It will be bon appetit in orbit for some lucky astronauts who will soon savor a space meal of short ribs dreamed up by a contestant on television's "Top Chef." Top Chef - Television - Astronaut - Chefs - Technology

Astronomers peering at a large alien planet have found it to be covered by an atmosphere unlike that of any extrasolar planet yet seen. Extrasolar planet - Astronomy - Solar System - Atmosphere - Planet

Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: British physicist Stephen Hawking's latest book is already making waves with his observation that science can explain the universe's origin without invoking God. Stephen Hawking - Alan Boyle - God - Religion and Spirituality - Christianity

A striking galaxy buzzing with energetic star formation takes center stage in a new photograph that showcases an unusual "superwind" of out-flowing gas, researchers say. Star formation - Starburst galaxy - Astronomy - Galaxy - Galaxies

The month of September marks many changes. For skywatchers it means the passing of the season's trademark Summer Triangle of stars and the arrival of the autumn constellations. Summer Triangle - Astronomy - Night sky - Amateur - Constellation

Key Milestone Achieved in Development and Testing of First Unmanned Aircraft System to Offer Seamless Persistence Without Latitude Restrictions MONROVIA, Calif. - Aug. 11, 2010 --[ASDWire]-- AeroVironment, Inc. (AV) (NASDAQ:AVAV) announced that a full size wing developed as part of the Global Observer(tm) Joint Capability Technology Demonstration (JCTD) program has successfully completed a ser

. Targeting a $1.4bn incremental market opportunity . Significant capacity pre-commitment from Boeing . Global services to iPad-sized antennas London: 6th August 2010 --[ASDWire]-- Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT), the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, today announced that it has agreed a contract with The Boeing Company ("Boeing") (NYSE: BA) for the delivery of three s

SAN DIEGO, Calif., July 9, 2010 -ASDWire- Canadian aviation services corporation Avmax Group Inc. recently selected Component Control's Quantum Control aviation enterprise resource planning (ERP) software as its business software platform for its Calgary, Alberta headquarters as well as sites in the United States and Canada. "Avmax Group provides diverse services such as management of spar

London, 24 June 2010 - ASDWire - New market research calculates that in 2010 the global market for unmanned aerial vehicles will reach more than $5.5bn. This can be attributed to the wide and growing popularity of UAVs as a key asset for armed forces worldwide. Led by the US, which dominates spending on UAVs, many of the world's armed services are acquiring or developing a wide range of UAVs for u

High performance data fusion, visualization & analysis software for disaster management and recovery on display at EMAC 2010 New Orleans, USA, June 21 2010 --[ASDWire]-- Luciad, the specialist in high performance visualization for mission-critical Defense and Security applications is presenting its latest situational awareness solutions for disaster management and recovery at EMAC on June 22-24

(BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan) -- International Launch Services (ILS), a world leader in providing mission and launch services to the commercial satellite industry, successfully carried the AsiaSat 5 satellite into orbit today on an ILS Proton for Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Limited (AsiaSat) of Hong Kong. This was the fourth commercial mission of the year for ILS and the sixth su

Build-up of the payload "stack" for Arianespace's next Ariane 5 mission is now underway at the Spaceport in French Guiana as preparations continue for the August 21 liftoff with a pair of U.S.-built telecommunications satellites to be operated by two Asian-Pacific customers. The spacecraft integration activity began yesterday (August 10) with JCSAT-12's installation atop the Ariane 5 SYLDA dual

MOSCOW, Aug 12, 2009 (AFP) - Russia successfully launched a Chinese communications satellite from its Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan overnight, Russian news agencies reported Wednesday. The AsiaSat-5 satellite is due to detach from the Proton-M rocket at 0502 GMT Wednesday, space officials quoted by RIA Novosti said. The satellite is due to provide communications service to East and

PARIS, Aug 11, 2009 (AFP) - The night sky will sparkle with "falling stars" on Tuesday and Wednesday as Earth passes through a trail of dusty debris from the Swift-Tuttle Comet, say scientists. The light show, called the Perseid meteor shower, kicks off each year in late-July and increases in intensity, peaking a couple of weeks later. On a clear night in a dark sky "you should see do

(10 August 2009) -- Mars may not be as dormant as scientists once thought. The 2004 discovery of methane means that either there is life on Mars, or that volcanic activity continues to generate heat below the martian surface. ESA plans to find out which it is. Either outcome is big news for a planet once thought to be biologically and geologically inactive. The methane mystery started soon aft

(SACRAMENTO, Calif. and Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 2, 2009) - Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, and NEC Corporation (TSE:6701) announced today that the companies will explore the feasibility of jointly supplying low power ion propulsion systems for the U.S. and Japanese aerospace markets. Ion propulsion systems can be used for geosynchronous satellite propulsion systems and deep space missions provid

Both payloads for Arianespace's next Ariane 5 flight have been fueled at the Spaceport as preparations continue for the workhorse vehicle's fourth heavy-lift launch of 2009 from French Guiana. Propellant loading of the JCSAT-12 and Optus D3 spacecraft was performed in separate activity at the Spaceport's S5 satellite preparation facility, readying these relay platforms for their integration wit

(7 August 2009) -- An Earth observation mission does not just involve the building of a satellite, it also includes the all-important infrastructure to control the satellite and handle the data - the ground segment. As ESA prepares for the launch of CryoSat-2 at the end of the year, its associated ground segment is now ready. ESA's ice mission CryoSat-2 is due to launch on a Dnepr rocket from

(CARPINTERIA, Calif., Aug. 6, 2009) -- A deployable satellite reflector and boom assembly from Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) will help NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) map soil moisture and the freezing and thawing cycles globally with unprecedented accuracy, resolution and coverage. The company's AstroMesh-Lite configuration deployable reflector will be used on JPL's Soil Mois

Ariane 5 is available to support the future of U.S. space exploration, including cargo resupply flights for the International Space Station, along with missions to the Moon and Mars. This was the message of Arianespace Chairman & CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall in a presentation today (August 5) to the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, which was created to evaluate America's future human

(EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Aug. 5, 2009) -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced that it transferred Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite GOES-O to NASA on July 17, completing the company's third on-orbit satellite handover this year. GOES-O, which has been renamed GOES-14, will undergo approximately five months of on-orbit testing before it is officially accepted for service by the Nationa

The fifth Ariane 5 for launch this year has completed its initial build-up as preparations move forward for another of Arianespace's trademark dual-satellite payload missions. During activity in the Launcher Integration Building at Europe's Spaceport, this heavy-lift Ariane 5 was fitted with its ESC-A upper stage and vehicle equipment bay - which were installed as a single unit. The combined i

(Kennedy Space Center, Fla., July 29, 2009) -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] today announced that it plans to bid as prime contractor for the Exploration Ground Launch Services (EGLS) program to provide ground systems integration and launch operations for Constellation, NASA's next-generation space-exploration initiative. EGLS will cover ground processing, assembly, testing, integration, launch and recover

(Canoga Park, Calif., July 29, 2009) -- Capping a legacy that spans 34 years, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne completed the final planned test on a Space Shuttle Main Engine (SSME) today at the John C. Stennis Space Center (SSC) in Mississippi. The successful hot-fire test was the 2,730th for the SSME, the world's only reusable liquid hydrogen engine designed for human space flight. Pratt & Whitney Roc

(McGregor, TX., July 29, 2009) -- Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) announces the successful completion of qualification testing for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle first stage tank and interstage. Testing took place at SpaceX's Texas Test Site, a 300 acre structural and propulsion testing facility, located just outside of Waco, Texas. The first stage tank and interstage hardware were subjec