IAF NEWS Thursday 3 September 2009

IAF NEWS Thursday 3 September 2009
A daily roundup of space news brought to you by the International Astronautical Federation


Japan Plans $21 Billion Solar Space Post to Power 294,000 Homes

The concept of space-based solar power was introduced way back in 1968, but it's only recently that the world has latched on to the idea. Japan is definitely getting in on the action with its latest spacey plan - a $21 billion solar-powered generator in the heavens to produce one gigawatt of energy, or enough to power 294,000 homes. The Japanese government announced the plan back in June, but there has been an important new development - Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and industrial design company IHI Corp. are now teaming up in the race to develop new technology within four years that can beam electricity back to Earth without the use of cables.


http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/09/01/japan-plans-21-billion-solar-space-post-to-power-294000-homes/


Moon dust not as strange as hoped

An oddly heavy kind of matter detected aboard a space shuttle in 1998 has not turned up in lunar soil brought back by an Apollo mission

http://feeds.newscientist.com/c/749/f/10898/s/5f24b66/l/0L0Snewscientist0N0Carticle0Cmg20A3272340B80A0A0Emoon0Edust0Enot0Eas0Estrange0Eas0Ehoped0Bhtml0DDCMP0FOTC0Erss0Gnsref0Fspace/story01.htm


Pre-Launch Processing of Amazonas 2 Underway for Next Ariane 5 Mission

The Amazonas 2 satellite for Ariane 5's upcoming mission has begun initial checkout at the Spaceport in French Guiana. This commercial telecommunications satellite will be joined by the German COMSATBw-1 military telecommunications satellite on Arianespace's fifth heavy-lift launch of 2009, which is planned for the end of September.



http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Arianespace/~3/vpmqotIzNrw/633.asp


Galaxy 'cannibalism' revealed
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/2/hi/science/nature/8234898.stm

SMOS team gears up for launch campaign
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMJF5I7KYF_index_0.html

JAXA HTV/H-IIB Live Launch on web on 11 September
http://www.jaxa.jp/countdown/h2bf1/index_e.html

Indian satellite confirmed US moon landing: scientist
http://www.asd-network.com/press_detail/22863/Indian_satellite_confirmed_US_moon_landing:_scientist.htm

First STS-128 Spacewalk Complete
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html

SpaceX Delivers Communication Unit to KSC
http://www.floridatoday.com/content/blogs/space/2009/09/spacex-delivers-hardware-for-iss.shtml

Chandrayaan-1 to be Given Award by AIAA
http://www.domain-b.com/aero/aero_general/20090901_chandrayaan1.html

QinetiQ Developing Ion Engine for BepiColombo Mission
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/engineering/article6817797.ece

Billionaire space clown plans global show
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/09/02/2050210.aspx

NASA eyes junk drifting toward space station
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32662369/ns/technology_and_science-space/

Astronauts complain of stuffy heads in space
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32664782/ns/technology_and_science-space/

LM’s Orion Program Is ’Go For CDR’
http://www.asd-network.com/press_detail/22888/LM_s_Orion_Program_Is__Go_For_CDR_.htm

NASA monitors space junk ahead of spacewalk
http://www.asd-network.com/press_detail/22878/NASA_monitors_space_junk_ahead_of_spacewalk.htm

QinetiQ Wins Electric Propulsion Contract for European Mission to Mercury
http://www.asd-network.com/press_detail/22868/QinetiQ_Wins_Electric_Propulsion_Contract_for_European_Mission_to_Mercury.htm

Shuttle watchers keep tabs on space junk
http://feeds.chron.com/~r/houstonchronicle/space/~3/2x5teMYdKSg/6599418.html

ISRO Takes Pride In Chandrayaan
http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1746931/isro_takes_pride_in_doomed_chandrayaan/index.html?source=r_space

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