Telstra has revealed the addition of almost one million new mobile services in the six months to December 2011, but Sensis revenues plummeted 24 percent in 12 months.
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William Atkins
Tuesday, 24 June 2008 21:00
Jeff Hanley, Constellation Program manager, stated, “We confirmed that Constellation's conceptual designs for both Ares V and Altair will enable us to land astronauts and cargo anywhere on the moon and to build an outpost supporting widespread exploration of the lunar surface."
Currently, NASA plans are to send and safely return U.S. astronauts to the Moon by the year 2020, the last year of the next decade.
In part, the success of the Constellation program hinges on the international partnerships and industrial contractors being developed by NASA in the world space community.
NASA states that Phase A is “… the process of defining the vehicle and element requirements. During this phase, the Ares V and Altair Project teams will take what was learned from the Lunar Capability Concept Review and baseline the needs for lunar missions, establish the design needs and determine plans for advancing the technologies needed to be successful.”
Phase A is scheduled to conclude in 2010 with a Systems Requirements Review (SRR) for NASA's lunar transportation architecture,
NASA states that the SRR will refine “… early configurations of the Ares V rocket to ensure its capability to deliver the Altair lunar lander, four astronauts and cargo anywhere on the moon and return the crew to Earth at any time. To accomplish those objectives, the current configuration of the Ares V will use six RS-68B liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen engines on a core stage along with two five-and-one-half segment solid propellant rocket boosters, which are a direct evolution from the first stage of the Ares I rocket."
In addition, "The Ares V upper stage will propel the Orion crew capsule and Altair to the moon using the same J-2X engine as the Ares I crew launch vehicle. The Ares V will stand about 381 feet tall and be able to send more than 156,600 pounds of cargo and components into orbit to the moon, and later to Mars or other destinations.”
Plus, “Altair will be capable of landing four astronauts anywhere on the moon, providing life support and a base for the first week-long surface exploration missions, and returning the crew to the Orion spacecraft for the ride home to Earth. A variant of the lunar lander will serve as an autonomous cargo carrier, taking modular outpost components, lunar rovers, and scientific equipment to the moon's surface.”
According to NASA officials, the formal decision to begin Phase A will be decided at the end of 2008.
Responsibilities for the various part of Project Constellation fall on various NASA organizatoins. Please read on.
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