17 Jul 10 Ikaros Spacecraft Successfully Propelled In Space
An anonymous reader writes "Japan's IKAROS spacecraft has already successfully deployed the first solar sail in space, but today it made the only first that really matters: it successfully captured the sun's rays with its 3,000-square-foot sail and used the energy to speed its way through space. Each photon of light exerts 0.0002 pounds of pressure on the 3,000-square-foot sail, and the steady stream of solar exposure has succeeded in propelling the nearly 700-pound drone."
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Tagi: s rays, solar exposure, solar sail, phot, steady stream, spacecraft, square foot, ly, japan, sun
10 Aug 10 First Teddie Bear Astronauts Conquer Space [Space]
Yesterday the Japanese announced the first space beer. Now the British are claiming the first teddy bear astronauts, who were photographed in space from a home-made vessel with two digital cameras, a flight computer, GPS, and radio.
The four cuddly astronauts travelled on board the spacecraft for two hours and nine minutes, reaching the 19 miles high mark powered by a latex weather ballon made by the Space Flight club at Cambridge University. They were wearing special suits made by school children, which saved them from freezing at -63.4º F. No, I'm not kidding. The team was investigating what materials would protect the furrynauts better.
If you haven't melted by now, you are not human. And NASA, wake up and smell the coffee. We are losing another space race here. [Daily Mail]
Tagi: daily mail, flight computer, flight club, cambridge university, space space, space race, brith, space flight, digital cameras, astronauts, spacecraft, teddy bear, nasa, latex, gps, weather, suits, coffee, radio
16 Sep 10 Boeing Teams To Offer Spaceflight Trips
coondoggie writes "Aerospace giant Boeing and outer space tourism proprietors Space Adventures teamed up today to offer low Earth orbit (LEO) flight services onboard Boeing's future commercial crew spacecraft. Under this agreement, Space Adventures will market passenger seats on commercial flights aboard the Boeing Crew Space Transportation-100 (CST-100) spacecraft. Boeing's (CST)-100, which is under development, can hold seven and is bigger than NASA's Apollo orbiter but smaller than NASA's Orion."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Tagi: low earth orbit, aerospace giant, space adventures, flight services, commercial flights, slashdot, orbiter, proprietors, outer space, spacecraft, nasa, boeing, apollo, leo
