Tuesday 3 June 2003

Bloggers' social Well the Irish bloggers social was a success, or at least I thought so. I didn't do a headcount but I reckon we had 15 to 20 people there. I brought my camera but I never got round to taking any shots. It was good to see Diane and Peter again and catch up on their news. It was also interesting to make some new contacts like Diego Doval and Damien Bannon. Conspicuous by his absence was Bernie Goldbach who wasn't able to make it after all. 11:28:13 PM    comment []  Google It!

U.S., European Negotiators Hopeful About Galileo Deal Galileo is Europe's proposed counterpart to the US's GPS system. Part of the Galileo spec calls for an encrypted signal called PRS for use by government agencies only to use a portion of the radio spectrum that the US wants to use for its GPS military code. If they did, then the US and NATO would be unable to jam the PRS signal in theatres of war without jamming the GPS signal as well. Negotiators are confident, however, they can reach agreement by the end of the year. [SPACE.com] 4:59:27 PM    comment []  Google It!

US, Russia pledge continued space cooperation The United States and Russia signed a joint statement this weekend promising to continue cooperation... [spacetoday.net] That's alright then. 4:46:54 PM    comment []  Google It!

Bad blood in Egypt Anyone who has followed our blood scandals and the Lindsay Tribunal will see parallels in this story of well-meaning Egyptian authorities are believed to have infected millions of their own citizens with hepatitis C. (Premium content. Free pass available) [Salon.com] 3:36:54 PM    comment []  Google It!

Soyuz Rocket Boosts Mars Express Toward Red Planet The first of three probes to the Red Planet was launched yesterday from Baikonur Cosmodrome at 17:45 GMT. Mars Express is a biological mission to look for traces of life on Mars. It consists of an orbiter and a lander called Beagle 2 in honour of the vessel that carried Charles Darwin on his voyage to the Galapagos. Beagle 2 is scheduled to touch down on Christmas Eve at Isidis Planitia, a flat basin on Mars with ground water ice possibly lurking a few feet below surface. Later this month NASA will launch two probes to Mars. Mars Exploration Rover (MER) A is due to launch sometime this week and MER B will launch on June 25. Like Mars Express they consist of both orbiters and landers. However, their mission will be oriented more towards geology than biology. [SPACE.com] 3:15:11 PM    comment []  Google It!

© Copyright 2003 David Stewart. Last update: 01/07/2003; 17:49:43.