International Space Station update: Astronauts' activity schedule

In this photo posted to Twitter by Flight Engineer Reid Wiseman, he and ESA Flight Engineer Alexander Gerst (right) pose for a picture with spacesuits in the International Space Station's Quest airlock.

Image Credit: NASA

Reid Wiseman and Alexander Gerst spent much of the afternoon in the Quest airlock to configure tools and equipment for a pair of U.S. spacewalks set for October.

Wiseman and Gerst are slated to suit up for the first Expedition 41 spacewalk on Oct. 7, while newly-arrived astronaut Barry Wilmore will join Wiseman for the Oct. 15 excursion.

Among the tasks scheduled for the spacewalks will be the transfer of a previously uninstalled pump module from its temporary stowage location to the External Stowage Platform-2 and the replacement of a failed sequential shunt unit designed to regulate current from one of the station’s solar arrays.

A Russian spacewalk on Oct. 21 is also on the schedule.

Throughout the day, Wiseman participated in the Pro K study, as nutritionists monitor how dietary changes may affect the loss of bone density that occurs during long-duration spaceflight.

Wiseman has been following a prescribed diet and testing his urine samples to provide data for the researchers.

On Sunday, Wiseman and Gerst will once again review the procedures for grappling Dragon and conduct a final Canadarm2 robotics training session with the Robotics Onboard Trainer.

Over the weekend, all three crew members also will take care of weekly housekeeping chores and continue their daily 2.5-hour exercise sessions to stay fit.

Large Asteroid scheduled to Fly-by Earth

The space rock was discovered on Dec. 23rd, 2013 and will be makes its closest approach to Earth (3.6 lunar distance) on Jan. 3rd, 2014. Its is estimated to be 102 meters or 400 feet-wide.

Credit: NASA / JPL

Schedule for opening Asteroid Explorer HAYABUSA (MUSES-C) Sample Container

JAXA announce that they will start opening the sample container of HAYABUSA on June 24, 2010 (Japan Standard Time) in the curation center (*1) at the JAXA Sagamihara Campus. It will take about one week to finish opening the sample container (*2).

Reentry Capsule of HAYABUSA

(*1) Curation Center : the facility that accepts samples and provides treatment and storage of the samples.

(*2) Sample container : A box inside the capsule where the samples are stored.

The curation operations are being carried out in cooperation with NASA.

EADS Aerospace chief calls for clarity on new transport plane

Aerospace chief calls for clarity on new transport plane

The head of EADS on Saturday called for seven countries that have ordered the Airbus A400M military plane to provide "a clear idea" on the future of the troubled project "by the end of next week."

"We need to have a clear idea, not detailed but clear, on what is happening on the A400M by the end of next week," Louis Gallois, of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company, told reporters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

European countries badly need the new transport aircraft, under development at EADS unit Airbus, but the project is three years behind schedule and a reported 11 billion euros (15 billion dollars) over budget.

EADS has threatened to pull the plug unless the seven NATO countries that have ordered 180 of the aircraft for 20 billion euros stump up more cash, saying that the European aerospace sector is at stake.

With the seven countries -- Germany, France, Spain, Britain, Belgium, Luxembourg and Turkey -- holding a series of crisis meetings, French Defence Minister Herve Morin set Thursday a deadline of February 28 to strike a deal.

He also said that he hoped an agreement could be found at the next meeting of European Union defence ministers at the end of February in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.

Morin said in Turkey that France has urged its partners to stump up an extra 1.5 billion euros on top of two billion euros already envisaged by the seven countries, still short of the 6.4 billion euros that EADS is seeking.

Boeing 787 Dreamliner: Launch Forecast for Year End

The Boeing Company said Thursday that its troubled 787 Dreamliner would be ready for a test flight by the end of the year (2009) and its first delivery would be in the fourth quarter of 2010.

Boeing also said that it would book a pretax charge of $2.5 billion, or $2.21 a share, in the third quarter because of the delays.

The new schedule, Boeing said in a statement, will give the company time to fix a structural flaw where the wings join the fuselage. The test flight was initially expected at the end of 2007 with the first deliveries in May 2008.

The jetliner is supposed to be lighter and more fuel-efficient than other airliners, and Boeing has 850 advance orders. But it has faced several critical delays in the production of parts, many of which were outsourced.

The latest problem was reported earlier this month when Boeing said it had instructed an Italian company, Alenia Aeronautica, to stop making fuselage sections for the aircraft after small wrinkles were discovered in the carbon composite skin.

Despite the announcement, some airline industry officials remain skeptical that the Boeing will be able to meet the latest revised schedule.