Russia to send woman to space in 2014

Moscow (Voice of Russia)
Dec 16, 2013

Russia will send a female cosmonaut into space for the first time in two decades next year, an official at the space training center said Wednesday. Yelena Serova, 36 and a professional cosmonaut, "is getting ready for a space flight in the second half of 2014," said Alexei Temerov, an official at Russia's Star City space training center.

Russia will this year celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first woman's trip to space. The feat was accomplished by Valentina Tereshkova on June 16, 1963, and was followed by that of another Soviet cosmonaut, Svetlana Savitskaya, who became the first woman to do a space walk.

But while NASA regularly sends female astronauts to work at the International Space Station (ISS), there has been only one Russian woman to fly to space since the early 1980s, Yelena Kondakova.

Kondakova spent five months in space on the since-retired Mir station in 1994-1995. She also traveled aboard the US Space Shuttle in 1997.

Yelena Serova will spend six months at the ISS, Temerov said.

"Her work program at the ISS will not be anything extraordinary. It will be the usual research program. A space walk is not planned," he added.

A second woman currently in training, 28-year-old Anna Kikina, has joined the cosmonaut program after becoming one of eight people selected in last year's recruitment drive.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Russia_to_send_woman_to_space_in_2014_999.html.

China's Jade Rabbit lunar rover sends first photos from moon

Beijing (AFP)
Dec 16, 2013

China's Jade Rabbit rover vehicle sent back photos from the moon Sunday after the first lunar soft landing in nearly four decades marked a huge advance in the country's ambitious space program.

The Yutu, or Jade Rabbit, was deployed at 4:35 am (2035 GMT Saturday), several hours after the Chang'e-3 probe landed on the moon, said the official news agency Xinhua.

The rover and lander began taking photos of each other late Sunday, including one that showed the bright red and yellow stars of the Chinese flag on the Jade Rabbit as it stands on the moon's surface.

Xinhua said the photographing began at about 11:42 pm after the rover moved to a spot a few meters away from the lander.

The color images were transmitted live to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center, where Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang watched the broadcast.

China is the third country to complete a lunar rover mission after the United States and the former Soviet Union -- a decade after it first sent an astronaut into space.

Beijing plans to establish a permanent space station by 2020 and eventually send a human to the moon.

The mission is seen as a symbol of China's rising global stature and technological advancement, as well as the Communist Party's success in reversing the fortunes of the once-impoverished nation.

Ma Xingrui, chief commander of China's lunar program, declared the mission a "complete success" after the photographs showed the lander and rover were working, Xinhua said.

A message from the party's Central Committee, the State Council -- China's cabinet -- and the Central Military Commission branded the touchdown a "milestone" in China's space program, as cited by Xinhua late Sunday.

"One Giant Leap for China," read the headline in Hong Kong's Sunday Morning Post, evoking the words in 1969 of American astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon.

The landing, nearly two weeks after blast-off, was the first of its kind since the former Soviet Union's mission in 1976.

State broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) featured extensive coverage of the mission and China's wider space ambitions.

Rover to look for natural resources

The potential to extract the moon's resources has been touted as a key reason behind Beijing's space program, with the moon believed to hold uranium, titanium, and other mineral resources, as well as offering the possibility of solar power generation.

"China wants to go to the moon for geostrategic reasons and domestic legitimacy," said China space expert Joan Johnson-Freese, a professor of national security affairs at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

"With the US exploration moribund at best, that opens a window for China to be perceived as the global technology leader -- though the US still has more, and more advanced, assets in space."

News of the landing quickly made an impact on China's hugely popular Internet message boards, topping the list of searched items.

"The China dream has finally progressed one step forward!" wrote one user.

On its Sunday afternoon broadcast, CCTV aired video taken by the lander showing the rover leaving tracks in the dust as it gently coasted onto the moon's surface and rolled away.

The probe touched down on a 400-kilometre (250-mile) wide plain known in Latin as Sinus Iridum, or the Bay of Rainbows.

Before landing, the probe slowed down from 1,700 meters (5,610 feet) per second and then hovered for about 20 seconds, using sensors and 3D imaging to identify a flat area.

Thrusters were then deployed 100 meters from the lunar surface to gently guide the craft into position. The landing process started at 9:00 pm on Saturday and lasted for about 12 minutes.

Four minutes after landing, the Chang'e-3 unfolded solar panels that will provide energy to the lander and rover, the China Daily reported.

The landing had been considered the most difficult part of the mission.

The rover will spend about three months exploring the moon's surface and looking for natural resources.

It can climb slopes of up to 30 degrees and travel at 200 meters per hour, according to the Shanghai Aerospace Systems Engineering Research Institute.

The Chang'e-3 mission is named after the goddess of the moon in Chinese mythology, and the rover vehicle is called Yutu after her pet. Yutu's name was chosen in an online poll of 3.4 million voters.

Among those beyond China's borders offering their congratulations on the landing was former US vice president Al Gore, who wrote via Twitter: "Congratulations to China on reaching the moon with its rover -- an impressive soft landing!"

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Chinas_Jade_Rabbit_lunar_rover_sends_first_photos_from_moon_999.html.

SpaceX to bid for rights to historic NASA launch pad

Washington (AFP)
Dec 13, 2013

In a battle of technology titans for the right to lease a historic NASA launch pad in Florida, SpaceX has beat out competitor Blue Origin, the US space agency said Friday.

The California-based SpaceX is owned by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, and Blue Origin is a venture of Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.

"NASA will begin working with SpaceX to negotiate the terms of its lease for LC-39A," the space agency said in a statement, referring to the name of the launchpad.

"During those ongoing negotiations, NASA will not be able to discuss details of the pending lease agreement."

SpaceX became the first private company to send an unmanned cargo capsule to the International Space Station in 2012, and has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA for 12 ISS supply trips.

Blue Origin is working on a rocket-propelled vehicle designed to fly people just to the edge of space, in suborbit. It also has plans to develop a reusable booster rocket and a space vehicle that could reach orbit.

Blue Origin filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office that claimed NASA was unfairly favoring one proposed use of the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center over others.

The GAO denial of that protest means SpaceX can now move ahead with NASA negotiations to lease the Cape Canaveral launch pad from where the iconic Apollo moon missions and space shuttle flights both blasted off.

NASA will reserve its other key launch pad, 39B, for its own use as it develops a deep space launch system and multipurpose vehicle that will someday carry humans to an asteroid and even Mars, the space agency said.

The pad SpaceX will bid on, LC-39A, was the launch spot for the Apollo 11 on its first manned mission to land on the Moon in 1969, the first space shuttle mission in 1981 and the last shuttle mission in 2011.

Source: Space-Travel.
Link: http://www.space-travel.com/reports/SpaceX_to_bid_for_rights_to_historic_NASA_launch_pad_999.html.

The Dragon Has Landed

by Morris Jones
Sydney, Australia (SPX)
Dec 14, 2013

The successful landing of China's Chang'e-3 spacecraft on the Moon is significant for several reasons. This is China's first landing on another heavenly body, and represents an important step forward for their space program. It's also the first object to safely land on the Moon in 36 years, breaking a mission drought that has gone longer than most analysts would have expected.

Like the launch of India's first Mars mission a few weeks ago, the landing of Chang'e-3 also serves as a wake-up call to the world at large. China's space program cannot be ignored or dismissed as a half-hearted effort. China has scored again, and has demonstrated the ability to keep scoring.

This may be China's first lunar landing, but it's hardly a modest try. The Chang'e-3 spacecraft is large, complex and very capable. The rover it carries is the most sophisticated robot ever to operate on the surface of the Moon. The mission will perform scientific experiments that have never been previously attempted on the Moon. The scientific returns will be bountiful.

It's only fair and accurate that the world should pay more attention to China's steadily advancing capabilities in spaceflight. But the reaction to this mission must also be kept in perspective.

This analyst has long suggested that China is steadily developing the technologies to send astronauts to the Moon, and will launch such a mission at some time in the future. But don't hold your breath. Chinese astronauts will not land on the Moon any time soon. A decade from now, they still won't be there. And nobody really knows how long it will take.

The spacecraft used in this mission is another step forward in working towards this ultimate goal. It has demonstrated the basic technologies and capabilities that could be incorporated into a future Chinese astronaut lander.

But there's still a lot of work to do before China can even contemplate such a mission. In any case, China's astronauts will be busy over the next few years flying to a new space laboratory, then a new Chinese Space Station that will appear with the turn of the decade.

The landing of Chang'e-3 is the first in a sequence of four robot lunar landings that China has officially announced. Another rover-carrying mission is next. Later, China will launch two missions to retrieve samples of lunar rocks and return them to Earth. These missions should all be completed over the course of this decade.

As China develops more capabilities in spaceflight, the stage will eventually be set for a human lunar program. China may decide to send astronauts on circumlunar flights that will take them around the Moon without landing.

Eventually, the footpads and rover tracks left by China's robot spacecraft will be joined by human footprints. Naysayers and critics of China's ambitions would do well to inspect the logo of the China Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP), which has operated all of China's three robot lunar missions to date.

The CLEP logo features the Chinese picrographic character for "Moon" tweaked with a dragon's head and peace doves. It also features another graphic at its very center: Two human footprints in space boots. The long-term goal of this first landing is graphically clear.

Source: Space Daily.
Link: http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/The_Dragon_Has_Landed_999.html.

Putin announces crackdown on offshore companies

December 12, 2013

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has announced a set of initiatives to crack down on Russian companies who register and pay taxes in foreign offshore jurisdictions.

Cyprus, Luxembourg and the Netherlands have for years been destinations of choice for thousands of Russian companies, from small ones to industry giants, that sought more predictable legal and tax practices.

Putin said in a state of the nation address on Thursday that foreign-registered companies that operate in Russia and have Russian citizens as beneficiaries will now be obliged to pay taxes in Russia. Russian companies registered in offshore jurisdictions will not be allowed to bid at state tenders, Putin said. State tenders have been a major source of income for many Russian businesses.

Iran brings monkey back safely from space

December 14, 2013

Tehran (AFP) - Iran said on Saturday that it had safely returned a monkey to Earth after blasting it into space in the second such launch this year in its controversial ballistic program.

President Hassan Rouhani congratulated the scientists involved in the mission, in a message carried by the official IRNA news agency.

The report added that the rocket reached a height of 120 kilometers (75 miles).

In January, Iran said it had successfully brought a live monkey, which it named Pishgam (Pioneer), back to Earth from orbit.

But the experiment's success was disputed, when a different monkey was presented to the media after the landing.

An earlier attempt had failed in September 2011.

Iran's space program has prompted concern among Western governments, which fear Tehran is trying to master the technology required to deliver a nuclear warhead.

The Islamic republic insists that its nuclear program is entirely peaceful.

"By the grace of God and through the efforts of Iranian space scientists, the Pajohesh (research) rocket containing the second live space monkey, named Fargam (Auspicious), was sent into space and brought back to Earth safely," Rouhani said in his message.

State television broadcast footage of the rocket launch which state television said took place on Saturday morning.

A helicopter brought a capsule to the scene which the reporter said contained the monkey, and later footage of a monkey wearing a red shirt was shown.

Iran's space program was heavily promoted by Rouhani's controversial predecessor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who quipped in February that he was "ready to be the first Iranian to be sacrificed by the scientists of my country and go into space, even though I know there are a lot of candidates".

To the dismay of animal welfare groups, Fargam was following in the footsteps of a menagerie of dogs and monkeys that were among the early stars of the US and Soviet space programs in the 1960s.

Earlier this year, Iranian space officials raised the prospect of sending a Persian cat into space.

"Iran's archaic experiment... is a throwback to the primitive techniques of the 1950s," People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spokesman Ben Williamson said at the time.

The stated aim of Iran's program is a manned launch by 2020.

The program deeply unsettles Western governments as the technology used in space rockets can also be used in ballistic missiles.

The UN Security Council has imposed an almost total embargo on the export of nuclear and space technology to Iran since 2007.

Tehran denies its space program has any link with its alleged nuclear ambitions.

Iran sends second monkey into space

December 14, 2013

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran said Saturday it has successfully sent a monkey into space for a second time, part of an ambitious program aimed at manned space flight.

Iran's state TV said that the launch of the rocket dubbed Pajohesh, or Research in Farsi, was Iran's first use of liquid fuel. It reached a height of 120 kilometers (72 miles). It said the monkey, named Fargam or Auspicious, was returned to earth safely.

TV footage showed the rocket blasting off and then showed the monkey, strapped snugly into a seat. The report said Fargam's capsule parachuted safely to earth after detaching from the rocket in a mission that lasted 15 minutes.

Iran frequently claims technological breakthroughs that are impossible to independently verify. The Islamic Republic has said it aims to send an astronaut into space. "The launch of Pajohesh is another long step getting the Islamic Republic of Iran closer to sending a man into space," the official IRNA news agency said.

Fargam is a male monkey of rhesus macaque race with brown fur and a pink face. The primate weighs three kilograms and has a height of 56 centimeters (22 inches). Iranian scientists say a bigger monkey or another animal will be tested in the next space flight.

State TV said the rocket was equipped with new features including sonic sensors and electronic devices that enabled scientists to monitor the monkey, its vital signs and voice. Mohammad Ebrahimi said Iran's first use of liquid fuel meant the rocket's speed was about half that of a rocket using solid fuel.

Iran said it sent its first monkey into space in January, reaching the same height of 120 kilometers (72 miles). "The rocket carrying the first monkey used solid fuel and had a high speed. But a liquid fuel rocket has a lower speed and is better for the safety and protection of the living creature because it causes less pressure," IRNA quoted him as saying. "The capsule was equipped with a shock absorber to provide better protection for the monkey."

Ebrahimi said the monkey's appetite showed it was in good health after the journey. Iran aerospace program is a source of national pride. It's also one of the pillars of its aspirations to be seen as the technological hub for Islamic and developing countries.

The U.S. and its allies worry that technology from the space program could also be used to develop long-range missiles that could potentially be armed with nuclear warheads. In the January mission, one of two official packages of photos of the simian space traveler depicted the wrong monkey, causing some international observers to wonder whether the monkey had died in space or that the launch didn't go well.

But Iranian officials later said one set of pictures showed an archive photo of one of the alternate monkeys. They said three to five monkeys are simultaneously tested for such a flight and two or three are chosen for the launch. Finally, the one that is best suited for the mission is chosen for the voyage.

The Islamic Republic has not revealed where the rocket launch took place, but it has a major satellite launch complex near Semnan, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of Tehran. Iran says it wants to put its own satellites into orbit to monitor natural disasters in the earthquake-prone nation, improve telecommunications and expand military surveillance of the region.