太空探索工程 卫星发射 剪报评论

pfg1group

http://www.mpinews.com/htm/INews/20070706/ta51950a.htm

美國太空總署已經同意，花1900萬美元從俄羅斯購買安裝在國際空間站上的抽水馬桶。


太空總署官員表示，這一價格聽起來可能像個天文數字，但比美國自己製造要便宜多了。該局發言人在解釋這套新的抽水馬桶的成本時說，其建造的復雜程度如同在地球在建一個市政處理中心。而且太空人熟悉怎樣操作它，因為它和國際空間站上現有的馬桶類似，這一系統還能直接將尿轉化成飲用水。

據報道，新的抽水馬桶將在2008年安裝在國際空間站美方一側。與舊的系統相比，這套新的系統更注重隱私的保護。


http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070707/8/gxjj.html

太空廁所超高貴　造價6億多台幣

[/url] 更新日期:2007/07/07 17:27 記者:劉芳卿
[size=122%]美國太空總署向俄羅斯訂購了一套在太空使用的馬桶，相當於6億2千多萬台幣的天價，這套設備採用了精密科技，不但能過濾太空水，能將廢水再利用，可以讓太空人的生活，更加方便。

一般馬桶價格在幾千塊左右，不過您知道嗎？美國太空總署NASA，在國際太空站的新廁所，造價高達台幣6億2千多萬的天價！民眾聽了覺得不可思議。民眾萊爾葛恩：「我聽到你說的，我以為你在開玩笑。」

這個將在國際太空站和實驗艙內啟用的新廁所，具有精密的過濾裝置，可以將太空人的尿液透過加工，轉化成可飲用的水，能將廢水回收利用。民眾狄克謝丁：「1千9百萬美元，不簡單的科技。」

沒錯，要克服太空無重力的環境，的確很困難，需要新馬桶的設備，除了需要固定太空人腿部的裝置，以免太空人在無重力下，無法定位而飄走，此外不但要能除臭、供水、消毒，保持清潔，美國太空總署向俄羅斯訂購的這套設備，也將在明年正式啟用。


http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070707/17/gxda.html

把尿變飲水～　NASA花6億買太空馬桶　民眾：誰敢喝？
[size=122%] 更新日期:2007/07/07 15:03 記者:記者何瑞珠、許乃文／編譯
[size=122%]
[size=122%][size=122%]美國太空總署最近決定花1900萬美金、換算約新台幣6億多的天價，向俄羅斯購買1套太空馬桶，這套太空馬桶如此昂貴的原因之一，是能過濾太空人的尿，把尿變成飲用水。

普通馬桶價格1個大約從新台幣幾千塊到幾萬塊不等，但美國太空人用的馬桶1個卻要新台幣6億多，這個宛若天文數字的價格，全因為太空馬桶內含複雜的濾水裝置，能將太空人的尿液轉化成飲用水，由於太空中資源不足，太空人有了這種馬桶後，還能廢水回收飲用。

美國民眾在接受記者訪問時，直呼不可思議，「我聽到了，但我以為你是在開玩笑」、「要用吸管喝嗎」、「一滴水要多少錢？以那個價格，應該用金盤裝吧」。

太空馬桶得克服無重力狀態，加上複雜的濾水裝置，導致價格奇高無比，不過美國民眾關心的竟然不是價格問題，一名美國民眾就說：「你敢喝嗎？老實說應該不行吧？！」

儘管民眾討論熱烈，不過美國太空總署已決定，向俄羅斯購買這套昂貴的太空馬桶，預定2008年安裝在國際太空站中。






[ 本帖最后由 pfg1group 于 7-7-2007 08:20 PM 编辑 ]

pfg1group

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070706/1/gvlx.html

中共發射通訊衛星 成功送入太空軌道
更新日期:2007/07/06 16:30
中共發射一枚長征火箭，成功地將通訊衛星送入太空軌道。

新華社報導，長征三號火箭昨天晚上8:08分，從「西昌」的衛星發射中心載運這枚由法國製造的通訊衛星「中星六B」發射升空，約26分鐘後，火箭與衛星分離，衛星進入太空軌道。「中星六B」衛星主要是為改善亞太地區的通訊品質。這是長征系列火箭進行的第101次的載運任務。長征火箭第一次發射升空是在1970年。

pfg1group

http://www.zaobao.com/gj/gj070707_510.html

美商用卫星拍到 中国最新型核潜艇


　　（华盛顿路透电）中国备有弹道导弹的最新型“晋级”核潜艇终于曝光。
　　美国科学家协会的一名主任克利斯腾森前天说，一个商用卫星去年底在中国东北城市大连拍到这艘核潜艇的模样，当时潜艇是停泊在大连南方的小平岛潜艇基地。

　　这名美国核子专家也说，虽然照片不很清晰，可是，还能看到一个轮廓；它看起来类似俄罗斯的“胜利三型”（Victor-3）潜艇，跟中国1980年代早期的“夏级”潜艇也很相似。

　　这艘长133米的晋级潜艇估计有12个导弹发射孔，它可能携带从海上发射的“巨浪二型”弹道导弹。

　　克利斯腾森在接受电话访问指出，中国的核潜艇通常并不是以小平岛为基地的，而是留驻在更南方的青岛附近。

　　澳洲刚在两天前发表国防战略白皮书，表达了美国和日本一贯关注的课题，就是中国军事发展快速，而且缺乏透明度。

　　克利斯腾森说，美国的海军情报署去年12月估计，中国可能已经建造了5艘晋级潜艇，可是，美国国防部5月间发表的中国军力常年报告却并没有提到晋级潜艇的事。

　　他指出，中国的海军核子发展计划一向都进展缓慢，虽然中国现在亮出这艘核潜艇的模样，但是相信这是经过多年才建成的。

　　中国一般上让外国人从空中俯瞰潜艇的雄姿，目的也许是要激起阻吓作用。

　　克利斯腾森说：“他们拥有（晋级潜艇）是事实，把潜艇移来移去也是事实，我肯定用意是要告示天下！”


http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070705/16/gv7i.html

中國最新型"晉級"核子潛艦首度被商用衛星曝光[size=122%]路透華盛頓電---美國科學家協會(FAS)一名核子專家週四說，中國最新型彈道飛彈潛艦「晉級」潛艦首度被商用衛星發現其行蹤。

FAS的主任克利斯騰森(Hans Kristensen)說，這艘晉級潛艦2006年底在中國大連南方被衛星拍攝到。

他說，雖然照片並不清晰，但是該潛艦看起來是以俄羅斯Victor-3型為基礎，類似中國1980年代初期的夏級核子潛艦。

晉級潛艦長133米，估計有12個發射孔，可能將攜帶巨浪二型潛射彈道導彈。發現晉級潛艦行蹤的克利斯騰森說，它被發現停靠在小平島潛艦基地，這裡以前是測試晉級潛艦的基地。
克利斯騰森在電話訪問中說，「中國核子潛艦通常不會以那裡為基地，它們通常靠在南邊一點的青島附近。」

美國海軍情報辦公室去年12月估計，中國可能建造五艘晉級潛艦，但是這項估計並未列進五角大廈對中國軍力的年度報告中。

這艘晉級潛艦的照片可在FAS網站http://www.fas.org和Google Earth的http://earth.google.com.看到。

克利斯騰森說，通常中國會巧妙地讓外人從空中看到其潛艦，以收嚇阻效果。「我很肯定他們想讓全世界都知道。他們擁有這種潛艦、且在世界各地移動的事實。」他說。(完)
--編譯 李婷儀;審校 李中慶



[ 本帖最后由 pfg1group 于 7-7-2007 08:24 PM 编辑 ]

pfg1group

http://www.sinchew.com.my/conten ... ;artid=200707070624

俄羅斯•成功發射美通信衛星
updated:2007-07-07 17:22:09 MYT

  
（莫斯科訊）俄羅斯今日（週六，7日）利用“質子－M”火箭成功發射了一顆重達5.9噸的美國通信衛星。俄有關機構稱，用“質子－M”火箭發射如此重的衛星，在俄航天史上還是首次。

製造“質子－M”火箭的俄羅斯赫魯尼切夫航天中心發佈的消息說，衛星於莫斯科時間週六凌晨5時16分（大馬時間9時16分）在哈薩克斯坦境內的拜科努爾航天發射場發射升空。這顆名為“Direct TV－10”的通信衛星最終將被送入位於西經102.8度的預定地球靜止軌道。


衛星由波音公司製造，預計使用壽命15年。 （星洲日報/國際•2007.07.07）

pfg1group

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070707/2/gxe9.html

太空網站(SPACE.com)6日報導，美國太空總署哥達德太空飛行中心的飛航管制員，6月下旬特別調整Terra地球觀測衛星的位置，以避開中國今年1月11日測試反衛星武器在太空軌道散布的碎片。

太空總署官員5日說，這是他們首次被迫調整衛星位置，以免撞到中國試射反衛星武器留下的碎片。在1月的試射中，中國利用導彈擊中距地表約845公里一枚已失去作用的風雲1-C氣象衛星，散出形成雲團的碎片。美國軍方太空網一直追蹤這些碎片。

美國太空總署網站公布的「Terra任務地位更新資料」顯示，哥達德中心航管員6月22日短暫啟動Terra衛星的推進器，因為前一周的追蹤分析指這枚衛星次日有7%機率撞到風雲衛星的碎片。航管員把Terra衛星軌道升高1.3公里，完全排除與碎片相撞的可能性。

哥達德中心地球科學衛星評估主管羅莉‧紐曼說，6月18日她接到空軍的軌道碎片報告，顯示風雲衛星一個大約38公分寬的碎片，可能在隨後幾天內撞到Terra衛星。

由於事先接到警告，太空總署只需啟動Terra衛星的引擎1.3秒鐘，就可以避開危險。太空總署通常一年啟動Terra衛星引擎三次至五次，每次啟動大約八秒鐘 ，以抵銷正常的大氣阻力影響。

pfg1group

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070708/19/gz75.html


（法新社華盛頓七日電） 美國國家航空暨太空總署今天宣布，「黎明號」探測太空船將延後到九月發射，展開八年的任務，希望解開太陽系起源的奧祕。

太空總署表示：「作此調整的主因是黎明號在七月間發射的機會很有限，而且可能影響即將於八月初展開的『鳳凰號』火星登陸器任務的準備工作。」

聲明又說：「黎明號延至九月發射，仍將維持與七月發射一樣的所有科學任務目標。」

黎明號原訂今天升空，但因為天候因素一度計畫改在九日發射，後來又延到十五日，如今更延至九月。

太空總署先前表示，發射日期延展到十五日，是因一艘船艦無法如期於九日部署就緒，追縱黎明號由火箭載運升空進入軌道的過程。

這艘無人探測太空船在長達八年的太空之旅中，將仔細觀察位於火星與木星之間小行星帶的天體塞瑞絲（Ceres）與維斯塔（Vesta），以瞭解太陽系於四十六億年以前誕生初期的情況。

黎明號預定二零一一年十月進入維斯塔的軌道，二零一二年五月開始飛向塞瑞絲，二零一五年進入塞瑞絲的軌道，飛行的總里程高達五十一億公里。這是航太總署首次派出太空船繞行兩個天體的軌道。

航太總署說，這次任務應可使人類進一步瞭解組成水星、金星、地球和火星等「類地行星」的基本物質，以及這兩個「原型行星」的演化過程為何不同。

黎明號探測太空船在太陽能板未張開時的長度為一點六四公尺，寬度為一點二七公尺，配備高解析度攝影機與兩台光譜儀，可以仔細觀察這兩個體積龐大的小行星。

塞瑞絲發現於一八零一年，呈球狀，直徑約九百六十公里。維斯塔是在一八零七年發現，直徑五百二十公里，它是太陽系體積第三大的小行星。

航太總署早先曾經取消黎明號探測計畫，二零零六年以四億四千九百萬美元的經費重新啟動。

pfg1group

http://www.mingpaonews.com/20070710/cab1.htm

首顆繞月衛星或國慶發射 2007年7月10日


【明報專訊】北京媒體近日報道，中國首顆繞月衛星「嫦娥1號」的繞月探測工程各大系統已基本完成測試工作，可於今年發射。而中國人權民運信息中心昨日則引述相關工作人員指出，嫦娥1號將於今年10月1日國慶日於西昌發射。

中國人權民運信息中心分別引述國防科工委綜合管理處、國防科工委嫦娥1號密雲地面站負責人的話，均證實發射日期在10月1日。

不過，《北京晚報》前天(8日)引述國防科技工業自主創新座談會上消息稱，探月1期的繞月探測工程各大系統基本完成測試，嫦娥1號可能在今年9月發射。

測試工作基本完成

嫦娥1號屆時需要完成4項任務，包括：獲取月球表面三維立體影像、分析月球表面有用元素的含量和物質類型的分佈特點、探測月球土壤特性與厚度、探測地球至月球的空間環境。

整個月球計劃分為：探月、登月和駐月三大步。第一大步又分成「繞、落、回」3期，其中嫦娥1號屬於第1期的繞月工程。繞月探測工程總指揮欒恩傑曾經指出，中國一切從零開始，利用3年時間，依靠自己力量研製了嫦娥1號。

日本亦公布將於8月16日發射該國首枚繞月衛星，中國人權民運信息中心引述消息稱，中國可能分析日本的繞月數據來修正技術，讓嫦娥1號的成功獲得更大保證。



探月衛星「嫦娥1號」電腦模擬圖

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中國首顆繞月衛星十月一日在西昌發射
http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070709/5/h06v.html

（中央社記者王曼娜香港九日電）香港的「中國人權民運信息中心」今天表示，中國繞月衛星「嫦娥一號」將於十月一日在西昌發射中心發射，這代表中國正式啟動登月計劃。

一名參與「嫦娥一號」工程的人員、中國國防科工委綜合管理處以及國防科工委「嫦娥一號」密雲地面站負責人都證實，繞月衛星將於「十、一」中國國慶日在西昌發射。

工程人員說，目前「嫦娥一號」發射工作已大部分完成，選在十月一日發射，可能與日本八月十六日首次發射繞月衛星有關，如此可使中國分析日本繞月衛星的數據以修正不成熟的繞月衛星技術，以保證該計劃取得更大的成功。

他說，發射繞月衛星技術極其複雜，需要進行停泊軌道、地球月亮轉移軌道加速、軌道修正等七個關鍵步驟，任何一步出現微小錯誤，就會導致計劃失敗。

據表示，目前「嫦娥一號」帶有比美國衛星都先進的儀器，將首次在世界上拍攝三維月球地圖。

這名專家表示，中國在今年一月十一日用中程導彈擊毀自己的氣象衛星「風雲IC」，引起國際社會關注，但中程導彈擊毀的是離地球幾百公里的低衛星，對地球三萬五千公里高的同步衛星沒有威脅力。

他認為，如果這次繞月衛星發射成功，中國將具備擊毀離地面五百公里至十二萬公里衛星的能力，這個範圍已包括全世界百分之九十九的衛星。

例如在未來戰爭中，中國要擊毀高空的某顆重要衛星只需發射「嫦娥一號」一樣攜帶炸彈的衛星撞向某顆衛星，即可達到目的。960709

pfg1group

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070710/11/h2gh.html

美國10日宣佈，將在8月初發射鳳凰號探測器，登陸火星北極區域挖掘冰層，目標是要調查接近地表的火星冰層是否會定期融化，而這些水是不是又足以支持微生物，也就是生命的存在。人類探測火星的腳步，又要往前邁進一步，美國航太總署NASA10日宣佈，預定在8月3日，發射鳳凰號探測器，鎖定火星的北極區域，挖掘地表以下的冰層。

鳳凰號加上展開的太陽能板，約有5.4乘以1.5公尺大小，負責挖掘冰層的機器手臂則有2.3公尺長，上面還裝有攝影鏡頭，不過這回探測器上卻少了一具，幾乎可以即時傳回登陸過程靜態畫面的攝影鏡頭。

NASA解釋說，這是因為鳳凰號和5年前升空的奧德賽探測船、屬於同一系統，已經有點中，而這次任務另一項特點，就是鳳凰號將以傳統方式降落，而不採用之前「精神號」和「機會號」的氣墊式軟著陸。

如果一切順利，鳳凰號將在2008年5月登陸火星，而這也將是人類首度實際接觸到火星上的水，並對它進行分析。(民視新聞連惠幸綜合報導)I

pfg1group

GOES-R Draft RFP Nears Release

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/g ... P%20Nears%20Release

Jul 5, 2007
By Jefferson Morris/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NASA are expected to release a draft request for proposals (RFP) for the next-generation Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES-R) system later this month.

Industry will be given time to comment, and the final RFP is expected in September, followed by a contract award for the first two spacecraft early next year, according to Stephen O'Neill, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International Inc. First launch is slated for late 2014.

Boeing - which already is on contract to built the GOES N, O, and P spacecraft - has been participating in the GOES-R program definition and risk reduction (PDRR) phase of the program, along with rival teams led by Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman.

Mindful of the tough lessons learned on the troubled National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) program, NOAA recently restructured its acquisition strategy for GOES-R to give the government more direct oversight of the effort.

The previous plan had been for the GOES-R prime contractor to serve as systems integrator for the ground segment and manage subcontractors. Now the prime contract has been split into multiple ground and space segment contracts that will be managed by NOAA and NASA.

NOAA will retain overall program management responsibility, provide the funding and acquire the ground system. NASA will award separate contacts for the satellites, instruments and launch vehicle (DAILY, April 2).

By spending the money on the PDRR phase, NOAA and NASA should have "significant insight" into the real cost of GOES-R, according to O'Neill, and should be able to hit 80 percent confidence in the program's budgeting.

Boeing plans to base its GOES-R bid around the technology it developed for GOES N, O, and P, O'Neil said, with updated instruments furnished by the government.

GOES-N was launched just more than a year ago, then handed over to NOAA and NASA in December 2006, at which point it became known as GOES-13. "Notwithstanding that name, it's operating 100 percent successfully," O'Neill quipped.

GOES O and P are in storage in El Segundo. GOES-O could be ready to launch as early as December 2007, depending on the availability of the launch vehicle, according to O'Neill. GOES-P is scheduled to be ready for launch by late next year.

The other major civil satellite acquisition occupying most of O'Neill's attention at the moment is the upcoming replacement for NASA's Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) constellation, which beams information from NASA's low-Earth orbiting spacecraft down to ground control stations.

Boeing bid on the TDRS replacement on May 18 and expects to submit a best-and-final offer for evaluation by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., by the end of the summer. The award for the first two spacecraft, with options for two more, is expected in the fall.

Boeing built the TDRS H, I, and J spacecraft, which were launched between June 2000 and December 2002, based on its 601 satellite bus. The company's bid for the TDRS replacement also will be based on the 601 bus, but with modernized electronics and propulsion systems from the company's current 702 bus. One of Boeing's major subcontractors in its bid is General Dynamics, which operates the current TDRS fleet from White Sands, according to O'Neill.

pfg1group

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/g ... fter%20Dust%20Storm

火星探测车在风暴后继续执行任务。
机会号在进入维多利亚坑后，可能就会失效。
但是工程师们说，
它所带来的资料将会非常重要。
机会号原本设计会90天寿命。
但是却已经在火星上活动超过三年半了。

维多利亚坑是又陨石撞击所造成的。
坑内有很多层石头， 可以追溯到几十亿年前的历史。


Rover Ready for Dangerous Descent After Dust Storm

Jul 8, 2007
By Craig Covault

The Mars rover Opportunity--poised on the rim of 2,500-ft.-wide Victoria Crater--will begin its dangerous descent in mid-to-late July after passage of a massive Martian dust storm, which is also affecting Spirit on the opposite side of the red planet.

Going into the 230-ft.-deep Victoria will be a high-risk operation "but the science is compelling and the exploration is compelling, so we're excited about this," says John Callas, Mars Exploration Rover project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif.

The rovers, which landed in January 2004 with just 90-day warranties, have now functioned for 3.5 years, each driving more than 6 mi. in a dusty carbon dioxide environment where nighttime temperatures can plunge to -100F.

Spirit, working in hilly terrain several thousand miles from Opportunity, is poised to make new surveys to follow up on new discoveries in June about potentially life-giving water in that region of the planet (see p. 26). This is while Opportunity "is about to embark on a completely new phase of its adventure," says Steve Squyres, Mars rover principal investigator at Cornell University.

"Victoria is a window back into the ancient environment of Mars," says Alan Stern, NASA associate administrator for science. "Entering this crater comes with unknowns, but we are leaning forward with our risk posture."

By that he means the rover could die in Victoria, but if that happens, the science will have been worth it all. Engineers at JPL have been making extensive preparations to give the vehicle the best chance to get in and out, doing strong science in the crater.

Opportunity was to have started the descent on July 9. But that intricate operation is being delayed until late this week or several days longer to allow the dust storm to pass to ensure the rover's solar arrays are generating maximum power.

"The dust is definitely a threat, but it's one we feel we can handle reasonably well," says Squyres.

"The storm is affecting both rovers and reducing the power levels on Opportunity," says Callas. "We are keeping an eye on this as we go forward, but our entry into Victoria Crater will be delayed until no sooner than July 13."

"We have good experience in operating a rover under low power conditions," says Squyres. The dust threat comes primarily from blocking out direct sunlight on the solar arrays.

"Thanks to recent winds, both rovers are pretty clean at the moment. And because it's summer and temperatures are warmer, nighttime thermal survival power requirements are less difficult to meet. So we feel pretty good about being able to ride out whatever Mars throws at us," Squyres told Aviation Week & Space Technology.

Opportunity is perched on the edge of Victoria, and its science survey operations--while stationary at that spot--were scaled back on June 30 to conserve power, says Callas. "We have some data that show the atmospheric opacity is decreasing, so the storm might have peaked and we may have passed the worst of this. The situation could improve quickly from here, but we will have to wait and see."

Meanwhile, data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Color Imager camera are helping track the storm and plan rover operations. Pictures from MRO show the storm is regional in extent, and includes several local areas of especially high dust activity. The storm has been moving eastward and toward mid-latitudes and is also causing an increase in atmospheric dust at Spirit's location on the opposite side of the planet.

"For several sols [Martian days] we saw the opacity ["tau levels"] increasing at a rate of about 0.3/sol on Opportunity. It peaked at about 3.3, which is by far the highest value we have seen to date for either rover," says Squyres. But late last week, it was back down to 2.66--which is a large and sudden drop, indicating dust levels are highly variable.

Spirit arrived at Victoria nine months ago after driving for nearly two years across Martian plains to reach this high-priority target (AW&ST Oct. 2, 2006, p. 24). It's high priority because it's a deep, wide crater. For the past half-year NASA has been scouting the crater walls with MRO and Opportunity to compare the features in the crater and the surrounding area, as well as to find a safe way in and out. "Now we're ready to descend into what is a geologic layer cake," says Michael Meyer, lead Mars program scientist at NASA headquarters.

Victoria is many times deeper and wider than Endurance Crater that Opportunity explored in 2004.

After Endurance, the team figured, Why not head for Victoria? And they made it, but not until getting stuck for weeks in a sand ripple, a scary experience. Opportunity must climb or push through another ripple at the last couple of feet as it heads in, but now the team knows what to do.

They also know through ground testing and experience at Endeavour that the 20-25-deg. slopes of Victoria should pose no serious problem, at least initially. Opportunity has already driven on even 30-deg. hard rock slopes. The issue farther in will be whether the slopes are sandy with potential traps, or hard and easy to drive on.

Victoria has many layers of exposed bedrock, billions of years worth. It was formed by a large meteorite impact as far back as 2-3 billion years ago. "This is an ancient crater with ancient rock," says Squyres.

pfg1group

Importantly, over the eons, wind and perhaps water have eroded the walls, forming an even larger crater with rock promontories and alcoves that expose bedrock still in the same layers laid down when the planet was formed and unshattered by the meteorite.

With Victoria, "we will really be making the first good vertical slice through an impact ejecta blanket and crater walls on another planet," says Squyres.

Opportunity will spend weeks or months in Victoria, named after the only ship in Ferdinand Magellan's fleet to complete a circumnavigation of Earth. Opportunity will enter at Duck Bay, a site named by Magellan on the voyage.

JPL will first command a "toe dip," driving just far enough over the edge to get all six wheels and the body pointed down into the crater. On the same day, Opportunity will be backed out again to assess engineering data.

The plan is for the rover, heading south, to then drive 100 ft. into the crater. This will take several days. It will then be commanded tens of meters parallel along the crater wall. The objective will be to reach about a 1-meter-thick white rock layer that cuts through the wall of the entire crater--but at a point where it's easily sampled, not where it's also visible in the high promontories (see photo above).

This is the original Martian surface layer before the meteorite hit, burying and preserving the layer that was originally directly exposed to the Martian environment. At a minimum, the area is expected to provide direct data on the Martian climate billions of years ago. And even more, it could be "bathtub ring," showing the Martin surface or ground water level at the time. If it's a surface or ground water signature, it will be important to Martian life assessments.

However, robotics engineering will take precedence over science initially, Callas says. And Opportunity is also a much older rover now than it was at Endurance, with far more mileage than it was designed for. Previous failures have been mitigated, but similar malfunctions in the crater could be far more serious. Opportunity's failed hardware includes:

*Jammed right front wheel steering actuator. Fortunately, it jammed with the wheel pointing straight, enabling the other three actuators to compensate. A similar failure in the crater with another wheel pointed into a turn could prevent Opportunity from climbing out.

*Robotic arm motor failure. The opportunity arm is now operated with more caution and different motions to compensate. If another motor or joint fails, it will harm science capability and possibly drive mobility.

But as a benefit, JPL recently transmitted new software as well as engineering calibrations to give Opportunity more capability for crater roving than it had at Endurance two years ago.

The new capabilities include:

*Watch Command software. This is automated, bandwidth-efficient, change-detection software for imagery, especially for clouds and dust-devil detection.

*Visual target tracking software. This allows the rover to identify a target and drive toward it while avoiding obstacles.

*Auto-arm placing software. This enables the rover to autonomously place the arm and its instruments on a preselected target or on one the rover chooses itself.

*Field D-Star navigation. Earlier, the rovers could calculate only one or two steps ahead in planning a path and driving on their own. Now they can look ahead and plan a path to a spot 50 meters (160 ft.) away, evading obstacles along the way. With this software, called "Field D-Star" path planner and developed at Carnegie Mellon University, the rovers could find their way out of a maze.

*Hardware calibrations. The team also has commanded other key changes for the descent, including a calibration of the remaining three steering actuators and a recalibration of the rover's gyro for precise navigation and slope detection. The diamond-edged rock abrasion tool is also being imaged to see how much cutting ability remains on Honeybee Robotics' device.

Squyres says the "scientific rules of engagement" as the rover heads to the white-band layers is not to deviate off the driving path for science investigations and to get to the band as fast as possible, only stopping for science work when the team makes compelling arguments to do so. There are already team members who want to gather data on the entry ripple to complete a sampled profile of as much of the crater as possible.

Many other science factors beckon at Victoria, including:

*Location, location, location. Victoria is much farther away from previous smaller craters sampled in addition to Endurance. "So we can determine if things we saw at Endurance were local or regional phenomena," says Squyres.

*Chemistry. "At Endurance crater, we saw that the chemistry of the rocks changed as we got deeper. We found, as we got deeper, that magnesium sulfate had dissolved out of them, changing their chemistry as a consequence of interaction with water. We want to find out if that was a local water phenomenon at Endurance crater or a regional phenomenon that included the rocks at Victoria Crater as well."

*New hematite mystery. Meridiani was selected using orbital data that indicated it was rich in a form of hematite that only forms in water. And that's exactly what Opportunity found at its landing site in the form of the "blueberries" that turned out to be hematite beads.

When approaching Victoria, the water-related blueberries dropped off in number, then started to reappear closer to the crater in its ejecta blanket. Squyres believes this means deeper, older layers blasted out by the meteorite may have formed the blueberries and thus been soaked by water. The rover team hopes to find out.

pfg1group

http://www.zaobao.com/gj/gj070711_502.html

（华盛顿路透电）美国宇航局（NASA）计划下个月发射探测器到火星，在火星北极点附近挖掘土壤，以了解当地现在或过去的环境是否适合微生物生存。
　　宇航局官员和负责此项探测任务的科学家周一宣布，“凤凰号”火星着陆探测器（Phoenix Mars Lander）预定下个月3日至24日之间，从佛罗里达发射升空，并于明年5月25日降落于火星北极冰原。

　　美国科学家正在为探测器寻找岩石较少的着陆点，预计探测船将须要在低至摄氏零下100度的低温中工作。此项探测任务将持续3个月。

　　这是美国宇航局为进一步了解火星，包括火星上是否曾有生物而展开的最新探测行动。

　　美国科学家说，如果探测器能安然在火星着陆，它将伸展2.3公尺长的机械臂，在火星地表挖掘1公尺深，以获取火星土壤，还有被认为埋藏在土壤下的结冰。

　　该探测器接着将分析这些冰层，包括它的化学成分和物理性质，尝试让科学家了解火星水源的历史，以及火星的环境是否适合微生物生存。机器人也将调查水源如何改变该处土壤的化学与矿物学成分。

　　这是美国宇航局探测火星计划下的“追踪水源”策略的一部分。水被视为生命生存的关键。许多科学家相信，干燥荒芜的火星曾经比较潮湿，火星上应可找到过往的海洋、温泉和其他水源的证据。


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070710/16/h1y3.html

NASA計劃下月發射太空船,掘取火星北極土壤樣本[url=http://tw.rd.yahoo.com/referurl/news/logo/reuters//SIG=10p1u9bi0/*http://www.reuters.com/][/url] 更新日期:2007/07/10 14:19

[size=122%]路透華盛頓電---美國航空暨太空總署(NASA)計劃下月發射一艘無人太空船，在火星北極點附近挖掘土壤，以了解當地現在或過去的環境是否適合微生物生存。

NASA官員和負責該任務的科學家周一宣布，這艘名為「鳳凰號」(Phoenix Mars Lander)的太空船，預定在8月3日至24日這段期間內自佛羅里達發射，將於2008年5月25日降落於火星北極冰原。

這次任務將持續三個月。NASA正在火星相當於地球阿拉斯加地區的緯度上尋找岩石較少的著陸點。科學家預期太空船將在最低攝氏零下100度的低溫中工作。

科學家說，如果太空船能安然在火星著陸，它將伸展2.3米長的機械臂，挖入火星地表1米深，以獲取火星土壤，還有被認為埋藏在土壤下的凝結水。

「太空船將分析火星上的水，」NASA科學家福格爾說。「它將分析出水中的化學成分、物理性質，並嘗試分析火星水存在的歷史，以及火星的環境是否適合微生物生存。」(完)

--翻譯 余樂;審校 邱俊吉


[ 本帖最后由 pfg1group 于 11-7-2007 08:46 PM 编辑 ]

pfg1group

http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2007-07/11/content_6358160.htm

新华网东京７月１１日电（记者钱铮）在数百公里高空轨道运行的卫星能分辨出地面树木的种类，能判断田里的水稻质量。日本计划开发的高性能卫星传感器可以使卫星具备这样的“洞察力”。

    据日本《朝日新闻》网站日前报道，日本经济产业省计划从２００７年度起，开发高性能的卫星传感器。这种传感器能分析出肉眼无法辨别的植物叶片颜色的微小差异。

    新型传感器将随卫星在距离地面约５００公里的轨道上运行。它将地球表面划分为１５米见方的区域，逐一观测。对区域内不同种类的树木，传感器拍摄到的图像会用不同的颜色显示。传感器甚至能判别出树木和水稻中蛋白质的含有比例，这是反映树木生长状况和水稻质量的指标。此外，传感器还能分辨出海水的水质和矿物资源的分布等。

    据报道，新型卫星传感器的开发费用达８５亿日元（约合６９００万美元），由日本电气公司等承包开发。预计这种传感器开发成功后，将随卫星在２０１２年升空。

pfg1group

http://news.xinhuanet.com/world/2007-07/11/content_6358049.htm

新华网布宜诺斯艾利斯７月１０日电（记者张源培　林如萱）阿根廷《纪事者报》１０日报道说，阿根廷正在自主研制通信卫星，项目总投资近１．５亿美元。

    据报道，阿根廷通讯国务秘书处下属的卫星制造公司ＡｒＳａｔ去年１２月与国有公司Ｉｎｖａｐ签署了相关合同，项目已于今年４月启动。

    卫星研制项目分为三个阶段：第一阶段为基础设计，为期一年半；２００８年下半年进入卫星的工程发展阶段，为期一年；第三阶段是卫星的制造和安装，为期两年。

pfg1group

http://www.space.com/news/070713_israel_venezuala.html

根据一项诉讼案，委内瑞拉要购买该公司的股权不被接受。

Israel Accused of Blocking Commercial Satellite Imagery Deal with Venezuela
By Barbara Opall-Rome
Space News Correspondent
posted: 13 July 2007
01:56 pm ET

TEL AVIV, Israel - Israel's Ministry of Defense and some of the country's leading industry executives repeatedly squashed Venezuelan bids to buy high-resolution commercial satellite imagery.


According to a lawsuit filed July 2 in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Venezuela's potential procurement deals were sabatoged twice and more recently a personal offer by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to buy a significant equity stake in ImageSat International (ISI), a local satellite operating firm, was ignored.


In their lawsuit, the ISI minority shareholders accuse major investors and the firm's current management of "spurning lucrative ... opportunities in Venezuela in order to devalue the company [Imagesat]."


The plaintiffs represent a cross section of minority shareholders in ISI, including members of the founding management and some other former company employees. The plaintiffs note that they invested millions during "Imagesat's highest risk start-up and development stages and at times when the company was in financial crisis, for which they received common or preferred shares or bridge warrants."


Although Imagesat is a Netherlands Antilles company now headquartered in Israel, the plaintiffs contend they have standing in U.S. courts because the company regularly does business in New York.


Their 197-page complaint provides a rare glimpse beyond the veil obscuring most sensitive international business deals, and chronicles intimate details surrounding nearly seven years of foreign trade negotiations. It provides names, dates, copies of contracts and electronic mail communications, as well as a behind-the-scenes account of the geopolitical and defense cooperative considerations influencing military and dual-use trade.


Prior to the complaint's entry into U.S. public record, ISI had adamantly refused even to identify current or prospective strategic operating partners. But as the lawsuit reveals, ISI entered into such exclusivity agreements with India, Taiwan and Angola, the latter two of which were later terminated by customer demand.


In the Venezuelan case, the plaintiffs allege that from 2001 through late 2006, ISI management, Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. (IAI), Elbit Systems Ltd. and other major shareholders of Imagesat "sabotaged and recently flat-out rejected the opportunity to sell satellite imaging services" to Venezuela.


According to the complaint, IAI sought to secure the bulk of the Venezuelan Air Force's available budget for its own "high-tech intelligence program" and proposed upgrades to Venezuela's F-16 and Mirage fighter fleets instead of imagery purchases.


According to the complaint, ISI began exploratory talks with Venezuela in 1999, about a year after obtaining a Ministry of Defense license to sell imagery generated from the Eros-A, a commercial version of Israel's Ofeq-3 spy satellite.


By 2002, Venezuela had earmarked funding for the exclusive rights to the Eros footprint, meaning all imagery captured within an approximately 2,500-kilometer radius of the Venezuelan ground station. However, the lawsuit alleges that misinformation provided to Venezuela by IAI, but withheld from ISI's Caracas-based representative - a lead plaintiff and founding executive of the satellite firm - prompted a reprogramming of the funding that had been earmarked for buying imagery from ISI.


After an intensive effort by ISI's local representative to reverse that reprogramming, the Venezuelan Air Force once again requested $77 million in 2003 funding for the Eros-A program. But again, plaintiffs claim, IAI intervened to reduce that amount to a mere $6 million "in order to make a greater portion of the Air Force's budget available for allocation to IAI programs."


According to the complaint, the Venezuelan government once more attempted in 2005 to revive the imagery program, but by then U.S. political pressure to suspend ties with Chavez and his leftist government prompted ISI foot dragging in the transfer of financial and other data required under Venezuelan law, according to the lawsuit.


Throughout 2005 and the first months of 2006, Chavez became increasingly bellicose in his anti-U.S. policies prompting Washington to declare an arms embargo in May 2006. During that period, a Ministry of Defense official told Space News in an interview last year that Israel did not view Chavez as a threat yet, but nevertheless agreed to tighten its own export controls in attempts to improve ties with Washington. At the time Tel Aviv was starting to just emerge from a two-year crisis of confidence with Washington over alleged Israeli arms transfers to China.


According to the complaint, Chavez was aware that U.S. pressure was being applied to Israel, and made a last ditch bid to seal the deal by personally offering to acquire up to a 30 percent interest in ISI. He did so, the lawsuit alleges, "to negate claims made by some of his advisors ... that ISI was no longer an apolitical commercial company but instead had become a front for IAI, the Israel Ministry of Defense and their counterparts in the U.S. defense establishment."


But by that time, it was too late.

In August 2006 Israel officially joined Washington in its arms embargo against Venezuela. ISI's formal rejection of the Chavez offer was communicated in November 2006, along with instructions for the immediate return of all Eros-related equipment.


In their complaint, plaintiffs claim potential losses of at least $210 million. And beyond damage to the ISI bottom line, plaintiffs claim ISI's decision to cut ties with Venezuela abrogated understandings and contractual commitments to maintain the company's autonomy and commercial integrity.


"Defendents breached their fiduciary duties of loyalty, due care and good faith ... by allowing IAI, Elbit and the [Israel Ministry of Defense] to decide that the fundamental purpose of ISI is now and henceforth to serve the military and strategic interests of Israel, rather than the interests of all the Company's shareholders, including Plaintiffs," the complaint states.


In separate July 4 notifications to their respective shareholders IAI and Elbit, both principal defendants in the suit, rejected the plaintiff allegations as baseless. "Based upon a preliminary review of the claim, Elbit Systems believes that there is no merit to the allegations made against it or the current or former [ISI] directors who were nominated by Elbit Systems' subsidiary."


Both Elbit and IAI used similar words in their commitment to vigorously defend against the allegations, and both firms expressed their belief that the suit provides a basis for countersuits against the plaintiffs. Likewise, in a July 10 interview, Shimon Eckhaus, ISI's chief executive, also rejected complaints against him and his company by the ISI minority shareholders.


In another July 10 interview, however, one of the defendants expressed some sympathy for the plaintiffs with regard to the collapsed Venezuelan deal. "ISI knew some things were a no-no with respect to U.S.-Israeli agreements and Israeli national security interests. But providing a footprint to Chavez had no bearing on existing agreements or on the security of the state of Israel ... and at least up until summer 2006 when Chavez went nuts and started supporting Hizbollah, Iran and other enemies," he said.


According to the ISI shareholder, the company should have enjoyed at least three years of significant income from Venezuela, prior to changes in geopolitical circumstances. "The plaintiffs are way off-base on many, many points. But they are asking some legitimate questions: Is ISI the autonomous, Dutch Antilles-incorporated international company it was created to be? Or is it another subsidiary of Israeli defense establishment, whose interests are subordinate to a wide array of relevant and not-so-relevant palace intrigue?"


Yet another ISI executive told Space News July 11 that the company planned to recover some losses from the Venezuelan affair through "the very likely, near-term signing" of Colombia as ISI's newest strategic operating partner.

pfg1group

More Secrets Revealed


Plaintiffs revealed that by 2000, ISI had an extensive global presence that included "formal associations" with leading remote sensing entities in Argentina, Austria, Canada, India, Italy, Japan, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Taiwan. But they alleged that the mid-2000 appointment of IAI General Counsel Jacob Weiss to the firm's top management post marked an abandonment of longstanding commitments to maintain ISI's international profile.


According to the complaint, during Weiss' short 18-month tenure, ISI operations outside of Israel were "abruptly terminated," in contravention of ISI's agreed to business plan and to the detriment of future strategic partnership opportunities. Plaintiffs accused defendants of "spurning" ISI's international marketing efforts in general and specific prospective partnerships with Russia and South Korea due to the "competitive threat ... [such deals posed] to the conflicted interests of IAI and Elop," an Elbit subsidiary.


Moreover, they accused IAI and majority shareholders of "fraudulent acts" associated with the firm's planned Eros-B satellite that forced Taiwan in 2002 to terminate its strategic partnership agreement. When ISI ultimately launched its second satellite in 2006 after a two-year delay, Taiwan considered renewing its exclusivity agreement. But by then, Israel's Ministry of Defense had rescinded ISI's export license for Taiwan so as not to anger mainland China.


"The failure of the [ISI] board and current management to pursue the Taiwan opportunity is at the instance [sic] of IAI, Elbit and the [Israeli Ministry of Defense] ... and is a direct reflection of their inappropriate redirection of the Company's business to serve their own conflicted interests," the lawsuit states.


As for Angola, a strategic operating partner since mid-2002, plaintiffs allege financial and operational mismanagement, including "outright fraudulent commission and other payments or bribes to agents" in connection with the program. Angola terminated its ISI contract in mid-2006.


Plaintiffs allege that in the four years since the signing and subsequent termination of the Angolan deal, "ISI never delivered a single day of autonomous SOP service to Angola and even failed to deliver to the Angolan authorities the permanent tasking and reception antenna."


According to the complaint, "the highly suspect circumstances surrounding the Company's nonperformance of its obligations under this contract are yet another indication of the misuse and misdirection of [ISI] as a captive vehicle of IAI, Elbit and their government sponsors."


Israel's Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the suit, as did Weiss and numerous defendants who said they had not yet been formally served with the complaint.

pfg1group

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6901835.stm

根据国会的一个报道，
英国政府并没有把很多资源放在太空研究上。
虽然国内有很多顶尖大学和科学家，
但是英国本身没有一个太空总会来统筹英国的太空研究发展。

这使到英国在国际太空事务上没有影响力，
同样的，国内的弱太空发展也导致英国商家少了很多商机。

pfg1group

http://www.mingpaonews.com/20070720/cce1.htm

【明報專訊】中國預定明年秋季發射「神舟7號」太空船，焦點是中國太空人首次「漫步太空」，據悉，太空人已開始為此進行封閉式訓練。中國首位太空人、現任中國航天員科研訓練中心副主任楊利偉說，將會從空軍飛行員中選拔第二批太空人，但暫無選拔女太空人計劃。

第二批太空人暫無女性

楊利偉在接受新華社訪問時說，目前太空人針對出艙漫步的訓練強度已逐漸加大，「為更好地完成訓練任務，全體航天員已進入封閉狀態，只有周末才能回家。所有訓練將在飛船發射前3個月完成。」他並透露，第二批太空人的數量不會超過第一批的14名。

報道說，太空人已於下半年開始穿上艙外航天服訓練。據悉，重逾110公斤的艙外航天服對人的活動限制非常大，身穿這套服裝在高真空、失重的特殊環境中活動，人的活動效率會較在地球上減少三至四成。

pfg1group

巴西成功发射自己研发的火箭。
该火箭最高高度，距离海面280公里，
在这个高度是微地心吸力状况，
火箭的载货处在大概7分钟的情况下是属于微重力状况。
进行微重力对人体的影响。

火箭发射场位于巴西北部，
仅仅2。3度赤道南端。

http://www.space.com/missionlaun ... _launchsuccess.html

Brazil Successfully Launches Rocket to Study Microgravity
By Stan Lehman
Associated Press Writer
posted: 20 July 2007
12:53 a.m. ET


SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- Brazil on Thursday successfully launched a rocket on a 20-minute flight aimed at obtaining a better understanding on how gravity affects human enzymes and DNA.

The 41-foot-long (12.4-meter) VSB-30 rocket, was launched from the seaside Alcantara site in northeastern Brazil, the Brazilian Space Agency said in a statement posted on its Web site.

The two-stage rocket soared approximately 175 miles (281 kilometers) before beginning its descent.

During almost seven minutes the rocket's payload was in a state of microgravity, an environment of near-weightlessness that allows researchers to study the fundamental states of matter -- solids, liquids and gases -- and the forces that affect them.

"We needed a state of microgravity in order to better understand how gravity affects the speed of chemical reactions in enzymes and the quality of DNA repair following exposure to radiation and solar rays,'' Flavio de Azevedo Correa, the project's experiment coordinator, said by telephone.

"Eventually, the results could help us develop new processes and pharmaceutical products to treat cancer,'' he added.

Thursday's launch was the second from Alcantara since Aug. 2003, when 21 space agency workers were killed as a satellite-launching rocket exploded while being prepared for launch.

Investigators determined that an electrical flaw triggered one of the rocket's four solid-fuel boosters during final preparations at the launch pad.

The Alcantara base in the state of Maranhao is considered an excellent launch site because it is located just 2.3 degrees south of the equator, the line at which the Earth moves the fastest, helping propel rockets into space and using less fuel.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/070720/16/hk02.html

(圖文)巴西發射火箭,企圖重回太空競賽
巴西7月19日在阿坎塔拉太空發射中心發射攜帶實驗模組的VSB-30型火箭，企圖挽回在2003年所受的致命意外打擊。實驗是由巴西及德國大學根據太空微重力發展出來的。巴西太空中心表示，火箭只飛行了20分鐘，實驗模組從大西洋打撈上來。路透/巴西太空中心提供 (發稿：李中慶/李婷儀)



[ 本帖最后由 pfg1group 于 20-7-2007 09:17 PM 编辑 ]

pfg1group

一个国际组织对微型人造卫星的普遍化表示担忧。
这些重量少于100公斤的人造卫星很可能被有恶意的国家用在军事上。

过去20年来，超过400枚微型人造卫星已经发射上太空。
绝大多数为通讯或是军用卫星。

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6902800.stm

Microsatellites 'pose global threat'  
By Laura Margottini




Could smaller satellites 'weaponise' space?
A satellite, no bigger that a domestic fridge, blasts into orbit from a secret military launch site.

Controlled from the ground, it stealthily moves towards the satellite of a rogue enemy country. Suddenly it explodes, destroying the second satellite and shutting down the communication capability of the country instantly.

It may sound like the beginning of a James Bond film, but scientists in the US have warned about the potential misuse of satellite technology.

Commercial companies, universities, space research institutions, such as NASA and ESA, are all in the development of this new spacecraft generation, called microsatellites.

Weighing less than 100kg, they provide GPS navigation, weather predictions, and Earth observation just like traditional satellites, but they are faster to build and much cheaper.

A typical microsatellite can cost as little as 10 million euros as opposed to hundreds of millions for traditional satellites.

About 400 microsatellites have been launched in orbit over the last 20 years for scientific, commercial and military purposes.

"Microsats save costs because the heavier a satellite is, the more it costs to send it into orbit," explains Dr Johan Köhler, a micro technology engineer at the European Space Agency.

"The launch is a major cost to any space mission."

'Indispensable part'

Satellite technology has become an indispensable part of modern society - being used for everything from mapping and weather forecasts to communications.

Physicist Laura Grego, from the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), said: "It's amazing how much satellites are involved in the conduct of civil and economic life in a way that people don't appreciate, but they are also very important to the way... the US conducts military affairs."

Dr Köhler explains that miniaturisation of satellites has been possible thanks to the results reached by nanotechnology research, especially over the last two decades.


Microsatellites are cheaper to launch into space

This has provided the sophisticated technology necessary for "pocket-sized" satellites, an idea theorised in the early 1990s by Siegfried W. Janson, senior scientist at The Aerospace Corporation in California.

But the UCS warns that microsatellites could also be used in more destructive circumstances.

"There are also military reasons for the development of small satellites," explains Ms Grego.

Being so small, some even less than 10kg, they are difficult to detect. Their movement in space is much nimbler than "full size" satellites, which can be as large as a bus.

The high manoeuvrability of microsats enables them to perform tricky tasks such as refuelling and fixing satellites already in orbit, or correcting their trajectory to keep them on the right spot.

But Ms Grego says such manoeuvrability means they could also have a second use.

"With a microsat you can go close enough to other spacecrafts in order to repair them, but also to sabotage them." she says.

She says that they could easily approach and stealthily take pictures of a rival nations' satellites in order to spy on them, temporarily obscure their view, or even destroy them.

Actions which could bring along disastrous consequences, she warns.

'Satellite attack'

"If someone interferes with another satellite, or even if the interference is caused accidentally by a piece of debris, this kind of event is likely to start a war, because this can be confused for a satellite attack."

There are about 800 satellites orbiting over our heads at the moment: 66% are for communications, while 6% are in use by the military. The US owns more than half of the total in our skies.

D. Craig Underwood, researcher at the Space Centre of University of Surrey, UK, says the warnings of danger may be overstated.

"The growth of space technology is something we cannot hold back. It is part of the world we live in," he says.

Surrey Space Centre works in partnership with Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), the first professional organisation to commercialise low-cost small satellites for telecommunication and monitoring of natural disasters.


Surrey Satellite engineers work on a satellite which helps disaster monitoring

In the last 25 years they have launched 27 small satellites, ranging form 50 to 100kg. They developed Giove-A satellite for the European Space Agency (ESA), part of Europe's Galileo navigation program, launched in 2005.

Surrey Space Centre has shared technology programs with countries as China, Pakistan, Algeria, Nigeria, Turkey, Vietnam in order to help them build their own satellites.

"Ours are not aggressive military satellites, they have a different role," explains Dr. Underwood. "They open up space to developing countries that otherwise cannot afford conventional space programs, at a low cost entry."

He adds: "You see a lot of scary stories, in particular in the US, saying these are anti satellites weapons and so on, but this is ridiculous. All our satellites are governed by UK laws and policies."

But Laura Grego reckons that the entire international community should begin to look at the issue of space regulation.

"We really would like to see is a law against satellite destruction, any testing and usable weapon that does that. It is really time to regulate what is going on in space, the regulation that we have is pretty rusty."

She refers to the Outer Space Treaty ratified in 1967 by 98 nations, US included, which is still the basic legal framework of international space law.

UCS says that despite space being militarised, it has not yet been "weaponized", and this should be strictly prevented.

"We cannot ban all space technology, but what we really would like to see is an international law against satellite destruction, any testing and usable weapon that does that," says Ms Grego.