NASA - NASA's Launch Blog - Mission STS-120 "11:38 a.m. - Three... two... one... and liftoff of space shuttle Discovery carrying the seven STS-120 astronauts! The shuttle has cleared the launch tower, beginning its mission to bring Harmony to the International Space Station. " http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts120/launch/launch-blog.html
Oct. 23 STS-120 STS-120 will be the twenty-third mission to the International Space Station and will deliver the U.S. Node 2 Harmony module expanding the space station's capability for future international laboratories. Launch Time: 11:38 a.m. EDT
Technicians Replace Discovery Strut Seals 09/20 NASA managers will assess the ongoing work to decide how it might affect Discovery’s Oct. 23 target launch date.
Axion Gone: New tests find no sign of anomalous particle: Science News Online, Oct. 20, 2007 "Last year, physicists reported seeing tantalizing experimental traces of the axion, a hypothetical subatomic particle that's been mentioned as a possible constituent of cosmic dark matter. But the axion was showing up where theory said it shouldn't be. It now looks as if it wasn't there after all." http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20071020/fob5.asp
AFP: Back in the space race: Russian revival raises new questions "It wants Russia's help as the troubled US Space Shuttle is due to be taken out of service in 2010 and a replacement is not due before 2014.
Moscow says it is happy to comply. It plans to double the number of Soyuz launches from 2009 to four a year and could carry out 10 launches a year by 2015 with the planned production of a six-seater vehicle, says a top official with spacecraft producer RKK Energiya, Alexander Derechin." http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5gRk99GNVoH86nqbv02LPbMtAIjqg
IEEE Spectrum: Space Station: Internal NASA Reports Explain Origins of June Computer Crisis In the weeks that followed the crisis and apparent recovery, station commander Fyodor Yurchikhin and his fellow cosmonaut Oleg Kotov disassembled the boxes and cabling and inspected every angle of the hardware, occasionally assisted by their American crewmate, Clayton Anderson. Multiple scopes and probes had failed to find the flaw, but their eyes and fingers eventually did. The connection pins from the power-monitoring device they'd bypassed earlier, they found, were wet—and corroded. The final report described the “change in appearance” of fasteners on one box's connectors and noted “the presence of deposits and residue on the housings, and residue and spots on the contact surfaces.” http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/oct07/5598
International Space Station malfunction in June could have been catastrophic - Anablog - Blog on EDN - 1700000170 "All three computers shut down because they ran a “shutdown” signal on the same connector as the three power feeds and that connector got wet and shorted from condensate that was induced by a nearby humidifier. " http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=blog&blog_id=1700000170&blog_post_id=1780015978
The Space Review: Weaponization of space: who’s to blame? "The latest inflammatory round in this cosmic debate of “It’s America’s fault again” is now taking place, coincident with the well-justified celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Space Age by the USSR’s Sputnik." http://www.thespacereview.com/article/976/1
Letter: the weaponization of space: The Space Review "In his recent article (see “Weaponization of space: who’s to blame?”, The Space Review, October 9, 2007) James Oberg heaps shame upon the space-war “fearmongers” : he claims they are “part of the problem, not part of the solution, which is accuracy”. However, there is good reason to fear the proliferation of space weapons and what is accurate is that space weapons are dangerous to the US security." http://www.thespacereview.com/article/980/1
"Some scientists believe that much dust was in fact created by an early generation of short-lived stars that went supernova, instead." Stars, Humans May Owe Origin To Black Hole Dust on Wired Science http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/10/stars-humans-ma.html
宇宙そのものが巨大なブラックホール？ 暗黒エネルギーを説明する新説 /WIRED VISION http://wiredvision.jp/news/200710/2007101223.html Dark Energy Explained? Maybe If Universe Is Like a Black Hole... on Wired Science New Scientist reports on an intriguing suggestion by South Korean physicist Jae-Weon Lee: http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/10/dark-energy-exp.html
"Funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the finished array will have 350 six-metre antennas and will be one of the world's largest. The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) will be able to sweep more than one million star systems for radio signals generated by intelligent beings. Its creators hope it will help spot definite signs of alien life by 2025." Skies to be swept for alien life | BBC NEWS| Technology http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7041183.stm
"Funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, the finished array will have 350 six-metre antennas and will be one of the world's largest. The Allen Telescope Array (ATA) will be able to sweep more than one million star systems for radio signals generated by intelligent beings. Its creators hope it will help spot definite signs of alien life by 2025." Skies to be swept for alien life | BBC NEWS| Technology http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7041183.stm
NASA - Cassini Mission to Saturn Celebrates 10 Years Since Launch "Cassini rode into space Oct. 15, 1997, atop a U.S. Air Force Titan IVB. Its mission: to orbit and study the Saturnian system for four years and to put the European Space Agency's Huygens Probe in position to parachute down to the frozen surface of Saturn's Earthlike moon Titan. Since entering orbit around Saturn, Cassini's scientific instruments, powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators, have returned immense amounts of new information via NASA's global Deep Space Network to the international team of scientists working on the mission. " http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassinif-20071011.html
October 10, Wednesday 7:30 a.m. - ISS Expedition 16 Spaceflight Participant Launch Day Preparations & Crew Suit-Up B-Roll Feed from Baikonur, Kazakhstan - JSC (Public and Media Channels)
RussiaToday : SciTech : Next space mission to ISS draws closer "Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor was one of 11,000 Malaysians who applied to live and work onboard the Russian segment of the International Space Station during a ten-day mission. All the three members are scheduled to fly to the ISS on a Russian "Soyuz" spaceship on October 10. " http://www.russiatoday.ru/scitech/news/14435
Malaysian Astronaut Won't Ignore Faith:The Associated Press "After months of discussion and two international conferences, the Islamic National Fatwa Council came up with guidelines as to how Muslim astronauts should observe daily rituals. The rules were published in 12-page booklet titled "Muslim Obligations in the International Space Station." Observant Muslims are required to turn toward Mecca — located in Saudi Arabia — and kneel and pray five times a day. However, with the space station circling the Earth 16 times a day, kneeling in zero gravity to pray — or facing toward Mecca for that matter — makes fulfilling those religious obligations difficult. Malaysia's National Fatwa Council ruled that Muslim astronauts will not be required to kneel to pray if the absence of gravity makes it too hard. Facing Mecca while praying will be left to the "best abilities" of the astronaut, the council said. Adding to the difficulties is the fact that the launch coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan — when Muslims are expected to fast from dawn until dusk. The fatwa decided the fasting may be postponed until returning to Earth. Other exceptions include allowing simple silent prayer if performing physical rituals is impossible. Shukor will return to Earth Oct. 20 along with two members of the station's current crew — cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov." http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ixZ6y6l-lnUpk1TD1EPyGPHDveqw
"The program to send a Malaysian to space was conceived in 2003 when Russia agreed to send a Malaysian to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of Malaysia's 3.4 billion ringit (1 billion U.S. dollars) purchase of 18 Russian-made Sukhoi 30-MKM jet fighters." Malaysia astronaut to space to be decided at last minute http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-09/24/content_6785383.htm
Lunar Prospector Launch Date: 7 January 1998 http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunarprosp.html Lunar Exploration Timeline Kaguya (SELENE) - Sep 14, 2007 - Lunar Orbiter Chang'e 1 - Late 2007 - Lunar Orbiter 2008 Chandrayaan-1 - Apr 9, 2008 - Lunar Orbiter Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - Oct, 2008 - Lunar Orbiter Lunar-A - Cancelled - Orbiter and Penetrators http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/lunartimeline.html "-- January 24, 1990: A cylindrical Japanese spacecraft, Hiten, carries a small satellite into space to test and verify technologies for future missions to the moon and planets. It is intentionally crashed into the lunar surface on April 10, 1993." http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSSP10336320071009 超高速インターネット衛星「WINDS」の愛称は「きずな」に決定！ JAXAのトップページはほとんど常時 "愛称"が大事なようだし 役所仕事(皮肉)
Lunar X-Ray Telescope Passes First Hurdle "The telescope is called MagEX, which stands for "Magnetosheath Explorer in X-rays" "MagEX was submitted to NASA for consideration in their Lunar Sortie Science Opportunites (LSSO) programme and has cleared the first selection hurdle; it will now receive NASA funding for a technical feasibility study." http://newsblaze.com/story/20071008153431tsop.nb/newsblaze/TOPSTORY/Top-Stories.html
Stars and Stripes: Tiny base assimilates into Japanese town The Americans work for Raytheon and Chenega Blackwater Solutions, who, respectively, run the missile radar and provide security at the base.
In the past year, a couple of workers were sent home as punishment. But Hunter has no direct control over their privilege to hold a license, as he does over soldiers. "The local community has responded as well. Lt. Col. Masaru Ohta, the Japan Air Self Defense Force’s 21st Air Defense Missile Squadron commander, ensures Americans get invited to festivals and meetings. And the city of Tsugaru, which oversees the smaller community of Shariki, has built a police koban in the village." http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=56856&archive=true WIRED VISION / 「傭兵会社」ブラックウォーター：日本でも警備業務 "米Blackwater社に雇われたガンマンが歩き回っているのはバグダッドやニューオリンズの街中ばかりではない。 Blackwater社のスタッフは実は日本にも入っていて、この国にある、議論の多い弾道ミサイル防衛システムを警備している。
Blackwater founder comes under fire - USATODAY.com "Today, at 38, Prince, chief of Blackwater USA, has a real army — or at least the makings of one, with weapons, aircraft, armored vehicles and a thousand or more battle-hardened security personnel. He also has something he has spent his professional life avoiding: publicity.
He appeared last week before a mostly hostile U.S. House committee investigating deadly shootings by Blackwater guards in Iraq." http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2007-10-08-blackwater-prince_N.htm
Director-General condemns the killing of Japanese photo journalist Kenji Nagai in Myanmar: UNESCO-CI http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=25463&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
UNESCO Remembers Assassinated Journalists: UNESCO-CI "dedicated to journalists who were assassinated in the exercise of their profession. It remembers their contribution to freedom of expression, democracy and peace." http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=16998&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
The failure of the international community to prevent the massacre following the 1988 people's uprising causing the death of over 3000 protestors must not be repeated. The world is watching and while the time for mere words has passed, decisive action is now needed. No state can condone such actions. I therefore echo the United Nations Secretary-General and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights' recent press statements and recall that the use of excessive force, killings, arbitrary arrest or ill-treatment of peaceful protesters is strictly prohibited under international law and could invoke individual criminal responsibility.
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
"The Human Rights Situation in Myanmar", Fifth Special Session Human Rights
Council, 2 October 2007, Geneva, Statement by Special Rapporteur on
the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, Mr. Paulo Se'rgio Pinheiro"
"On behalf of the Burmese people I salute the courage of Mr Kenji Nagai, a Japanese journalist... who sacrificed his life whilst recording media footage of gun shots to educate the global citizens."
Director-General condemns the killing of Japanese photo journalist ... UNESCO (Communiqués de presse) - Paris,France The Director-General of UNESCO Koïchiro Matsuura condemned the killing of Japanese photo journalist Kenji Nagai in Rangoon and echoed the call by UN ... See all stories on this topic
LA professor triggers Myanmar Web shutdown Reuters Canada - Toronto,Ontario,Canada The government has since admitted responsibility for the death of the journalist Kenji Nagai. A video of Nagai's killing on September 27 was sent to Ryan ... See all stories on this topic
Monks from rebel age group a rare sight Sydney Morning Herald - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia Japan's video news agency APF News president Toru Yamaji (R) pays his respects at the location where Japanese journalist Kenji Nagai was killed in September ... See all stories on this topic
Monks are now absent from protests in Burma as many have been detained by the junta, an undercover reporter says. As journalists are not allowed inside Burma, the reporter cannot be named for security reasons http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_7010000/newsid_7019900/7019996.stm?bw=bb&mp=wm&asb=1&news=1&ms3=54 Al Jazeera's correspondent in Myanmar says the military is now firmly back in control of the country's streets. He has not been named for his own safety. http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/63E88A88-1738-4256-9504-4069923BD79B.htm
Atlantis Engine Heat Shields Being Removed Today
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Technicians are removing Atlantis' space shuttle main engine heat shields
today. Teams will remove the forward reaction control system Thursday.
Endeavour/Discovery Move Delayed to Thursday
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Teams will not move Endeavour and Discovery between facilities at NASA's
Kennedy Space Center in Florida today due to weather. Teams are targeting a
roll a...
Endeavour/Discovery Move Delayed to Thursday
-
Teams will not move Endeavour and Discovery between facilities at NASA's
Kennedy Space Center in Florida today due to weather. Teams are targeting a
roll a...
