Satellite News

Astrophoto: Centaurus A Image by Johannes SchedlerClick to enlarge
Natural disasters are, unfortunately, something that we must contend with. For example, a flash flood can plunge towns into unexpected chaos, a hurricane strike can suddenly devastate an entire region and science has found evidence of an ancient asteroid impact that curtailed the rein of the dinosaurs by affecting climate across our planet. But these kind of events occur on an even greater scale – natural circumstances can lead to catastrophes that engulf whole galaxies such as seen in this picture.

iDirect Technologies, a company of Vision Technologies Systems Inc., has been selected by Elara Networks, a satellite network service provider in Latin America, to provide the technology platform to Farmacias Similares, a privately held pharmacy chain based in Mexico.

The Boeing Company reported financial results for the second quarter 2006, which include earlier announced charges totalling US$1 billion. Chairman and CEO Jim McNerney said the charges “overshadowed solid fundamentals” during the quarter.

China’s first lunar satellite, Chang’e, has entered its final assembly and testing stage, officials said. They expect the launch to take place as scheduled in 2007.

Japan: Launch of M-V launch vehicle No. 7 / India: Replacement for INSAT-4C

NASA has signed a memorandum of understanding with AirLaunch LLC to explore collaborations in space launch systems and payloads launched from aircraft.

The launch of a Dnepr rocket carrying a total of 18 spacecraft, including Belarus’ BelKa Earth observation satellite, has failed.

Artist impression of Huygens. Image credit: ESAClick to enlarge
When ESA’s Huygens probe landed on the surface of Saturn’s moon Titan last year, it continued to transmit data for 71 minutes. The signal relayed through Cassini had a strange fluctuation in power as the angle between the lander and spacecraft changed. Researchers were able to reproduce this power oscillation when they realized that the signal was bouncing off of pebbles on Titan’s surface. They were able calculate that the surface around Huygens is mostly flat, but littered with 5-10 cm (2-4 inch) rocks.