China's Jade Rabbit robot rover lands on Moon

China has finally entered its lunar quest when its first ever robot landed on moon Saturday afternoon.

The landing of the robotic rover named the Jade Rabbit marks the latest step in China's ambitious space exploration programme.

The Chang'e-3 mission launched atop a Chinese-developed Long March 3B rocket on 1 December from Xichang in the country's south.

Artist's vision of Jade Rabbit on moon

This is the first soft landing there for 37 years. The touchdown took place on a flat plain called Sinus Iridum.

The official Xinhua news service reported that the craft began its descent just after 1300 GMT (2100 Beijing time), touching down in Sinus Iridum (the Bay of Rainbows) 11 minutes later.

Read mre about it at BBC Science and Environmnet

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Iranian president volunteers to go to space

The Iranian president Ahmadinejad has volunteered to go the space by his country's space programme. 

"I am ready to be the first human to be sent to space by Iranian scientists," Ahmadinejad told a group of scientists in Tehran gathered to celebrate the country's space achievements, according to the semi-official Mehr news agency. Ahmadinejad was speaking at an event organised for the anniversary celebration of the 1979 Islamic revolution.

It may be added that Iran recently sent a monkey in space and retrieved it alive back on earth. The Iranian sciencetists hailed as a major step towards their goal of sending humans into space.

It was unclear if the suggestion was a serious one, but one group of Iranians declared they would do everything in their power to help Ahmadinejad achieve his goal.

Within minutes of the news breaking, a Facebook page was set up called "In support of sending Ahmadinejad into space".

Read more about it at: Guardian
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Uncertainty lingers on NASA's Mars program

Photo NASA

This week’s arrival of NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity set the stage for a potentially game-changing quest to learn whether the planet most like Earth ever had a shot at developing life, but follow-up missions exist only on drawing boards.

The United States had planned to team up with Europe on a trio of missions beginning in 2016 that would culminate in the return of Mars soil and rock samples to Earth, an endeavor the National Research Council considers its top priority in planetary science for the next decade.

Citing budget concerns, the Obama administration terminated NASA’s participation in Europe’s ExoMars program earlier this year, spurring the U.S. space agency to re-examine its options before another flight opportunity comes and goes. Earth and Mars favorably align for launches about every 26 months.

The situation is complicated by massive budget overruns in the $2.5-billion US Curiosity mission, intended to determine if Mars could now or ever have supported microbial life, and in the $8 billion James Webb Space Telescope, a successor to the Hubble observatory.

Read details: Toronto Sun

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China to carry out manned space flight in Mid June

China has announced it will carry out a manned space flight at some point in the middle of June.

A rocket carrying the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft has been moved to a launch pad in the north-west of the country.

According to state news agency Xinhua, it will carry three astronauts - possibly including a woman - to the Tiangong 1 space station module.

This will be China's fourth manned space flight and its first since 2008. China became the third country to independently send a man into space in 2003.

Read more: BBC News

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Soyuz launches sharp-eyed Pleiades satellite

[ via BBC Science and Environment ] 17 Dec

A Russian Soyuz rocket has launched from French Guiana - only the second such vehicle to fly out of the territory's new Sinnamary spaceport.

The Soyuz put six satellites in orbit, including France's new Pleiades-1 high-resolution imaging spacecraft.

This satellite is designed to take pictures that resolve features on the ground as small as 50cm across. The capability will put it on a par with the leading US commercial systems operated by GeoEye and DigitalGlobe.

Lift-off occurred on schedule at 23:03 local time, Friday (02:03 GMT, Saturday), with Pleiades-1 being dropped off in its 700km-high polar orbit some 55 minutes later.

Read full story for details.

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