Orlando Sentinel Wins Award for Space Reporting (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The space team at the Orlando Sentinel won a statewide award for State & Federal Government/Political Reporting, with honors going to Robert Block and Mark Matthews. "Block and Matthews penetrated the insular world of NASA engineers, tight-lipped aerospace companies and Washington bureaucrats to paint an alarming portrait of America’s space program. While mindful of their series’ national and even international importance, they never lost sight of the fact that NASA’s woes threatened to leave 4,000 Floridians without jobs. Mixing dogged reporting and FOIA power, they outsmarted NASA spies and told an important story unmatched by other media outlets." (5/31)
NASA Postpones Atlantis Return To KSC (Source: CFL-13)
NASA has formally delayed Atlantis’ ferry flight departure from California until Monday morning at the earliest. Workers have battled weather-related delays getting Atlantis ready for the cross-country trip, and now officials have to find a safe path for the carrier aircraft to take. (5/31)
Satellite Radio Crashes to Earth (Source: Daily Beast)
Amid the General Motors bankruptcy, the American auto industry is now claiming another victim: satellite radio. The relentlessly bad news from the auto industry’s Big Three—including Monday’s anticipated General Motors bankruptcy—is creating an unintended casualty: Mel Karmazin, and his company, Sirius XM Radio, which has relied on new cars being sold equipped with satellite radio. The embattled mogul, who once enjoyed a worshipful following among Wall Street investors, watched Sirius’s stock price tank by more than 30 percent recently.
The selloff came after the company said that its number of subscribers fell by 400,000, from 19 million to 18.6 million, in the first three months of this year. Never before had the company lost subscribers from quarter to quarter, and investors reacted with panic. In a dubious ploy (albeit transparently dubious, and completely lawful), Sirius has been counting millions of “subscribers” who never pay a penny out of their own pockets for the service. These customers get it free for six months to 18 months in promotional trials that are paid for by automakers such as Chrysler, which install the satellite-radio hardware in new cars. Fewer cars sold, fewer trial subscribers. (5/31)
DIRECT Team Offers Gap Elimination (Source: SPACErePORT)
The team behind the DIRECT initiative, which proposes the development of a family of Shuttle-derived Jupiter rockets in lieu of NASA's Ares-1 and Ares-5, presented an update on their concept during the ISDC event in Orlando. The Jupiter concept uses much more of the existing Space Shuttle components (except for the winged Orbiters) than now proposed for NASA's Ares vehicles. The result, say DIRECT proponents, is a cheaper, more capable, and more timely availability for human and heavy-lift cargo transport to space. By extending the current Space Shuttle program to 2012 (by spreading out the current remaining Shuttle missions), the post-Shuttle spaceflight gap can be eliminated. The DIRECT plan calls for initial Jupiter launch operations in 2012. Click here for information. (5/31)
ORS Sat-1 Will Launch from Virginia Spaceport in 2010 (Source: Spaceports Blog)
The next orbital launch from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at Wallops Island, VA will be the first Operationally Responsive Space satellite mission, called ORS Sat 1, in another Minotaur 1 in 2010. ORS Sat 1 will carry an optical sensor modified from a camera used by the U-2 spy plane. (5/31)
Mikulski to Support Virginia Spaceport Pad Groundbreaking on Jun. 29 (Source: Spaceports Blog)
The Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority is set to commence work on a new launch pad at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport with a Jun. 29 groundbreaking featuring Maryland U.S. Senator Barbara Mikulski. The new launch pad will enable up to four to six launches a year from Wallops Island, beginning with the Orbital Science Corp.'s Taurus II rocket. Other improvements, in addition to the launch pad, being made to the spaceport in preparation for the planned demonstration launch of Taurus II in December 2010 include building a horizontal integration facility where the rocket will be built and tested.
A dock facility is in-the-works to enable the first rocket stage to the spaceport by barge from Newport News after it arrives there from the Ukraine, where it is being built. Some testing and assembly of the rocket will be done by a team from the Ukraine meaning 30 to 50 Ukrainian workers at a time will be at Wallops during the lead-up to launches. The Taurus II rocket will have the capability of not only launching re-supply missions to the International Space Station in 2011 but also boosting robotic missions to the moon; and, perhaps gain astronaut-rating following evidence of high reliability. The Orbital Sciences Corporation booster will be in direct competition with the SpaceX Falcon 9 set to be launched from Cape Canaveral. (5/29)
Conference Includes Space Tourism Focus (Source: Florida Today)
Suborbital commercial human spaceflight projects are moving forward, but these efforts are not the only ones tackling the intersection of space travel and commerce. A host of space entertainment companies have emerged to capitalize on the urge to experience space travel less expensively -- on Earth. 4Frontiers is planning an earth-based entertainment/research facility on the Space Coast. The concept is a familiar one to Walt Disney Co., whose theme parks feature the thrill ride Space Mountain, a space-themed roller coaster, and Mission Space, which mimics a trip to Mars in 5.5 minutes.
"I expect that we will be going to space soon," Luc Mayrand, senior show producer for Walt Disney Imagineering, said. "Staying in a hotel in space, that's going to happen eventually." While NASA's trips to space are about science, safety and exploration, Disney and other entrepreneurial companies can be expected to focus on fun when they begin space travel. "We want our guests to have an emotional experience," Mayrand said. "It's really about the joy of going to space. It only fits the context of entertainment if they have a great time." (5/31)
On Diversity, NASA Lags Behind (Source: Florida Today)
In a year of firsts, the nomination of an African-American to lead NASA hasn't grabbed national front-page headlines used for a black president moving into the White House, or for the selection of a Hispanic justice for the U.S. Supreme Court. Yet, if former astronaut Charles Bolden is confirmed as the next NASA administrator, he will take over an agency still struggling to match the racial diversity found in the nation's population, much less the federal workforce in general. Part of the reason is because minorities are underrepresented in the science- and math-related professions from which NASA draws, said one space policy expert. When it comes to racial parity, NASA falls short in all but one ethnic group, Asian-Americans. (5/31)
Satellite Broadband Pushed for European Stimulus Package (Source: Space News)
European Union governments on May 29 urged that satellite technology be made a part of Europe's economic stimulus package, saying satellites are particularly well-suited to providing broadband access in rural and remote areas. (5/31)
Sea Launch Expects Debt Refinancing to Close in June (Source: Space News)
Commercial launch service provider Sea Launch Co. has hired Citibank and Italy's Intesa Sanpaolo bank to lead a $245 million debt-refinancing effort starting May 27 that Sea Launch President Kjell Karlsen said he is confident will close before a June 22 deadline. (5/31)
Virgin Galactic Test Fires Motor for SpaceShipTwo in California (Source: Space News)
The nitrous-oxide-fueled rocket motor designed to boost Virgin Galactic's planned passenger-carrying SpaceShipTwo vehicle into suborbital space has completed the first phase of testing, the space tourism firm announced May 28. The testing was conducted in the California desert by Virgin Galactic's key hardware supplier, Scaled Composites, and its subcontractor, Sierra Nevada Corp. (5/31)
NOAA Opening Institute For Climate and Satellites (Source: Space News)
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is teaming with the University of Maryland and North Carolina State University to form the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Satellites, NOAA announced May 28. The new institute will use satellite observations to detect, monitor and forecast climate change. (5/31)
ITU Attempts to Rein In Potential "Chaos in the Geostationary Arc" (Source: Space News)
The global regulator of satellite orbital positions and broadcast frequencies is attempting to stiffen requirements to reduce the abuses of the current registration system and avoid what one official calls the threat of "chaos in the geostationary arc, where no one would be able to make a successful business." Valery Timofeev, director of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radiocommunication Bureau, said the Geneva-based organization must rely on its 191 member governments to enforce the rules. But he said ITU has tools at its disposal to discourage practices that are increasingly unacceptable as the geostationary arc becomes ever more crowded. (5/31)
SatMex Finances Improve, But New Satellite Remains in Limbo (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Satmex of Mexico reported sharply higher revenue and operating income, and lower losses for the three months ending March 31 compared to a year earlier but gave no indication it has been able to work around its debt obligations to purchase a badly needed satellite. Satmex paid Space Systems/Loral nearly $4 million in 2008 to begin work on a Satmex 7 satellite to replace the Solidaridad 2 spacecraft at 114.9 degrees west. Launched in October 1994, Solidaridad 2 is already in inclined orbit, meaning it no longer uses its remaining fuel to keep itself stable on its north-south axis. It is expected to be retired either this year or in 2010. (5/31)
Exhibit Honors Maryland's Role in Space (Source: WJZ TV)
This weekend, NASA is hosting a special exhibit at the Convention Center called, "Maryland's Place in Space." With more than 100 exhibits, NASA's goal is to make people more aware of the Maryland's role in space exploration and advancement. Astronaut and Maryland native Ricky Arnold was a crew member on the space shuttle Discovery. "I think NASA is doing a great job of just exposing what's going on, what Maryland is doing to help space exploration," said Jocelyn Davey. (5/30)
May 30 News Items
British Space Scientist Killed in Balloon Plunge (Source: The Sun)
A top British space scientist was killed in a hot air balloon crash. Nine other Britons were injured when the balloon suddenly plunged 150ft to earth moments after take-off. Dr. Kevin Beurle, an astro-physicist who had been working on a key spacecraft project, was found dead as rescuers raced to the scene. Officials said it was unclear if Dr Buerle, 53, was killed by the impact or jumped from the balloon’s basket trying to save himself. Last night pals of the thrill-seeking scientist, who loved adventurous pursuits such as diving and skiing, told of their shock at the tragedy in Turkey. (5/30)
Posey Staffer Gives Congressional Tips at ISDC (Source: SPACErePORT)
Pam Gillespie from Congressman Bill Posey's office participated on an ISDC-09 panel devoted to congressional outreach. She provided a primer on the legislative process in Washington for an audience of space activists. The ISDC event was held in Congressman Posey's district. (5/30)
Brevard Workforce Development Board Gets $1.85M to Continue Space Coast Effort (Source: SPACErePORT)
The Brevard Workforce Development Board last week secured $1.85 million from Florida to continue their efforts to support workforce training/retraining leading up to the retirement of the Space Shuttle by NASA. (5/29)
Space Shuttle Atlantis May Begin Trek Home on Sunday (Source: Space.com)
The space shuttle Atlantis may begin a cross-country trek atop a tricked out jumbo jet as early as Sunday to fly from a California landing site to its Florida home, weather permitting, NASA officials said. Atlantis will ride piggyback atop a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet during the planned ferry flight, a $1.8 million trip aimed at returning the shuttle home from California's Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. The shuttle landed on backup desert runway there last Sunday. (5/30)
Brazil Launches Rocket to Test Spaceport (Source: Xinhua)
The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) on Friday launched a rocket to test the facilities at the Alcantara spaceport. The launching, which took place on Friday afternoon, was "a complete success", AEB said in a statement. The mission was code-named Maracati 1 under a partnership between Brazil and Germany. It was the first launch from the Alcantara base since 2007. The rocket, named Orion 1, was developed by Germany. It was equipped with tracking devices and reached 93 kilometers high before falling into the sea about 80 kilometers off the Brazilian coast.
The Alcantara spaceport, built in 1983 in the northeastern Maranhao state, is the closest launching base to the equator, which gives the base a significant advantage in launching geosynchronous satellites. In 2003, a rocket explosion in the base killed 21 people and completely destroyed Alcantara's launch pad. The AEB's next launch of a rocket is scheduled in 2010. (5/30)
Chiao Another Likely Member of Augustine Commission (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Add another name to the Augustine commission: ex-NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao. Sources said the former space station crew member likely would be named to the blue ribbon panel headed by retired Lockheed Martin CEO Norm Augustine that will help chart the future of NASA’s human spaceflight program. Reached by phone, Chiao said that he had been contacted by administration officials assembling the committee and that they expressed interested. “I don’t think I’ve done anything since I left NASA to [disqualify] me,” he joked. (5/29)
NASA Awards Liquid Nitrogen and Liquid Oxygen Contracts (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected three companies to provide liquid nitrogen, or LN2, and liquid oxygen, or LOX, to six agency facilities. Linde LLC will supply approximately 256,500 tons of LN2 and 173,000 tons of LOX to Goddard Space Flight Center, Stennis Space Center, and Michoud Assembly Facility for up to $28.8 million. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will provide 197,250 tons of LN2 and 26,000 tons of LOX to Glenn Research Center and Marshall Space Flight Center for up to $14.2 million. Air Liquide will provide 90,000 tons of LN2 and 1,300 tons of LOX to Johnson Space Center for up to $6.1 million. (5/29)
Shuttle Atlantis Short-Circuit Probe Continues (Source: Florida Today)
NASA is continuing an analysis of a short-circuit that knocked out an electronics box during the May 11 launch of shuttle Atlantis, but the problem isn't expected to delay in the upcoming launch of Endeavour. (5/29)
SpaceX Delays Launch to October (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX's planned summer demonstration launch of the first Falcon 9 rocket has been delayed to the fall. A combination of technical work and lack of documentation for the Air Force, which manages safety on the Eastern Range, created the delay. The launch has been scheduled for July and now will occur no sooner than October. "It's basically dealing with the complexities associated with lifting a new rocket off from a new launch site," SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said. Before the Falcon 9's maiden flight, SpaceX must test the engines further, integrate them on the rocket and return the components to Cape Canaveral. (5/30)
ISDC A Success for Florida (Source: SPACErePORT)
The National Space Society's Florida chapters deserve thanks for successfully competing to bring the International Space Development Conference to Orlando this year. They brought a lot of space industry people and attention to Florida at a pivotal time for state and federal space policy development. Kudos to ISDC-2009 Chairman Tim Bailey for pulling together a successful event. (5/30)
Buzz Aldrin Presents His Vision at ISDC in Orlando (Source: SPACErePORT)
Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, in a speech at the ISDC event in Orlando, said the Moon is a dead-end for NASA's exploration efforts. He advocated a return to the moon, but not as our nation's exploration focus. Instead, he proposes an International Lunar Development Authority to facilitate the commercial utilization and development of lunar resources. He advocates a focus on manned Mars, asteroid and comet missions. "We won't honor Apollo 11 by repeating its [lunar] mission," he said.
Aldrin also advocated international partnerships with emerging space powers like China, India and Brazil. He suggested adding them as partners in the International Space Station program, saying this would demonstrate U.S. strength, not weakness. He said the U.S. should send astronauts up aboard Chinese and Indian vehicles, like we do with Russia. (5/30)
A top British space scientist was killed in a hot air balloon crash. Nine other Britons were injured when the balloon suddenly plunged 150ft to earth moments after take-off. Dr. Kevin Beurle, an astro-physicist who had been working on a key spacecraft project, was found dead as rescuers raced to the scene. Officials said it was unclear if Dr Buerle, 53, was killed by the impact or jumped from the balloon’s basket trying to save himself. Last night pals of the thrill-seeking scientist, who loved adventurous pursuits such as diving and skiing, told of their shock at the tragedy in Turkey. (5/30)
Posey Staffer Gives Congressional Tips at ISDC (Source: SPACErePORT)
Pam Gillespie from Congressman Bill Posey's office participated on an ISDC-09 panel devoted to congressional outreach. She provided a primer on the legislative process in Washington for an audience of space activists. The ISDC event was held in Congressman Posey's district. (5/30)
Brevard Workforce Development Board Gets $1.85M to Continue Space Coast Effort (Source: SPACErePORT)
The Brevard Workforce Development Board last week secured $1.85 million from Florida to continue their efforts to support workforce training/retraining leading up to the retirement of the Space Shuttle by NASA. (5/29)
Space Shuttle Atlantis May Begin Trek Home on Sunday (Source: Space.com)
The space shuttle Atlantis may begin a cross-country trek atop a tricked out jumbo jet as early as Sunday to fly from a California landing site to its Florida home, weather permitting, NASA officials said. Atlantis will ride piggyback atop a modified Boeing 747 jumbo jet during the planned ferry flight, a $1.8 million trip aimed at returning the shuttle home from California's Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California. The shuttle landed on backup desert runway there last Sunday. (5/30)
Brazil Launches Rocket to Test Spaceport (Source: Xinhua)
The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) on Friday launched a rocket to test the facilities at the Alcantara spaceport. The launching, which took place on Friday afternoon, was "a complete success", AEB said in a statement. The mission was code-named Maracati 1 under a partnership between Brazil and Germany. It was the first launch from the Alcantara base since 2007. The rocket, named Orion 1, was developed by Germany. It was equipped with tracking devices and reached 93 kilometers high before falling into the sea about 80 kilometers off the Brazilian coast.
The Alcantara spaceport, built in 1983 in the northeastern Maranhao state, is the closest launching base to the equator, which gives the base a significant advantage in launching geosynchronous satellites. In 2003, a rocket explosion in the base killed 21 people and completely destroyed Alcantara's launch pad. The AEB's next launch of a rocket is scheduled in 2010. (5/30)
Chiao Another Likely Member of Augustine Commission (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Add another name to the Augustine commission: ex-NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao. Sources said the former space station crew member likely would be named to the blue ribbon panel headed by retired Lockheed Martin CEO Norm Augustine that will help chart the future of NASA’s human spaceflight program. Reached by phone, Chiao said that he had been contacted by administration officials assembling the committee and that they expressed interested. “I don’t think I’ve done anything since I left NASA to [disqualify] me,” he joked. (5/29)
NASA Awards Liquid Nitrogen and Liquid Oxygen Contracts (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected three companies to provide liquid nitrogen, or LN2, and liquid oxygen, or LOX, to six agency facilities. Linde LLC will supply approximately 256,500 tons of LN2 and 173,000 tons of LOX to Goddard Space Flight Center, Stennis Space Center, and Michoud Assembly Facility for up to $28.8 million. Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. will provide 197,250 tons of LN2 and 26,000 tons of LOX to Glenn Research Center and Marshall Space Flight Center for up to $14.2 million. Air Liquide will provide 90,000 tons of LN2 and 1,300 tons of LOX to Johnson Space Center for up to $6.1 million. (5/29)
Shuttle Atlantis Short-Circuit Probe Continues (Source: Florida Today)
NASA is continuing an analysis of a short-circuit that knocked out an electronics box during the May 11 launch of shuttle Atlantis, but the problem isn't expected to delay in the upcoming launch of Endeavour. (5/29)
SpaceX Delays Launch to October (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX's planned summer demonstration launch of the first Falcon 9 rocket has been delayed to the fall. A combination of technical work and lack of documentation for the Air Force, which manages safety on the Eastern Range, created the delay. The launch has been scheduled for July and now will occur no sooner than October. "It's basically dealing with the complexities associated with lifting a new rocket off from a new launch site," SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said. Before the Falcon 9's maiden flight, SpaceX must test the engines further, integrate them on the rocket and return the components to Cape Canaveral. (5/30)
ISDC A Success for Florida (Source: SPACErePORT)
The National Space Society's Florida chapters deserve thanks for successfully competing to bring the International Space Development Conference to Orlando this year. They brought a lot of space industry people and attention to Florida at a pivotal time for state and federal space policy development. Kudos to ISDC-2009 Chairman Tim Bailey for pulling together a successful event. (5/30)
Buzz Aldrin Presents His Vision at ISDC in Orlando (Source: SPACErePORT)
Moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, in a speech at the ISDC event in Orlando, said the Moon is a dead-end for NASA's exploration efforts. He advocated a return to the moon, but not as our nation's exploration focus. Instead, he proposes an International Lunar Development Authority to facilitate the commercial utilization and development of lunar resources. He advocates a focus on manned Mars, asteroid and comet missions. "We won't honor Apollo 11 by repeating its [lunar] mission," he said.
Aldrin also advocated international partnerships with emerging space powers like China, India and Brazil. He suggested adding them as partners in the International Space Station program, saying this would demonstrate U.S. strength, not weakness. He said the U.S. should send astronauts up aboard Chinese and Indian vehicles, like we do with Russia. (5/30)
May 29 News Items
First Meeting Planned for Augustine Panel on Jun. 17 (Source: Space Politics)
The "Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee" will meet on Jun. 17 in Washington DC at the Carnegie Institution at 9:00 a.m. The agenda topics for the meeting include: Previous Studies on U.S. Human Space Flight; Current U.S. Space Policy; International Cooperation; Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle; Commercial Human Space Flight Capabilities; and Exploration Technology Planning. Click here for a copy of the meeting notice. (5/29)
Former Astronaught Picked to Head NASA (Source: What's New)
It should be the easiest confirmation in history; President Obama has chosen Charles Bolden, a retired Marine general and former space shuttle pilot, to be NASA administrator. The agency is overdue for a major change. The Cold War triumph of Apollo was followed by the public relations scam of the space shuttle. Sold as a reusable spacecraft that would reduce the cost of transporting men and materials into space, it turned out to be the most expensive and dangerous delivery mechanism ever devised. It split NASA into those who explore the universe with telescopes and probes, and those who endlessly circle Earth just above the cloud tops.
The shuttle at last is history, but it's not clear what comes next. Bolden takes over as a new Augustine panel examines the appropriate role of human spaceflight, if any. Also named was Lori Garver, who served on the NASA transition team, to be Bolden’s deputy. She has no technical background, but she’s smart and knows NASA. Unfortunately, she also has ties to the aerospace industry. (5/29)
New Mexico Spaceport Causes Housing Boom (Source: KRQE)
Spaceport America's construction will cause the town of Elephant Butte to double in size. (5/29)
Is Bolden Right for NASA? (Source: Christian Science Monitor)
A New York Times editorial voiced some concern about Charles Bolden's lack of "deep technical expertise that enabled the previous administrator...to second-guess NASA's own experts and those from industry." How critical are the technical skills? Chats with a couple of historians who have long tracked NASA's ups and downs suggest that while a solid technical background can be helpful, it’s not critical. Arguably, one of the most successful administrators in the agency’s history got his undergraduate degree in education, then became a lawyer. His name: James Webb. The project he shepherded through its formative stages: The Apollo program. (5/28)
Satellites Have Hurricane-Hardened Hideout at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
Multimillion-dollar satellites now can ride out a hurricane in the safety of a hardened building at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Air Force's 45th Space Wing unveiled a $4.8 million steel-reinforced building that will protect small- and medium-size satellites in a hurricane packing sustained winds of up to 155 mph, or a strong Category 4. The building, with 1-foot-thick walls, is designed to withstand wind gusts of up to 200 mph and a storm surge of 24 feet. (5/29)
Is Sen. Bill Nelson Flip-Flopping on NASA's COTS-D Program? (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Just last week Florida’s senior senator and chief space booster Bill Nelson was on the warpath with NASA’s acting administrator Chris Scolese over COTS-D – the agency’s program to invest in commercial space companies to carry crew to the space station. During a Senate hearing, Nelson criticized Scolese for NASA's failure to invest in COTS-D despite recent Congressional direction to do so. Observers assumed Nelson had become a champion of COTS-D as a way to generate Space Coast jobs and shrink the post-Shuttle human spaceflight gap.
In comments to space boosters over the last two days, Nelson has made it clear that he is not necessarily supporting COTS-D. "I want to make sure you understand I wasn’t specifically pushing COTS-D. What I was pushing was Launch complex 36...COTS D first off is a human-rated program and that has not been sanctioned by NASA yet." What is interesting is that LC-36 is the highly controversial effort by Space Florida to invest $60 million – including $14.5 of state taxpayer money – into rebuilding an old Air Force launch pad with no clear customer committed to using it.
Even more interesting is the fact that LC-36's biggest critic is SpaceX, the only company that has a negotiated deal with NASA for COTS-D funding. CEO Elon Musk argues that LC-36 would support potential rivals with large sums of cash while SpaceX is the only new commercial rocket company operating in Florida. Making it even more interesting still is that after the Sentinel ran a story a few months ago reporting that many residents on the Space Coast felt let down by Nelson’s inability to defend KSC from looming job cuts after NASA mothballs the shuttle, the only person who wrote a letter to the Sentinel defending Nelson’s leadership on space was Musk. (5/29)
More on Nelson and COTS-D (Source: Space Politics)
Based on Senator Nelson’s recent statements to NASA about COTS-D, it's hard to conclude that he was somehow referring to LC-36. One of the major criticisms of efforts to develop LC-36 into a new commercial launch facility, the Orlando Sentinel noted, is the lack of customers for it, something that COTS-D would not address: SpaceX has its own site at Cape Canaveral; ULA has existing facilities for Atlas 5 and Delta 4 that would likely be used for any potential ISS crew transportation efforts; and Orbital Sciences, if it decided to pursue ISS crew transportation in the future (it’s not now), is investing in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia. The connection between COTS-D and LC-36 appears all but non-existent. (5/29)
The "Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee" will meet on Jun. 17 in Washington DC at the Carnegie Institution at 9:00 a.m. The agenda topics for the meeting include: Previous Studies on U.S. Human Space Flight; Current U.S. Space Policy; International Cooperation; Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle; Commercial Human Space Flight Capabilities; and Exploration Technology Planning. Click here for a copy of the meeting notice. (5/29)
Former Astronaught Picked to Head NASA (Source: What's New)
It should be the easiest confirmation in history; President Obama has chosen Charles Bolden, a retired Marine general and former space shuttle pilot, to be NASA administrator. The agency is overdue for a major change. The Cold War triumph of Apollo was followed by the public relations scam of the space shuttle. Sold as a reusable spacecraft that would reduce the cost of transporting men and materials into space, it turned out to be the most expensive and dangerous delivery mechanism ever devised. It split NASA into those who explore the universe with telescopes and probes, and those who endlessly circle Earth just above the cloud tops.
The shuttle at last is history, but it's not clear what comes next. Bolden takes over as a new Augustine panel examines the appropriate role of human spaceflight, if any. Also named was Lori Garver, who served on the NASA transition team, to be Bolden’s deputy. She has no technical background, but she’s smart and knows NASA. Unfortunately, she also has ties to the aerospace industry. (5/29)
New Mexico Spaceport Causes Housing Boom (Source: KRQE)
Spaceport America's construction will cause the town of Elephant Butte to double in size. (5/29)
Is Bolden Right for NASA? (Source: Christian Science Monitor)
A New York Times editorial voiced some concern about Charles Bolden's lack of "deep technical expertise that enabled the previous administrator...to second-guess NASA's own experts and those from industry." How critical are the technical skills? Chats with a couple of historians who have long tracked NASA's ups and downs suggest that while a solid technical background can be helpful, it’s not critical. Arguably, one of the most successful administrators in the agency’s history got his undergraduate degree in education, then became a lawyer. His name: James Webb. The project he shepherded through its formative stages: The Apollo program. (5/28)
Satellites Have Hurricane-Hardened Hideout at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
Multimillion-dollar satellites now can ride out a hurricane in the safety of a hardened building at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Air Force's 45th Space Wing unveiled a $4.8 million steel-reinforced building that will protect small- and medium-size satellites in a hurricane packing sustained winds of up to 155 mph, or a strong Category 4. The building, with 1-foot-thick walls, is designed to withstand wind gusts of up to 200 mph and a storm surge of 24 feet. (5/29)
Is Sen. Bill Nelson Flip-Flopping on NASA's COTS-D Program? (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Just last week Florida’s senior senator and chief space booster Bill Nelson was on the warpath with NASA’s acting administrator Chris Scolese over COTS-D – the agency’s program to invest in commercial space companies to carry crew to the space station. During a Senate hearing, Nelson criticized Scolese for NASA's failure to invest in COTS-D despite recent Congressional direction to do so. Observers assumed Nelson had become a champion of COTS-D as a way to generate Space Coast jobs and shrink the post-Shuttle human spaceflight gap.
In comments to space boosters over the last two days, Nelson has made it clear that he is not necessarily supporting COTS-D. "I want to make sure you understand I wasn’t specifically pushing COTS-D. What I was pushing was Launch complex 36...COTS D first off is a human-rated program and that has not been sanctioned by NASA yet." What is interesting is that LC-36 is the highly controversial effort by Space Florida to invest $60 million – including $14.5 of state taxpayer money – into rebuilding an old Air Force launch pad with no clear customer committed to using it.
Even more interesting is the fact that LC-36's biggest critic is SpaceX, the only company that has a negotiated deal with NASA for COTS-D funding. CEO Elon Musk argues that LC-36 would support potential rivals with large sums of cash while SpaceX is the only new commercial rocket company operating in Florida. Making it even more interesting still is that after the Sentinel ran a story a few months ago reporting that many residents on the Space Coast felt let down by Nelson’s inability to defend KSC from looming job cuts after NASA mothballs the shuttle, the only person who wrote a letter to the Sentinel defending Nelson’s leadership on space was Musk. (5/29)
More on Nelson and COTS-D (Source: Space Politics)
Based on Senator Nelson’s recent statements to NASA about COTS-D, it's hard to conclude that he was somehow referring to LC-36. One of the major criticisms of efforts to develop LC-36 into a new commercial launch facility, the Orlando Sentinel noted, is the lack of customers for it, something that COTS-D would not address: SpaceX has its own site at Cape Canaveral; ULA has existing facilities for Atlas 5 and Delta 4 that would likely be used for any potential ISS crew transportation efforts; and Orbital Sciences, if it decided to pursue ISS crew transportation in the future (it’s not now), is investing in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport in Virginia. The connection between COTS-D and LC-36 appears all but non-existent. (5/29)
May 28 News Items
Harris Wins $736M Data Center Contract for Weather Satellites (Source: AIA)
Harris Corp. could earn as much as $736 million under a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration contract to build data processing systems for advanced weather satellites. The Lockheed Martin-built satellites, scheduled to launch beginning in 2015, will use advanced sensor technology to provide meteorologists with up to 20 times more weather data.
"This award will generate nearly 300 jobs for the aerospace industry and will ensure NOAA remains on the cutting edge of satellite technology." The contract, which has an estimated value of $736 million, requires Harris to design, develop, test and implement the GOES-R ground system. The award was the result of a full and open competitive procurement process following federal acquisition regulations. Editor's Note: This is good news for Space Coast workers facing Shuttle layoffs. (5/28)
China to Launch Mars Probe Atop Russian Rocket (Source: Reuters)
China's first Mars probe is expected to be launched in the second half of this year on top of a Russian rocket, the latest milestone in the nation's ambitious space program. Yinghuo-1, or Firefly Light-1, weighs 115 kgs (253 lb) and passed an important test, said Zhang Weiqiang, deputy secretary of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. The probe has an expected life of two years and would go into orbit around Mars in 2010 after a 10-month, 380-million-km journey, Zhang said. The probe won't land on Mars, but would only orbit and monitor the planet, he said. (5/28)
Space Coast County Tops State in Math/Science Education (Sources: SPACErePORT, Florida Today)
Among Florida's 67 counties, Brevard County has consistently been among the top two for K-12 math and science test scores. This year's FCAT test scores have been announced and Brevard once again is at or near the top at most grade levels. The county's high performance could have much to do with the prevalence of space and aerospace industries, including the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (The state's other top-performing county is Okaloosa, which is home to the huge Eglin Air Force Base and related businesses.) Click here to for test score information for various grade levels. (5/28)
SpaceX Could Reuse Dragons Built for One-Time NASA Use (Source: Space Politics)
Under NASA's program for commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station, SpaceX is developing its Dragon capsule to ride atop its Falcon-9 rockets from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, speaking at the ISDC-2009 event in Orlando, said NASA wants to use a new Dragon capsule for each ISS resupply mission. Since SpaceX is developing the Dragon capsules to be reusable, the company plans to reuse the NASA capsules for commercial DragonLab missions. (5/28)
Space Florida Head Confirmed (Source: Florida Today)
Interim Space Florida President Frank DiBello was confirmed Tuesday by the agency's executive board. The executive board also awarded a severance package worth $60,000 to outgoing president Steve Kohler, who resigned under pressure from the governor. As interim president of the state's agency to promote the space industry, DiBello will receive $54,000 for his 90-day term. The longtime space industry consultant came in second to Kohler three years ago when the job was created. He has asked to be considered for the job permanently.
Beginning his duties Tuesday, DiBello met with Brevard's Workforce Development Board, which will play an important role in retraining thousands of space industry workers as the shuttle program ends in 2010. The executive committee has approved new job duties for the agency president that require a development, growth and expansion plan for Cape Canaveral and a workforce retention plan. The Space Florida Board of Directors will meet June 24 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center to vote on endorsing the executive committee's proposals. (5/27)
Spaceflight Spiritual Issues Research Presented at ISDC (Source: SPACErePORT)
Former NASA engineer Mike O'Neal presented his research on spiritual support for space exploration at the ISDC-2009. This was the first presentation of his NASA-supported research of several years ago. O'Neal conducted extensive interviews with astronauts and officials from various government agencies who send personnel into isolated and dangerous situations, to identify their practices and mechanisms to support the spiritual needs of these personnel. O'Neal presented at ISDC during a Human Factors panel chaired by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University researcher Jason Kring. (5/28)
Virgin Galactic Updates ISDC on Future Plans (Source: SPACErePORT)
Virgin Galactic chief Will Whitehorn during his presentation at the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in Orlando, said Virgin plans to support the June 19 groundbreaking for New Mexico's "Spaceport America" with a flyover by the White Knight 2 aircraft. Virgin also plans the first unpowered test flight of their SpaceShip-2 spacecraft before the end of 2009. When asked about conducting missions in other U.S. locations, Whitehorn said Florida's summertime weather is unfavorable for SpaceShip-2 re-entry/landing operations, though he offered that Florida's winter-months weather would be more favorable with the absence of thunderstorms. (5/28)
Space Station Gets Busier, But For How Long? (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
More than eight years after an inaugural crew of three opened the space station for business, the orbiting outpost is finally upgrading to a six-member crew, an event that NASA says will enable it to finally begin serious scientific research. Up to now, station crews have spent about three hours a week on science; the rest of their time was devoted to ensuring the station stayed aloft. The station — roughly the size of a football field — until recently lacked both working laboratory space and accommodations for more than three members.
Now, with six full-time members, the crew can take on research projects, including nearly 100 new experiments that range from the study of the human heart in spaceflight to how bacteria respond to solar radiation and the vacuum of space. But even as the station celebrates the milestone, talk has begun on when its life should end. NASA's budget plans call for the station to shut down in 2016, although there has been a recent push in Congress and abroad to extend its life until 2020.
"It would be a huge waste to cut the cord on this $100 billion investment after 2016, so soon after it becomes fully operational," said Edward Ellegood, a space-policy analyst at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. "Now they can perform more of the science functions that the station was intended to accommodate." Now, President Barack Obama has asked that an independent, 10-person team assess the future of American space exploration, including how to replace the shuttle and whether to keep the station flying at a cost of about $2.5 billion annually over the next five years. (5/27)
Early Info on Augustine Panel Members (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
It's been nearly three weeks since the Obama White House announced it would name a 10-member commission to examine NASA's human spaceflight programs and goals, with a particular eye on its troubled Constellation rocket program. Since then, retired Lockheed Martin CEO Norm Augustine has been named the chair, but there's been no announcement of who the members will be. Here are the names of eight members we've been able to nail down:
Christopher Chyba (Princeton University), Sally Ride (physicist and a former NASA astronaut), Lester Lyles (Retired Air Force General), Edward Crawley (MIT), Bohdan "Bo" Bejmuk (Boeing), Jeff Greason (XCOR Aerospace and the Personal Spaceflight Federation), Wanda Austin (Aerospace Corp.). (5/28)
Louisiana Senator Seeks Earmark for Michoud Conversion (Source: Times-Picayune)
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., has requested $3.8 billion in earmarks in the 2010 federal budget, including $87.5 million to make sure that Boeing's Michaud facility is equipped to "move seamlessly" from building Space Shuttle tanks to production of NASA's Ares rockets. (5/27)
Cautions by NYT on NASA Nominees (Source: Space Politics)
In an exception to accolades offered at many media outlets on President Obama's nomination for NASA leadership, the New York Times offers some words of concern. The paper is not opposed to Bolden and Garver necessarily, but unlike others is also not immediately won over by them. “Unfortunately, General Bolden lacks deep expertise in space science and engineering and his past ties with the aerospace industry will raise conflict of interest problems,” the editorial states. Garver, it adds, “has no technical background or major managerial experience but knows the agency and its issues.” (5/28)
NASA Extends Space Station Transport Contract with Russia (Source: NASA)
NASA has signed a $306 million modification to the current International Space Station contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency for crew transportation and related services in 2012 and 2013. The firm-fixed price modification covers comprehensive Soyuz support, including all necessary training and preparation for launch, crew rescue, and landing of a long-duration mission for six individual station crew members. (5/28)
Space Station: Boon or Boondoggle? (Source: MSNBC)
Now fully staffed, it's time for the ISS to become scientifically productive. NASA has been promising a rich scientific harvest from a permanent, well-equipped laboratory in Earth orbit where the absence of gravity would reveal secrets not possible anywhere else. Until now, most of the crew's time in orbit was spent just maintaining the station. "We do everything in a gradual ramp-up as we learn to operate with a full crew aboard," said Mark Uhran, NASA's assistant associate administrator for ISS. But even within the agency, the program has skeptics.
"I hope the space station becomes extraordinarily, scientifically productive, but it is not today," said David Leckrone, the senior scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope, one of the agency's most successful and well-regarded programs. Uhran said it is too early in the station program to gauge its success on scientific output, which so far has been meager. The agency's Web site lists 172 station-related research papers — many of which were not published in peer-reviewed journals. References to Hubble-related published science results, in contrast, number more than 3,500. "Judging the station at this time on its scientific output is a red herring," said John Logdon, a space policy analyst with George Washington University. "It's just getting started." (5/28)
Harris Corp. could earn as much as $736 million under a National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration contract to build data processing systems for advanced weather satellites. The Lockheed Martin-built satellites, scheduled to launch beginning in 2015, will use advanced sensor technology to provide meteorologists with up to 20 times more weather data.
"This award will generate nearly 300 jobs for the aerospace industry and will ensure NOAA remains on the cutting edge of satellite technology." The contract, which has an estimated value of $736 million, requires Harris to design, develop, test and implement the GOES-R ground system. The award was the result of a full and open competitive procurement process following federal acquisition regulations. Editor's Note: This is good news for Space Coast workers facing Shuttle layoffs. (5/28)
China to Launch Mars Probe Atop Russian Rocket (Source: Reuters)
China's first Mars probe is expected to be launched in the second half of this year on top of a Russian rocket, the latest milestone in the nation's ambitious space program. Yinghuo-1, or Firefly Light-1, weighs 115 kgs (253 lb) and passed an important test, said Zhang Weiqiang, deputy secretary of the Shanghai Academy of Spaceflight Technology. The probe has an expected life of two years and would go into orbit around Mars in 2010 after a 10-month, 380-million-km journey, Zhang said. The probe won't land on Mars, but would only orbit and monitor the planet, he said. (5/28)
Space Coast County Tops State in Math/Science Education (Sources: SPACErePORT, Florida Today)
Among Florida's 67 counties, Brevard County has consistently been among the top two for K-12 math and science test scores. This year's FCAT test scores have been announced and Brevard once again is at or near the top at most grade levels. The county's high performance could have much to do with the prevalence of space and aerospace industries, including the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (The state's other top-performing county is Okaloosa, which is home to the huge Eglin Air Force Base and related businesses.) Click here to for test score information for various grade levels. (5/28)
SpaceX Could Reuse Dragons Built for One-Time NASA Use (Source: Space Politics)
Under NASA's program for commercial resupply missions to the International Space Station, SpaceX is developing its Dragon capsule to ride atop its Falcon-9 rockets from Launch Complex 40 at the Cape. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell, speaking at the ISDC-2009 event in Orlando, said NASA wants to use a new Dragon capsule for each ISS resupply mission. Since SpaceX is developing the Dragon capsules to be reusable, the company plans to reuse the NASA capsules for commercial DragonLab missions. (5/28)
Space Florida Head Confirmed (Source: Florida Today)
Interim Space Florida President Frank DiBello was confirmed Tuesday by the agency's executive board. The executive board also awarded a severance package worth $60,000 to outgoing president Steve Kohler, who resigned under pressure from the governor. As interim president of the state's agency to promote the space industry, DiBello will receive $54,000 for his 90-day term. The longtime space industry consultant came in second to Kohler three years ago when the job was created. He has asked to be considered for the job permanently.
Beginning his duties Tuesday, DiBello met with Brevard's Workforce Development Board, which will play an important role in retraining thousands of space industry workers as the shuttle program ends in 2010. The executive committee has approved new job duties for the agency president that require a development, growth and expansion plan for Cape Canaveral and a workforce retention plan. The Space Florida Board of Directors will meet June 24 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center to vote on endorsing the executive committee's proposals. (5/27)
Spaceflight Spiritual Issues Research Presented at ISDC (Source: SPACErePORT)
Former NASA engineer Mike O'Neal presented his research on spiritual support for space exploration at the ISDC-2009. This was the first presentation of his NASA-supported research of several years ago. O'Neal conducted extensive interviews with astronauts and officials from various government agencies who send personnel into isolated and dangerous situations, to identify their practices and mechanisms to support the spiritual needs of these personnel. O'Neal presented at ISDC during a Human Factors panel chaired by Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University researcher Jason Kring. (5/28)
Virgin Galactic Updates ISDC on Future Plans (Source: SPACErePORT)
Virgin Galactic chief Will Whitehorn during his presentation at the International Space Development Conference (ISDC) in Orlando, said Virgin plans to support the June 19 groundbreaking for New Mexico's "Spaceport America" with a flyover by the White Knight 2 aircraft. Virgin also plans the first unpowered test flight of their SpaceShip-2 spacecraft before the end of 2009. When asked about conducting missions in other U.S. locations, Whitehorn said Florida's summertime weather is unfavorable for SpaceShip-2 re-entry/landing operations, though he offered that Florida's winter-months weather would be more favorable with the absence of thunderstorms. (5/28)
Space Station Gets Busier, But For How Long? (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
More than eight years after an inaugural crew of three opened the space station for business, the orbiting outpost is finally upgrading to a six-member crew, an event that NASA says will enable it to finally begin serious scientific research. Up to now, station crews have spent about three hours a week on science; the rest of their time was devoted to ensuring the station stayed aloft. The station — roughly the size of a football field — until recently lacked both working laboratory space and accommodations for more than three members.
Now, with six full-time members, the crew can take on research projects, including nearly 100 new experiments that range from the study of the human heart in spaceflight to how bacteria respond to solar radiation and the vacuum of space. But even as the station celebrates the milestone, talk has begun on when its life should end. NASA's budget plans call for the station to shut down in 2016, although there has been a recent push in Congress and abroad to extend its life until 2020.
"It would be a huge waste to cut the cord on this $100 billion investment after 2016, so soon after it becomes fully operational," said Edward Ellegood, a space-policy analyst at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. "Now they can perform more of the science functions that the station was intended to accommodate." Now, President Barack Obama has asked that an independent, 10-person team assess the future of American space exploration, including how to replace the shuttle and whether to keep the station flying at a cost of about $2.5 billion annually over the next five years. (5/27)
Early Info on Augustine Panel Members (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
It's been nearly three weeks since the Obama White House announced it would name a 10-member commission to examine NASA's human spaceflight programs and goals, with a particular eye on its troubled Constellation rocket program. Since then, retired Lockheed Martin CEO Norm Augustine has been named the chair, but there's been no announcement of who the members will be. Here are the names of eight members we've been able to nail down:
Christopher Chyba (Princeton University), Sally Ride (physicist and a former NASA astronaut), Lester Lyles (Retired Air Force General), Edward Crawley (MIT), Bohdan "Bo" Bejmuk (Boeing), Jeff Greason (XCOR Aerospace and the Personal Spaceflight Federation), Wanda Austin (Aerospace Corp.). (5/28)
Louisiana Senator Seeks Earmark for Michoud Conversion (Source: Times-Picayune)
Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., has requested $3.8 billion in earmarks in the 2010 federal budget, including $87.5 million to make sure that Boeing's Michaud facility is equipped to "move seamlessly" from building Space Shuttle tanks to production of NASA's Ares rockets. (5/27)
Cautions by NYT on NASA Nominees (Source: Space Politics)
In an exception to accolades offered at many media outlets on President Obama's nomination for NASA leadership, the New York Times offers some words of concern. The paper is not opposed to Bolden and Garver necessarily, but unlike others is also not immediately won over by them. “Unfortunately, General Bolden lacks deep expertise in space science and engineering and his past ties with the aerospace industry will raise conflict of interest problems,” the editorial states. Garver, it adds, “has no technical background or major managerial experience but knows the agency and its issues.” (5/28)
NASA Extends Space Station Transport Contract with Russia (Source: NASA)
NASA has signed a $306 million modification to the current International Space Station contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency for crew transportation and related services in 2012 and 2013. The firm-fixed price modification covers comprehensive Soyuz support, including all necessary training and preparation for launch, crew rescue, and landing of a long-duration mission for six individual station crew members. (5/28)
Space Station: Boon or Boondoggle? (Source: MSNBC)
Now fully staffed, it's time for the ISS to become scientifically productive. NASA has been promising a rich scientific harvest from a permanent, well-equipped laboratory in Earth orbit where the absence of gravity would reveal secrets not possible anywhere else. Until now, most of the crew's time in orbit was spent just maintaining the station. "We do everything in a gradual ramp-up as we learn to operate with a full crew aboard," said Mark Uhran, NASA's assistant associate administrator for ISS. But even within the agency, the program has skeptics.
"I hope the space station becomes extraordinarily, scientifically productive, but it is not today," said David Leckrone, the senior scientist for the Hubble Space Telescope, one of the agency's most successful and well-regarded programs. Uhran said it is too early in the station program to gauge its success on scientific output, which so far has been meager. The agency's Web site lists 172 station-related research papers — many of which were not published in peer-reviewed journals. References to Hubble-related published science results, in contrast, number more than 3,500. "Judging the station at this time on its scientific output is a red herring," said John Logdon, a space policy analyst with George Washington University. "It's just getting started." (5/28)
May 27 News Items
Space Coast Congressional Leaders Host Discussion on Averting Post-Shuttle Brain Drain (Source: SPACErePORT)
Senator Bill Nelson and Reps. Suzanne Kosmas and Bill Posey moderated a gathering of senior officials from Florida and various federal agencies to discuss options for mitigating the loss of local aerospace workforce talent following the Space Shuttle's retirement. Officials from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida Institute of Technology, University of Central Florida, and University of Florida presented ideas for initiating or expanding R&D programs on the Space Coast, including: a Space Transportation Research & Development Institute; pursuing Eastern Range improvements and 'space traffic control' within the FAA's NextGen effort; a planetary science institute; FAA- and NOAA-supported unmanned aerial vehicle programs at KSC; and life sciences/biotechnology work related to the International Space Station National Laboratory.
Two Air Force generals were present and discussed their commitment to Eastern Range improvements that would make the Cape a more attractive launch site, in-part through innovative changes to the scheduling process for range access. FAA officials were present to discuss NextGen, UAV, and commercial launch opportunities. An official from the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy discussed opportunities for Innovation Clusters and NextGen. Other opportunities included giving KSC responsibility for spaceport infrastructure on the Moon and Mars; attracting non-space work to keep local aerospace talent in-place; and consolidating Air Force and NASA space supply chain operations at the launch site.
KSC Director Bob Cabana hosted the meeting at the state-built Space Life Sciences Lab. He closed the meeting with an acknowledgement that many great ideas were discussed, but they likely would not prevent a major workforce upheaval after the Space Shuttle is retired. He said he's encouraging the workforce to take advantage of state-sponsored training services through the Brevard Workforce Development Board. (5/27)
Spaceflight Panel Wants Open Minds (Source: Aviation Week)
Membership in the White House/NASA panel being set up to give the Obama administration a quick review of the U.S. human spaceflight program will be announced as early as this week, and the group of 10 aerospace experts should clear all the regulatory wickets to begin work in about two weeks, according to Norman Augustine, the retired Lockheed Martin CEO who will chair the group. Augustine said the panel will consist of experts who are "fully open-minded on the subjects."
"My final desire, or stipulation, was no zealots," he told Aviation Week. "By zealot I mean somebody who's made up their mind and is just interested in selling their position, because that's not our role. Our role is to listen and weigh." The group will have to hit the ground running to meet its end-of-August deadline, which was set so any changes that grow out of its work can be reflected in NASA's budget. The panel's broad charter, as set by White House Science Adviser John Holdren, will be "to identify and characterize a range of options that spans the reasonable possibilities for continuation of U.S. human space flight activities beyond retirement of the space shuttle." (5/27)
North Korea Raises Tensions with Two Missile Launches (Source: AIA)
One day after detonating an underground nuclear device, North Korea reportedly has fired two short-range missiles. According to intelligence sources in South Korea, the North launched one surface-to-air missile and one surface-to-ship missile, each with a range of about 80 miles. (5/27)
Tampa-based Aurora Aerospace Offers Astronaut Training (Source: Aurora Aerospace)
Tampa-based Aurora Aerospace is offering training packages for commercial spaceflight astronauts. The company offers Zero=Gravity flight training, jet flights, hypoxia-high altitude training, simulator training, and physiologic training and medical certification. Aurora joins a growing list of Florida companies hoping to offer such services in support of the emerging personal spaceflight industry. Visit http://www.aurora-aerospace.com for information. (5/27)
Editorial: Space Leadership Vacuum (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The name of President Obama's pick to lead NASA — Charles Bolden — first appeared in the news weeks ago. He comes with solid credentials and admirers in the space community and in Washington, D.C. It's hard to understand why the president took so long to nominate him. A new administrator to tackle NASA's pressing issues is months overdue...And space program leadership isn't just an issue on the national stage. Florida's own space agency, which is trying to attract commercial-space investment to help ease the loss of shuttle jobs, doesn't have a permanent chief. Former Space Florida President Steve Kohler resigned earlier this month after coming under fire from space-industry representatives, state legislators and local officials for lackluster results and no-bid contracts.
Space Florida's board has replaced Mr. Kohler with an acting president, space consultant Frank DiBello. He's also highly regarded, but it's important to get a permanent chief in charge soon — whether it's Mr. DiBello or someone else who is well-qualified. It's a crucial time for space policy on both the national and state levels. Getting the right leaders in place ought to have a greater sense of urgency. The choice of Mr. Bolden seems a good start, though a late one. (5/26)
Atop New NASA Leader's Agenda: Human Spaceflight (Source: Christian Science Monitor)
Charles Bolden Jr. knows a thing or two about steering complex hardware through turbulence. He flew combat missions in Vietnam. He piloted two space shuttle missions and commanded two others. Now, as President Obama's nominee to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the former Marine brigadier general has been tapped to steer the agency through a potentially uncertain transition. The space shuttle program is winding down, and its replacement – the nearly five-year-old Constellation program – is under review. Until that review is complete, budget entries for the program beyond the current fiscal year carry an asterisk. Pending confirmation, it now falls to Mr. Bolden to guide NASA through the tough decisions ahead on the future of human spaceflight. "What we've got is a situation where we're going to wipe the slate clean, and we're going to do something different," says Roger Launius, a former NASA historian and now curator of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. (5/27)
Atlantis Ferry Flight Could Start Sunday (Source: Florida Today)
Shuttle Atlantis is expected to start its two-day ferry flight from California to Florida as early as Sunday. Meanwhile, senior shuttle managers are meeting to review Endeavour's readiness for the year's third mission: a targeted June 13 launch to the International Space Station. More than 150 KSC employees, mostly United Space Alliance contractors, are helping to prepare Atlantis for its two-day, 2,500-mile piggyback ride across the country atop a modified Boeing 747. That work adds about $1.8 million to the cost of a typical mission. The shuttle program budgets for the cost but could otherwise apply the money and workers' time to different tasks. (5/27)
Soyuz Launches Additional ISS Crew (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A Soyuz rocket launched a spacecraft Wednesday carrying three new crewmembers for the International Space Station as the outpost expands its crew to six people for the first time. The Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:34 am EDT (1034 GMT) and placed the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft into orbit nine minutes later. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Friday. On board the spacecraft is Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, and Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk. The three will join the three current members of the ISS crew, Gennady Padalka, Michael Barratt, and Koichi Wakata. This will mark the first time the ISS will have a six-person permanent crew. (5/27)
Japan's Moon Robot Plan Comes Under Fire as Space Blueprint Finalized (Source: Mainichi Daily)
An expert panel settled on the final blueprint for Japan's activities in space Tuesday, though a plan to send robots to the moon came under harsh criticism from the public. While there were no dissenting voices among the expert panel at the Strategic Headquarters for Space Development, the plan to send a bipedal research robot to the surface of the moon as a first step toward manned missions drew particular criticism in opinions submitted by the public. The committee received 75 opinions criticizing the robot mission idea on the basis that it had no value beyond a technological "demonstration."
The idea of sending the robots, which originated with expert panel member Mamoru Mori, chief of the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation and an astronaut, did not receive any proactive support among the 458 individual and group opinions received from the public regarding the blueprint. The blueprint will go before a meeting of the headquarters' committee at the beginning of June for final approval. (5/27)
Work Will Soon Begin on New Virginia Launch Pad (Source: Salisbury Daily Times)
Construction of a new launch pad for Orbital Science Corp.'s Taurus II rocket should begin this summer, the company's launch site manager said. Orbital ultimately expects to be capable of doing four to six launches a year from Wallops, launch site manager Norman Bobczynski said. The company's choice of Wallops as the home base for its Taurus II project will bring $40 million to $100 million of investment into the area from Orbital, NASA and the state, Bobczynski said. Bobczynski recently gave an update on the project to the Eastern Shore Defense Alliance, which is a group of area business people and others interested in supporting defense-related organizations on the Eastern Shore. Orbital Sciences has become a corporate member of the alliance.
Bobczynski has a quarter-century's experience in the space industry, working with liquid-fueled rockets. He worked for 23 years with the Atlas missile program at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California before retiring from that job in 2006. He then worked for rival company SpaceX on the Falcon 9 project in Florida before being hired by Orbital last June for the Taurus program. SpaceX was the other company, along with Orbital, that was awarded a NASA contract in December for multiple missions to take cargo to the International Space Station after the space shuttle program ends. (5/27)
NASA's Slender Ares I to be Tested for Stability Before Launch (Source: NASA)
The first flight test of NASA's new rocket configuration to carry astronauts into space will take place later this year. Ares I-X consists of a four-segment first stage solid rocket motor, and a simulated upper stage that represents the weight and shape of the Ares I rocket and Orion crew vehicle. It will be launched in a suborbital arc into the Atlantic to collect data on its flight dynamics and parachute recovery performance. The flight of the unpiloted Ares I-X will be an important step in confirming that the rocket design is safe and stable in flight before piloted flights of Ares I begin in the middle of the next decade. But -- even before the launch of Ares I-X -- a critical series of ground tests will take place to confirm that the vehicle's dynamic response will respond to launch loads and vibrations the way that computer analytical models have predicted it will respond. (5/27)
Senator Bill Nelson and Reps. Suzanne Kosmas and Bill Posey moderated a gathering of senior officials from Florida and various federal agencies to discuss options for mitigating the loss of local aerospace workforce talent following the Space Shuttle's retirement. Officials from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida Institute of Technology, University of Central Florida, and University of Florida presented ideas for initiating or expanding R&D programs on the Space Coast, including: a Space Transportation Research & Development Institute; pursuing Eastern Range improvements and 'space traffic control' within the FAA's NextGen effort; a planetary science institute; FAA- and NOAA-supported unmanned aerial vehicle programs at KSC; and life sciences/biotechnology work related to the International Space Station National Laboratory.
Two Air Force generals were present and discussed their commitment to Eastern Range improvements that would make the Cape a more attractive launch site, in-part through innovative changes to the scheduling process for range access. FAA officials were present to discuss NextGen, UAV, and commercial launch opportunities. An official from the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy discussed opportunities for Innovation Clusters and NextGen. Other opportunities included giving KSC responsibility for spaceport infrastructure on the Moon and Mars; attracting non-space work to keep local aerospace talent in-place; and consolidating Air Force and NASA space supply chain operations at the launch site.
KSC Director Bob Cabana hosted the meeting at the state-built Space Life Sciences Lab. He closed the meeting with an acknowledgement that many great ideas were discussed, but they likely would not prevent a major workforce upheaval after the Space Shuttle is retired. He said he's encouraging the workforce to take advantage of state-sponsored training services through the Brevard Workforce Development Board. (5/27)
Spaceflight Panel Wants Open Minds (Source: Aviation Week)
Membership in the White House/NASA panel being set up to give the Obama administration a quick review of the U.S. human spaceflight program will be announced as early as this week, and the group of 10 aerospace experts should clear all the regulatory wickets to begin work in about two weeks, according to Norman Augustine, the retired Lockheed Martin CEO who will chair the group. Augustine said the panel will consist of experts who are "fully open-minded on the subjects."
"My final desire, or stipulation, was no zealots," he told Aviation Week. "By zealot I mean somebody who's made up their mind and is just interested in selling their position, because that's not our role. Our role is to listen and weigh." The group will have to hit the ground running to meet its end-of-August deadline, which was set so any changes that grow out of its work can be reflected in NASA's budget. The panel's broad charter, as set by White House Science Adviser John Holdren, will be "to identify and characterize a range of options that spans the reasonable possibilities for continuation of U.S. human space flight activities beyond retirement of the space shuttle." (5/27)
North Korea Raises Tensions with Two Missile Launches (Source: AIA)
One day after detonating an underground nuclear device, North Korea reportedly has fired two short-range missiles. According to intelligence sources in South Korea, the North launched one surface-to-air missile and one surface-to-ship missile, each with a range of about 80 miles. (5/27)
Tampa-based Aurora Aerospace Offers Astronaut Training (Source: Aurora Aerospace)
Tampa-based Aurora Aerospace is offering training packages for commercial spaceflight astronauts. The company offers Zero=Gravity flight training, jet flights, hypoxia-high altitude training, simulator training, and physiologic training and medical certification. Aurora joins a growing list of Florida companies hoping to offer such services in support of the emerging personal spaceflight industry. Visit http://www.aurora-aerospace.com for information. (5/27)
Editorial: Space Leadership Vacuum (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The name of President Obama's pick to lead NASA — Charles Bolden — first appeared in the news weeks ago. He comes with solid credentials and admirers in the space community and in Washington, D.C. It's hard to understand why the president took so long to nominate him. A new administrator to tackle NASA's pressing issues is months overdue...And space program leadership isn't just an issue on the national stage. Florida's own space agency, which is trying to attract commercial-space investment to help ease the loss of shuttle jobs, doesn't have a permanent chief. Former Space Florida President Steve Kohler resigned earlier this month after coming under fire from space-industry representatives, state legislators and local officials for lackluster results and no-bid contracts.
Space Florida's board has replaced Mr. Kohler with an acting president, space consultant Frank DiBello. He's also highly regarded, but it's important to get a permanent chief in charge soon — whether it's Mr. DiBello or someone else who is well-qualified. It's a crucial time for space policy on both the national and state levels. Getting the right leaders in place ought to have a greater sense of urgency. The choice of Mr. Bolden seems a good start, though a late one. (5/26)
Atop New NASA Leader's Agenda: Human Spaceflight (Source: Christian Science Monitor)
Charles Bolden Jr. knows a thing or two about steering complex hardware through turbulence. He flew combat missions in Vietnam. He piloted two space shuttle missions and commanded two others. Now, as President Obama's nominee to head the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, the former Marine brigadier general has been tapped to steer the agency through a potentially uncertain transition. The space shuttle program is winding down, and its replacement – the nearly five-year-old Constellation program – is under review. Until that review is complete, budget entries for the program beyond the current fiscal year carry an asterisk. Pending confirmation, it now falls to Mr. Bolden to guide NASA through the tough decisions ahead on the future of human spaceflight. "What we've got is a situation where we're going to wipe the slate clean, and we're going to do something different," says Roger Launius, a former NASA historian and now curator of the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. (5/27)
Atlantis Ferry Flight Could Start Sunday (Source: Florida Today)
Shuttle Atlantis is expected to start its two-day ferry flight from California to Florida as early as Sunday. Meanwhile, senior shuttle managers are meeting to review Endeavour's readiness for the year's third mission: a targeted June 13 launch to the International Space Station. More than 150 KSC employees, mostly United Space Alliance contractors, are helping to prepare Atlantis for its two-day, 2,500-mile piggyback ride across the country atop a modified Boeing 747. That work adds about $1.8 million to the cost of a typical mission. The shuttle program budgets for the cost but could otherwise apply the money and workers' time to different tasks. (5/27)
Soyuz Launches Additional ISS Crew (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A Soyuz rocket launched a spacecraft Wednesday carrying three new crewmembers for the International Space Station as the outpost expands its crew to six people for the first time. The Soyuz rocket lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 6:34 am EDT (1034 GMT) and placed the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft into orbit nine minutes later. The spacecraft is scheduled to dock with the ISS on Friday. On board the spacecraft is Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, ESA astronaut Frank De Winne, and Canadian astronaut Bob Thirsk. The three will join the three current members of the ISS crew, Gennady Padalka, Michael Barratt, and Koichi Wakata. This will mark the first time the ISS will have a six-person permanent crew. (5/27)
Japan's Moon Robot Plan Comes Under Fire as Space Blueprint Finalized (Source: Mainichi Daily)
An expert panel settled on the final blueprint for Japan's activities in space Tuesday, though a plan to send robots to the moon came under harsh criticism from the public. While there were no dissenting voices among the expert panel at the Strategic Headquarters for Space Development, the plan to send a bipedal research robot to the surface of the moon as a first step toward manned missions drew particular criticism in opinions submitted by the public. The committee received 75 opinions criticizing the robot mission idea on the basis that it had no value beyond a technological "demonstration."
The idea of sending the robots, which originated with expert panel member Mamoru Mori, chief of the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation and an astronaut, did not receive any proactive support among the 458 individual and group opinions received from the public regarding the blueprint. The blueprint will go before a meeting of the headquarters' committee at the beginning of June for final approval. (5/27)
Work Will Soon Begin on New Virginia Launch Pad (Source: Salisbury Daily Times)
Construction of a new launch pad for Orbital Science Corp.'s Taurus II rocket should begin this summer, the company's launch site manager said. Orbital ultimately expects to be capable of doing four to six launches a year from Wallops, launch site manager Norman Bobczynski said. The company's choice of Wallops as the home base for its Taurus II project will bring $40 million to $100 million of investment into the area from Orbital, NASA and the state, Bobczynski said. Bobczynski recently gave an update on the project to the Eastern Shore Defense Alliance, which is a group of area business people and others interested in supporting defense-related organizations on the Eastern Shore. Orbital Sciences has become a corporate member of the alliance.
Bobczynski has a quarter-century's experience in the space industry, working with liquid-fueled rockets. He worked for 23 years with the Atlas missile program at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California before retiring from that job in 2006. He then worked for rival company SpaceX on the Falcon 9 project in Florida before being hired by Orbital last June for the Taurus program. SpaceX was the other company, along with Orbital, that was awarded a NASA contract in December for multiple missions to take cargo to the International Space Station after the space shuttle program ends. (5/27)
NASA's Slender Ares I to be Tested for Stability Before Launch (Source: NASA)
The first flight test of NASA's new rocket configuration to carry astronauts into space will take place later this year. Ares I-X consists of a four-segment first stage solid rocket motor, and a simulated upper stage that represents the weight and shape of the Ares I rocket and Orion crew vehicle. It will be launched in a suborbital arc into the Atlantic to collect data on its flight dynamics and parachute recovery performance. The flight of the unpiloted Ares I-X will be an important step in confirming that the rocket design is safe and stable in flight before piloted flights of Ares I begin in the middle of the next decade. But -- even before the launch of Ares I-X -- a critical series of ground tests will take place to confirm that the vehicle's dynamic response will respond to launch loads and vibrations the way that computer analytical models have predicted it will respond. (5/27)
May 26 News Items
Tom Cruise: Preparing to Go to Space (Source: All News Web)
A rumor is spreading through Hollywood that Tom Cruise is planning to go into space on one of Richard Branson's first Virgin Galactic flights. According to a Hollywood insider who wishes to remain anonymous Cruise has already put down a seven figure amount to book an entire spaceship for him and and wife, Katie Holmes. 'Let's hope the couple is still together for the trip as flights are still a few years off' the insider remarked. Virgin Galactic gives people (with the financial means) a chance to see planet earth from just outside the atmosphere and experience weightlessness. Cruise is believed to be one of a few Hollywood sceen idols who are planning or considering a space journey. (5/26)
Space Operations Vital To USAF And USA (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Air Force officials discussed the importance of space as a warfighting domain before members of the Senate May 20 on Capitol Hill. Senior Air Force leaders in the space realm answered questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee Strategic Force Subcommittee, telling them that Air Force officials were postured to make the most of their assets as part of the joint fight. Gen. C. Robert "Bob" Kehler, the Air Force Space Command commander, told the subcommittee that the command's efforts to provide the services with resources to maintain a strong presence in space have been and continue to be a vital part of the national defense strategy.
According to USAF Deputy Undersecretary Gary Payton: "Our space systems are the envy of the world...Our surveillance satellites are able to detect missile launches anywhere in the world, our communications systems allow the president precise and assured control over nuclear forces, our wideband systems rapidly transmit critical information to our warfighters, our weather satellites allow us to predict future weather half a world away, our Global Positioning Systems enable knowledge down to centimeters and timing down to nanoseconds." (5/26)
Maryland Gov. Pledges Boost to State's Aerospace Industry (Source: The Gazette)
A week after NASA completed repairs to its Hubble Space Telescope, whose daily orbital operations are managed by the space agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Gov. Martin O'Malley on Tuesday announced plans to bolster Maryland's aerospace industry as the state has already done for life sciences. Speaking before the Maryland Space Business Roundtable in Greenbelt, O'Malley (D) proposed forming a Federal Facilities Advisory Panel through the state Department of Business and Economic Development. The panel's particular focus would be on aerospace opportunities, to harness the potential of the 50 federal installations in Maryland. He is also planning a Maryland Federal Facilities Summit.
"It's clear that we have the tools, base and competitive skills to be a leader," O'Malley said, referring to the state's space industry as an "unsung hero." Maryland hosts 16 of the nation's top 25 aerospace companies, with about $1.6 billion annually flowing from NASA-related business, O'Malley said. Private-sector space industry companies in Maryland include Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Orbital Sciences, Science Applications International Corp., General Dynamics, Hughes Network Systems and Honeywell. Lockheed Martin and Hughes have headquarters in Maryland, in Bethesda and Germantown, respectively. (5/26)
Bolden's Burdens (Source: Space Review)
After months of waiting, space advocates finally got their wish Saturday: a nominee for NASA administrator. Jeff Foust reports on the reaction to the selection of Charles Bolden and what is in store for the former astronaut as he prepares to take over the space agency. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1382/1 to view the article. (5/26)
The GAO, the Media, and GPS (Source: Space Review)
According to some news reports last week, the GPS system is on the verge of failure because of delays in launching new satellites. Taylor Dinerman discusses why there's less to be worried about than what those hyperbolic reports claimed. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1381/1 to view the article. (5/26)
Cars Versus Rockets (Source: Space Review)
What does NASA have in common with the nation's troubled automakers? Michael Potter argues that both suffer from some fundamental organizational issues, and that NASA would benefit from better leveraging the capabilities and potential of the private sector. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1379/1 to view the article. (5/26)
Hubble Repair Showcases Value of Manned Space Program (Source: Houston Chronicle)
The billion-dollar Hubble Space Telescope boasts astounding accomplishments. For nearly two decades, this window to the universe has peered back millions of years in time to produce stunning photographs of stars, nebulae and galaxies whose light took eons to reach the Earth. But the Hubble, launched with a flawed lens and fuzzy vision, would have been remembered as a colossal blunder had not the brave men and women of NASA been prepared to fly into space to install corrective optics. For those who continue to question the necessity for a human role in the exploration of space, the marvelous achievements this past week of physicist, astronomer and astronaut John Grunsfeld and his shuttle Atlantis crew mates provide an inspiring answer. In five grueling spacewalks to revive the aging Hubble, the astronauts demonstrated why human hands and minds in orbit remain indispensable. (5/26)
Space Crew to Double in Size, Tripling Research Capacity (Source: Florida Today)
The crew of the International Space Station will double in size this week, a long-awaited milestone that will triple the amount of scientific research that can be done on the $100 billion orbiting outpost. For more than a decade now, spacewalking astronauts have been in an assembly mode, piecing together the growing station in a construction zone 220 miles above Earth, while resident crews focused on simply keeping it flying safely. On Wednesday, a Soyuz spacecraft carrying a Russian, a Belgian and a Canadian is scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan and then dock at the station Friday -- eight years, six months and 29 days after an inaugural crew of three opened the outpost for business.
They'll join a Russian, an American and an astronaut from Japan, forming the first full six-person crew to live and work aboard the complex, which is as large as an American football field. With the move to six-person crews, station residents finally will be able to turn their attention toward scientific research, logging up to 600 hours of experimentation during the next six-month expedition. They plan to shed light on the adverse effects of spaceflight on the body, knowledge critical to gearing up for human expeditions to the moon, Mars and other celestial destinations. (5/26)
Florida Worries Over Growing "Gap" in U.S. Manned Spaceflight (Source: AIA)
With only eight flights remaining in the current space shuttle program, the Central Florida economy is facing its biggest crisis in a generation. Out of 14,800 employees at Kennedy Space Center, anywhere from 3,500 to 10,000 could find themselves without jobs when the shuttle stops flying. The next-generation Orion spacecraft is currently scheduled to lift off in 2015, but any delay would only exacerbate the area's economic downturn. "If the gap continues to grow, we'll not hire [laid-off shuttle workers] back, and they'll be unemployed for a longer period of time, which will drive them out of the area. Then you have to build those skills over again," says Mark Nappi, vice president of United Space Alliance. (5/26)
A rumor is spreading through Hollywood that Tom Cruise is planning to go into space on one of Richard Branson's first Virgin Galactic flights. According to a Hollywood insider who wishes to remain anonymous Cruise has already put down a seven figure amount to book an entire spaceship for him and and wife, Katie Holmes. 'Let's hope the couple is still together for the trip as flights are still a few years off' the insider remarked. Virgin Galactic gives people (with the financial means) a chance to see planet earth from just outside the atmosphere and experience weightlessness. Cruise is believed to be one of a few Hollywood sceen idols who are planning or considering a space journey. (5/26)
Space Operations Vital To USAF And USA (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Air Force officials discussed the importance of space as a warfighting domain before members of the Senate May 20 on Capitol Hill. Senior Air Force leaders in the space realm answered questions from the Senate Armed Services Committee Strategic Force Subcommittee, telling them that Air Force officials were postured to make the most of their assets as part of the joint fight. Gen. C. Robert "Bob" Kehler, the Air Force Space Command commander, told the subcommittee that the command's efforts to provide the services with resources to maintain a strong presence in space have been and continue to be a vital part of the national defense strategy.
According to USAF Deputy Undersecretary Gary Payton: "Our space systems are the envy of the world...Our surveillance satellites are able to detect missile launches anywhere in the world, our communications systems allow the president precise and assured control over nuclear forces, our wideband systems rapidly transmit critical information to our warfighters, our weather satellites allow us to predict future weather half a world away, our Global Positioning Systems enable knowledge down to centimeters and timing down to nanoseconds." (5/26)
Maryland Gov. Pledges Boost to State's Aerospace Industry (Source: The Gazette)
A week after NASA completed repairs to its Hubble Space Telescope, whose daily orbital operations are managed by the space agency's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Gov. Martin O'Malley on Tuesday announced plans to bolster Maryland's aerospace industry as the state has already done for life sciences. Speaking before the Maryland Space Business Roundtable in Greenbelt, O'Malley (D) proposed forming a Federal Facilities Advisory Panel through the state Department of Business and Economic Development. The panel's particular focus would be on aerospace opportunities, to harness the potential of the 50 federal installations in Maryland. He is also planning a Maryland Federal Facilities Summit.
"It's clear that we have the tools, base and competitive skills to be a leader," O'Malley said, referring to the state's space industry as an "unsung hero." Maryland hosts 16 of the nation's top 25 aerospace companies, with about $1.6 billion annually flowing from NASA-related business, O'Malley said. Private-sector space industry companies in Maryland include Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin, Orbital Sciences, Science Applications International Corp., General Dynamics, Hughes Network Systems and Honeywell. Lockheed Martin and Hughes have headquarters in Maryland, in Bethesda and Germantown, respectively. (5/26)
Bolden's Burdens (Source: Space Review)
After months of waiting, space advocates finally got their wish Saturday: a nominee for NASA administrator. Jeff Foust reports on the reaction to the selection of Charles Bolden and what is in store for the former astronaut as he prepares to take over the space agency. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1382/1 to view the article. (5/26)
The GAO, the Media, and GPS (Source: Space Review)
According to some news reports last week, the GPS system is on the verge of failure because of delays in launching new satellites. Taylor Dinerman discusses why there's less to be worried about than what those hyperbolic reports claimed. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1381/1 to view the article. (5/26)
Cars Versus Rockets (Source: Space Review)
What does NASA have in common with the nation's troubled automakers? Michael Potter argues that both suffer from some fundamental organizational issues, and that NASA would benefit from better leveraging the capabilities and potential of the private sector. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1379/1 to view the article. (5/26)
Hubble Repair Showcases Value of Manned Space Program (Source: Houston Chronicle)
The billion-dollar Hubble Space Telescope boasts astounding accomplishments. For nearly two decades, this window to the universe has peered back millions of years in time to produce stunning photographs of stars, nebulae and galaxies whose light took eons to reach the Earth. But the Hubble, launched with a flawed lens and fuzzy vision, would have been remembered as a colossal blunder had not the brave men and women of NASA been prepared to fly into space to install corrective optics. For those who continue to question the necessity for a human role in the exploration of space, the marvelous achievements this past week of physicist, astronomer and astronaut John Grunsfeld and his shuttle Atlantis crew mates provide an inspiring answer. In five grueling spacewalks to revive the aging Hubble, the astronauts demonstrated why human hands and minds in orbit remain indispensable. (5/26)
Space Crew to Double in Size, Tripling Research Capacity (Source: Florida Today)
The crew of the International Space Station will double in size this week, a long-awaited milestone that will triple the amount of scientific research that can be done on the $100 billion orbiting outpost. For more than a decade now, spacewalking astronauts have been in an assembly mode, piecing together the growing station in a construction zone 220 miles above Earth, while resident crews focused on simply keeping it flying safely. On Wednesday, a Soyuz spacecraft carrying a Russian, a Belgian and a Canadian is scheduled to launch from Kazakhstan and then dock at the station Friday -- eight years, six months and 29 days after an inaugural crew of three opened the outpost for business.
They'll join a Russian, an American and an astronaut from Japan, forming the first full six-person crew to live and work aboard the complex, which is as large as an American football field. With the move to six-person crews, station residents finally will be able to turn their attention toward scientific research, logging up to 600 hours of experimentation during the next six-month expedition. They plan to shed light on the adverse effects of spaceflight on the body, knowledge critical to gearing up for human expeditions to the moon, Mars and other celestial destinations. (5/26)
Florida Worries Over Growing "Gap" in U.S. Manned Spaceflight (Source: AIA)
With only eight flights remaining in the current space shuttle program, the Central Florida economy is facing its biggest crisis in a generation. Out of 14,800 employees at Kennedy Space Center, anywhere from 3,500 to 10,000 could find themselves without jobs when the shuttle stops flying. The next-generation Orion spacecraft is currently scheduled to lift off in 2015, but any delay would only exacerbate the area's economic downturn. "If the gap continues to grow, we'll not hire [laid-off shuttle workers] back, and they'll be unemployed for a longer period of time, which will drive them out of the area. Then you have to build those skills over again," says Mark Nappi, vice president of United Space Alliance. (5/26)
May 25 News Items
Florida Tech and Embry-Riddle Among Top Five in NASA Rocketry Competition (Source: SPACErePORT)
Out of a field of 21 teams competing in this year's NASA Student Launch Initiative, the Florida Institute of Technology and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University took third and fourth place, respectively. Both were rookie teams in the competition. Utah State University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville won first and second place, and both were previous winners of the competition. Click here for information on the competition. (5/25)
Health Scare of the Week: The Threat of Martian Microbes (Source: The Week)
It sounds like the plot of a science fiction film, but it could possibly come true: If NASA brings Martian dirt samples back to Earth, says a new report by the National Research Council, they could contain previously unseen bacteria or viruses that spread like wildfire, endangering the planet. Both NASA and the European Space Agency have discussed missions that would bring soil samples back for more detailed testing. The report warns, though, that any Martian soil must be strictly quarantined to prevent the possible spread of alien microbes.
“Given that this is a very high-stakes game where we’re talking about a potentially global problem, we have to be inherently conservative,” report chairman Jack Farmer tells New Scientist. “I think the bottom line here is containment, containment, containment.” A proper isolation facility could take a decade to build, says the committee, so NASA should begin designing it now. (5/25)
Canadian Team Predicts Impact of Aurora Borealis (Source: CTV)
The brilliant, haunting phenomenon known as the Northern Lights can also be a potentially deadly source of energy in outer space -- but Canadian researchers have now found a way to help protect astronauts and equipment from the fallout of aurora borealis. Canadian researchers can now pinpoint the eye of such storms -- often hundreds of thousands of kilometers above Earth -- and warn when the powerful wave of energy is coming. Working in partnership with NASA, the team uses five monitoring satellites and a number of ground-monitoring stations in Canada's north to detect magnetic disturbances in space. (5/25)
Is the Constellation the Next Step for the Space Coast? (Source: Miami Herald)
Driving next year's retirement of the shuttle fleet is NASA'S desire to shift billions of dollars from the shuttle program to a next-generation human spaceflight program called Constellation. The aim of the new program is to return astronauts to the space station by 2015 and to the Moon by 2020. Constellation's components include a crew capsule called Orion, a crew-launch rocket named Ares I, a heavy-lift cargo launch rocket named Ares V and a lunar landing vehicle called Altair. The capsule and rocket designs are derived from both the Apollo and shuttle programs.
But serious questions have already been raised about the safety and performance of Ares I, including severe shaking at launch that some fear could cause it to drift into the launch tower. There also are questions about budgets and cost overruns in the Constellation program. Billions of dollars have already been spent. This year, for the first time, Constellation's budget ($3.03 billion) exceeded that of the space shuttle ($2.98 billion). While shuttle funding is slowing to a trickle after 2010 as its orbiters and other parts of the program are mothballed, by the time the shuttle budget reaches zero in 2013, projections call for a $5.4 billion annual Constellation budget. Click here to view the article. (5/25)
SES Paints Rival Intelsat as Too Debt-Laden To Compete (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator SES is rethinking its strategy with respect to its biggest rival, Intelsat, in light of Intelsat's recently demonstrated ability to maintain a global presence despite its huge debt load and its owners' ultimate goal of cashing out of the business. SES officials reiterated their view that, over time, SES's stable investor base and moderate debt load will enable it to outlast Intelsat in regions that, while profitable, would exhaust Intelsat's capital expenditure limits. SES Chief Romain Bausch said the eventual disposition of Intelsat assets as its current private-equity owners seek an exit will be more important than the current global economic crisis in shaping the commercial satellite telecommunications landscape in the coming years. (5/25)
A One-way Ticket to Mars (Source: Astrobiology Magazine)
A one-way mission to Mars? Who could possibly volunteer for such a thing? Isn’t this a suicide mission? Well, the answer is: no, this is not a suicide mission. Going to Mars on a return journey obviously involves a high level of risk. It shortens your life expectancy. Where does the risk arise? Well, as we know from the two Shuttle disasters, takeoff and landing are the most vulnerable times. By eliminating half of these (laughter), you would extend your life expectancy. Radiation in space is also a serious factor for a Mars mission, and during the journey there and back you’d be exposed twice, for many months each time, to cosmic rays in space. The zero G during the journey is also bad news. Again, by cutting out half, your life expectancy increases.
A lot of people think: if you don’t come back, you cut the costs in half. But actually you save very much more than that. By sending supplies and material ahead and using as much as you can on the surface of Mars, you would cut much more than 50% of the expenditures. It’s hard to know how much but I would reckon at least 80% could be cut. As Bob Zubrin has pointed out, Mars is the second-safest place in the solar system. And so it’s the one place humans can go where we could actually make a living, because it’s possible to use material on the martian surface, and crucially, Mars has water and carbon dioxide. Click here to view the article. (5/25)
Out of a field of 21 teams competing in this year's NASA Student Launch Initiative, the Florida Institute of Technology and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University took third and fourth place, respectively. Both were rookie teams in the competition. Utah State University and the University of Alabama in Huntsville won first and second place, and both were previous winners of the competition. Click here for information on the competition. (5/25)
Health Scare of the Week: The Threat of Martian Microbes (Source: The Week)
It sounds like the plot of a science fiction film, but it could possibly come true: If NASA brings Martian dirt samples back to Earth, says a new report by the National Research Council, they could contain previously unseen bacteria or viruses that spread like wildfire, endangering the planet. Both NASA and the European Space Agency have discussed missions that would bring soil samples back for more detailed testing. The report warns, though, that any Martian soil must be strictly quarantined to prevent the possible spread of alien microbes.
“Given that this is a very high-stakes game where we’re talking about a potentially global problem, we have to be inherently conservative,” report chairman Jack Farmer tells New Scientist. “I think the bottom line here is containment, containment, containment.” A proper isolation facility could take a decade to build, says the committee, so NASA should begin designing it now. (5/25)
Canadian Team Predicts Impact of Aurora Borealis (Source: CTV)
The brilliant, haunting phenomenon known as the Northern Lights can also be a potentially deadly source of energy in outer space -- but Canadian researchers have now found a way to help protect astronauts and equipment from the fallout of aurora borealis. Canadian researchers can now pinpoint the eye of such storms -- often hundreds of thousands of kilometers above Earth -- and warn when the powerful wave of energy is coming. Working in partnership with NASA, the team uses five monitoring satellites and a number of ground-monitoring stations in Canada's north to detect magnetic disturbances in space. (5/25)
Is the Constellation the Next Step for the Space Coast? (Source: Miami Herald)
Driving next year's retirement of the shuttle fleet is NASA'S desire to shift billions of dollars from the shuttle program to a next-generation human spaceflight program called Constellation. The aim of the new program is to return astronauts to the space station by 2015 and to the Moon by 2020. Constellation's components include a crew capsule called Orion, a crew-launch rocket named Ares I, a heavy-lift cargo launch rocket named Ares V and a lunar landing vehicle called Altair. The capsule and rocket designs are derived from both the Apollo and shuttle programs.
But serious questions have already been raised about the safety and performance of Ares I, including severe shaking at launch that some fear could cause it to drift into the launch tower. There also are questions about budgets and cost overruns in the Constellation program. Billions of dollars have already been spent. This year, for the first time, Constellation's budget ($3.03 billion) exceeded that of the space shuttle ($2.98 billion). While shuttle funding is slowing to a trickle after 2010 as its orbiters and other parts of the program are mothballed, by the time the shuttle budget reaches zero in 2013, projections call for a $5.4 billion annual Constellation budget. Click here to view the article. (5/25)
SES Paints Rival Intelsat as Too Debt-Laden To Compete (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator SES is rethinking its strategy with respect to its biggest rival, Intelsat, in light of Intelsat's recently demonstrated ability to maintain a global presence despite its huge debt load and its owners' ultimate goal of cashing out of the business. SES officials reiterated their view that, over time, SES's stable investor base and moderate debt load will enable it to outlast Intelsat in regions that, while profitable, would exhaust Intelsat's capital expenditure limits. SES Chief Romain Bausch said the eventual disposition of Intelsat assets as its current private-equity owners seek an exit will be more important than the current global economic crisis in shaping the commercial satellite telecommunications landscape in the coming years. (5/25)
A One-way Ticket to Mars (Source: Astrobiology Magazine)
A one-way mission to Mars? Who could possibly volunteer for such a thing? Isn’t this a suicide mission? Well, the answer is: no, this is not a suicide mission. Going to Mars on a return journey obviously involves a high level of risk. It shortens your life expectancy. Where does the risk arise? Well, as we know from the two Shuttle disasters, takeoff and landing are the most vulnerable times. By eliminating half of these (laughter), you would extend your life expectancy. Radiation in space is also a serious factor for a Mars mission, and during the journey there and back you’d be exposed twice, for many months each time, to cosmic rays in space. The zero G during the journey is also bad news. Again, by cutting out half, your life expectancy increases.
A lot of people think: if you don’t come back, you cut the costs in half. But actually you save very much more than that. By sending supplies and material ahead and using as much as you can on the surface of Mars, you would cut much more than 50% of the expenditures. It’s hard to know how much but I would reckon at least 80% could be cut. As Bob Zubrin has pointed out, Mars is the second-safest place in the solar system. And so it’s the one place humans can go where we could actually make a living, because it’s possible to use material on the martian surface, and crucially, Mars has water and carbon dioxide. Click here to view the article. (5/25)
May 24 News Items
Quietly, SpaceShipTwo Marches Toward Reality (Source: Florida Today)
Lots of people will be flying in space even after the space shuttles retire. Florida's Space Coast will lament the end of the shuttle program and the loss of thousands of great jobs. But, 2010 could mark the start of one of the most exciting periods in the history of human space flight. Gigantic leaps forward in our ability to fly people in space are coming and they're coming fast.
Out west, in the deserts of California and New Mexico, work is progressing on a launch system, a spaceship and a spaceport for the international partnership that is the odds-on favorite to become the world's first spaceline for tourists. In Mojave, the loss of three lives in a test-firing accident slowed but did not stop the development of SpaceShipTwo for Virgin Galactic. The aircraft that will carry the spaceship to its "launch site" in the sky has already broken records in test flights. The football-shaped spacecraft could be rolled out for public viewing this fall and could make test flights soon after. (5/24)
Integration Woes Delay Launch of Navy's First MUOS Satellite to 2011 (Source: Space News)
The launch of the U.S. Navy's first Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communications satellite will be delayed at least 11 months, to early 2011, because of technical troubles integrating the new satellite platform and a legacy payload, the Navy's space program leader told lawmakers May 20. The Navy is now developing a strategy to mitigate a potential gap in narrowband ultra-high frequency (UHF) satellite capacity in the next few years. One option the Navy looked at, which entailed having a commercial satellite host a dedicated UHF payload for Navy use, would not have been ready in time to solve the problem. (5/23)
Is There an Sino-Indian Space Race? (Source: Domain B)
Western analysts seem to believe that India's resurgent space program is a reaction to China's growing success in the field. But Indian officials deny this, saying its program is entirely based on India's own needs. Also, China's program is backed and funded by its armed forces and is therefore more defense oriented than India's. India's 2008 Chandrayaan-1 mission to orbit the moon, and China's first lunar probe Chang'e-1, which orbited in October 2007, have been described as exercises to boost the national prestige of the two most populous Asian countries.
Both Chandrayaan-1 and Chang'e-1 had fairly similar scientific objectives. While China's Chang'e-1 terminated its 16-month mission with impact on the lunar surface on 1 March this year, Chandrayaan-1 continues to study the lunar features in addition to exploring for the presence of water and Helium-3, a clean and abundant source of energy. Both countries have a firm eye on the moon's resources. While India has hinted at its eventual aim of mining for lunar resources, China is thinking of setting up a base on the moon.
Both India and China have announced plans to send a landing mission to the moon in the first half of the next decade. But while China is edging close to firming up its plan for a manned landing mission, the Indian Space Research Organization has made it clear that a manned moon landing project would be taken up only if it is "totally justified". Click here to view the article. (5/24)
Atlantis Returns to Earth with California Landing (Source: SPACErePORT)
The Space Shuttle Atlantis completed its mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope with a Sunday morning landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. NASA decided against a landing at Kennedy Space Center due to rainy weather. Atlantis launched from the Florida spaceport on May 11. (5/24)
Lots of people will be flying in space even after the space shuttles retire. Florida's Space Coast will lament the end of the shuttle program and the loss of thousands of great jobs. But, 2010 could mark the start of one of the most exciting periods in the history of human space flight. Gigantic leaps forward in our ability to fly people in space are coming and they're coming fast.
Out west, in the deserts of California and New Mexico, work is progressing on a launch system, a spaceship and a spaceport for the international partnership that is the odds-on favorite to become the world's first spaceline for tourists. In Mojave, the loss of three lives in a test-firing accident slowed but did not stop the development of SpaceShipTwo for Virgin Galactic. The aircraft that will carry the spaceship to its "launch site" in the sky has already broken records in test flights. The football-shaped spacecraft could be rolled out for public viewing this fall and could make test flights soon after. (5/24)
Integration Woes Delay Launch of Navy's First MUOS Satellite to 2011 (Source: Space News)
The launch of the U.S. Navy's first Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) communications satellite will be delayed at least 11 months, to early 2011, because of technical troubles integrating the new satellite platform and a legacy payload, the Navy's space program leader told lawmakers May 20. The Navy is now developing a strategy to mitigate a potential gap in narrowband ultra-high frequency (UHF) satellite capacity in the next few years. One option the Navy looked at, which entailed having a commercial satellite host a dedicated UHF payload for Navy use, would not have been ready in time to solve the problem. (5/23)
Is There an Sino-Indian Space Race? (Source: Domain B)
Western analysts seem to believe that India's resurgent space program is a reaction to China's growing success in the field. But Indian officials deny this, saying its program is entirely based on India's own needs. Also, China's program is backed and funded by its armed forces and is therefore more defense oriented than India's. India's 2008 Chandrayaan-1 mission to orbit the moon, and China's first lunar probe Chang'e-1, which orbited in October 2007, have been described as exercises to boost the national prestige of the two most populous Asian countries.
Both Chandrayaan-1 and Chang'e-1 had fairly similar scientific objectives. While China's Chang'e-1 terminated its 16-month mission with impact on the lunar surface on 1 March this year, Chandrayaan-1 continues to study the lunar features in addition to exploring for the presence of water and Helium-3, a clean and abundant source of energy. Both countries have a firm eye on the moon's resources. While India has hinted at its eventual aim of mining for lunar resources, China is thinking of setting up a base on the moon.
Both India and China have announced plans to send a landing mission to the moon in the first half of the next decade. But while China is edging close to firming up its plan for a manned landing mission, the Indian Space Research Organization has made it clear that a manned moon landing project would be taken up only if it is "totally justified". Click here to view the article. (5/24)
Atlantis Returns to Earth with California Landing (Source: SPACErePORT)
The Space Shuttle Atlantis completed its mission to fix the Hubble Space Telescope with a Sunday morning landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California. NASA decided against a landing at Kennedy Space Center due to rainy weather. Atlantis launched from the Florida spaceport on May 11. (5/24)
May 23 News Items
Kosmas Remarks on Bolden Nomination (Source: Rep. Kosmas)
Space Coast Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas had these words to say in support of Gen. Bolden's nomination to lead NASA: "I look forward to working with our new NASA administrator to ensure a robust human spaceflight program and to minimize the gap in order to protect jobs and support America's strategic interests. General Bolden is eminently qualified to accomplish this important mission." (5/23)
Nelson Grills NASA on Commercial Human Spaceflight Spending (Source: Space Politics)
While Alabama's Senator Shelby expressed concern about NASA's investments in commercial human transport services to the Space Station, Florida's Senator Nelson criticized NASA for not investing enough in the program. According to Nelson, the 2008 NASA authorization act required NASA to enter into agreements with two or more entities “for a Phase 1 Commercial Orbital Transportation Services crewed vehicle demonstration program [COTS-D].” Nelson said that $150 million was supposed to be used for COTS-D. “We had a unique opportunity this year, between the 2009 operating plan and the additional funds provided by the stimulus bill, and the development of the 2010 budget, to craft a COTS-D plan that would have funded the program at the level the folks needed,” Nelson said. “And that path was not pursued. NASA did not obey the law.” (5/23)
China Considering Manned Lunar Landing in 2025-2030 (Source: Xinhua)
A space scientist has said that Chinese scientists are considering the feasibility of a manned lunar landing mission at an appropriate time between 2025 and 2030. China will be able to fetch samples collected by unmanned lunar probe by 2017, Ye Peijian, chief designer of the lunar probe with China's Chang'e Project, said at a science lecture held Friday in Shanghai. (5/23)
Russia Aims at Return to Space Race (Source: Sunday Herald)
Russia seeking to revive its faded space race glory despite its worst economic crisis in a decade and a yawning funding gap between itself and its old Cold War rival - the United States. Plans are afoot to build a new spaceport, an overhauled space museum has just been opened in central Moscow and a tender to design a new generation of spacecraft has been launched. At the same time, scientists are monitoring a bizarre endurance experiment in Moscow supposed to simulate a manned mission to Mars.
Analysts say the Russian space program - a shadow of the Soviet program - is yet another example of the Kremlin seeking to capitalize on nostalgia for Soviet achievements to boost national pride and project strength on the world stage. All this comes as countries from China to India and Japan seek to stake out their claim to join the US, Russia and Europe in what is shaping up to be a new 21st century space race. (5/23)
Bolden Will Need 'Limited Waiver' to Serve as NASA Chief (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A top White House official said Charles Bolden would need a “limited waiver” from new ethics rules so his past would not violate conflict-of-interest regulations. Until March 2008, Bolden served on the board of directors for GenCorp, whose Aerojet subsidiary makes propulsion systems and maneuvering engines for the space shuttle and a new crewed capsule that NASA one day hopes will help return American astronauts to the moon.
An Obama executive order prohibits appointees from doing work that is “directly and substantially related to [a] former employer or former clients” and Bolden would be barred from participating in contract decisions that relate to GenCorp or Aerojet. That same restriction also would apply to companies that Bolden worked for in the recent past. The limited waiver, however, would allow Bolden “to participate in policy decisions that focus on major program objectives and capabilities,” according to the official. Without it, Bolden could have been barred from helping develop NASA’s next manned spacecraft -- an essential job responsibility for the man who would lead America’s space program. (5/23)
Senator Hutchison’s Statement on Bolden Nomination (Source: Sen. Hutchinson)
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, released the following statement on the President’s intent to nominate Charles Bolden to be the next NASA Administrator. “I am delighted that the President intends to nominate retired Marine General and astronaut Charles Bolden to be the next NASA Administrator...I talked to General Bolden today following the announcement of his intended nomination. We discussed the importance of finishing the space station so the scientific research can be fully supported." (5/23)
Obama Nominates Bolden and Garver for NASA Posts (Source: White House)
President Obama announced his intent to nominate the Charles Bolden and Lori Garver for key administration posts: General Charles Bolden would serve as Administrator of NASA and Lori Garver would serve as NASA's Deputy Administrator. (5/23)
Shuttle Crew Targets Sunday Return (Source: Florida Today)
The Atlantis astronauts are backing out of deorbit preparations in the wake of another weather wave-off while mission managers hang on to hopes that conditions at Kennedy Space Center will clear enough for a Sunday morning landing on Florida's Space Coast. The shuttle and its crew now are targeting a 10:11 a.m. landing on NASA's three-mile shuttle runway, but the astronauts could take a cross-country detour to Edwards Air Force Base. (5/23)
ILS Wins SkyTerra Launch for Proton (Source: ILS)
International Launch Services (ILS) will launch the SkyTerra 2 satellite. This is the second of two satellite launches that ILS has been awarded from SkyTerra, following the selection of ILS in May 2007 to launch SkyTerra 1 on an ILS Proton launch vehicle. SkyTerra 2 is a Boeing 702 satellite, weighing 5.4 metric tons and is under construction by Boeing Satellite Systems in California. ILS and Khrunichev are implementing a schedule to support a launch in late 2010. (5/23)
Space Coast Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas had these words to say in support of Gen. Bolden's nomination to lead NASA: "I look forward to working with our new NASA administrator to ensure a robust human spaceflight program and to minimize the gap in order to protect jobs and support America's strategic interests. General Bolden is eminently qualified to accomplish this important mission." (5/23)
Nelson Grills NASA on Commercial Human Spaceflight Spending (Source: Space Politics)
While Alabama's Senator Shelby expressed concern about NASA's investments in commercial human transport services to the Space Station, Florida's Senator Nelson criticized NASA for not investing enough in the program. According to Nelson, the 2008 NASA authorization act required NASA to enter into agreements with two or more entities “for a Phase 1 Commercial Orbital Transportation Services crewed vehicle demonstration program [COTS-D].” Nelson said that $150 million was supposed to be used for COTS-D. “We had a unique opportunity this year, between the 2009 operating plan and the additional funds provided by the stimulus bill, and the development of the 2010 budget, to craft a COTS-D plan that would have funded the program at the level the folks needed,” Nelson said. “And that path was not pursued. NASA did not obey the law.” (5/23)
China Considering Manned Lunar Landing in 2025-2030 (Source: Xinhua)
A space scientist has said that Chinese scientists are considering the feasibility of a manned lunar landing mission at an appropriate time between 2025 and 2030. China will be able to fetch samples collected by unmanned lunar probe by 2017, Ye Peijian, chief designer of the lunar probe with China's Chang'e Project, said at a science lecture held Friday in Shanghai. (5/23)
Russia Aims at Return to Space Race (Source: Sunday Herald)
Russia seeking to revive its faded space race glory despite its worst economic crisis in a decade and a yawning funding gap between itself and its old Cold War rival - the United States. Plans are afoot to build a new spaceport, an overhauled space museum has just been opened in central Moscow and a tender to design a new generation of spacecraft has been launched. At the same time, scientists are monitoring a bizarre endurance experiment in Moscow supposed to simulate a manned mission to Mars.
Analysts say the Russian space program - a shadow of the Soviet program - is yet another example of the Kremlin seeking to capitalize on nostalgia for Soviet achievements to boost national pride and project strength on the world stage. All this comes as countries from China to India and Japan seek to stake out their claim to join the US, Russia and Europe in what is shaping up to be a new 21st century space race. (5/23)
Bolden Will Need 'Limited Waiver' to Serve as NASA Chief (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A top White House official said Charles Bolden would need a “limited waiver” from new ethics rules so his past would not violate conflict-of-interest regulations. Until March 2008, Bolden served on the board of directors for GenCorp, whose Aerojet subsidiary makes propulsion systems and maneuvering engines for the space shuttle and a new crewed capsule that NASA one day hopes will help return American astronauts to the moon.
An Obama executive order prohibits appointees from doing work that is “directly and substantially related to [a] former employer or former clients” and Bolden would be barred from participating in contract decisions that relate to GenCorp or Aerojet. That same restriction also would apply to companies that Bolden worked for in the recent past. The limited waiver, however, would allow Bolden “to participate in policy decisions that focus on major program objectives and capabilities,” according to the official. Without it, Bolden could have been barred from helping develop NASA’s next manned spacecraft -- an essential job responsibility for the man who would lead America’s space program. (5/23)
Senator Hutchison’s Statement on Bolden Nomination (Source: Sen. Hutchinson)
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Ranking Member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, released the following statement on the President’s intent to nominate Charles Bolden to be the next NASA Administrator. “I am delighted that the President intends to nominate retired Marine General and astronaut Charles Bolden to be the next NASA Administrator...I talked to General Bolden today following the announcement of his intended nomination. We discussed the importance of finishing the space station so the scientific research can be fully supported." (5/23)
Obama Nominates Bolden and Garver for NASA Posts (Source: White House)
President Obama announced his intent to nominate the Charles Bolden and Lori Garver for key administration posts: General Charles Bolden would serve as Administrator of NASA and Lori Garver would serve as NASA's Deputy Administrator. (5/23)
Shuttle Crew Targets Sunday Return (Source: Florida Today)
The Atlantis astronauts are backing out of deorbit preparations in the wake of another weather wave-off while mission managers hang on to hopes that conditions at Kennedy Space Center will clear enough for a Sunday morning landing on Florida's Space Coast. The shuttle and its crew now are targeting a 10:11 a.m. landing on NASA's three-mile shuttle runway, but the astronauts could take a cross-country detour to Edwards Air Force Base. (5/23)
ILS Wins SkyTerra Launch for Proton (Source: ILS)
International Launch Services (ILS) will launch the SkyTerra 2 satellite. This is the second of two satellite launches that ILS has been awarded from SkyTerra, following the selection of ILS in May 2007 to launch SkyTerra 1 on an ILS Proton launch vehicle. SkyTerra 2 is a Boeing 702 satellite, weighing 5.4 metric tons and is under construction by Boeing Satellite Systems in California. ILS and Khrunichev are implementing a schedule to support a launch in late 2010. (5/23)
May 22 News Items
Rocket Fuel: We're Going Back to the Moon to Get Water? (Source: What's New)
Last week, Science magazine was perpetuating the rocket-fuel-on-the-Moon fantasy. I don't know where it got started, but in March of 1998, Alan Binder, the chief scientist on the Lunar Prospector mission, exulted that, "for the first time, we know that when we go to another planetary body, we can fuel up." It seems that water, or ice, had been detected in lunar soil at the bottom of craters near the poles. Science magazine said last week that, "the lure of a resource easily convertible into to a high-energy fuel of oxygen and hydrogen has driven the decades long and often exasperating search for lunar ice." It's not nearly as exasperating as it will be in the unlikely event that they do find water and try to turn it into rocket fuel. If our planet is indeed covered with rocket fuel to a depth of miles, why is there an energy crisis? (5/22)
Russian Plan Would Save ISS Modules for "Shipyard" Work (Source: BBC)
Russia is making plans to detach and fly away its parts of the International Space Station when the time comes to de-orbit the rest of the outpost. Industry officials told BBC News of plans to keep the Russian ISS modules flying around a decade from now. ISS partners are optimistic they will be able to extend funding for the project beyond a current 2015 deadline. But most observers agree that most of the International Space Station will have to be scrapped around 2020. According to the plans, the remaining Russian modules will form the core of a new orbital outpost, which would serve as a haven and assembly shop for deep space missions heading to the Moon, Mars and beyond. (5/22)
UCF's Rosen College, Industry Leaders Host Space Tourism Conference (Source: UCF)
Senior hospitality, tourism and entertainment leaders will join space industry executives at a unique conference next week to talk about how their businesses can collaborate. The Space Investment Summit 6 will be held Wednesday, May 27, at the Omni Orlando Resort in ChampionsGate. The summit is organized in part by the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. The full-day summit will focus on rapidly expanding links between space and non-space industries and will bring together many of the most respected and creative minds to address issues such as the development of simulation and virtual space experiences. (5/22)
Senate Confirms Babbitt to Head FAA (Source: AIA)
The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Randy Babbitt, President Barack Obama's choice to lead the Federal Aviation Administration. The former president of the Air Line Pilots Association will face a long-simmering labor feud with air traffic controllers and oversee the rollout of the NextGen system. (5/22)
House Passes FAA Reauthorization Legislation (Source: AIA)
For the second time, the House of Representatives has passed its version of a bill reauthorizing the FAA. The legislation details have been debated for several months, and the version passed yesterday includes several amendments and provisions that sparked debate on the House floor. These include: a provision that would make it easier for FedEx employees to unionize by shifting jurisdiction of unionization rules to the National Labor Relations act; authorization of a congressional study of pilot training; and increased inspection of aircraft repair stations abroad. The legislation still must pass the Senate, which allowed a similar bill to die in 2007. (5/22)
NASA Study Shows Asteroids May Have Accelerated Life on Earth (Source: NASA)
A NASA-funded study indicates that an intense asteroid bombardment nearly 4 billion years ago may not have sterilized the early Earth as completely as previously thought. The asteroids, some the size of Kansas, possibly even provided a boost for early life. The study focused on a particularly cataclysmic occurrence known as the Late Heavy Bombardment, or LHB. This event occurred approximately 3.9 billion years ago and lasted 20 to 200 million years. The results show that while the Late Heavy Bombardment might have generated enough heat to sterilize Earth's surface, microbial life in subsurface and underwater environments almost certainly would have survived. (5/21)
NASA Set to Move Endeavour for Next Mission (Source: NASA)
In preparation for the STS-127 space shuttle mission in June. Shuttle Endeavour will move from Launch Pad 39B to pad 39A on May 30, and the STS-127 crew's launch dress rehearsal, known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, will take place from May 31 to June 2. Endeavour had been sitting on 39B for a potential rescue mission to save the crew of Atlantis in the event of an on-orbit emergency during their Hubble repair mission. (5/22)
Bolden's Lobbyist Past Could Be An Issue For NASA Nomination (Source: Science Insider)
Last weekend, several media outlets reported that the White House was on the verge of nominating former astronaut Charles Bolden Jr. as the administrator of NASA. The only step along the way was supposed to be a meeting between the 62-year-old Bolden and President Barack Obama. The meeting did take place on Tuesday, but a nomination seems unlikely this week.
It's possible that Bolden's past as a lobbyist for ATK, a manufacturer of rocket boosters, and his connection until March 2008 to GenCorp, which provides propulsion systems for the space shuttle, is raising concerns about a possible conflict with Obama's ethics policy. The policy bars appointees from participating in matters involving former clients for 2 years from the appointment date. White House officials have not offered any statements about how the policy might impact Bolden's capability to make decisions as NASA head. There's also no indication on whether the Administration will seek a waiver to enable his appointment, as it has done with some previous appointments. (5/21)
Bolden's Lobbyist Past Shouldn't Be An Issue (Source: Space Politics)
So Bolden was a registered lobbyist for ATK for a few months, recorded less than $10,000 in income, and eventually stated that the lobbyist registration was a mistake. Should this be an obstacle to a potential NASA administrator nomination? It does not run afoul of the White House’s executive order issued just after President Obama took office, which has only a two-year statue of limitations on lobbying activity. (It also, strictly speaking, refers only to “appointees”, not “nominees” for positions that require Senate confirmation.) If there are reasons why Bolden should not be NASA administrator, this, it seems, should not be one of them. (5/22)
How to Build an Affordable Spaceplane (Source: Time Compression)
Take off from a typical airstrip, fly a nearly vertical maneuver to 200,000 feet at twice the speed of sound, make a slow backflip, take a few snapshots of the earth while you linger a few minutes at zero G, and spiral down safely back to the runway. Refuel and repeat. That’s the 30-minute flight plan for the Lynx, a two-seat suborbital air/spacecraft developed by XCOR Aerospace, one of a handful of companies chasing the dream of private space travel. Their reusable craft will fly several times a day, taking sightseers to the edge of space--for a $95,000-ticket. Click here to view the article. (5/22)
Talis Enterprise Signs Dev Deal with SPL, Malaysian Space Tourism Group (Source: Parabolic Arc)
From the Talis Enterprise website comes news of a joint development agreement between the German space tourism company, the Swiss Propulsion Laboratory (SPL), and Space Tourism Society, Malaysian Chapter (STSMC). According to the press release: "A goal is it to develop space travel systems for research institutes or for space tourism operators." (5/22)
NASA Targets Saturday Landing (Source: Florida Today)
The Atlantis astronauts will spend at least one extra day in space, due to weather conditions in Florida that have scrubbed a Friday landing at KSC. They'll make another attempt to land at KSC early Saturday but conditions could divert the crew to a back-up site in California or keep them in orbit yet another day. Atlantis will have two shots at landing at KSC on Saturday: 9:16 a.m. and 10:54 a.m. Two opportunities also would be available at Edwards Air Force Base in California: 10:46 a.m. and 12:24 p.m. EDT. (5/22)
Russia Orbits Military Satellite (Source: Itar-Tass)
Russia successfully launched and orbited a military Kosmos communications satellite aboard a Soyuz rocket. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin said last month the space military information system will get two communication satellites this year, as well as “a principally new reconnaissance craft.” “It was the sixth successful launch of the modernized Soyuz-2 rocket in the framework of test flights,” said Sergei Tyulevin, first deputy director of Progress design bureau, adding launches will continue from Plesetsk, Baikonur, and Kourou in French Guiana. The basic Soyuz rocket accomplished 1650 launches. “It is the most reliable, the most widely launched rocket in modern space research,” Tyulevin said. (5/22)
Last week, Science magazine was perpetuating the rocket-fuel-on-the-Moon fantasy. I don't know where it got started, but in March of 1998, Alan Binder, the chief scientist on the Lunar Prospector mission, exulted that, "for the first time, we know that when we go to another planetary body, we can fuel up." It seems that water, or ice, had been detected in lunar soil at the bottom of craters near the poles. Science magazine said last week that, "the lure of a resource easily convertible into to a high-energy fuel of oxygen and hydrogen has driven the decades long and often exasperating search for lunar ice." It's not nearly as exasperating as it will be in the unlikely event that they do find water and try to turn it into rocket fuel. If our planet is indeed covered with rocket fuel to a depth of miles, why is there an energy crisis? (5/22)
Russian Plan Would Save ISS Modules for "Shipyard" Work (Source: BBC)
Russia is making plans to detach and fly away its parts of the International Space Station when the time comes to de-orbit the rest of the outpost. Industry officials told BBC News of plans to keep the Russian ISS modules flying around a decade from now. ISS partners are optimistic they will be able to extend funding for the project beyond a current 2015 deadline. But most observers agree that most of the International Space Station will have to be scrapped around 2020. According to the plans, the remaining Russian modules will form the core of a new orbital outpost, which would serve as a haven and assembly shop for deep space missions heading to the Moon, Mars and beyond. (5/22)
UCF's Rosen College, Industry Leaders Host Space Tourism Conference (Source: UCF)
Senior hospitality, tourism and entertainment leaders will join space industry executives at a unique conference next week to talk about how their businesses can collaborate. The Space Investment Summit 6 will be held Wednesday, May 27, at the Omni Orlando Resort in ChampionsGate. The summit is organized in part by the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. The full-day summit will focus on rapidly expanding links between space and non-space industries and will bring together many of the most respected and creative minds to address issues such as the development of simulation and virtual space experiences. (5/22)
Senate Confirms Babbitt to Head FAA (Source: AIA)
The Senate voted Thursday to confirm Randy Babbitt, President Barack Obama's choice to lead the Federal Aviation Administration. The former president of the Air Line Pilots Association will face a long-simmering labor feud with air traffic controllers and oversee the rollout of the NextGen system. (5/22)
House Passes FAA Reauthorization Legislation (Source: AIA)
For the second time, the House of Representatives has passed its version of a bill reauthorizing the FAA. The legislation details have been debated for several months, and the version passed yesterday includes several amendments and provisions that sparked debate on the House floor. These include: a provision that would make it easier for FedEx employees to unionize by shifting jurisdiction of unionization rules to the National Labor Relations act; authorization of a congressional study of pilot training; and increased inspection of aircraft repair stations abroad. The legislation still must pass the Senate, which allowed a similar bill to die in 2007. (5/22)
NASA Study Shows Asteroids May Have Accelerated Life on Earth (Source: NASA)
A NASA-funded study indicates that an intense asteroid bombardment nearly 4 billion years ago may not have sterilized the early Earth as completely as previously thought. The asteroids, some the size of Kansas, possibly even provided a boost for early life. The study focused on a particularly cataclysmic occurrence known as the Late Heavy Bombardment, or LHB. This event occurred approximately 3.9 billion years ago and lasted 20 to 200 million years. The results show that while the Late Heavy Bombardment might have generated enough heat to sterilize Earth's surface, microbial life in subsurface and underwater environments almost certainly would have survived. (5/21)
NASA Set to Move Endeavour for Next Mission (Source: NASA)
In preparation for the STS-127 space shuttle mission in June. Shuttle Endeavour will move from Launch Pad 39B to pad 39A on May 30, and the STS-127 crew's launch dress rehearsal, known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test, will take place from May 31 to June 2. Endeavour had been sitting on 39B for a potential rescue mission to save the crew of Atlantis in the event of an on-orbit emergency during their Hubble repair mission. (5/22)
Bolden's Lobbyist Past Could Be An Issue For NASA Nomination (Source: Science Insider)
Last weekend, several media outlets reported that the White House was on the verge of nominating former astronaut Charles Bolden Jr. as the administrator of NASA. The only step along the way was supposed to be a meeting between the 62-year-old Bolden and President Barack Obama. The meeting did take place on Tuesday, but a nomination seems unlikely this week.
It's possible that Bolden's past as a lobbyist for ATK, a manufacturer of rocket boosters, and his connection until March 2008 to GenCorp, which provides propulsion systems for the space shuttle, is raising concerns about a possible conflict with Obama's ethics policy. The policy bars appointees from participating in matters involving former clients for 2 years from the appointment date. White House officials have not offered any statements about how the policy might impact Bolden's capability to make decisions as NASA head. There's also no indication on whether the Administration will seek a waiver to enable his appointment, as it has done with some previous appointments. (5/21)
Bolden's Lobbyist Past Shouldn't Be An Issue (Source: Space Politics)
So Bolden was a registered lobbyist for ATK for a few months, recorded less than $10,000 in income, and eventually stated that the lobbyist registration was a mistake. Should this be an obstacle to a potential NASA administrator nomination? It does not run afoul of the White House’s executive order issued just after President Obama took office, which has only a two-year statue of limitations on lobbying activity. (It also, strictly speaking, refers only to “appointees”, not “nominees” for positions that require Senate confirmation.) If there are reasons why Bolden should not be NASA administrator, this, it seems, should not be one of them. (5/22)
How to Build an Affordable Spaceplane (Source: Time Compression)
Take off from a typical airstrip, fly a nearly vertical maneuver to 200,000 feet at twice the speed of sound, make a slow backflip, take a few snapshots of the earth while you linger a few minutes at zero G, and spiral down safely back to the runway. Refuel and repeat. That’s the 30-minute flight plan for the Lynx, a two-seat suborbital air/spacecraft developed by XCOR Aerospace, one of a handful of companies chasing the dream of private space travel. Their reusable craft will fly several times a day, taking sightseers to the edge of space--for a $95,000-ticket. Click here to view the article. (5/22)
Talis Enterprise Signs Dev Deal with SPL, Malaysian Space Tourism Group (Source: Parabolic Arc)
From the Talis Enterprise website comes news of a joint development agreement between the German space tourism company, the Swiss Propulsion Laboratory (SPL), and Space Tourism Society, Malaysian Chapter (STSMC). According to the press release: "A goal is it to develop space travel systems for research institutes or for space tourism operators." (5/22)
NASA Targets Saturday Landing (Source: Florida Today)
The Atlantis astronauts will spend at least one extra day in space, due to weather conditions in Florida that have scrubbed a Friday landing at KSC. They'll make another attempt to land at KSC early Saturday but conditions could divert the crew to a back-up site in California or keep them in orbit yet another day. Atlantis will have two shots at landing at KSC on Saturday: 9:16 a.m. and 10:54 a.m. Two opportunities also would be available at Edwards Air Force Base in California: 10:46 a.m. and 12:24 p.m. EDT. (5/22)
Russia Orbits Military Satellite (Source: Itar-Tass)
Russia successfully launched and orbited a military Kosmos communications satellite aboard a Soyuz rocket. Russian Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin said last month the space military information system will get two communication satellites this year, as well as “a principally new reconnaissance craft.” “It was the sixth successful launch of the modernized Soyuz-2 rocket in the framework of test flights,” said Sergei Tyulevin, first deputy director of Progress design bureau, adding launches will continue from Plesetsk, Baikonur, and Kourou in French Guiana. The basic Soyuz rocket accomplished 1650 launches. “It is the most reliable, the most widely launched rocket in modern space research,” Tyulevin said. (5/22)
May 21 News Items
Alabama Senator Knocks Constellation Study, SpaceX (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A White House plan to evaluate the future of NASA’s next spacecraft has at least one critic: U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, who called the upcoming study an ill-timed effort that would hinder NASA’s plans to develop Ares-1 as a replacement to the space shuttle. “Instead of providing Constellation with funds to move forward, it is delaying the current mission while seeking to have a do-over on plans that have been authorized by both a Republican and Democratic Congress,” said Shelby.
Shelby also derided private efforts – funded in part by NASA and nicknamed COTS – to build a commercial fleet that could re-supply the International Space Station, especially the rocket company SpaceX led by Internet whiz-kid Elon Musk. “Unfortunately, the reality is that out of four attempts, they [SpaceX] have only delivered a single dummy payload to space, have never delivered any payload to the space station, much less a human. However grandiose the claims of proponents for Commercial Orbital Transportation Services part D (COTS-D) are, they cannot substitute for the painful truth of failed performance at present,” Shelby said. (5/21)
Russian Rockets Readied for South America Launch (Source: AFP)
The maker of Russia's Soyuz rockets said on Thursday it had finished building the first rockets due to be launched from South America pad in cooperation with the European Space Agency. "The first two rockets are ready. They have got through all the tests and have been placed in the containers in which they will be delivered," said a Russian official. The newly updated Soyuz-ST rockets are to be launched from French Guiana, an overseas department of France located on the north coast of South America.
The rockets will be delivered in September and the first launch will take place on December 28, following considerable delays in the project. The move to French Guiana is a major step for Russia, which has mostly relied on the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan from where the first man-made object and the first astronaut were launched into space. Launching Russian rockets so close to the United States is likely to send a strong message about Russia's continued role in space. (5/21)
Mars Water Could Have Been Cold and Salty (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Liquid water may have existed on Mars early in its history even at sub-freezing temperatures because of the presence of ions in the water. In a paper published in the current issue of Nature, scientists used models of water mixed with sulfur, iron, and other ions at concentrations similar to what is found on the Martian surface today. The studies found that water remained liquid at temperatures as low as -28 degrees Celsius and also precipitated minerals like those seen on Mars today. The required concentrations are not much stronger than found in terrestrial salt water, suggesting that such water could have been hospitable to life. (5/21)
Recent Earthquake Activity Near Alaska Spaceport (Source: Space Pork Kodiak)
Multiple earthquakes in the Kodiak vicinity raise concerns about conditions at the Narrow Cape fault which underlies the Kodiak Launch Complex. The potential for a large magnitude earthquake resulting in damage at the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) is increasing at this time. (5/15)
Alaska Spaceport Wasn't Wanted and They Couldn't Pay Their Own Way (Source: Space Pork Kodiak)
When, in 1997, the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation suddenly received $18 million dollars in federal funding for its planned rocket launch site on Kodiak Island, it was no secret U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska had pulled some strings. New evidence indicates Stevens not only pulled, but pushed, strong-arming Missile Defense commanders on behalf of AADC.
The money appeared in a Pentagon spending bill during a House-Senate conference in the fall of 1996. $23 million was added to the budget of a small Air Force missile defense program. $5 million would be spent on two launches for the program — the remaining $18 million was earmarked for construction of the Kodiak Launch Complex. Newspapers at the time reported the Air Force did not solicit the funding. Click here to view the article from Dec. '08. (12/08)
Science(?) Fiction from Sarah Palin: Launch Pad to Nowhere (Source: Space Pork Kodiak)
Sarah Palin repeats the "build it and they will come" false rhetoric we've heard from the Alaska Aerospace Development Corp. (AADC) since 1995. "Significant Growth?" - only if the $17.5 million in state and federal funds AADC has received this year continues for years to come. And the growth will not be number of launches or more business; just a larger white elephant marring the Narrow Cape landscape. Expand the infrastructure for less than one launch per year on average for the life of the facility.
KLC is NOT the "best equipped [launch facility] anywhere": it does not have the capacity to store more than one rocket at any one time. And, try getting your personnel to Kodiak when Mt. Redoubt erupts ash and all the flights are grounded; or the fog rolls in and flights from Anchorage can't get in for days at a time.
The only launch customer for the KLC has been the U.S. government with all but one launch being overtly military. Keep in mind that while Governor Palin doesn't want to accept federal stimulus money for education, she has requested increased pork barrel funding for the Kodiak Launch Complex. Our fiscal conservative wants to spend more of your tax dollars on a facility that cannot even support itself with launch revenues. It's a kind of "launch pad to nowhere" scenario. (4/29)
NASA Hampered by Budget, Safety Concerns, Critics Charge (Source: AIA)
Former astronauts and NASA officials point to the rescue of the Hubble Space Telescope as a case study on the value of a well-funded space program. "It's a great example of why you have men in space and the value of men in space," said George Abbey, a former director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Walter Cunningham, who piloted the lunar module on Apollo 7, said budget concerns are not the only consideration hindering NASA. "Space is never going to be cheap. And it's never going to be safe," Cunningham said. "Sometimes that's the price you pay for progress." (5/21)
Air Force Unfunded Priorities List Includes ORS Satellite (Source: AIA)
The Air Force has drawn up a list of $1.9 billion in unfunded priorities for 2010, topped by $180.2 million for two additional Bombardier Global Express communications aircraft. The list, compiled by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, also includes $78 million to upgrade EC-130s and $103.4 million for an infrared imaging satellite known as ORS-1. (5/21)
ATK Successfully Deploys Parachutes for Ares I (Source: Salt Lake Tribune)
Three giant parachutes successfully deployed over the Yuma desert early Wednesday morning, marking one more step toward sending astronauts to the moon and beyond in the space shuttle replacement, the Ares I. The three parachutes, each with a 150-foot diameter or about half the size of a football field, slowed a 41,500-pound weight that simulates the size of the Ares I first-stage booster. The parachutes are the largest of their type in the world. The weight and chutes were dropped from a C-17 aircraft at 10,000 feet, and successfully deployed at 4,500 feet above the U.S. Army's Yuma Testing Ground.
United Space Alliance at the Kennedy Space Center, who subcontracted with ATK, manufactured the parachutes. Designers modeled the parachutes after the 136-foot diameter ones that currently slow the solid rocket boosters from the space shuttle enough to splash down into the Atlantic Ocean. The new chutes also will slow the Ares I rocket for an Atlantic landing, where the rockets will be recovered, refurbished and reused. (5/21)
A White House plan to evaluate the future of NASA’s next spacecraft has at least one critic: U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, who called the upcoming study an ill-timed effort that would hinder NASA’s plans to develop Ares-1 as a replacement to the space shuttle. “Instead of providing Constellation with funds to move forward, it is delaying the current mission while seeking to have a do-over on plans that have been authorized by both a Republican and Democratic Congress,” said Shelby.
Shelby also derided private efforts – funded in part by NASA and nicknamed COTS – to build a commercial fleet that could re-supply the International Space Station, especially the rocket company SpaceX led by Internet whiz-kid Elon Musk. “Unfortunately, the reality is that out of four attempts, they [SpaceX] have only delivered a single dummy payload to space, have never delivered any payload to the space station, much less a human. However grandiose the claims of proponents for Commercial Orbital Transportation Services part D (COTS-D) are, they cannot substitute for the painful truth of failed performance at present,” Shelby said. (5/21)
Russian Rockets Readied for South America Launch (Source: AFP)
The maker of Russia's Soyuz rockets said on Thursday it had finished building the first rockets due to be launched from South America pad in cooperation with the European Space Agency. "The first two rockets are ready. They have got through all the tests and have been placed in the containers in which they will be delivered," said a Russian official. The newly updated Soyuz-ST rockets are to be launched from French Guiana, an overseas department of France located on the north coast of South America.
The rockets will be delivered in September and the first launch will take place on December 28, following considerable delays in the project. The move to French Guiana is a major step for Russia, which has mostly relied on the Baikonur launch pad in Kazakhstan from where the first man-made object and the first astronaut were launched into space. Launching Russian rockets so close to the United States is likely to send a strong message about Russia's continued role in space. (5/21)
Mars Water Could Have Been Cold and Salty (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Liquid water may have existed on Mars early in its history even at sub-freezing temperatures because of the presence of ions in the water. In a paper published in the current issue of Nature, scientists used models of water mixed with sulfur, iron, and other ions at concentrations similar to what is found on the Martian surface today. The studies found that water remained liquid at temperatures as low as -28 degrees Celsius and also precipitated minerals like those seen on Mars today. The required concentrations are not much stronger than found in terrestrial salt water, suggesting that such water could have been hospitable to life. (5/21)
Recent Earthquake Activity Near Alaska Spaceport (Source: Space Pork Kodiak)
Multiple earthquakes in the Kodiak vicinity raise concerns about conditions at the Narrow Cape fault which underlies the Kodiak Launch Complex. The potential for a large magnitude earthquake resulting in damage at the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) is increasing at this time. (5/15)
Alaska Spaceport Wasn't Wanted and They Couldn't Pay Their Own Way (Source: Space Pork Kodiak)
When, in 1997, the Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation suddenly received $18 million dollars in federal funding for its planned rocket launch site on Kodiak Island, it was no secret U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska had pulled some strings. New evidence indicates Stevens not only pulled, but pushed, strong-arming Missile Defense commanders on behalf of AADC.
The money appeared in a Pentagon spending bill during a House-Senate conference in the fall of 1996. $23 million was added to the budget of a small Air Force missile defense program. $5 million would be spent on two launches for the program — the remaining $18 million was earmarked for construction of the Kodiak Launch Complex. Newspapers at the time reported the Air Force did not solicit the funding. Click here to view the article from Dec. '08. (12/08)
Science(?) Fiction from Sarah Palin: Launch Pad to Nowhere (Source: Space Pork Kodiak)
Sarah Palin repeats the "build it and they will come" false rhetoric we've heard from the Alaska Aerospace Development Corp. (AADC) since 1995. "Significant Growth?" - only if the $17.5 million in state and federal funds AADC has received this year continues for years to come. And the growth will not be number of launches or more business; just a larger white elephant marring the Narrow Cape landscape. Expand the infrastructure for less than one launch per year on average for the life of the facility.
KLC is NOT the "best equipped [launch facility] anywhere": it does not have the capacity to store more than one rocket at any one time. And, try getting your personnel to Kodiak when Mt. Redoubt erupts ash and all the flights are grounded; or the fog rolls in and flights from Anchorage can't get in for days at a time.
The only launch customer for the KLC has been the U.S. government with all but one launch being overtly military. Keep in mind that while Governor Palin doesn't want to accept federal stimulus money for education, she has requested increased pork barrel funding for the Kodiak Launch Complex. Our fiscal conservative wants to spend more of your tax dollars on a facility that cannot even support itself with launch revenues. It's a kind of "launch pad to nowhere" scenario. (4/29)
NASA Hampered by Budget, Safety Concerns, Critics Charge (Source: AIA)
Former astronauts and NASA officials point to the rescue of the Hubble Space Telescope as a case study on the value of a well-funded space program. "It's a great example of why you have men in space and the value of men in space," said George Abbey, a former director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Walter Cunningham, who piloted the lunar module on Apollo 7, said budget concerns are not the only consideration hindering NASA. "Space is never going to be cheap. And it's never going to be safe," Cunningham said. "Sometimes that's the price you pay for progress." (5/21)
Air Force Unfunded Priorities List Includes ORS Satellite (Source: AIA)
The Air Force has drawn up a list of $1.9 billion in unfunded priorities for 2010, topped by $180.2 million for two additional Bombardier Global Express communications aircraft. The list, compiled by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz, also includes $78 million to upgrade EC-130s and $103.4 million for an infrared imaging satellite known as ORS-1. (5/21)
ATK Successfully Deploys Parachutes for Ares I (Source: Salt Lake Tribune)
Three giant parachutes successfully deployed over the Yuma desert early Wednesday morning, marking one more step toward sending astronauts to the moon and beyond in the space shuttle replacement, the Ares I. The three parachutes, each with a 150-foot diameter or about half the size of a football field, slowed a 41,500-pound weight that simulates the size of the Ares I first-stage booster. The parachutes are the largest of their type in the world. The weight and chutes were dropped from a C-17 aircraft at 10,000 feet, and successfully deployed at 4,500 feet above the U.S. Army's Yuma Testing Ground.
United Space Alliance at the Kennedy Space Center, who subcontracted with ATK, manufactured the parachutes. Designers modeled the parachutes after the 136-foot diameter ones that currently slow the solid rocket boosters from the space shuttle enough to splash down into the Atlantic Ocean. The new chutes also will slow the Ares I rocket for an Atlantic landing, where the rockets will be recovered, refurbished and reused. (5/21)
May 20 News Items
Senior NASA Scientist Slams Constellation Program (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
With NASA about to undergo a White House-ordered review of its Constellation rocket program to return astronauts to the moon by 2020, a senior agency scientist came out this week and attacked NASA’s current plans as being “out of synchronization” with the needs of scientists. David Leckrone, NASA's senior Hubble Space Telescope scientist, told reporters that the agency's next generation rockets did not have the capabilities of the shuttle to haul cargo and help astronauts do complicated missions like the Hubble servicing trip.
He is the first senior NASA official to publicly attack the troubled Constellation program, as well as NASA’s decision to retire the space shuttle in favor of what he sees as less capable spacecraft. Leckrone said he worried that the Constellation program, struggling with tight budgets and technical problems, is "just plowing ahead, producing what they're able to produce within all the constraints.
Leckrone said that Constellation managers and designers are not talking to some of their prime customers: scientists. He said during the initial development of the shuttle program, engineers and NASA officials sought input from the scientific community. "I don't see any similar activity going on in the Constellation program, where they're actively engaging their potential user base to get requirements that should go into their basic design," Leckrone said. "End of story." (5/20)
Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Supports Spaceport (Source: Washington Post)
In a Q&A with voters, Democratic candidate Brian Moran answered a question about the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport..."Will you support its expansion to launch astonauts from there in the next decade in competition with Florida?" His answer: "Absolutely. This is a great example of an innovative approach that can create jobs, put people back to work, and help families on the Eastern Shore. The Spaceport has tremendous potential and I carried legislation to help move their work forward. The work of the spaceport is yet another reason why I am opposed to offshore drilling. We can't realize the potential of this innovative approach if we build oil rigs off the Eastern Shore." (5/20)
Space Pioneers Battle for Greater Freedom (Source: New Scientist)
Civilian space flight companies are this week pressing the US government to change strict arms-control rules that could cripple their nascent industry. At issue are the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which are supposed to prevent technological secrets ending up in the hands of 21 proscribed nations, including China, Iran and North Korea. If a technology appears on a document called the US Munitions List, companies need a licence to export it or to reveal details to a foreign national. Even if granted, the licence often forces the firm to mount a security guard on the system while it is in another country.
The list contains very broad definitions of what should be kept secret, and even includes spacecraft hatches and windows. "That list is written for a cold war world," says Mike Gold of Bigelow Aerospace in Washington DC, which plans to fly crewed inflatable habitats in Earth orbit. "Any space technology, no matter how benign, such as a solar panel or the table you support a craft on in the workshop, is covered by it." Gold speaks from experience. In 2006, Bigelow launched a model habitat called Genesis 1 on a Russian ballistic missile. ITAR requirements cost the firm $1 million, including $220,000 for two American guards to watch over a support stand no more advanced than a coffee table. (5/20)
Northrop Grumman Wins Terahertz Contract (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Northrop Grumman phase 1 of the $37-million Terahertz (THz) Electronics contract. Work on the contract will support military and space satellites with the development of active receivers and transmitters operating at 670 gigahertz that ensure reliable, high-resolution images, and other applications. (5/20)
There's a Satellite Gap Too (Source: AP)
Poor planning and unproven technologies on key Pentagon space programs have led to large cost overruns, delays and possible gaps in military satellite capabilities, according to congressional investigators. Delays of at least seven years in some satellite programs have led to potential gaps in protected military communications, navigation tools, missile warning systems and other areas, a Government Accountability Office official told lawmakers Wednesday. (5/20)
Arianespace Chosen to Launch Alphasat (Source: Arianespace)
Inmarsat has chosen Arianespace to launch its new Alphasat I-XL communications satellite. This contract follows a partnership agreement between Inmarsat and the European Space Agency (ESA) concerning the commercialization of the first mission to use the new European platform, Alphabus. Planned for launch in 2012, Alphasat I-XL will be carried by an Ariane 5 ECA from Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite will weigh more than six metric tons at launch. (5/20)
Six New European Astronauts Prepare for Final Frontier (Source: CNN)
Two Italians, a Dane, a German, a Frenchman and a Brit walk into a space station... or will, in 2013, if all goes according to European Space Agency plans. Europe's six new astronauts hope to join their American counterparts on the Internation Space Station. They were chosen from more than 8,400 candidates, and are the first new ESA astronauts since 1992. They include two military test pilots, one fighter pilot and one commercial pilot, plus an engineer and a physicist. (5/20)
Two New Canadian Astronauts (Source: Space-Travel.com)
Nearly 25 years after the first Canadian astronaut flew into space and only weeks before two Canadian space veterans launch to the International Space Station, the Honorable Industry Minister Tony Clement and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) President Steve MacLean revealed the names of Canada's newest astronauts. Jeremy Hansen and David St-Jacques are the first Canadians to join the astronaut corps since 1992. The new astronauts were chosen among 5,351 applicants. Through the year-long recruitment process, candidates underwent evaluations ranging from robotics to physical fitness testing. (5/14)
GPS Could Go South, Report Says (Source: Jacksonville Business Journal)
The Global Positioning System, a great boon to drivers too proud to ask directions, faces “significant challenges” as its satellites age and fail over the next few years. A report from the Government Accountability Office says the U.S. Air Force is rushing to upgrade the complex system, but may not be able to prevent service problems. GPS information is provided free by the United States, and its signals are used in countless products, from Apple’s iPhone to automobiles.
The latest GPS satellite program, block IIF, is already $870 million over budget and “significant technical problems...still threaten its delivery schedule.” About 30 GPS satellites, the oldest launched in the 1990s, are in orbit now. New satellites in the IIF block are three years late, and the first of them won’t be launched until November at the earliest, the GAO said. (5/20)
Bad Weather May Disrupt Shuttle Landing Schedule (Source: AP)
Astronauts are conserving power on the space shuttle Atlantis because bad weather in Florida may keep them in orbit longer than planned. Storms could delay a scheduled Friday landing at Kennedy Space Center. NASA can try again in Florida on Saturday and if that doesn't work, they have several options for a Sunday landing. (5/20)
2025 LEO Shipyard is New ESA, Roscosmos Goal (Source: Flight Global)
A shipyard in low Earth orbit that assembles Moon or Mars ships consisting of multinational elements for propulsion, habitation and re-entry capsules is a post-International Space Station vision being drawn up by the European Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). While agency talks continue on extending ISS use from its original end date of 2016 to at least 2020, ESA and its Russian counterpart discussed in mid-March space infrastructure that could support a capability for missions beyond LEO. (5/20)
Minotaur Rocket Launches from Virginia Spaceport (Source: NASA)
NASA's PharmaSat nanosatellite successfully launched at 7:55 p.m. EDT Tuesday from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport located at Wallops Island, Va. PharmaSat rode to orbit aboard a four-stage Air Force Minotaur 1 rocket. Also aboard were the Air Force Research Laboratory's TacSat-3 satellite and other NASA CubeSat Technology Demonstration experiments, which include three four-inch cubed satellites developed by universities and industry. (5/20)
Iran Fires Test Missile, Bringing Europe in Range (Source: AIA)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country successfully launched a medium-range rocket Wednesday morning and has no plans to back down on its nuclear program. Iran says its Sajil-2 solid-fuel booster rockets have a range of 1,250 miles -- enough to hit Moscow, Athens or southern Italy. (5/20)
Obama, Bolden Discuss Future of NASA (Source: Miami Herald)
President Barack Obama met Tuesday with former astronaut Charles Bolden to discuss his increasingly likely nomination as NASA chief and explore the former Marine Corp. general's vision for the beleaguered space agency. Bolden, who would be the first African-American to lead NASA, met in the morning with Obama in the White House Roosevelt Room across from the Oval Office. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs gave the clearest indication to date that the president has all but settled on his choice. Gibbs said Obama 'hopes that he's the right person to lead NASA in the coming years. Bolden would be the second astronaut to head NASA, following Dick Truly. (5/20)
Editorial: Delays in Planning Could Cost Aerospace Jobs (Source: Houston Chronicle)
The dramatic images of a space shuttle launch lighting up the Florida sky, or of a spacewalking astronaut hundreds of miles away, sometime mask one of the true achievements of Americas space program: the economic development it has spawned here on Earth. Our national ambition to explore space has brought us tremendous discovery and unparalleled moments of pride. It has also created an industry. The aerospace sector has created tens of thousands of well-paying, high-tech jobs and generated thriving communities all of which are under threat if our government doesnt act quickly. Click here to view the editorial. (5/20)
Members Express Concerns Over Human Spaceflight's Future at NASA (Source: House Republican Caucus)
The Committee on Science and Technology held a hearing on the President’s FY-2010 NASA Budget Request. Republican Members expressed concerns to acting NASA Administrator Christopher Scolese over insufficient funding to develop the next generation manned launch vehicle in a timely manner after retirement of the Space Shuttle. Similar concerns were expressed by a number of Members on both sides of the aisle at a hearing last week with Dr. John Holdren, President Obama’s science advisor.
“NASA is one area of the federal budget where I think some increases are justified,” said Science and Technology Committee Ranking Member Ralph Hall (R-TX). “As I said to Dr. Holdren last week, I am very concerned that priorities may be shifting away from human space exploration at a very critical time.” While NASA’s proposed FY10 budget is $18.7 billion, an increase of 5.1% over the enacted FY09 appropriation for NASA, the budget projection beyond FY10 is essentially flat through FY13. Several members expressed concern that this has deleted nearly all of the out-year funding for the Altair Lunar Lander and for the heavy-lift Ares 5 launch vehicle. (5/20)
NASA Chief Rules Out Extension of Shuttle's Life (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The acting NASA chief on Tuesday essentially ruled out extending the life of the space shuttle beyond its eight remaining missions. Acting Administrator Chris Scolese said that NASA and Lockheed Martin already have begun shutting down the New Orleans facility that builds the shuttle's external fuel tank and that it would take three years to restart the production line.
That timeline further dims hopes that the shuttle era can be extended beyond its scheduled retirement in 2010 or 2011, because there would be a two- or three-year wait for a fuel tank. "There would still be a gap," Scolese told a House committee. Click here to view the article. (5/20)
Endeavor Countdown Begins Wednesday for Potential Rescue Mission (Source: CFN-13)
NASA will begin a three-day countdown Wednesday to launch shuttle Endeavour, if needed. The shuttle and its rescue crew are on standby in case a heat shield inspection on Atlantis Tuesday turns up damage that might endanger its Hubble Space Telescope servicing crew during atmospheric reentry. (5/20)
Boeing Loses Lawsuit on Pricing for GPS Satellites (Source: AP)
The Air Force can disclose the rates that Boeing charged for the next generation of global positioning satellites to the public and its competitors, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. The ruling rejects Boeing's effort to reverse an Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center decision to comply with a Freedom of Information request filed five years ago about the satellite contract the company won in 1996.
Chicago-based Boeing says it believes the request, filed through a third party, is from its chief competitor, Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp. Boeing objected to the release of pricing information. The company says disclosing the information will allow competitors to figure out its labor and profit rates, which the company wants to keep secret. (5/20)
Astrium To Train Engineers, Build Satellites for Kazakhstan (Source: Space News)
Europe's Astrium space hardware and services company has signed a broad partnership agreement with the government of Kazakhstan expected to lead to Astrium's training of more than 100 Kazakh engineers, the creation of a joint satellite integration center in Kazakhstan, and the purchase by Kazakhstan of two Astrium-built optical Earth observation satellites, Astrium announced May 19. (5/20)
Boeing Renews Protest of Lockheed's GOES-R Award (Source: Space News)
In its second protest of the same contract award, Boeing is asking the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review NASA's recent decision to stick with Lockheed Martin as prime contractor for the billion-dollar GOES-R meteorological satellites, Boeing said May 19. The latest appeal asks the General Accountability Office to look into alleged "serious flaws and lack of transparency" in NASA's decision to choose Lockheed Martin to build as many as four GOES-R civilian weather satellites. (5/20)
RSCC Orders Two Satellites from Reshetnev-Thales Alenia Space Team (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC) has tentatively selected ISS Reshetnev of Russia and Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy to build two large multiband telecommunications satellites under a contract valued at $370 million, Moscow-based RSCC announced May 19. (5/20)
PLDT Scraps ProtoStar Stock Deal (Source: Space News)
The Philippine Long Distance Co. (PLDT) announced May 18 it has canceled agreements with embattled start-up satellite operator ProtoStar under which ProtoStar would lease capacity on PLDT's existing satellite and take control of the satellite's customer contracts and ground assets in exchange for ProtoStar stock, and PLDT would make a separate cash investment in Protostar. (5/20)
Eutelsat Sales Up More Than 5 Percent (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat on May 14 reported a 5.6 percent increase in revenue for three months ending March 31 compared to a year ago and said all three of its principal business lines contributed to the growth. (5/20)
Eutelsat W2A's S-band Antenna Malfunctions (Source: Space News)
The 12-meter-diameter S-band antenna aboard the Eutelsat W2A satellite launched April 4 has suffered an anomaly that may reduce its ability to provide service across Europe as required by its regulatory license, one of two granted May 14, according to industry officials. (5/20)
China, Brazil to Offer Satellite Data to Africa (Source: Xinhua)
China and Brazil will provide satellite observation data for African countries through a joint space program, according to agreements inked here on Wednesday. The Earth receiving stations of Hartebeeshoek in South Africa, Aswan in Egypt and Maspaloms in Spain will process and distribute data from the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite-02B (CBERS-02B) to African states. "It's also for the first time China became an exporter of Earth observation data," said Guo Jianning, general director of the China Center for Resources Satellite Data and Application. (5/20)
Augustine Panel's Review Seen as 'Test' (Source: Florida Today)
NASA employees have mixed reactions to President Barack Obama's decision to name an independent panel to review the agency's manned space exploration program, NASA's acting administrator said Tuesday. "No one likes to take a test, and this is a test," Christopher Scolese told members of the U.S. House Science and Technology Committee. But "some people clearly recognize the value of the review, given some of the questions that have been opened, and they clearly are relieved." Despite concern, Scolese said NASA employees will "demonstrate that they're making the right progress and they're doing the right things, and they'll be fully open with the panel." (5/20)
Spaceport Debated in Oklahoma House (Source: News OK)
Several House members Tuesday picked at appropriation bills for agencies they thought should be cut further or eliminated. Some of the discussion dealt with why Oklahoma needs a runway to land space rockets. Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, called the Oklahoma Spaceport near Burns Flat a "pie in the sky” venture. However, Rep. Ryan McMullen, D-Burns Flat, said research is going on at the facility. It’s operated by the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority, which is scheduled to receive about $493,000 in the 2010 fiscal year, or 7 percent less than this year. All the appropriation bills that were up for action Tuesday passed. (5/20)
Refurbishments Complete, Astronauts Let Go of Hubble (Source: New York Times)
Practicing a kind of catch-and-release astronomy, the astronauts of the space shuttle Atlantis oh-so-gently let the Hubble Space Telescope slip back into the heavens on Tuesday. Reporting to mission control in Houston about 9 a.m. as the telescope and shuttle slowly drifted apart, Scott D. Altman, the Atlantis commander, called the last mission to refurbish the fabled telescope “an incredible journey” that demonstrated how humans could overcome challenges by working together.
In five spacewalks over the last week, the astronauts brought two ailing instruments on the telescope back to life, installed two new ones and replaced the orbiting observatory’s gyroscopes and batteries. The refurbished telescope, astronomers and engineers say, should be good for five to seven more years in space. “If I didn’t know better, I would have said that a miracle has happened here,” wrote Mario Livio, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, in an e-mail message. “But ‘miracles’ simply happen when you combine the ingenuity of scientists and engineers with the resourcefulness and determination of astronauts and their trainers.” (5/20)
With NASA about to undergo a White House-ordered review of its Constellation rocket program to return astronauts to the moon by 2020, a senior agency scientist came out this week and attacked NASA’s current plans as being “out of synchronization” with the needs of scientists. David Leckrone, NASA's senior Hubble Space Telescope scientist, told reporters that the agency's next generation rockets did not have the capabilities of the shuttle to haul cargo and help astronauts do complicated missions like the Hubble servicing trip.
He is the first senior NASA official to publicly attack the troubled Constellation program, as well as NASA’s decision to retire the space shuttle in favor of what he sees as less capable spacecraft. Leckrone said he worried that the Constellation program, struggling with tight budgets and technical problems, is "just plowing ahead, producing what they're able to produce within all the constraints.
Leckrone said that Constellation managers and designers are not talking to some of their prime customers: scientists. He said during the initial development of the shuttle program, engineers and NASA officials sought input from the scientific community. "I don't see any similar activity going on in the Constellation program, where they're actively engaging their potential user base to get requirements that should go into their basic design," Leckrone said. "End of story." (5/20)
Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Supports Spaceport (Source: Washington Post)
In a Q&A with voters, Democratic candidate Brian Moran answered a question about the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport..."Will you support its expansion to launch astonauts from there in the next decade in competition with Florida?" His answer: "Absolutely. This is a great example of an innovative approach that can create jobs, put people back to work, and help families on the Eastern Shore. The Spaceport has tremendous potential and I carried legislation to help move their work forward. The work of the spaceport is yet another reason why I am opposed to offshore drilling. We can't realize the potential of this innovative approach if we build oil rigs off the Eastern Shore." (5/20)
Space Pioneers Battle for Greater Freedom (Source: New Scientist)
Civilian space flight companies are this week pressing the US government to change strict arms-control rules that could cripple their nascent industry. At issue are the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), which are supposed to prevent technological secrets ending up in the hands of 21 proscribed nations, including China, Iran and North Korea. If a technology appears on a document called the US Munitions List, companies need a licence to export it or to reveal details to a foreign national. Even if granted, the licence often forces the firm to mount a security guard on the system while it is in another country.
The list contains very broad definitions of what should be kept secret, and even includes spacecraft hatches and windows. "That list is written for a cold war world," says Mike Gold of Bigelow Aerospace in Washington DC, which plans to fly crewed inflatable habitats in Earth orbit. "Any space technology, no matter how benign, such as a solar panel or the table you support a craft on in the workshop, is covered by it." Gold speaks from experience. In 2006, Bigelow launched a model habitat called Genesis 1 on a Russian ballistic missile. ITAR requirements cost the firm $1 million, including $220,000 for two American guards to watch over a support stand no more advanced than a coffee table. (5/20)
Northrop Grumman Wins Terahertz Contract (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded Northrop Grumman phase 1 of the $37-million Terahertz (THz) Electronics contract. Work on the contract will support military and space satellites with the development of active receivers and transmitters operating at 670 gigahertz that ensure reliable, high-resolution images, and other applications. (5/20)
There's a Satellite Gap Too (Source: AP)
Poor planning and unproven technologies on key Pentagon space programs have led to large cost overruns, delays and possible gaps in military satellite capabilities, according to congressional investigators. Delays of at least seven years in some satellite programs have led to potential gaps in protected military communications, navigation tools, missile warning systems and other areas, a Government Accountability Office official told lawmakers Wednesday. (5/20)
Arianespace Chosen to Launch Alphasat (Source: Arianespace)
Inmarsat has chosen Arianespace to launch its new Alphasat I-XL communications satellite. This contract follows a partnership agreement between Inmarsat and the European Space Agency (ESA) concerning the commercialization of the first mission to use the new European platform, Alphabus. Planned for launch in 2012, Alphasat I-XL will be carried by an Ariane 5 ECA from Kourou, French Guiana. The satellite will weigh more than six metric tons at launch. (5/20)
Six New European Astronauts Prepare for Final Frontier (Source: CNN)
Two Italians, a Dane, a German, a Frenchman and a Brit walk into a space station... or will, in 2013, if all goes according to European Space Agency plans. Europe's six new astronauts hope to join their American counterparts on the Internation Space Station. They were chosen from more than 8,400 candidates, and are the first new ESA astronauts since 1992. They include two military test pilots, one fighter pilot and one commercial pilot, plus an engineer and a physicist. (5/20)
Two New Canadian Astronauts (Source: Space-Travel.com)
Nearly 25 years after the first Canadian astronaut flew into space and only weeks before two Canadian space veterans launch to the International Space Station, the Honorable Industry Minister Tony Clement and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) President Steve MacLean revealed the names of Canada's newest astronauts. Jeremy Hansen and David St-Jacques are the first Canadians to join the astronaut corps since 1992. The new astronauts were chosen among 5,351 applicants. Through the year-long recruitment process, candidates underwent evaluations ranging from robotics to physical fitness testing. (5/14)
GPS Could Go South, Report Says (Source: Jacksonville Business Journal)
The Global Positioning System, a great boon to drivers too proud to ask directions, faces “significant challenges” as its satellites age and fail over the next few years. A report from the Government Accountability Office says the U.S. Air Force is rushing to upgrade the complex system, but may not be able to prevent service problems. GPS information is provided free by the United States, and its signals are used in countless products, from Apple’s iPhone to automobiles.
The latest GPS satellite program, block IIF, is already $870 million over budget and “significant technical problems...still threaten its delivery schedule.” About 30 GPS satellites, the oldest launched in the 1990s, are in orbit now. New satellites in the IIF block are three years late, and the first of them won’t be launched until November at the earliest, the GAO said. (5/20)
Bad Weather May Disrupt Shuttle Landing Schedule (Source: AP)
Astronauts are conserving power on the space shuttle Atlantis because bad weather in Florida may keep them in orbit longer than planned. Storms could delay a scheduled Friday landing at Kennedy Space Center. NASA can try again in Florida on Saturday and if that doesn't work, they have several options for a Sunday landing. (5/20)
2025 LEO Shipyard is New ESA, Roscosmos Goal (Source: Flight Global)
A shipyard in low Earth orbit that assembles Moon or Mars ships consisting of multinational elements for propulsion, habitation and re-entry capsules is a post-International Space Station vision being drawn up by the European Space Agency and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). While agency talks continue on extending ISS use from its original end date of 2016 to at least 2020, ESA and its Russian counterpart discussed in mid-March space infrastructure that could support a capability for missions beyond LEO. (5/20)
Minotaur Rocket Launches from Virginia Spaceport (Source: NASA)
NASA's PharmaSat nanosatellite successfully launched at 7:55 p.m. EDT Tuesday from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport located at Wallops Island, Va. PharmaSat rode to orbit aboard a four-stage Air Force Minotaur 1 rocket. Also aboard were the Air Force Research Laboratory's TacSat-3 satellite and other NASA CubeSat Technology Demonstration experiments, which include three four-inch cubed satellites developed by universities and industry. (5/20)
Iran Fires Test Missile, Bringing Europe in Range (Source: AIA)
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country successfully launched a medium-range rocket Wednesday morning and has no plans to back down on its nuclear program. Iran says its Sajil-2 solid-fuel booster rockets have a range of 1,250 miles -- enough to hit Moscow, Athens or southern Italy. (5/20)
Obama, Bolden Discuss Future of NASA (Source: Miami Herald)
President Barack Obama met Tuesday with former astronaut Charles Bolden to discuss his increasingly likely nomination as NASA chief and explore the former Marine Corp. general's vision for the beleaguered space agency. Bolden, who would be the first African-American to lead NASA, met in the morning with Obama in the White House Roosevelt Room across from the Oval Office. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs gave the clearest indication to date that the president has all but settled on his choice. Gibbs said Obama 'hopes that he's the right person to lead NASA in the coming years. Bolden would be the second astronaut to head NASA, following Dick Truly. (5/20)
Editorial: Delays in Planning Could Cost Aerospace Jobs (Source: Houston Chronicle)
The dramatic images of a space shuttle launch lighting up the Florida sky, or of a spacewalking astronaut hundreds of miles away, sometime mask one of the true achievements of Americas space program: the economic development it has spawned here on Earth. Our national ambition to explore space has brought us tremendous discovery and unparalleled moments of pride. It has also created an industry. The aerospace sector has created tens of thousands of well-paying, high-tech jobs and generated thriving communities all of which are under threat if our government doesnt act quickly. Click here to view the editorial. (5/20)
Members Express Concerns Over Human Spaceflight's Future at NASA (Source: House Republican Caucus)
The Committee on Science and Technology held a hearing on the President’s FY-2010 NASA Budget Request. Republican Members expressed concerns to acting NASA Administrator Christopher Scolese over insufficient funding to develop the next generation manned launch vehicle in a timely manner after retirement of the Space Shuttle. Similar concerns were expressed by a number of Members on both sides of the aisle at a hearing last week with Dr. John Holdren, President Obama’s science advisor.
“NASA is one area of the federal budget where I think some increases are justified,” said Science and Technology Committee Ranking Member Ralph Hall (R-TX). “As I said to Dr. Holdren last week, I am very concerned that priorities may be shifting away from human space exploration at a very critical time.” While NASA’s proposed FY10 budget is $18.7 billion, an increase of 5.1% over the enacted FY09 appropriation for NASA, the budget projection beyond FY10 is essentially flat through FY13. Several members expressed concern that this has deleted nearly all of the out-year funding for the Altair Lunar Lander and for the heavy-lift Ares 5 launch vehicle. (5/20)
NASA Chief Rules Out Extension of Shuttle's Life (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The acting NASA chief on Tuesday essentially ruled out extending the life of the space shuttle beyond its eight remaining missions. Acting Administrator Chris Scolese said that NASA and Lockheed Martin already have begun shutting down the New Orleans facility that builds the shuttle's external fuel tank and that it would take three years to restart the production line.
That timeline further dims hopes that the shuttle era can be extended beyond its scheduled retirement in 2010 or 2011, because there would be a two- or three-year wait for a fuel tank. "There would still be a gap," Scolese told a House committee. Click here to view the article. (5/20)
Endeavor Countdown Begins Wednesday for Potential Rescue Mission (Source: CFN-13)
NASA will begin a three-day countdown Wednesday to launch shuttle Endeavour, if needed. The shuttle and its rescue crew are on standby in case a heat shield inspection on Atlantis Tuesday turns up damage that might endanger its Hubble Space Telescope servicing crew during atmospheric reentry. (5/20)
Boeing Loses Lawsuit on Pricing for GPS Satellites (Source: AP)
The Air Force can disclose the rates that Boeing charged for the next generation of global positioning satellites to the public and its competitors, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. The ruling rejects Boeing's effort to reverse an Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center decision to comply with a Freedom of Information request filed five years ago about the satellite contract the company won in 1996.
Chicago-based Boeing says it believes the request, filed through a third party, is from its chief competitor, Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin Corp. Boeing objected to the release of pricing information. The company says disclosing the information will allow competitors to figure out its labor and profit rates, which the company wants to keep secret. (5/20)
Astrium To Train Engineers, Build Satellites for Kazakhstan (Source: Space News)
Europe's Astrium space hardware and services company has signed a broad partnership agreement with the government of Kazakhstan expected to lead to Astrium's training of more than 100 Kazakh engineers, the creation of a joint satellite integration center in Kazakhstan, and the purchase by Kazakhstan of two Astrium-built optical Earth observation satellites, Astrium announced May 19. (5/20)
Boeing Renews Protest of Lockheed's GOES-R Award (Source: Space News)
In its second protest of the same contract award, Boeing is asking the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review NASA's recent decision to stick with Lockheed Martin as prime contractor for the billion-dollar GOES-R meteorological satellites, Boeing said May 19. The latest appeal asks the General Accountability Office to look into alleged "serious flaws and lack of transparency" in NASA's decision to choose Lockheed Martin to build as many as four GOES-R civilian weather satellites. (5/20)
RSCC Orders Two Satellites from Reshetnev-Thales Alenia Space Team (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC) has tentatively selected ISS Reshetnev of Russia and Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy to build two large multiband telecommunications satellites under a contract valued at $370 million, Moscow-based RSCC announced May 19. (5/20)
PLDT Scraps ProtoStar Stock Deal (Source: Space News)
The Philippine Long Distance Co. (PLDT) announced May 18 it has canceled agreements with embattled start-up satellite operator ProtoStar under which ProtoStar would lease capacity on PLDT's existing satellite and take control of the satellite's customer contracts and ground assets in exchange for ProtoStar stock, and PLDT would make a separate cash investment in Protostar. (5/20)
Eutelsat Sales Up More Than 5 Percent (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat on May 14 reported a 5.6 percent increase in revenue for three months ending March 31 compared to a year ago and said all three of its principal business lines contributed to the growth. (5/20)
Eutelsat W2A's S-band Antenna Malfunctions (Source: Space News)
The 12-meter-diameter S-band antenna aboard the Eutelsat W2A satellite launched April 4 has suffered an anomaly that may reduce its ability to provide service across Europe as required by its regulatory license, one of two granted May 14, according to industry officials. (5/20)
China, Brazil to Offer Satellite Data to Africa (Source: Xinhua)
China and Brazil will provide satellite observation data for African countries through a joint space program, according to agreements inked here on Wednesday. The Earth receiving stations of Hartebeeshoek in South Africa, Aswan in Egypt and Maspaloms in Spain will process and distribute data from the China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellite-02B (CBERS-02B) to African states. "It's also for the first time China became an exporter of Earth observation data," said Guo Jianning, general director of the China Center for Resources Satellite Data and Application. (5/20)
Augustine Panel's Review Seen as 'Test' (Source: Florida Today)
NASA employees have mixed reactions to President Barack Obama's decision to name an independent panel to review the agency's manned space exploration program, NASA's acting administrator said Tuesday. "No one likes to take a test, and this is a test," Christopher Scolese told members of the U.S. House Science and Technology Committee. But "some people clearly recognize the value of the review, given some of the questions that have been opened, and they clearly are relieved." Despite concern, Scolese said NASA employees will "demonstrate that they're making the right progress and they're doing the right things, and they'll be fully open with the panel." (5/20)
Spaceport Debated in Oklahoma House (Source: News OK)
Several House members Tuesday picked at appropriation bills for agencies they thought should be cut further or eliminated. Some of the discussion dealt with why Oklahoma needs a runway to land space rockets. Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-Oklahoma City, called the Oklahoma Spaceport near Burns Flat a "pie in the sky” venture. However, Rep. Ryan McMullen, D-Burns Flat, said research is going on at the facility. It’s operated by the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority, which is scheduled to receive about $493,000 in the 2010 fiscal year, or 7 percent less than this year. All the appropriation bills that were up for action Tuesday passed. (5/20)
Refurbishments Complete, Astronauts Let Go of Hubble (Source: New York Times)
Practicing a kind of catch-and-release astronomy, the astronauts of the space shuttle Atlantis oh-so-gently let the Hubble Space Telescope slip back into the heavens on Tuesday. Reporting to mission control in Houston about 9 a.m. as the telescope and shuttle slowly drifted apart, Scott D. Altman, the Atlantis commander, called the last mission to refurbish the fabled telescope “an incredible journey” that demonstrated how humans could overcome challenges by working together.
In five spacewalks over the last week, the astronauts brought two ailing instruments on the telescope back to life, installed two new ones and replaced the orbiting observatory’s gyroscopes and batteries. The refurbished telescope, astronomers and engineers say, should be good for five to seven more years in space. “If I didn’t know better, I would have said that a miracle has happened here,” wrote Mario Livio, an astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, in an e-mail message. “But ‘miracles’ simply happen when you combine the ingenuity of scientists and engineers with the resourcefulness and determination of astronauts and their trainers.” (5/20)
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