Melbourne Company Wins $11 Million for Navy Space Programs (Source: DOD)
Melbourne FL-based Space Ground Systems Solutions, Inc. has won a $10.9 million contract for Spacecraft Engineering, Software Research, Development and Support for design, development, test, launch and mission operations of Department of Defense assets. This is a new requirement for highly-skilled personnel to support the Navy space programs development, enhancement, testing and configuration management of a collection of software, which is constantly being enhanced to provide state of the art solutions to space applications. The contract contains options which could bring the total value to $57,9 million. (7/31)
Orbiting Gas Station Could Refuel Lunar Missions (Source: New Scientist)
Forget huge, expensive rockets. A plan being examined by a US government panel would allow smaller, cheaper rockets to fly to the moon and beyond by stopping off at an "orbiting gas station". With conventional rockets, many tons of fuel are needed on such missions for each tonne of payload. Sending astronauts or the heftiest robotic probes to these distant destinations therefore requires huge launchers.
That may be about to change. The panel convened by order of the White House to assess NASA's plans for the future of human space flight - including the project to send people back to the moon by 2020 - is pondering a radical idea to set up orbiting depots at which relatively small, inexpensive rockets could stop off to pick up fuel. The potential benefits of such a scheme are detailed in a white paper submitted last week by Masten Space Systems. Click here to download the paper. (7/31)
Congresswoman Kosmas' Urges Expanded "Supply Chain" Role for KSC (Source: Rep. Kosmas)
"One common responsibility for each of the Working Groups of this Committee is that each is focusing on 'industrial skill base'. Nowhere is that issue more critical than here in Florida. To that end, I urge you to consider offering an option that would establish a program office at KSC to manage the supply chain and logistics for the next generation spacecraft. As the final destination of the vast majority of the components and systems purchased by the Federal Government before departure into space, KSC could lead the way to a more sophisticated procurement mentality - which would reduce operating costs - and a healthier industrial base for NASA, the Department of Defense, and commercial launch activities."
Editor's Note: This proposed supply-chain and logistics role for KSC is not a far departure from current practice. The NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot at Cape Canaveral can evolve and grow to support next-generation launchers, as well as ISS and other off-Earth habitat systems. It would be a logical and value-added move if NASA really wants to mitigate the Shuttle job losses coming soon at KSC. (7/31)
Longer Life for the Space Station Is Advised (Source: New York Times)
Members of the Augustine Panel said the life of the International Space Station should be extended past its planned demise in 2016. “We think all the options going forward should continue I.S.S. extension in some form,” said Sally Ride. The shuttles can carry a far greater load into orbit than any other rockets now in use, and can also bring heavy items back to the ground. “We’re putting I.S.S. in a very fragile situation the moment we retire shuttle,” Dr. Ride said.
Editor's Note: Here's another Florida hot-button. The state has urged a bigger role for KSC in supporting the ISS "National Laboratory" activities, including at the state-funded Space Life Sciences Lab at KSC, which was developed specifically for ISS research support. (7/31)
Eutelsat Revenue Growth Exceeds Forecast (Source: Space News)
Eutelsat, the world's third-largest satellite fleet operator, on July 31 reported a 7.2 percent increase in revenue for the year ending June 30 and said it now expects to maintain an average annual growth of 7 percent through 2012. (7/31)
SES Sticking With Growth Projections (Source: Space News)
SES on July 31 reported record gross-profit margins in its core satellite transponder-lease business and said it is sticking with its forecast of 5 percent average annual growth between 2008 and 2010 despite what it characterized as a temporary weakness in its ground-services business and continued softness in the North American market. (7/31)
Commercial Spaceflight Federation Hires PR Firm (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an industry association representing 20 commercial spaceflight developers, operators and spaceports, has hired Makovsky + Company, one of the nation’s largest independent public relations firms, as its public relations advisor.
“Makovsky’s deep understanding of the commercial spaceflight industry and their expertise in traditional and social media make them a valuable partner,” said Brett Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. “We look forward to working with this talented organization to increase awareness of the industry’s importance among leaders in government and the public at-large.” (7/31)
Shuttle Endeavour, 7 Astronauts Return to Earth (Source: AP)
Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts returned to Earth on Friday, completing a long but successful construction job that boosted the size and power of the international space station. Endeavour glided through a slightly hazy sky and touched down on Kennedy Space Center's landing strip. Its smooth and punctual late morning arrival set off a stream of praise. (7/31)
OSTP Creating NPOESS Task Force (Source: Space Policy Online)
White House Science Adviser John Holdren told the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee that he had directed creation of a task force to monitor progress and results on issues surrounding the NPOESS program. "I have directed the formation of a Task Force within the Executive Office of the President (which will include representatives from the Office of Management and Budget as well as the National Security Council) that will meet regularly with NOAA, NASA, and the Department of Defense (DoD), the three agencies partnering on the program, to monitor progress and results in addressing key issues facing the success of this program." (7/31)
Depite Rocketplane Woes, Oklahoma Spaceport Remains Operational (Source: OK Gazette)
The original reason for its start may no longer be visible in the state, but that hasn't stopped the Oklahoma Spaceport from slowing down operations. Created to function as a launch pad for suborbital space tourism, the Spaceport near Burns Flat has found other ways to generate business and keep folks busy out there. "We've really been concentrating on the aerospace side," said Bil Khourie, executive director of the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority (OSIDA), which operates the Spaceport. (7/31)
The Next Step in Space (Source: Next Step Coalition)
The Next Step in Space is for NASA to invest in US commercial human spaceflight. When most people think of sending US astronauts to space, they think of NASA — and for good reason. For over forty years, the US has looked to NASA to not only send astronauts to space but also to lead US space exploration. What most people do not know, however, is that for over twenty years, commercial space companies have also been providing space transportation services for the government and other corporate customers. As NASA is challenged to go further into space than ever before with limited resources, commercial space companies are uniquely positioned to help further NASA's efforts. Click here for more. (7/29)
Virgin Galactic Aims for the Moon (Source: The Mirror)
Virgin Galactic says it will take 50,000 into space within ten years. But that’s just the start according to Richard Branson. “Looking further ahead, and we like to dream, we hope that one day Virgin Galactic will be able to ferry passengers between continents at a fraction of the time that they currently travel between continents. We also hope that one day to have a space hotel up there we can take people to that might be quite close to the Moon and people will be able to head off in small spacecraft to head off round the Moon before lunch or before breakfast.” (7/29)
Bolden to KSC: Stay the Course (Source: Florida Today)
Kennedy Space Center workers got a dose of NASA Administrator Charles Bolden's personal warmth Thursday as he gave employees a pep talk and outlined his goals for the space agency. "Our task is to convince the nation that (space) exploration is worth it," Bolden said during an hourlong talk that was televised to KSC employees. Bolden said it was important to encourage more young people to pursue careers in math, science and engineering. "I want to take the amount of community outreach you do and bump it up a notch," he said. (7/31)
Rockeplane Says It's Far from Finished in Oklahoma (Source: KOTV)
Rocketplane Global vacated its Oklahoma City Will Rogers Airport headquarters in February, but company officials said it is far from finished with its work in Oklahoma. Rocketplane Co-founder Chuck Lauer said the economy forced the headquarters' closure but said he wanted to show Oklahoman's that their tax dollars have not gone to waste. He said the company may be grounded, but it's far from gone.
"I don't think they ever intended to launch a space craft from Oklahoma," said State Rep. David Dank. Just two week ago, the news was announced in Hawaii that state lawmakers there were in talks with Rocketplane over a proposed space tourism project. That's not what Oklahoma lawmakers wanted to hear, especially since the state has granted the company $18 million in tax credits, but Lauer said the plan has always been to have Rocketplane based in multiple locations. "We never abandoned the plan to fly in Oklahoma. We will build vehicles in Oklahoma. We'll have jobs in Oklahoma. We will fly from the Oklahoma spaceport." (7/31)
Hawaii Students Helping Develop Lunar Micro Rover (Source: Hawaii 24/7)
While Americans across the country celebrated the 40th anniversary of man’s first walk on the moon this week, two Hawaii students are participating in a NASA summer internship program, where they are developing technology that will be used on the Lunar Micro Rover. Kelson Lau, a recent Waiakea High School graduate and current University of Hawaii at Manoa student, and Jordan Olive from the University of Hawaii at Hilo, are participating in the NASA Robotics Academy, a NASA multi-center, 10-week residential summer internship for students specifically interested in robotics. (7/31)
Panel Sees Deep Space, Not Landings as U.S. Goal (Source: New York Times)
A panel examining the future of the United States’ human spaceflight program will suggest that the Obama administration may want to skip the part about landing on other worlds. That could enable NASA to send astronauts to more corners of the solar system more quickly while keeping within a limited budget. But it would also eliminate the possibility of astronauts leaving new iconic footprints on the Moon or Mars for a couple of decades.
A subcommittee of the panel studied several possibilities, including NASA’s current program to send astronauts back to the Moon by 2020, a more ambitious plan to skip the Moon and aim directly for Mars and what the members called the “flexible path,” which would avoid the “deep gravity wells” of the Moon and Mars, saving the time and cost of developing landers to carry astronauts to the surfaces of those bodies. (7/31)
A Place for Langley in Space? (Source: Newport News Daily Press)
Where do we go from here? As America has been retelling the proud story of where it's been — to the moon — it's also reconsidering how the next chapter reads. Many of the sharpest minds in the field think that the way to go is unmanned exploration. Sending humans —– and getting them back — adds enormously to the cost and complexity of space missions, and constrains where we can go. Unmanned missions — probes, rovers, satellites — can take bigger risks, go to different places and discover as much, at less cost.
But let's drop the romance, pause and take a practical view. What's given up? The manned spaceflight push has been muscling aside other NASA priorities. Two of those — aeronautics research and atmospheric sciences — are near to our region's heart, for they are specialties of NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton. They're also tremendously valuable to the nation. This administration and this Congress should restore priority and funding to aeronautics and sciences. Obama's budget makes welcome but small steps in that direction.
This would be an excellent place for Reps. Rob Wittman and Glenn Nye to establish special expertise and eventually exercise the leverage that comes with it. Rep. Bobby Scott should bring his influence to bear, as well. And Sen. Mark Warner or Sen. Jim Webb likewise should develop credibility and clout on NASA issues. (7/30)
ATK Job Cuts Likely to Reverberate in Utah (Source: Salt Lake Tribune)
Over the years, residents of this small northern Utah community 20 miles northwest of Alliant Techsystems' Promontory plant have enjoyed the booms and endured the busts of the state's aerospace industry. The waves of hiring and firings that came amid the ebb and flow of federal space and defense contracts were as much a part of the economic landscape as the towers of smoke billowing above the nearby hills after ATK test-fired its rocket motors. Yet ATK's announcement last week that it would lay off 450 people, or 10 percent of its Utah work force, is viewed by many as a particularly hard blow for Tremonton, given last year's unexpected closure of the La-Z-Boy plant, once the town's largest employer. (7/30)
Officials Announce Space Exploration Program for Idaho Students (Source: KIVI)
Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna and Idaho's Teacher-in-Space and Boise State University Distinguished Educator in Residence Barbara Morgan have announced a new program to bring space to Idaho students. Officials say the new Idaho Science and Aerospace Scholars Program, which will launch this fall, is a competitive program that allows Idaho high school juniors to take an engaging online course in space exploration developed by NASA and gives them the opportunity to spend a week at NASA's Ames Research Center in California gaining hands-on experience from the leaders in our nation's aerospace industry. (7/30)
Spaceflight Panel: Consider Scrapping the Ares-1 (Source: Florida Today)
NASA's Ares-1 might be dead. The rocket promises to be 10 times safer than NASA's shuttle, but it might be killed because of concerns over cost and schedule. This despite the fact that Columbia accident investigators said crew safety should take top priority over cost and schedule in the design of a shuttle replacement. A presidential review panel said Thursday it is considering a plan to dump Ares I and go straight to the development of the heavy-lift Ares V -- a Saturn V-class moon rocket. (7/31)
July 30 News Items
Oklahoma Warns Hawaii of Space "Pipe Dreams" (Source: KGMB)
Space tourism was sold as the next giant leap in aerospace and some Hawaii lawmakers buy it. But now lawmakers in Oklahoma say take a better look after the company that was close to blasting off just took off out of town. That same company has plans in Hawaii. "Don't go on pipe dreams. That's what we did and we paid the price for it," said Oklahoma State Representative David Dank in an interview with KWTV.
Rep. Dank is talking about Rocketplane Global, a company he says took about $18 million in tax credits from the state only to close its offices and move out. So why should Hawaii care about Oklahoma? For starters the Aloha state is planning on investing in space tourism as well. Some Hawaii Lawmakers want to spend half a million tax payer dollars on an environmental impact statement on space tourism. Rep. Wakai says that’s a small price to pay especially considering what other states have invested.
Rocketplane Global had its expectations come back to Earth the past year because of the bad economy. "We're a capital intensive business and we got caught in a financial crunch. Everybody did," said Chuck Lauer, Rocketplane Global Co-Founder. So what happened to that tax payer money from Oklahoma? "The money was not wasted. It was invested in design and engineering. That is not gone. It’s sitting there waiting to get restarted and that's what we're doing now," said Lauer. The Hawaii Office of Aerospace Development is buying it and believes three to six companies could by flying into space in three years. (7/29)
Protostar in Chapter 11, Looking to Unload Satellites (Source: Space News)
Start-up satellite operator ProtoStar Ltd., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 29, hopes to use the reprieve from its creditors to auction its two orbiting direct-to-home television satellites. ProtoStar is spending through cash at a rate of $550,000 per week, not including employee salaries, and is at risk of having to cease operations immediately if it is not allowed to take advantage of its creditors' offer of $16 million in emergency funds while the company operates under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, (7/30)
Endeavour Returns Tomorrow to KSC (Source: Florida Today)
After two weeks in space and five spacewalks, Endeavour is scheduled to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere after orbit 248 and land at Kennedy Space Center Friday at 10:48 a.m. EDT. A second landing attempt would be at 12:23 p.m. EDT. A slight chance of showers is predicted for the first attempt. The chance increases slightly for the second attempt. (7/30)
Augustine Panel Weighs "Vision" -- But Doesn't Talk Jobs (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The Augustine Panel challenged NASA's vision of establishing a Moon outpost and instead weighed other ambitious options including a free-ranging program to visit destinations throughout the inner solar system. Noticeably absent, however, were discussions of NASA's workforce. Even testimony by Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp did little to steer the conversation in that direction, though he said the state faces an "economic shock wave" after Shuttle retirement.
The Panel spent much time challenging the rationale behind NASA's current Moon exploration vision. The debate swung between ambitious proposals to send astronauts to the moon, Mars and nearby asteroids to questioning why NASA should even spend billions of dollars to blast explorers into space.
There did seem to be one glimmer of hope for the Space Coast. Both panel members and Florida officials said NASA would do well to to invest in commercial rocket companies to haul cargo and perhaps humans to the international space station. It's a silver lining for Florida because KSC hosts the aerospace company SpaceX, which has a contract with NASA to develop rockets capable of reaching the station. (7/30)
Russia Says U.S. Shuttle Delays Create a Burden (Source: Reuters)
A senior Russian space official said delays in U.S. shuttle launches to the International Space Station (ISS) meant extra work for Russian rocket crews without any financial compensation, RIA news agency reported. Russia and the United States are the main contributors to the 16-nation $100 billion ISS project, but Russia has borne the brunt of sending crews and cargo there since the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in 2003, killing seven astronauts. "We are most concerned by the unpredictability of shuttle launches," RIA quoted Russian mission control flight coordinator Valdimir Solovyov as saying. (7/30)
NASA: Ares Rocket Safest, Fastest Way to Get U.S. Back in Space (Source: AIA)
NASA engineers have fired back at their critics, praising the new Ares rocket as "the safest, fastest way to get Americans back to space." The volley highlighted Wednesday's review of the "Constellation" human space flight program conducted in Huntsville, Ala., by a committee authorized by President Barack Obama to determine the state of the space program. (7/30)
Hutchison Announces Plans to Step Down (Source: Space Politics)
It had been widely assumed for some time that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) would resign from the Senate later this year to devote herself full-time to running against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry in the Texas GOP gubernatorial primary next year. Yesterday Hutchison confirmed those plans, saying that she would step down in the “October, November” timeframe. Her resignation will mean the loss of one of the stauncher NASA advocates in the Senate, where, among other things, she worked with Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) in recent years to add an additional $1 billion to NASA’s budget. She also serves as the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight of NASA. (7/30)
With Time Running Out, Panel has Plenty of Info to Absorb (Source: Huntsville Times)
A ticking clock might set up the next decade for NASA, said Norman Augustine, head of a White House panel given three months to make recommendations to President Barack Obama for the future of space travel. "We are here to gather information and make recommendations," Augustine said. "We have 34 days from today before our report has to be at the printers." Augustine added that panel members have not "made up our minds about any one area. We will offer recommendations only." (7/30)
Experts Urge Reformulation of US Space Policy (Source: Eurekalert)
The Obama Administration has an opportunity to fundamentally reformulate United States space policies that are anchored in Cold War-era mindsets, according to the director of an American Academy of Arts and Sciences study. At a Capitol Hill briefing today in conjunction with the release of three new policy monographs, experts outlined the current state of U.S. and foreign space policy and encouraged the Administration to set a clear direction that advances the country's national security, civilian, and commercial interests in space. (7/30)
NASA To Provide Web Updates On Objects Approaching Earth (Source: Space Daily)
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is introducing a new Web site that will provide a centralized resource for information on near-Earth objects - those asteroids and comets that can approach Earth. The "Asteroid Watch" site also contains links for the interested public to sign up for NASA's new asteroid widget and Twitter account. (7/30)
Sen. Martinez Does Not Support Shuttle Extension (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL), in prepared comments for the Augustine Panel, said he does not support the extension of the Space Shuttle program... "I do not believe that the Shuttle program should be extended beyond the current manifest. While such an extension could help to limit job losses in the short term, I am concerned it could further delay progress on development of our next heavy lift launch vehicle." (7/30)
Augustine Update: Return to Moon Unlikely Before 2028 (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA's goal of putting astronauts back on the moon by 2020 is all but impossible to achieve, a presidential panel was told Wednesday. An independent study concluded there is little hope NASA could replicate anytime soon what Apollo accomplished 40 years ago. And sources said an undisclosed part of the study showed another moon shot won't happen before 2028 -- nearly 60 years after America's first moon landing.
"We can't see [the gap] closing," Gary Pulliam, an analyst with Aerospace Corp., told a near-silent audience in Huntsville, Ala. A NASA budget analyst, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on behalf of NASA or the committee, said American astronauts have a remote chance of returning to the moon by 2028, although another source close to the panel said 2035 was more likely. (7/30)
Sally Ride: Ares/Orion Launch Likely Delayed to 2017 (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Former astronaut Sally Ride told fellow members of Augustine Panel that she did not expect that Constellation's Ares I rocket and Orion capsule could complete a first mission into low-Earth orbit before 2017 -- two years after its target date. A second estimate, calculated by Pulliam on Wednesday, was even more pessimistic. Due to ongoing technical troubles and insufficient funding, he said, Constellation's first mission could be delayed as many as four years, to 2019. "It should not surprise anyone that problems exist," he said. (7/30)
Bejmuk: Turn LEO Over to Commercial Sector (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
One member of the Augustine Panel, Bohdan Bejmuk, said NASA should open low-Earth orbit to these companies, including SpaceX of California and Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia, which currently have contracts with NASA to develop rockets and unmanned capsules that can reach the space station. "Let's turn it over to the newcomers," he said. (7/30)
Sen. Nelson Supports Shuttle Extension (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), in prepared comments for the Augustine Panel, said he supports the expansion of the Space Shuttle program, "to a point in time that would lessen the gap so that we can have Americans riding American vehicles to get to our station, and then on to the moon, and then on to Mars... If we cannot get this next set of space shuttle flights off in time by the end of fiscal year 2010 or by the end of calendar year 2010, [NASA should] commit to flying out all of these space shuttle flights to complete the station and to equip it." (7/30)
Virgin Galactic Aiming For IPO (Source: Forbes)
Space travel won't just be for billionaires if Richard Branson gets his way. Fresh from selling a stake in his Virgin Galactic space-tourism subsidiary to Abu Dhabi's Aabar Group, Branson's Virgin Group has an even more ambitious aim in mind: to float the company on the stock market while still retaining a significant stake. Virgin Galactic is a while away from going public, but has already attracted attention from outside investors. (7/30)
Dnepr Launches Small Satellites (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A Dnepr rocket successfully launched six small satellites from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. It placed six small satellites into low Earth orbit. Two of the satellites, UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1, were built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. to be part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation, a network of medium-resolution remote sensing satellites. Also on the Dnepr were the United Arab Emirates' first satellite, Dubaisat-1; two small communications sats for American company Aprize Satellite; and a Spanish technology demonstration nanosat. (7/30)
Aerospace Company Deserts Oklahoma Leaving Questions (Source: KOTV)
The aerospace company that promised Oklahoma 'the moon' and so much more, has left the state, leaving lawmakers with more questions than answers. Rocketplane Global has vacated its company headquarters near the Will Rogers Airport. Oklahoma State Representative David Dank has been a longtime critic of Rocketplane. He said he was furious to learn that the company that promised so much to the state had packed up and left town.
"We were told they left in February," said State Representative David Dank. "Just packed up and left overnight. The last we heard, the guy in charge was working out of his garage in Wisconsin. They have no presence here in Oklahoma and I think that's an absolute sin against the taxpayers." In 2003 Rocketplane was granted an $18 million tax credit from the state. The first launch was scheduled for 2006. (7/30)
An Uncertain Future for Bankrupt Sea Launch (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Already burdened by bankruptcy and a cutthroat rocket industry, Sea Launch could face more defecting customers if the company does not soon assure satellite operators of its future viability. In court documents last week, Intelsat filed a motion to force Sea Launch to assume or reject contracts for up to seven missions to deliver communications satellites into orbit. Intelsat owns seven of 10 contracts in Sea Launch's backlog.
Two Intelsat payloads will fly on Sea Launch's land-based subsidiary and one spacecraft is manifested on Sea Launch's ocean-based service. Intelsat holds up to four contract options for additional launches through 2012, but those agreements do not have assigned satellites, according to Paula Korn, Sea Launch spokesperson. (7/30)
Space Coast Jobs Slipping Away (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The pace of job losses is picking up along Florida's Space Coast, as two more space-services contractors plan to dismiss scores of workers there by October, the state's labor agency said Wednesday. Securiguard Inc. and Jacobs Technology Inc. are the latest contractors shedding jobs at Cape Canaveral Spaceport as a result of NASA cutbacks or budget belt-tightening by the U.S. military.
Securiguard recently notified the state it plans to eliminate more than 150 jobs and close down its security-services operation at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The company said more than 200 workers will be laid off by Oct. 1, the start of the federal government's 2010 fiscal year. Meanwhile, NASA contractor Jacobs Technology notified the state it plans to lay off about 50 workers — or more than one-third of its payload-processing staff at KSC, according to state labor agency. (7/30)
Space tourism was sold as the next giant leap in aerospace and some Hawaii lawmakers buy it. But now lawmakers in Oklahoma say take a better look after the company that was close to blasting off just took off out of town. That same company has plans in Hawaii. "Don't go on pipe dreams. That's what we did and we paid the price for it," said Oklahoma State Representative David Dank in an interview with KWTV.
Rep. Dank is talking about Rocketplane Global, a company he says took about $18 million in tax credits from the state only to close its offices and move out. So why should Hawaii care about Oklahoma? For starters the Aloha state is planning on investing in space tourism as well. Some Hawaii Lawmakers want to spend half a million tax payer dollars on an environmental impact statement on space tourism. Rep. Wakai says that’s a small price to pay especially considering what other states have invested.
Rocketplane Global had its expectations come back to Earth the past year because of the bad economy. "We're a capital intensive business and we got caught in a financial crunch. Everybody did," said Chuck Lauer, Rocketplane Global Co-Founder. So what happened to that tax payer money from Oklahoma? "The money was not wasted. It was invested in design and engineering. That is not gone. It’s sitting there waiting to get restarted and that's what we're doing now," said Lauer. The Hawaii Office of Aerospace Development is buying it and believes three to six companies could by flying into space in three years. (7/29)
Protostar in Chapter 11, Looking to Unload Satellites (Source: Space News)
Start-up satellite operator ProtoStar Ltd., which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection July 29, hopes to use the reprieve from its creditors to auction its two orbiting direct-to-home television satellites. ProtoStar is spending through cash at a rate of $550,000 per week, not including employee salaries, and is at risk of having to cease operations immediately if it is not allowed to take advantage of its creditors' offer of $16 million in emergency funds while the company operates under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, (7/30)
Endeavour Returns Tomorrow to KSC (Source: Florida Today)
After two weeks in space and five spacewalks, Endeavour is scheduled to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere after orbit 248 and land at Kennedy Space Center Friday at 10:48 a.m. EDT. A second landing attempt would be at 12:23 p.m. EDT. A slight chance of showers is predicted for the first attempt. The chance increases slightly for the second attempt. (7/30)
Augustine Panel Weighs "Vision" -- But Doesn't Talk Jobs (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The Augustine Panel challenged NASA's vision of establishing a Moon outpost and instead weighed other ambitious options including a free-ranging program to visit destinations throughout the inner solar system. Noticeably absent, however, were discussions of NASA's workforce. Even testimony by Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp did little to steer the conversation in that direction, though he said the state faces an "economic shock wave" after Shuttle retirement.
The Panel spent much time challenging the rationale behind NASA's current Moon exploration vision. The debate swung between ambitious proposals to send astronauts to the moon, Mars and nearby asteroids to questioning why NASA should even spend billions of dollars to blast explorers into space.
There did seem to be one glimmer of hope for the Space Coast. Both panel members and Florida officials said NASA would do well to to invest in commercial rocket companies to haul cargo and perhaps humans to the international space station. It's a silver lining for Florida because KSC hosts the aerospace company SpaceX, which has a contract with NASA to develop rockets capable of reaching the station. (7/30)
Russia Says U.S. Shuttle Delays Create a Burden (Source: Reuters)
A senior Russian space official said delays in U.S. shuttle launches to the International Space Station (ISS) meant extra work for Russian rocket crews without any financial compensation, RIA news agency reported. Russia and the United States are the main contributors to the 16-nation $100 billion ISS project, but Russia has borne the brunt of sending crews and cargo there since the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in 2003, killing seven astronauts. "We are most concerned by the unpredictability of shuttle launches," RIA quoted Russian mission control flight coordinator Valdimir Solovyov as saying. (7/30)
NASA: Ares Rocket Safest, Fastest Way to Get U.S. Back in Space (Source: AIA)
NASA engineers have fired back at their critics, praising the new Ares rocket as "the safest, fastest way to get Americans back to space." The volley highlighted Wednesday's review of the "Constellation" human space flight program conducted in Huntsville, Ala., by a committee authorized by President Barack Obama to determine the state of the space program. (7/30)
Hutchison Announces Plans to Step Down (Source: Space Politics)
It had been widely assumed for some time that Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) would resign from the Senate later this year to devote herself full-time to running against incumbent Gov. Rick Perry in the Texas GOP gubernatorial primary next year. Yesterday Hutchison confirmed those plans, saying that she would step down in the “October, November” timeframe. Her resignation will mean the loss of one of the stauncher NASA advocates in the Senate, where, among other things, she worked with Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) in recent years to add an additional $1 billion to NASA’s budget. She also serves as the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight of NASA. (7/30)
With Time Running Out, Panel has Plenty of Info to Absorb (Source: Huntsville Times)
A ticking clock might set up the next decade for NASA, said Norman Augustine, head of a White House panel given three months to make recommendations to President Barack Obama for the future of space travel. "We are here to gather information and make recommendations," Augustine said. "We have 34 days from today before our report has to be at the printers." Augustine added that panel members have not "made up our minds about any one area. We will offer recommendations only." (7/30)
Experts Urge Reformulation of US Space Policy (Source: Eurekalert)
The Obama Administration has an opportunity to fundamentally reformulate United States space policies that are anchored in Cold War-era mindsets, according to the director of an American Academy of Arts and Sciences study. At a Capitol Hill briefing today in conjunction with the release of three new policy monographs, experts outlined the current state of U.S. and foreign space policy and encouraged the Administration to set a clear direction that advances the country's national security, civilian, and commercial interests in space. (7/30)
NASA To Provide Web Updates On Objects Approaching Earth (Source: Space Daily)
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is introducing a new Web site that will provide a centralized resource for information on near-Earth objects - those asteroids and comets that can approach Earth. The "Asteroid Watch" site also contains links for the interested public to sign up for NASA's new asteroid widget and Twitter account. (7/30)
Sen. Martinez Does Not Support Shuttle Extension (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Sen. Mel Martinez (R-FL), in prepared comments for the Augustine Panel, said he does not support the extension of the Space Shuttle program... "I do not believe that the Shuttle program should be extended beyond the current manifest. While such an extension could help to limit job losses in the short term, I am concerned it could further delay progress on development of our next heavy lift launch vehicle." (7/30)
Augustine Update: Return to Moon Unlikely Before 2028 (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA's goal of putting astronauts back on the moon by 2020 is all but impossible to achieve, a presidential panel was told Wednesday. An independent study concluded there is little hope NASA could replicate anytime soon what Apollo accomplished 40 years ago. And sources said an undisclosed part of the study showed another moon shot won't happen before 2028 -- nearly 60 years after America's first moon landing.
"We can't see [the gap] closing," Gary Pulliam, an analyst with Aerospace Corp., told a near-silent audience in Huntsville, Ala. A NASA budget analyst, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak on behalf of NASA or the committee, said American astronauts have a remote chance of returning to the moon by 2028, although another source close to the panel said 2035 was more likely. (7/30)
Sally Ride: Ares/Orion Launch Likely Delayed to 2017 (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Former astronaut Sally Ride told fellow members of Augustine Panel that she did not expect that Constellation's Ares I rocket and Orion capsule could complete a first mission into low-Earth orbit before 2017 -- two years after its target date. A second estimate, calculated by Pulliam on Wednesday, was even more pessimistic. Due to ongoing technical troubles and insufficient funding, he said, Constellation's first mission could be delayed as many as four years, to 2019. "It should not surprise anyone that problems exist," he said. (7/30)
Bejmuk: Turn LEO Over to Commercial Sector (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
One member of the Augustine Panel, Bohdan Bejmuk, said NASA should open low-Earth orbit to these companies, including SpaceX of California and Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia, which currently have contracts with NASA to develop rockets and unmanned capsules that can reach the space station. "Let's turn it over to the newcomers," he said. (7/30)
Sen. Nelson Supports Shuttle Extension (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), in prepared comments for the Augustine Panel, said he supports the expansion of the Space Shuttle program, "to a point in time that would lessen the gap so that we can have Americans riding American vehicles to get to our station, and then on to the moon, and then on to Mars... If we cannot get this next set of space shuttle flights off in time by the end of fiscal year 2010 or by the end of calendar year 2010, [NASA should] commit to flying out all of these space shuttle flights to complete the station and to equip it." (7/30)
Virgin Galactic Aiming For IPO (Source: Forbes)
Space travel won't just be for billionaires if Richard Branson gets his way. Fresh from selling a stake in his Virgin Galactic space-tourism subsidiary to Abu Dhabi's Aabar Group, Branson's Virgin Group has an even more ambitious aim in mind: to float the company on the stock market while still retaining a significant stake. Virgin Galactic is a while away from going public, but has already attracted attention from outside investors. (7/30)
Dnepr Launches Small Satellites (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A Dnepr rocket successfully launched six small satellites from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. It placed six small satellites into low Earth orbit. Two of the satellites, UK-DMC2 and Deimos-1, were built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. to be part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation, a network of medium-resolution remote sensing satellites. Also on the Dnepr were the United Arab Emirates' first satellite, Dubaisat-1; two small communications sats for American company Aprize Satellite; and a Spanish technology demonstration nanosat. (7/30)
Aerospace Company Deserts Oklahoma Leaving Questions (Source: KOTV)
The aerospace company that promised Oklahoma 'the moon' and so much more, has left the state, leaving lawmakers with more questions than answers. Rocketplane Global has vacated its company headquarters near the Will Rogers Airport. Oklahoma State Representative David Dank has been a longtime critic of Rocketplane. He said he was furious to learn that the company that promised so much to the state had packed up and left town.
"We were told they left in February," said State Representative David Dank. "Just packed up and left overnight. The last we heard, the guy in charge was working out of his garage in Wisconsin. They have no presence here in Oklahoma and I think that's an absolute sin against the taxpayers." In 2003 Rocketplane was granted an $18 million tax credit from the state. The first launch was scheduled for 2006. (7/30)
An Uncertain Future for Bankrupt Sea Launch (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Already burdened by bankruptcy and a cutthroat rocket industry, Sea Launch could face more defecting customers if the company does not soon assure satellite operators of its future viability. In court documents last week, Intelsat filed a motion to force Sea Launch to assume or reject contracts for up to seven missions to deliver communications satellites into orbit. Intelsat owns seven of 10 contracts in Sea Launch's backlog.
Two Intelsat payloads will fly on Sea Launch's land-based subsidiary and one spacecraft is manifested on Sea Launch's ocean-based service. Intelsat holds up to four contract options for additional launches through 2012, but those agreements do not have assigned satellites, according to Paula Korn, Sea Launch spokesperson. (7/30)
Space Coast Jobs Slipping Away (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The pace of job losses is picking up along Florida's Space Coast, as two more space-services contractors plan to dismiss scores of workers there by October, the state's labor agency said Wednesday. Securiguard Inc. and Jacobs Technology Inc. are the latest contractors shedding jobs at Cape Canaveral Spaceport as a result of NASA cutbacks or budget belt-tightening by the U.S. military.
Securiguard recently notified the state it plans to eliminate more than 150 jobs and close down its security-services operation at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The company said more than 200 workers will be laid off by Oct. 1, the start of the federal government's 2010 fiscal year. Meanwhile, NASA contractor Jacobs Technology notified the state it plans to lay off about 50 workers — or more than one-third of its payload-processing staff at KSC, according to state labor agency. (7/30)
July 29 News Items
Griffin: Keep Government Human Spaceflight Capability (Source: SPACErePORT)
In a letter to the Augustine Panel, former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin dismissed the notion of relying on commercial providers for human spaceflight in Low Earth Orbit... "It is my considered judgment that the capability for independent and assured human access to space is strategic for the United States. It affects our standing in the world... it follows that it cannot be left solely to the discretion and ability of private entities, whose interests can never, and should never, be wholly aligned with those of government... It is one thing to say, as I have on many occasions, that we should purchase commercial service in lieu of utilizing government systems when the former becomes available. It is another thing entirely for the very existence of a strategic capability to be held hostage to the vagaries of the marketplace."
Editor's Note: The Air Force also considers access to space to be a strategic national capability, yet they no longer operate their own launch vehicles. They supported the development of commercial EELV rockets to meet this need.
Griffin Urges Moon Focus (Source: SPACErePORT)
In his letter to the Augustine Committee, former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin made the case for sticking with plans for continued lunar exploration... "Abandoning cislunar space to others while the U.S. embarks on a Mars project, even an international project, seems to me to be geopolitically unwise. When other nations are conducting high-profile missions in cislunar space and on the moon, and we are still talking about going to Mars, we will no longer be seen as a leader in space. I think this matters greatly." (7/28)
Lampson: Commercial Space Sector Can Help NASA Compete (Source: Houston Chronicle)
As a congressman I fought hard for more resources so NASA could continue to fulfill our nation's leadership role in space exploration, science and technology. Today, in addition to several government space programs, an emerging commercial space flight industry made up of proven and established entrepreneurs is now able to provide many of the launch and cargo services, equipment and infrastructure needed to expand our economy and improve our security here on Earth.
The commercial space flight industry is in a unique position to help NASA and our nation stay competitive. NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and the follow-on Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) programs enable us to use commercial space capability to deliver cargo to the International Space Station while reducing the cost to the taxpayer.
Through these programs, NASA's development of commercial space transportation will be augmented by both private investment and advanced revenues from sales in other markets, such as telecommunication satellite launches. Commercial providers will actively seek out new markets for their services, such as scientific research flights, national security missions and potentially flights by private citizens. Additionally, the performance-based payment contract for COTS and CRS will provide incentives for commercial providers to keep development costs as low as possible. (7/29)
Space Elevator Contest Held Up (Source: Aviation Week)
A technical issue with a helicopter cable system is forcing the Spaceward Foundation to postpone the Space Elevator Power Beaming Challenge Games originally scheduled for this summer at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The Spaceward Foundation, which conducts the competition as part of NASA's Centennial Challenges program, together with NASA, which is providing the $2 million prize money for this segment, said the problems cropped up during tests last week. (7/28)
SpaceX Completes Qualification of Falcon 9 First Stage Tank and Interstage (Source: SpaceX)
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) announces the successful completion of qualification testing for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle first stage tank and interstage. Testing took place at SpaceX’s Texas Test Site, a 300 acre structural and propulsion testing facility, located just outside of Waco, Texas. (7/28)
In a letter to the Augustine Panel, former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin dismissed the notion of relying on commercial providers for human spaceflight in Low Earth Orbit... "It is my considered judgment that the capability for independent and assured human access to space is strategic for the United States. It affects our standing in the world... it follows that it cannot be left solely to the discretion and ability of private entities, whose interests can never, and should never, be wholly aligned with those of government... It is one thing to say, as I have on many occasions, that we should purchase commercial service in lieu of utilizing government systems when the former becomes available. It is another thing entirely for the very existence of a strategic capability to be held hostage to the vagaries of the marketplace."
Editor's Note: The Air Force also considers access to space to be a strategic national capability, yet they no longer operate their own launch vehicles. They supported the development of commercial EELV rockets to meet this need.
Griffin Urges Moon Focus (Source: SPACErePORT)
In his letter to the Augustine Committee, former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin made the case for sticking with plans for continued lunar exploration... "Abandoning cislunar space to others while the U.S. embarks on a Mars project, even an international project, seems to me to be geopolitically unwise. When other nations are conducting high-profile missions in cislunar space and on the moon, and we are still talking about going to Mars, we will no longer be seen as a leader in space. I think this matters greatly." (7/28)
Lampson: Commercial Space Sector Can Help NASA Compete (Source: Houston Chronicle)
As a congressman I fought hard for more resources so NASA could continue to fulfill our nation's leadership role in space exploration, science and technology. Today, in addition to several government space programs, an emerging commercial space flight industry made up of proven and established entrepreneurs is now able to provide many of the launch and cargo services, equipment and infrastructure needed to expand our economy and improve our security here on Earth.
The commercial space flight industry is in a unique position to help NASA and our nation stay competitive. NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) and the follow-on Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) programs enable us to use commercial space capability to deliver cargo to the International Space Station while reducing the cost to the taxpayer.
Through these programs, NASA's development of commercial space transportation will be augmented by both private investment and advanced revenues from sales in other markets, such as telecommunication satellite launches. Commercial providers will actively seek out new markets for their services, such as scientific research flights, national security missions and potentially flights by private citizens. Additionally, the performance-based payment contract for COTS and CRS will provide incentives for commercial providers to keep development costs as low as possible. (7/29)
Space Elevator Contest Held Up (Source: Aviation Week)
A technical issue with a helicopter cable system is forcing the Spaceward Foundation to postpone the Space Elevator Power Beaming Challenge Games originally scheduled for this summer at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. The Spaceward Foundation, which conducts the competition as part of NASA's Centennial Challenges program, together with NASA, which is providing the $2 million prize money for this segment, said the problems cropped up during tests last week. (7/28)
SpaceX Completes Qualification of Falcon 9 First Stage Tank and Interstage (Source: SpaceX)
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) announces the successful completion of qualification testing for the Falcon 9 launch vehicle first stage tank and interstage. Testing took place at SpaceX’s Texas Test Site, a 300 acre structural and propulsion testing facility, located just outside of Waco, Texas. (7/28)
July 28 News Items
Presidential Panel Ponders Shuttle Extension (Source: Florida Today)
A presidential panel is reviewing an option to extend the shuttle program through 2014, significantly reducing an anticipated five-year gap in U.S. human spaceflight. The option is one of three that the panel -- dubbed presented during a public hearing in Texas. The other options: retire the shuttle fleet as planned near the end of 2010; and add one additional shuttle mission and keep flying the shuttle through 2012. Former NASA astronaut Sally Ride said the option to extend shuttle flights through 2014 is "the most realistic way to significantly reduce the gap" while taking advantage of the full capabilities of the International Space Station. (7/28)
Ride: With Ares I Delayed Until 2017, Let's Fly Shuttle (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Noting that she brought nothing but "doom and gloom," Sally Ride told the Augustine Panel she did not expect NASA to launch its planned replacement to the space shuttle before 2017 -- two years after its target date. The delay would mean NASA would go at least six years without sending astronauts into orbit, so Ride also suggested extending shuttle flights beyond their retirement date of 2010 or 2011.
Ride, who was America's first female astronaut in space and one of 10 members of a presidential committee studying America's manned space program, laid out three options, one of which would add flights to the seven now scheduled and keep the shuttle flying past 2012. She justified extending the shuttle because "Constellation is likely to slip," citing ongoing financial and technical problems.
Of her three proposals, the most ambitious would extend the shuttle era through 2014, with one or two flights annually. But Ride said this idea only would make sense if NASA scrapped Constellation and went with a new rocket built largely from shuttle parts. (7/28)
Extending Shuttle Lifetime Raises Safety and Cost Issues (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Keeping the shuttle flying longer raises both safety and cost issues. Steve Lindsey, chief of the astronaut office, testified Tuesday that astronauts flying in the shuttle face a risk of dying comparable to troops landing at D-Day, though engineers in the space community say the orbiter is far safer than that. And the overhead for maintaining the shuttle fleet amounts to about $2 billion a year, with each launch costing up to $500 million more.
One big reason Griffin had sought to retire the shuttle was to free up that money for the Constellation program. Once the shuttle retires, KSC is expected to shed as many as 7,000 jobs, said Lisa Rice, president of Brevard Workforce Development Board. Worse, those job losses likely would ripple through the Space Coast, causing three times as many pink slips in the surrounding community, she said.
So when Ride mentioned the shuttle extension idea, it created a flicker of hope. "We would absolutely love that," said Rice, who plans to lobby the commission on Thursday when it visits KSC. "It helps us retain a highly-skilled workforce that can be ready for that next generation of space vehicle." (7/28)
El Segundo's Wyle Wins NASA Bid Through 2013 (Source: DailyBreeze.com)
Wyle, the El Segundo-based aerospace technology firm, said it was awarded a $201 million contract extension from NASA. The work, to be performed by Wyle's Integrated Science and Engineering Group in Houston, is scheduled to last until April 30, 2013. The contract extension calls for Wyle to continue to provide health testing and other services for astronauts. NASA awarded Wyle with the original contract in 2003. The agency exercised an option to extend the contract in 2007. This latest extension brings the combined value of the contract to $976 million. (7/28)
SpaceX Faces Crucial Falcon 9 Test (Source: Flight Global)
After two consecutive successes of SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket, the stage is set for the fourth quarter maiden flight of its much larger Falcon 9 booster, which is scheduled to fly 23 times before 2016. With launches priced at $30 million, the Falcon 9 will be a competitive threat to existing launch providers whose prices are closer to $100 million (SpaceX's competitors say that its prices are unsustainable).
The first two Falcon 9 launches are planned for the fourth quarter of 2009. This is after a delay of a year, partly due to what Musk has called "the enormous amount of work to get done" for development and testing. In 2008 SpaceX won a $1.6 billion NASA contract to supply International Space Station cargo, with 12 launches until 2015. SpaceX has seven other commercial Falcon 9 launch orders.
Flight two is the first demonstration launch of Falcon 9 with its Dragon spacecraft for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. Progress with the first Dragon, designed for worst-case scenario launch abort loads, includes structural and acoustic qualification. This first COTS flight will see Dragon make several orbits before splashing down off California. SpaceX has 17 Dragon launches scheduled, 15 for NASA and two for its commercial Dragonlab service - an unmanned recoverable Dragon with science experiments. (7/28)
ULA to Cut 224 Jobs by Mid-October (Source: Denver Post)
United Launch Alliance will cut 224 employees by mid-October. Of the job cuts, 87 are in Colorado, where 1,800 of the joint rocket venture's 3,900 employees are based. Florida-based launch operations will trim 123 jobs, and 14 rocket-assembly workers will be cut in Alabama. (7/28)
Q2 Profits Soar 76% for EADS (Source: AIA)
European aerospace/defense contractor EADS announced that second-quarter profits rose by 76%, but it then warned it may suffer "substantial negative" hits to future profits because of renegotiations with several governments over its delayed A400M military transport program. Financial analysts noted the net profit of $297 million from April to June still lagged behind projected profits for the parent company of Airbus. (7/28)
Major Shuttle and ISS Extension Drive at the Augustine Commission (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
With NASA authorization language already being drawn up behind the scenes by Congress, Augustine Commission ISS/Shuttle subgroup lead Dr Sally Ride – along with several key NASA and United Space Alliance (USA) managers – have embarked on a major push to extend the shuttle program, linking the move with the allowance for the International Space Station (ISS) to operate until 2020.
Efforts to extend the shuttle program past 2010 have been ongoing for over a year, with the main concern relating to the ever-growing gap between the last flight of the shuttle and the first operation flight of Orion via Ares I. Problems with extending shuttle mainly relate to the need for additional funding, with the current shuttle budget forecast to be handed over to the Constellation Program (CxP) in 2010. Another problem relates to the skill set, with thousands of layoffs already announced within the shuttle program – most recently at JSC and KSC. Click here to view the entire article. (7/28)
Orbital Reports Second Quarter 2009 Losses (Source: Business Wire)
Orbital Sciences Corp. reported second quarter 2009 revenues of $270.1 million compared to $301.2 million in the second quarter of 2008. Second quarter 2009 operating income was $12.8 million, compared to $26.5 million in the second quarter of 2008. Income from continuing operations was $8.7 million, compared to $10.1 million in the second quarter of 2008. (7/28)
Abu Dhabi Buys 32% of Virgin Galactic (Source: The Age)
The Mideast investment fund with the biggest stake in Mercedes-Benz's parent said on Tuesday it will pay about $280 million to buy nearly a third of commercial space travel startup Virgin Galactic. The buy-in by Aabar Investments of Abu Dhabi gives British billionaire Sir Richard Branson's space tourism venture a big financial kickstart at a time when many funding sources have dried up because of the global recession. It also provides the oil-rich Persian Gulf sheikdom a chance to acquire space flight capability of its own. (7/28)
Pact with US to Boost India’s Space Launch Industry (Source: Thaindian News)
A technology safeguards agreement (TSA) signed with the US last week will open up fresh opportunities for India in the field of space launches, say officials. The agreement, signed July 20 in New Delhi, will facilitate the launch of non-commercial US satellites and satellites with US components on Indian launch vehicles. “Earlier, satellites built with US-made components were not available for Indian launch vehicles,” said an Antrix official. At present, the total market for non-commercial launches is estimated to be around 40 satellites a year, of which India’s share is very small. However, with the TSA agreement, India is poised to make a larger penetration into the market, said ISRO officials. (7/28)
Editorial: County Economic Development Cut Would be Mistake (Source: Florida Today)
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know Brevard County should continue ramping up its economic development efforts. Especially with the local unemployment rate hitting 10.2 percent and Brevard staring down the barrel of a loaded shotgun in the form of a possible 6,000 to 7,000 lost jobs next year when NASA retires the shuttle fleet at Kennedy Space Center. That makes a proposal to slash county funding for the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast a big mistake that our community cannot afford. County commissioners debated the issue during discussions last week about deep cuts to the county budget, including a possible 10 percent reduction in county EDC funding that would reduce the money it receives to $1.4 million. (7/28)
Keeping The Space Program Thriving After Shuttles Retire (Source: CFL13)
Space Florida says more experimentation at Kennedy Space Center can be one of the many things to keep the space program thriving in the state. In three "white papers" addressed to special committees within the Augustine Panel, Space Florida recommends: Using Florida launch facilities already in place would save money; Developing new heavy lift capability to support the ISS and future missions; Utilizing the shuttle workforce already in place to make it happen. (7/28)
A presidential panel is reviewing an option to extend the shuttle program through 2014, significantly reducing an anticipated five-year gap in U.S. human spaceflight. The option is one of three that the panel -- dubbed presented during a public hearing in Texas. The other options: retire the shuttle fleet as planned near the end of 2010; and add one additional shuttle mission and keep flying the shuttle through 2012. Former NASA astronaut Sally Ride said the option to extend shuttle flights through 2014 is "the most realistic way to significantly reduce the gap" while taking advantage of the full capabilities of the International Space Station. (7/28)
Ride: With Ares I Delayed Until 2017, Let's Fly Shuttle (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Noting that she brought nothing but "doom and gloom," Sally Ride told the Augustine Panel she did not expect NASA to launch its planned replacement to the space shuttle before 2017 -- two years after its target date. The delay would mean NASA would go at least six years without sending astronauts into orbit, so Ride also suggested extending shuttle flights beyond their retirement date of 2010 or 2011.
Ride, who was America's first female astronaut in space and one of 10 members of a presidential committee studying America's manned space program, laid out three options, one of which would add flights to the seven now scheduled and keep the shuttle flying past 2012. She justified extending the shuttle because "Constellation is likely to slip," citing ongoing financial and technical problems.
Of her three proposals, the most ambitious would extend the shuttle era through 2014, with one or two flights annually. But Ride said this idea only would make sense if NASA scrapped Constellation and went with a new rocket built largely from shuttle parts. (7/28)
Extending Shuttle Lifetime Raises Safety and Cost Issues (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Keeping the shuttle flying longer raises both safety and cost issues. Steve Lindsey, chief of the astronaut office, testified Tuesday that astronauts flying in the shuttle face a risk of dying comparable to troops landing at D-Day, though engineers in the space community say the orbiter is far safer than that. And the overhead for maintaining the shuttle fleet amounts to about $2 billion a year, with each launch costing up to $500 million more.
One big reason Griffin had sought to retire the shuttle was to free up that money for the Constellation program. Once the shuttle retires, KSC is expected to shed as many as 7,000 jobs, said Lisa Rice, president of Brevard Workforce Development Board. Worse, those job losses likely would ripple through the Space Coast, causing three times as many pink slips in the surrounding community, she said.
So when Ride mentioned the shuttle extension idea, it created a flicker of hope. "We would absolutely love that," said Rice, who plans to lobby the commission on Thursday when it visits KSC. "It helps us retain a highly-skilled workforce that can be ready for that next generation of space vehicle." (7/28)
El Segundo's Wyle Wins NASA Bid Through 2013 (Source: DailyBreeze.com)
Wyle, the El Segundo-based aerospace technology firm, said it was awarded a $201 million contract extension from NASA. The work, to be performed by Wyle's Integrated Science and Engineering Group in Houston, is scheduled to last until April 30, 2013. The contract extension calls for Wyle to continue to provide health testing and other services for astronauts. NASA awarded Wyle with the original contract in 2003. The agency exercised an option to extend the contract in 2007. This latest extension brings the combined value of the contract to $976 million. (7/28)
SpaceX Faces Crucial Falcon 9 Test (Source: Flight Global)
After two consecutive successes of SpaceX's Falcon 1 rocket, the stage is set for the fourth quarter maiden flight of its much larger Falcon 9 booster, which is scheduled to fly 23 times before 2016. With launches priced at $30 million, the Falcon 9 will be a competitive threat to existing launch providers whose prices are closer to $100 million (SpaceX's competitors say that its prices are unsustainable).
The first two Falcon 9 launches are planned for the fourth quarter of 2009. This is after a delay of a year, partly due to what Musk has called "the enormous amount of work to get done" for development and testing. In 2008 SpaceX won a $1.6 billion NASA contract to supply International Space Station cargo, with 12 launches until 2015. SpaceX has seven other commercial Falcon 9 launch orders.
Flight two is the first demonstration launch of Falcon 9 with its Dragon spacecraft for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. Progress with the first Dragon, designed for worst-case scenario launch abort loads, includes structural and acoustic qualification. This first COTS flight will see Dragon make several orbits before splashing down off California. SpaceX has 17 Dragon launches scheduled, 15 for NASA and two for its commercial Dragonlab service - an unmanned recoverable Dragon with science experiments. (7/28)
ULA to Cut 224 Jobs by Mid-October (Source: Denver Post)
United Launch Alliance will cut 224 employees by mid-October. Of the job cuts, 87 are in Colorado, where 1,800 of the joint rocket venture's 3,900 employees are based. Florida-based launch operations will trim 123 jobs, and 14 rocket-assembly workers will be cut in Alabama. (7/28)
Q2 Profits Soar 76% for EADS (Source: AIA)
European aerospace/defense contractor EADS announced that second-quarter profits rose by 76%, but it then warned it may suffer "substantial negative" hits to future profits because of renegotiations with several governments over its delayed A400M military transport program. Financial analysts noted the net profit of $297 million from April to June still lagged behind projected profits for the parent company of Airbus. (7/28)
Major Shuttle and ISS Extension Drive at the Augustine Commission (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
With NASA authorization language already being drawn up behind the scenes by Congress, Augustine Commission ISS/Shuttle subgroup lead Dr Sally Ride – along with several key NASA and United Space Alliance (USA) managers – have embarked on a major push to extend the shuttle program, linking the move with the allowance for the International Space Station (ISS) to operate until 2020.
Efforts to extend the shuttle program past 2010 have been ongoing for over a year, with the main concern relating to the ever-growing gap between the last flight of the shuttle and the first operation flight of Orion via Ares I. Problems with extending shuttle mainly relate to the need for additional funding, with the current shuttle budget forecast to be handed over to the Constellation Program (CxP) in 2010. Another problem relates to the skill set, with thousands of layoffs already announced within the shuttle program – most recently at JSC and KSC. Click here to view the entire article. (7/28)
Orbital Reports Second Quarter 2009 Losses (Source: Business Wire)
Orbital Sciences Corp. reported second quarter 2009 revenues of $270.1 million compared to $301.2 million in the second quarter of 2008. Second quarter 2009 operating income was $12.8 million, compared to $26.5 million in the second quarter of 2008. Income from continuing operations was $8.7 million, compared to $10.1 million in the second quarter of 2008. (7/28)
Abu Dhabi Buys 32% of Virgin Galactic (Source: The Age)
The Mideast investment fund with the biggest stake in Mercedes-Benz's parent said on Tuesday it will pay about $280 million to buy nearly a third of commercial space travel startup Virgin Galactic. The buy-in by Aabar Investments of Abu Dhabi gives British billionaire Sir Richard Branson's space tourism venture a big financial kickstart at a time when many funding sources have dried up because of the global recession. It also provides the oil-rich Persian Gulf sheikdom a chance to acquire space flight capability of its own. (7/28)
Pact with US to Boost India’s Space Launch Industry (Source: Thaindian News)
A technology safeguards agreement (TSA) signed with the US last week will open up fresh opportunities for India in the field of space launches, say officials. The agreement, signed July 20 in New Delhi, will facilitate the launch of non-commercial US satellites and satellites with US components on Indian launch vehicles. “Earlier, satellites built with US-made components were not available for Indian launch vehicles,” said an Antrix official. At present, the total market for non-commercial launches is estimated to be around 40 satellites a year, of which India’s share is very small. However, with the TSA agreement, India is poised to make a larger penetration into the market, said ISRO officials. (7/28)
Editorial: County Economic Development Cut Would be Mistake (Source: Florida Today)
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know Brevard County should continue ramping up its economic development efforts. Especially with the local unemployment rate hitting 10.2 percent and Brevard staring down the barrel of a loaded shotgun in the form of a possible 6,000 to 7,000 lost jobs next year when NASA retires the shuttle fleet at Kennedy Space Center. That makes a proposal to slash county funding for the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast a big mistake that our community cannot afford. County commissioners debated the issue during discussions last week about deep cuts to the county budget, including a possible 10 percent reduction in county EDC funding that would reduce the money it receives to $1.4 million. (7/28)
Keeping The Space Program Thriving After Shuttles Retire (Source: CFL13)
Space Florida says more experimentation at Kennedy Space Center can be one of the many things to keep the space program thriving in the state. In three "white papers" addressed to special committees within the Augustine Panel, Space Florida recommends: Using Florida launch facilities already in place would save money; Developing new heavy lift capability to support the ISS and future missions; Utilizing the shuttle workforce already in place to make it happen. (7/28)
July 27 News Items
Oklahoma Lawmakers Study Tax Breaks to Risky Ventures (Source: CNBC)
They promised to bring new industry and high-paying jobs to Oklahoma. All they needed, they said, was the right environment to help their fledgling projects flourish, including generous tax incentives. Companies like Rocketplane, which planned to send tourists to space from a launch site in Burns Flat, and Quartz Mountain Aerospace, which promised to build 415 pilot training planes, received tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks. But their ventures fizzled, leaving taxpayers holding the bill.
Oklahoma doles out $3 billion yearly in tax breaks, including $1 billion in income tax preferences and $2 billion in sales tax exemptions to profit-making concerns, according to state tax commission estimates. But with Oklahoma facing a budget shortfall of more than $600 million, some lawmakers say its time to reassess how tax breaks are doled out in order to protect taxpayers from being taken for a ride on risky ventures. (7/27)
Report: NASA Awards Conference Cost $1 Million (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A 2007 NASA awards conference in Orlando cost taxpayers as much as $1 million -- including $10,733 for shuttle model awards -- according to a report by the agency’s inspector general. But the conference, which since has been banned by Congress, generally followed government rules, according to the inspector general. If NASA reinstates the program, however, investigators said it should “address the question of what is a reasonably necessary expense.”
NASA spent more than $542,000 on 232 honorees who took a seven-day, six-night trip to Orlando that included lodging at the Grand Cypress Resort. The agency also spent about $43,000 to send 41 Kennedy Space Center honorees to Houston. It also includes $69,000 for a breakfast awards ceremony and nearly $3,000 for awards frames. “We estimate that salaries and benefits for the honorees represent an additional $424,265, bringing the total cost of the awards event to $1,010,003.” (7/27)
Honeywell Lowers Forecast After Q2 Profit Falls 38% (Source: AIA)
Weakness in its aerospace division led Honeywell International Inc. to a 38% decline in second-quarter profit, and the company lowered its full-year sales forecast by about $1 billion. "We aren't planning for any recovery in 2009," said CEO Dave Cote, noting that economic conditions are "challenging." (7/27)
Putting a Bounty on Orbital Debris (Source: Space Review)
Recent events have raised awareness about the problems orbit debris poses, but most of the attention has been focused on ways to reduce the rate of growth of debris. Jeff Foust reports on a conference session where speakers proposed innovative technologies and financial approaches to eliminating debris. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1427/1 to review the article. (7/27)
John Kelly: Space Destination Changeable (Source: Florida Today)
The Augustine Panel is not limiting itself to the moon and Mars. Nor is the group boxing itself into a program that assumes that the ultimate goal is men and women standing on the desolate surface of Mars. Imagine astronauts blasting off from Kennedy Space Center on a mission to Venus, the Martian moon Phobos or a gigantic asteroid. Documents trickling out of President Barack Obama's human spaceflight committee identify five exploration scenarios being studied for the White House. Among the scenarios is one labeled "flexible path." The plan would focus NASA on developing and improving over time its ability to safely fly people deeper into space. (7/27)
Jupiter: Our Cosmic Protector? (Source: New York Times)
Jupiter took a bullet for us last weekend. An object, probably a comet that nobody saw coming, plowed into the giant planet’s colorful cloud tops sometime Sunday, splashing up debris and leaving a black eye the size of the Pacific Ocean. This was the second time in 15 years that this had happened. The whole world was watching when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fell apart and its pieces crashed into Jupiter in 1994. That’s Jupiter doing its cosmic job, astronomers like to say. Better it than us. Part of what makes the Earth such a nice place to live, the story goes, is that Jupiter’s overbearing gravity acts as a gravitational shield deflecting incoming space junk. (7/27)
Insurance Coverage on the Final Frontier (Source: Business Insurance)
As last week's 40th anniversary of the moon landing focused attention on the future of manned space flight, observers said early providers of space tourism would face expensive pricing for property and liability cover and possibly scarce capacity. The advent of private companies routinely taking paying passengers into orbit to visit space stations, or even to experience weightlessness on a suborbital flight, likely is at least several years from reality.
Brokers and other observers said it is difficult to speculate on the insurance market for private space flight because the space tourism industry is not yet a reality, but some said they believe the initial ventures would have difficulty buying cover for the risk. Says one Aon Risk Services official: “You'll have a few (underwriters) in the beginning willing to take on more risk (on space tourism) than others, but they'll price accordingly.”
One aerospace underwriter agreed, saying the history of private companies attempting to launch satellites suggests insurers could expect space tourism to produce at least one loss in its early stages. “There are going to be very few markets willing to write that business,” the underwriter said. “You're talking about people being placed on top of vehicles that are going to fail...It's a very volatile area.” (7/27)
Enterprise Florida Supports Trade Show Participation (Source: EFI)
Enterprise Florida will provide event-specific grants on a reimbursable basis to small and medium-sized companies to enable them to participate in EFI trade shows and select U.S. certified trade exhibitions in target sectors. Eligible recipients include manufacturers, R&D companies, and technology services providers in targeted industries, including: aviation/aerospace; clean energy; financial & professional services; homeland security & defense; information technology; life sciences; and targeted manufacturing, including the boating/marine sector. Contact Michael Schiffhauer for information at 407-956-5634 or mailto:mschiffhauer@eflorida.com for information. (7/27)
Astronauts Fix Station Air Purifier, Averting Early Shuttle Departure (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A space station air purifier was working again Sunday after it shut down at the worst possible time, when company was still visiting and had swollen the on-board crowd to a record 13. The repair by flight controllers, albeit temporary, came as a great relief to NASA. Even if the carbon dioxide-removal system had remained broken, shuttle Endeavour would not have had to undock early from the space station, said flight director Brian Smith. But the system needs to work to support six station residents over the long term, he said. The machine for cleansing the station atmosphere, on the U.S. side of the sprawling outpost, failed Saturday when it got too hot and tripped a circuit breaker. (7/27)
They promised to bring new industry and high-paying jobs to Oklahoma. All they needed, they said, was the right environment to help their fledgling projects flourish, including generous tax incentives. Companies like Rocketplane, which planned to send tourists to space from a launch site in Burns Flat, and Quartz Mountain Aerospace, which promised to build 415 pilot training planes, received tens of millions of dollars in tax breaks. But their ventures fizzled, leaving taxpayers holding the bill.
Oklahoma doles out $3 billion yearly in tax breaks, including $1 billion in income tax preferences and $2 billion in sales tax exemptions to profit-making concerns, according to state tax commission estimates. But with Oklahoma facing a budget shortfall of more than $600 million, some lawmakers say its time to reassess how tax breaks are doled out in order to protect taxpayers from being taken for a ride on risky ventures. (7/27)
Report: NASA Awards Conference Cost $1 Million (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A 2007 NASA awards conference in Orlando cost taxpayers as much as $1 million -- including $10,733 for shuttle model awards -- according to a report by the agency’s inspector general. But the conference, which since has been banned by Congress, generally followed government rules, according to the inspector general. If NASA reinstates the program, however, investigators said it should “address the question of what is a reasonably necessary expense.”
NASA spent more than $542,000 on 232 honorees who took a seven-day, six-night trip to Orlando that included lodging at the Grand Cypress Resort. The agency also spent about $43,000 to send 41 Kennedy Space Center honorees to Houston. It also includes $69,000 for a breakfast awards ceremony and nearly $3,000 for awards frames. “We estimate that salaries and benefits for the honorees represent an additional $424,265, bringing the total cost of the awards event to $1,010,003.” (7/27)
Honeywell Lowers Forecast After Q2 Profit Falls 38% (Source: AIA)
Weakness in its aerospace division led Honeywell International Inc. to a 38% decline in second-quarter profit, and the company lowered its full-year sales forecast by about $1 billion. "We aren't planning for any recovery in 2009," said CEO Dave Cote, noting that economic conditions are "challenging." (7/27)
Putting a Bounty on Orbital Debris (Source: Space Review)
Recent events have raised awareness about the problems orbit debris poses, but most of the attention has been focused on ways to reduce the rate of growth of debris. Jeff Foust reports on a conference session where speakers proposed innovative technologies and financial approaches to eliminating debris. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1427/1 to review the article. (7/27)
John Kelly: Space Destination Changeable (Source: Florida Today)
The Augustine Panel is not limiting itself to the moon and Mars. Nor is the group boxing itself into a program that assumes that the ultimate goal is men and women standing on the desolate surface of Mars. Imagine astronauts blasting off from Kennedy Space Center on a mission to Venus, the Martian moon Phobos or a gigantic asteroid. Documents trickling out of President Barack Obama's human spaceflight committee identify five exploration scenarios being studied for the White House. Among the scenarios is one labeled "flexible path." The plan would focus NASA on developing and improving over time its ability to safely fly people deeper into space. (7/27)
Jupiter: Our Cosmic Protector? (Source: New York Times)
Jupiter took a bullet for us last weekend. An object, probably a comet that nobody saw coming, plowed into the giant planet’s colorful cloud tops sometime Sunday, splashing up debris and leaving a black eye the size of the Pacific Ocean. This was the second time in 15 years that this had happened. The whole world was watching when Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 fell apart and its pieces crashed into Jupiter in 1994. That’s Jupiter doing its cosmic job, astronomers like to say. Better it than us. Part of what makes the Earth such a nice place to live, the story goes, is that Jupiter’s overbearing gravity acts as a gravitational shield deflecting incoming space junk. (7/27)
Insurance Coverage on the Final Frontier (Source: Business Insurance)
As last week's 40th anniversary of the moon landing focused attention on the future of manned space flight, observers said early providers of space tourism would face expensive pricing for property and liability cover and possibly scarce capacity. The advent of private companies routinely taking paying passengers into orbit to visit space stations, or even to experience weightlessness on a suborbital flight, likely is at least several years from reality.
Brokers and other observers said it is difficult to speculate on the insurance market for private space flight because the space tourism industry is not yet a reality, but some said they believe the initial ventures would have difficulty buying cover for the risk. Says one Aon Risk Services official: “You'll have a few (underwriters) in the beginning willing to take on more risk (on space tourism) than others, but they'll price accordingly.”
One aerospace underwriter agreed, saying the history of private companies attempting to launch satellites suggests insurers could expect space tourism to produce at least one loss in its early stages. “There are going to be very few markets willing to write that business,” the underwriter said. “You're talking about people being placed on top of vehicles that are going to fail...It's a very volatile area.” (7/27)
Enterprise Florida Supports Trade Show Participation (Source: EFI)
Enterprise Florida will provide event-specific grants on a reimbursable basis to small and medium-sized companies to enable them to participate in EFI trade shows and select U.S. certified trade exhibitions in target sectors. Eligible recipients include manufacturers, R&D companies, and technology services providers in targeted industries, including: aviation/aerospace; clean energy; financial & professional services; homeland security & defense; information technology; life sciences; and targeted manufacturing, including the boating/marine sector. Contact Michael Schiffhauer for information at 407-956-5634 or mailto:mschiffhauer@eflorida.com for information. (7/27)
Astronauts Fix Station Air Purifier, Averting Early Shuttle Departure (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A space station air purifier was working again Sunday after it shut down at the worst possible time, when company was still visiting and had swollen the on-board crowd to a record 13. The repair by flight controllers, albeit temporary, came as a great relief to NASA. Even if the carbon dioxide-removal system had remained broken, shuttle Endeavour would not have had to undock early from the space station, said flight director Brian Smith. But the system needs to work to support six station residents over the long term, he said. The machine for cleansing the station atmosphere, on the U.S. side of the sprawling outpost, failed Saturday when it got too hot and tripped a circuit breaker. (7/27)
July 26 News Items
Space Florida Submits White Papers to Augustine Committee (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida partnered with local space and economic development organizations to craft and submit three white papers to special committees within the Augustine Commission, reviewing the future of U.S. space programs. These papers serve as a precursor to a visit next week by The Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, which will hold a public meeting in Cocoa Beach on Aug. 30. Click here to view the white papers. (7/25)
Armadillo Moves Toward Scientific Payloads with Test Flights (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Armadillo Aerospace conducted two groundbreaking atmospheric test flights in Texas this weekend with their “Mod” vertical-takeoff-vertical-landing rocket, a vehicle familiar to anyone who has followed NASA’s Lunar Lander Challenge competitions. Professor Steven Collicott of Purdue University was on hand to watch the launch. Professor Collicott has been leading a group of Purdue University students in developing a fluid-mechanics science payload that they plan to fly soon with Armadillo.
The work between Purdue University and Armadillo Aerospace is serving as a pathfinder effort for future integration of other science payloads on commercial suborbital vehicles. Large numbers of research flights on a variety of suborbital vehicles are envisioned under NASA’s Commercial Suborbital Research Program, based at the NASA Ames Research Center, and scientists are eager to begin working with vehicle developers to get experience integrating science payloads with vehicles. (7/25)
Is it Time to Invite China to the Space Party? (Source: Discovery Channel)
Adding China to the station program could expand the international cultural melding blossoming in orbit, give Obama a Kennedy-esque platform from which to flex his space muscles and maybe inspire common ground for solving a whole bunch of other troubling issues that divide the U.S. and China, such as human rights, free speech, copyright infringement, etc., etc. (7/26)
Seeing Big Multi-State DOD Programs Like F-22 Cut, Some Wonder if NASA Could be Next (Source: NASA Watch)
"The real question isn't so much the programs - its the Centers; does NASA REALLY need '10 healthy centers'? For that matter, at current funding levels, can it afford them? The sad reality behind the fallacy of funding exploration by terminating shuttle (& eventually ISS) is that probably 25-30% of their costs is covering the overhead costs to sustain JSC, MSFC, Michoud, etc.
NASA badly needs to consolidate - after an objective BRAC-like process - and dump at least 2 facilities; it will come at a political cost but dragging around an institutional overhead sized for Apollo while operating a space program on Mercury era budgets, as a % of GDP, makes no sense. F-22 may show its possible to kill big multi-state programs but can we muster the political will to trim excess facilities in only one or two locations?" (7/26)
Launch of UAE Satellite Postponed (Source: Taragana.com)
The launch of the United Arab Emirates’ first remote sensing satellite DubaiSat-1, scheduled Saturday, has been postponed to July 29, WAM news agency reported. The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) announced that the launch was postponed by the launching company — International Space Company (Cosmotras) — to undertake some safety and security tests. DubaiSat-1 is the first remote sensing satellite owned by the UAE and is designed to provide up-to-date spatial and earth monitoring data. (7/26)
Europe's Mars Rover Slips to 2018 (Source: BBC)
Europe's flagship robotic rover mission to Mars now looks certain to leave Earth in 2018, two years later than recently proposed, the BBC understands. The ExoMars vehicle is intended to search the Red Planet for signs of past or present life. The delay is the third for the mission originally planned to launch in 2011. While the switch will disappoint many people, officials say the change will open up a greatly expanded program of exploration at the Red Planet. (7/26)
Race is On for Space-Junk Alarm System (Source: New Scientist)
A worldwide network of radar stations could tackle the ever-growing problem of space debris - the remains of old rockets and satellites that pose an increasing threat to spacecraft. The US government is launching a competition, which will run until the end of 2010, to find the best way of tracking pieces of junk down to the size of a pool ball. Three aerospace companies - Northrop Grumman, Lockheed-Martin and Raytheon - have each been awarded $30 million by US Air Force Space Command to design a "space fence" that will constantly report the motion of all objects 5 centimetres wide and larger in medium and low-Earth orbits. (7/26)
Space Florida partnered with local space and economic development organizations to craft and submit three white papers to special committees within the Augustine Commission, reviewing the future of U.S. space programs. These papers serve as a precursor to a visit next week by The Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, which will hold a public meeting in Cocoa Beach on Aug. 30. Click here to view the white papers. (7/25)
Armadillo Moves Toward Scientific Payloads with Test Flights (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Armadillo Aerospace conducted two groundbreaking atmospheric test flights in Texas this weekend with their “Mod” vertical-takeoff-vertical-landing rocket, a vehicle familiar to anyone who has followed NASA’s Lunar Lander Challenge competitions. Professor Steven Collicott of Purdue University was on hand to watch the launch. Professor Collicott has been leading a group of Purdue University students in developing a fluid-mechanics science payload that they plan to fly soon with Armadillo.
The work between Purdue University and Armadillo Aerospace is serving as a pathfinder effort for future integration of other science payloads on commercial suborbital vehicles. Large numbers of research flights on a variety of suborbital vehicles are envisioned under NASA’s Commercial Suborbital Research Program, based at the NASA Ames Research Center, and scientists are eager to begin working with vehicle developers to get experience integrating science payloads with vehicles. (7/25)
Is it Time to Invite China to the Space Party? (Source: Discovery Channel)
Adding China to the station program could expand the international cultural melding blossoming in orbit, give Obama a Kennedy-esque platform from which to flex his space muscles and maybe inspire common ground for solving a whole bunch of other troubling issues that divide the U.S. and China, such as human rights, free speech, copyright infringement, etc., etc. (7/26)
Seeing Big Multi-State DOD Programs Like F-22 Cut, Some Wonder if NASA Could be Next (Source: NASA Watch)
"The real question isn't so much the programs - its the Centers; does NASA REALLY need '10 healthy centers'? For that matter, at current funding levels, can it afford them? The sad reality behind the fallacy of funding exploration by terminating shuttle (& eventually ISS) is that probably 25-30% of their costs is covering the overhead costs to sustain JSC, MSFC, Michoud, etc.
NASA badly needs to consolidate - after an objective BRAC-like process - and dump at least 2 facilities; it will come at a political cost but dragging around an institutional overhead sized for Apollo while operating a space program on Mercury era budgets, as a % of GDP, makes no sense. F-22 may show its possible to kill big multi-state programs but can we muster the political will to trim excess facilities in only one or two locations?" (7/26)
Launch of UAE Satellite Postponed (Source: Taragana.com)
The launch of the United Arab Emirates’ first remote sensing satellite DubaiSat-1, scheduled Saturday, has been postponed to July 29, WAM news agency reported. The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) announced that the launch was postponed by the launching company — International Space Company (Cosmotras) — to undertake some safety and security tests. DubaiSat-1 is the first remote sensing satellite owned by the UAE and is designed to provide up-to-date spatial and earth monitoring data. (7/26)
Europe's Mars Rover Slips to 2018 (Source: BBC)
Europe's flagship robotic rover mission to Mars now looks certain to leave Earth in 2018, two years later than recently proposed, the BBC understands. The ExoMars vehicle is intended to search the Red Planet for signs of past or present life. The delay is the third for the mission originally planned to launch in 2011. While the switch will disappoint many people, officials say the change will open up a greatly expanded program of exploration at the Red Planet. (7/26)
Race is On for Space-Junk Alarm System (Source: New Scientist)
A worldwide network of radar stations could tackle the ever-growing problem of space debris - the remains of old rockets and satellites that pose an increasing threat to spacecraft. The US government is launching a competition, which will run until the end of 2010, to find the best way of tracking pieces of junk down to the size of a pool ball. Three aerospace companies - Northrop Grumman, Lockheed-Martin and Raytheon - have each been awarded $30 million by US Air Force Space Command to design a "space fence" that will constantly report the motion of all objects 5 centimetres wide and larger in medium and low-Earth orbits. (7/26)
July 25 News Items
Turkey Expecting Satellite Deal to Spark Homegrown Space Industry (Source: Space News)
The Turkish government's contract with Telespazio to provide a high-resolution optical Earth observation satellite, plus training and ground facilities to develop Turkey's space industry, includes a feature that Turkish authorities say will result in the equivalent of $455 million in contracts being awarded to Turkish industry. In addition, Turkish industry is expected to be given contracts equivalent to 20 percent of the face value of the $353 million Gokturk satellite project. (7/24)
UK Eyes NASA-Style Agency (Source: Space News)
The British government, which for years has invited other European nations to view its way of funding space programs as the way of the future, is now considering whether to abandon its current approach in favor of a classic NASA-style space agency. Lord Drayson, Britain's science and innovation minister, said his office has given itself 12 weeks to consult with the public, industry, academia and other government departments to determine whether the British National Space Center (BNSC) should have its own budget, as is the case in France, Germany, Italy and at the European Space Agency (ESA), where three-quarters of Britain's space budget is spent. (7/24)
Italy Skeptical of U.S. European Mars Collaboration (Source: Space News)
The Italian Space Agency (ASI), which up to now has taken the lead role in Europe's ExoMars lander and rover mission, is deeply skeptical of a planned U.S.-European collaboration on Mars exploration expected to lead to the de facto dismantling of ExoMars as originally planned, ASI President Enrico Saggese said. Saggese said ExoMars appears to have been sacrificed on behalf of a long-term collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). (7/24)
James Webb Telescope To Receive Stimulus Funding (Source: Space News)
NASA plans to spend $65 million of its $1 billion in economic stimulus money to help pay for an existing contract with Northrop Grumman Corp. to complete some design and integration work on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman is NASA's prime contractor for the $4.5 billion JWST program. The infrared telescope is planned for launch in 2014 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket provided by the European Space Agency. (7/24)
Intelligence Bill Calls for Space Coordination Office (Source: Space News)
A Senate panel recommended July 22 the creation of a new office within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to coordinate and provide policy direction for the management of space-related intelligence assets. (7/24)
ULA Announces Plan for New Round of Job Cuts (Source: Space News)
U.S. government launch services provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) of Denver has informed employees it will eliminate 224 positions across the company in October, following a first round of 89 layoffs in February. ULA, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture, said the reductions are necessary to meet competitive challenges and future pricing assumptions. They are also related to the closing out of ULA's Delta 2 rocket business, the completion of the company's work on NASA's Ares 1-X test flight program and discontinued government funding to accelerate the Atlas 5 launch manifest. (7/24)
Constellation Gets $310M In NASA Stimulus Funding (Source: Space News)
NASA's Constellation program stands to get $310 million in stimulus funding following Congress' signing off in mid-July on the agency's plan to spend the $1 billion it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act enacted in February. Another $90 million will be spent on NASA commercial crew and cargo programs.
NASA waited months for lawmakers to approve the spending plan, which was submitted to lawmakers in April. Congressional and industry sources said the funds were held up by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who wanted all $400 million the recovery act included for exploration to be spent on Constellation. Although the initial spending plan included $400 million for space exploration, NASA proposed to spend only $250 million on Constellation, with the remaining $150 million going toward commercial crew and cargo systems. (7/24)
Wallops a 'Hidden Jewel' (Source: DelMarVaNow.com)
Forty years after astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, two busloads of Delmarva's movers and shakers this week got a peek at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, which supporters hope will be the next space venture to capture the public's imagination. The tour was organized by the Greater Salisbury Committee. Also touring the spaceport were elected officials, along with economic development and tourism representatives, all of whom were allowed to walk around the control room and a launch pad and view NASA and Navy facilities on Wallops Island. (7/25)
Sexual Discrimination in Space (Source: Russia Today)
Twenty-five years ago Russian cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the second woman to travel into orbit, the first also Russian, but she was the first woman to walk in space. Svetlana was 36 when she was thrust into the Cold War space race. While in orbit she undertook hours of experiments and, in doing so, broke new ground for women to join the front line of space exploration.
It is true the standing of the whole country was at stake, but Svetlana says her mission was tough for other reasons, as she also was the first to fight against sex discrimination. “Even among our space-colleagues there were men wondering why we needed to weld and said that we might burn each other’s space suits or the spaceship’s exterior. It is a great responsibility,” Savitskaya said. “If I listen to their concerns, then people could have said that surely it was not something women should do. But after my spaceflight, everyone had to shut up.” (7/25)
How to Glue Together a Lighter Spacecraft (Source: New Scientist)
Rocket-driven spacecraft normally use strong, heavy-metal mountings to hold their fuel tanks in place within the fuselage. But there may be a better way. Burt Rutan, the aerospace pioneer whose firm Scaled Composites is designing civilian suborbital spacecraft for Virgin Galactic, is using an alternative technique to secure the fuel tanks in order to keep the weight of the space plane down.
Rutan says the use of heavy mountings can be avoided completely by careful design of the tank and fuselage. His idea, described in a US patent granted last month, is to glue the fuel tanks to the inside of the craft. His tanks have a cylindrical composite-coated midsection that fits snugly inside the spacecraft and is bonded to the inner surface of the fuselage with a superstrong industrial adhesive. A secure fit is crucial as the tanks are connected to the combustion chamber where fuel is burned, and any movement could risk a dangerous leak. (7/25)
What NASA's Return to the Moon May Look Like (Source: New Scientist)
The Apollo era may have ended as funding fizzled, and the programme's astronauts may be bigger fans of Mars, but the hope of returning to the moon never really went away. NASA is still sorting out what this lunar presence might look like. The agency's lunar surface systems office has examined more than a dozen different mission scenarios for astronaut habitats in preparation for a review in mid-2010.
The front-runner is a "greatest hits" scenario that combines the best parts of other mission concepts, Leonard told New Scientist. In this approach, lunar landers would deliver habitats, rovers, and robots that could crawl across the lunar surface, propelled by solar power. Click here to see a gallery of proposed designs for NASA's future return to the moon. (7/23)
Ion Engine Could One Day Power 39-Day Trips to Mars (Source: New Scientist)
There's a growing chorus of calls to send astronauts to Mars rather than the moon, but critics point out that such trips would be long and grueling, taking about six months to reach the Red Planet. But now, researchers are testing a powerful new ion engine that could one day shorten the journey to just 39 days. Traditional rockets burn chemical fuel to produce thrust. Most of that fuel is used up in the initial push off the Earth's surface, so the rockets tend to coast most of the time they're in space.
Ion engines, on the other hand, accelerate electrically charged atoms, or ions, through an electric field, thereby pushing the spacecraft in the opposite direction. They provide much less thrust at a given moment than do chemical rockets, which means they can't break free of the Earth's gravity on their own. But once in space, they can give a continuous push for years, like a steady breeze at the back of a sailboat, accelerating gradually until they're moving faster than chemical rockets. (7/24)
NASA Goes Private for Space Transportation (Source: Tampa Tribune)
NASA is turning to private space companies to plug a worrisome five-year gap in its ability to boost astronauts into orbit and return them safely to Earth. The gap runs from the end of next year, when the three remaining space shuttles are supposed to be retired, until 2015, the earliest that NASA's replacement system will be ready to do the job.
To shorten the spaceflight gap, two private companies are being asked to demonstrate the ability to deliver food, water, equipment and supplies to the space station starting in 2011. Commercial launches of human crews, a much riskier operation, would come no sooner than 2012, if at all. There will be "a significant gap" in the ability to get cargo and people into orbit, Michael Suffredini, space station program manager, told the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee last week. (7/25)
Astronauts Finish ISS Battery Changeout (Source: Aviation Week)
Spacewalkers Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn were able to finish replacing the oldest set of batteries on the International Space Station July 24, catching up on a task that was halted abruptly on July 22 when the carbon dioxide level in Cassidy's spacesuit started rising during the third extravehicular activity (EVA) of the STS-127 mission.
As a result, planners rewrote the timeline for the fourth EVA to accommodate the work left undone. Originally Cassidy and astronaut Dave Wolf were to have replaced four of the six batteries in the P6 truss element on July 22, leaving only two more for the July 24 spacewalk. (7/25)
Attention Sen. Shelby: NASA dDoesn't Have Monopoly on Ingenuity (Source: Waco Tribune)
While Americans are ruminating, perchance even dreaming of man’s quest for the moon and beyond, some are reflecting on the sobering fact we no longer have the right stuff to put a man on the moon. As leaders debate what NASA’s mission should be, fights rage over the imminent retirement of the aging space shuttle and the NASA Constellation program some see as replacing it, despite problems that have dogged and delayed it.
Some insist NASA should be concentrating on the conquest of space and new rocket technologies, leaving the nuts and bolts of building more conventional rockets for NASA to spunky outfits such as SpaceX. The debate has created rifts. U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, a Republican conservative who has made a career of attacking government-run programs, ironically is all for those in his home state, including the beleaguered Constellation program.
Most recently, he sought to divert more money originally targeted for private rocketry firms such as SpaceX into the government-run Constellation program. Some political observers fear he’ll succeed, too, unless U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn weigh in. His efforts seem contrary to cherished Republican principles, going against the very grain of private enterprise and the ingenuity that often sprouts in such endeavors. (7/24)
The Turkish government's contract with Telespazio to provide a high-resolution optical Earth observation satellite, plus training and ground facilities to develop Turkey's space industry, includes a feature that Turkish authorities say will result in the equivalent of $455 million in contracts being awarded to Turkish industry. In addition, Turkish industry is expected to be given contracts equivalent to 20 percent of the face value of the $353 million Gokturk satellite project. (7/24)
UK Eyes NASA-Style Agency (Source: Space News)
The British government, which for years has invited other European nations to view its way of funding space programs as the way of the future, is now considering whether to abandon its current approach in favor of a classic NASA-style space agency. Lord Drayson, Britain's science and innovation minister, said his office has given itself 12 weeks to consult with the public, industry, academia and other government departments to determine whether the British National Space Center (BNSC) should have its own budget, as is the case in France, Germany, Italy and at the European Space Agency (ESA), where three-quarters of Britain's space budget is spent. (7/24)
Italy Skeptical of U.S. European Mars Collaboration (Source: Space News)
The Italian Space Agency (ASI), which up to now has taken the lead role in Europe's ExoMars lander and rover mission, is deeply skeptical of a planned U.S.-European collaboration on Mars exploration expected to lead to the de facto dismantling of ExoMars as originally planned, ASI President Enrico Saggese said. Saggese said ExoMars appears to have been sacrificed on behalf of a long-term collaboration between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA). (7/24)
James Webb Telescope To Receive Stimulus Funding (Source: Space News)
NASA plans to spend $65 million of its $1 billion in economic stimulus money to help pay for an existing contract with Northrop Grumman Corp. to complete some design and integration work on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman is NASA's prime contractor for the $4.5 billion JWST program. The infrared telescope is planned for launch in 2014 aboard an Ariane 5 rocket provided by the European Space Agency. (7/24)
Intelligence Bill Calls for Space Coordination Office (Source: Space News)
A Senate panel recommended July 22 the creation of a new office within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to coordinate and provide policy direction for the management of space-related intelligence assets. (7/24)
ULA Announces Plan for New Round of Job Cuts (Source: Space News)
U.S. government launch services provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) of Denver has informed employees it will eliminate 224 positions across the company in October, following a first round of 89 layoffs in February. ULA, a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture, said the reductions are necessary to meet competitive challenges and future pricing assumptions. They are also related to the closing out of ULA's Delta 2 rocket business, the completion of the company's work on NASA's Ares 1-X test flight program and discontinued government funding to accelerate the Atlas 5 launch manifest. (7/24)
Constellation Gets $310M In NASA Stimulus Funding (Source: Space News)
NASA's Constellation program stands to get $310 million in stimulus funding following Congress' signing off in mid-July on the agency's plan to spend the $1 billion it received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act enacted in February. Another $90 million will be spent on NASA commercial crew and cargo programs.
NASA waited months for lawmakers to approve the spending plan, which was submitted to lawmakers in April. Congressional and industry sources said the funds were held up by Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), who wanted all $400 million the recovery act included for exploration to be spent on Constellation. Although the initial spending plan included $400 million for space exploration, NASA proposed to spend only $250 million on Constellation, with the remaining $150 million going toward commercial crew and cargo systems. (7/24)
Wallops a 'Hidden Jewel' (Source: DelMarVaNow.com)
Forty years after astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, two busloads of Delmarva's movers and shakers this week got a peek at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, which supporters hope will be the next space venture to capture the public's imagination. The tour was organized by the Greater Salisbury Committee. Also touring the spaceport were elected officials, along with economic development and tourism representatives, all of whom were allowed to walk around the control room and a launch pad and view NASA and Navy facilities on Wallops Island. (7/25)
Sexual Discrimination in Space (Source: Russia Today)
Twenty-five years ago Russian cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the second woman to travel into orbit, the first also Russian, but she was the first woman to walk in space. Svetlana was 36 when she was thrust into the Cold War space race. While in orbit she undertook hours of experiments and, in doing so, broke new ground for women to join the front line of space exploration.
It is true the standing of the whole country was at stake, but Svetlana says her mission was tough for other reasons, as she also was the first to fight against sex discrimination. “Even among our space-colleagues there were men wondering why we needed to weld and said that we might burn each other’s space suits or the spaceship’s exterior. It is a great responsibility,” Savitskaya said. “If I listen to their concerns, then people could have said that surely it was not something women should do. But after my spaceflight, everyone had to shut up.” (7/25)
How to Glue Together a Lighter Spacecraft (Source: New Scientist)
Rocket-driven spacecraft normally use strong, heavy-metal mountings to hold their fuel tanks in place within the fuselage. But there may be a better way. Burt Rutan, the aerospace pioneer whose firm Scaled Composites is designing civilian suborbital spacecraft for Virgin Galactic, is using an alternative technique to secure the fuel tanks in order to keep the weight of the space plane down.
Rutan says the use of heavy mountings can be avoided completely by careful design of the tank and fuselage. His idea, described in a US patent granted last month, is to glue the fuel tanks to the inside of the craft. His tanks have a cylindrical composite-coated midsection that fits snugly inside the spacecraft and is bonded to the inner surface of the fuselage with a superstrong industrial adhesive. A secure fit is crucial as the tanks are connected to the combustion chamber where fuel is burned, and any movement could risk a dangerous leak. (7/25)
What NASA's Return to the Moon May Look Like (Source: New Scientist)
The Apollo era may have ended as funding fizzled, and the programme's astronauts may be bigger fans of Mars, but the hope of returning to the moon never really went away. NASA is still sorting out what this lunar presence might look like. The agency's lunar surface systems office has examined more than a dozen different mission scenarios for astronaut habitats in preparation for a review in mid-2010.
The front-runner is a "greatest hits" scenario that combines the best parts of other mission concepts, Leonard told New Scientist. In this approach, lunar landers would deliver habitats, rovers, and robots that could crawl across the lunar surface, propelled by solar power. Click here to see a gallery of proposed designs for NASA's future return to the moon. (7/23)
Ion Engine Could One Day Power 39-Day Trips to Mars (Source: New Scientist)
There's a growing chorus of calls to send astronauts to Mars rather than the moon, but critics point out that such trips would be long and grueling, taking about six months to reach the Red Planet. But now, researchers are testing a powerful new ion engine that could one day shorten the journey to just 39 days. Traditional rockets burn chemical fuel to produce thrust. Most of that fuel is used up in the initial push off the Earth's surface, so the rockets tend to coast most of the time they're in space.
Ion engines, on the other hand, accelerate electrically charged atoms, or ions, through an electric field, thereby pushing the spacecraft in the opposite direction. They provide much less thrust at a given moment than do chemical rockets, which means they can't break free of the Earth's gravity on their own. But once in space, they can give a continuous push for years, like a steady breeze at the back of a sailboat, accelerating gradually until they're moving faster than chemical rockets. (7/24)
NASA Goes Private for Space Transportation (Source: Tampa Tribune)
NASA is turning to private space companies to plug a worrisome five-year gap in its ability to boost astronauts into orbit and return them safely to Earth. The gap runs from the end of next year, when the three remaining space shuttles are supposed to be retired, until 2015, the earliest that NASA's replacement system will be ready to do the job.
To shorten the spaceflight gap, two private companies are being asked to demonstrate the ability to deliver food, water, equipment and supplies to the space station starting in 2011. Commercial launches of human crews, a much riskier operation, would come no sooner than 2012, if at all. There will be "a significant gap" in the ability to get cargo and people into orbit, Michael Suffredini, space station program manager, told the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee last week. (7/25)
Astronauts Finish ISS Battery Changeout (Source: Aviation Week)
Spacewalkers Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn were able to finish replacing the oldest set of batteries on the International Space Station July 24, catching up on a task that was halted abruptly on July 22 when the carbon dioxide level in Cassidy's spacesuit started rising during the third extravehicular activity (EVA) of the STS-127 mission.
As a result, planners rewrote the timeline for the fourth EVA to accommodate the work left undone. Originally Cassidy and astronaut Dave Wolf were to have replaced four of the six batteries in the P6 truss element on July 22, leaving only two more for the July 24 spacewalk. (7/25)
Attention Sen. Shelby: NASA dDoesn't Have Monopoly on Ingenuity (Source: Waco Tribune)
While Americans are ruminating, perchance even dreaming of man’s quest for the moon and beyond, some are reflecting on the sobering fact we no longer have the right stuff to put a man on the moon. As leaders debate what NASA’s mission should be, fights rage over the imminent retirement of the aging space shuttle and the NASA Constellation program some see as replacing it, despite problems that have dogged and delayed it.
Some insist NASA should be concentrating on the conquest of space and new rocket technologies, leaving the nuts and bolts of building more conventional rockets for NASA to spunky outfits such as SpaceX. The debate has created rifts. U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby, a Republican conservative who has made a career of attacking government-run programs, ironically is all for those in his home state, including the beleaguered Constellation program.
Most recently, he sought to divert more money originally targeted for private rocketry firms such as SpaceX into the government-run Constellation program. Some political observers fear he’ll succeed, too, unless U.S. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn weigh in. His efforts seem contrary to cherished Republican principles, going against the very grain of private enterprise and the ingenuity that often sprouts in such endeavors. (7/24)
July 24 News Items
XCOR Tests Lynx Design in USAF Wind Tunnel (Source: XCOR)
XCOR Aerospace, Inc., announced today that it has finished a series of subsonic wind tunnel tests of the aerodynamic design of its Lynx suborbital launch vehicle. The tests took place at the U.S. Air Force test facility located at Wright-Patterson Air Base using an all-metal 1/16th scale model of the Lynx. (7/24)
MDA Wins Polar Satellite Contract (Source: CBC)
The Canadian Space Agency has asked space robotics firm MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates to come up with a plan to put two satellites in space over the North to improve communications and weather observation in the region. MDA announced Thursday it was awarded a $4.3-million contract to develop the concept for the Polar Communications and Weather (PCW) mission. The mission is to launch two satellites in an elliptical orbit around Northern regions to assist in Canadians operations in the north, including those dealing with protecting Canadian sovereignty. (7/24)
Contest Supports Cecil Field Spaceport, Offers NASTAR Training (Source: eSpaceTickets.com)
eSpaceTickets.com was founded to give everyday ordinary people the opportunity to journey to space. They're initiating a national grass-roots support campaign for Cecil Field Spaceport with a prize competition. Their goal is for Cecil Field Spaceport to be a world-class spaceport for the everyday person. Their prize is a space flight preparation, training and genuine space experiences available at the NASTAR Center. This space tourism prize is valued at $3,000 plus airfare. Visit www.espacetickets.com for information. (7/24)
ULA To Reduce Workforce by 224 Employees in October (Source: Space News)
U.S. government launch services provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) of Denver has informed employees it will eliminate 224 positions across the company in October, following a first round of 89 layoffs in February, according to a July 24 company press release. (7/24)
Spot 2 Satellite Retired After 19 Years (Source: Space News)
The French Spot 2 Earth observation satellite, launched in 1990 for what was intended to be three years of service, is being retired after 19 years of uninterrupted operations and will be guided into a graveyard orbit by July 30, the French space agency, CNES, announced July 23. (7/24)
U.S. Air Force Secretary Appeals for More ORS Satellite Funding (Source: Space News)
U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley is urging Congress to boost funding in 2009 and 2010 for an Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office reconnaissance satellite that otherwise will fall behind schedule. (7/24)
Accord Permits India to Launch U.S. Hardware (Source: Space News)
India and the United States have signed a Technology Safeguards Agreement that permits India to launch civil or other non-commercial satellites containing U.S. components. (7/24)
Political Science: Why the USSR Lost the Space Race (Source: What's New)
Launched on 4 Oct 1957, Sputnik carried no instruments. It just beeped as it passed overhead to taunt Americans. But a month later, Sputnik 2 carried a Geiger tube and a radio transmitter to relay the Geiger output back to Earth. It also carried a tape recorder to store data when the satellite is over the horizon, but it wasn't working on launch day. Soviet scientists placed a call directly to Premier Nikita Khrushchev requesting permission to delay the launch for a day, but Khrushchev refused; he wanted to announce another successful launch at a meeting of heads-of-state the next day At the very dawn of the space age, politics was already getting in the way of scientific discovery. Thus it was that the Soviet Union failed discover the Van Allen Belts. On 31 Jan 1958, only four months after Sputnik, the US launched Explorer 1 carrying an experiment designed by James Van Allen, Physics Chair at the University of Iowa. It was just a Geiger tube, a radio transmitter, and a recorder -- but the recorder worked. (7/24)
Ares V - Ares 1 = Ares IV (Source: NASA Watch)
Sources report that Steve King and his team are now focusing on a so-called Ares IV architecture - a smaller, less powerful version of the Ares V - one that would keep the current Ares-1 upperstage. Boeing seems to be in favor of this option rather than one that would use EELVs. The Ares IV would be used to launch crew or cargo missions. Editor's Note: This is a departure from the post-Columbia policy to fly crew and cargo aboard two separate vehicles. It also seems very similar to the Jupiter vehicle approach that Marshall Ares-1 managers spent a lot of time discrediting. (7/24)
Editorial: Missing the Mark (Source: Space Policy Online)
It is easy to become swept up in the enthusiasm of the new leadership team at NASA. Blogs and newspapers have been full of opinions about the past, present, and future of NASA, especially whether Charlie Bolden and Lori Garver have what it takes to turn the agency around. But these commentaries all seem to miss the mark. They are commentaries on NASA. What can NASA do? What should NASA do? Why can’t NASA be better than it is? How will Charlie and Lori fix NASA?
NASA is the wrong target. The question of whether NASA is achieving the goals that America wants should be aimed at the President of the United States and the indecisive (according to polls) American public that he represents. NASA has spent the last 40 years doing what it was told to do – build and operate the space shuttle and (albeit much more slowly and at much greater cost than expected) build a space station – while waiting for the signal to advance beyond low Earth orbit once more. The starting gun has fired twice, in 1989 and in 2004 but the occupants of the Oval Office in each of those cases did not follow through with requisite funding and political muscle to ensure those efforts bore fruit. (7/23)
Huge Telescope Opens in Spain's Canary Islands (Source: AP)
One of the world's most powerful telescopes opened its shutters for the first time Friday to begin exploring faint light from distant parts of the universe. The Gran Telescopio Canarias, a $185 million telescope featuring a 34-foot (10.4-meter) reflecting mirror, sits atop an extinct volcano. Its location above cloud cover takes advantage of the pristine skies in the Atlantic Ocean. Planning for the telescope began in 1987 and has involved more than 1,000 people from 100 companies. It was inaugurated Friday by King Juan Carlos. The observatory is located at 2,400 meters (7,870 feet) above sea-level where prevailing winds keep the atmosphere stable and transparent, the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute said. The institute, which runs the telescope, said it will capture the birth of stars, study characteristics of black holes and decipher some of the chemical components of the Big Bang. (7/24)
Russian Cargo Spaceship Launches to ISS with Supplies, Mail (Source: Xinhua)
A Russian space freighter carrying supplies, gifts and mail for the International Space Station blasted off on Friday, Mission Control officials said. The Mission Control Center outside Moscow said a Soyuz-U rocket lifted off with the Progress M-67 space freighter from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. The space freighter will deliver 2.5 tons of supplies, including food, water, fuel, and equipment, and letters and gifts from relatives of the crew. (7/24)
Bill Nye: Time for NASA to Innovate, Inspire (Source: LA Times)
Scientist Bill Nye says it may be time for NASA to reexamine its mission and cede appropriate tasks to private companies in order to better focus on a Mars mission and other 21st-century endeavors. "It's up to our new NASA administrator to calm the Cold Warriors and focus the agency on what it does best: inspiring us as we explore stars and worlds from space." (7/24)
NASA Trashed its Own Brand (Source: LA Times)
The famous science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." When NASA did the seemingly impossible and pulled off the Apollo moon landings, astronauts became our brave heroes and NASA was viewed almost as an academy for wizards and alchemy.
Through the extraordinary results of key missions, NASA earned the solar-system equivalent of unparalleled "street credibility." This success fueled the emergence of the NASA "brand," one of the most recognizable and powerful franchises on the planet. When the public thought of NASA, it often thought of science, integrity, discovery, credibility, high technology and the future of humanity. NASA made being a techie nerd cool.
But although NASA has assembled perhaps the largest group of world-class talent on science and technology, but rather than inspiring its bright minds to excel, it has instead smothered them with bureaucracy. All brands have life cycles. Importantly, an organization cannot manage its brands entirely by public relations and spin. Brand values have to be primarily driven by strategy and earned by results. (7/24)
Space Florida Hosts Spaceport Executive Summit (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida hosted a group of spaceport leaders from around the globe to attend the Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s Spaceport Executive Summit, the first such event of its kind. The Spaceports Executive Summit provided a venue for global spaceport leaders to come together in one setting to discuss best practices and challenges they face in further developing their spaceports.
“The focus was dialog about common challenges and opportunities between industry leaders, and we look forward to continuing long-term and robust collaborative efforts,” said Space Florida's Frank DiBello. "At the conclusion of the summit, the nine spaceport leaders all resolved to continue working together and strengthen their efforts for cooperation and collaboration," said Stuart Witt of the Mojave Spaceport. (7/24)
ATK Layoffs to Trim up to 450 in October (Source: Standard-Examiner)
Employees at ATK Space Systems were notified Thursday that the company will eliminate as many as 450 positions in October, with the majority of the cuts happening in Utah. The layoffs are necessary because of cuts in federal defense and space spending, and the upcoming conclusion of a missile program the company does work for in Utah. "We regret having to do this in this economic state we're in, but aerospace is getting hit across the board right now," Patterson said. Most of the cuts will come from ATK's Utah facilities, although a handful will come from facilities in Alabama and Florida. (7/24)
'Shuttle Could Drive Me Out of Business' (Source: Daytona Beach Hometown News)
When the space shuttle is scheduled to fly, a local business owner loses money. For several hours before a shuttle flight, air traffic restrictions are in place in a 40-mile circle around Cape Canaveral and that means banner plane operator Remy Collins is grounded. Mr. Collins said he is losing valuable summer business, especially when the shuttle is scheduled and then scrubbed several days in a row as it was before the last flight.
Mr. Collins said another week like that and he could go out of business. "I lost $10,000 last Sunday when the shuttle was scheduled," he said. Mr. Collins said the restricted hours have been extended in recent years. "They've increased the hours that I can't fly," he said. "It used to be a couple of hours before the Shuttle flight. Now it's eight hours." (7/24)
XCOR Aerospace, Inc., announced today that it has finished a series of subsonic wind tunnel tests of the aerodynamic design of its Lynx suborbital launch vehicle. The tests took place at the U.S. Air Force test facility located at Wright-Patterson Air Base using an all-metal 1/16th scale model of the Lynx. (7/24)
MDA Wins Polar Satellite Contract (Source: CBC)
The Canadian Space Agency has asked space robotics firm MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates to come up with a plan to put two satellites in space over the North to improve communications and weather observation in the region. MDA announced Thursday it was awarded a $4.3-million contract to develop the concept for the Polar Communications and Weather (PCW) mission. The mission is to launch two satellites in an elliptical orbit around Northern regions to assist in Canadians operations in the north, including those dealing with protecting Canadian sovereignty. (7/24)
Contest Supports Cecil Field Spaceport, Offers NASTAR Training (Source: eSpaceTickets.com)
eSpaceTickets.com was founded to give everyday ordinary people the opportunity to journey to space. They're initiating a national grass-roots support campaign for Cecil Field Spaceport with a prize competition. Their goal is for Cecil Field Spaceport to be a world-class spaceport for the everyday person. Their prize is a space flight preparation, training and genuine space experiences available at the NASTAR Center. This space tourism prize is valued at $3,000 plus airfare. Visit www.espacetickets.com for information. (7/24)
ULA To Reduce Workforce by 224 Employees in October (Source: Space News)
U.S. government launch services provider United Launch Alliance (ULA) of Denver has informed employees it will eliminate 224 positions across the company in October, following a first round of 89 layoffs in February, according to a July 24 company press release. (7/24)
Spot 2 Satellite Retired After 19 Years (Source: Space News)
The French Spot 2 Earth observation satellite, launched in 1990 for what was intended to be three years of service, is being retired after 19 years of uninterrupted operations and will be guided into a graveyard orbit by July 30, the French space agency, CNES, announced July 23. (7/24)
U.S. Air Force Secretary Appeals for More ORS Satellite Funding (Source: Space News)
U.S. Air Force Secretary Michael Donley is urging Congress to boost funding in 2009 and 2010 for an Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Office reconnaissance satellite that otherwise will fall behind schedule. (7/24)
Accord Permits India to Launch U.S. Hardware (Source: Space News)
India and the United States have signed a Technology Safeguards Agreement that permits India to launch civil or other non-commercial satellites containing U.S. components. (7/24)
Political Science: Why the USSR Lost the Space Race (Source: What's New)
Launched on 4 Oct 1957, Sputnik carried no instruments. It just beeped as it passed overhead to taunt Americans. But a month later, Sputnik 2 carried a Geiger tube and a radio transmitter to relay the Geiger output back to Earth. It also carried a tape recorder to store data when the satellite is over the horizon, but it wasn't working on launch day. Soviet scientists placed a call directly to Premier Nikita Khrushchev requesting permission to delay the launch for a day, but Khrushchev refused; he wanted to announce another successful launch at a meeting of heads-of-state the next day At the very dawn of the space age, politics was already getting in the way of scientific discovery. Thus it was that the Soviet Union failed discover the Van Allen Belts. On 31 Jan 1958, only four months after Sputnik, the US launched Explorer 1 carrying an experiment designed by James Van Allen, Physics Chair at the University of Iowa. It was just a Geiger tube, a radio transmitter, and a recorder -- but the recorder worked. (7/24)
Ares V - Ares 1 = Ares IV (Source: NASA Watch)
Sources report that Steve King and his team are now focusing on a so-called Ares IV architecture - a smaller, less powerful version of the Ares V - one that would keep the current Ares-1 upperstage. Boeing seems to be in favor of this option rather than one that would use EELVs. The Ares IV would be used to launch crew or cargo missions. Editor's Note: This is a departure from the post-Columbia policy to fly crew and cargo aboard two separate vehicles. It also seems very similar to the Jupiter vehicle approach that Marshall Ares-1 managers spent a lot of time discrediting. (7/24)
Editorial: Missing the Mark (Source: Space Policy Online)
It is easy to become swept up in the enthusiasm of the new leadership team at NASA. Blogs and newspapers have been full of opinions about the past, present, and future of NASA, especially whether Charlie Bolden and Lori Garver have what it takes to turn the agency around. But these commentaries all seem to miss the mark. They are commentaries on NASA. What can NASA do? What should NASA do? Why can’t NASA be better than it is? How will Charlie and Lori fix NASA?
NASA is the wrong target. The question of whether NASA is achieving the goals that America wants should be aimed at the President of the United States and the indecisive (according to polls) American public that he represents. NASA has spent the last 40 years doing what it was told to do – build and operate the space shuttle and (albeit much more slowly and at much greater cost than expected) build a space station – while waiting for the signal to advance beyond low Earth orbit once more. The starting gun has fired twice, in 1989 and in 2004 but the occupants of the Oval Office in each of those cases did not follow through with requisite funding and political muscle to ensure those efforts bore fruit. (7/23)
Huge Telescope Opens in Spain's Canary Islands (Source: AP)
One of the world's most powerful telescopes opened its shutters for the first time Friday to begin exploring faint light from distant parts of the universe. The Gran Telescopio Canarias, a $185 million telescope featuring a 34-foot (10.4-meter) reflecting mirror, sits atop an extinct volcano. Its location above cloud cover takes advantage of the pristine skies in the Atlantic Ocean. Planning for the telescope began in 1987 and has involved more than 1,000 people from 100 companies. It was inaugurated Friday by King Juan Carlos. The observatory is located at 2,400 meters (7,870 feet) above sea-level where prevailing winds keep the atmosphere stable and transparent, the Canary Islands Astrophysics Institute said. The institute, which runs the telescope, said it will capture the birth of stars, study characteristics of black holes and decipher some of the chemical components of the Big Bang. (7/24)
Russian Cargo Spaceship Launches to ISS with Supplies, Mail (Source: Xinhua)
A Russian space freighter carrying supplies, gifts and mail for the International Space Station blasted off on Friday, Mission Control officials said. The Mission Control Center outside Moscow said a Soyuz-U rocket lifted off with the Progress M-67 space freighter from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. The space freighter will deliver 2.5 tons of supplies, including food, water, fuel, and equipment, and letters and gifts from relatives of the crew. (7/24)
Bill Nye: Time for NASA to Innovate, Inspire (Source: LA Times)
Scientist Bill Nye says it may be time for NASA to reexamine its mission and cede appropriate tasks to private companies in order to better focus on a Mars mission and other 21st-century endeavors. "It's up to our new NASA administrator to calm the Cold Warriors and focus the agency on what it does best: inspiring us as we explore stars and worlds from space." (7/24)
NASA Trashed its Own Brand (Source: LA Times)
The famous science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke said, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." When NASA did the seemingly impossible and pulled off the Apollo moon landings, astronauts became our brave heroes and NASA was viewed almost as an academy for wizards and alchemy.
Through the extraordinary results of key missions, NASA earned the solar-system equivalent of unparalleled "street credibility." This success fueled the emergence of the NASA "brand," one of the most recognizable and powerful franchises on the planet. When the public thought of NASA, it often thought of science, integrity, discovery, credibility, high technology and the future of humanity. NASA made being a techie nerd cool.
But although NASA has assembled perhaps the largest group of world-class talent on science and technology, but rather than inspiring its bright minds to excel, it has instead smothered them with bureaucracy. All brands have life cycles. Importantly, an organization cannot manage its brands entirely by public relations and spin. Brand values have to be primarily driven by strategy and earned by results. (7/24)
Space Florida Hosts Spaceport Executive Summit (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida hosted a group of spaceport leaders from around the globe to attend the Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s Spaceport Executive Summit, the first such event of its kind. The Spaceports Executive Summit provided a venue for global spaceport leaders to come together in one setting to discuss best practices and challenges they face in further developing their spaceports.
“The focus was dialog about common challenges and opportunities between industry leaders, and we look forward to continuing long-term and robust collaborative efforts,” said Space Florida's Frank DiBello. "At the conclusion of the summit, the nine spaceport leaders all resolved to continue working together and strengthen their efforts for cooperation and collaboration," said Stuart Witt of the Mojave Spaceport. (7/24)
ATK Layoffs to Trim up to 450 in October (Source: Standard-Examiner)
Employees at ATK Space Systems were notified Thursday that the company will eliminate as many as 450 positions in October, with the majority of the cuts happening in Utah. The layoffs are necessary because of cuts in federal defense and space spending, and the upcoming conclusion of a missile program the company does work for in Utah. "We regret having to do this in this economic state we're in, but aerospace is getting hit across the board right now," Patterson said. Most of the cuts will come from ATK's Utah facilities, although a handful will come from facilities in Alabama and Florida. (7/24)
'Shuttle Could Drive Me Out of Business' (Source: Daytona Beach Hometown News)
When the space shuttle is scheduled to fly, a local business owner loses money. For several hours before a shuttle flight, air traffic restrictions are in place in a 40-mile circle around Cape Canaveral and that means banner plane operator Remy Collins is grounded. Mr. Collins said he is losing valuable summer business, especially when the shuttle is scheduled and then scrubbed several days in a row as it was before the last flight.
Mr. Collins said another week like that and he could go out of business. "I lost $10,000 last Sunday when the shuttle was scheduled," he said. Mr. Collins said the restricted hours have been extended in recent years. "They've increased the hours that I can't fly," he said. "It used to be a couple of hours before the Shuttle flight. Now it's eight hours." (7/24)
July 23 News Items
China To Build Stronger Telescope Network In South Pole (Source: Space Daily)
Chinese astronomers will set up a stronger telescope network on Dome A, the top of the south pole, after the initial success in January, 2008. Gong Xuefei, an astronomer involved in the telescope project, said at a cross-Straits forum on astronomical instruments that the new telescopes are being tested and the first of them is expected to be installed in the south pole in summers of 2010 and 2011. The new network Antarctic Schmidt Telescopes 3 (AST3) is made up of three Schmidt telescopes with an aperture of 50 cm. (7/23)
Interview with Ross Tierney of Direct Launch (Source: Next Big Future)
Here is an interview with Ross Tierney. Mr. Tierney is a representative of the of the Direct Launcher organization, which has a proposal to get to the moon using NASA shuttle components and other existing technology. This Jupiter rocket system could also be used to go to near-earth objects and possibly even Phobos and Mars. The Direct Launch system is based on the Jupiter rocket, which can provide all of the capabilities of the NASA Ares system in less time and at a fraction of the cost. Click here to view the interview. (7/23)
NASA Student Airborne Research Program Takes Flight in California (Source: NASA)
Twenty-nine undergraduate and graduate students are participating in a six-week NASA Airborne Science field experience designed to immerse them in NASA's Earth Science research. The students represent 26 colleges and universities across the U.S. and nine foreign countries.
NASA's Student Airborne Research program runs from July 6 to Aug. 14 in California. The program began with lectures from university faculty members, research institutions and NASA scientists at the University of California, Irvine. One of the speakers is Sherwood Rowland of the University of California, Irvine, a Nobel Laureate in chemistry, who is a long-time user of NASA's DC-8 airborne capabilities for his research on atmospheric chemistry. (7/23)
GoreSat is Back (Source: NASA Watch)
According to the Senate Armed Services Committee report on the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2010 Triana (aka "DSCOVR" or "GoreSat") is back: "The Air Force is very interested in the space weather information and is part of an interagency team looking at the possibility of refurbishing DSCOVR and launching it to an orbit referred to as L1, about one million miles from Earth on a line with the Sun. If the team determines that the satellite can be refurbished and launched, they will make a recommendation to the President. Notionally, NOAA and NASA would pay for refurbishing the satellite, the Air Force would pay for the launch, and all agencies would receive the data." (7/23)
Russian Missile Designer Quits After Test Failures (Source: AFP)
The head of the institute developing a sea-based version of Russia's newest strategic missile has quit following repeated failures of the weapon in testing. Yury Solomonov, head of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, was the most senior official to date to take responsibility for the string of failures of the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile, currently in development. His resignation would most likely be accepted as the Russian space agency Roskosmos believed that the institute that has spearheaded development of the Bulava required changes in its management structure. (7/22)
Embry-Riddle Launches Its First Two Ph.D. Programs to Meet New Challenges in Aviation/Aerospace (Source: ERAU)
The daily challenges of aviation and aerospace are too complex to be solved by specialists alone. In an uncertain economy, airlines struggle to hedge fuel purchases and adjust routes. Space agencies work to stabilize orbiting spacecraft, study the atmosphere and space weather, and design rovers to explore planets.
To serve the need for more broadly educated experts, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is launching its first two Ph.D. degree programs – in Aviation and Engineering Physics. The new degrees take the university’s unique approach to education – a blend of theory and applied research – to the highest level.
The Ph.D. in Engineering Physics builds on the university’s solid program of space research, which is funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, U.S. Air Force, and other agencies. Faculty researchers probe Earth’s upper atmosphere for clues about global warming, as well as space weather events like solar storms that can compromise satellite systems and disrupt power grids and pipelines. Others conduct studies of spacecraft dynamics and control, space robotics, cosmology and star formation, quantum optics, and the physiology of space travel. (7/23)
Raytheon Boosts 2009 Profit Outlook Following Strong Quarter (Source: AIA)
Strong sales of air-defense systems helped Raytheon to a 15% jump in second-quarter profit, beating analysts' expectations. Missile tests by North Korea led to increased orders from South Korea and Japan, and "Raytheon stands out as the international sales leader among the primes," according to JPMorgan Chase analyst Joseph Nadol. (7/23)
Northrop 2nd Quarter Profit Drops 20 Percent (Source: AP)
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s second quarter profit dropped by 20 percent as the No. 2 defense contractor said it was hurt by higher pension costs and higher estimates of costs to complete several ships being built in its Gulf Coast yards. Northrop earned $394 million in the three months ended June 30, down from $495 million a year ago. Revenue rose 4 percent to $8.96 billion from $8.63 billion a year ago. (7/23)
L-3 Beats Q2 Estimates with $225M Profit (Source: AIA)
L-3 Communications Holdings said a surprising 6% gain in net sales contributed to a second-quarter profit of $225 million -- down from last year's $275 million, but still above analysts' expectations. "We expect to continue to have opportunities to grow our businesses in the second half of 2009, maintain our strong program performance, deliver value for our customers and execute our plan for the year," said CEO Michael Strianese. (7/23)
Space Coast Workforce Officials Await Augustine Panel Findings (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Judy Blanchard, with the Brevard Workforce Development Board’s aerospace transition team, said she understands why NASA hasn't yet updated its workforce projections. "Right now I understand and I believe I agree with NASA’s findings," she said. "They too [like Brevard Workforce] are waiting on factors that are controlling the numbers to play out...the Augustine panel and their findings are going to have a direct impact on this.”
She said that 6,000-7,000 figure that Workforce Brevard President Lisa Rice expects to be unemployed when the shuttle program ends is an estimate based on the possibility that there might be no jobs to absorb the losses at KSC. With the economy is such bad shape, and so many workers' pensions worth a fraction of what they were a few years ago, many KSC workers that the county expected would retire at the end of the shuttle program now can no longer afford to stop working. (7/23)
Embry-Riddle Space Physicist Wins Prestigious NSF CAREER Award (Source: ERAU)
Embry-Riddle scientist Dr. Katariina Nykyri has received the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for junior faculty members, the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant, to support her continuing research into space plasma that may improve our understanding of plasma heating and transport through magnetic boundaries. Dr. Nykyri, an assistant professor in the Physical Sciences Dept. at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus, will receive $483,699 over the next five years from the NSF award program that encourages the activities of teacher-scholars who are judged likely to become leaders in academic research and education. (7/23)
Hornet to Commemorate Role in Apollo Missions (Source: San Francisco Chronicle)
Forty years ago, the crew of the aircraft carrier Hornet recovered the three Apollo 11 astronauts after their command module splashed down in the Pacific returning from their historic mission to the moon. Three months later, the ship recovered the crew of Apollo 12, whose three astronauts had completed the second successful lunar mission. The Hornet is now a museum docked at the former Alameda Naval Air Station, where veterans of the two recovery missions will celebrate those events at Splashdown 2009. (7/23)
Reprogramming Satellites During Flight (Source: MIT Technology Review)
Researchers in Germany have developed satellites that can be radically reconfigured in orbit. The approach could ultimately lead to multitasking satellites capable of switching, for example, from detecting pollution to searching for earthlike planets. The researchers, led by Toshinori Kuwahara of the Institute of Space Systems at the University of Stuttgart, plan to launch a test satellite called Flying Laptop in 2012. The spacecraft's onboard computer will be able to reconfigure its own electronic hardware. (7/23)
JPL Director Predicts a Decade of Space Progress (Source: CNN)
What can we expect from space exploration over the next decade? By the time Brainstorm Tech 2019 convenes, we will have established a permanent presence on another planet (Mars), we’ll know if life exists on other planets in our solar system, we’ll have a “family portrait” of our neighboring 2,000 solar systems, and we’ll have a better understanding of what’s happening on our planet. This is what Dr. Charles Elachi, director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and vice president of the California Institute of Technology, predicts is within our grasp. (7/23)
China's First Space Telescope Anticipated to be Launched in 2012 (Source: Xinhua)
The predicted launch time of China's first space telescope is in 2012, and will be used to observe space black holes, said the chief scientist of the program Thursday. The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) comprises three to four single telescopes equipped with hard X-ray detectors, instead of optical lenses, said Li Tipei, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). (7/23)
NASA Delays Producing an Updated Workforce Report (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Without saying as much, NASA threw up its hands today and admitted that it doesn’t know what is going to happen with its human space flight program or how many people are likely to remain employed by it. The agency released its workforce report, four months late, but didn’t update its long-term job forecasts from its last report in October 2008. Instead, updated numbers will await findings of a presidentially appointed panel reviewing NASA’s current moon rocket plans that's due to report next month.
The findings of the panel, which is headed by former Lockheed Marin CEO Norm Augustine, could completely change NASA's direction and wipe out its current employment plans. Today's forecast, the latest in a series that NASA must submit to Congress, provides estimates only through the 2010 fiscal year -- while the space shuttle will still be flying.
The October 2008 report predicted at least 3,500 workers at KSC would lose their jobs. But that figure is now seen as widely optimistic. Work on NASA’s proposed Altair lunar lander, once promised to go to KSC, may now be up for grabs. The "gap" between the last shuttle launch and the launch of a new rocket to lift humans even to the international space station may stretch past 2015. A local Brevard County study found that between 6,000 and 7,000 employees from KSC were likely to lose their jobs, twice the NASA forecast. (7/22)
Florida Losing More Space Jobs Than Other States (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
With an outdated forecast reaching only to the end of FY-2010, the latest NASA workforce report ignores the announcement by United Space Alliance that it would begin laying off 240 workers at KSC in October. The NASA report says there will be no changes in the KSC workforce in FY-2009, which ends on Sept. 30 -- one day before USA is due to hand out its pink slips.
The report also said that other centers, like Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, actually added employees in the past year. Workers at KSC, who have become increasingly concerned about their futures, are not likely to be fooled by the flat job-loss numbers.
“I honestly think the workforce is savvier than then we give them credit for,” said UCF's Dale Ketcham. “While it’s true we won’t know anything until the Augustine Committee options are decided upon, workers here know that regardless of what decisions are made, a painful transition has been KSC’s fate for years now. The details are to be determined.”
Space Coast Representatives React to NASA Workforce Report (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The fact that KSC still faces massive layoffs was not lost on Florida’s representatives in Washington -- nor was the absence of new information in the report. “It looks like a cut-and-paste,” said U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, who said the report does little to forecast the future. “They made clear nothing is certain.”
The freshman lawmaker also criticized how the White House has handled NASA policy so far. In particular, he said President Barack Obama erred by not appointing Charles Bolden as NASA administrator until last month -- though Congress torpedoed Obama’s first two picks. “We’re eight months down the road and we just got an administrator and we’re still waiting for a vision,” Posey said.
Fellow freshman U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-Smyrna Beach, worried aloud that "thousands of jobs remain at risk at Kennedy Space Center and throughout Central Florida. I urge members of the Augustine Panel to focus on options that mitigate the loss of the experienced and professional workforce at KSC and NASA centers across the country,” she said. (7/22)
Chinese astronomers will set up a stronger telescope network on Dome A, the top of the south pole, after the initial success in January, 2008. Gong Xuefei, an astronomer involved in the telescope project, said at a cross-Straits forum on astronomical instruments that the new telescopes are being tested and the first of them is expected to be installed in the south pole in summers of 2010 and 2011. The new network Antarctic Schmidt Telescopes 3 (AST3) is made up of three Schmidt telescopes with an aperture of 50 cm. (7/23)
Interview with Ross Tierney of Direct Launch (Source: Next Big Future)
Here is an interview with Ross Tierney. Mr. Tierney is a representative of the of the Direct Launcher organization, which has a proposal to get to the moon using NASA shuttle components and other existing technology. This Jupiter rocket system could also be used to go to near-earth objects and possibly even Phobos and Mars. The Direct Launch system is based on the Jupiter rocket, which can provide all of the capabilities of the NASA Ares system in less time and at a fraction of the cost. Click here to view the interview. (7/23)
NASA Student Airborne Research Program Takes Flight in California (Source: NASA)
Twenty-nine undergraduate and graduate students are participating in a six-week NASA Airborne Science field experience designed to immerse them in NASA's Earth Science research. The students represent 26 colleges and universities across the U.S. and nine foreign countries.
NASA's Student Airborne Research program runs from July 6 to Aug. 14 in California. The program began with lectures from university faculty members, research institutions and NASA scientists at the University of California, Irvine. One of the speakers is Sherwood Rowland of the University of California, Irvine, a Nobel Laureate in chemistry, who is a long-time user of NASA's DC-8 airborne capabilities for his research on atmospheric chemistry. (7/23)
GoreSat is Back (Source: NASA Watch)
According to the Senate Armed Services Committee report on the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2010 Triana (aka "DSCOVR" or "GoreSat") is back: "The Air Force is very interested in the space weather information and is part of an interagency team looking at the possibility of refurbishing DSCOVR and launching it to an orbit referred to as L1, about one million miles from Earth on a line with the Sun. If the team determines that the satellite can be refurbished and launched, they will make a recommendation to the President. Notionally, NOAA and NASA would pay for refurbishing the satellite, the Air Force would pay for the launch, and all agencies would receive the data." (7/23)
Russian Missile Designer Quits After Test Failures (Source: AFP)
The head of the institute developing a sea-based version of Russia's newest strategic missile has quit following repeated failures of the weapon in testing. Yury Solomonov, head of the Moscow Institute of Thermal Technology, was the most senior official to date to take responsibility for the string of failures of the Bulava intercontinental ballistic missile, currently in development. His resignation would most likely be accepted as the Russian space agency Roskosmos believed that the institute that has spearheaded development of the Bulava required changes in its management structure. (7/22)
Embry-Riddle Launches Its First Two Ph.D. Programs to Meet New Challenges in Aviation/Aerospace (Source: ERAU)
The daily challenges of aviation and aerospace are too complex to be solved by specialists alone. In an uncertain economy, airlines struggle to hedge fuel purchases and adjust routes. Space agencies work to stabilize orbiting spacecraft, study the atmosphere and space weather, and design rovers to explore planets.
To serve the need for more broadly educated experts, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is launching its first two Ph.D. degree programs – in Aviation and Engineering Physics. The new degrees take the university’s unique approach to education – a blend of theory and applied research – to the highest level.
The Ph.D. in Engineering Physics builds on the university’s solid program of space research, which is funded by NASA, the National Science Foundation, U.S. Air Force, and other agencies. Faculty researchers probe Earth’s upper atmosphere for clues about global warming, as well as space weather events like solar storms that can compromise satellite systems and disrupt power grids and pipelines. Others conduct studies of spacecraft dynamics and control, space robotics, cosmology and star formation, quantum optics, and the physiology of space travel. (7/23)
Raytheon Boosts 2009 Profit Outlook Following Strong Quarter (Source: AIA)
Strong sales of air-defense systems helped Raytheon to a 15% jump in second-quarter profit, beating analysts' expectations. Missile tests by North Korea led to increased orders from South Korea and Japan, and "Raytheon stands out as the international sales leader among the primes," according to JPMorgan Chase analyst Joseph Nadol. (7/23)
Northrop 2nd Quarter Profit Drops 20 Percent (Source: AP)
Northrop Grumman Corp.'s second quarter profit dropped by 20 percent as the No. 2 defense contractor said it was hurt by higher pension costs and higher estimates of costs to complete several ships being built in its Gulf Coast yards. Northrop earned $394 million in the three months ended June 30, down from $495 million a year ago. Revenue rose 4 percent to $8.96 billion from $8.63 billion a year ago. (7/23)
L-3 Beats Q2 Estimates with $225M Profit (Source: AIA)
L-3 Communications Holdings said a surprising 6% gain in net sales contributed to a second-quarter profit of $225 million -- down from last year's $275 million, but still above analysts' expectations. "We expect to continue to have opportunities to grow our businesses in the second half of 2009, maintain our strong program performance, deliver value for our customers and execute our plan for the year," said CEO Michael Strianese. (7/23)
Space Coast Workforce Officials Await Augustine Panel Findings (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Judy Blanchard, with the Brevard Workforce Development Board’s aerospace transition team, said she understands why NASA hasn't yet updated its workforce projections. "Right now I understand and I believe I agree with NASA’s findings," she said. "They too [like Brevard Workforce] are waiting on factors that are controlling the numbers to play out...the Augustine panel and their findings are going to have a direct impact on this.”
She said that 6,000-7,000 figure that Workforce Brevard President Lisa Rice expects to be unemployed when the shuttle program ends is an estimate based on the possibility that there might be no jobs to absorb the losses at KSC. With the economy is such bad shape, and so many workers' pensions worth a fraction of what they were a few years ago, many KSC workers that the county expected would retire at the end of the shuttle program now can no longer afford to stop working. (7/23)
Embry-Riddle Space Physicist Wins Prestigious NSF CAREER Award (Source: ERAU)
Embry-Riddle scientist Dr. Katariina Nykyri has received the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious award for junior faculty members, the Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant, to support her continuing research into space plasma that may improve our understanding of plasma heating and transport through magnetic boundaries. Dr. Nykyri, an assistant professor in the Physical Sciences Dept. at Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus, will receive $483,699 over the next five years from the NSF award program that encourages the activities of teacher-scholars who are judged likely to become leaders in academic research and education. (7/23)
Hornet to Commemorate Role in Apollo Missions (Source: San Francisco Chronicle)
Forty years ago, the crew of the aircraft carrier Hornet recovered the three Apollo 11 astronauts after their command module splashed down in the Pacific returning from their historic mission to the moon. Three months later, the ship recovered the crew of Apollo 12, whose three astronauts had completed the second successful lunar mission. The Hornet is now a museum docked at the former Alameda Naval Air Station, where veterans of the two recovery missions will celebrate those events at Splashdown 2009. (7/23)
Reprogramming Satellites During Flight (Source: MIT Technology Review)
Researchers in Germany have developed satellites that can be radically reconfigured in orbit. The approach could ultimately lead to multitasking satellites capable of switching, for example, from detecting pollution to searching for earthlike planets. The researchers, led by Toshinori Kuwahara of the Institute of Space Systems at the University of Stuttgart, plan to launch a test satellite called Flying Laptop in 2012. The spacecraft's onboard computer will be able to reconfigure its own electronic hardware. (7/23)
JPL Director Predicts a Decade of Space Progress (Source: CNN)
What can we expect from space exploration over the next decade? By the time Brainstorm Tech 2019 convenes, we will have established a permanent presence on another planet (Mars), we’ll know if life exists on other planets in our solar system, we’ll have a “family portrait” of our neighboring 2,000 solar systems, and we’ll have a better understanding of what’s happening on our planet. This is what Dr. Charles Elachi, director of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and vice president of the California Institute of Technology, predicts is within our grasp. (7/23)
China's First Space Telescope Anticipated to be Launched in 2012 (Source: Xinhua)
The predicted launch time of China's first space telescope is in 2012, and will be used to observe space black holes, said the chief scientist of the program Thursday. The Hard X-ray Modulation Telescope (HXMT) comprises three to four single telescopes equipped with hard X-ray detectors, instead of optical lenses, said Li Tipei, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). (7/23)
NASA Delays Producing an Updated Workforce Report (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Without saying as much, NASA threw up its hands today and admitted that it doesn’t know what is going to happen with its human space flight program or how many people are likely to remain employed by it. The agency released its workforce report, four months late, but didn’t update its long-term job forecasts from its last report in October 2008. Instead, updated numbers will await findings of a presidentially appointed panel reviewing NASA’s current moon rocket plans that's due to report next month.
The findings of the panel, which is headed by former Lockheed Marin CEO Norm Augustine, could completely change NASA's direction and wipe out its current employment plans. Today's forecast, the latest in a series that NASA must submit to Congress, provides estimates only through the 2010 fiscal year -- while the space shuttle will still be flying.
The October 2008 report predicted at least 3,500 workers at KSC would lose their jobs. But that figure is now seen as widely optimistic. Work on NASA’s proposed Altair lunar lander, once promised to go to KSC, may now be up for grabs. The "gap" between the last shuttle launch and the launch of a new rocket to lift humans even to the international space station may stretch past 2015. A local Brevard County study found that between 6,000 and 7,000 employees from KSC were likely to lose their jobs, twice the NASA forecast. (7/22)
Florida Losing More Space Jobs Than Other States (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
With an outdated forecast reaching only to the end of FY-2010, the latest NASA workforce report ignores the announcement by United Space Alliance that it would begin laying off 240 workers at KSC in October. The NASA report says there will be no changes in the KSC workforce in FY-2009, which ends on Sept. 30 -- one day before USA is due to hand out its pink slips.
The report also said that other centers, like Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and Johnson Space Flight Center in Houston, actually added employees in the past year. Workers at KSC, who have become increasingly concerned about their futures, are not likely to be fooled by the flat job-loss numbers.
“I honestly think the workforce is savvier than then we give them credit for,” said UCF's Dale Ketcham. “While it’s true we won’t know anything until the Augustine Committee options are decided upon, workers here know that regardless of what decisions are made, a painful transition has been KSC’s fate for years now. The details are to be determined.”
Space Coast Representatives React to NASA Workforce Report (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The fact that KSC still faces massive layoffs was not lost on Florida’s representatives in Washington -- nor was the absence of new information in the report. “It looks like a cut-and-paste,” said U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, who said the report does little to forecast the future. “They made clear nothing is certain.”
The freshman lawmaker also criticized how the White House has handled NASA policy so far. In particular, he said President Barack Obama erred by not appointing Charles Bolden as NASA administrator until last month -- though Congress torpedoed Obama’s first two picks. “We’re eight months down the road and we just got an administrator and we’re still waiting for a vision,” Posey said.
Fellow freshman U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-Smyrna Beach, worried aloud that "thousands of jobs remain at risk at Kennedy Space Center and throughout Central Florida. I urge members of the Augustine Panel to focus on options that mitigate the loss of the experienced and professional workforce at KSC and NASA centers across the country,” she said. (7/22)
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