Memorial Remains to be Launched From New Mexico Spaceport (Source: Celestis)
Celestis plans is planning its next suborbital Memorial Spaceflight on May 2 at Spaceport America, New Mexico. The Discovery Flight is the first of two planned 2009 Celestis missions. Details concerning the second 2009 flight, the company's sixth Earth Orbit mission, will be announced as soon as they are final. The Celestis payload will travel to space aboard a SpaceLoft XL rocket provided by UP Aerospace. (4/30)
Embry-Riddle Launches High-Power Rocket in NASA Competition (Source: ERAU)
A team of nine engineering seniors at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University made the school's inaugural entry into the NASA University Student Launch Initiative (USLI) competition. USLI challenges students to design, build, test, and fly a high-power rocket with a scientific payload to an altitude of one mile. The student teams are subject to the same series of rigorous engineering and safety design reviews that actual NASA programs undergo. The rocket must be successfully test flown, and pass a hands-on inspection by launch range officials from the Huntsville Area Rocketry Association, in order to qualify for the competition launch.
The competition was held on Apr. 18, in Huntsville. Nineteen teams entered this year's competition, including Florida Institute of Technology, Vanderbilt University, University of Alabama in Huntsville, and last year's winner, Utah State University. The Embry-Riddle team's "Afternoon Delight" rocket featured an Autonomous Roll Control and Orientation System consisting of accelerometers, a gyroscope, microcontroller, and servos to deflect flaps on the fins. The solid propellant motor produced 240 pounds of thrust. The launch and on-board experiment were successful, and the rocket was recovered undamaged after descending under two parachutes. (4/30)
Rocket Launch Set For Tuesday From Virginia Spaceport (Source: Chincoteague Beacon)
A Minotaur I rocket carrying a military satellite and two other payloads is set to launch Tuesday evening from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island. The launch, scheduled for between 8 and 11 p.m., is expected to bring 400 guests to the Wallops area next week to view the event. In addition, 50 workers have been here for the last six weeks doing tasks leading up to launch day. The cost of the launch and associated services totals $25 million. The launch will be the third Minotaur rocket launched from the spaceport's pad 0B. (4/30)
Senate Leader Softens Cuts to Space Florida (Source: Florida Today)
Senate Transportation Chairman Mike Fasano has re-set his phaser to stun. Angered by news reports of questionable spending at Space Florida, the New Port Richey Republican slashed the quasi-governmental economic development agency's state budget by $1.8 million, nearly in half, yesterday. This afternoon, in the latest round of budget negotiations with the House, Fasano returned most of the money. Next year, Space Florida's $4 million state appropriation will shrink by just $200,000. I think they got our message," Fasano said.
The surprise move sent Space Florida President Steve Koehler racing to Tallahassee yesterday. Fasano said he was satisfied that the agency's $200,000 lobbying tab for Florida and Washington-based firms was not picked up by Florida taxpayers. Fasano said he didn't understand why the group needs any hired guns. "You don't need lobbyists when you have people like Sen. Thad Altman," Fasano said of the Melbourne Republican representing portions of the Space Coast. "He's the best advocate for space in the Florida Legislature." (4/30)
President Commits to Raise Federal R&D Spending to 3 Percent of GDP (Source: SSTI)
President Obama announced earlier this week that the U.S. would increase its investment in basic and applied research and science and mathematics education to match the historic levels reached during the height of the space race. The president pledged to raise total government and industry spending on R&D to 3 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), equal to the record set in 1964. In addition to the increases in R&D spending already included in the Recovery Act, President Obama committed to finish the doubling of funds for federal science agencies and create several new programs to encourage students to pursue careers in STEM fields. (4/30)
Ethics Complaint Filed Over Former Crist Space Staffer (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Clearwater resident David Plyer filed a complaint last week with the Florida Commission on Ethics alleging Brice Harris of Pensacola broke the state's "revolving door" ethics law when he helped set up a program with Space Florida as Gov. Crist's space coordinator, and then took the job last year. Earlier this month, an internal investigation concluded there was enough evidence to suggest Harris violated the ethics law, a misdemeanor that can carry a $10,000 fine. Plyer had earlier filed an ethics complaint over Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp's frequent use of state planes. (4/30)
Russia Puts Military Satellite Into Orbit (Source: MosNews)
Russia successfully put a military satellite named Cosmos-2450 into orbit late Wednesday. The satellite was launched on a Soyuz-U rocket from the Plesetsk spaceport in northwest Russia. (4/30)
April 29 News Items
Space Florida Takes Exception to Media Reports (Source: Space Florida)
In response to recent reports by the Orlando Sentinel, Space Florida President Steve Kohler has posted a website statement to the agency's stakeholders that asserts the Sentinel has an "agenda to discredit" the agency. "It is clear that quotes and references to conversations have been truncated or positioned to form negative positioning of all of our efforts...Space Florida is working to continue to advance the achievements that have been made to date. While this type of reporting can be distracting, our staff is aggressively proceeding with the work in front of us." Click here to view the Space Florida statement. (4/29)
Star Trek-Like technology Offers Noninvasive Monitor for Patients and Athletes (Source: NSBRI)
How long will it take to develop Star Trek-like medical technologies? The gap between science fiction and reality is closing faster than many people may think. The Venus prototype is a noninvasive, needle-free system that uses light to measure tissue oxygen and pH. Consisting of a sensor and a wearable monitor, Venus will soon be a real-time alternative to the painful use of needles to draw blood and the cumbersome equipment used to determine metabolic rate. Venus is being developed by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute for use by NASA astronauts. It will also have many applications for health care and athletic training on Earth. (4/29)
NASA Ames Offers Buyouts to Hundreds of Employees (Source: Mountain View Voice)
A source at NASA Ames has emailed the Voice a list of over 400 employees who have been offered buyouts worth up to $25,000 in exchange for leaving their jobs. The news comes after the local branch of the space agency realized it had to make $100 million in cuts to its $793 million budget last year. The source says layoffs have not been proposed yet. If layoffs are proposed, it would probably take at least a year and a half for Ames to get through the federal requirements for doing so.
Starting April 27, the eligible Ames employees can accept the buyout offer, which is equal to each employee's severance pay entitlement, up to $25,000. The eligible positions include biologists, engineers, psychologists and even the director of partnerships. An announcement sent to employees says that those who take a buyout must leave by June 30. (4/29)
Aerojet Completes Initial Vibration and Hot Fire Engine Testing for Orion (Source: Aerojet)
Aerojet successfully completed the first series of vibration and altitude hot fire tests on NASA's Orion crew module's 160 lb. thrust mono-propellant rocket engine. The objective of the test program was to verify engine performance after the thruster was subjected to Orion vibration loads which produced energy levels that were two times higher than those previously qualified. Under contract with Lockheed Martin, NASA's prime contractor for Orion, Aerojet provides propulsion for the crew module as well as all engines aboard the service module. (4/29)
Budget Authorizes $2.5 Billion for NASA Shuttle Fleet (Source: Wall Street Journal)
House and Senate leaders have agreed to authorize $2.5 billion to keep the U.S. space shuttle fleet flying through 2011, if such an extension is necessary to complete currently planned missions to the international space station. Funding to maintain shuttle operations past the current deadline of December 2010 is part of the nonbinding $3.4 trillion budget blueprint passed by the House and Senate on Wednesday. Extra budget authority for the shuttles – which was not requested by the White House or interim leaders of NASA -- is still subject to future House and Senate appropriations bills. But it's the strongest signal yet that lawmakers want to maintain the option of a one-year delay in phasing out the aging shuttle fleet. (4/29)
Dems: Space Florida a Symbol of Gov. Crist's "House of Cards" (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A Florida Democratic Party spokesman issued a statement criticizing Gov. Charlie Crist for problems dogging the state's aerospace development efforts, including a controversial space tourism deal with the Andrews Institute: "Governor Charlie Crist once again ignored Republican corruption festering in the governor's office, when Crist refused to file an ethics complaint against Brice Harris. In doing so, Crist ignored his own Inspector General who recommended the governor file a complaint against Harris with the Ethics Commission." Click here to view the article. (4/29)
Boeing Completes Review for TDRS Satellite Series K-L (Source: Boeing)
Boeing has successfully completed the system-level Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for its Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system (TDRS) K-L program, an important design milestone as the program moves toward integration of the TDRS K satellite for NASA. The comprehensive five-day review was held in El Segundo in March and attended by NASA project, program and Headquarters officials. (4/29)
Committee Slashes Space Florida Budget in Half (Source: AP)
A legislative committee irked by Space Florida's spending on an out-of-state lobbying firm wants to cut the space economic development agency's budget nearly in half. Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, announced a cut Wednesday of more than $1.8 million in Space Florida's budget during a Wednesday meeting of the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations conference committee. The panel is negotiating final budget details for fiscal year 2009-10. Fasano said later he was furious that the agency would spend state dollars to lobby.
"I think we should start looking at a proviso that says whatever we give Space Florida cannot be used for hiring lobbyists," Fasano said. "Let them seek other dollars to hire lobbyists." The agency spent nearly $300,000 of its $4 million state allocation last year on lobbyists, including $195,000 to a Pennsylvania firm with ties to Space Florida's president. "What have we gotten back for that $300,000, nothing," Fasano said. "I think the lieutenant governor does a great job advocating on behalf of Space Florida," Gov. Charlie Crist said. "So I can understand the concern that Sen. Fasano would have." Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp is chairman of the Space Florida board.
However, Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, was concerned about any space-related cuts. "I would hate for our effort to promote space in Florida be penalized based on that one issue...We must maintain our presence in space and we need an agency to do that." Altman said he would get Space Florida President Steve Kohler with Fasano to try and work out their differences. Altman said the prospect of losing thousands of high-paying jobs in his Senate district because of expected NASA cutbacks is more reason to promote the benefits of the program. "There is no bigger economic issue facing the state of Florida today," he said. "No other issue even comes close." (4/29)
Top NASA Candidate Lyles Takes Name From Hat (Source: Florida Today)
A top candidate for the NASA Administrator job reportedly has taken his name out of consideration because taking the post would cause too much of a financial hardship for his family. Retired Air Force General Lester Lyles, 62, told the Dayton Daily News that Obama Administration officials had indicated he was the top candidate for the job and appealed to his patriotism to try to get him to take the post. (4/29)
House Honors Lunar Images Recovery Project (Source: NASA Watch)
California House of Representatives member Zoe Lofgren led an observance honoring the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project and all those who have contributed their time and effort to ensure that historic images and vital data from the Lunar Orbiter missions of the 1960s are not lost to future generations. In 1965, Charles Byrne, an engineer with Bellcomm, Inc., had the foresight to propose that NASA record data from the Lunar Orbiter missions onto tape recorders. NASA agreed and the images returned from the Lunar Orbiters were backed up on AMPEX FR-900 tape drives.
To date, these images are some of highest resolution images we have of the Moon. Those images include a high-resolution version of “Earthrise,” the first picture of the Earth from the Moon’s vantage point. Time Magazine has called this image “the photo of the century.” The tapes also contain the first stereo imagery of the Moon’s surface. Indeed, these are some of the best images of the Moon ever taken, far superior from those received from the Hubble telescope.
Astonishingly, all of the images stored on the 1,500 14-inch diameter tape reels were nearly destroyed. With its focus turned to the Apollo mission, NASA saw little further use for the tapes. Fortunately, Nancy Evans, co-founder of NASA Planetary Data Systems, convinced her superiors at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to retain the tapes. Evans also salvaged three refrigerator-sized FR-900 tape drives, which she stored in her own garage for two decades. Evans and Mark Nelson, of Caltech, managed to get a few tape drives running but their project ultimately folded. NASA turned down her requests for assistance after placing an estimate of $6 million on the cost to restore the data. (4/29)
NASA May Abandon Plans for Moon Base (Source: New Scientist)
NASA will probably not build an outpost on the moon as originally planned, the agency's acting administrator, Chris Scolese, told lawmakers on Wednesday. His comments also hinted that the agency is open to putting more emphasis on human missions to destinations like Mars or a near-Earth asteroid. NASA has been working towards returning astronauts to the moon by 2020 and building a permanent base there. But some space analysts and advocacy groups like the Planetary Society have urged the agency to cancel plans for a permanent moon base, carry out shorter moon missions instead, and focus on getting astronauts to Mars.
Under Scolese's predecessor, Mike Griffin, the agency held firm to its moon base plans. But the comments by Scolese, who will lead NASA until President Barack Obama nominates the next administrator, suggest a shift in the agency's direction. He spoke to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies of the House Committee on Appropriations. Scolese was asked repeatedly whether NASA could still make it to the moon by 2020 under the proposed 2010 budget, but failed to give a clear yes or no, and his answers suggested the agency's plans were in flux. (4/29)
Gamma Ray Burst Sets New Cosmic Distance Record (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A gamma-ray burst last week is the most distant object ever observed, astronomers announced Tuesday. The burst, GRB 090423, was detected by NASA's Swift spacecraft and observed in the following hours by several ground-based telescopes, looking for an afterglow in visible or infrared light. Those followup observations determined that the object had a redshift of 8.2, corresponding to a distance of just over 13 billion light-years and making it the most distant object ever observed. The previous record-holder, a GRB observed last September, had a redshift of 6.7, meaning it was 190 million light-years closer than this GRB.
Tickets Available for Shuttle Launch Viewing at Astronaut Hall of Fame (Source: Florida Today)
Launch viewing tickets are available to view the launch of STS-125 space shuttle Atlantis from the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, located just outside of Kennedy Space Center. This historic flight, targeted for May 11 at 2:01 p.m. EDT, marks the fifth and final space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope in history that has given mankind the ability to look deep within the universe. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 321-449-4400 and visit www.KennedySpaceCenter.com (4/29)
COTS-D Human Spaceflight to Get at Least $80 Million (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA and the White House have agreed for the first time to release money to the human spaceflight option in its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS-D program. Under an agreement hammered out with the White House, NASA will provide the COTS program with $150 million of the $400 million for human exploration given to NASA under President Barack Obama's stimulus plan.
According to industry insiders, about $80 million of the $150 million is specifically for a "crewed launch demo." The rest was broken down into $42 million for a docking system to the space station, $20 million for a cargo transportation demo and $8 million for miscellaneous aspects of the COTS program, including human rating. The remaining $250 million of the stimulus money for human exploration will go to the Constellation program.
While acting NASA administrator Chris Scolese told Congress today that the $80 million for a "crewed launch demo" is not technically COTS D -- the human transportation part of the COTS program -- COTS D advocates are hailing it as a victory. One industry insider pushing for the program said while $80 million is a far cry from what's needed, "I consider getting COTS-D started a major victory." (4/29)
NASA Shuttle Retirement Postponed ... Maybe (Source: Washinton Post)
NASA's Congressional supporters appear to have bought some time in their efforts to ease the Space Shuttle program's hard retirement date, as the House and Senate conference agreement on the budget resolution reached this week would fund Shuttle missions beyond September 2010. The storied Space Shuttle program is set to end at that time. There is wide concern that a hard end date could jeopardize the safety of the eight remaining Shuttle missions and the thousands of government and private-sector jobs tied to NASA. Without FY 2011 funding, NASA would be unable to continue any missions that did not launch in time. Missions regularly miss their scheduled launch dates. This week's agreement matches President Obama's FY-2010 budget requests for NASA and then forecasts spending $2.5 billion more in FY 2011, which would allow the agency to fly any of the remaining shuttle missions beyond the current deadline. (4/29)
President Medvedev Signs Amended Bill on Lease of Baikonur Spaceport (Source: Itar-Tass)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ratified a Protocol signed by Russia and Kazakhstan that amends a previous bill on lease of Baikonur. The Protocol specified the legal status of Baikonur personnel and their families and guaranteed state protection of human rights and liberties to Russian citizens and their right to state defense and support away from Russia. Russian citizens on staff of Baikonur, workers of law enforcement bodies and bodies of power of the Russian Federation deployed in Baikonur and their families are under Russian jurisdiction in cases of illegal activities against the Russian Federation and its citizens, servicemen’s crimes and other offences committed beyond the Baikonur territory; all other offences fall under Kazakh jurisdiction. (4/28)
Space Florida Launch Pad Fails to Win Federal Funding (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
All three of Florida's top space advocates in Washington — Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, both of Orlando, and Democratic Rep. Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach — recently turned down Space Florida's request for $5 million in federal money to help build its launch pad at Cape Canaveral. The decision is a setback to the $60 million project which is supposed to "entice a multitude of commercial space companies" to Brevard County.
Space Florida spokeswoman Tina Lange said the agency has not given up on Congress yet. "At the federal level, it is still very early in the appropriations process for this fiscal year," she said. "Space Florida remains in discussion with Senate offices." She added that the agency is also "aggressively" pursuing private funding sources. "We are confident that we will secure such funding at a time when a customer is publicly announced." (4/29)
X-37 to Land in Vandenberg After Canaveral Launch (Source: CSA)
The first flight of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) is scheduled to land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2009. Prior to the landing, the OTV will be launched atop an Atlas-5 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. The X-37 program began in 1999 at NASA. Boeing is the prime contractor and the winged spaceplane vehicle was built in California at Boeing's Phantom Works. (4/29)
Progress Continues on California Space Center (Source: CSA)
The California Space Center (CSC) continues to progress in its design and planning. The CSC site encompasses about 70 acres in Santa Barbara County on Vandenberg Air Force Base property. It would be developed under a 50-year Enhanced Use Lease to the California Space Authority. The public attraction will serve as a visitor complex for the spaceport, including elements to highlight Vandenberg and the state's involvement in space missions. (4/29)
Space Florida Finds Way to Fly Lobbying Deal 'Under Radar' (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Records obtained by the Orlando Sentinel show that Space Florida paid nearly $300,000 last year for lobbyists in Tallahassee and Washington. One contract paid $195,000 to a Pennsylvania-based law firm called Blank Rome with close personal ties to Space Florida's president, Steve Kohler, and was awarded without competitive bids. The money was paid in an unusual way — in two installments, apparently to get around a requirement that Space Florida's board of directors approve any contract of $100,000 or more. The move was so blatant that an executive in an agency under Gov. Charlie Crist worried it was a "potential misuse of funds." (4/29)
Space Florida Spends Millions for Launchpad to Nowhere (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Space Florida has spent more than $2 million of state taxpayer money during the past six months on the early stages of a $60 million launchpad here that the agency can't find the money to finish and which so far no rocket company is committed to use. Despite intense lobbying and marketing efforts, the state's space-development agency has so far been unable to nail down its business case for the launchpad, which Space Florida promised would "entice a multitude of commercial space companies" to Brevard County, offsetting thousands of expected job losses when the U.S. space shuttle is mothballed next year. Click here to view the article. (4/28)
General Dynamics Reports Growth in First Quarter 2009 (Source: General Dynamics)
General Dynamics reported first-quarter 2009 earnings from continuing operations of $593 million, compared with 2008 first-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $573 million. Revenues grew to $8.3 billion in the quarter, an 18 percent increase over first-quarter 2008 revenues of $7 billion. Net earnings for the first quarter of 2009 were $590 million, compared to $572 million in the first quarter of 2008. (4/28)
Pentagon May Reach Satellite Analysis Goal Early (Source: Reuters)
The U.S. military may reach its goal of doing collision analysis on 800 maneuverable satellites before October, and is examining the possibility of tracking 500 more satellites that cannot be maneuvered, a top Air Force general said. Lieutenant General Larry James, who heads U.S. Strategic Command's Joint Functional Component Command for Space, said the Air Force was working to respond to an increasingly complex and congested space environment, but many challenges remained.
He said the Air Force was adding dozens of analysts and more computer processors to better track satellites and space junk after a dead Russian military communications satellite and a commercial U.S. satellite owned by Iridium crashed in space on February 10. The collision, which was not predicted by the U.S. military or private tracking groups, had a big impact on future U.S. military planning "by tangibly demonstrating the vulnerability of our space assets," James told legislators. He said the Air Force did not track Iridium satellites before the collision, but began less than five hours after the collision, and now screens over 330 objects daily. (4/28)
Space "Junk" Could Endanger Hubble Mission (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
An expanding ring of space junk threatens to turn NASA's next space shuttle mission into one of the riskiest assignments ever for an astronaut crew. NASA officials estimate there is a 1-in-221 chance that the shuttle Atlantis would be destroyed by debris or meteorites during next month's repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope -- greater than the 1-in-300 risk during typical shuttle missions to the space station. The reason is that the Hubble orbits Earth at about 360 miles, far higher than the station's roughly 200-mile orbit. This puts Hubble, and its repair crew, closer to the heart of the debris cloud that circles the Earth at 500 to 600 miles up. (4/28)
Budget Could Extend Shuttle Deadline (Source: Florida Today)
Congressional budget planners have agreed to funding that might allow NASA to fly out remaining space shuttle flights after the current 2010 deadline. The extra $2.5 billion needed in the 2011 fiscal year wouldn't be appropriated until next year. But Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, whose district includes Kennedy Space Center, said plans for the funding effectively eliminated an "arbitrary" retirement deadline and would benefit Kennedy Space Center workers facing layoffs next year. (4/28)
Experts Urge US to Sshare Data on Satellite Orbits (Source: New Scientist)
The US government's reluctance thus far to release precise data about the satellites it is tracking is hampering efforts to prevent collisions in space, a satellite industry executive told a congressional committee on Tuesday. The US tracks and predicts the orbits of the world's satellites and thousands of bits of space junk as small as 10 centimetres across, using radar and telescopes on the ground. But it closely guards its most precise data, and routinely releases only lower-precision data to satellite companies and other countries. (4/28)
In response to recent reports by the Orlando Sentinel, Space Florida President Steve Kohler has posted a website statement to the agency's stakeholders that asserts the Sentinel has an "agenda to discredit" the agency. "It is clear that quotes and references to conversations have been truncated or positioned to form negative positioning of all of our efforts...Space Florida is working to continue to advance the achievements that have been made to date. While this type of reporting can be distracting, our staff is aggressively proceeding with the work in front of us." Click here to view the Space Florida statement. (4/29)
Star Trek-Like technology Offers Noninvasive Monitor for Patients and Athletes (Source: NSBRI)
How long will it take to develop Star Trek-like medical technologies? The gap between science fiction and reality is closing faster than many people may think. The Venus prototype is a noninvasive, needle-free system that uses light to measure tissue oxygen and pH. Consisting of a sensor and a wearable monitor, Venus will soon be a real-time alternative to the painful use of needles to draw blood and the cumbersome equipment used to determine metabolic rate. Venus is being developed by the National Space Biomedical Research Institute for use by NASA astronauts. It will also have many applications for health care and athletic training on Earth. (4/29)
NASA Ames Offers Buyouts to Hundreds of Employees (Source: Mountain View Voice)
A source at NASA Ames has emailed the Voice a list of over 400 employees who have been offered buyouts worth up to $25,000 in exchange for leaving their jobs. The news comes after the local branch of the space agency realized it had to make $100 million in cuts to its $793 million budget last year. The source says layoffs have not been proposed yet. If layoffs are proposed, it would probably take at least a year and a half for Ames to get through the federal requirements for doing so.
Starting April 27, the eligible Ames employees can accept the buyout offer, which is equal to each employee's severance pay entitlement, up to $25,000. The eligible positions include biologists, engineers, psychologists and even the director of partnerships. An announcement sent to employees says that those who take a buyout must leave by June 30. (4/29)
Aerojet Completes Initial Vibration and Hot Fire Engine Testing for Orion (Source: Aerojet)
Aerojet successfully completed the first series of vibration and altitude hot fire tests on NASA's Orion crew module's 160 lb. thrust mono-propellant rocket engine. The objective of the test program was to verify engine performance after the thruster was subjected to Orion vibration loads which produced energy levels that were two times higher than those previously qualified. Under contract with Lockheed Martin, NASA's prime contractor for Orion, Aerojet provides propulsion for the crew module as well as all engines aboard the service module. (4/29)
Budget Authorizes $2.5 Billion for NASA Shuttle Fleet (Source: Wall Street Journal)
House and Senate leaders have agreed to authorize $2.5 billion to keep the U.S. space shuttle fleet flying through 2011, if such an extension is necessary to complete currently planned missions to the international space station. Funding to maintain shuttle operations past the current deadline of December 2010 is part of the nonbinding $3.4 trillion budget blueprint passed by the House and Senate on Wednesday. Extra budget authority for the shuttles – which was not requested by the White House or interim leaders of NASA -- is still subject to future House and Senate appropriations bills. But it's the strongest signal yet that lawmakers want to maintain the option of a one-year delay in phasing out the aging shuttle fleet. (4/29)
Dems: Space Florida a Symbol of Gov. Crist's "House of Cards" (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A Florida Democratic Party spokesman issued a statement criticizing Gov. Charlie Crist for problems dogging the state's aerospace development efforts, including a controversial space tourism deal with the Andrews Institute: "Governor Charlie Crist once again ignored Republican corruption festering in the governor's office, when Crist refused to file an ethics complaint against Brice Harris. In doing so, Crist ignored his own Inspector General who recommended the governor file a complaint against Harris with the Ethics Commission." Click here to view the article. (4/29)
Boeing Completes Review for TDRS Satellite Series K-L (Source: Boeing)
Boeing has successfully completed the system-level Preliminary Design Review (PDR) for its Tracking and Data Relay Satellite system (TDRS) K-L program, an important design milestone as the program moves toward integration of the TDRS K satellite for NASA. The comprehensive five-day review was held in El Segundo in March and attended by NASA project, program and Headquarters officials. (4/29)
Committee Slashes Space Florida Budget in Half (Source: AP)
A legislative committee irked by Space Florida's spending on an out-of-state lobbying firm wants to cut the space economic development agency's budget nearly in half. Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, announced a cut Wednesday of more than $1.8 million in Space Florida's budget during a Wednesday meeting of the Transportation and Economic Development Appropriations conference committee. The panel is negotiating final budget details for fiscal year 2009-10. Fasano said later he was furious that the agency would spend state dollars to lobby.
"I think we should start looking at a proviso that says whatever we give Space Florida cannot be used for hiring lobbyists," Fasano said. "Let them seek other dollars to hire lobbyists." The agency spent nearly $300,000 of its $4 million state allocation last year on lobbyists, including $195,000 to a Pennsylvania firm with ties to Space Florida's president. "What have we gotten back for that $300,000, nothing," Fasano said. "I think the lieutenant governor does a great job advocating on behalf of Space Florida," Gov. Charlie Crist said. "So I can understand the concern that Sen. Fasano would have." Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp is chairman of the Space Florida board.
However, Sen. Thad Altman, R-Viera, was concerned about any space-related cuts. "I would hate for our effort to promote space in Florida be penalized based on that one issue...We must maintain our presence in space and we need an agency to do that." Altman said he would get Space Florida President Steve Kohler with Fasano to try and work out their differences. Altman said the prospect of losing thousands of high-paying jobs in his Senate district because of expected NASA cutbacks is more reason to promote the benefits of the program. "There is no bigger economic issue facing the state of Florida today," he said. "No other issue even comes close." (4/29)
Top NASA Candidate Lyles Takes Name From Hat (Source: Florida Today)
A top candidate for the NASA Administrator job reportedly has taken his name out of consideration because taking the post would cause too much of a financial hardship for his family. Retired Air Force General Lester Lyles, 62, told the Dayton Daily News that Obama Administration officials had indicated he was the top candidate for the job and appealed to his patriotism to try to get him to take the post. (4/29)
House Honors Lunar Images Recovery Project (Source: NASA Watch)
California House of Representatives member Zoe Lofgren led an observance honoring the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project and all those who have contributed their time and effort to ensure that historic images and vital data from the Lunar Orbiter missions of the 1960s are not lost to future generations. In 1965, Charles Byrne, an engineer with Bellcomm, Inc., had the foresight to propose that NASA record data from the Lunar Orbiter missions onto tape recorders. NASA agreed and the images returned from the Lunar Orbiters were backed up on AMPEX FR-900 tape drives.
To date, these images are some of highest resolution images we have of the Moon. Those images include a high-resolution version of “Earthrise,” the first picture of the Earth from the Moon’s vantage point. Time Magazine has called this image “the photo of the century.” The tapes also contain the first stereo imagery of the Moon’s surface. Indeed, these are some of the best images of the Moon ever taken, far superior from those received from the Hubble telescope.
Astonishingly, all of the images stored on the 1,500 14-inch diameter tape reels were nearly destroyed. With its focus turned to the Apollo mission, NASA saw little further use for the tapes. Fortunately, Nancy Evans, co-founder of NASA Planetary Data Systems, convinced her superiors at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to retain the tapes. Evans also salvaged three refrigerator-sized FR-900 tape drives, which she stored in her own garage for two decades. Evans and Mark Nelson, of Caltech, managed to get a few tape drives running but their project ultimately folded. NASA turned down her requests for assistance after placing an estimate of $6 million on the cost to restore the data. (4/29)
NASA May Abandon Plans for Moon Base (Source: New Scientist)
NASA will probably not build an outpost on the moon as originally planned, the agency's acting administrator, Chris Scolese, told lawmakers on Wednesday. His comments also hinted that the agency is open to putting more emphasis on human missions to destinations like Mars or a near-Earth asteroid. NASA has been working towards returning astronauts to the moon by 2020 and building a permanent base there. But some space analysts and advocacy groups like the Planetary Society have urged the agency to cancel plans for a permanent moon base, carry out shorter moon missions instead, and focus on getting astronauts to Mars.
Under Scolese's predecessor, Mike Griffin, the agency held firm to its moon base plans. But the comments by Scolese, who will lead NASA until President Barack Obama nominates the next administrator, suggest a shift in the agency's direction. He spoke to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies of the House Committee on Appropriations. Scolese was asked repeatedly whether NASA could still make it to the moon by 2020 under the proposed 2010 budget, but failed to give a clear yes or no, and his answers suggested the agency's plans were in flux. (4/29)
Gamma Ray Burst Sets New Cosmic Distance Record (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A gamma-ray burst last week is the most distant object ever observed, astronomers announced Tuesday. The burst, GRB 090423, was detected by NASA's Swift spacecraft and observed in the following hours by several ground-based telescopes, looking for an afterglow in visible or infrared light. Those followup observations determined that the object had a redshift of 8.2, corresponding to a distance of just over 13 billion light-years and making it the most distant object ever observed. The previous record-holder, a GRB observed last September, had a redshift of 6.7, meaning it was 190 million light-years closer than this GRB.
Tickets Available for Shuttle Launch Viewing at Astronaut Hall of Fame (Source: Florida Today)
Launch viewing tickets are available to view the launch of STS-125 space shuttle Atlantis from the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, located just outside of Kennedy Space Center. This historic flight, targeted for May 11 at 2:01 p.m. EDT, marks the fifth and final space shuttle mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope, the most powerful telescope in history that has given mankind the ability to look deep within the universe. For more information or to purchase tickets, call 321-449-4400 and visit www.KennedySpaceCenter.com (4/29)
COTS-D Human Spaceflight to Get at Least $80 Million (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA and the White House have agreed for the first time to release money to the human spaceflight option in its Commercial Orbital Transportation Services, or COTS-D program. Under an agreement hammered out with the White House, NASA will provide the COTS program with $150 million of the $400 million for human exploration given to NASA under President Barack Obama's stimulus plan.
According to industry insiders, about $80 million of the $150 million is specifically for a "crewed launch demo." The rest was broken down into $42 million for a docking system to the space station, $20 million for a cargo transportation demo and $8 million for miscellaneous aspects of the COTS program, including human rating. The remaining $250 million of the stimulus money for human exploration will go to the Constellation program.
While acting NASA administrator Chris Scolese told Congress today that the $80 million for a "crewed launch demo" is not technically COTS D -- the human transportation part of the COTS program -- COTS D advocates are hailing it as a victory. One industry insider pushing for the program said while $80 million is a far cry from what's needed, "I consider getting COTS-D started a major victory." (4/29)
NASA Shuttle Retirement Postponed ... Maybe (Source: Washinton Post)
NASA's Congressional supporters appear to have bought some time in their efforts to ease the Space Shuttle program's hard retirement date, as the House and Senate conference agreement on the budget resolution reached this week would fund Shuttle missions beyond September 2010. The storied Space Shuttle program is set to end at that time. There is wide concern that a hard end date could jeopardize the safety of the eight remaining Shuttle missions and the thousands of government and private-sector jobs tied to NASA. Without FY 2011 funding, NASA would be unable to continue any missions that did not launch in time. Missions regularly miss their scheduled launch dates. This week's agreement matches President Obama's FY-2010 budget requests for NASA and then forecasts spending $2.5 billion more in FY 2011, which would allow the agency to fly any of the remaining shuttle missions beyond the current deadline. (4/29)
President Medvedev Signs Amended Bill on Lease of Baikonur Spaceport (Source: Itar-Tass)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ratified a Protocol signed by Russia and Kazakhstan that amends a previous bill on lease of Baikonur. The Protocol specified the legal status of Baikonur personnel and their families and guaranteed state protection of human rights and liberties to Russian citizens and their right to state defense and support away from Russia. Russian citizens on staff of Baikonur, workers of law enforcement bodies and bodies of power of the Russian Federation deployed in Baikonur and their families are under Russian jurisdiction in cases of illegal activities against the Russian Federation and its citizens, servicemen’s crimes and other offences committed beyond the Baikonur territory; all other offences fall under Kazakh jurisdiction. (4/28)
Space Florida Launch Pad Fails to Win Federal Funding (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
All three of Florida's top space advocates in Washington — Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson and Republican Sen. Mel Martinez, both of Orlando, and Democratic Rep. Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach — recently turned down Space Florida's request for $5 million in federal money to help build its launch pad at Cape Canaveral. The decision is a setback to the $60 million project which is supposed to "entice a multitude of commercial space companies" to Brevard County.
Space Florida spokeswoman Tina Lange said the agency has not given up on Congress yet. "At the federal level, it is still very early in the appropriations process for this fiscal year," she said. "Space Florida remains in discussion with Senate offices." She added that the agency is also "aggressively" pursuing private funding sources. "We are confident that we will secure such funding at a time when a customer is publicly announced." (4/29)
X-37 to Land in Vandenberg After Canaveral Launch (Source: CSA)
The first flight of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV) is scheduled to land at Vandenberg Air Force Base in 2009. Prior to the landing, the OTV will be launched atop an Atlas-5 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. The X-37 program began in 1999 at NASA. Boeing is the prime contractor and the winged spaceplane vehicle was built in California at Boeing's Phantom Works. (4/29)
Progress Continues on California Space Center (Source: CSA)
The California Space Center (CSC) continues to progress in its design and planning. The CSC site encompasses about 70 acres in Santa Barbara County on Vandenberg Air Force Base property. It would be developed under a 50-year Enhanced Use Lease to the California Space Authority. The public attraction will serve as a visitor complex for the spaceport, including elements to highlight Vandenberg and the state's involvement in space missions. (4/29)
Space Florida Finds Way to Fly Lobbying Deal 'Under Radar' (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Records obtained by the Orlando Sentinel show that Space Florida paid nearly $300,000 last year for lobbyists in Tallahassee and Washington. One contract paid $195,000 to a Pennsylvania-based law firm called Blank Rome with close personal ties to Space Florida's president, Steve Kohler, and was awarded without competitive bids. The money was paid in an unusual way — in two installments, apparently to get around a requirement that Space Florida's board of directors approve any contract of $100,000 or more. The move was so blatant that an executive in an agency under Gov. Charlie Crist worried it was a "potential misuse of funds." (4/29)
Space Florida Spends Millions for Launchpad to Nowhere (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Space Florida has spent more than $2 million of state taxpayer money during the past six months on the early stages of a $60 million launchpad here that the agency can't find the money to finish and which so far no rocket company is committed to use. Despite intense lobbying and marketing efforts, the state's space-development agency has so far been unable to nail down its business case for the launchpad, which Space Florida promised would "entice a multitude of commercial space companies" to Brevard County, offsetting thousands of expected job losses when the U.S. space shuttle is mothballed next year. Click here to view the article. (4/28)
General Dynamics Reports Growth in First Quarter 2009 (Source: General Dynamics)
General Dynamics reported first-quarter 2009 earnings from continuing operations of $593 million, compared with 2008 first-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $573 million. Revenues grew to $8.3 billion in the quarter, an 18 percent increase over first-quarter 2008 revenues of $7 billion. Net earnings for the first quarter of 2009 were $590 million, compared to $572 million in the first quarter of 2008. (4/28)
Pentagon May Reach Satellite Analysis Goal Early (Source: Reuters)
The U.S. military may reach its goal of doing collision analysis on 800 maneuverable satellites before October, and is examining the possibility of tracking 500 more satellites that cannot be maneuvered, a top Air Force general said. Lieutenant General Larry James, who heads U.S. Strategic Command's Joint Functional Component Command for Space, said the Air Force was working to respond to an increasingly complex and congested space environment, but many challenges remained.
He said the Air Force was adding dozens of analysts and more computer processors to better track satellites and space junk after a dead Russian military communications satellite and a commercial U.S. satellite owned by Iridium crashed in space on February 10. The collision, which was not predicted by the U.S. military or private tracking groups, had a big impact on future U.S. military planning "by tangibly demonstrating the vulnerability of our space assets," James told legislators. He said the Air Force did not track Iridium satellites before the collision, but began less than five hours after the collision, and now screens over 330 objects daily. (4/28)
Space "Junk" Could Endanger Hubble Mission (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
An expanding ring of space junk threatens to turn NASA's next space shuttle mission into one of the riskiest assignments ever for an astronaut crew. NASA officials estimate there is a 1-in-221 chance that the shuttle Atlantis would be destroyed by debris or meteorites during next month's repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope -- greater than the 1-in-300 risk during typical shuttle missions to the space station. The reason is that the Hubble orbits Earth at about 360 miles, far higher than the station's roughly 200-mile orbit. This puts Hubble, and its repair crew, closer to the heart of the debris cloud that circles the Earth at 500 to 600 miles up. (4/28)
Budget Could Extend Shuttle Deadline (Source: Florida Today)
Congressional budget planners have agreed to funding that might allow NASA to fly out remaining space shuttle flights after the current 2010 deadline. The extra $2.5 billion needed in the 2011 fiscal year wouldn't be appropriated until next year. But Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, whose district includes Kennedy Space Center, said plans for the funding effectively eliminated an "arbitrary" retirement deadline and would benefit Kennedy Space Center workers facing layoffs next year. (4/28)
Experts Urge US to Sshare Data on Satellite Orbits (Source: New Scientist)
The US government's reluctance thus far to release precise data about the satellites it is tracking is hampering efforts to prevent collisions in space, a satellite industry executive told a congressional committee on Tuesday. The US tracks and predicts the orbits of the world's satellites and thousands of bits of space junk as small as 10 centimetres across, using radar and telescopes on the ground. But it closely guards its most precise data, and routinely releases only lower-precision data to satellite companies and other countries. (4/28)
April 28 News Items
Congresswoman Wins Battle to Eliminate Hard Deadline for Shuttle Retirement (Source: Suzanne Kosmas)
Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24) announced that the House and Senate conference agreement on the budget resolution (S.Con.Res 13) reflects her request to include a provision that removes the hard deadline for Shuttle retirement. The final budget resolution also provides an additional $2.5 billion in FY-2011 for the Shuttle program, giving NASA the flexibility it needs to fly the current manifest beyond 2010.
Congresswoman Kosmas voted against the original House version citing the lack of flexibility and funding for the Shuttle program past 2010. Last week, Kosmas sent a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Budget Committees outlining the risks associated with a hard deadline and urging them to include a Senate provision that would give NASA the flexibility to fly the Shuttle into 2011 if necessary. (4/28)
NASA Slashes Orion Crew Size to Four (Source: Huntsville Times)
NASA is slimming down its Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle by removing two seats and cutting its crew size from six people to four. The capsule, which is basically twice as large as the iconic Apollo moon ships, had grown in weight to more than 22,000 pounds. The spacecraft is slated to sit on top of the Marshall Space Flight Center-managed Ares I rocket.
A review board last week looked at options and settled on reducing the crew numbers, said NASA's Grey Hautaluoma, a spokesman in Washington DC. A memo directing Orion management, and its prime contractor Lockheed Martin, is in the works and should be issued soon. The capsule was initially planned to loft six crew members to the station and land on land or water. A soft touchdown on land has been delayed because of weight issues.
NASA made the crew size change "in order to improve schedule and cost confidence by minimizing multiple configurations under simultaneous development during the Program's early phases," said a NASA official. "While a four-person crew would save some mass, the issue of mass savings was not a major factor in the decision-making process." By removing seats, equipment, life support functions and the two bodies themselves, NASA may be able to carry additional cargo to and from the station, he said. (4/28)
California Students from NASA Explorer Schools to Meet in Houston (Source: NASA)
Students and teachers from throughout the nation will be gathering at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston April 29-May 1 to present research results to fellow students and NASA scientists and engineers. The 62 students and 31 educators will represent 31 NASA Explorer Schools at an annual national student symposium.
California schools participating will include: Edward Harris Jr. Middle School, Elk Grove, Calif.; Johnson Elementary, Magnet for Space Exploration and Technology, San Diego; Roosevelt Middle School, Glendale, Calif.; San Cayetano Elementary School, Fillmore, Calif.; and Sequoia Middle School, Porterville, Calif. (4/28)
Defense Firms, Labor Unions Lobby Against Weapons Programs Cuts (Source: AIA)
The Pentagon's plan to cut large weapons programs puts at least 100,000 defense jobs at risk as the nation continues to suffer from the ongoing economic recession, according to defense firms, labor unions and trade groups. The Aerospace Industries Association is among the groups speaking out against the proposed program cuts. "Aerospace and defense is a powerful economic engine. We must keep the industry strong," AIA President Marion Blakey said. Keeping defense workers employed is "a compelling argument...These are high-paying jobs," she added. (4/28)
Virginia Candidates Support Spaceport Funding (Source: Spaceports Blog)
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidates Terry McAuliffe and Creigh Deeds have endorsed increased operational funding to enhance the staff size of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, as interest in the fledgling commercial space operations increases among the Virginia public. Deeds promised that he would seek increases in the spaceport's operating budget while McAuliffe assured the same adding that he would leverage his contacts to pull more commercial space launch firms to the Virginia Eastern Shore if elected governor. (4/28)
Spaceport America Offers Jobs (Source: KOAT)
Spaceport America is looking for local contractors. A group gathered in Albuquerque Monday to learn more about job opportunities at Spaceport America. Officials said they're looking to employ about 475 people to build the project and they want to hire New Mexicans. "There will be road contractors, fencing, electrical contractors -- there will be 14 general contractors on the job site," said construction manager John Roberts. (4/28)
Space Florida Spends Millions for Launchpad to Nowhere (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Space Florida has spent more than $2 million of state taxpayer money during the past six months on the early stages of a $60 million launchpad here that the agency can't find the money to finish and which so far no rocket company is committed to use. Despite intense lobbying and marketing efforts, the state's space-development agency has so far been unable to nail down its business case for the launchpad, which Space Florida promised would "entice a multitude of commercial space companies" to Brevard County, offsetting thousands of expected job losses when the U.S. space shuttle is mothballed next year. Click here to view the article. (4/28)
Space Coast County Considers Tax Incentive for "NewSpace Center" (Source: Florida Today)
The Brevard County Commission will consider a tax abatement package for NewSpace Center, LLC, a New Port Richey corporation that wants to build its research headquarters on 40 acres of Space Coast Regional Airport property off State Road 407 in Titusville, near Kennedy Space Center. County commissioners will consider granting a 10-year tax abatement totaling $1.3 million.
Included in the plans: The NewSpace Pavilion, featuring a replica of a Mars settlement and space-themed displays. Open to the public, this facility would serve as an "interactive development, business, museum and education forum with over 30,000 square feet dedicated to humans living and working in space," according to a project description. Estimated costs are $25 million for construction and $5.5 million for other items. The company projects a $1 million payroll, consisting of 25 workers with average salaries of $40,000. (4/28)
Virgin Galactic vs. XCOR: Who Will Be First? (Source: CSG)
Five years ago, optimism abounded that space tourism would the next big wave of adventure travel. SpaceShipOne’s builder, Scaled Composites, announced a deal with Richard Branson to bring space travel to the masses – or at those with a few hundred thousand dollars to spare. Soon hundreds – and eventually thousands – of people would experience the joys once reserved for professional astronauts. Today, those visions remain distant dreams. Commercial flights could be two years away. Branson’s Virgin Galactic – long the favorite to begin commercial service first – has experienced setbacks and tragedy along the way. And it is beginning to hear the footsteps of a rival company, XCOR.
If Virgin had followed its original plan to use the small, three-seat SpaceShipOne for tourist flights, it would probably have been flying passengers by now. However, the company heeded calls from customers for a larger cabin that would allow them to float around, "virtually weightless", in the same way that tourists do on parabolic airplane flights. Building the eight-seat SpaceShipTwo evidently proved to be more complicated than they thought.
XCOR, Virgin’s Mojave-based rival, is pursuing its much more modest Lynx vehicle, which will carry a pilot and one passenger to an altitude of 61 kilometers (38 miles). This is far below the 110 kilometers (68 miles) that SpaceShipTwo will reach which is close to the formally-designated "edge of space" at 118 kilometers. Passengers aboard Lynx will experience about three minutes of virtual weightlessness, albeit in a small cabin where movement will be restricted. Company officials say they hope to begin test flights in the latter half of next year, although that schedule could slip. Click here to view the article. (4/28)
Editorial: Shuttle's Past Says Time Isn't On Its Side (Source: Florida Today)
When we lost the Columbia astronauts, investigators blamed the accident in part on schedule pressure, saying it drove people to make bad tradeoffs favoring on-time flights over safety. They wrote, "Most of the shuttle program's concern about Columbia's foam strike were not about the threat it might pose to the vehicle in orbit, but about the threat it might pose to the schedule."
Fast forward to 2009. NASA's shuttle program is again working against the clock. I think managers, engineers and front-line shuttle workers learned the agonizing lessons of Columbia and will not repeat those mistakes on purpose. But, the influence of schedule pressure can be subtle. In a business demanding perfection, it's the little unnoticed decisions that can add up to a catastrophe. Subtle pressure is there in the form of the 2010 deadline. Click here to view the editorial. (4/27)
NASA Ames, Langley Win Invention of the Year Awards (Source: Parabolic Arc)
NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., has been named the recipient of the 2008 NASA Government Invention of the Year Award. NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton Roads, Va., won the 2008 NASA Commercial Invention of the Year Award. Ames won the award for developing a “High Speed Three-Dimensional Laser Scanner with Real Time Processing.” The scanner is used in a Mold Impression Laser Tool (MLT), a hand-held instrument used to scan space shuttle tiles to detect and measure the amount of any damage. (4/27)
Orbital Sciences Reports Earnings (Source: Orbital)
Orbital Sciences Corp.'s first-quarter 2009 revenues were $295.7 million, a 4% increase compared to $283.5 million in the first quarter of 2008. First quarter 2009 operating income was $11.2 million, compared to $20.0 million in the first quarter of 2008. Net income fell to $9.2 million, compared with $13.0 million a year earlier. "We...saw solid revenue growth in our launch vehicles and satellites and space systems segments. These encouraging results were offset by the operational failure of one of our space launch vehicles and by cost increases on certain programs in our advanced space programs segment.” Revenues increased $12.2 million, or 4%, in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter of 2008, primarily due to increased contract activity on missile defense and communications satellite programs. (4/27)
Editorial: Obama Should Speed Up Nomination of New NASA Chief (Source: Houston Chronicle)
As President Barack Obama approaches a much ballyhooed hundred days in office tomorrow, a puzzling leadership hole remains at the top of NASA. With crucial decisions looming on the phaseout of the space shuttle and a subsequent lengthy inability by the U.S. to rocket astronauts into orbit, Obama has yet to select a replacement for former NASA administrator Michael Griffin. The lack of presidential action is fueling suspicions by NASA supporters that the new administration is assigning a low priority to future manned exploration of the moon and Mars. (4/28)
Antimatter Scout to Hitch Last Shuttle Ride (Source: Discovery News)
The crowning glory of the International Space Station has nothing to do with preparing humans to live on the moon or finding a cure for Salmonella. It's a particle detector designed to hunt for an antimatter universe. This week, NASA resumes work to shutter the shuttle program at the end of 2010, but it is planning for one extra mission to ferry the 7.5-ton detector, known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, to the station in late 2010. Though Congress has authorized the mission, it has not yet allocated the funds (an estimated $300 million) to NASA for the flight.
"I have learned in the 15 years working with space experiments you are only confident once you are on the space station taking data," said Samuel Ting, the Nobel Prize physicist who leads the AMS team. "My main job at this moment is to make sure (in) the final phase of the assembly of the detector, that nothing goes wrong," Ting told Discovery News. (4/28)
Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24) announced that the House and Senate conference agreement on the budget resolution (S.Con.Res 13) reflects her request to include a provision that removes the hard deadline for Shuttle retirement. The final budget resolution also provides an additional $2.5 billion in FY-2011 for the Shuttle program, giving NASA the flexibility it needs to fly the current manifest beyond 2010.
Congresswoman Kosmas voted against the original House version citing the lack of flexibility and funding for the Shuttle program past 2010. Last week, Kosmas sent a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the House and Senate Budget Committees outlining the risks associated with a hard deadline and urging them to include a Senate provision that would give NASA the flexibility to fly the Shuttle into 2011 if necessary. (4/28)
NASA Slashes Orion Crew Size to Four (Source: Huntsville Times)
NASA is slimming down its Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle by removing two seats and cutting its crew size from six people to four. The capsule, which is basically twice as large as the iconic Apollo moon ships, had grown in weight to more than 22,000 pounds. The spacecraft is slated to sit on top of the Marshall Space Flight Center-managed Ares I rocket.
A review board last week looked at options and settled on reducing the crew numbers, said NASA's Grey Hautaluoma, a spokesman in Washington DC. A memo directing Orion management, and its prime contractor Lockheed Martin, is in the works and should be issued soon. The capsule was initially planned to loft six crew members to the station and land on land or water. A soft touchdown on land has been delayed because of weight issues.
NASA made the crew size change "in order to improve schedule and cost confidence by minimizing multiple configurations under simultaneous development during the Program's early phases," said a NASA official. "While a four-person crew would save some mass, the issue of mass savings was not a major factor in the decision-making process." By removing seats, equipment, life support functions and the two bodies themselves, NASA may be able to carry additional cargo to and from the station, he said. (4/28)
California Students from NASA Explorer Schools to Meet in Houston (Source: NASA)
Students and teachers from throughout the nation will be gathering at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston April 29-May 1 to present research results to fellow students and NASA scientists and engineers. The 62 students and 31 educators will represent 31 NASA Explorer Schools at an annual national student symposium.
California schools participating will include: Edward Harris Jr. Middle School, Elk Grove, Calif.; Johnson Elementary, Magnet for Space Exploration and Technology, San Diego; Roosevelt Middle School, Glendale, Calif.; San Cayetano Elementary School, Fillmore, Calif.; and Sequoia Middle School, Porterville, Calif. (4/28)
Defense Firms, Labor Unions Lobby Against Weapons Programs Cuts (Source: AIA)
The Pentagon's plan to cut large weapons programs puts at least 100,000 defense jobs at risk as the nation continues to suffer from the ongoing economic recession, according to defense firms, labor unions and trade groups. The Aerospace Industries Association is among the groups speaking out against the proposed program cuts. "Aerospace and defense is a powerful economic engine. We must keep the industry strong," AIA President Marion Blakey said. Keeping defense workers employed is "a compelling argument...These are high-paying jobs," she added. (4/28)
Virginia Candidates Support Spaceport Funding (Source: Spaceports Blog)
Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidates Terry McAuliffe and Creigh Deeds have endorsed increased operational funding to enhance the staff size of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, as interest in the fledgling commercial space operations increases among the Virginia public. Deeds promised that he would seek increases in the spaceport's operating budget while McAuliffe assured the same adding that he would leverage his contacts to pull more commercial space launch firms to the Virginia Eastern Shore if elected governor. (4/28)
Spaceport America Offers Jobs (Source: KOAT)
Spaceport America is looking for local contractors. A group gathered in Albuquerque Monday to learn more about job opportunities at Spaceport America. Officials said they're looking to employ about 475 people to build the project and they want to hire New Mexicans. "There will be road contractors, fencing, electrical contractors -- there will be 14 general contractors on the job site," said construction manager John Roberts. (4/28)
Space Florida Spends Millions for Launchpad to Nowhere (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Space Florida has spent more than $2 million of state taxpayer money during the past six months on the early stages of a $60 million launchpad here that the agency can't find the money to finish and which so far no rocket company is committed to use. Despite intense lobbying and marketing efforts, the state's space-development agency has so far been unable to nail down its business case for the launchpad, which Space Florida promised would "entice a multitude of commercial space companies" to Brevard County, offsetting thousands of expected job losses when the U.S. space shuttle is mothballed next year. Click here to view the article. (4/28)
Space Coast County Considers Tax Incentive for "NewSpace Center" (Source: Florida Today)
The Brevard County Commission will consider a tax abatement package for NewSpace Center, LLC, a New Port Richey corporation that wants to build its research headquarters on 40 acres of Space Coast Regional Airport property off State Road 407 in Titusville, near Kennedy Space Center. County commissioners will consider granting a 10-year tax abatement totaling $1.3 million.
Included in the plans: The NewSpace Pavilion, featuring a replica of a Mars settlement and space-themed displays. Open to the public, this facility would serve as an "interactive development, business, museum and education forum with over 30,000 square feet dedicated to humans living and working in space," according to a project description. Estimated costs are $25 million for construction and $5.5 million for other items. The company projects a $1 million payroll, consisting of 25 workers with average salaries of $40,000. (4/28)
Virgin Galactic vs. XCOR: Who Will Be First? (Source: CSG)
Five years ago, optimism abounded that space tourism would the next big wave of adventure travel. SpaceShipOne’s builder, Scaled Composites, announced a deal with Richard Branson to bring space travel to the masses – or at those with a few hundred thousand dollars to spare. Soon hundreds – and eventually thousands – of people would experience the joys once reserved for professional astronauts. Today, those visions remain distant dreams. Commercial flights could be two years away. Branson’s Virgin Galactic – long the favorite to begin commercial service first – has experienced setbacks and tragedy along the way. And it is beginning to hear the footsteps of a rival company, XCOR.
If Virgin had followed its original plan to use the small, three-seat SpaceShipOne for tourist flights, it would probably have been flying passengers by now. However, the company heeded calls from customers for a larger cabin that would allow them to float around, "virtually weightless", in the same way that tourists do on parabolic airplane flights. Building the eight-seat SpaceShipTwo evidently proved to be more complicated than they thought.
XCOR, Virgin’s Mojave-based rival, is pursuing its much more modest Lynx vehicle, which will carry a pilot and one passenger to an altitude of 61 kilometers (38 miles). This is far below the 110 kilometers (68 miles) that SpaceShipTwo will reach which is close to the formally-designated "edge of space" at 118 kilometers. Passengers aboard Lynx will experience about three minutes of virtual weightlessness, albeit in a small cabin where movement will be restricted. Company officials say they hope to begin test flights in the latter half of next year, although that schedule could slip. Click here to view the article. (4/28)
Editorial: Shuttle's Past Says Time Isn't On Its Side (Source: Florida Today)
When we lost the Columbia astronauts, investigators blamed the accident in part on schedule pressure, saying it drove people to make bad tradeoffs favoring on-time flights over safety. They wrote, "Most of the shuttle program's concern about Columbia's foam strike were not about the threat it might pose to the vehicle in orbit, but about the threat it might pose to the schedule."
Fast forward to 2009. NASA's shuttle program is again working against the clock. I think managers, engineers and front-line shuttle workers learned the agonizing lessons of Columbia and will not repeat those mistakes on purpose. But, the influence of schedule pressure can be subtle. In a business demanding perfection, it's the little unnoticed decisions that can add up to a catastrophe. Subtle pressure is there in the form of the 2010 deadline. Click here to view the editorial. (4/27)
NASA Ames, Langley Win Invention of the Year Awards (Source: Parabolic Arc)
NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., has been named the recipient of the 2008 NASA Government Invention of the Year Award. NASA’s Langley Research Center, Hampton Roads, Va., won the 2008 NASA Commercial Invention of the Year Award. Ames won the award for developing a “High Speed Three-Dimensional Laser Scanner with Real Time Processing.” The scanner is used in a Mold Impression Laser Tool (MLT), a hand-held instrument used to scan space shuttle tiles to detect and measure the amount of any damage. (4/27)
Orbital Sciences Reports Earnings (Source: Orbital)
Orbital Sciences Corp.'s first-quarter 2009 revenues were $295.7 million, a 4% increase compared to $283.5 million in the first quarter of 2008. First quarter 2009 operating income was $11.2 million, compared to $20.0 million in the first quarter of 2008. Net income fell to $9.2 million, compared with $13.0 million a year earlier. "We...saw solid revenue growth in our launch vehicles and satellites and space systems segments. These encouraging results were offset by the operational failure of one of our space launch vehicles and by cost increases on certain programs in our advanced space programs segment.” Revenues increased $12.2 million, or 4%, in the first quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter of 2008, primarily due to increased contract activity on missile defense and communications satellite programs. (4/27)
Editorial: Obama Should Speed Up Nomination of New NASA Chief (Source: Houston Chronicle)
As President Barack Obama approaches a much ballyhooed hundred days in office tomorrow, a puzzling leadership hole remains at the top of NASA. With crucial decisions looming on the phaseout of the space shuttle and a subsequent lengthy inability by the U.S. to rocket astronauts into orbit, Obama has yet to select a replacement for former NASA administrator Michael Griffin. The lack of presidential action is fueling suspicions by NASA supporters that the new administration is assigning a low priority to future manned exploration of the moon and Mars. (4/28)
Antimatter Scout to Hitch Last Shuttle Ride (Source: Discovery News)
The crowning glory of the International Space Station has nothing to do with preparing humans to live on the moon or finding a cure for Salmonella. It's a particle detector designed to hunt for an antimatter universe. This week, NASA resumes work to shutter the shuttle program at the end of 2010, but it is planning for one extra mission to ferry the 7.5-ton detector, known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, to the station in late 2010. Though Congress has authorized the mission, it has not yet allocated the funds (an estimated $300 million) to NASA for the flight.
"I have learned in the 15 years working with space experiments you are only confident once you are on the space station taking data," said Samuel Ting, the Nobel Prize physicist who leads the AMS team. "My main job at this moment is to make sure (in) the final phase of the assembly of the detector, that nothing goes wrong," Ting told Discovery News. (4/28)
April 27 News Items
Space 2.0: Bringing Space Tech Down to Earth (Source: Space Review)
While much of the space industry focuses on new rockets and satellites, or emerging markets like space tourism, a whole new aspect of space industry is under development. Burke Fort describes how his group is helping foster the creation of companies that leverage space technology for terrestrial applications. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1362/1 to view the article. (4/27)
Still a Challenge (Source: Space Review)
Six months ago Armadillo Aerospace won first prize in Level One of the Lunar Lander Challenge, but there's still over $1.5 million in prize money up for grabs today. Jeff Foust reports on the plans several teams have to go after that prize money later this year in a revamped competition. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1361/1 to view the article. (4/27)
Space-Based Solar Power: Right Here, Right Now? (Source: Space Review)
Space-based solar power has frequently been promoted as a long-term solution to the world's energy needs, but how should governments support it given the current economic crisis? John Marburry offers one solution to this conundrum. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1359/1 to view the article. (4/27)
Sustainability: Just Another Excuse for a UN Power Grab? (Source: Space Review)
A UN committee has proposed a new set of guidelines designed to promote the "sustainability" of space in light of recent ASAT tests and satellite collisions. Taylor Dinerman worries that this effort could be used by some to thwart US military and even commercial ambitions in space. Visit
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1358/1 to view the article. (4/27)
Aerospace Industry Resilient Despite Economy (Source: Space Review)
The aerospace industry showed modest growth in the midst of extremely challenging economic circumstances in 2008, AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey announced at the 44th Annual Year-End Review and Forecast. Blakey said industry sales are on pace to reach total sales of $204 billion, an increase of 2.1%, a record level for the fifth straight year. Read more here. (4/27)
September Launch For ESA's Water Mission (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Following confirmation from Eurockot Launch Services that they will launch ESA's SMOS mission on 9 September this year, the satellite has just been taken out of storage - providing an opportunity for the media to view the satellite before it is prepared for shipment to the launch site in Russia. The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission is the next Earth Explorer in line for liftoff after the successful launch of the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) six weeks ago. (4/27)
LockMart Milstar Constellation Achieves 50 Years Of Combined On Orbit Ops (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
A U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin team has announced that the five-satellite Milstar constellation has accumulated 50 years of combined on-orbit operations and continues to provide secure, reliable and robust communications to U.S. and Allied Forces around the globe. Of the five Milstar satellites on orbit, two are of the first-generation Block I design, launched in 1994 and 1995. The system graduated to a Block II design and the Air Force subsequently launched three of the Block II configuration between 2001 and 2003. (4/27)
Tulsa Museum Applies for Space Shuttles (Source: Edmond Sun)
Officials with the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium have applied to NASA to become the home for one of the three soon-to-be-retired space shuttles. NASA is looking for permanent homes for the three shuttles and the executive director of the Tulsa museum says the facility meets NASA's requirements. (4/27)
Vandenberg Considers Disassembling Historical Launch Complex (Source: USAF)
Vandenberg AFB is currently undergoing the planning stages of removing and disassembling pieces from one of its historical launch pads, Space Launch Complex-5. The reason behind modifying the vacant complex came about when Vandenberg began receiving numerous requests from different agencies, programs and personnel around the globe for unused SLC-5 parts. Click here to view the article. (4/27)
World's Largest Model Rocket Launch a Blazing Success (Source: National Geographic News)
At nearly four stories tall, the world's largest model rocket was only a tenth the size of its Saturn V namesake. But the craft's April 25 launch in Price, Maryland, was no small feat. A replica of a NASA Saturn V rocket, the massive model broke the world record for the tallest and heaviest model rocket that's ever been launched and recovered—36 feet (11 meters) and 1,648 pounds (750 kilograms), respectively. (4/27)
Florida Students Take Trip to the Moon (Source: NW Florida Daily News)
Hundreds of students from Bob Sikes Elementary School will take a walk on the moon this week in anticipation of Florida's 2009 Math and Science Day, which is Friday. Space exploration is this year's theme, and Bob Sikes' math and science committees joined efforts to create a mock moon landing. An entire room on the school's campus was converted to appear as though students would be stepping onto the surface of the moon. (4/27)
Chairman Gordon Comments on President’s Remarks on Science (Source: SpaceRef.com)
On Apr. 27, the president addressed the National Academy of Sciences. Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) offered the following statement in response: “I wholeheartedly agree with the president that the key factors of our long-term economic competitiveness are investing in basic research, fostering innovation, and improving science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM) education.
I am encouraged that the president has made a commitment to keeping the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science on a sustainable doubling path, as we called for in the American COMPETES Act. (4/27)
Nelson Urges Obama to Appoint NASA Chief (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson pressed the White House on Friday to select a new NASA administrator and repeated (three times) what President Obama said earlier this spring -- that the nation's space agency is "adrift," according to the congressional record. "NASA is adrift because it doesn’t have a vigorous leader, appointed by the Obama administration, to take charge; someone who understands space flight, who understands management, who understands aeronautics," said the Florida Democrat. (4/27)
Florida Planetarium Director Reaches for the Stars (Source: Bradenton Herald)
Jeff Rodgers failed biology the first time he took it in college and didn’t really have much of a science background. So how did he come to be the director of the Bishop Planetarium and director of education for the South Florida Museum in downtown Bradenton? “Blind luck,” he says. Rodgers started with the Teach for America program in New York City after college and got involved with a pre-charter school movement there. But the overwhelming bureaucracy he encountered drove him away. (4/27)
Aussies Snap Up Virgin Galactic Space Tickets (Source: IT News)
A 56-year-old Brisbane businesswoman, Glenys Ambe, will be the first Australian woman to be a Virgin Galactic space tourist – one of 11 Aussies to put down a deposit on a $280,000 ticket. Fronting a scrum of media at a ‘launch' of sorts in Sydney this morning, Ambe said she had purchased the flight as a 60th birthday present to herself. Virgin Galactic has already taken some 300 deposits worldwide for the commercial space flights, retailing through a network of "space travel agents" for $200,000. (4/27)
NASA Budget Being Drafted Without a Top-Level Advocate (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA plans to roll out its Fiscal 2010 budget the first week in May, amid complaints that the White House staff is giving short shrift to the U.S. space program. The space agency is struggling to make ends meet during the difficult transition to the post-shuttle era.
Engineers are "on the verge" of pulling two of the six seats planned for the Orion capsule intended to succeed the space shuttle as the route to space for U.S. astronauts. That move - meant to simplify what has become a difficult design effort - comes amid reported findings by The Aerospace Corp. that a shift to a human-rated evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV) - either an Atlas V or Delta IV - from NASA's in-house Ares I crew launch vehicle could further simplify the transition to Orion. (4/26)
Russian Lunar and Mars Missions Face Delays (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
The planned revival by Russia of its once mighty lunar and planetary robotic exploration program is beginning to falter due to Russian budget and spacecraft problems. The difficulties are threatening to delay Russia's first mission to the Moon in 33 years. A Russian roundtrip mission to the Martian moon Phobos is also in trouble.
The former Soviet Union, which launched dozens of successful deep-space probes in the 1960s-1980s, has not flown a fully successful planetary mission of any kind since the 1984 Vega 2 Halley's Comet/Venus mission. And it has launched no successful missions to the Moon or Mars in 33 years. (4/26)
While much of the space industry focuses on new rockets and satellites, or emerging markets like space tourism, a whole new aspect of space industry is under development. Burke Fort describes how his group is helping foster the creation of companies that leverage space technology for terrestrial applications. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1362/1 to view the article. (4/27)
Still a Challenge (Source: Space Review)
Six months ago Armadillo Aerospace won first prize in Level One of the Lunar Lander Challenge, but there's still over $1.5 million in prize money up for grabs today. Jeff Foust reports on the plans several teams have to go after that prize money later this year in a revamped competition. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1361/1 to view the article. (4/27)
Space-Based Solar Power: Right Here, Right Now? (Source: Space Review)
Space-based solar power has frequently been promoted as a long-term solution to the world's energy needs, but how should governments support it given the current economic crisis? John Marburry offers one solution to this conundrum. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1359/1 to view the article. (4/27)
Sustainability: Just Another Excuse for a UN Power Grab? (Source: Space Review)
A UN committee has proposed a new set of guidelines designed to promote the "sustainability" of space in light of recent ASAT tests and satellite collisions. Taylor Dinerman worries that this effort could be used by some to thwart US military and even commercial ambitions in space. Visit
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1358/1 to view the article. (4/27)
Aerospace Industry Resilient Despite Economy (Source: Space Review)
The aerospace industry showed modest growth in the midst of extremely challenging economic circumstances in 2008, AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey announced at the 44th Annual Year-End Review and Forecast. Blakey said industry sales are on pace to reach total sales of $204 billion, an increase of 2.1%, a record level for the fifth straight year. Read more here. (4/27)
September Launch For ESA's Water Mission (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Following confirmation from Eurockot Launch Services that they will launch ESA's SMOS mission on 9 September this year, the satellite has just been taken out of storage - providing an opportunity for the media to view the satellite before it is prepared for shipment to the launch site in Russia. The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission is the next Earth Explorer in line for liftoff after the successful launch of the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) six weeks ago. (4/27)
LockMart Milstar Constellation Achieves 50 Years Of Combined On Orbit Ops (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
A U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin team has announced that the five-satellite Milstar constellation has accumulated 50 years of combined on-orbit operations and continues to provide secure, reliable and robust communications to U.S. and Allied Forces around the globe. Of the five Milstar satellites on orbit, two are of the first-generation Block I design, launched in 1994 and 1995. The system graduated to a Block II design and the Air Force subsequently launched three of the Block II configuration between 2001 and 2003. (4/27)
Tulsa Museum Applies for Space Shuttles (Source: Edmond Sun)
Officials with the Tulsa Air and Space Museum & Planetarium have applied to NASA to become the home for one of the three soon-to-be-retired space shuttles. NASA is looking for permanent homes for the three shuttles and the executive director of the Tulsa museum says the facility meets NASA's requirements. (4/27)
Vandenberg Considers Disassembling Historical Launch Complex (Source: USAF)
Vandenberg AFB is currently undergoing the planning stages of removing and disassembling pieces from one of its historical launch pads, Space Launch Complex-5. The reason behind modifying the vacant complex came about when Vandenberg began receiving numerous requests from different agencies, programs and personnel around the globe for unused SLC-5 parts. Click here to view the article. (4/27)
World's Largest Model Rocket Launch a Blazing Success (Source: National Geographic News)
At nearly four stories tall, the world's largest model rocket was only a tenth the size of its Saturn V namesake. But the craft's April 25 launch in Price, Maryland, was no small feat. A replica of a NASA Saturn V rocket, the massive model broke the world record for the tallest and heaviest model rocket that's ever been launched and recovered—36 feet (11 meters) and 1,648 pounds (750 kilograms), respectively. (4/27)
Florida Students Take Trip to the Moon (Source: NW Florida Daily News)
Hundreds of students from Bob Sikes Elementary School will take a walk on the moon this week in anticipation of Florida's 2009 Math and Science Day, which is Friday. Space exploration is this year's theme, and Bob Sikes' math and science committees joined efforts to create a mock moon landing. An entire room on the school's campus was converted to appear as though students would be stepping onto the surface of the moon. (4/27)
Chairman Gordon Comments on President’s Remarks on Science (Source: SpaceRef.com)
On Apr. 27, the president addressed the National Academy of Sciences. Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) offered the following statement in response: “I wholeheartedly agree with the president that the key factors of our long-term economic competitiveness are investing in basic research, fostering innovation, and improving science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM) education.
I am encouraged that the president has made a commitment to keeping the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and the Department of Energy’s Office of Science on a sustainable doubling path, as we called for in the American COMPETES Act. (4/27)
Nelson Urges Obama to Appoint NASA Chief (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson pressed the White House on Friday to select a new NASA administrator and repeated (three times) what President Obama said earlier this spring -- that the nation's space agency is "adrift," according to the congressional record. "NASA is adrift because it doesn’t have a vigorous leader, appointed by the Obama administration, to take charge; someone who understands space flight, who understands management, who understands aeronautics," said the Florida Democrat. (4/27)
Florida Planetarium Director Reaches for the Stars (Source: Bradenton Herald)
Jeff Rodgers failed biology the first time he took it in college and didn’t really have much of a science background. So how did he come to be the director of the Bishop Planetarium and director of education for the South Florida Museum in downtown Bradenton? “Blind luck,” he says. Rodgers started with the Teach for America program in New York City after college and got involved with a pre-charter school movement there. But the overwhelming bureaucracy he encountered drove him away. (4/27)
Aussies Snap Up Virgin Galactic Space Tickets (Source: IT News)
A 56-year-old Brisbane businesswoman, Glenys Ambe, will be the first Australian woman to be a Virgin Galactic space tourist – one of 11 Aussies to put down a deposit on a $280,000 ticket. Fronting a scrum of media at a ‘launch' of sorts in Sydney this morning, Ambe said she had purchased the flight as a 60th birthday present to herself. Virgin Galactic has already taken some 300 deposits worldwide for the commercial space flights, retailing through a network of "space travel agents" for $200,000. (4/27)
NASA Budget Being Drafted Without a Top-Level Advocate (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA plans to roll out its Fiscal 2010 budget the first week in May, amid complaints that the White House staff is giving short shrift to the U.S. space program. The space agency is struggling to make ends meet during the difficult transition to the post-shuttle era.
Engineers are "on the verge" of pulling two of the six seats planned for the Orion capsule intended to succeed the space shuttle as the route to space for U.S. astronauts. That move - meant to simplify what has become a difficult design effort - comes amid reported findings by The Aerospace Corp. that a shift to a human-rated evolved expendable launch vehicle (EELV) - either an Atlas V or Delta IV - from NASA's in-house Ares I crew launch vehicle could further simplify the transition to Orion. (4/26)
Russian Lunar and Mars Missions Face Delays (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
The planned revival by Russia of its once mighty lunar and planetary robotic exploration program is beginning to falter due to Russian budget and spacecraft problems. The difficulties are threatening to delay Russia's first mission to the Moon in 33 years. A Russian roundtrip mission to the Martian moon Phobos is also in trouble.
The former Soviet Union, which launched dozens of successful deep-space probes in the 1960s-1980s, has not flown a fully successful planetary mission of any kind since the 1984 Vega 2 Halley's Comet/Venus mission. And it has launched no successful missions to the Moon or Mars in 33 years. (4/26)
April 25 News Items
Pentagon Readies Pioneering TacSat-3 for Launch from Virginia (Source: Space News)
An experimental U.S. military satellite now undergoing final launch preparations will analyze the composition of ground features while demonstrating a new mode of operations that empowers deployed forces to direct how spacecraft are employed as they pass overhead. The TacSat-3 satellite already has fulfilled part of its mission, which was to provide experience in developing low-cost satellites that can be fielded relatively quickly, according to the Pentagon's Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office.
Five years in the making, TacSat-3 is the second in a series of experimental craft intended to demonstrate the ORS concept. The satellite was delivered to NASA's Wallops Island, Va., launch facility March 28 and is on schedule for a May 5 launch aboard a Minotaur 1 rocket, Thomas Cooley, the TacSat-3 program manager at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, said in an interview. (4/25)
Radar Satellite Likely for Next Operational ORS Mission (Source: Space News)
With development work on its first operational satellite well under way, the U.S. Defense Department's Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office has begun planning its next mission, which likely will involve a lightweight imaging radar launched atop one of multiple small launchers to be procured within the next two years.
An ORS team is studying the different user needs for a small, tactical radar imaging capability and whether the technology is mature enough to employ in the operational ORS-2 satellite. The office will move at an aggressive pace over the next five months to get an acquisition strategy in place and approved so it can award contracts as early as October. (4/25)
SES Posts Record-High Profit in Satellite Capacity Leasing (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator SES of Luxembourg on April 24 reported record-high gross-profit margins for its core satellite capacity-leasing business and said that it continues to see no indication of a slowdown in its business. SES, which in terms of revenue is the world's largest commercial satellite operator, said it sees no sign of any reduction in prices it charges for satellite capacity and is continuing full-speed ahead with its capital investment program, in which nine satellites are to be launched in the next three years. (4/25)
Quality Control, Transparency Pushes Europe to ITAR-Free Products (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is gradually moving toward an ITAR-free posture for sensitive satellite components for reasons having as much to do with quality control as with the larger goal of achieving autonomy in space technologies, ESA and European industry officials said. Even when ITAR-monitored satellite components are approved for export — such as to U.S. allies in Europe — they cannot be examined in ways that permit quality-assurance oversight that ESA is taking on as one of its duties. (4/25)
Classified Satellite Deal Boosts Northrop Revenue (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems Sector of Redondo Beach, Calif., reported a $95 million, or 4 percent, sales increase for the first quarter of 2009 due in part to a new revenue stream from a classified satellite program the company landed in 2008, according to an April 22 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Total revenue for the sector during the quarter was $2.5 billion. (4/25)
Lawmakers Warn of More GOES-R Program Troubles (Source: Space News)
U.S. lawmakers expressed concern April 23 that the nation's next generation of geostationary-orbiting weather satellites will encounter cost overruns and schedule delays similar to those that have plagued a parallel effort to develop a new series of polar-orbiting meteorological craft. The first of two Geostationary-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) satellites is scheduled to launch in April 2015 — two-and-a-half years later than originally planned — with the ability to deliver less than half the products proposed during the program's early stages in 2004.
NASA is procuring the GOES-R satellites on behalf of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which will operate the system. Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) said the GOES-R delays and cost increases were starting to resemble problems NOAA and the U.S. Air Force have encountered with the joint National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). Ehlers said he was experiencing a case of "dejà vu" in comparing GOES-R to NPOESS. (4/25)
Commercial Space Station Prototype Completes 10,000 Orbits (Source: Bigelow Aerospace)
Genesis II, the second prototype expandable space habitat launched by Bigelow Aerospace on June 28, 2007, has completed its 10,000th orbit around the Earth. Following the first spacecraft Genesis I, this unmanned vehicle demonstrates the continued development of future space stations technologies. Orbiting 665 days and having traveled close to 270 million miles, Genesis II has been busy transmitting pressure, temperature and radiation data to the mission operations staff in Las Vegas. Bigelow is also conducting long term testing of systems such as lighting, air circulation, and pressure monitoring systems. In addition, the expanded camera configuration has provided over 51,000 images consisting of the inside of the spacecraft, the external micro-meteoroid shielding, and the Earth. (4/25)
Space Port Indiana Gets Raytheon Contract for Range Technology (Source:
Raytheon Network Centric Systems has become the latest major business customer of Space Port Indiana (SPI), a company formed a little more than a year ago to perform operational evaluations on equipment that must work perfectly in space. Raytheon sent a commercial telemetry and GPS platform on a high-altitude balloon last month for testing in near space. Telemetry equipment is used to provide real-time information on the position and attitude of a rocket.
“In future rocket flights, engine thermal measurements, structural stresses and a host of other data will be collected. This helps to better understand methods and applications that will be best suited for a wider spectrum of customer flight requests,” an SPI statement said. “SPI asked Raytheon to be involved in the project as part of an ongoing development of airspace management and utilization efforts. Raytheon has more flights planned at SPI in 2009.”
In addition to balloon lifts, SPI's facility at the Columbus Municipal Airport has been providing customers with telemetry, guidance, tracking, GPS, communications and airspace management tools. It just added a rocket engine test cell designed to accommodate up to 3,000 pounds of thrust, and that capability can be expanded to meet customer needs. SPI will start rocket launches next month to offer an opportunity “to test within the rigorous environment of high(-gravity) loads, vibration and even rapid descent.” The company plans to launch Indiana’s first unmanned aerial vehicle in August and is working toward the first quarter of 2010 to become the country’s third FAA Certified Launch Facility. (4/25)
Panama City's Starlight Signs Agreement with NASA (Source: Panama City News Herald)
Panama City Beach's Starlight Environmental Group has entered into a licensing agreement with NASA and will use one of the space agency's patented technologies for environmental cleanup purposes. The NASA technology is called Emulsified Zero-Valent Iron (EZVI), and was developed initially to help NASA deal with its own environmental cleanup issues related to rocket fuels.
Starlight plans to use the technology locally, with its first application to be at a local gas station. "We're taking it beyond what [NASA's] concept was," said a Starlight official. He said six other U.S. companies have been licensed commercially to use the technology, although he emphasized that Starlight was the only one using it for petroleum and diesel spills. (4/25)
NPOESS Divorce, Pentagon Style (Source: DOD Buzz)
OSD is considering seeking permanent separation from NASA and NOAA on the fiscally challenged NPOESS satellite program. The first recommendations on just how to divide assets and responsibilities are likely next week. NPOESS may be as much as another $500 million over budget, roughly a 6 percent cost increase. It’s not enough to trigger another Nunn-McCurdy, but it’s a healthy increase. The original program costs were $6.8 billion. As of June 2006 they were estimated at $11.1 billion. They had risen to $14 billion as of June 2008. Tack on up to $500 million and you may be close to what the program will now cost taxpayers. The original due date for the first satellite was this year. The first NPOESS satellite is now scheduled for launch in 2014, which some fear may leave a gap in the country’s weather forecasting abilities. (4/25)
Amateur Rocket To Fly From Eastern Shore (Source: WJZ-TV)
Aircrafts have already been warned away, and the Guinness Book of World Records is standing by. On Saturday, the world's largest amateur rocket is set to blast off. Hardware that's not needed has been removed and final tests prepared. The one-tenth scale model of a Saturn-Five rocket is thirty-six feet long and weighs 1600 pounds, making it the largest amateur rocket ever built to fly.
The Maryland-Delaware Rocketry Association is helping to prepare and launch it. With eight solid rocket motors, there's no guarantee the rocket will work. "We like to say it's a rocket, what can go wrong? The obvious answer is everything and anything," said McGilvray. Steve Eves spent $30,000 on his rocket. Lift off is noon Saturday from a farm near the small town of Price in Queen Anne's County. (4/25)
SpaceX Completes Qualification Testing for Draco Thruster (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX successfully completed a rigorous qualification of its new Draco spacecraft thruster and Draco propulsion tank in Texas. The Draco thruster test series included 42 firings with over 4,600 pulses of varying lengths and was performed in a vacuum test chamber to simulate the space environment. The series resulted in a total firing time of over 50 minutes on a single thruster. Draco thrusters generate approximately 90 pounds of thrust using storable propellants with long on-orbit lifetimes. The use of these propellants provides the option for a crew-carrying Dragon spacecraft to remain berthed at the ISS for up to a year. (4/24)
Sea Launch Lofts Italy's Sicral 1B Satellite (Source: Space News)
A Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket successfully placed Italy's Sicral 1B military telecommunications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit April 20 in the first of what is likely to be just two launches from the oceangoing Sea Launch platform this year as the Long Beach, Calif.-based company works to resolve rocket-component supply issues. (4/20)
Sea Launch Ordered to Pay HNS $52 Million (Source: Space News)
An arbitration panel has ordered Sea Launch Co. to pay Hughes Network Systems (HNS) about $52 million in a dispute over whether HNS had a right to terminate a launch contract and demand a full refund of its prelaunch payments, according to an April 22 Boeing Co. submission to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). (4/25)
An experimental U.S. military satellite now undergoing final launch preparations will analyze the composition of ground features while demonstrating a new mode of operations that empowers deployed forces to direct how spacecraft are employed as they pass overhead. The TacSat-3 satellite already has fulfilled part of its mission, which was to provide experience in developing low-cost satellites that can be fielded relatively quickly, according to the Pentagon's Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office.
Five years in the making, TacSat-3 is the second in a series of experimental craft intended to demonstrate the ORS concept. The satellite was delivered to NASA's Wallops Island, Va., launch facility March 28 and is on schedule for a May 5 launch aboard a Minotaur 1 rocket, Thomas Cooley, the TacSat-3 program manager at the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, said in an interview. (4/25)
Radar Satellite Likely for Next Operational ORS Mission (Source: Space News)
With development work on its first operational satellite well under way, the U.S. Defense Department's Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office has begun planning its next mission, which likely will involve a lightweight imaging radar launched atop one of multiple small launchers to be procured within the next two years.
An ORS team is studying the different user needs for a small, tactical radar imaging capability and whether the technology is mature enough to employ in the operational ORS-2 satellite. The office will move at an aggressive pace over the next five months to get an acquisition strategy in place and approved so it can award contracts as early as October. (4/25)
SES Posts Record-High Profit in Satellite Capacity Leasing (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator SES of Luxembourg on April 24 reported record-high gross-profit margins for its core satellite capacity-leasing business and said that it continues to see no indication of a slowdown in its business. SES, which in terms of revenue is the world's largest commercial satellite operator, said it sees no sign of any reduction in prices it charges for satellite capacity and is continuing full-speed ahead with its capital investment program, in which nine satellites are to be launched in the next three years. (4/25)
Quality Control, Transparency Pushes Europe to ITAR-Free Products (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is gradually moving toward an ITAR-free posture for sensitive satellite components for reasons having as much to do with quality control as with the larger goal of achieving autonomy in space technologies, ESA and European industry officials said. Even when ITAR-monitored satellite components are approved for export — such as to U.S. allies in Europe — they cannot be examined in ways that permit quality-assurance oversight that ESA is taking on as one of its duties. (4/25)
Classified Satellite Deal Boosts Northrop Revenue (Source: Space News)
Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems Sector of Redondo Beach, Calif., reported a $95 million, or 4 percent, sales increase for the first quarter of 2009 due in part to a new revenue stream from a classified satellite program the company landed in 2008, according to an April 22 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Total revenue for the sector during the quarter was $2.5 billion. (4/25)
Lawmakers Warn of More GOES-R Program Troubles (Source: Space News)
U.S. lawmakers expressed concern April 23 that the nation's next generation of geostationary-orbiting weather satellites will encounter cost overruns and schedule delays similar to those that have plagued a parallel effort to develop a new series of polar-orbiting meteorological craft. The first of two Geostationary-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) satellites is scheduled to launch in April 2015 — two-and-a-half years later than originally planned — with the ability to deliver less than half the products proposed during the program's early stages in 2004.
NASA is procuring the GOES-R satellites on behalf of the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which will operate the system. Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) said the GOES-R delays and cost increases were starting to resemble problems NOAA and the U.S. Air Force have encountered with the joint National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS). Ehlers said he was experiencing a case of "dejà vu" in comparing GOES-R to NPOESS. (4/25)
Commercial Space Station Prototype Completes 10,000 Orbits (Source: Bigelow Aerospace)
Genesis II, the second prototype expandable space habitat launched by Bigelow Aerospace on June 28, 2007, has completed its 10,000th orbit around the Earth. Following the first spacecraft Genesis I, this unmanned vehicle demonstrates the continued development of future space stations technologies. Orbiting 665 days and having traveled close to 270 million miles, Genesis II has been busy transmitting pressure, temperature and radiation data to the mission operations staff in Las Vegas. Bigelow is also conducting long term testing of systems such as lighting, air circulation, and pressure monitoring systems. In addition, the expanded camera configuration has provided over 51,000 images consisting of the inside of the spacecraft, the external micro-meteoroid shielding, and the Earth. (4/25)
Space Port Indiana Gets Raytheon Contract for Range Technology (Source:
Raytheon Network Centric Systems has become the latest major business customer of Space Port Indiana (SPI), a company formed a little more than a year ago to perform operational evaluations on equipment that must work perfectly in space. Raytheon sent a commercial telemetry and GPS platform on a high-altitude balloon last month for testing in near space. Telemetry equipment is used to provide real-time information on the position and attitude of a rocket.
“In future rocket flights, engine thermal measurements, structural stresses and a host of other data will be collected. This helps to better understand methods and applications that will be best suited for a wider spectrum of customer flight requests,” an SPI statement said. “SPI asked Raytheon to be involved in the project as part of an ongoing development of airspace management and utilization efforts. Raytheon has more flights planned at SPI in 2009.”
In addition to balloon lifts, SPI's facility at the Columbus Municipal Airport has been providing customers with telemetry, guidance, tracking, GPS, communications and airspace management tools. It just added a rocket engine test cell designed to accommodate up to 3,000 pounds of thrust, and that capability can be expanded to meet customer needs. SPI will start rocket launches next month to offer an opportunity “to test within the rigorous environment of high(-gravity) loads, vibration and even rapid descent.” The company plans to launch Indiana’s first unmanned aerial vehicle in August and is working toward the first quarter of 2010 to become the country’s third FAA Certified Launch Facility. (4/25)
Panama City's Starlight Signs Agreement with NASA (Source: Panama City News Herald)
Panama City Beach's Starlight Environmental Group has entered into a licensing agreement with NASA and will use one of the space agency's patented technologies for environmental cleanup purposes. The NASA technology is called Emulsified Zero-Valent Iron (EZVI), and was developed initially to help NASA deal with its own environmental cleanup issues related to rocket fuels.
Starlight plans to use the technology locally, with its first application to be at a local gas station. "We're taking it beyond what [NASA's] concept was," said a Starlight official. He said six other U.S. companies have been licensed commercially to use the technology, although he emphasized that Starlight was the only one using it for petroleum and diesel spills. (4/25)
NPOESS Divorce, Pentagon Style (Source: DOD Buzz)
OSD is considering seeking permanent separation from NASA and NOAA on the fiscally challenged NPOESS satellite program. The first recommendations on just how to divide assets and responsibilities are likely next week. NPOESS may be as much as another $500 million over budget, roughly a 6 percent cost increase. It’s not enough to trigger another Nunn-McCurdy, but it’s a healthy increase. The original program costs were $6.8 billion. As of June 2006 they were estimated at $11.1 billion. They had risen to $14 billion as of June 2008. Tack on up to $500 million and you may be close to what the program will now cost taxpayers. The original due date for the first satellite was this year. The first NPOESS satellite is now scheduled for launch in 2014, which some fear may leave a gap in the country’s weather forecasting abilities. (4/25)
Amateur Rocket To Fly From Eastern Shore (Source: WJZ-TV)
Aircrafts have already been warned away, and the Guinness Book of World Records is standing by. On Saturday, the world's largest amateur rocket is set to blast off. Hardware that's not needed has been removed and final tests prepared. The one-tenth scale model of a Saturn-Five rocket is thirty-six feet long and weighs 1600 pounds, making it the largest amateur rocket ever built to fly.
The Maryland-Delaware Rocketry Association is helping to prepare and launch it. With eight solid rocket motors, there's no guarantee the rocket will work. "We like to say it's a rocket, what can go wrong? The obvious answer is everything and anything," said McGilvray. Steve Eves spent $30,000 on his rocket. Lift off is noon Saturday from a farm near the small town of Price in Queen Anne's County. (4/25)
SpaceX Completes Qualification Testing for Draco Thruster (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX successfully completed a rigorous qualification of its new Draco spacecraft thruster and Draco propulsion tank in Texas. The Draco thruster test series included 42 firings with over 4,600 pulses of varying lengths and was performed in a vacuum test chamber to simulate the space environment. The series resulted in a total firing time of over 50 minutes on a single thruster. Draco thrusters generate approximately 90 pounds of thrust using storable propellants with long on-orbit lifetimes. The use of these propellants provides the option for a crew-carrying Dragon spacecraft to remain berthed at the ISS for up to a year. (4/24)
Sea Launch Lofts Italy's Sicral 1B Satellite (Source: Space News)
A Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket successfully placed Italy's Sicral 1B military telecommunications satellite into geostationary transfer orbit April 20 in the first of what is likely to be just two launches from the oceangoing Sea Launch platform this year as the Long Beach, Calif.-based company works to resolve rocket-component supply issues. (4/20)
Sea Launch Ordered to Pay HNS $52 Million (Source: Space News)
An arbitration panel has ordered Sea Launch Co. to pay Hughes Network Systems (HNS) about $52 million in a dispute over whether HNS had a right to terminate a launch contract and demand a full refund of its prelaunch payments, according to an April 22 Boeing Co. submission to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). (4/25)
April 24 News Items
Florida Lawmaker Urges Congress to Extend Shuttle Era (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas today urged her fellow lawmakers to extend the space shuttle era for a year through 2011 when House and Senate negotiators meet to iron out differences between the two chambers' budget plans. The Senate version, at the behest of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, included a provision that would give NASA an added $2.5 billion to fly its eight or nine remaining shuttle missions through 2011, rather than hard-cap the shuttle's end in 2010, as Bush and Obama have advocated. The shuttle's retirement is expected to trigger thousands of job losses at Kennedy Space Center, which is located in Kosmas' east Central Florida district. (4/22)
NASA Pushes Back First Ares V Lunar Launch (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the moon are quietly being pushed back and are in danger of slipping past 2020. In meetings over the last few weeks at KSC, agency managers have told employees and contractors that they are delaying the first lunar launch of the Ares V rocket – a cargo hauler slated to be the most powerful rocket ever built -- by two years.
NASA’s internal plans had called for Ares V to go to the moon in 2018, though the agency had announced a public goal of 2020. Internal deadlines are used by NASA to keep programs on track and to provide a margin of error for developmental problems. But because of growing budget woes, the agency is resetting its internal date to 2020. And privately, engineers say that means the public 2020 date to send humans back to the moon is in deepening trouble. (4/22)
Accelerating NASA's Ares I Isn't Easy or Cheap (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
An internal NASA study last year of how the Ares I rocket and Orion crew capsule could be built faster portrays a program that is financially strapped and technically challenged. It found that efforts to speed up their development would require at least $3.8 billion more over the next several years. The "Constellation Acceleration Study" -- obtained by the Orlando Sentinel through a Freedom of Information Act request -- said that half that amount was needed just to cover $1.9 billion in cost overruns resulting from design changes to the Ares I and the Orion crew capsule.
Among the costly changes: a decision to land Orion in the ocean, rather than on hard ground, and a plan to install dampers on Ares I to counteract violent shaking caused by its solid-rocket first stage. "These costs must be addressed irrespective of acceleration," the study said. And even getting more money -- considered extremely unlikely -- is no guarantee, as the program continues to fall behind. (4/22)
Embry-Riddle Official Named to Space Grant Consortium Post (Source: ERAU)
Dr. Michael Hickey, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus, was recently elected to a one-year term as associate director of the Florida Space Grant Consortium (FSGC). The Consortium supports the expansion and diversification of Florida's space industry by providing grants, scholarships, and fellowships to students and educators involved in Florida higher education.
FSGC is composed of 17 top public and private colleges and universities in Florida, all of the state’s 28 community colleges, the Astronaut Memorial Foundation, the Higher Education Consortium for Math and Sciences, Kennedy Space Center, and the Orlando Science Center. Dr. Hickey also serves on the board of Space Florida. (4/24)
Mysterious Space Blob Discovered At Cosmic Dawn (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Pasadena CA (SPX) Apr 23, 2009 - Using information from a suite of telescopes, astronomers have discovered a mysterious, giant object that existed at a time when the universe was only about 800 million years old. Objects such as this one are dubbed extended Lyman-Alpha blobs; they are huge bodies of gas that may be precursors to galaxies. This blob was named Himiko for a legendary, mysterious Japanese queen. (4/22)
PlanetSpace Loses Protest Over NASA Contract Award (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
PlanetSpace Inc- which lost out on NASA’s 3.5 billion dollar Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract last year- failed in their bid to have the award decision reversed, according to the GAO website. The company was a main contender to be the anchor tenant on the $50 million dollar-plus launch pad the state hopes to build at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. PlanetSpace filed an official protest to the GAO in January after NASA awarded SpaceX and Orbital the contract to resupply the international Space Station during the transition between the retirement of the space shuttle and when the Constellation program becomes operational after 2015. (4/24)
Russia Ready for Projects to Launch North Korean Satellites (Source: Itar-Tass)
Russia is ready to begin projects with North Korean on launching its satellites with the help of Russian boosters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks with his South Korean colleague Yu Myung-hwan. "Russia is cooperating with many countries in aerospace, including launches of satellites by our boosters, including with South Korea. We ready for North Korea's developing similar projects," Lavrov said. (4/24)
Report: Ares Program Undergoing Big Changes (Sources: NasaSpaceFlight.com, Orlando Sentinel)
Citing schedule concerns and technical challenges, Constellation manager Jeff Hanley has outlined a series of proposed solutions to avoid further slips in the Ares/Orion schedule. Mr Hanley proposes deleting the Ares I-Y test flight, making Ares I’s first stage disposable, switching from Orion 4 to Orion 3 as the Full Operational Capability (FOC) date, along with a host of additional changes in order to achieve the 2015 target for manned Orion debut. The proposals come at a time where plans are being drawn up for a series of major reviews on the future of the Constellation Program.
NasaSpaceFlight's report lays out what many of the potential Ares/Orion changes are, from cutting Orion's crew capacity from six to four and cutting out some launches, and changing the reusablity of the first stage -- which would be more bad news for the Kennedy Space Center workforce. However, the significance of the proposed changes and their potential impact on the capability of the space ship are still not completely clear. (4/24)
Study Planned to Review Constellation Options (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
The Obama Administration will soon announce a new 60-day government study to review the various lunar rocket systems, including Constellation, to make sure NASA is on the right path for human exploration. Word is that the study -- effectively a redo of former NASA administrator Mike Griffin's 2005 "Exploration Systems Architecture Study" -- will be headed by Pete Worden, the director of NASA's Ames Center, though there are reports of pushback from some senior NASA figures against Worden heading the study.
However, the fact that the White House favors a new study is a poke in the eye to Griffin, who just last week not only defended Constellation but said "so what" if it was determined that other rockets were cheaper and better than Constellation's Ares I rocket and Orion capsule.
Garver Seen as Possible NASA Pick (Sources: NasaSpaceFlight.com, Orlando Sentinel)
In another move likely to be seen as a dig at Mike Griffin, NasaSpaceFlight.com reports that Lori Garver -- the former head of the NASA transition team whom Griffin accused on not being technically qualified to judge his rocket program -- is likely to be named next NASA chief. Meanwhile,
Missile, Radar Sales Boost Q1 Profits at Raytheon (Source: AIA)
Stronger sales of missiles and radars helped push Raytheon's profits 14% higher in the first quarter. Earnings rose to $452 million, up from $398 million in the previous year. Although some observers say military spending may eventually decline, the strong profits demonstrate that sales remain strong at some defense firms. (4/24)
Army Names Harris Corp. for $600M Satellite Terminal Contract (Source: AIA)
Harris Corp. recently received a contract from the Army to replace aging satellite communications terminals with terminals that can interface with new and legacy satellite systems. The contract is worth $600 million. (4/23)
Lockheed CEO Sees Stable Workforce Despite Economic Downturn (Source: AIA)
Lockheed Martin's workforce will remain stable or increase modestly over the next year, CEO Robert Stevens said. The DOD recently indicated it would cut some defense programs, but Lockheed's programs were largely spared. In fact, the Pentagon has requested additional Aegis radar systems built by Lockheed. (4/24)
FAA Pushes Congress for $20 Billion Air Traffic Control System (Source: AIA)
The FAA wants Congress to upgrade the 60-year-old air traffic control system, and to demonstrate how much times have changed, it has put the request into a six-minute video. The agency contends that a GPS-based system will give planes more flexibility in flight paths, eliminating congestion and increasing safety. The NextGen system would cost $20 billion to deploy. (4/24)
Nelson Keeps Pressing for Bolden to be NASA Chief (Source: Florida Today)
Seems that U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson isn't the only one backing his friend, Charles Bolden, to be the next NASA administrator. "I happened to bump into Sally Ride today, and she said the same thing: Charlie would be great," Nelson said Thursday afternoon during a meeting with reporters on an unrelated topic. Bolden co-piloted the 1986 space shuttle flight that included Nelson, and his name is among the few considered as potential candidates for NASA administrator. Nelson said he's not sure why the White House continues to delay making an announcement. (4/24)
L-3 Sales Up for Quarter (Source: AP)
L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. reported a higher quarterly profit Thursday. The military contractor said it was helped by higher sales and Pentagon orders of surveillance and intelligence equipment. Net income rose to $199 million, or $1.66 per share from $189 million, or $1.51 per share, a year earlier. The New York-based company said revenue reached $3.64 billion, up 3.7 percent. (4/23)
NASA Faces Deadline for Tough Decisions on Shuttle (Source: Star-Banner)
NASA is facing a critical deadline to make its biggest decision in a generation: whether to go forward with plans to retire the space shuttle fleet and replace it with a new mode of space travel. But the agency still has no chief to make the $230 billion call. NASA seems so far off the White House radar, said one presidential expert, that it might as well be on Pluto.'As each day goes by, the need for these decisions becomes greater and greater, and the absence of an administrator becomes more and more an issue,' said John Logsdon, a member of the NASA Advisory Council who also advised President Barack Obama's campaign.
Obama's science adviser has said that crucial decisions on the shuttle and a new spacecraft to carry astronauts back to the moon will not be made until NASA gets a new administrator. In an interview two weeks ago, John Holdren did not know when that would be. A key deadline is April 30, when a congressional rule governing the shuttle's infrastructure expires. After that date, NASA will be free to start taking apart the shuttle program if it chooses.
But some in Congress want the shuttle to fly longer because retiring the fleet would force the U.S. to rely on Russia for trips to space for nearly five years. Obama has said he wants at least one more shuttle flight beyond those already planned. And that's not all. A Congressional Budget Office report concluded that NASA cannot carry out its current plans on its existing budget. The report outlined options that include delaying the flight of the new spacecraft, spending more money to meet the current schedule or drastically cutting back on science. NASA also has an extra $1 billion in stimulus money, but little direction in how to spend it. (4/23)
China Launches Remote-Sensing Satellite (Source: Aviation Week)
China has launched a remote-sensing satellite on Long March 2C from Taiyuan spaceport in the north of Shanxi province. The satellite, Yaogan VI, is one of a series that has been used for data collection for "scientific experiments, land resource surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster prevention and reduction." However, Western analysts say the satellite may be intended primarily for military applications. They say some satellites in the Yaogan series have carried synthetic aperture radars, while others have had optical imaging payloads. (4/24)
Wide Range of Education Initiatives at ISDC 2009 (Source: NSSFL)
This year’s International Space Development Conference will play host to an extraordinarily diverse range of education initiatives. A local competitor in the Google Lunar X Prize contest, Omega Envoy, is organizing the “Eggs-Prize,” a contest involving eggs, gravity and a very long drop. This contest will be held among high-school students attending the conference on Saturday May 30.
The primary focus of the presentations on Saturday will be education-based. This year’s ISDC will also have student presentations, an education roundtable and a book signing by space writer Andrew Chaikin. The ISDC conference will be held at the Omni Hotel at Champion’s Gate in Orlando from May 28th – 31st. The conference will be preceded by the Space Investment Summit on May 27th. Visit http://www.isdc2009.org for information and registration. (4/24)
Vandenberg AFB Receives USAF Environmental Award (Source: Air Force Magazine)
Vandenberg AFB, California, received the "installation cultural resources management award", one of three environmental awards issued to the Air Force out of eight recipients of these just-announced 2009 Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards. (4/24)
NASA Engineer to Lead Space Workforce Efforts (Source: CSA)
The California Space Education and Workforce Institute (Institute) and its sister organization the California Space Authority (CSA) announced today that Lynn Baroff will serve as the new Executive Director for the Institute. Baroff comes to the Institute with extensive training and education experience, including a 16 year career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where he began as the chief of management training in their human resources organization. More recently, he served as JPL’s liaison to the United States Air Force (USAF) Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) in El Segundo. (4/24)
Lockheed Hosts Nearly 4,000 Students Nationwide During Young Minds At Work Day (Source: CSA)
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company opened its doors to students, aged six to 18 years, for the company’s annual Young Minds at Work Day. Nearly 4,000 students participated at company facilities across the country in Alabama, California, Colorado, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company annually hosts Young Minds at Work Day to motivate young people to pursue science and technology careers. A Lockheed Martin employee, contractor or customer is sponsored each student. Each student “shadowed” his or her sponsor during part of the day and participated in hands-on activities and tours of the company. (4/24)
California Space Enterprise Leads Nation and World in Economic Impact (Source: CSA)
A study released by the California Space Authority (CSA) shows California leading the nation and world in contributions to the economy. California accounts for 44 percent of the U.S. space market, and 21 percent of the global market, contributing more than $76 billion in total economic impact and more than 370,000 jobs. “California’s space enterprise has a greater impact on state revenue and jobs than any other industry, including entertainment, tourism and agriculture,” stated Hon. Andrea Seastrand, Executive Director of CSA, and former member of Congress from the state of California. “While many think of space enterprise as rocket scientists and defense contractors, applications from space-based technologies are widely used throughout many other industries. Environmental studies, crop infestation, water use monitoring, and oceanic observation all rely on space capabilities. Space enterprise is an enabler that stimulates entrepreneurial investment, innovation and the economy.” (4/24)
Sea Launch Successfully Delivers SICRAL 1B Satellite in Orbit (Source: CSA)
The Sea Launch Company successfully launched Telespazio’s SICRAL 1B communications satellite from its equatorial launch site. This event marks Sea Launch’s 30th mission from sea, since operations began in March 1999. Visit http://www.californiaspaceauthority.org/images/press-releases/pr090420-2_SeaLaunch.pdf to view the article.
Zero G Experiment Wins Cash Prize (Source: Space.com)
A Texas zero gravity experiment has won a $25,000 cash award and a free ride into space aboard a privately built rocket. The winning team from the University of Texas would see their work go up on a Falcon 9 rocket from private spaceflight firm Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), one of the sponsors for the first Microgravity Research Competition. Other competition sponsors included The Heinlein Prize Trust and the Rice Alliance. (4/24)
Small Satellites Provide Low-Cost Entree (Source: Aviation Week)
Satellite reconnaissance that delivers timely intelligence and strategic communications has become an essential part of national security for many nations, providing early warning of hostile attacks and extending command and control throughout areas of operation. Most nations, particularly small countries, lack the resources, technology and money to create and maintain constellations of orbiting satellites. Smaller, less-costly satellites weighing 500 kg. (1,100 lb.) or less are emerging as practical options. In recent years, large countries, including the U.S., as well as small ones have recognized the benefits of these platforms.
There are four categories of small satellites: Minisatellites weigh 100-500 kg.; microsatellites 10-100 kg.; nanosatellites 1-10 kg.; and picosatellites 0.1-1 kg. Mini- and microsatellites are becoming more common in space programs, for the advantages they provide in speedy launch schedules and economy. Nanosatellites are beginning to be tested and deployed, while picosatellites are largely experimental. (4/24)
Shuttle Launch Window Opens a Day Early to Ease Range Access (Source: SpaceToday.net)
NASA is considering moving up the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis next month by a day to give managers more opportunities before yielding to a conflicting event. Atlantis is currently scheduled to lift off May 12 on STS-125, a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. However, NASA officials said Thursday that they are looking into the possibility of moving the launch up one day, to May 11. That would give managers more opportunities to launch the shuttle before May 14, when the shuttle must stand down because of a previously-planned launch at Cape Canaveral that has range priority.
U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas today urged her fellow lawmakers to extend the space shuttle era for a year through 2011 when House and Senate negotiators meet to iron out differences between the two chambers' budget plans. The Senate version, at the behest of U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida, included a provision that would give NASA an added $2.5 billion to fly its eight or nine remaining shuttle missions through 2011, rather than hard-cap the shuttle's end in 2010, as Bush and Obama have advocated. The shuttle's retirement is expected to trigger thousands of job losses at Kennedy Space Center, which is located in Kosmas' east Central Florida district. (4/22)
NASA Pushes Back First Ares V Lunar Launch (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the moon are quietly being pushed back and are in danger of slipping past 2020. In meetings over the last few weeks at KSC, agency managers have told employees and contractors that they are delaying the first lunar launch of the Ares V rocket – a cargo hauler slated to be the most powerful rocket ever built -- by two years.
NASA’s internal plans had called for Ares V to go to the moon in 2018, though the agency had announced a public goal of 2020. Internal deadlines are used by NASA to keep programs on track and to provide a margin of error for developmental problems. But because of growing budget woes, the agency is resetting its internal date to 2020. And privately, engineers say that means the public 2020 date to send humans back to the moon is in deepening trouble. (4/22)
Accelerating NASA's Ares I Isn't Easy or Cheap (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
An internal NASA study last year of how the Ares I rocket and Orion crew capsule could be built faster portrays a program that is financially strapped and technically challenged. It found that efforts to speed up their development would require at least $3.8 billion more over the next several years. The "Constellation Acceleration Study" -- obtained by the Orlando Sentinel through a Freedom of Information Act request -- said that half that amount was needed just to cover $1.9 billion in cost overruns resulting from design changes to the Ares I and the Orion crew capsule.
Among the costly changes: a decision to land Orion in the ocean, rather than on hard ground, and a plan to install dampers on Ares I to counteract violent shaking caused by its solid-rocket first stage. "These costs must be addressed irrespective of acceleration," the study said. And even getting more money -- considered extremely unlikely -- is no guarantee, as the program continues to fall behind. (4/22)
Embry-Riddle Official Named to Space Grant Consortium Post (Source: ERAU)
Dr. Michael Hickey, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus, was recently elected to a one-year term as associate director of the Florida Space Grant Consortium (FSGC). The Consortium supports the expansion and diversification of Florida's space industry by providing grants, scholarships, and fellowships to students and educators involved in Florida higher education.
FSGC is composed of 17 top public and private colleges and universities in Florida, all of the state’s 28 community colleges, the Astronaut Memorial Foundation, the Higher Education Consortium for Math and Sciences, Kennedy Space Center, and the Orlando Science Center. Dr. Hickey also serves on the board of Space Florida. (4/24)
Mysterious Space Blob Discovered At Cosmic Dawn (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Pasadena CA (SPX) Apr 23, 2009 - Using information from a suite of telescopes, astronomers have discovered a mysterious, giant object that existed at a time when the universe was only about 800 million years old. Objects such as this one are dubbed extended Lyman-Alpha blobs; they are huge bodies of gas that may be precursors to galaxies. This blob was named Himiko for a legendary, mysterious Japanese queen. (4/22)
PlanetSpace Loses Protest Over NASA Contract Award (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
PlanetSpace Inc- which lost out on NASA’s 3.5 billion dollar Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract last year- failed in their bid to have the award decision reversed, according to the GAO website. The company was a main contender to be the anchor tenant on the $50 million dollar-plus launch pad the state hopes to build at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. PlanetSpace filed an official protest to the GAO in January after NASA awarded SpaceX and Orbital the contract to resupply the international Space Station during the transition between the retirement of the space shuttle and when the Constellation program becomes operational after 2015. (4/24)
Russia Ready for Projects to Launch North Korean Satellites (Source: Itar-Tass)
Russia is ready to begin projects with North Korean on launching its satellites with the help of Russian boosters, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after talks with his South Korean colleague Yu Myung-hwan. "Russia is cooperating with many countries in aerospace, including launches of satellites by our boosters, including with South Korea. We ready for North Korea's developing similar projects," Lavrov said. (4/24)
Report: Ares Program Undergoing Big Changes (Sources: NasaSpaceFlight.com, Orlando Sentinel)
Citing schedule concerns and technical challenges, Constellation manager Jeff Hanley has outlined a series of proposed solutions to avoid further slips in the Ares/Orion schedule. Mr Hanley proposes deleting the Ares I-Y test flight, making Ares I’s first stage disposable, switching from Orion 4 to Orion 3 as the Full Operational Capability (FOC) date, along with a host of additional changes in order to achieve the 2015 target for manned Orion debut. The proposals come at a time where plans are being drawn up for a series of major reviews on the future of the Constellation Program.
NasaSpaceFlight's report lays out what many of the potential Ares/Orion changes are, from cutting Orion's crew capacity from six to four and cutting out some launches, and changing the reusablity of the first stage -- which would be more bad news for the Kennedy Space Center workforce. However, the significance of the proposed changes and their potential impact on the capability of the space ship are still not completely clear. (4/24)
Study Planned to Review Constellation Options (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
The Obama Administration will soon announce a new 60-day government study to review the various lunar rocket systems, including Constellation, to make sure NASA is on the right path for human exploration. Word is that the study -- effectively a redo of former NASA administrator Mike Griffin's 2005 "Exploration Systems Architecture Study" -- will be headed by Pete Worden, the director of NASA's Ames Center, though there are reports of pushback from some senior NASA figures against Worden heading the study.
However, the fact that the White House favors a new study is a poke in the eye to Griffin, who just last week not only defended Constellation but said "so what" if it was determined that other rockets were cheaper and better than Constellation's Ares I rocket and Orion capsule.
Garver Seen as Possible NASA Pick (Sources: NasaSpaceFlight.com, Orlando Sentinel)
In another move likely to be seen as a dig at Mike Griffin, NasaSpaceFlight.com reports that Lori Garver -- the former head of the NASA transition team whom Griffin accused on not being technically qualified to judge his rocket program -- is likely to be named next NASA chief. Meanwhile,
Missile, Radar Sales Boost Q1 Profits at Raytheon (Source: AIA)
Stronger sales of missiles and radars helped push Raytheon's profits 14% higher in the first quarter. Earnings rose to $452 million, up from $398 million in the previous year. Although some observers say military spending may eventually decline, the strong profits demonstrate that sales remain strong at some defense firms. (4/24)
Army Names Harris Corp. for $600M Satellite Terminal Contract (Source: AIA)
Harris Corp. recently received a contract from the Army to replace aging satellite communications terminals with terminals that can interface with new and legacy satellite systems. The contract is worth $600 million. (4/23)
Lockheed CEO Sees Stable Workforce Despite Economic Downturn (Source: AIA)
Lockheed Martin's workforce will remain stable or increase modestly over the next year, CEO Robert Stevens said. The DOD recently indicated it would cut some defense programs, but Lockheed's programs were largely spared. In fact, the Pentagon has requested additional Aegis radar systems built by Lockheed. (4/24)
FAA Pushes Congress for $20 Billion Air Traffic Control System (Source: AIA)
The FAA wants Congress to upgrade the 60-year-old air traffic control system, and to demonstrate how much times have changed, it has put the request into a six-minute video. The agency contends that a GPS-based system will give planes more flexibility in flight paths, eliminating congestion and increasing safety. The NextGen system would cost $20 billion to deploy. (4/24)
Nelson Keeps Pressing for Bolden to be NASA Chief (Source: Florida Today)
Seems that U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson isn't the only one backing his friend, Charles Bolden, to be the next NASA administrator. "I happened to bump into Sally Ride today, and she said the same thing: Charlie would be great," Nelson said Thursday afternoon during a meeting with reporters on an unrelated topic. Bolden co-piloted the 1986 space shuttle flight that included Nelson, and his name is among the few considered as potential candidates for NASA administrator. Nelson said he's not sure why the White House continues to delay making an announcement. (4/24)
L-3 Sales Up for Quarter (Source: AP)
L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. reported a higher quarterly profit Thursday. The military contractor said it was helped by higher sales and Pentagon orders of surveillance and intelligence equipment. Net income rose to $199 million, or $1.66 per share from $189 million, or $1.51 per share, a year earlier. The New York-based company said revenue reached $3.64 billion, up 3.7 percent. (4/23)
NASA Faces Deadline for Tough Decisions on Shuttle (Source: Star-Banner)
NASA is facing a critical deadline to make its biggest decision in a generation: whether to go forward with plans to retire the space shuttle fleet and replace it with a new mode of space travel. But the agency still has no chief to make the $230 billion call. NASA seems so far off the White House radar, said one presidential expert, that it might as well be on Pluto.'As each day goes by, the need for these decisions becomes greater and greater, and the absence of an administrator becomes more and more an issue,' said John Logsdon, a member of the NASA Advisory Council who also advised President Barack Obama's campaign.
Obama's science adviser has said that crucial decisions on the shuttle and a new spacecraft to carry astronauts back to the moon will not be made until NASA gets a new administrator. In an interview two weeks ago, John Holdren did not know when that would be. A key deadline is April 30, when a congressional rule governing the shuttle's infrastructure expires. After that date, NASA will be free to start taking apart the shuttle program if it chooses.
But some in Congress want the shuttle to fly longer because retiring the fleet would force the U.S. to rely on Russia for trips to space for nearly five years. Obama has said he wants at least one more shuttle flight beyond those already planned. And that's not all. A Congressional Budget Office report concluded that NASA cannot carry out its current plans on its existing budget. The report outlined options that include delaying the flight of the new spacecraft, spending more money to meet the current schedule or drastically cutting back on science. NASA also has an extra $1 billion in stimulus money, but little direction in how to spend it. (4/23)
China Launches Remote-Sensing Satellite (Source: Aviation Week)
China has launched a remote-sensing satellite on Long March 2C from Taiyuan spaceport in the north of Shanxi province. The satellite, Yaogan VI, is one of a series that has been used for data collection for "scientific experiments, land resource surveys, crop yield estimates and disaster prevention and reduction." However, Western analysts say the satellite may be intended primarily for military applications. They say some satellites in the Yaogan series have carried synthetic aperture radars, while others have had optical imaging payloads. (4/24)
Wide Range of Education Initiatives at ISDC 2009 (Source: NSSFL)
This year’s International Space Development Conference will play host to an extraordinarily diverse range of education initiatives. A local competitor in the Google Lunar X Prize contest, Omega Envoy, is organizing the “Eggs-Prize,” a contest involving eggs, gravity and a very long drop. This contest will be held among high-school students attending the conference on Saturday May 30.
The primary focus of the presentations on Saturday will be education-based. This year’s ISDC will also have student presentations, an education roundtable and a book signing by space writer Andrew Chaikin. The ISDC conference will be held at the Omni Hotel at Champion’s Gate in Orlando from May 28th – 31st. The conference will be preceded by the Space Investment Summit on May 27th. Visit http://www.isdc2009.org for information and registration. (4/24)
Vandenberg AFB Receives USAF Environmental Award (Source: Air Force Magazine)
Vandenberg AFB, California, received the "installation cultural resources management award", one of three environmental awards issued to the Air Force out of eight recipients of these just-announced 2009 Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards. (4/24)
NASA Engineer to Lead Space Workforce Efforts (Source: CSA)
The California Space Education and Workforce Institute (Institute) and its sister organization the California Space Authority (CSA) announced today that Lynn Baroff will serve as the new Executive Director for the Institute. Baroff comes to the Institute with extensive training and education experience, including a 16 year career at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), where he began as the chief of management training in their human resources organization. More recently, he served as JPL’s liaison to the United States Air Force (USAF) Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) in El Segundo. (4/24)
Lockheed Hosts Nearly 4,000 Students Nationwide During Young Minds At Work Day (Source: CSA)
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company opened its doors to students, aged six to 18 years, for the company’s annual Young Minds at Work Day. Nearly 4,000 students participated at company facilities across the country in Alabama, California, Colorado, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company annually hosts Young Minds at Work Day to motivate young people to pursue science and technology careers. A Lockheed Martin employee, contractor or customer is sponsored each student. Each student “shadowed” his or her sponsor during part of the day and participated in hands-on activities and tours of the company. (4/24)
California Space Enterprise Leads Nation and World in Economic Impact (Source: CSA)
A study released by the California Space Authority (CSA) shows California leading the nation and world in contributions to the economy. California accounts for 44 percent of the U.S. space market, and 21 percent of the global market, contributing more than $76 billion in total economic impact and more than 370,000 jobs. “California’s space enterprise has a greater impact on state revenue and jobs than any other industry, including entertainment, tourism and agriculture,” stated Hon. Andrea Seastrand, Executive Director of CSA, and former member of Congress from the state of California. “While many think of space enterprise as rocket scientists and defense contractors, applications from space-based technologies are widely used throughout many other industries. Environmental studies, crop infestation, water use monitoring, and oceanic observation all rely on space capabilities. Space enterprise is an enabler that stimulates entrepreneurial investment, innovation and the economy.” (4/24)
Sea Launch Successfully Delivers SICRAL 1B Satellite in Orbit (Source: CSA)
The Sea Launch Company successfully launched Telespazio’s SICRAL 1B communications satellite from its equatorial launch site. This event marks Sea Launch’s 30th mission from sea, since operations began in March 1999. Visit http://www.californiaspaceauthority.org/images/press-releases/pr090420-2_SeaLaunch.pdf to view the article.
Zero G Experiment Wins Cash Prize (Source: Space.com)
A Texas zero gravity experiment has won a $25,000 cash award and a free ride into space aboard a privately built rocket. The winning team from the University of Texas would see their work go up on a Falcon 9 rocket from private spaceflight firm Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), one of the sponsors for the first Microgravity Research Competition. Other competition sponsors included The Heinlein Prize Trust and the Rice Alliance. (4/24)
Small Satellites Provide Low-Cost Entree (Source: Aviation Week)
Satellite reconnaissance that delivers timely intelligence and strategic communications has become an essential part of national security for many nations, providing early warning of hostile attacks and extending command and control throughout areas of operation. Most nations, particularly small countries, lack the resources, technology and money to create and maintain constellations of orbiting satellites. Smaller, less-costly satellites weighing 500 kg. (1,100 lb.) or less are emerging as practical options. In recent years, large countries, including the U.S., as well as small ones have recognized the benefits of these platforms.
There are four categories of small satellites: Minisatellites weigh 100-500 kg.; microsatellites 10-100 kg.; nanosatellites 1-10 kg.; and picosatellites 0.1-1 kg. Mini- and microsatellites are becoming more common in space programs, for the advantages they provide in speedy launch schedules and economy. Nanosatellites are beginning to be tested and deployed, while picosatellites are largely experimental. (4/24)
Shuttle Launch Window Opens a Day Early to Ease Range Access (Source: SpaceToday.net)
NASA is considering moving up the launch of the space shuttle Atlantis next month by a day to give managers more opportunities before yielding to a conflicting event. Atlantis is currently scheduled to lift off May 12 on STS-125, a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. However, NASA officials said Thursday that they are looking into the possibility of moving the launch up one day, to May 11. That would give managers more opportunities to launch the shuttle before May 14, when the shuttle must stand down because of a previously-planned launch at Cape Canaveral that has range priority.
April 22 News Items
Bigelow: Freedom to Fly (Source: The Economist)
For many years, parts of America’s space industry have complained that the rules governing the export of technology are too strict. Understandably, the government does not want militarily useful stuff to fall into the hands of its foes. But the result is a system that is too strict in its definition of “militarily useful” and which favors lumbering dinosaurs such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, which survive on fat government contracts, rather than nimble but small “furry mammals” that need every customer they can get, domestic or foreign.
In December 2007 one of those mammals, a company called Bigelow Aerospace, filed the first legal challenge to America’s rules for exporting space technology. It disputed the government’s claim that foreign passengers traveling on a spaceship or space station were involved in a transfer of technology. The outcome suggests that there may be a chink in the armour of the export-controls regime.
Current rules could plausibly culminate in government monitors being present while the foreigner was near American space technology. Even training on the ground in a mock-up module was deemed a transfer of technology and therefore required export controls. Bigelow received a ruling in February and that it has spent the past two months digesting. A Bigelow executive says the comany got “everything we could want” from the ruling, though the it still precludes passengers from what he describes as the “bad-boy list of export control”—nationals from Sudan, Iran, North Korea and China will not be allowed to fly or train on suborbital passenger flights, or visit Bigelow’s space station. (4/22)
ITAR Ruling Encourages Space Companies (Source: The Economist)
The ITAR ruling passed down to Bigelow could benefit other companies, who have welcomed the ruling. Marc Holzapfel, legal counsel for Virgin Galactic, describes it as a “major development” because it frees the industry from having to go through the “complicated, expensive and dilatory export-approval process”. Tim Hughes, chief counsel of SpaceX, says the approval is exciting, because it seems to represent a “common-sense approach” and bodes well for similar requests made by companies such as his own to carry foreign astronauts hoping to work on missions to the International Space Station. (4/22)
India's ASTROSAT to be Launched in Mid-2010 (Source: The Hindu)
India's Astronomy satellite, ASTROSAT, which would facilitates study of a range of astrophysical objects, is likely to be launched in mid-2010, scientists from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) said. The scientists have completed the developmental phase of complex science payloads and have just begun integrating them before delivery for the 1650 kg satellite. (4/22)
NASA's 'COLBERT' Designed to Minimize House Calls (Source: Wyle)
NASA's newest piece of astronaut fitness gear headed for the International Space Station, the COLBERT, is perfect for a facility that wants to avoid too many house calls for repairs. Developed by Wyle, the COLBERT is designed to go up to 150,000 miles without a belt change. "The COLBERT represents the integrated efforts of our best engineers and scientists to deliver a highly reliable and very critical piece of flight hardware,"said a Wyle official. Wyle has taken a commercial-off-the-shelf treadmill and modified it to meet spaceflight standards. (4/22)
Spaceport America Plans Annual Educational Launches (Source: ISPCS)
Spaceport America and the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium will conduct their first joint annual educational launch from Spaceport America on May 2. The historic launch, funded by the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISCPS), will utilize an SL-3 launch vehicle provided by UP Aerospace. It will carry 11 multi-sensor experiments designed and created by students from New Mexico schools.
Spaceport America is providing the rocket and launch facilities. New Mexico Space Grant Consortium at New Mexico State University, with proceeds from ISPCS, developed the program that funded two university classes, three community college classes and five high school classes to build electronic experiments over the past academic year. (4/22)
United Technologies Sees Lower Sales in Five of Six Divisions (Source: AIA)
United Technologies Corp. said only its Sikorsky aircraft unit saw a rise in operating profit as the parent company's revenue slid by nearly $2 billion in the first quarter. Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems and Pratt & Whitney jet engines were among the divisions reporting declining profit and sales. (4/22)
Lockheed Confident Despite 8.8% Decline in Q1 Profit (Source: AIA)
Lockheed Martin Corp. said it earned $666 million in the first quarter, an 8.8% drop from year-earlier levels. Though revenues rose nearly 4%, earnings were hurt by pension expenses. Despite proposed cuts to big programs like the F-22 fighter and next-generation presidential helicopter, Lockheed said it remains on target for full-year revenues of $44.7 billion to $45.7 billion. (4/22)
Q1 Earnings Drop by Half, Boeing Says (Source: AIA)
"Unprecedented" challenges in the commercial aviation industry led to a 50% drop in Boeing Co.'s first-quarter earnings. Net income fell to $610 million for the March quarter, compared to $1.21 billion in the year-earlier period. Boeing now predicts full-year earnings of $4.70 to $5.00 a share, down from previous estimates of $5.05 to $5.35 a share. (4/27)
Northrop Earnings Climb 47% Despite Industry Slump (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Northrop Grumman Corp. posted a 47% jump in first-quarter net income as its aerospace division managed to post earnings and sales increases despite an industrywide slump. The aerospace giant also raised its 2009 earnings forecast by 15 cents to $4.65 to $4.90 a share. (4/22)
Constellation Program at "High Risk," NASA Reports (Source: Wall Street Journal)
NASA says it is $1.9 billion short of the funding it needs to achieve an initial launch of the Constellation program by September 2014. The space agency's most pessimistic report to date is seen as strengthening the hand of lawmakers who want to extend the life of the space shuttle beyond its scheduled 2010 retirement. (4/22)
Aerospace Industry Resilient Despite Economy (Source: AIA)
The aerospace industry showed modest growth in the midst of extremely challenging economic circumstances in 2008, AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey announced at the 44th Annual Year-End Review and Forecast. Blakey said industry sales are on pace to reach total sales of $204 billion, an increase of 2.1%, a record level for the fifth straight year. Click here for more information. (4/21)
Airline Employment Slides 6.6% (Source: AIA)
Employment at U.S. airlines was down 6.6% in February as carriers shed 27,500 jobs in the past year. According to the Department of Transportation, airlines employed 391,700 workers in February 2009, compared to 419,200 in February 2008. (4/22)
Aircraft Piling Up at Boeing Plants (Source: AIA)
The Seattle Times counts at least 10 new aircraft parked at various Boeing Co. locations, awaiting delivery to cash-strapped customers. Though a spokesman insists Boeing has no "white tails," or completed planes in search of customers, "What Boeing clearly does have," the paper reports, "is customers in distress and some airplanes sitting as expensive excess inventory far longer than the plane maker would like." (4/20)
Gates Beats Congress to Employment Argument (Source: AIA)
Lawmakers returning to Washington Monday after a spring recess will have their first real chance to stamp their priorities on the 2010 defense budget. But analysts say Pentagon chief Robert Gates has already anticipated much of the debate, framing his budget in terms of jobs and stealing much of the lawmakers' thunder. (4/20)
NextGen to Get Big Push on Capitol Hill (Source: AIA)
Narrower air lanes, reduced spacing between planes and reduced vectoring would help save the economy some $40 billion a year in fuel costs and lost productivity, according to advocates of the NextGen air traffic control system. Airlines and other industry supporters plan to make NextGen funding a key priority in congressional budget debates, though the mechanism for that funding remains contentious. "It's our top priority because it's a way of spending government money in a way that's going to deliver billions and billions of dollars in benefits to consumers and the nation's economy," says a spokesman for the Air Transport Association. (4/21)
As Lunar Orbiter Prepares to Launch, Budget Questions Remain (Source: MSNBC)
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, scheduled to launch June 2 on a mission to map landing spots for future astronauts, came in just 10% over budget. But the good news ends there. Based on NASA's track record, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the Constellation program will cost about 50% more than initial estimates, requiring an extra $3 billion annually to meet the goal of putting Americans back on the moon by 2020. (4/21)
White House Rejects Ex-NASA Chief's Funding Claims (Source: Houston Chronicle)
The unusually blunt war of words between the White House and the former NASA administrator continued Monday as the Obama administration defended itself against caustic criticism from former space agency chief Michael Griffin. The White House reaffirmed President Barack Obama's backing for costly manned space operations in the face of Griffin's accusation Friday that budget-cutting bureaucrats were secretly creating a fictional space program by draining the agency budget.
The president is very committed to human space exploration and believes that NASA has a critical role to play in pushing the bounds of human understanding and achievement, said an OMB official. The quick response to Griffin's sharp criticism underscores the political sensitivity of NASA-related issues as Obama struggles to choose a new agency administrator and develop a realistic spending blueprint to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. Manned spaceflight is an important issue to voters in Florida, which Obama narrowly carried in 2008, as well as Texas, where he lost. (4/21)
UCF Project Among NASA/NSBRI Research Initiatives Funded (Source: NASA)
NASA's Human Research Program and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) will fund a dozen proposals to help investigate questions about astronaut health and performance on future space exploration missions. The selected proposals, representing 11 institutions in eight states, will receive a total of almost $16 million during a three to four-year period.
Eduardo Salas of the University of Central Florida will lead an initiative called: Optimizing Crew Performance in Long Duration Space Exploration: Best Practices for Team Training and Cohesion Measurement. (4/20)
Ames Project Among NASA/NSBRI Research Initiatives Funded (Source: NASA)
NASA's Human Research Program and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) will fund a dozen proposals to help investigate questions about astronaut health and performance on future space exploration missions. The selected proposals, representing 11 institutions in eight states, will receive a total of almost $16 million during a three to four-year period.
Lee Stone, Ph.D., of NASA Ames Research Center, will manage a project called: Robust Human-System Interface Design for Spaceflight-Induced Environments. (4/20)
The Case for a Suborbital COTS Program (Source: Space Review)
As some suborbital companies struggle to raise the funding needed to develop their vehicles, NASA is taking an increasing interest in these vehicles' capabilities to do science. Jeff Foust suggests that this may open the door for a COTS-like program that helps both NASA and industry. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1356/1 to view the article. (4/20)
Ferrets of the High Frontier (Source: Space Review)
A lesser-known class of spy satellites developed during the Cold War were signals intelligence satellites known as "ferrets". Dwayne Day provides a detailed history of the development of ferrets based on some newly declassified documents. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1355/1 to view the article. (4/20)
Space War: Going Deep (Source: Space Review)
How can the military best protect its satellites from potential attack? Taylor Dinerman proposes that one way may be to put those spacecraft out of harm's way entirely. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1354/1 to view the article. (4/20)
Revisiting "Tourists in Space" (Source: Space Review)
How rigorous should the medical requirements be for potential space tourists? Dr. Petra Illig takes a critical look at the recommendations made in a recent book on the subject. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1353/1 to view the article. (4/20)
Has Anybody Seen Our Satellite? (Source: Space Review)
In the early years of the Space Age, not only were there problems determining if satellites reached orbit, there are also problems figuring out where they came back down. Dwayne Day recounts one such case that was the inspiration for a book and movie. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1352/1 to view the article. (4/20)
Hurricane-Killing, Space-Based Power Plant (Soure: WIRED)
How's this for crazy?: A company files a patent to destroy hurricanes as they form by beaming them with energy from a space-based solar plant. Maybe it is crazy, but that same company, Solaren, took a first step in that direction last week when it inked a deal with the northern California utility, PG&E, to provide 200 megawatts of power capacity transmitted from orbit in 2016.
Apparently, sending up billions of dollars worth of solar collectors and using microwaves to send the energy onto two square miles of receivers in the desert is a little ho-hum to Solaren's wild minds. "The present invention relates to space-based power systems and, more particularly, to altering weather elements, such as hurricanes or forming hurricanes, using energy generated by a space-based power system," Jim Rogers and Gary Spirnak write in their 2006 patent application.
By heating up the upper and middle levels of an infant hurricane, they say they could disrupt the flows of air that power the enormous storms. Air warmed by tropical waters flows up through a hurricane and is vented through the eye into the upper atmosphere. Theoretically, you could heat up the top of the storm and lower the pressure differential between layers, resulting in a weaker storm. (4/20)
China Launches "Yaogan VI" Remote-Sensing Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China on Wednesday launched a remote-sensing satellite, "Yaogan VI," from the Taiyuan spaceport in north Shanxi Province. The satellite was successfully launched into the space on a Long March 2C carrier rocket. It will be mainly used for land resources survey, environmental surveillance and protection, urban planning, crop yield estimates, disaster prevention and reduction, and space science experiments. (4/22)
Smallest Exoplanet Found in Search for Earth's Twin (Source: Reuters)
Scientists searching for a planet like Earth said on Tuesday they have found the smallest planet ever detected outside the solar system, less than twice the size of our own. The exoplanet, a planet that orbits a star beyond the solar system, is called Gliese 581e after the star it circles. Because of its relatively small size it is likely rocky, like Earth, as opposed to gas giants such as Jupiter or Saturn, the astronomers said. "It is the lightest planet detected outside the solar system so far," Dr. Gaspare Lo Curto said. (4/22)
Events Overtake NASA Acceleration Study (Source: Aerospace Daily)
Obama administration delays in setting out a clear space policy, with funding to go with it, appear to have rendered NASA plans to narrow the post-shuttle "gap" in U.S. human access to space out of date before they could be implemented. A Constellation Program Acceleration Study prepared last year and released April 20 finds the U.S. space agency $1.9 billion short of the funds it needs to meet an internal initial operational capability (IOC) target date of Sep. 2014. That milestone means sending astronauts to the International Space Station with an Ares I crew launch vehicle carrying an Orion crew exploration vehicle.
But the needed funds have not been forthcoming, and some of the activities the acceleration study suggested could increase confidence in meeting that date - including an extra flight-test - have been ruled out. Factors cited in the internal NASA study as contributing to the shortfall include undefinitized changes in the Orion contract; the shift from land to water landing and its effect on Orion reusability, and the need for additional testing in the J2-X upper stage engine development program. (4/22)
For many years, parts of America’s space industry have complained that the rules governing the export of technology are too strict. Understandably, the government does not want militarily useful stuff to fall into the hands of its foes. But the result is a system that is too strict in its definition of “militarily useful” and which favors lumbering dinosaurs such as Lockheed Martin and Boeing, which survive on fat government contracts, rather than nimble but small “furry mammals” that need every customer they can get, domestic or foreign.
In December 2007 one of those mammals, a company called Bigelow Aerospace, filed the first legal challenge to America’s rules for exporting space technology. It disputed the government’s claim that foreign passengers traveling on a spaceship or space station were involved in a transfer of technology. The outcome suggests that there may be a chink in the armour of the export-controls regime.
Current rules could plausibly culminate in government monitors being present while the foreigner was near American space technology. Even training on the ground in a mock-up module was deemed a transfer of technology and therefore required export controls. Bigelow received a ruling in February and that it has spent the past two months digesting. A Bigelow executive says the comany got “everything we could want” from the ruling, though the it still precludes passengers from what he describes as the “bad-boy list of export control”—nationals from Sudan, Iran, North Korea and China will not be allowed to fly or train on suborbital passenger flights, or visit Bigelow’s space station. (4/22)
ITAR Ruling Encourages Space Companies (Source: The Economist)
The ITAR ruling passed down to Bigelow could benefit other companies, who have welcomed the ruling. Marc Holzapfel, legal counsel for Virgin Galactic, describes it as a “major development” because it frees the industry from having to go through the “complicated, expensive and dilatory export-approval process”. Tim Hughes, chief counsel of SpaceX, says the approval is exciting, because it seems to represent a “common-sense approach” and bodes well for similar requests made by companies such as his own to carry foreign astronauts hoping to work on missions to the International Space Station. (4/22)
India's ASTROSAT to be Launched in Mid-2010 (Source: The Hindu)
India's Astronomy satellite, ASTROSAT, which would facilitates study of a range of astrophysical objects, is likely to be launched in mid-2010, scientists from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) said. The scientists have completed the developmental phase of complex science payloads and have just begun integrating them before delivery for the 1650 kg satellite. (4/22)
NASA's 'COLBERT' Designed to Minimize House Calls (Source: Wyle)
NASA's newest piece of astronaut fitness gear headed for the International Space Station, the COLBERT, is perfect for a facility that wants to avoid too many house calls for repairs. Developed by Wyle, the COLBERT is designed to go up to 150,000 miles without a belt change. "The COLBERT represents the integrated efforts of our best engineers and scientists to deliver a highly reliable and very critical piece of flight hardware,"said a Wyle official. Wyle has taken a commercial-off-the-shelf treadmill and modified it to meet spaceflight standards. (4/22)
Spaceport America Plans Annual Educational Launches (Source: ISPCS)
Spaceport America and the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium will conduct their first joint annual educational launch from Spaceport America on May 2. The historic launch, funded by the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight (ISCPS), will utilize an SL-3 launch vehicle provided by UP Aerospace. It will carry 11 multi-sensor experiments designed and created by students from New Mexico schools.
Spaceport America is providing the rocket and launch facilities. New Mexico Space Grant Consortium at New Mexico State University, with proceeds from ISPCS, developed the program that funded two university classes, three community college classes and five high school classes to build electronic experiments over the past academic year. (4/22)
United Technologies Sees Lower Sales in Five of Six Divisions (Source: AIA)
United Technologies Corp. said only its Sikorsky aircraft unit saw a rise in operating profit as the parent company's revenue slid by nearly $2 billion in the first quarter. Hamilton Sundstrand aerospace systems and Pratt & Whitney jet engines were among the divisions reporting declining profit and sales. (4/22)
Lockheed Confident Despite 8.8% Decline in Q1 Profit (Source: AIA)
Lockheed Martin Corp. said it earned $666 million in the first quarter, an 8.8% drop from year-earlier levels. Though revenues rose nearly 4%, earnings were hurt by pension expenses. Despite proposed cuts to big programs like the F-22 fighter and next-generation presidential helicopter, Lockheed said it remains on target for full-year revenues of $44.7 billion to $45.7 billion. (4/22)
Q1 Earnings Drop by Half, Boeing Says (Source: AIA)
"Unprecedented" challenges in the commercial aviation industry led to a 50% drop in Boeing Co.'s first-quarter earnings. Net income fell to $610 million for the March quarter, compared to $1.21 billion in the year-earlier period. Boeing now predicts full-year earnings of $4.70 to $5.00 a share, down from previous estimates of $5.05 to $5.35 a share. (4/27)
Northrop Earnings Climb 47% Despite Industry Slump (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Northrop Grumman Corp. posted a 47% jump in first-quarter net income as its aerospace division managed to post earnings and sales increases despite an industrywide slump. The aerospace giant also raised its 2009 earnings forecast by 15 cents to $4.65 to $4.90 a share. (4/22)
Constellation Program at "High Risk," NASA Reports (Source: Wall Street Journal)
NASA says it is $1.9 billion short of the funding it needs to achieve an initial launch of the Constellation program by September 2014. The space agency's most pessimistic report to date is seen as strengthening the hand of lawmakers who want to extend the life of the space shuttle beyond its scheduled 2010 retirement. (4/22)
Aerospace Industry Resilient Despite Economy (Source: AIA)
The aerospace industry showed modest growth in the midst of extremely challenging economic circumstances in 2008, AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey announced at the 44th Annual Year-End Review and Forecast. Blakey said industry sales are on pace to reach total sales of $204 billion, an increase of 2.1%, a record level for the fifth straight year. Click here for more information. (4/21)
Airline Employment Slides 6.6% (Source: AIA)
Employment at U.S. airlines was down 6.6% in February as carriers shed 27,500 jobs in the past year. According to the Department of Transportation, airlines employed 391,700 workers in February 2009, compared to 419,200 in February 2008. (4/22)
Aircraft Piling Up at Boeing Plants (Source: AIA)
The Seattle Times counts at least 10 new aircraft parked at various Boeing Co. locations, awaiting delivery to cash-strapped customers. Though a spokesman insists Boeing has no "white tails," or completed planes in search of customers, "What Boeing clearly does have," the paper reports, "is customers in distress and some airplanes sitting as expensive excess inventory far longer than the plane maker would like." (4/20)
Gates Beats Congress to Employment Argument (Source: AIA)
Lawmakers returning to Washington Monday after a spring recess will have their first real chance to stamp their priorities on the 2010 defense budget. But analysts say Pentagon chief Robert Gates has already anticipated much of the debate, framing his budget in terms of jobs and stealing much of the lawmakers' thunder. (4/20)
NextGen to Get Big Push on Capitol Hill (Source: AIA)
Narrower air lanes, reduced spacing between planes and reduced vectoring would help save the economy some $40 billion a year in fuel costs and lost productivity, according to advocates of the NextGen air traffic control system. Airlines and other industry supporters plan to make NextGen funding a key priority in congressional budget debates, though the mechanism for that funding remains contentious. "It's our top priority because it's a way of spending government money in a way that's going to deliver billions and billions of dollars in benefits to consumers and the nation's economy," says a spokesman for the Air Transport Association. (4/21)
As Lunar Orbiter Prepares to Launch, Budget Questions Remain (Source: MSNBC)
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, scheduled to launch June 2 on a mission to map landing spots for future astronauts, came in just 10% over budget. But the good news ends there. Based on NASA's track record, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the Constellation program will cost about 50% more than initial estimates, requiring an extra $3 billion annually to meet the goal of putting Americans back on the moon by 2020. (4/21)
White House Rejects Ex-NASA Chief's Funding Claims (Source: Houston Chronicle)
The unusually blunt war of words between the White House and the former NASA administrator continued Monday as the Obama administration defended itself against caustic criticism from former space agency chief Michael Griffin. The White House reaffirmed President Barack Obama's backing for costly manned space operations in the face of Griffin's accusation Friday that budget-cutting bureaucrats were secretly creating a fictional space program by draining the agency budget.
The president is very committed to human space exploration and believes that NASA has a critical role to play in pushing the bounds of human understanding and achievement, said an OMB official. The quick response to Griffin's sharp criticism underscores the political sensitivity of NASA-related issues as Obama struggles to choose a new agency administrator and develop a realistic spending blueprint to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. Manned spaceflight is an important issue to voters in Florida, which Obama narrowly carried in 2008, as well as Texas, where he lost. (4/21)
UCF Project Among NASA/NSBRI Research Initiatives Funded (Source: NASA)
NASA's Human Research Program and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) will fund a dozen proposals to help investigate questions about astronaut health and performance on future space exploration missions. The selected proposals, representing 11 institutions in eight states, will receive a total of almost $16 million during a three to four-year period.
Eduardo Salas of the University of Central Florida will lead an initiative called: Optimizing Crew Performance in Long Duration Space Exploration: Best Practices for Team Training and Cohesion Measurement. (4/20)
Ames Project Among NASA/NSBRI Research Initiatives Funded (Source: NASA)
NASA's Human Research Program and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) will fund a dozen proposals to help investigate questions about astronaut health and performance on future space exploration missions. The selected proposals, representing 11 institutions in eight states, will receive a total of almost $16 million during a three to four-year period.
Lee Stone, Ph.D., of NASA Ames Research Center, will manage a project called: Robust Human-System Interface Design for Spaceflight-Induced Environments. (4/20)
The Case for a Suborbital COTS Program (Source: Space Review)
As some suborbital companies struggle to raise the funding needed to develop their vehicles, NASA is taking an increasing interest in these vehicles' capabilities to do science. Jeff Foust suggests that this may open the door for a COTS-like program that helps both NASA and industry. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1356/1 to view the article. (4/20)
Ferrets of the High Frontier (Source: Space Review)
A lesser-known class of spy satellites developed during the Cold War were signals intelligence satellites known as "ferrets". Dwayne Day provides a detailed history of the development of ferrets based on some newly declassified documents. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1355/1 to view the article. (4/20)
Space War: Going Deep (Source: Space Review)
How can the military best protect its satellites from potential attack? Taylor Dinerman proposes that one way may be to put those spacecraft out of harm's way entirely. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1354/1 to view the article. (4/20)
Revisiting "Tourists in Space" (Source: Space Review)
How rigorous should the medical requirements be for potential space tourists? Dr. Petra Illig takes a critical look at the recommendations made in a recent book on the subject. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1353/1 to view the article. (4/20)
Has Anybody Seen Our Satellite? (Source: Space Review)
In the early years of the Space Age, not only were there problems determining if satellites reached orbit, there are also problems figuring out where they came back down. Dwayne Day recounts one such case that was the inspiration for a book and movie. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1352/1 to view the article. (4/20)
Hurricane-Killing, Space-Based Power Plant (Soure: WIRED)
How's this for crazy?: A company files a patent to destroy hurricanes as they form by beaming them with energy from a space-based solar plant. Maybe it is crazy, but that same company, Solaren, took a first step in that direction last week when it inked a deal with the northern California utility, PG&E, to provide 200 megawatts of power capacity transmitted from orbit in 2016.
Apparently, sending up billions of dollars worth of solar collectors and using microwaves to send the energy onto two square miles of receivers in the desert is a little ho-hum to Solaren's wild minds. "The present invention relates to space-based power systems and, more particularly, to altering weather elements, such as hurricanes or forming hurricanes, using energy generated by a space-based power system," Jim Rogers and Gary Spirnak write in their 2006 patent application.
By heating up the upper and middle levels of an infant hurricane, they say they could disrupt the flows of air that power the enormous storms. Air warmed by tropical waters flows up through a hurricane and is vented through the eye into the upper atmosphere. Theoretically, you could heat up the top of the storm and lower the pressure differential between layers, resulting in a weaker storm. (4/20)
China Launches "Yaogan VI" Remote-Sensing Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China on Wednesday launched a remote-sensing satellite, "Yaogan VI," from the Taiyuan spaceport in north Shanxi Province. The satellite was successfully launched into the space on a Long March 2C carrier rocket. It will be mainly used for land resources survey, environmental surveillance and protection, urban planning, crop yield estimates, disaster prevention and reduction, and space science experiments. (4/22)
Smallest Exoplanet Found in Search for Earth's Twin (Source: Reuters)
Scientists searching for a planet like Earth said on Tuesday they have found the smallest planet ever detected outside the solar system, less than twice the size of our own. The exoplanet, a planet that orbits a star beyond the solar system, is called Gliese 581e after the star it circles. Because of its relatively small size it is likely rocky, like Earth, as opposed to gas giants such as Jupiter or Saturn, the astronomers said. "It is the lightest planet detected outside the solar system so far," Dr. Gaspare Lo Curto said. (4/22)
Events Overtake NASA Acceleration Study (Source: Aerospace Daily)
Obama administration delays in setting out a clear space policy, with funding to go with it, appear to have rendered NASA plans to narrow the post-shuttle "gap" in U.S. human access to space out of date before they could be implemented. A Constellation Program Acceleration Study prepared last year and released April 20 finds the U.S. space agency $1.9 billion short of the funds it needs to meet an internal initial operational capability (IOC) target date of Sep. 2014. That milestone means sending astronauts to the International Space Station with an Ares I crew launch vehicle carrying an Orion crew exploration vehicle.
But the needed funds have not been forthcoming, and some of the activities the acceleration study suggested could increase confidence in meeting that date - including an extra flight-test - have been ruled out. Factors cited in the internal NASA study as contributing to the shortfall include undefinitized changes in the Orion contract; the shift from land to water landing and its effect on Orion reusability, and the need for additional testing in the J2-X upper stage engine development program. (4/22)
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