Johannesburg (AFP) Apr 18, 2002 South African millionaire Mark Shuttleworth, who is set to become the world's second space tourist, on Thursday said he was ready for his 10-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Shuttleworth, 28, is to blast off on April 25 in a Soyuz capsule with Russian commander Yury Gidzenko and Italian engineer Roberto Vittori.
Hubble Hunts Down Odd Couples At The Fringes Of Our Solar System Los Angeles - Apr 18, 2002 NASA's Hubble Space Telescope is hot on the trail of an intriguing new class of solar system object that might be called a Pluto "mini-me" -- dim and fleeting objects that travel in pairs in the frigid, mysterious outer realm of the solar system called the Kuiper Belt.
Pluto Team Continues Development Of OuterPlanets Explorer San Antonio - Apr 18, 2002 Now almost halfway through its NASA-funded Phase B development effort, the New Horizons project is making significant progress as it approaches its first major review.
Northrop Grumman Increases Offer For TRW To $53; Expires May 3 Los Angeles - Apr 14, 2002 Northrop Grumman Corporation announced last Sunday that it is amending its offer for TRW Inc. to $53 per share in value of Northrop Grumman common stock for each share of TRW.
Thinner More Flexible Silicon Panels Blacksburg - Apr 18, 2002 Virginia Tech researchers' ability to create films in one-nanometer-thick layers is bringing flexible solar cells closer to reality, and has resulted in a thin film that can be changed from transparent to deep violet and back as rapidly as 20 times per second.
The Outer Space and Moon Treaties and the Coming Moon Rush Los Angeles - Apr 18, 2002 Instead of being led by superpowers, the next space race could reasonably be instigated by a developing nation with spacefaring capabilities. An analysis of current events points to China as being a strong candidate for filling this role.
Titan Wins Contract To Simulate Missile Threat San Diego - Apr 18, 2002 The Titan Corporation announced Thursday that its subsidiary Titan Systems Corporation has been awarded a Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ) contract having a potential value of $35M over a five year period.
Evidence For Young Planets Found In Dusty Orbit About Close Star Tucson - Apr 18, 2002 Two independent teams of astronomers are presenting the discovery of new features in an edge-on disk around the nearby star Beta Pictoris at the Gillett Symposium on "Debris Disks and the Formation of Planets" in Tucson, Arizona.
Shenzhou-5 May Carry Out First Chinese Manned Mission Tokyo - Apr 16, 2002 Chinese news media has widely reported in the past few weeks hints from senior space officals that China will attempt its first manned launch following at least one addition unmanned test flight later this year. Once flying China wants to quickly move to an initial orbital station similar to the Soviet Union's Sayluts in the 1970s that laid the ground work for Mir.
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