News Stories

[TinyRedLeaf]

Branson: Virgin to launch space tourism in 18 months

Kuala Lumpur (Sept 27, Mon): Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson said today that Virgin Galactic is on track to offer commercial space travel within 18 months, and that space hotels are next on the drawing board.

The project's SpaceshipTwo, an aircraft built by aviation engineer Burt Rutan and designed to carry paying customers into suborbital space, had its maiden flight in the California desert in March.

"We just finished building SpaceShipTwo. We are 18 months away from taking people into space," Mr Branson told a business conference in Kuala Lumpur, adding that the fare will start at US$200,000.

He also has visions of establishing hotels in space, which well-heeled tourists can use as a base for shuttle flights over the moon.

"We are looking at hotels in space. We love the Moon," the tycoon said, adding that he was also interested in launching "small satellites into space" for the benefit of schools and universities.

AFP

Time to start saving perhaps? I'd love to see Earth from space before I die.

[SSIlanya]

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Australian-Troops-Accused-of-Manslaughter-in-Botched-Afghan-Raid--103847318.html

Three former Australian soldiers are being charged with manslaughter in connection with a raid in Afghanistan in which five children died. The charges against the three soldiers relate to an Australian commando raid on a suspected Taliban hideout in Afghanistan's southern Uruzgan province.

Six people, including five Afghan children, were killed in the raid in February 2009. Two other children and two adults vere wounded. The soldiers allegedly attacked the wrong house.

At the time, Australia's Defense Department said the troops had returned fire against militants in accordance with their rules of engagement. Military officials investigated the raid before referring the matter to the independent military prosecutor, Brigadier Lyn McKade.

The brigadier Monday said that three former soldiers involved in the operation would be charged with various offenses. They include manslaughter, dangerous conduct, failing to comply with a lawful general order and prejudicial conduct.

The former commandoes must have the chance to clear their names, said Neil James of the indepdent research group, Australia Defense Association.

"The problem we have got is that if we do not resolve this issue, there will be allegations - possibly scurrilous - hanging over the heads of these diggers [soldiers] and the army, and indeed Australia, for a very long time," he said. "And the bottom line, of course, is the main difference between us and Taliban is we abide by international humanitarian law, and they do not."

Sadly another unfortunate incident in the war against terror. I continue to wish the best of luck to our soldiers and hope the relatives and friends best of luck in overcoming this incident.

[mindovermatter]

civilian deaths during war are incredibly unfortunate and sad...
but if you prosecute for every shot, they should try the president for war crimes...and by extension all of congress (or parliament for Ausi) who voted for funding.
Obviously just from the quote it's hard to judge the situation: why they broke into the wrong house, and why they felt it necessary to shoot...but if I was an 18/19 year old soldier trying not to die..I would definitely shoot first and ask questions later if I thought someone in the house was about to shoot, or the house was boobytraped, etc

[saya_leviathan]

North Korea promotes Kim son to general

Chavez leads Internet attack for Venezuela vote

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by TinyRedLeaf

Branson: Virgin to launch space tourism in 18 months


Time to start saving perhaps? I'd love to see Earth from space before I die.

NASA showdown looms as shuttle workers face layoffs

(Reuters) - With more than 1,500 space shuttle workers facing layoffs this week, legislators say they will take a final shot at passing a blueprint for the U.S. human space program before adjourning ahead of the November 2 congressional elections.

"We're teetering right on the edge," U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, said on Monday at a space policy symposium at the University of Central Florida in Orlando.

With no time left to resolve conflicts between rival House and Senate spending plans for NASA for the fiscal year beginning October 1, the only option to break the gridlock is for the House to vote on the Senate bill, according to a key legislator who said that should happen on Wednesday.

"For the sake of providing certainty, stability and clarity to the NASA workforce and larger space community, I felt it was better to consider a flawed bill than no bill at all as the new fiscal year begins," House Science and Technology Committee chairman Bart Gordon, a Tennessee Democrat, said in a statement.

The U.S. human space program was thrown into turmoil when President Barack Obama, acting on advice from an outside advisory panel, decided to end the agency's follow-on moon program called Constellation, and embark on a more flexible approach to deep space exploration.

That plan, unveiled in February, also would make the government a customer, rather than provider, for crew transportation services to the International Space Station. The proposal has divided legislators and the space community.

The Senate plan reigns in Obama's spending on commercial initiatives and directs NASA to begin work sooner on a heavy-lift rocket that would be needed for missions beyond the space station's orbit.

Passage of the Senate bill this week would not avert the layoffs scheduled for Friday but would authorize programs that will need workers.

"This NASA bill will push development of this new heavy-lift rocket with the goal to fly by 2016. Right off the bat, that would hire 2,000 of the space workers that otherwise would be losing their jobs," Nelson said.

He said another 2,000 workers would eventually be hired by firms developing space taxis and other commercial space services for NASA, under the proposal.

The space station, a $100 billion project of 16 nations, is due to be finished in February with the arrival of a $2 billion particle detector known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. NASA has one shuttle mission before then, a cargo delivery flight scheduled to launch on November 1.

The Senate bill adds another shuttle mission next summer in an attempt to lessen the gap until a new vehicle -- commercially developed or government owned -- is ready. In the meantime, astronauts will be ferried to and from the outpost aboard Russian spaceships.

"This legislation -- we'll find out if it passes this week -- reduces the amount of time we have to depend on Russia," Nelson said. "This week is bittersweet. We have hope for the future with a new space program with exciting new goals while a major job layoff accelerates."

With the shuttle program winding down, prime shuttle contractor United Space Alliance reports 1,222 employees - 877 in Florida, 333 in Texas and 12 in Alabama -- will be laid off on Friday. Another 350 shuttle contractor jobs also are expected to end on Friday.

United Space Alliance is a joint venture between the Boeing Co and Lockheed Martin Corp.

That is 1,500 minds, and close to 15,000 years of combined experience estimated, and $150,000,000 worth of education dollars down the drain. Obama messed up, again.

When it comes to finances, those politicians need to know that they can touch anything but NASA. It was built from scratch and is the only standing testament of technological advancement since the Cold War.

[Frenchie]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

...and close to 15,000 years of combined experience estimated, and $150,000,000 worth of education dollars down the drain.

It'd be nice to provide the source for those numbers. You know, to add to their credibility, if any.

When it comes to finances, those politicians need to know that they can touch anything but NASA. It was built from scratch and is the only standing testament of technological advancement since the Cold War.

NASA hasn't done anything significant since the moon landing.

[justsomeguy]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

It'd be nice to provide the source for those numbers. You know, to add to their credibility, if any.

I think he multiplied based on the number of workers laid off, though I think he's estimating a bit too low. A person involved with the shuttle should have more than 10 years of technical experience and more than $100,000 worth of education.

NASA hasn't done anything significant since the moon landing.

Not true, considering that NASA also conducts materials development, climate studies, medical research, alternative energy research, etc. Just because those are not as spectacular as the moon landing doesn't mean they are not significant.

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

NASA hasn't done anything significant since the moon landing.

uhhhhhh, yeah. Good luck with that theory....

[MeoTwister5]

At least he isn't denying it. Buzz doesn't have to give out righteous punches.

[ganbaru]

Originally Posted by Vexx

uhhhhhh, yeah. Good luck with that theory....

Not much of a theory than a idea based on little information.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...rticle1729730/

It seem than praising Ahmadinejad wasn't enough for not being sentenced.

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/0...-finds/?hpt=C1

Somehow, I am not really surprised by the result of this study.
( I did try the mini test and I got 9 good answer out of ten )

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

It'd be nice to provide the source for those numbers. You know, to add to their credibility, if any.

It is based on estimates. Calculate the minimum amount required for a bachelors' in Aerospace engineering, stacked on with a Master's.

Rough estimate is close to $100k per head without subsidies for an education in any of the sciences.

NASA hasn't done anything significant since the moon landing.

Though NASA hasn't landed anyone else on the moon since the late 1970s, they still send people to space, and Hubble is still working. There is still more to that.

So as with Vexx, good luck with that theory.

[Nosauz]

Again NASA is the exact same as the Tragedy of the Commons. We the tax payers invest great amounts of money into R&D and basically do all the leg work to create the aerospace industry, and the government is just going to now shrug and let the private industries (still being subsidized by us) take lead on this new industry. If the people pay for the R&D we should own the patents as a nation. This shit just keeps on happening, telecom, and many other industries where built on the backs of the US taxpayer yet we always seemed to get fleeced.

[flying ^]

Pedobear is on TV!
But this time somewhere in middle America
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c61...oma?rel=player

[Vexx]

Originally Posted by SaintessHeart

Though NASA hasn't landed anyone else on the moon since the late 1970s, they still send people to space, and Hubble is still working. There is still more to that.

So as with Vexx, good luck with that theory.

Half a dozen amazing Mars missions, a handful of deep space probes that significantly changed our understanding of the solar system, the freaking Hubble Space Telescope which did more to our understanding of astronomy, astrophysics, and cosmology in 20 years than we got done over the last few hundred years, extensive research and practice on long duration space flight (ISS) and how to basically operate in space, and thousands of tiny little important technologies that many corporations have made fortunes using.

R&D that private companies won't/can't do so that the general public benefits (as well as those companies).

And that's with f'd-up politics, bureaucracy, and a masochistic budget slashing crippling in effect.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

NASA hasn't done anything significant since the moon landing.

It's thinking like that among the general public that causes NASA to be a popular target for the budget axe.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Kamui4356

It's thinking like that among the general public that causes NASA to be a popular target for the budget axe.

i guess no one thinks where GPS came from.

[Frenchie]

Nice, guys, nice, I'm liking the bash.

I meant to say 'symbolically significant'. I've lost interest in what NASA was doing. Space exploration beyond the moon, given the technology at our disposal, is fruitless and wasteful.

Satellite technology was invented some time before the moon. That's why I'm saying nothing NASA has done since the landing has impressed me. At all. Rover on mars included.

By the way, give credit where credit is due. GPS technology was created by the DOD (Department of Defense) and established in 1973.

[ChainLegacy]

Given our current global rate of resource consumption I have a hard time processing your belief that exploration beyond the moon is fruitless... If scientific inquiry is not important to you, you need look no further than energy production which will necessarily move to space as the demand continues to rise.

[Frenchie]

Originally Posted by ChainLegacy

Given our current global rate of resource consumption I have a hard time processing your belief that exploration beyond the moon is fruitless... If scientific inquiry is not important to you, you need look no further than energy production which will necessarily move to space as the demand continues to rise.

If you think space is running out on this planet, you have some severe delusions. Exploration beyond the moon is fruitless because there's nothing useful, at this point anyway, that you can find in the solar system that isn't already on this planet.

Call me back when we find tiberium

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by Frenchie

If you think space is running out on this planet, you have some severe delusions. Exploration beyond the moon is fruitless because there's nothing useful, at this point anyway, that you can find in the solar system that isn't already on this planet.

Call me back when we find tiberium

There's little you can find on this planet that doesn't exist in far greater quantities elsewhere in the solar system.