Solar Wx

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• NASA Invites Media to View Space Launch System Progress
• An Astronaut's View from Station
• ExoMars 2016 set to complete construction
• Talking Alphasat
• ATV-4
• NASA Selects Next Generation of Space Explorers; Google+ Hangout Today
• ATV-4 in 3D
• Final command: Herschel ends operations as orbiting testbed
• Europe’s space hub to open its doors on 6 October
• Titanic Sea

NASA Invites Media to View Space Launch System Progress Posted: 17 Jun 2013 10:41 AM PDT NASA Invites Media to View Space Launch System Progress 06/17/2013 12:00 AM EDT NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier and other agency officials will debut a new machine for manufacturing NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) and check on development progress with the heavy-lift rocket at the agency's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans Friday, June 21.

An Astronaut's View from Station Posted: 17 Jun 2013 10:38 AM PDT An Astronaut's View from Station 06/17/2013 12:00 AM EDT A view of Earth as seen from the Cupola on the Earth-facing side of the International Space Station. Visible in the top left foreground is a Russian Soyuz crew capsule. In the lower right corner, a solar array panel can be seen. This photo was taken from the ISS on June 12, 2013.  Image Credit: NASA

ExoMars 2016 set to complete construction Posted: 17 Jun 2013 10:34 AM PDT ExoMars 2016 set to complete construction 17-06-2013 04:05 PM CEST ESA's mission to Mars in 2016 has entered the final stage of construction with the signature of a contract today with Thales Alenia Space at the Paris Air  Space Show.

Talking Alphasat Posted: 17 Jun 2013 10:29 AM PDT Talking Alphasat 17-06-2013 05:08 PM CEST Round table with the Alphasat partners at Paris Air and Space Show 18 June. Watch it live from 14:30 to 15:30 CEST

ATV-4 Posted: 17 Jun 2013 10:36 AM PDT ATV-4 17-06-2013 04:03 PM CEST Europe's largest spacecraft reaches its destination in orbit

NASA Selects Next Generation of Space Explorers; Google+ Hangout Today Posted: 17 Jun 2013 10:27 AM PDT NASA Selects Next Generation of Space Explorers; Google+ Hangout Today 06/17/2013 12:00 AM EDT After an extensive year-and-a-half search, NASA has a new group of potential astronauts who will help the agency push the boundaries of exploration and travel to new destinations in the solar system, including an asteroid and Mars. Eight candidates have been selected to be NASA's newest astronaut trainees, hoping to be among those who are the first to launch from U.S. soil on commercial American spacecraft since the retirement of the space shuttle. The 2013 astronaut candidate class comes from the second largest number of applications NASA has received -- more than 6,000. Half of the selectees are women, making this the highest percentage of female astronaut candidates ever selected for a class. The group will receive a wide array of technical training at space centers and remote locations around the globe to prepare for missions to low-Earth orbit, an asteroid and Mars.

ATV-4 in 3D Posted: 17 Jun 2013 10:23 AM PDT ATV-4 in 3D 17-06-2013 02:22 PM CEST Front row seats: watch in 3D ATV Albert Einstein released into space as never seen before

Final command: Herschel ends operations as orbiting testbed Posted: 17 Jun 2013 10:22 AM PDT Final command: Herschel ends operations as orbiting testbed 17-06-2013 09:25 AM CEST With the exhaustion of its helium coolant, Herschel's science mission ended on 29 April.  But the stalwart satellite continued providing value to the end, serving as an orbiting testbed for control techniques that can't normally be tested in flight.

Europe’s space hub to open its doors on 6 October Posted: 17 Jun 2013 04:20 AM PDT Europe's space hub to open its doors on 6 October 17-06-2013 08:55 AM CEST From the latest space ferry to the very first Alphasat, Europe has never been more active in space, with a crowded manifest of ESA launches across the rest of the year.  But where are all these varied missions born? See for yourself this October, as ESA's ESTEC research and technology centre opens its doors to the public.

Titanic Sea Posted: 17 Jun 2013 01:53 AM PDT Titanic Sea 17-06-2013 09:22 AM CEST Space science image of the week: Ligeia Mare, the second largest known sea on Saturn's moon Titan.