April 11 News Items

Space Pioneers Gather at KSC (Source: KSCVC)
Forty-five years following Alan Shepard’s historic first space flight, the public’s fascination with the early days of America’s space program remains as strong as ever. On June 8-9 the KSC Visitor Complex will host more than twenty legend astronauts at a first ever astronaut autograph show! The event will include astronaut autograph sessions, photo opportunities, astronaut lectures, gala banquet, silent auction of Astronaut donated memorabilia/experiences to benefit the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, artifact appraisals, door prizes and more!

Astronaut Legends schedule to attend thus far include: Wally Schirra, Mercury, Gemini 6, Apollo 7; Scott Carpenter, Mercury Astronaut; Gene Cernan, Gemini 9 and Apollo 10 & 17 Moonwalker; Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 Moonwalker; Alan Bean, Apollo 12 Moonwalker; Edgar Mitchell, Apollo 14 Moonwalker; Charles Duke: Apollo 16 Moonwalker; Walt Cunningham: Apollo 7; Rusty Schweickart: Apollo 9; Richard Gordon: Gemini XI, Apollo 12; Al Worden: Apollo 15; Paul Weitz: Skylab I; Jack Lousma: Skylab II ; Ed Gibson: Skylab III; Robert “Hoot” Gibson: STS 41-B, 61-C, 27, 47 & 71; Jon McBride: STS-41G; Tom Jones: STS 59,68,80,98 and Brian Binnie: Space Ship One Pilot.

Where Democrats and Republicans Should Boldly Go (Source: Los Angeles Times)
It is crucial for President Bush and the Democratic Congress to find common ground. If the president is looking for a place to start, he should go back to an idea he proposed a few years ago — one that has important implications for our national security and our sense of pride in our nation. The "Vision for Space," a dramatic, news-making concept that would take us back to the moon and, eventually, beyond, would keep the U.S. preeminent in the arena of human spaceflight. Politics aside, many in and out of the space business strongly believe that going beyond the moon is exactly the right track for our nation — especially considering China's publicly stated goal of starting to colonize the moon within the next few decades.

Republicans and Democrats must come together on seeing the "Vision for Space" through. Any delay would cost the taxpayers billions of dollars in research and development and further increase the time from when the space shuttle stops flying in 2010 until we get the next-generation Orion spacecraft into orbit. Even with the current "vision," it is anticipated that our nation will have no Americans flying on American spacecraft for at least four to six years. A delay now would put our nation at a serious disadvantage in terms of national security.

NASA Extends Contract With Russia's Federal Space Agency (Source: NASA Watch)
NASA has signed a $719 million modification to the current International Space Station contract with Russia's Federal Space Agency in Moscow for crew and cargo services through 2011. The firm-fixed price extension covers crew rotations for 15 crew members, six in 2009, six in 2010 and three in 2011, delivery and the removal of 5.6 metric tons of cargo. U.S. Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) are still planned to provide the bulk of cargo transportation needs from 2010 and beyond to the space station.

ULA Eyes SpaceDev DreamChaser Launch Deal (Source: Kansas.com)
United Launch Alliance may agree to provide rockets to launch SpaceDev' s "DreamChaser" spacecraft on commercial and tourist flights. ULA will study the use of its Atlas V rocket to launch the spacecraft. Initial flight tests are scheduled for 2009. The Dream Chaser is intended to provide affordable access to space for the U.S. government, entrepreneurs and small businesses, he said. DreamChaser would carry six to eight passengers and cargo to the Space Station as well as on commercial tourism flights in earth orbit. Lockheed and Boeing formed ULA last year to lift government satellites into space.

Shuttle Launch Slips to June (Source: SpaceToday.net)
The next space shuttle launch is now scheduled for no earlier than June 8 after shuttle managers concluded Tuesday that they need more time to complete repairs of the shuttle's external tank. The STS-117 mission was scheduled to launch in mid-March, but was delayed when the insulating foam on the external tank was damaged in a freak hailstorm while on the launch pad in late February. NASA had originally hoped to complete repairs in time to accommodate a mid-May launch, but concluded Tuesday that they need more time. However, managers decided not to swap the tank with one planned for use on the next flight, a move that might have further delayed the launch. NASA officials said that, despite the delay, they believe that can still get off four shuttle missions this year, with future launches planned in August, October, and December.

Bigelow Aerospace Reveals Business Plan (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Bigelow Aerospace, the Las Vegas-based company developing inflatable orbital habitats, released new details about its business plan on Tuesday, including efforts to target both foreign government and commercial customers. At a press conference during the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, company founder Robert Bigelow said his company planned to launch a series of inflatable modules starting around 2010 that would be capable of hosting between three and six people at a time; several modules would be linked together to form a single space station, with multiple such stations planned. One group of customers, called sovereign clients, would be astronauts from national space agencies: they would pay just under $15 million for a four-week stay, transportation included. A separate set of customers, called prime clients, would be large companies interested in leasing module space for research: a full-scale, 300-cubic-meter module would lease for $88 million a year. Bigelow expects to require up to 30 launched a year by the middle of the next decade to transport customers to and from the stations. Bigelow launched its first subscale test module, Genesis 1, last July, and its second, Genesis 2, is scheduled for launch late this month from Russia.