New Zealand Joins The U.S., E.U., and Japan

The smaller of the countries we think of as “down under” will be joining the others above as a country that has put a rocket into outer space.

The note from slashdot tells about the Southern Hemisphere entering the space race -

RobGoldsmith sends in a Space Fellowship piece (which seems to be a press release) about New Zealand’s entry into the space age.

“Private New Zealand aerospace company Rocket Lab completed its final ground-based test today and is now ready to launch New Zealand into the space race with its Atea-1 launch vehicle. The first high-altitude launch of Atea-1 is scheduled for the end of November this year. Once Atea-1 has successfully concluded the development phase it will be the first privately built rocket launched from the Southern Hemisphere to enter space. The article features a new CGI movie on the launch.”

Other than as a matter of national pride, I can’t imagine a reason for this, but perhaps those living down under don’t feel that the secrets of space are being properly shared.

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Quote of the day:

A gentleman is a man who can play the accordion but doesn’t.

- Unknown

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