http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. South Korea Wednesday postponed the launch of its first space rocket just eight minutes before the scheduled blast-off, due to a technical fault. http://phys.org/news169892750.html Space & Earth Wed, 19 Aug 2009 09:40:01 EST news169892750 (PhysOrg.com) -- Inflatable aircraft are not a new idea. Hot air balloons have been around for more than two centuries and blimps are a common sight over many sports stadiums. But it's hard to imagine an inflatable spacecraft. http://phys.org/news169477674.html Space & Earth Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:20:02 EST news169477674 (PhysOrg.com) -- An Earth observation mission does not just involve the building of a satellite, it also includes the all-important infrastructure to control the satellite and handle the data - the ground segment. As ESA prepares for the launch of CryoSat-2 at the end of the year, its associated ground segment is now ready. http://phys.org/news168867147.html Space & Earth Fri, 07 Aug 2009 12:50:02 EST news168867147 South Korea has rescheduled its first space rocket launch from its soil to August 11 after repeatedly postponing it due to technical reasons, officials said Saturday. http://phys.org/news168412334.html Space & Earth Sun, 02 Aug 2009 06:50:02 EST news168412334 (PhysOrg.com) -- With 520 seconds of shake, rattle and roar on July 29, NASA's John C. Stennis Space Center marked the end of an era for testing the space shuttle main engines that have powered the nation's Space Shuttle Program for nearly three decades. http://phys.org/news168264331.html Space & Earth Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:20:02 EST news168264331 The crew of NASA's newest spacecraft "will not survive" an explosion of the Ares I rocket within the first minute of launch because blazing chunks of solid-rocket fuel would melt the parachutes on the crew-escape system, according to a new Air Force report. http://phys.org/news167210662.html Space & Earth Sun, 19 Jul 2009 10:00:01 EST news167210662 (AP) -- Tourists coming to Hawaii for high-end getaways could someday be launched from the sand to the stars, taking island-hopping to new heights. Hawaii could even be the first state where space travelers use rocket planes to get from one place to another. Rather than launching and landing in the same spot, planners envision the planes taking off in one place, traveling through space, then coming down in another, going from the Big Island to Oahu. Within a decade, space travelers could island hop from Hawaii to Japan in 45 minutes. http://phys.org/news166596001.html Space & Earth Sun, 12 Jul 2009 05:40:38 EST news166596001 (AP) -- NASA scrubbed space shuttle Endeavour's Saturday evening launch after lightning struck at least 11 times near the seaside launch pad. http://phys.org/news166551986.html Space & Earth Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:27:00 EST news166551986 The European Space Agency (ESA) said it had taken an important first step in a tentative project to build a manned spacecraft that would be launched atop its Ariane 5 rocket. http://phys.org/news166258941.html Space & Earth Wed, 08 Jul 2009 08:02:36 EST news166258941 A European rocket placed the world's biggest commercial telecommunications satellite into geostationary orbit, launch operator Arianespace said. http://phys.org/news165736019.html Space & Earth Thu, 02 Jul 2009 07:00:01 EST news165736019 (PhysOrg.com) -- The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-O, soared into space today after a successful launch from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. http://phys.org/news165386205.html Space & Earth Sun, 28 Jun 2009 05:37:54 EST news165386205 After a four and a half day journey from the Earth, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has successfully entered orbit around the moon. Engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., confirmed the spacecraft's lunar orbit insertion at 6:27 a.m. EDT Tuesday. http://phys.org/news164973229.html Space & Earth Tue, 23 Jun 2009 10:54:16 EST news164973229 The first launches by the veteran Russian rocket Soyuz and a new light rocket called Vega from Europe's space base will be postponed to 2010, the European Space Agency (ESA) said on Monday. http://phys.org/news164341072.html Space & Earth Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:50:01 EST news164341072 Virgin Galactic owned by Sir Richard Branson completed a successful test on May 28, 2009 of its hybrid nitrous oxide motor designed by Scaled Composites and a subcontractor Sierra Nevada Corporation. The innovative hybrid motor is the largest of its kind in the world and offers safety features including a kill switch allowing the spaceship to glide back to Earth and perform a conventional runway touch down. http://phys.org/news162884806.html Space & Earth Sun, 31 May 2009 06:16:59 EST news162884806 Three astronauts, from Canada, Belgium and Russia, blasted off Wednesday for the International Space Station in a landmark mission that will double its crew to six for the first time. http://phys.org/news162627732.html Space & Earth Wed, 27 May 2009 07:22:41 EST news162627732 A Belgian, a Canadian and a Russian blast off for the International Space Station on Wednesday as Russia steps up its rocket launches to support a doubling of the station's crew. http://phys.org/news162540712.html Space & Earth Tue, 26 May 2009 07:12:21 EST news162540712 NASA on Thursday said it was on target for a June mission to scour the Moon's surface for landing sites and water that would allow humans to work and even live on Earth's nearest neighbor. http://phys.org/news162156022.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 May 2009 20:22:11 EST news162156022 (PhysOrg.com) -- The idea of the space elevator just got a little crazier. While the “traditional” concept involved using rocket propulsion or laser light pressure to propel loads up a cable anchored to Earth, a new study shows that a rotating space elevator could do away with engines or laser light pressure application completely. Instead, the unique double rotating motion of looped strings could provide a mechanism for objects to slide up the elevator cable into outer space. The space elevator could launch satellites and spacecraft with humans, and even be used to host space stations and research posts. http://phys.org/news162112945.html Physics Thu, 21 May 2009 08:23:09 EST news162112945 (PhysOrg.com) -- With Memorial Day just around the corner, NASA plans a spectacular aerial display May 20 of the newly designed parachute recovery system for its Ares I rocket. The centerpieces for the test are the three massive main parachutes -- measuring 150 feet in diameter and weighing 1-ton each -- the largest rocket parachute ever manufactured. http://phys.org/news161879186.html Space & Earth Mon, 18 May 2009 15:27:05 EST news161879186 (PhysOrg.com) -- The last tests of the Ariane 5 rocket system have been finished and ESA's Planck satellite is sitting ready for launch at the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou. Together with ESA's space telescope Herschel, Planck will lift off into space on 14 May to begin its studies of the cosmic microwave radiation and of the clues it gives about the Big Bang, the earliest phases of the cosmic history, and the structure and composition of the Universe. The Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) in Garching has developed important software components for Planck and is getting ready to participate in the analysis and scientific interpretation of the mission data. http://phys.org/news161272207.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 May 2009 14:51:14 EST news161272207 Two missions to study the cosmos, Herschel and Planck, are scheduled to blast into space May 14 aboard the same Ariane 5 rocket from the Guiana Space Center in French Guiana. The European Space Agency, or ESA, leads both missions, with significant participation from NASA. http://phys.org/news160762123.html Space & Earth Tue, 05 May 2009 17:11:00 EST news160762123 NASA's plans to return astronauts to the moon are quietly being revised and are in danger of slipping past 2020. http://phys.org/news159646447.html Space & Earth Wed, 22 Apr 2009 19:16:05 EST news159646447 (PhysOrg.com) -- About two weeks ago, Herschel was weighed to record its dry mass before the satellite was fuelled with 256 kg of liquid hydrazine. After switching it on to confirm normal function, engineers integrated the fuelled satellite with the Ariane 5 adapter. http://phys.org/news159632933.html Space & Earth Wed, 22 Apr 2009 15:29:13 EST news159632933 (PhysOrg.com) -- On April 16, NASA moved the first segment of the Ares I rocket's five segment development motor, or DM-1, from ATK Space System's production facility in Promontory, Utah, to the nearby test stand, in preparation for the first ground test, targeted for August. http://phys.org/news159469263.html Space & Earth Mon, 20 Apr 2009 18:01:36 EST news159469263 (PhysOrg.com) -- GOCE's sophisticated electric ion propulsion system has been switched on and confirmed to be operating normally, marking another crucial milestone in the satellite's post-launch commissioning phase. http://phys.org/news158237939.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 Apr 2009 11:59:38 EST news158237939 North Korea's rocket launch is a partial technological success on the way to building a long-range missile, even if Pyongyang failed to put a satellite in orbit, the former director of the US missile defense agency said Sunday. http://phys.org/news158151995.html Space & Earth Sun, 05 Apr 2009 12:07:23 EST news158151995 The global market for rocket launches may require more stringent regulation in order to prevent significant damage to Earth's stratospheric ozone layer in the decades to come, according to a new study by researchers in California and Colorado. http://phys.org/news157731737.html Space & Earth Tue, 31 Mar 2009 15:23:16 EST news157731737 It's been a long wait, but it was worth it. The Black Brant XII sounding rocket with the CASCADES II experiment launched and flew through an active aurora display March 20 at 3:04 a.m. Alaska Daylight Time. The successful launch occurred after 20 nights of preparing and then waiting to launch the NASA rocket. The CASCADES II team needed very specific conditions and clear weather for an optimal launch. http://phys.org/news157114040.html Space & Earth Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:47:42 EST news157114040 NASA and U.S. Air Force test pilots have just dropped a 50,000-pound "dummy" rocket booster on the Arizona desert--and stopped it before it crashed. It's all part of NASA's plan to return to the Moon. http://phys.org/news156441809.html Space & Earth Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:04:01 EST news156441809 (AP) -- Aiming for a Sunday evening launch, NASA began fueling space shuttle Discovery again in hopes repairs took care of a dangerous leak. http://phys.org/news156339315.html Space & Earth Sun, 15 Mar 2009 12:35:44 EST news156339315