The first private flight to the space station ISS postponed a week
Written by Sandeep Nehra
The first private flight to the International Space Station (ISS) to be made by the U.S. company SpaceX with its Dragon capsule was pushed back about a week from April 30 to May 7, said late on Monday its CEO Elon Musk.
“I reject the launch about a week to conduct more tests on the computer codes docking Dragon (the ISS) and a new launch date will be fixed in coordination with NASA,” he wrote in a message on the Twitter microblogging network.
“After evaluating our recent progress, it became clear that we needed more time to finish testing of electronics (hardware-in-the-loop testing) and examine all the data well,” wrote one also SpaceX spokeswoman, Kirstin Brost Grantham, in an email to AFP.
“While it would still be… Continue reading...
Learn MoreAtlantis Space Shuttle Program: Atlantis Blasts Off on Final Flight for Space Shuttle Program
Written by Sandeep Nehra
The space shuttle Atlantis rolled out its power and majesty for the last time shot into space from Kennedy Space Center at 11:26 am ET Friday morning despite the weather threat – which marks the final release after 30 years floors for the fleet of NASA’s shuttles.
Seven million pounds thrust rocket launcher takes the vehicle into orbit once again, at speeds of up to 19,000 miles per hour, for an expected meeting with the International Space Station on Sunday.
It was a bittersweet moment for all involved.
“The sense of history, the legacy of what has happened here more than three decades is palpable,” said a spokesman for Mission Control before the release, noting that “30 years and three months ago, Columbia was on the launch… Continue reading...
Learn MoreThe future of “rare earth” may be at the bottom of the ocean, according to a study
Written by Sandeep Nehra
Some areas of the Pacific Ocean are very high in “rare earth” and could be an unexpected deposit of these metals needed to manufacture many high-tech products, according to a study released on Sunday.
Electric cars, windmills, flat screens, computer hard drives or MP3 players … all these objects become indispensable need the “rare earth” and 17 metals they contain, particularly yttrium.
Currently, 97% of the production of “rare earth” comes from China, a country that has only about a third of the world and where the extraction of these minerals causing serious environmental damage and populations.
Paradoxically, however, the soil is not the only source of “rare earth”, far from it. The bottom sediments also contain these minerals, but without precise knowledge of their location, they… Continue reading...
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