June 2013
A successful launch for the ATV-4 Albert Einstein space cargo ship going to the International Space Station
It was night Europe when, from the spaceport of Kourou in French Guyana, the space cargo ship ATV-4 (Automated Transfer Vehicle 4), named Albert Einstein after the great scientist, was launched on an Ariane 5 rocket. With a total weight of 20,190 kg, it’s the heaviest cargo spacecraft ever launched by ESA to the International Space Station, about 150 kg heavier than the previous ATV, the Edoardo Amaldi.
President Barack Obama announced measures against “patent trolls”
The president of the U.S.A. Barack Obama has announced plans to reform the laws governing patents to limit the phenomenon of “patent trolling”, which is the use of patents for the sole purpose of restricting competition and to obtain money by legal action or by agreements following threats of such action.
Radiation make an interplanetary journey very dangerous
The Mars Rover Curiosity arrived on Mars last year but the Mars Science Laboratory mission was already at work during its interplanetary journey. Curiosity has traveled within a spaceship just as human astronauts would therefore it was fitted with the Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) instrument in order to measure the amount of radiations absorbed in the course of the journey. The analysis of the data received indicate that they’re exceeding the limits for astronauts during their whole career.
Brightness Falls from the Air by James Tiptree Jr.
The novel “Brightness Falls from the Air” by James Tiptree Jr. was published for the first time in 1985.
Damiem is a planet on the edge of the galaxy where the Dameii live. They are beings who’ve been exploited for a long time for a horrendous traffic of a drug called Star Tears. They exude a substance that has remarkable effects on humans, especially when a Damei is tortured to produce it. The Federation has captured or killed all the people involved in that traffic and left on the planet some guardians who watch over the natives.
