Saturday, April 27th, 2013
by AJ Plunkett
Lassoing an asteroid and dragging it back toward the moon — at first blush, the idea sounds a little insane. For a number of reasons.
On the heels of the SpaceX Dragon becoming the first commercially launched cargo ship from the U.S., and the amazing success of the Mars Curiosity rover landing, comes the next great space adventure: lassoing an asteroid.
Saturday, April 6th, 2013
by AJ Plunkett
The Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, has finally inked a much discussed agreement with the European Space Agency, making good on Russia’s 2012 promise to strengthen its industrial base and take over more of the global space market.
Announced in mid March, the agreement includes Canada on its governing council and picks up where NASA left off on the ExoMars mission.
Friday, April 5th, 2013
Vancouver, BC (PRWEB) April 05, 2013 ///// Announced today, the hotly anticipated launch date for the world’s first Earth video camera in space has been set for October 16, 2013. Launched within the Progress 53P Space Cargo Ship, aboard a Russian ‘Soyuz’ Rocket, two UrtheCast cameras will launch to the ISS from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, along with a payload of Space Station supplies.
“This is a watershed moment for UrtheCast, paving the way for the rest of our plan as we work to complete a ground station network, the interactive UrtheCast web platform, and rigorous camera testing,” said UrtheCast President and CEO Scott Larson. “Being placed on the Russian Space Agency’s Progress manifest solidifies a decisive step towards UrtheCast’s official platform launch.”
Thursday, February 28th, 2013
by AJ Plunkett
It might seem easy at first blush to dismiss Russia’s call for a massive global defense effort to protect against meteors and other space objects that threaten Earth.
But can you blame them? Twice in the last 105 years, once-in-a-lifetime meteors have wreaked devastation on Russian soil.
Friday, February 15th, 2013
by Theras Wood
It was the closest asteroid flyby in our recorded history.
But as close as it was, Asteroid DA-14 didn’t plummet towards Earth today. People didn’t parish in its wake. Economic centres didn’t crumble. Ecosystems weren’t devastated.
Coincidentally, a meteor did burn-up over, and eventually hit, Russia today. And it could have just as easily hit anywhere else on the world — a densely-populated, major economic centre, for instance.
While the two phenomena are not related, what these close encounters have done is reignite discussion around the need for a plan to deal with asteroids and meteors, should one ever become a threat to Earth.
Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013
by Theras Wood The photographers’ cameras have long stopped flashing, and you’re all strapped in. Forget ‘space celebrity’, you’re the childhood hero of an entire generation. But none of that matters here in the bowels of the Russian Soyuz TMA spacecraft. Here, you’re just a woman or man headed to space, with scores of trainingRead more…
Sunday, January 20th, 2013
by AJ Plunkett
After some fits and starts — not uncommon in the space industry — RSC Energia recently announced completion of design work on the protype of a new crew transport that could take Russia to the moon and beyond.
Thursday, December 27th, 2012
by AJ Plunkett
The question: If you could, would you go to Mars, even if you knew the trip would kill you?
It’s a purely hypothetical question for now, since there are so many non-lethal barriers to long-term human space travel still to conquer.
But in anticipation of the day when the other challenges have been met, scientists are working constantly to find ways to create a safe environment for those human bodies that will eventually rocket to points deeper and deeper into space. Read more.
Thursday, December 6th, 2012
by Theras Wood
When Sir Richard Branson gives you the thumbs up, you know you’re doing something right. “I always search for new countries for easier navigation in the business environment. Now it’s Russia’s turn,” explained Richard Branson at the Open Innovations Forum when discussing his joint foundation with Rusnano, Virgin Green Fund.
During the three-day-long forum in early November, Moscow’s Expocenter venue hosted (among others) UrtheCast’s own President & CEO Scott Larson; Virgin Corp. founder, Richard Branson; Director of Development of Skolkovo’s Space Cluster, Dmitry Payson, and other business and technology leaders from across the world. Read more.
Wednesday, November 21st, 2012
If you’ve ever watched TV shows such as ‘Spooks’ or ‘24′, you’ll have seen the government agencies calling up real-time satellite imagery to track hostile forces.
It might make for good TV, but it’s pretty far-fetched. While some spy satellites are supposed to have the capability to read the largest headline print of a newspaper someone is holding, satellites aren’t generally in geo-stationary orbits, so unless they’ve been pre-positioned, the chances of a satellite being in the right place at the right time are fairly small. Read more.