“Handshake in Space” by Robert McCall, 1974. (NASA)
LUNAR CHRISTMAS – On December 24, 1968, the astronauts of Apollo 8 became the first humans to orbit the Moon. They captured this sequence of amazing images along the way. (NASA)
Zinnia flowers are starting to grow in the International Space Station’s Veggie facility as part of the VEG-01 investigation attempting to grow plants in the form of a growth chamber and planting “pillows,” which provide nutrients for the root system in orbit. These plants appear larger than their ground-based counterparts and scientists expect buds to form on the larger plants soon.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin is dissolving the country’s Federal Space Agency, known as Roscosmos, and turning it into a state-run corporation, according to a statement by the Kremlin. That means Roscosmos will transform from a solely government-funded agency into a company that’s overseen and partially backed by the government. It allows the organization to pursue the country’s overarching space goals while additionally conducting commercial affairs like other private spaceflight companies. The move is meant to fix an agency that has been plagued by corruption and major financial scandals.
The Federal Space Agency has been shut down. The agency’s responsibilities will be transferred to the Roscosmos state corporation
— President of Russia (@KremlinRussia_E) December 28, 2015BLACKSBURG, Va., Dec. 22, 2015 – Researchers at the Ted and Karyn Hume Center for National Security and Technology are preparing to send an amateur radio transponder into a geosynchronous orbit in 2017.
“Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a new ham band will be available for the Americas,” said Robert McGwier, a research professor in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Hume Center’s director of research. “It will allow rapid deployment to disaster areas and support long-haul communications for first responders.”
This would be the first amateur or “ham” radio payload in a geosynchronous orbit, and would significantly enhance communications capabilities for amateur radio operators, in particular following natural disasters or other emergency situations. The Hume Center team met with Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate in September to discuss the project.
The would-be Moon mining companies won a major victory in November when President Obama signed into law the US Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act. The bill’s express purpose is to “facilitate commercial exploitation for, and commercial recovery of, space resources by United States citizens.” This gave space mining companies a green light to mine the Moon.
And now the Federal Aviation Administration may help, too, said George Nield. He heads up the FAA’s commercial space office, which monitors the private US space industry and ensures compliance with safety regulations. But Nield is not just interested in being a regulator; he sees the potential of these companies to further space exploration.
After traveling into space, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket successfully lands upright on solid ground at Cape Canaveral, Florida, December 21, 2015. (SpaceX)
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