Similar Posts
Shashou Jiang: CBERS-2B
The phrase “assassin’s mace” is the English translation of “shashou jiang,” a term of ancient Chinese strategy. “Shashou jiang” was a club with which the “assassin” incapacitated his enemy, suddenly and totally, instead of fighting him according to “the rules.” Dateline: 19 September 2007 – The CBERS (China/Brazil Earth Resources Spacecraft) -2B is placed in…
Because It Is All About the Science and International Cooperation…
…Right? Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, flying on the International Space Station, is being criticized by some U.S. observers for using a digital camera equipped with an 800-mm. telephoto lens and a video camera to image what a Russian official said were “after-effects of border conflict operations in the Caucasus” on Aug. 9, soon after the…
Flightdeck Friday: STS-133 & Last Flight for Shuttle Discovery
The oldest and perhaps most storied of the shuttle fleet, Discovery launched on her final mission today to deliver a final module to the U.S. segment of the International Space Station, the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module, as well as the first humanoid robot to fly in space, Robonaut2. Named for the ships used by Henry…
40 Years Ago Today: Apollo 8
Forty years ago, man had slipped the gravitational pull that had kept him shackled  in orbit around his home planet, and boldly struck out for the Moon.  Forty years ago, in a live broadcast on Christmas Eve  for the ages, he sent back stunning images of his world and our perspective was forever changed: William…
Iran’s Space Launch: Did They or Didn’t They?
(earlier report on Iran’s space launcher acivity here) Much reporting since yesterday regarding Iran’s claims to have launched an object into space. To set the record right, Mohsen Bahrami, the head of Iran’s aerospace research centre, told state television that “The first space rocket has been successfully launched into space,” without disclosing its range or…
Iran’s Successful Space Launch
Comes word over night of an apparently successful attempt by Iran to place a satellite in orbitusing the Safir-2 space launch vehicle (SLV). The Safir (“Ambassador”) was ingeniously developed as part of Iran’s growing rocket and missile program and has direct links to its attempts to develop extended range missiles in the IRBM and ultimately,…


