Daily Archives: January 30, 2012

Space Launch System (2)


                                                                                                                                        
SPACE WATCH

NASA Tests Deep Space J-2X Rocket Engine                  
NASA – NASA conducted a 40-second test of the J-2X rocket engine Sept. 28, the most recent in a series of tests of the next-generation engine selected as part of the Space Launch System architecture that will once again carry humans into deep space. It was a test at the 99 percent power level to gain a better understanding of start and shutdown systems as well as modifications that had been made from previous test firing results.

The test at NASA’s John C. Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi came just two weeks after the agency announced plans for the new SLS to be powered by core-stage RS-25 D/E and upper-stage J-2X engines. The liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen J-2X is being developed for NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. Image credit: NASA/SSC

Successful J-2X Rocket Engine 500-Second Test
NASA conducted a successful 500-second test firing on the A-2 test stand at NASA’s Stennis Space Center. Image credit: NASA/SSC

Successful J-2X Rocket Engine 500-Second Test
NASA conducted a successful 500-second test firing of the J-2X rocket engine on Wednesday, Nov. 9, marking another important step in development of an upper stage for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS). Image credit: NASA/SSC

First J-2X Stability Test
During the Dec. 1 80-second duration J-2X test firing, NASA began characterizing the rocket engine’s combustion stability to understand more about the engine’s performance and robustness. Image credit: NASA/Stennis

First ‘Super Wi-Fi’ network goes live in North Carolina


Seal of the United States Federal Communicatio...

Image @Wikipedia

By Brad Reed – Officials from New Hanover County, N.C., announced today that they had become the first in the United States to deploy a mobile data network on so-called “white spaces” spectrum that the Federal Communications Commission first authorized for unlicensed use in 2008. The county was able to make a quick transition in using the spectrum for a mobile data network because it was the first to successfully transition from analog to digital television.

Television “white spaces” are pieces of unlicensed spectrum that are currently unused by television stations on the VHF and UHF frequency bands and that have long been seen as prime spectrum for unlicensed wireless Internet services. In 2008, the FCC, then headed by former Chairman Kevin Martin, voted to let carriers and other vendors deploy devices in white space spectrum that operates unlicensed at powers of 100 milliwatts, as well as on white space channels adjacent to existing television stations at powers of up to 40 milliwatts. more> http://is.gd/52uo4X

Hitachi and Mitsubishi Corporation to Begin Smart Community System Demonstration Project in Spain


English: PS20 and PS10 in Andalusia, Spain

Image @Wikipedia

PressWIRE – The demonstration project plans call for MHI, which has a robust track record in intelligent transport systems (ITS), to supply the EV management center, EVs (200 vehicles), in-vehicle units and high-speed EV chargers. The company will also carry out studies and verifications of the EV center, the EV infrastructure, and the power management system that will accommodate fluctuations in power supply dependent on renewable energy. Hitachi, which has abundant experience in information and communication systems and energy management, will provide the demand-side management system, which is coupled with ICT systems, high-speed EV chargers and the demand-side management related to power management system. MC will create a package integrating business elements and services and study options for global expansion, and also verify the commercial viability of solutions business. more> http://is.gd/Gr3ITt

High-speed broadband cheapest in Stockholm


By Johan Nylander – At 381 euro per month, Singapore was the cheapest of all the cities surveyed. In stark contrast, Seoul has a monthly rate of 1,876 euro and New York businesses pay 2,218 euro.

“In Sweden more than anywhere else, ICT improves access to basic services and gives rise to new organizational models as well as new business models, products, and services.” more> http://is.gd/vUmWgc

AT&T reports $6.7 billion loss on hefty charges, iPhone costs


By Sinead Carew – AT&T Inc posted a $6.7 billion quarterly loss as it was weighed down by a hefty break-up fee for its failed T-Mobile USA merger and other big charges on top of costly subsidies for smartphones.

AT&T’s wireless service margin fell to 28.7 percent, based on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, from 43.7 percent in the third quarter and 37.6 percent a year earlier, missing already low analysts’ expectations. more> http://tinyurl.com/72zy3h4