NASA to Partner with Commercial Firms in Developing Space Technology

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Consistent with the goal of President Barack Obama to further the commercialization of human space flight, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has selected several commercial companies to help them develop space flight technology.

NASA awarded a total of $50 Million through funded agreements to the following companies.

Blue Origin of Kent, Washington

The Boeing Company of Houston

Paragon Space Development Corporation of Tucson, Arizona

Sierra Nevada Corporation of Louisville, Colorado

United Launch Alliance of Centennial, Colorado

Will this further boost the technological capability of humans to fly to space? Or will this be the final demise to the decreasing popularity of space programs?

The full story is available in the link below.

http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=9111

Asteroid Will be Close to Earth by 2011

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An asteroid was spotted to be of close distance to Earth last April 19. The 400 mm size Asteroid 2005 YU55 orbits the sun in an orbit close to earth. For this year however, the distance poses no threat. Last April 19, the asteroid pass by the earth in a distance of 2.4 Million kilometers, about six times the distance between the Earth and the moon.

In 2011 however, the distance will be much closer. The asteroid is predicted to be as close as 308, 000 kilometers, or about eight-tenths of the distance between the Earth and the moon. According to the astronomers, the 2011 encounter would still be harmless to the Earth though they will still keep track of its position in case a possible collision may occur in the future.

For the full story, see the article below.

SPACE.com -- Potentially Dangerous Asteroid Spotted Passing Earth

Could Asteroids Be Earth's Water Origin?

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The theory that asteroids crashing with the Earth nearly four billion years ago could have been the seed to Earth's water seems to get more consideration recently. The new attention came after a team of astronomers found organic compounds in an asteroid.

The asteroid named 24 Themis situated between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter was found to be coated with thin layer of frost.

Is this evidence will be the final touch on the old theory? What questions are still unanswered and what explanations we have so far?

Read the entire article below for the full story.

Ice asteroids likely source of Earth's water: study - Yahoo! News