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Spacecraft have relatively weak receivers, so you need to beam a strong radio signal to them. They also transmit relatively weak signals back. You need a large sensitive radio dish to capture the reply. For spacecraft beyond the orbit of Earth, this is done through the Deep Space Network (DSN), which is a collection of radio telescopes custom designed for the job. The DSN is already being pushed to its data limits... Human missions would require orders of magnitude more bandwidth. When we return to the Moon and place our first footsteps on Mars, we will want not only scientific...

Dr. Robert W. Bussard died at his home in Santa Fe, NM on October 6th. Inventor, entrepreneur and author, he was the originator of the Interstellar Ramjet as known on Star Trek as the Bussard Collector. A fixture in Science Fiction literature, the Ramjet continues to be the only method known with the possible capability to propel humankind to the stars. Dr. Bussard was also instrumental in developing the nuclear rocket program at Los Alamos National Lab in the 1950s and 60s. At his death, Dr. Bussard was the President and CEO of Energy Matter Conversion Corporation (EMC2), a company...

8:38PM CT The first report from St. Louis is in - and presidential candidates Michael Badnarik (Libertarian) and David Cobb (Green Party) were just arrested. Badnarik was carrying an Order to Show Cause, which he intended to serve the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD). Earlier today, Libertarians attempted to serve these same papers at the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the CPD - but were stopped from approaching the CPD office by security guards.

Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2002 November 13 Asteroid Annefrank Credit: STARDUST Team, JPL, NASA Explanation: NASA's interplanetary probe STARDUST, on its way to Comet Wild 2 in January 2004, passed asteroid 5535 Annefrank earlier this month. Annefrank, named for a holocaust victim who kept a famous diary, is a member of the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. Just prior to closest approach at about 3300 km distant, the robot spacecraft...