you are the first person to define and practice holistic electronic medicine?

Yes. There is nowhere in Africa where we have the best or the first in academic technology. Neither is there any place which is unique or the best in those areas. When we think we have one, it turns out to be fake. Some of us are fed up with this situation of consumerism and want it changed and have therefore dedicated our lives to be achievement oriented rather than qualification-without-achievement scenario which has pervaded Africa. It does not matter if we are able to achieve little in a world devoted to the West.

What do you mean by qualification-without-achievement scenario?

Africa and Africans are preoccupied with Europe-styled qualifications and are simply not bothered about providing achievement which matches the said qualifications. Hence, an African will show off a PhD from Harvard University but will provide no achievement when requested for in 10 or 20 years after the qualification. Qualifications are used to obtain jobs. Once a man has a job, his next focus is to use this job to begin to attain some feats. He begins by being the first to perform a particular feat in his home town, later local government, state, country and finally reaches the ultimate- the only one in the entire world. This is where Africa has remained totally a virgin land. Many African academics equate qualification with achievement.

What is the use of e-Medicine?

It is similar in use to two already well known methods of information technology which are: Electronic Learning or e-learning and Electronic Practice like in electronic banking which we are all so familiar with in Nigeria. As a matter of fact, Nigeria as a developing country, has benefitted in no small measure from ICT revolution in such a manner that even our government facilities and parastatals have become almost completely enveloped in the ICT practices. What we want to achieve is to include the practice and learning of medicine with this revolution.

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‘E-medicine will improve Nigeria’s healthcare’