Tag - space

 
 

SPACE

Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Mar 1, 2016
Company aiming to clear space junk wins funding
A company that aims to clean junk from space has secured up to $30 million (¥3.39 billion) in public-private funding and plans to launch the world's first debris-mapping satellite later this year.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 20, 2016
Virgin Galactic unveils new passenger spaceship
Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic venture unveiled a new passenger spacecraft on Friday, nearly 16 months after a fatal accident destroyed its sister ship during a test flight over California's Mojave Desert.
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 19, 2016
North Korea satellite tumbling in orbit again: U.S. sources
North Korea's recently launched satellite is once again tumbling in orbit after stabilizing briefly, according to a U.S. official and other sources.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 12, 2016
Scientists bid comet lander Philae farewell after radio silence
European scientists have given up hope of restoring contact with space probe Philae, which successfully landed on a comet in a pinpoint operation only to lose power because its solar batteries were in the shade.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Feb 6, 2016
Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, sixth man to walk on moon, dies at 85
Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, the sixth man to walk on the moon, has died at the age of 85, NASA said on Friday.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 28, 2016
Challenger accident shapes new wave of passenger spaceships
Thirty years after the space shuttle Challenger exploded during liftoff, a new generation of spaceships continues to build on changes made after NASA's fatal accident.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Jan 25, 2016
Space development program a blackhole for public funds
Japan has poured huge sums of money into its space exploration effort, but with very little to show for it.
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 23, 2016
Amazon founder Bezos' space company launches, lands rocket for second time
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' space transportation company, Blue Origin, has successfully launched and landed a suborbital rocket for a second time, a key step in its quest to develop reusable boosters, the company said on Friday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 21, 2016
Cash-strapped Russia considers 30% cut to its space program
Russia will spend 30 percent less on its space program in the next decade and scale back a slew of projects to save money in the face of tanking oil prices and a falling ruble, a plan presented by the country's space agency showed on Wednesday,
WORLD / Science & Health
Jan 15, 2016
NASA adds commercial mini-shuttle to space station's supply fleet
NASA hired a third company to fly cargo to the International Space Station, adding an innovative space plane built by Sierra Nevada Corp. to the commercial fleet, the U.S. space agency said on Thursday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 30, 2015
Russia to revise space program amid economic troubles, including cuts to moon exploration
Russia is to revise its space program, the national space agency said on Tuesday after a newspaper published a report that billions of dollars of cuts may be on the way, including to ambitious moon exploration plans.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 23, 2015
SpaceX facing big challenge with reusable rockets
SpaceX just proved that it can send a 14-story rocket booster into space and then land it successfully back on Earth. It is something the company had never managed to do before but is essential if Elon Musk has any hope of dramatically cutting the cost of reaching space.
LIFE / Language / MORNING ENGLISH
Dec 21, 2015
Let's discuss the Akatsuki space probe
Japan's space agency says its Akatsuki probe has successfully entered into orbit around Venus.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 11, 2015
Satellite monitoring of greenhouse gases is new space race
Scientists from the United States, Japan and China are racing to perfect satellite technology that could one day measure greenhouse gas emissions from space, potentially transforming the winner into the world's first climate cop.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 2, 2015
U.S. bill ends legal quandary over mining rights in space
A new law clears U.S. companies to own what they mine from asteroids and other celestial bodies, ending a legal quandary that had overshadowed technical and financial issues facing the startups, industry officials said on Tuesday.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Dec 1, 2015
European satellite set to test method to find ripples across space, time
An experimental satellite slated for launch Wednesday will test a technique to detect ripples in space and across time, adding a new perspective for viewing and understanding the universe.
Japan Times
WORLD / Science & Health
Nov 19, 2015
Astronomers see planet still growing in its stellar womb
Astronomers have taken the first images of a planet still in formation, a discovery expected to shed light on how giant planets manage to beef up early in their lives, research published on Wednesday showed.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2015
Deep space mining seen costing $27 billion, or half the price of huge Aussie gas terminal
Getting a mine up and running on the moon or an asteroid would cost less than building the biggest gas terminals on Earth, according to research presented to a forum of company executives and NASA scientists.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Science & Health
Nov 5, 2015
Revolution in space technology evolution awaits launch in New Zealand paddock
The next revolution in space, making humdrum what was long the special preserve of tax-funded giants like NASA, will be launching next year from a paddock in New Zealand's remote South Island.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Science & Health
Oct 16, 2015
Architect pair tap 3-D printing, ice to share top NASA prize for Mars habitat design
In the coming decades, as humans leave Earth to expand the bounds of space travel, astronauts are sure to find themselves for the first time in habitats other than the International Space Station.

Longform

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.
Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.