Data from NASA's Mars Odyssey confirms the radiation on Mars is dangerously intense, and humans could only survive in underground shelters, claims the US National Space Biomedical Research Institute. In rebuttal, the Mars Society says the radiation is only about 2.5 times the level astronauts are exposed to in low- Earth orbit.
Source: Flight International
China’s AVIC has secured a contract from the China Manned Space Agency to develop a winged, reusable spacecraft called Haolong.
The UK Space Command’s first owned earth observation microsatellite has been launched, providing the inaugural element of a planned space-based intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) constellation.
Orbital launch pioneer SpaceX is being contracted by the American space agency NASA to develop a so-called “US Deorbit Vehicle” that can safely return the International Space Station to Earth via controlled re-entry.
