SpaceX Confirms Anomalies On Falcon Launch (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
SpaceX chief Elon Musk has confirmed that Stages 1 and 2 collided on the second flight of the company’s Falcon 1 small launch vehicle, and that Stage 1 was not recovered as intended, due in part to a nonfunctioning GPS tracking device on the stage at liftoff. Regarding the second stage Kestrel engine, Musk said "The surprise was how cool the nozzle ended up being. It is capable of glowing white hot and was only a little bit red in places. We clearly have far more film cooling than is actually needed." As for the Stage 1 loss, "The SpaceX pricing does not assume [Stage 1] reusability, so this does not break our business model, but of course long term getting this right matters a lot for cost reduction."
Musk defended his description of the flight as a success. "The primary goal of this test flight was to learn enough to ensure that when we launch a satellite on the next flight, it has a high likelihood of success. We believe we do, therefore the objective was successfully achieved." Musk also dismissed the importance of reaching orbit on the flight. "Whether the stage reached full orbital velocity or not is largely beside the point. It would have performed no useful function there," he stated. SpaceX has stated that it plans no additional test flights before its next commercial flights this year, which will separately loft experimental satellites for the US Navy and a Malaysian / South Korean team.
Aerospace Foreign Trade Surplus Continues to Grow (Source: AIA)
Foreign trade in the aerospace industry is continuing to show strength, with a record trade balance of $52 billion for the aerospace industry in 2006. According to AIA's Aerospace Research Center, exports of aerospace products were projected to soar to nearly $82 billion in 2006 while imports remained relatively flat at a bit under $30 billion. See more 2006 industry statistics at http://www.aia-aerospace.org/stats/yr_ender/yr_ender.cfm.
Officials Near Spaceport Deal with Virgin Galactic (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
Rick Homans, New Mexico secretary of economic development and Spaceport Authority chair, confirmed the state is at a pivotal point in negotiations with Virgin Galactic, the British company that plans to base its space tourism operations at the spaceport. An anchor tenant is vital to the spaceport project planned for southern Sierra County near Upham. The $100 million in capital outlay funds allotted by the New Mexico Legislature for the estimated $198 million project has three conditions attached to it, including an anchor tenant.
Florida Governor Urges Space Support in State of the State Address (Source: EOG)
In his first State of the State address to the Legislature of Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist included some specific comments on the need to invest in space industry expansion..."I ask that you give us the tools to spur economic development for the film and space industries...Florida is the place where America literally reaches for the stars, so we must also continue to incentivize the private space industry to retain our preeminence in this field."
NASA Budget: No Room for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (Source: What's New)
Congressman Bart Gordon (D-TN), chair of the House S&T Committee, noted that the budget reality bears little resemblance to the
"rosy projections" offered by the Administration when the President announced his "Vision for Space Exploration" three years ago. One casualty is the $1.5 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer that was scheduled to go to the ISS on a 2008 shuttle flight. Michael Griffin now says there's no room for the AMS on the shuttle because every flight is crammed with hardware to finish the ISS. The AMS was designed to search for antimatter. Nobel prize winner Sam Ting of MIT, made the case for AMS personally to Dan Goldin. It was cited repeatedly by NASA to show that the ISS would do basic science.
Seats on Hawking ZERO-G Flight Available on eBay (Source: Spaceports blog)
Experience history in the making with an amazing opportunity to join Professor Stephen Hawking, the world-renowned physicist and expert ongravity, as he realizes his life-long dream of floating weightless. Hawking will fly aboard ZERO-G's G-Force One aircraft on April 26 from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Two seats will be auctioned on eBay from March 16-26, with all proceeds going to the Starlight Starbright Children's Foundation. The auction package also includes a dinner and lecture with Hawking, and hotel accommodations for three nights at the JW Marriott Hotel Grande Lakes in Orlando.
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