Crowing slightly, Arianespace announced today the successful launch of its Ariane 5 rocket and the subsequent deployment of two satellites. The payload of two communications satellites, (one from Mexico and the other from Thailand) made for a combined weight of 8,200 kg.
Despite the rainy conditions for today’s liftoff, Ariane 5’s ascent through lower cloud layers was clearly visible as the vehicle climbed out under the power of its cryogenic main engine and two solid rocket boosters. Satmex 6 was deployed first by Ariane 5, with its release occurring at 27 min. into the flight. It was followed five minutes later by the separation of Thaicom 5.
The latest flight marked the 23rd successful launch of the Ariane 5 system.
Murphy, Ken and Tom Matula
‘The Moon’ chapter of “Kids to Space”
Apogee Books
2006
ISBN: 1-894-95942-6
Publisher’s Web Site - Special Edition Hardback
Murphy, Ken
“A Lunaminer ‘29er and his daughter Selenedyne”
Selenian Boondocks
05/23/2006
On-line Text
NASA’s shuttle-derived exploration systems architecture for returning to the Moon is rapidly loosing the shuttle-derived bit.
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Economist.com reviews the prospects of private spaceflight, and finds a lot to be optimistic about:
Private spaceflight | Rocket renaissance | Economist.com
If you happen to have a satellite lying around just waiting for a free launch, you might want to have a chat with JAXA.
Starting in 2008, the Japanese space agency plans to offer free launches for satellites weighing up to 50 kilograms, as secondary payloads on flights of its H-IIA rocket. The plan is to give away at least one such free launch every year, according to the agency.
JAXA is accepting applications from this Thursday through to August 31. They are expecting somewhere in the vicinity of ten applicants.
If you don’t think you can make the cut, can’t afford a regular launch (yet), and still want to fly something to space, you might want to consider a CanSat or a PongSat in the meantime.
More about JAXA’s offer here.
NASA hasn’t announced anything formally yet, but according to Alan Boyle and Michael Belfiore, the finalists for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contracts have been notified that they have made the cut. They are:
NASA and the X-PRIZE Foundation have announced a teaming agreement to offer the Lunar Lander Analog Centennial Challenge. Under a Space Act Agreement, NASA will supply the prize purse, the largest to date for a Centennial Challenge, and the X-PRIZE Foundation will administer and execute the competitions.
The first Lunar Lander Analog competition will take place at the X PRIZE Cup Expo in Las Cruces, New Mexico, October 20-22. The competition is split into two difficulty levels, with differing prize pools for each. Level 1 requires a vehicle to take off from a designated launch area, rocket up to 150 feet (50 meters) altitude, then hover for 90 seconds while landing precisely on a landing pad 100 meters away. First prize for this level is $350,000. A $150,000 prize goes to the runner-up.
The more difficult level 2 challenge requires a vehicle to take off from a designated launch area, rocket up to 150 feet (50 meters) altitude, then hover for 180 seconds before landing precisely on a simulated, rocky, lunar surface 100 meters away. $1.25 million dollars goes to the first place getter, with $500,000 and $250,000 available for second and third place.
Read more here.
Dir. by David Sanders
“Microgravity”
Slave to the Light LLC
2006
Publisher’s Website
Librarian’s Note: This is another space movie that we’ll be screening at the 2007 ISDC
Dooling, Dave
“Breathing Moonrocks”
Science@NASA
05/05/2006
On-line Text
If you’re into long-duration spaceflight, the star-crossed ISS remains the only game in town at present, and for at least the next handful of years. The Chinese space program may change that, and so might the efforts of Robert Bigelow, but those days are in the future.
In the meantime, the ISS sails steadfastly along. Whether you think it’s a marvel of engineering, a political boondoggle gone mad, a modest if expensive step ‘out of the cradle’ or all of the above, right now it’s all there is, and it works. But some would argue that it can work yet still be completely useless.
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Krone, Bob, PhD (ed.)
“Beyond Earth: The Future of Humans in Space”
Apogee Books”
2006
ISBN: 1-894-95941-8
Publisher’s Web Site
The Space Review review
Universe Today review
The Space Show interview
Federal Aviation Administration Office of Commercial Space Transportation
“2006 Commercial Space Transportation Forecasts”
FAA
05/2006
On-Line Text
As you all probably know, Ken Murphy has been posting here on this blog, reviews of non-fiction, space-related books. What you may not know is on our companion forums, he has also be providing us with reviews of with lunar centric fictional books.
If it has a lunar theme, it is open for review so the books my be very science in nature or simply novelizations of space related movies or television shows.
For your convenience I’ve pulled them all together in one document with the most recent postings listed first. The results appear below:
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