by David Todd | Jul 14, 2014 | ESA, History, Science, Technology
In a dramatic reshuffle of UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s cabinet, the Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister of Universities and Science, and who had space as part of his brief, has resigned just hours before being due to make a presentation on Britain’s...
by David Todd | Jul 11, 2014 | History, NASA, Science, Technology
An attempt to rescue a 36-year old explorer spacecraft, ISEE-3, by veteran space engineers has failed after the spacecraft’s thruster system was found to be faulty. NASA’s venerable International Sun-Earth Explorer 3 (ISEE-3 aka ISEE 03) spacecraft has had...
by David Todd | Jul 10, 2014 | History, Seradata News, Technology
Even before Edward Snowden’s confirmatory revelations, it was always suspected that national security services were able to monitor individuals’ telephone and internet connections, and even GPS satellite location records, via the “metadata”...
by David Todd | Jun 30, 2014 | India, Satellites, Science, Technology
At 0422 GMT on 30 September a PSLV launch vehicle successfully launched the 714kg Spot 7 Earth remote sensing satellite from the Sriharikota launch site in India. Also aboard was the AISAT for the DLR which is carrying a ship tracking payload, a pair of CAN-X...
by David Todd | Jun 27, 2014 | NASA, Space Shuttle, Technology
One of the great what-ifs of the US space programme is: if the leading edge damage of the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) had been confirmed after its launch on 16 January 2003, could anything have been done about it to prevent the crew meeting their fiery demise...
by David Todd | Jun 27, 2014 | commercial launch services, ESA, Technology
In an attempt to make Europe’s launch industry more competitive, rocket maker Airbus Defence and Space (formerly Astrium) and jet and rocket engine manufacturer, Safran, have decided to create a new rocket company. The joint venture would become prime contractor for...
