Bengaluru Space Expo To Highlight India Moon Leadership

India has joined the ranks of nations that have been to the Moon, and presently looks to have the most ambitious lunar exploration plan going forward. Following the recent successful deployment of the Chandrayaan-1 orbiter and Moon Impactor Probe, India has already begun development of Chandrayaan-2, a joint lunar lander / rover mission with Russia in 2011-12. India has also declared interest in a human spaceflight program that would lead to India putting an astronaut on the Moon indigenously in coming years. Conversely, while NASA has grand plans for a human lunar outpost, the US space agency has yet to carry out its first LRO mission, and has no robotic missions planned beyond LRO. If the USA led the world in lunar exploration over the past 4 decades, that leadership has clearly shifted to Asia, particularly India, China and Japan. The 1st 'Bengaluru Space Expo 2008' on Nov 29-Dec 1 in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India will highlight these successes and ambitions. Hosted by the India Space Research Organization (ISRO) and its commercial arm, the Antrix Corporation, the event will showcase India and Asia space and technological advances, products and services, including India's robust satellite and launching industries. Also, the Confederation of Indian Industry will sponsor a concurrent international conference, 'World Space-Biz,' which will focus on commercial opportunities in space exploration. (Credit: ISRO)

International Space Station: 10 Years In Orbit, What's Next?

The International Space Station (ISS) is in its 11th year in Low Earth Orbit since the 1st Russia module Zarya was launched on Nov 20, 1998. Since then, 44 spaceflights (27 Shuttle, 17 Soyuz) have delivered 167 people from 15 countries to the largest spacecraft ever constructed. Over the past decade, the USA (NASA), Russia (FSA), Canada (CSA), Japan (JAXA) and Europe (ESA) have collaborated on the ISS, including 114 spacewalks accounting for over 718 hours to install 19 research facilities and more than 100,000 personnel on Earth in 500 facilities, 37 US States and 16 countries. "We have overcome differences in language, geography and engineering philosophies to succeed," says ISS Program Manager Mike Suffredini. The ISS has completed over 57,300 orbits of Earth, a distance of more than 2.3 billion km. If the ISS had been traveling straight out into the Milky Way instead of around Earth, it would have passed the orbit of Pluto and be in the outer reaches of the Solar System. With all that has been invested in the ISS, many wonder what role the station will play in the human exploration of the Moon and beyond in coming years and decades. "With the ISS, we have learned so many things -- and we're going to take that knowledge and apply it to flying to the Moon and Mars," says current E18 Commander Mike Fincke. (Credit: NASA / SPC)