NASA's Kepler space telescope has found two new planets orbiting a distant sun-like star, and the researchers who made the find say these two are the size of Earth or smaller. That's a first in the search for extraterrestrial life.If the discovery holds up under scrutiny by other scientists, it could be a very big deal. Earth-sized planets are considered critical in the search for life elsewhere in the universe, but until now, scientists said their instruments were not sensitive enough to detect them."Theoretical considerations imply that these planets are rocky, with a composition of iron and silicate," wrote Francois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the leader of the team that made the discovery. "The outer planet could have developed a thick water vapour atmosphere."The team is publishing its report today online in the journal Nature.The two newly-found planets, called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are much too far away to be seen directly. They circle a star about 950 light-years away in the constellation Lyra, which appears high in the sky over North America on a summer night. Scientists measured the miniscule dimming of their host star as they passed in front of it, and then did the math to figure out how large they are likely to be and in what orbits they move.Kepler-20e and f are probably too hot to be friendly to life -- they are so close to their sun that one of them circles it in just six Earth days, and the other does it in 19. But the simple fact that they've been found, say the scientists, is reason to expect that others like them exist.For more details please open below link:
Nigeria launches two satellites
NigeriaSat-2 could help Nigeria manage its natural resourcesNigeria has successfully launched two Earth observation satellites which could be used to monitor weather in a region seasonally ravaged by disasters.
The NigeriaSat-2 and NigeriaSat-X spacecraft were lofted into orbit aboard a Russian Dnepr rocket from a launch pad in the town of Yasny, southern Russia.
Nigeria collaborated with UK engineers on the project, and the satellites are being monitored from control stations in Guildford, UK, and Abuja in Nigeria.
Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan praised the successful launch.
Mr Jonathan called the event "another milestone in our nation's effort to solve national problems through space technology".
The imaging satellites could have a variety of applications, including the monitoring of disaster-prone areas.
Nigerian territory stretches into Africa's Sahel, a belt of land on the Sahara Desert's southern fringe that sees extreme weather conditions.
The Sahel experiences severe droughts in the dry season and devastating rainfall in the wet season. Floods last year displaced about 500,000 people nationwide, with most of them in the Sahel region.
The satellites could also provide Nigeria with the ability to enhance food security through monthly crop monitoring, assist with burgeoning urban planning demands and, through the development of engineering skills, advance the country's technological capability.
Both satellites were built at Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) in Guildford, under contract with the Nigerian National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).
But 26 Nigerian engineers worked alongside SSTL engineers in Guildford to assemble the 100kg NigeriaSat-X satellite.
Dr S O Mohammed, the head of NASRDA, commented: "NigeriaSat-2 will significantly boost African capabilities for remote sensing applications, specifically for natural resource management.
"This high resolution satellite will also greatly enhance image data available to the Disaster Monitoring Constellation. Through a comprehensive training programme, Nigerian engineers have worked on the design and build of NigeriaSat-X, benefiting Nigeria's
growing space industry and inspiring development of new technologies."
There is a burgeoning worldwide business in imaging the surface of the planet
Surrey Satellite was assisted by a technology development programme called Mosaic in 2000
growing space industry and inspiring development of new technologies."
Surrey Satellite unveils high-resolution space project
There is a burgeoning worldwide business in imaging the surface of the planetA £100m project has been announced to launch three new British spacecraft to image the surface of the Earth.
The satellites, to be orbited in 2013, will be able to see details down to one metre at their best resolution.
It is a commercial venture between the spacecraft manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Limited and its data processing subsidiary, DMCii.
Nations that would not necessarily need their own dedicated satellites will be able to buy time on the spacecraft.
"This constellation of three satellites will be owned and operated from the UK but the capacity on the spacecraft will be leased to different international customers," explained Sir Martin Sweeting, executive chairman of SSTL.
The Guildford-based entrepreneur made the announcement in the Czech capital, Prague, which is hosting this year's International Astronautical Congress.
SSTL and DMCii already operate a fleet of 100kg-class imaging satellites, but these are owned by different nations, including the UK, China, Spain and Nigeria.
DMCii acts as their business manager, processing and distributing their data, and collecting any revenues earned from selling the satellites' pictures to third-party customers.
There is a burgeoning worldwide business in imaging the surface of the planet for all sorts of applications, from making street plans to policing deforestation.
Surrey Satellite has become a world leader in manufacturing small spacecraft for this purpose, lowering costs by making the most of off-the-shelf components developed for ordinary consumer electronics, such as laptops.
SSTL is a spin-out from the University of Surrey. It says its profitable business owes a great deal to government seed-funding 10 years ago that enabled it to test key technologies and market opportunities.
Sir Martin said there had been a 20-to-one return on this investment.
Surrey Satellite was assisted by a technology development programme called Mosaic in 2000"We're not asking government to fund grand space programmes," he told BBC News. "But there are some technologies and some business cases that we need the help of government just to get us over the hump - to get the wheels turning."
The new project's roughly £100m cost covers about £60m for the satellites themselves with the rest going on launch and insurance fees.
The spacecraft would be built to a tight timeline, which could see them ready for launch on a single rocket by the end of 2013.
Each satellite will be in a larger class than the current DMCii-managed fleet, topping over 300kg.
As well as their high resolution cameras (1m/pixel resolution panchromatic; 4m/pixel resolution colour), they will also accommodate imagers capable of mapping ultra-wide strips (600km) of the Earth's surface, albeit at resolutions above 20m.
This broad-swath facility will allow DMCii to continue to use the new satellites for disaster response. Its current fleet plays a leading role in acquiring the urgent maps needed by relief agencies when a natural or man-made calamity strikes a particular corner of the world.
The satellites have been particularly active this year in monitoring the impacts of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
