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1. Thai Two-Sister Team performed "Zero-Gravity Flight Experiment" in
Japan
2. e-Map for Access to Geographical Data, Brunei
3. The new "Compass" navigation satellite successfully launched
and put
into use, China - April 16
4. Satellite Monitoring of Active Volcanoes in East Asia
5. [[Event Information and APRSAF Website Update - May -
June 2007]]
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1. Thai Two-Sister Team performed "Zero-Gravity Flight Experiment" in Japan
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In cooperation with NSTDA (National Science and Technology
Development Agency of Thailand) and JAXA (Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency), Thai students participated in the "Zero-Gravity*
Flight Experiment Contest"** organized by JAXA.
This was the first challenge for students in the Asia-Pacific
region to experience the "Zero-Gravity" flight
as an international cooperation project.
A proposal titled "Study of Medical Drug Dispersion
under the Microgravity Environment" was finally selected
from 7 entries in Thailand by the theme selection committee
of NSTDA by two selection steps at the end of December
2006.
The experiment was designed, built and tested by the two-sister
team, Apaporn and Sarunporn Boonyarattaphan, from Mahidol
University and SaintJohn International School. The first-ever
Thai Zero-Gravity Flight Experiment on the JAXA's parabolic
flight was successfully conducted from Nagoya Airport in
Japan on March 9-10, 2007.
Thai students flied together with Japanese students in
University of Tokyo and Gakushuin University. During the
flight, their experiment devices operated normally. Thai
students cheerfully returned to the airport after the experiment.
At present they are investigating the results of the experiment.
Dr. Sawat Tantiphanwadi, Manager of this collaboration
in Thailand and Deputy Director of Technology Management
Center NSTDA said "Thai experiment was about observing
the medical dispersion under micro-gravity conditions.
As the astronauts will in the future have to take some
medical drugs when they get sick, this experiment will
benefit future drug design.
This is the first time that JAXA allowed an experiment
on board that was not Japanese. It was a great opportunity
for Thai students to gain this valuable experience. We
hope that JAXA will continue its support of this parabolic
flight program and let some other Asia-Pacific nations
gain excess to this useful micro-gravity program."
*Approximately 20 seconds of Zero-gravity (weightlessness)
can be made inside an aircraft flying a parabolic maneuver.
During one flight, about 10 opportunities to conduct zero-gravity
experiments (20 seconds each) are possible.
**JAXA student zero-gravity experiment web-site
http://iss.jaxa.jp/education/parabolic/en/index.html
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2. e-Map for Access to Geographical Data, Brunei
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The Brunei government is embarking on a $9.5 million e-government
project for the delivery of the country's National Spatial
Data Infrastructure (NSDI).
The e-Map project will provide users the means to share
geographical data and promote the development of business
applications that utilize spatial data, which will produce
significant savings for data collection and use and enhance
decision-making.
The signing ceremony between the Ministry of Development
and Selective Powertech Consulting was held at the Ministry
of Development on April 21, 2007.
"The e-Map is a system that will disseminate information
related to geographic, survey, land, development, town
planning and other information over the Internet. It comprises
a group of sub-systems, all of which will access a common
set of databases," said the Surveyor General of the
Survey Department, Ministry of Development, Hj Mohammed
Jamil Hj Mohammed Ali.
He added "Through this infrastructure, Brunei will
reduce duplication of effort among agencies, improve quality
and reduce costs related to geographic information and
make them more accessible to the public."
The project that will also increase data availability
is expected to be completed over a 12-month period. The
primary contractor for the project is Selective Powertech
Consulting of Brunei Darussalam, which has a specialization
in ICT consultation and implementation for e-government.
The project team and major subcontractors include geomatics
software company, Caris, from Canada, where their regional
representative is Maicons Technology Sdn Bhd, from Malaysia
and an e-commerce and finance specialist from Brunei Darussalam,
Dalplus Technologies.
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3. The new "Compass" navigation satellite successfully launched and
put into use, China - April 16
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China successfully launched the new "Compass" navigation
satellite from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwest
China's Sichuan Province at 4:11 a.m. on April 14, 2007,
and has put it into use after the third position in a geostationary
earth orbit fixing on April 16, 2007. The satellite is
the 5th "Compass" navigation satellite and is
part of the country's ambitious "Compass" navigational
system, expected to provide services to customers all over
China and neighboring countries by 2008. It will be expanded
to become a global navigation and positioning network.
The system includes at least 35 satellites, namely five
geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) and 30 medium Earth orbit
(MEO) satellites and will provide clients with positioning
accuracy within 10 meters, velocity accuracy with 0.2 meter
per second and timing accuracy within 50 nanoseconds.
The satellite and carrier rocket were developed respectively
by the China Academy of Space Technology and China Academy
of Launch Vehicle Technology, which are under the China
Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. The launch
represents the 97th flight of China's Long March series
of rockets.
This news source (17th April 2007) written by Mr. Mu Xuequan
is the following China view Web site
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/17/content_5985469.htm
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4. Satellite Monitoring of Active Volcanoes in East Asia
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The Earthquake Research Institute
(ERI) of the University of Tokyo developed a near real-time
monitoring system for 147 active volcanoes in East Asia
in cooperation with the Institute of Industrial Science
(IIS) of the University of Tokyo and the University of
London.
The system uses visible and infrared images from the US
radiometer MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer)
and the Japanese satellite MTSAT (Multi-functional Transport
Satellite) sensors. The data form MODIS and MTSAT are immediately
uploaded on the web site (http://vrsserv.eri.u-tokyo.ac.jp/REALVOLC/),
which is useful for early detection of volcanic eruptions
or changes in volcano activities. Because of this easy
access to the volcanic data on the web, the IIS is expecting
many volcanologists and other interested parties to use
the MODIS and MTSAT data.
Dr. Takayuki Kaneko, Research Associate of ERI of the
University of Tokyo, said "MODIS is good for observing
a small-scale eruption. MTSAT is good for observing a large-scale
eruption. We will continuously research the character of
each volcano in detail and we hope to contribute to the
volcanic disaster-prevention in Asia."
Full text of the article available at:
APRSAF Hot Topics:
http://www.aprsaf.org/feature/feature_06.html
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5. [[Event Information and APRSAF Website Update - May - June 2007]]
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* May 14-18, 2007
Spatial Sciences Institute Biennial International Conference
Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
http://www.ssc2007.com/
* May 15-18, 2007
5th Taipei International Digital Earth Symposium - TIDES
2007
Taipei, Taiwan
http://deconf.pccu.edu.tw/2007/en-info.htm
*May 17-18, 2007
5th Annual Mekong Flood Forum
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
http://www.mrcmekong.org/MRC_news/upcoming_events.htm
*May 21-25, 2007
CEOS SGISS-23 Plenary Meeting & Remote Sensing Workshop
Hanoi Vietnam
http://www.wgiss23.com/
*June 6-8, 2007
Rivers 2007: 2nd International Conference on Managing Rivers
in the 21st Century Solutions Towards Sustainable River Basins
Contact: rivers2007@gmail.com
http://rivers07.eng.usm.my/
*June 12-13, 2007
Location India 2007, 3rd International Conference and Exhibition
on Vehicle Tracking, Location Intelligence and Surveying
Bangalore, India
http://www.location.net.in/india/index.htm
*June 12-15, 2007
13th PCGIAP Annual Meeting
Seoul, Korea
*June 14-16, 2007
RAST 2007 3rd International Conference on Recent Advances
in Space Technologies
Istanbul, Turkey
http://www.rast.org.tr/
*June 20-27, 2007
Geoinformation Forum Japan 2007
Yokohama, Japan
http://www.jsurvey.jp/eng-geoforum2006.htm
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Copyright 2007 The APRSAF Secretariat
APRSAF Secretariat
c/o. Remote Sensing Technology Center of Japan
Roppongi First Bldg. 12F, 1-9-9 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
106-0032,
Japan
Tel:+81-3-5572-6708 / Fax:+81-3-5572-6707
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