Martian avalanche!
Linked by Phil Plait at Discover.
Spring is approaching the northern hemisphere of Mars as well, and with it comes the thaw of carbon dioxide ice. Some of that dry ice sits at the tops of cliffs, and when it thaws it dislodges the material there. The rock and debris on Mars then does the same thing it would do on Earth: it falls. Fast.
Wayne
Next available flight date for SOCEM: March 22
The next available opportunity to fly SOCEM is March 22. A live video feed of the launch may be found at the here.
Wayne
Weather delays today's "SOCEM" suborbital
The launch planned for today has been scrubbed because of weather. Information on the next launch opportunity should be available soon.
"SOCEM," which stands for Sub-orbital Cubesat Experimental Mission, is a test of the Terrier-Improved Malemute sounding rocket and Cubesat launcher that may open new opportunities in fast access to space.
Kentucky Space's payload will be ejected and test components that will fly on future orbital missions.
Please follow @KySpace and @KySpaceADAMASat on Twitter.
Wayne
Image credit: NASA
NanoRacks signs agreement with American Aerospace
NanoRacks LLC has signed an agreement with American Aerospace to fly on STS-133 this September.
The on-orbit research opportunity was enabled through a partnership with NASA under a Space Act Agreement as part of the utilization of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory.
Wayne
More than hardware: Discovery flying "new business model" to space station
Aviation Week has published a terrific article on the Shuttle Discovery flight, STS-131, that will take the innovative microgravity research NanoRacks platform and two "Cubelabs" to the International Space Station next month.
The flight is more than a simple delivery of hardware built right here in Kentucky, exciting as that is, but "could be a harbinger of how the U.S. hopes to do business in space in the years to come."
In addition to space station work, NanoRacks also also discussion with a other space companies about the use of the standard interface across several different space vehicles, orbital and suborbital, "so the customer can concentrate on developing the experiment or other hardware to be flown."
That's key. A focus on something other than the sheer technical challenge of getting to and staying in space represents an exciting new development in the commercialization of space. Working with NanoRacks, Kentucky Space is not only carving out a place for Kentucky-built and integrated suborbital and orbital payloads, but participating directly in the growth of space as a business frontier.
The managing partner for NanoRacks, Jeffrey Manber, also spoke on camera recently while in Lexington about the upcoming flight. Please check it out.
Wayne
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