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[waldron] 19/10/2006 06:26

Last Updated: Wednesday, 18 October 2006, 19:14 GMT 20:14 UK

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US adopts tough new space policy

The document outlines US military and commercial ambitions in space
The US has adopted a tough new policy aimed at protecting its interests in space and denying "adversaries" access there for hostile purposes.
The document - signed by President Bush - also says "freedom of action in space is as important to the United States as air power and sea power".

The document rejects any proposals to ban space weapons.

But the White House has said the policy does not call for the development or deployment of weapons in space.


The United States will preserve its rights, capabilities, and freedom of action in space... and deny, if necessary, adversaries the use of space capabilities hostile to US national interests

US National Space Policy in full (44K)
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However, some military experts warn that by refusing to enter into negotiations on space weaponry, the US is likely to fuel international suspicions that it will develop such weapons.

The 10-page strategic document states that the US national security "is critically dependent upon space capabilities, and this dependence will grow".

"The United States will preserve its rights, capabilities, and freedom of action in space... and deny, if necessary, adversaries the use of space capabilities hostile to US national interests," it says.


Satellite fears

The document also sets out US commercial ambitions, saying it is committed to encouraging and facilitating a growing entrepreneurial space sector.



The Bush administration says there is no shift in its policy
It is the first revision in US space policy for 10 years, and it is a forthright one, the BBC's Nick Miles in Washington says.

It addresses concerns voiced in a 2001 Pentagon report that said technological advances would enable potential enemies to disrupt orbiting US satellites, our correspondent says.

Unclassified details of the policy published on the internet say space capabilities, including spy and other communication satellites, are essential for national security.

But the White House said the policy was not a prelude to putting weapons in orbit and that there was no shift in US policy.

"The notion that you would do defence from space is different from that of weaponisation of space. We're comfortable with the policy", White House spokesman Tony Snow said.

President Bush authorised the policy in August but it was not released until October.

During the Cold War, President Ronald Reagan proposed a defence shield using laser or particle beam technology to "intercept and destroy" incoming nuclear missiles.

The Strategic Defence Initiative, or "Star Wars" programme as it came to be known, was abandoned in 1993.

[waldron] 17/10/2006 15:16

Alcatel wins 48-satellite order
By Rob Coppinger
On 15 November, Franco-Italian joint venture Alcatel Alenia Space is expected to sign a contract - potentially worth billions of euros - to become the prime contractor for 48 low Earth orbit (LEO) 500kg (1,100lb) communication satellites for mobile communication provider Globalstar.

Last week, the European satellite manufacturer announced its €7.7 million ($9.6 million) authorisation to proceed (ATP) agreement with Globalstar.

This will see Alcatel Alenia Space conduct a programme readiness review and develop milestones for Globalstar's second generation of satellites that will populate the 48-spacecraft constellation.

The constellation's 500kg, 1kW power satellites that Alcatel Alenia Space is to design, develop and deliver, will have a life span of 15 years while operating in LEO. The ATP will end when the constellation contract is signed in November.

[grupo guitarlumber] 13/10/2006 08:54

Thales, Finmeccanica plan JV to acquire Alcatel space unit - report

PARIS (AFX) - Thales and Finmeccanica are seeking authorisation from the
European Commission to create a joint venture to acquire Alcatel unit Alcatel
Alenia Space, the daily Le Figaro said, without citing sources.
Thales agreed earlier this year to acquire Alcatel's 67 pct in the space
entity, in which Finmeccanica has 33 pct, as part of a broader agreement that
would also see Alcatel's stake in Thales rise to 21.6 pct from 9.5.
The commission has set a Nov 14 deadline for its inquiry into the planned
deal.

[e-mail]
mjs/jfr

[rabbit16] 23/9/2006 10:18

Catch a falling share, and put it in clive's pocket, save it for a rainy day?



Nope, just buy shares that clive 'knowing' purchases, go bankrupt, then write a note, leave it on the side, and kill yourself.


Actually, there's no point in the bankrupt bit if you're going to take the final plunge.


Sorry, I wasn't thinking straight.


Anyway, to re-cap....if you're searching for a star, or a share, then my advice would be....

'knowing' is a f8cking idiot.



Rabbit.

[mad3it] 21/9/2006 11:35

What were you doing in my box ? I have a seat in every directors box in the country, and I often fly to several games each weekend. Eat your heart out, Franz Beckanbauer.

[scuba doo] 21/9/2006 10:48

Bumped into Mick Mcarthy in the directors box at Hull City last Friday night if that counts ?





































Will someone please ask me why I was in the directors box .





























Thanks in advance .

[waldron] 18/9/2006 09:34

Last Updated: Monday, 18 September 2006, 04:12 GMT 05:12 UK

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Lift-off for woman space tourist

Ms Ansari replaced a Japanese businessman on the trip


Shuttle launch
The first woman space tourist has blasted off on a Russian Soyuz rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.
The mission is carrying Iranian-born businesswoman, Anousheh Ansari, along with a fresh crew for the International Space Station (ISS).

Ms Ansari, a 40-year-old US citizen, is thought to have paid at least $20m (£10.6m) for the mission.

Lift-off took place at 1010 local time (0410 GMT) and the Soyuz has entered orbit successfully, officials said.

The mission is expected to reach the ISS on Wednesday.

The Atlantis shuttle, which undocked from the ISS on Sunday, is expected to land back on Earth on Wednesday.

'Fragile Earth'

Ms Ansari is accompanying Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and US astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria, who will join German astronaut Thomas Reiter on the station.

She is the fourth space tourist.

Ahead of lift-off Ms Ansari said she was an ambassador for attracting private investment into space programmes.

Ms Ansari, who made her fortune in telecoms, also said the trip would put the planet into perspective.

"You'll see how small and how fragile the Earth is compared to the rest of the universe. It will give us a better sense of responsibility."

On the ISS, Ms Ansari will carry out experiments on back pain for the European Space Agency.

Ms Ansari replaced Japanese businessman Daisuke Enomoto, who dropped out due to unspecified medical reasons.

Cosmonaut Tyurin said Ms Ansari had been "very professional" in her training.

Ms Ansari will return on 28 September with two other space station occupants.

The returning Atlantis crew has seen the addition of two massive solar panel wings for the station's power generation

[skank doggy] 09/9/2006 17:58

DID "STEVE" USE WEB POLLS TO GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT HTD POSTERS?

[tpaulbeaumont] 06/9/2006 09:40

lol!

forgot to mention, im tenuously related to Zoe, of 'sunshine on a rainy day' fame

[rabbit16] 06/9/2006 09:32

mad3it.. LOL!


Rabbit.

[ariane] 02/9/2006 08:26

The Times September 02, 2006


Star wars between Russia, China and US
By Giles Whittell



WHEN the next US astronauts to head for the moon finally get there, they should be ready to dodge abandoned lunar buggies left by competing spacefarers. For a new space race is under way, and every major space agency except Europe's is taking part.
The Orion programme commissioned this week by Nasa from Lockheed is expected to put Americans back on the moon by 2019. But Russia hopes to send an unmanned vehicle there (for the first time in 30 years) in 2016. China has hinted at plans for a manned lunar mission the following year.



Not since the Cold War have the prospects for a broad-based resumption of human space exploration been this bright. But now, as then, the motives of those involved have less to do with science than national interest and prestige.

Michael Griffin, the Nasa administrator, has scheduled visits to both China and India this year. But he has little in technological terms to gain from either, and the US has shown its determination to deny China access to its own space technology by routinely refusing visas even to Chinese scientists hoping to visit international conferences in the US.

Zhang Qingwei, head of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, said recently that he hoped his exchanges with Nasa would "become more reciprocal".

One of his Russian counterparts has described a "totally different situation" in his dealings with Nasa since President Bush announced his plan two years ago for astronauts to head back to the moon. Collaboration, he added, was "falling apart" as rival agencies seriously considered potential future economic exploitation of the moon's resources - once the preserve of science fiction.

And Europe's role? To supply the International Space Station with the Italian-built Columbus laboratory, and fly other supply missions. No Euronauts are scheduled to get close to the moon soon.

[ariane] 02/9/2006 08:04

The Times September 02, 2006


Market for space odysseys growing astronomically
By David Robertson

The private-sector space industry is enjoying strong growth as investers look to the future


AFTER the destruction of America's Columbia space shuttle three years ago, the final frontier was in danger of becoming a frontier too far.



The shuttle programme began to be wound down, aspirations for the International Space Station were scaled back and scientific projects such as the Hubble telescope were decommissioned.

However, beyond the shuttle, space is a booming market and, for the first time, much of the drive is coming from the private sector. The multibillion-dollar satellite business continues to be very important to companies including Boeing, Lockheed Martin and EADS, which builds the Ariane rocket.

Russia, China and Japan also have growing commercial satellite launch systems.

Manned flight is also making a comeback, with Lockheed Martin winning a $4 billion (£2.1 billion) contract from Nasa to build the next generation of manned spacecraft for the United States.

The Orion project, which was announced two days ago, will replace the space shuttle from about 2014. According to Lockheed Martin, Orion will transport "a new generation of human explorers to and from the International Space Station, the Moon, and eventually to Mars and beyond".

However, while these giant aerospace corporations soak up government-funded projects, there are dozens of small companies, often backed by successful and famous entrepreneurs, that are already aiming for the stars.

The highest-profile of these is Virgin Galactic, which has signed up about 200 people for suborbital flights starting in 2008, including the Superman director Bryan Singer.

Galactic's space ship is being built by Paul Allen, the Microsoft co-founder, and Burt Rutan, an aerospace designer. Sir Richard Branson is providing the commercial power and the company has already taken $16.8 million in deposits from customers.

The five proposed Virgin Galactic ships will be launched from a carrier aircraft at about 55,000ft and then rocket up to 70 miles above the Earth.

The passengers will be on the very edge of space before gliding back to Earth.

However, tourism is only the start of Virgin's plans. Will Whitehorn, president of Virgin Galactic, said: "In time, we want to be launching orbital craft, science ships and transport ships, but we think that to get there we need to develop the tourism market first. That is where the demand is at the moment and we are telling our customers that they are helping us to invest in the future of space travel."

The Russians were the first to recognise that tourism could be used to fund other space activities and in two weeks they will carry their fourth paying customer to the International Space Station. Anousheh Ansari, who lives in Texas, has paid $20 million for the trip on the Soyuz rocket. She is indulging part of her $750 million fortune, which she made by setting up an American telecoms company, on the eight-day trip.

Other high-tech entrepreneurs are also moving from the digital world to out-of-this world. Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, has set up Blue Origin to build a three-man suborbital rocket ship.

John Carmack, developer of Doom and Quake, the computer games, has set up Armadillo Aerospace to build liquid oxygen and ethanol rocket ships. Elon Musk, who founded PayPal, has just won a $278 million contract from Nasa to build a cargo spaceship.

Mr Whitehorn said: "Space has been a government monopoly for 50 years and it will take people like us to prove that we can make it work in the private sector too."

ROUTE TO MARS

Nasa and the European Space Agency (ESA) are focusing on Mars as the medium-term goal of their exploration programmes. Both intend to send a flotilla of unmanned craft there over the next decade and a half, and the Americans are also planning manned missions to the Moon to test technologies that would be required for a Martian voyage.


2007

Nasa will launch the Phoenix, a relatively cheap landing probe, to Mars.


2008

Nasa will launch the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which will survey potential landing sites for manned missions.


2009

Launch date for Mars Science Laboratory, which will be the most sophisticated lander sent to the Red Planet. The nuclear-powered rover will be twice the size of the Spirit and Opportunity probes that landed there in 2004 and will look for signs of life. It is to arrive in the autumn of 2010.


2010

The scheduled completion date for the International Space Station (ISS). Atlantis, Discovery and Endeavour, the remaining Nasa shuttles, are to be retired, leaving Nasa without its own manned spaceflight capacity until Orion becomes operational. Until then Nasa will rely on Russian Soyuz modules to launch astronauts.


2011

Proposed launch date for ESA's ExoMars rover. ESA's member states have pledged €650 million to the project, which may enable the agency to launch a dedicated Mars orbiter at the same time. Instruments will seek life.


2014

Proposed date for the launch of Orion. A crew of six will go into low Earth orbit and visit the ISS. The same module is designed to take four to the Moon. Nasa intends that it will form a key part of a Mars mission, possibly transferring astronauts to a staging post on the Moon.


2016


ESA and Nasa are planning return missions to Mars; unmanned probes would land, collect samples and return to Earth. The agencies may end up collaborating on a single project.


2020

Nasa proposes to send Orion astronauts to the Moon.


2025 to 2035

Likely period in which Nasa and/or ESA will embark on a manned mission to Mars.

[rabbit16] 01/9/2006 14:22

I wasn't too impressed with what she'd done with her hare to be honest.


I've got to go back out, but I can see that site taking up a fair bit of my time.


Cheers,


Rupes.