Grayson Critical of Commercial Space Plan (Source: Space Politics)
During last week's space hearing in Washington, Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) compared the capabilities of NASA with the commercial sector when it comes to responding to a spaceflight crisis like Apollo 13. “I told the NASA administrator recently that my sense is that if a commercial enterprise had been running the space program at the time of Apollo 13, then all of those hundreds of engineers, mechanics, and other astronauts who worked so hard to make sure that the three men returned to Earth safely would have been replaced by one 20-year-old in a Grateful Dead t-shirt working on a laptop.” (5/27)
HASC and Constellation (Source: Space Politics)
To listen to Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), the House Armed Services Committee (HASC) has taken a strong stand against NASA’s plans to cancel most of Constellation. “There is report language, which meets our (committee’s needs), where we went almost two pages criticizing NASA’s decision to cancel the Constellation [program] without recognizing the impact it would have on our defense industry,” he told a newspaper. He said the language was “a win” for those fighting for Constellation.
The language of the report, though, suggests that Rep. Bishop may have overstated his point. The section is actually only about one page worth of material and much of it does not address Constellation at all. The challenges of maintaining the SRM industrial base, it notes, “are made worse by the proposed termination of ... Constellation ... Defense officials have estimated that the cost of propulsion systems could increase from 40 to 100 percent because infrastructure costs currently shared by [DOD] and NASA would be passed on to the Department of Defense... “Any DOD strategic plan should include NASA, and any NASA plan should include the Department of Defense.”
The HASC report cites unnamed “defense officials”, but back in March Rear Admiral Stephen E. Johnson, director of strategic systems programs for the Navy, told a Senate committee that he expected DOD costs to increase by only 10-20 percent. Nowhere does the section explicitly criticize NASA, only noting the impact NASA’s plans make on SRM planning for DOD, which already is facing its own issues of “sustaining currently-deployed strategic and missile defense systems or maintaining an intellectual and engineering capacity to support the next-generation rocket motors." (5/31)
Another Senate Candidate Visits Space Coast (Source: SPACErePORT)
U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek will visit the Space Coast this week to discuss space industry issues with local leaders. Meek is currently a congressman from the Miami area and is considered to be the likely democratic nominee for the seat currently held by Sen. George LeMieux (R-FL). Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will participate. (5/31)
NASA Lunabotics Contest Draws College Students to Titusville (Source: Florida Today)
Chris Farnell sat in "mission control" and used a laptop computer to navigate his team's robot through an obstacle course designed to replicate the moon's surface. The 26-year-old electrical engineering student and his teammates from the University of Arkansas competed against 21 other universities in the NASA-sponsored Lunabotics Mining Competition. The two-day event was held at the Astronaut Hall of Fame.
Teams are given 15 minutes to maneuver robots they built in the Lunarena, a 24-foot by 25-foot box filled with a light, fluffy soil, similar in texture to the terrain on the moon. Students sitting in a small room and viewing their robots via video cameras have to guide them from one end of the box, through an obstacle course filled with rocks, to the other. (5/28)
Ohio State Students Send Experiment to Space (Source: The Lantern)
Ohio State aerospace engineering students are sending an experiment to the International Space Station. The experiment will examine the effects of microgravity, the low-gravity environment of space, on the growth of ceria, an oxide of a rare-earth metal that increases the rate of other chemical reactions. Ceria has a crystal structure, which means that its atoms are arranged in a 3-D pattern. The microgravity of space enables the enhanced growth of ceria crystals. (5/26)
NASA Finds New Criticism and Skepticism Before Congress (Source: New York Times)
The head of NASA was buffeted with more criticism and skepticism before Congress on Wednesday as he sought to defend the Obama administration’s proposal to revamp the space agency. Representative Bart Gordon (D-TN), chairman of the House Committee on Science and Technology, said Congress had still not been told enough to make informed decisions about the president’s plan to cancel the space agency’s Constellation program. (5/26)
Utah Congressman Asks NASA: Will Changes be Safer for Astronauts? (Source: Standard-Examiner)
Federal lawmakers grilled a leading NASA official Wednesday about the proposed changes to the Constellation space program -- a change that could mean serious job losses to a Utah company. Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, held a photo of an unidentified Utah worker who lost his job last week at ATK, one of the contractors for the Constellation program.
"I hope I can tell him he lost his job because the government was going to save money or come up with a program that was safer for astronauts ... not because we are choosing winners or losers /26)in the free market," said Bishop at a hearing of the House Committee on Science and Technology. This month, ATK reduced its payroll by 247 people, mostly by layoffs, blaming changes to defense spending in the missile and shuttle programs. (5/26)
Albuquerque Firm Lands Spaceport Contract (Source: KOB.com)
An Albuquerque company will build the fences and security gates at the New Mexico spaceport after landing a $937,000 contract. Valley Fence Company was selected over three other firms. The work calls for construction of chain-link fences and gates throughout the Spaceport America property, including perimeter fencing and access gates to create a secured airfield. (5/26)
Budget and Personnel Turmoil Further Cloud NASA's Future (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Congress and NASA continue to spar over the agency's priorities, even as new budget projections and agency personnel shifts announced Wednesday riled lawmakers who vowed to block White House proposals to outsource manned missions to commercial operators. Mr. Bolden, for example, disclosed that it could cost NASA more than $4.5 billion to build and deploy a crew rescue vehicle for the space station, which is being developed by prime contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. Current administration budget proposals don't include any of those costs, and NASA officials so far haven't identified other NASA accounts from which they expect to get those funds. (5/26)
Oklahoma Works to Promote Aerospace Industry (Source: NewsOK)
The Oklahoma Aerospace Institute was created in 2008 by House Bill 3098 as an organization within the Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission. OAI’s mission is to create a partnership of service providers to respond to the needs of Oklahoma’s aerospace industry in the areas of education and training, research, and economic development. OAI establishes and promotes public-private collaboration among businesses, manufacturers, military installations, educational institutions, nonprofit research institutions, and local and state governments to maintain and expand the aerospace industry in Oklahoma.
Over the next few years, you’ll see enhanced efforts to establish Oklahoma as a world-recognized center of excellence for the diagnostics, examination and repair of new composites and strong metals. You’ll see continued growth in the military sector, such as Tinker Air Force Base, which is expanding and hiring more highly trained professionals. We have a number of state financial incentives in place and shovel-ready locations that are very attractive to companies who consider locating or expanding here. We also have the Oklahoma Spaceport at Burns Flat that has a space-launch corridor approved by the FAA. It is poised for expansion as the commercial space-related industry expands. (5/26)
Panel Urges Japan to Build Unmanned Lunar Exploration Base by 2020 (Source: Japan Today)
An advisory panel in a draft recommendation report urges the Japanese government to build a 200 billion yen unmanned lunar exploration base by 2020. The panel calls for conducting short-term exploration on the moon in 2015 and building a base with photovoltaic power generation and telecommunications systems by 2020 to look into the inner structure of the planet over more than 12 months. The draft report envisages wheeled robots for lunar exploration, although bipedal walking robots have also been considered. It also calls for a 90 billion yen program to develop technologies for manned lunar exploration by around 2020. (5/26)
Court Denies Nowak Probation Termination (Source: Florida Today)
Considering objections from Lisa Nowak's victim, an Orlando judge Monday denied the former astronaut's request to terminate her probation for attacking a fellow military officer over a mutual love interest. According to documents from the Ninth Circuit Court, Nowak was eligible for termination once she reached the halfway mark of her one-year probation period. But the judge instead loosened her sentence to administrative probation, which does not require the Navy captain to report to a probation officer. Florida law says administrative probation is reserved for a defendant who "represents a low risk of harm to the community." (5/24)
Ariane Rocket Debris Washes Ashore on Hilton Head Island (Source: WTOC)
What goes up, must come down. And over the weekend a piece of a rocket washed up on the beach on Hilton Head Island. And as you can imagine it created quite a spectacle. "There were all kinds of sound-dampening devices adhered to the inside," said Jerry Gentile. The space debris sat on the beach surrounded by deputies and caution tape until Sunday night. That's when crews moved it to the Hilton Head Island Fire and Rescue Headquarters. While it looks like a giant piece of metal, experts say it's actually pretty buoyant. It has a honeycomb material on the inside and a yellow material on top feels like insulation. (5/27)
Human-Rating Commercial Vehicles (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA will try to “tailor” the approach it takes to human-rating commercial vehicles for its astronauts, looking for middle ground between the prescriptive approach it has taken with its own human spacecraft and the analysis it gave Russia’s Soyuz vehicles before U.S. astronauts started flying on them. NASA is at the end of months of internal effort to release a request for information (RFI) from industry on commercial crew vehicles to carry its astronauts and those of its non-Russian partners to the Space Station.
Administrator Charles Bolden says the RFI includes “the draft of human-rating standards for commercial crew” as the first step in an “incremental” transition away from U.S. government-operated human spaceflight to low Earth orbit. Bryan O’Connor, NASA’s chief of safety and mission assurance, says the draft is intended to shape a discussion with potential commercial crew transportation providers over just how to ensure their vehicles are safe enough to get crews to the space station and elsewhere in low Earth orbit, without imposing requirements that don’t make sense for launch vehicles that have been flying for years.
“With the Soyuz we had an up-and-running system that had a very good track record,” O’Connor said. “They’d gone some 50 some-odd flights on that system without a fatality ... What we did was what I think of as a reactive assessment of, not compliance with something we would call human-rating requirements, but equivalence.” (5/25)
Dealing with Galaxy 15: Zombiesats and On-Orbit Servicing (Source: Space Review)
A solar storm last month turned a mild-mannered communications satellite into a rogue spacecraft drifting through the GEO belt and threatening to disrupt operations of other satellites there. Brian Weeden reviews the current situation involving Galaxy 15 and its implications for on-orbit servicing and related policy issues. Click here to view the article. (5/24)
Twin Hurdles for Commercial Human Spaceflight (Source: Space Review)
One of hottest areas of debate about the president’s new vision for NASA is its reliance on commercial providers to transport crews to low Earth orbit. Jeff Foust describes the debate about the capabilities of companies to do so safely, and the commercial viability of such ventures. Click here to view the article. (5/24)
KSC Role in Launches Not Required in Draft Plan (Source: Florida Today)
Private companies flying astronauts to the International Space Station won't be required to launch from KSC, NASA said. "It's basically up to commercial entities to define what makes sense for them," said Doug Cooke, the associate administrator in charge of exploration programs.
Unless one of those companies chooses to fly from KSC, the center's traditional role as the launching point for U.S. missions could be dramatically reduced for years after the shuttle program's retirement. But the Space Coast would likely remain a hub for human spaceflight because most of the companies expected to compete to launch crews -- including United Launch Alliance and SpaceX -- would fly rockets from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. (5/26)
Florida Senator Joins Call for NASA Inquiry (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, R-Florida, asked that NASA’s inspector general investigate the recent reassignment of Jeff Hanley, who on Wednesday lost his position as head of NASA’s Constellation moon program. Hanley has defended Constellation, even as the White House wants to cancel key parts of the program to make way for a new strategy that would replace the space shuttle with commercial rockets to ferry astronauts to the Space Station.
“This is yet another example of NASA taking actions to cancel the Constellation Program, and that is a violation of law,” said LeMieux, referencing a provision that Congress passed last year that forbids NASA from killing Constellation in 2010. “This is a very serious issue that affects the future of our nation’s space program and thousands of Floridians.” U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, has made a similar request. (5/27)
Lockheed Weighs Colorado Layoffs, Other Cuts for Orion Program (Source: Denver Post)
Lockheed Martin officials have begun looking throughout the Orion crew-capsule program for savings that can be used to cover possible contract termination costs. Those savings could include layoffs of some of the 600 to 650 Lockheed employees in Colorado who are working on the NASA spacecraft. "We're implementing a 20 percent adjustment across the program," Lockheed spokeswoman Joan Underwood said. Cost efficiencies being implemented now include finding positions on other company programs for Orion workers and not purchasing hardware that isn't needed yet. (5/28)
Editorial: Protecting Public Safety, Post-Shuttle Economy (Source: Florida Today)
Two critical Brevard County issues started coming into better view late this week, and the public should stay engaged in both because of their long-term impacts to the community. The first involves the county’s budget crisis, with county commissioners facing a $37.5 million shortfall that will require cuts everywhere, including public safety.
Meanwhile, President Obama’s Cabinet-level task force to craft a post-shuttle job strategy for Brevard and Central Florida has begun fact-finding missions that will result with a plan on the president’s desk in mid-August. Officials have started meeting with key local players, including Brevard Workforce and the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast. They’ve also listened to Space Florida, the state’s space business recruiting arm.
That’s a good start, and the dialogue should continue with administration officials putting their recommendations in their final report. The White House wants to invest $40 million to ease shuttle job losses in the short term and develop a long-term plan to diversify the region’s economy. That’s a rare opportunity that can pay big dividends, if done right. (5/29)
MSU Robot Digs Most "Moon Dirt," Wins NASA Contest at KSC (Source: MSU)
A Montana State University student-built robot won a national contest at the Kennedy Space Center Friday by digging the most simulated moon dirt in 15 minutes. Defeating robots from 21 other colleges and universities, Montana MULE removed 21.6 kilograms of regolith from a giant sandbox. That was far above the 10 kilograms required to qualify in the contest and far ahead of the nearest competitor in NASA's first Lunar Regolith Excavator Student Competition. (5/28)
Man Accused of Stealing Sally Ride's Flight Suit (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Every time they passed a replica of astronaut Sally Ride's flight suit on their visits to NASA or Space Center Houston, Calvin Dale Smith would laugh, his wife recalled. She told NASA investigators her husband would comment that he knew where Ride's original flight suit was, but he always remained very secretive about it.
Smith, 56, of Houston, is now in federal custody after being accused of stealing the original flight suit used by Ride, the first American woman to travel into space, court records show. Smith, of the 1600 block of Richvale Lane, has been indicted by a federal grand jury on suspicion of theft of government property. He is accused of receiving, concealing and keeping nearly $10,000 in property belonging to the U.S. government, including the NASA flight suit, an Omega watch used on two shuttle flights and machine parts used in NASA's space program. (5/29)
NASA Glenn Building to Stay Open for 16 More Months (Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer)
A building that's home to hundreds of contract workers at the NASA Glenn Research Center would remain open for at least 16 more months, under a plan that has local officials breathing easier. Earlier this year, NASA Glenn officials raised the specter of moving workers out of the 1960s-era building to raze it, along with a smaller building on the 19-acre site. Demolition would mean the loss of 320 jobs and some $400,000 a year in income tax for Fairview Park, until a new office building emerged on the site. (5/28)
Moon Rocks Weren’t Lost — Just Shelved (Source: Columbia Daily Tribune)
Fragments of a moon rock collected during the Apollo 17 mission and given to Missouri are safe and sound in the basement of the state Capitol — not lost, as was indicated in a news report last weekend. The article reported that 19 states, including Missouri, could not account for the “goodwill moon rocks” given to states to commemorate NASA’s last manned mission to the moon. After reading the story, staff at the Missouri State Museum went looking for it, said Linda Endersby, interim museum director. (5/28)
How Short Can a Planet's Year Be? (Source: New Scientist)
That's the question raised by a planet orbiting its star in less than an Earth day. The planet, named 55 Cancri e, was discovered years ago. It is a "super-Earth" – a world with a mass several times that of Earth – and orbits a star like our sun. Now researchers say gaps in the observational record meant the planet's orbital period – originally thought to be about three days – was miscalculated. Their analysis shows that the planet's true year is 17 hours and 41 minutes. There may be a planet around the star SWEEPS-10 with an even shorter year, but its existence is unconfirmed. (5/28)
Space Adventures to Develop Suborbital Vehicles (Source: MIT Technology Review)
Long before Virginia-based space tourism company Space Adventures became synonymous with flying millionaires to the International Space Station, the company planned to open the market for suborbital space tourism. Today the company announced a partnership that returns it to its suborbital origins. Space Adventures is partnering with Armadillo Aerospace, the Texas-based small aerospace company founded by famed game developer John Carmack, to develop a suborbital vehicle to carry customers to at least 100 kilometers altitude. The design of the vehicle is still to be determined. (5/27)
Kiwis Join NASA in $375 Million Satellite Project (Source: Dominion Post)
Kiwi scientists have joined forces with NASA in a bid to launch a $375 million satellite to collect the most accurate data yet on greenhouse gases. The project, to help scientists understand how fast greenhouse gases leave and enter the atmosphere, is part of a research program which the Obama Administration is proposing to spend $3.6 billion on. (5/28)
DiBello: Legislature Earns a STAR (Source: Tallahassee Democrat)
Millions of stakeholders are closely watching the aerospace industry, and this past session, our Legislature let every one know that Florida is committed to a vibrant future as a leader in global space sectors. From Pensacola to Pembroke Pines, tens of thousands of direct employees, small businesses and major suppliers and service providers can rest assured that their leaders recognize the significance of aerospace, and are committed to it for their future and the future of Florida.
This past session, $32 million in budget programs were passed that will provide the foundation Florida needs to demonstrate its commitment to comprehensive economic development targeted to retaining and expanding Florida's space industry. As the state's space industry advocate, we will use these resources wisely. We're setting a new aggressive posture as we compete in commercial markets, and we will pursue every government civil and military program and project that should be based here.
The federal government and even the global aerospace industry are already taking notice of Florida's competitiveness. Sophisticated initiatives give state and regional economic development and work force organizations the right tools to successfully compete for new jobs and new investment. (5/28)
Work Starts on Jobs Plan (Source: Florida Today)
U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development John Fernandez visited Central Florida Thursday as part of his efforts to develop a plan to invest $40 million to help soon-to-be-jobless space workers by bringing in industries that can put them back to work. "We're in the fact-finding mode," Fernandez said. "We're collecting data and information on a lot of the great work that's already been going on in the Space Coast region. The next phase is going to be an aggressive outreach effort."
Fernandez is laying the groundwork for the detailed plan, to be presented to President Barack Obama by Aug. 15, advising how the money should be spent to sustain the space industry workforce. Some 8,000 workers will be jobless when the shuttle stops flying after two more missions. (5/28)
Coalition Wants UK Space Lift-off (Source: BBC)
The new science minister David Willetts says space is an important growth sector for the UK economy and he intends to do all he can to support it. "I believe in the space industry," he said. "Britain has a comparative advantage and we will carry on backing space." He said the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition would pick up where the previous government had left off and would put "energy into the program".
UK space had witnessed some key developments just prior to the General Election. These included the establishment of an executive space agency, and the production of a major report that set out a strategy to grow the British space industry over the next 20 years, creating 100,000 jobs in the process. (5/28)
Congress, White House Mull Extra Space Shuttle Flight (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
A key NASA supporter in Congress is beginning a formal push for an extra space shuttle flight, as NASA officials prepare to present options to top Obama administration officials next month. Sen. Bill Nelson is putting language approving an additional space shuttle mission into the Senate's NASA reauthorization bill this year, the Florida Democrat wrote in a letter to President Obama this week.
NASA is preparing the shuttle Atlantis to fly on a rescue, or "launch on need" flight next year should the final shuttle flight be forced to take refuge on the International Space Station due to heat shield damage. An external fuel tank and two solid rocket boosters will also be in place to support the rescue mission. (5/27)
No National Boundaries as New ISS Crew Gets Ready for Take-Off (Source: Russia Today)
The next crew to go to International Space Station has been unveiled in Moscow. One cosmonaut and two astronauts have passed rigorous tests and will leave for orbit in about two weeks. The crew – which consists of Russia’s Fyodor Yurchikhin, and Douglas Wheelock and Shannon Walker from NASA – will spend a total of 164 days on the ISS. Last week the crew members went through pre-flight training sessions and passed exams on mockups of a Soyuz space shuttle and the Russian segment of the ISS. (5/31)
Falcon-9 Poised For Friday Launch (Source: CFL-13)
The test flight of a new rocket on the Space Coast could happen by the end of the week. SpaceX has been working for weeks on its new Falcon 9 rocket. The company was hoping to have gotten a test flight in by now, but their work was pushed back several times, most recently because of delays with the launch of a Delta IV rocket earlier in May after four failed attempts. SpaceX said the launch won’t happen until Friday at the earliest. The company has a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to launch more than a dozen Falcon rockets. (5/30)
Bipartisan Task Force to Find Ways to Cut $100B in Defense Spending (Source: AIA)
Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., said on Thursday that he and a bipartisan group of three other congressmen are appointing a task force to identify areas where at least $100 billion a year could be slashed in defense spending. Frank criticized President Barack Obama's exemption of the Pentagon from a discretionary spending freeze as "a terrible decision," and argued that only national security spending should be exempted from the freeze. (5/30)
Official: NASA has Economic, As Well as Scientific, Role (Source: AIA)
NASA's chief technologist says the space agency has a role to play in reviving the U.S. economy. With the Obama administration focusing budget priorities on "research and technical innovation," Robert Braun said NASA can help "get us out of the current slump. It's going to improve our competitiveness and generate new products." Braun made his pitch during a Thursday visit to the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. (5/30)
Mars was Wet, But Was it Warm? (Source: Astrobiology)
On Mars today, water is frozen solid. The average temperature of the Red Planet is negative 55 degrees Celsius (-67 F), and when the temperature rises -- the highest recorded temperature is a balmy 20 degrees C (68 F) -- this ice turns directly into a gas, skipping the liquid phase entirely because of the low atmospheric pressure.
Mars may have had a thicker atmosphere and liquid water on its surface between 3.5 and 4 billion years ago. Satellites orbiting Mars have taken images of ancient ocean shorelines, river beds and canyons – features all thought to be caused by flowing water. The chemistry of the martian soil also suggests that liquid water may have been present once on the surface. If so, then perhaps life could have emerged on Mars during this time in its history.
Many scientists think Mars was cold when it was young – cold enough so that surface water should have been frozen solid. One way around this problem is if the chemistry of the water was such that it could remain liquid at lower temperatures. On Earth, the salt in seawater prevents it from freezing at the same temperature as freshwater. For early Mars to be cold but still wet, however, the water would have had to be much saltier than seems likely. (5/31)
Russia, U.S. to Create First Joint Satellite Navigation Venture (Source: RIA Novosti)
The Russian Space Systems corporation and the U.S. Trimble Navigation Group have signed an agreement to create a joint satellite navigation venture in Russia. Each of the companies will hold a 50% stake in the Rusnavgeoset company, which will produce Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) geodetic network infrastructure systems, a statement posted on Russian Space Systems' website said.
GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System), the Russian equivalent of the U.S. GPS (Global Positioning System), is designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users to determine their positions to within a few meters. Federal and local government agencies, as well as large companies are expected to purchase the equipment to be produced by Rusnavgeoset. (5/31)
Langley Director Offers Statement on Center's Labs (Source: Daily Press)
The National Research Council (NRC) selected and tasked the Committee on Assessment of NASA Laboratory Capabilities to assess the status of NASA's laboratory capabilities and to determine whether they are equipped and maintained to support NASA's fundamental research activities. Overall, Langley management finds the report to be generally accurate and thorough. It should help us re-establish the vigor of our research capability and mission. The systemic issues regarding our facilities and labs are ones that Langley and the Agency have and will continue to address. In 2003 Langley advocated and the Agency supported our repair by replacement strategy -- aka New Town.
We have moved forward with New Town with the construction of Phase 1 in progress, the design of Phase 2 underway, and the groundwork for Phase 3 initiated. New Town, along with our Lab Consolidation efforts, will greatly revitalize our infrastructure. The NRC report overstated the workforce trend that "LaRC is moving toward an all-contractor technical workforce." As you know, this is not the center strategy. (5/30)
Air Force Museum in Dayton Hopes to Land Retired Shuttle (Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer)
The birthplace of aviation wants to be the space shuttle's retirement home. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton is campaigning to add one of three soon-to-be-mothballed NASA space shuttles to its collection of more than 400 aerospace vehicles and missiles. Museum officials predict its arrival would draw an extra 1 million visitors annually to the facility, create 700 jobs and add $40 million to the state's economy. (5/30)
Kiwi Scientists Aiding New Space Shuttle Design (Source: 3News)
A futuristic type of aircraft that will take astronauts to space is being designed with the help of Kiwi scientists from Canterbury University. NASA wants to replace its space shuttles with a hypersonic aircraft that can fly at speeds of up to 5,000 km/h and a vital part of the project is to make sure it doesn't overheat. Associate professor Susan Krumdieck is part of the team helping design the heatshield for an aircraft that'll carry astronauts to an orbiting space station. (5/30)
ILS to Put Two Satellites Into Orbit for Russian Gazprom (Source: Itar-Tass)
International Launch Services (ILS) has announced the contract for the ILS Proton launch of two commercial satellites, YAMAL 401 and YAMAL 402, for Russian satellite operator, Gazprom Space Systems. Gazprom is the parent company of Gazprom Space Systems and is the world’s largest producer of natural gas. The launches are scheduled for 2012-2013 from the Baikonur spaceport. (5/30)
NASA To Ramp Up Robotic Exploration Missions (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA’s new technology and commercially themed exploration strategy promises to dispatch new waves of robotic spacecraft on rapidly paced missions to pave the way for human exploration, rather than carry out scientific agendas. Agency officials outlined the strategy at a two-day NASA Exploration Enterprise Workshop in Galveston, Texas.
Since it cannot cancel Constellation contracts or staff new program offices yet due to congressional restrictions, the space agency hopes the outreach will hasten a transition as soon as the lawmakers reach an agreement on Fiscal 2011 spending that triggers the shift in policy, said Doug Cooke, associate administrator for exploration. The new initiative increases the number and pace of robotic missions capped at $200 million, $800 million and $1 billion, while NASA serves as a catalyst for a new commercial human spaceflight capability to low Earth orbit. (5/28)
Editorial: Keep the Shuttle Flying (Source: Houston Chronicle)
If NASA sticks to current plans, the majestic Atlantis space shuttle that soared over the Houston night sky last week has completed its last mission. Along with two other shuttles in the fleet, the most complex flying machines ever created by man will be consigned to museums at the end of the year even though they remain at the peak of their performance capabilities. The Atlantis will be maintained as a rescue vehicle until the last scheduled shuttle flight by Endeavour is completed.
The end of the program will create a gap of several years in which the United States will have to purchase $55 million tickets on Russian craft to ferry our astronauts to a space station largely funded by American dollars. Given the monumental sums being spent in the name of national security in Iraq and Afghanistan, it's hard to understand why that same rationale doesn't justify $200 million a month to maintain the shuttle and its unrivaled capabilities for putting Americans in orbit until an alternative launch system is operational. (5/29)
Wanted: Retired Space Shuttles (Source: Florida Today)
On April 15, hundreds of New Yorkers donning space suits took the subway from Grand Central to Times Square -- a line known as the shuttle -- where they joined political leaders in an attention-getting push to get a retired space shuttle orbiter for the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. The Intrepid is among about 20 sites across the country interested in acquiring either Atlantis or Endeavour. (Discovery has been promised to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington.)
Most of the top contenders (in Ohio, Texas, and Oklahoma) are making very public attempts in their efforts. They include architectural renderings of new buildings, slick "Land the Shuttle" campaigns and Web site, Facebook pages and Twitter sites, community initiatives and astronaut endorsements. The approach at KSC is decidedly more low key, which has gotten the attention of some community and tourism leaders. The privately operated KSC Visitor Complex has submitted its proposal to NASA. With all of the funding in place -- NASA is requiring $28.8 million, Visitor Complex officials say the brouhaha behind getting a shuttle is not what's important.
"I think we've been active earlier than most folks were, and I think there's just a style difference in how you do that," said Bill Moore. The visitor center's approach is so low-key, it seems, that few know much about it. Moore has denied requests for a copy of the proposal, saying it's proprietary information. Rob Varley, executive director of the Space Coast Office of Tourism, said the "low-key" approach isn't the way to go, especially when other cities have been so active. (5/30)
Asteroid Probe 'on Home Straight' (Source: BBC)
An unmanned Japanese spacecraft designed to return samples from an asteroid has completed an important step on its journey back to Earth. Hayabusa achieved the second and largest of four engine firings designed to guide the probe back home. The probe visited the asteroid Itokawa in 2005, making close approaches designed to capture soil samples. But the mission has been plagued by technical glitches affecting the engines and communications with Earth.
It remains unclear whether the probe managed to grab material from Itokawa; scientists will have to open the capsule to find out. The craft is now roughly 7,600,000km from our planet, according to Jaxa. The spacecraft is scheduled to return to Earth on 13 June, landing at the Woomera Test Facility in South Australia. (5/31)
Lost Moon Rocks Spark a Mystery (Source: Florida Today)
Some of the rocks collected on mankind's greatest adventure, the six human expeditions from here to the moon, are lost. President Richard Nixon gave the priceless lunar samples to all 50 states and more than 100 countries after the first and last missions to the moon, to demonstrate the shared nature of the United States' achievement. His goal: Give people worldwide a chance to see a little piece of our moon.
Four decades later, many of the samples can't be found. Some were taken by government leaders after they left office or perhaps given away to colleagues, friends or relatives. Some turned up on the black market. Some were relegated to museum storage rooms. Others might be on display in obscure museums or government buildings, but we can't know for sure because nobody kept track.
A special agent turned college professor, a private space memorabilia enthusiast and an armada of graduate students are trying to change that. They're playing detective, working to unlock a mystery of history, running down every missing rock and lobbying to get them back on public display where they belong. (5/30)
Rural Broadband Passes Space Test (Source: The Engineer)
The Highly Adaptable Satellite (HYLAS) 1, which is being developed by Astrium for the satellite-broadband operator Avanti Communications, has successfully completed a month-long test campaign designed to expose the satellite to space. HYLAS 1 will bring high-speed broadband services to remote rural areas across Europe, using its ‘highly adaptable’ payload, developed by Astrium. The payload is designed to allocate varying amounts of power and bandwidth to the different regions within its footprint, reacting to traffic demand. (5/28)
European Space Agency Seeks To Lessen Dependence on U.S. Propulsion Providers (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is promoting the creation of European expertise in certain propulsion technologies to avoid technology-transfer roadblocks associated with U.S. components even if the U.S. hardware is substantially less expensive, ESA officials said. These officials said that they have been forced into the policy by the fact that for its satellite programs, ESA requires that it be able to understand the source of a problem that crops up either in ground testing or in orbit.
Editor's Note: This is a clear example of how U.S. export control restrictions are harming U.S. commercial competitiveness in the global space industry. (5/28)
NASA Told To Expect Longer Wait Between SpaceX Demo Flights (Source: Space News)
SpaceX has informed NASA that it should expect an eight-month wait between the first and second test flights of the company’s Falcon 9-launched Dragon space capsule. SpaceX's first COTS demonstration flight remains slated for July even though the first test launch of the Falcon 9 rocket has slipped into June. However, the second of three COTS demos SpaceX is obliged to fly under its $278 million agreement with NASA is now not expected to occur until March 2011 — about five months later than NASA had been expecting. (5/30)
Europe’s Launch Infrastructure Costs Loom Large Amid Fiscal Crisis (Source: Space News)
Confronting a budget crisis that likely will take years to resolve, European governments have begun debating how to manage the increased operating costs associated with three separate launch vehicles and launch installations at Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. A parallel debate is taking place over whether Europe’s governments can afford to invest in a major improvement to the current Ariane 5 heavy-lift rocket even as they start designing a vehicle to succeed it.
In an illustration of how the discussion is being played out, the head of the German Aerospace Center, DLR, said here that he is “totally against the idea of an Ariane 6 vehicle.” But Johann-Dietrich Woerner said Germany could, at least in principle, support co-investment in an improved Ariane 5 even as work starts on a successor rocket. (5/30)
NASA Langley's Building Plan in Doubt (Source: Daily Press)
NASA Langley Research Center started modernizing its aging campus, but there's no guarantee it'll finish the job. In fact, a retired Langley administrator said the odds are "pretty darn grim" given the recession and political infighting surrounding President Barack Obama's plan to scrap NASA's return mission to the moon. The plan, dubbed New Town, is a 10-year, $200 million building project that would centralize the campus by replacing sprawling World War II-era structures with a cluster of environmentally friendly offices and laboratories.
Langley Director Lesa Roe said New Town would address many of the unflattering observations made in a recent National Academy of Sciences assessment of Langley's research capabilities. The report, which looked at five other NASA centers, found the agency's labs "marginally adequate" and inferior to those of the Department of Energy and some universities. NASA brass so far has committed tens of millions of dollars to the New Town project for a new administration building and a cafeteria/conference center. Langley plans to upgrade its labs next, but it has yet to receive funding. (5/28)
SpaceX’s Elon Musk Running Out of Cash (Source: Space News)
SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk told a California divorce court in February that he was out of cash and had resorted to borrowing from friends to cover monthly household expenses exceeding $90,000. Musk’s ex-wife, Justine Musk, is seeking a financial settlement that includes $6 million cash and a 5-percent ownership stake in SpaceX. Musk says he does not have the money to give her.
“About four months ago, I ran out of cash,” Musk wrote in a Feb. 23 court filing. “In order to pay the court’s prior fee orders and to continue to support Justine and the children at the level to which they are accustomed, I had to obtain emergency loans from personal friends. These loans are the exclusive source of cash that I have. If I did not take these loans, I would have no liquid assets left.”
According to the same court filing, Musk pays himself a salary of $1,690 a month to run SpaceX and another $2,773 to run Tesla Motors, the electric car company he hopes to take public this year with a $50 million assist from Toyota. The article links to court documents showing that Musk collected $4.15 million in interest payments from SpaceX between 2005 and 2007. (5/28)
Ambitious Plans in Japan (Source: Space News)
Japan will seek to double spending on its space industry over the next 10 years, the idea being to spur private-sector technology development and promote exports. “The government concluded it is necessary to expand the private sector’s stake in the industry and make inroads into overseas markets.”
Whether this will actually come to pass is a big ”if” given the fact that in recent years Japan has struggled to maintain any growth in space spending, forcing numerous projects to be stretched out. Moreover, Japan isn’t any better than the United States at sticking to future-year space budget plans. (5/27)
NASA May Open Competition for Space Station Crew Lifeboat (Source: Space News)
ASA officials are quietly assessing whether to hold a new competition to build an emergency lifeboat for space station crews, a move that would scuttle current plans to use the Lockheed Martin-designed Orion capsule for that purpose under an existing contract that would only have to be modified. “Continuing on the current contract is the option being assessed, but there is forward work to verify that it is contractually appropriate and the best approach for the emergency return module acquisition,” a NASA official said. (5/28)
Air Force Launches Long-awaited First GPS 2F Satellite (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Air Force on May 27 successfully launched the first of a new generation of GPS satellites aboard a Delta 4 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The GPS 2F-1 satellite was placed into a roughly 17,600-kilometer orbit and joins an operational constellation of 30 previous-generation GPS satellites. (5/28)
L.A. County to Buy Missile-Warning Satellite? (Source: Space News)
Los Angeles County officials are being urged to consider using satellites to detect wild fires soon after they begin, according to the Los Angeles Times. And not just any satellites. L.A. County's Quality and Productivity Commission says in a new report that the county should take a look at the satellites the U.S. military uses to detect missile launches. "Since a missile flame has characteristics similar to a wildland fire, the system can readily detect fires," according to a county report. (5/26)
Azerbaijan Firms Up Satellite Contract with Orbital (Source: Space News)
The government of Azerbaijan has contracted with Orbital Sciences Corp. to build the nation’s first telecommunications satellite following an agreement between Azeri authorities and Malaysia’s Measat satellite operator on sharing an orbital slot, the Azeri government and Orbital Sciences said. The Azersat spacecraft will be launched in 2012 into the 46 degrees east longitude orbital position now occupied by Measat’s Africasat 1 spacecraft. It likely will be launched aboard a Zenit rocket from Baikonur. (5/28)
Bigelow Commercial Space Stations Could Require 150 Launches Through 2020 (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The FAA’s newly released 2010 Commercial Space Transportation Forecasts report indicates that Bigelow Aerospace’s two planned Sundancer space stations would generate substantial demand for commercial launch services over the next 10 years. These new stations could create significant additional demand for commercial launches: in excess of 150 launches through 2020 according to company projections. With the initial launch of station modules in 2014, that would amount to an average of more than 20 launches annually over a seven year period. The number of launches would ramp up during the later years as both the Sundancer 1 and 2 stations became operational. (5/30)
Virginia Spaceport Plans Open House (Source: Spaceports Blog)
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility is celebrating its 65th Anniversary with a public open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturday, June 5, 2010. Visitors can meet with researchers and see the Orbital Sciences Corporation's Cygnus spacecraft during an open house June 5 at the facility on the Eastern Shore, according to a NASA news release. Cygnus is expected to carry supplies to the International Space Station next year from the commercial Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport next year after the space shuttle fleet is retired. (5/30)
Record Skydive Set for New Mexico (Source: Spaceports Blog)
Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian daredevil, hopes to to break a 50-year-old record this summer in New Mexico when he begins a sky dive from 120,000 feet, or almost 23 miles above the earth’s surface jumping from a capsule and going nearly 700 mph down breaking the sound barrier. It’s unclear where in New Mexico Baumgartner’s jump will happen. It’s sponsored by Red Bull, which probably adds to New Mexico’s allure as a place for far-out, space-related stuff - like those recognized along the New Mexico Space Trail.
The previous record for highest sky dive was set in 1960 when U.S. Air Force jumper Joe Kittinger started a descent from 102,800 feet near White Sands, New Mexico, CNN tells us. The sport of breaking the Kittinger record and launch the extreme sport of space diving in the next decade has been discussed for the past few years among space advocates. (5/30)
Editorial: Hang Together or Hang Separately (Source: Space News)
I criticized the administration for badly presenting their new plan for human space exploration when they rolled out the NASA budget that they would present to Congress. Instead of focusing on a funding increase for NASA and on a new American initiative to send humans farther and longer into space, their message was lost among headlines about cancellation and cutbacks. While proposing that the United States plan an ambitious exploration program that no other country in the world could possibly undertake in the foreseeable future, they were criticized for giving up American leadership.
Like I said: I criticized the administration for this. And then I did the same thing. I assumed that when everyone recovered from the shock of seeing the reset button hit, the positive aspects of the plan would become apparent. Instead, the shock spread too quickly, and the notion that the U.S. was giving up on human space exploration reverberated through both the space community and the general public.
What this public reaction proves is that the American people care deeply about NASA and human space exploration. Despite a few editorials and some op-eds proposing that we save even more money by letting robots do all our exploring, the overwhelming popular sentiment expressed over the past several weeks is for the United States to lead the world in space exploration: human and robotic. (5/30)
Editorial: Han Solo or Darth Vader? (Source: Space News)
Following the April launches of the Air Force X37B and the DARPA hypersonic glider, I received multiple international media inquires. The questions were pointed. Why the Pentagon secrecy? Was this another step forward in the American march toward the weaponization of space? Won’t these tests trigger an international space arms race? Did these signify that Obama Administration views on weaponization were as zealous as those of the Bush Administration?
Americans (including many government officials) blithely still see America as the Han Solo “hero” in space, an image well-deservedly created during the Apollo Program. Meanwhile though, times have changed and much of the rest of the world now hears the eerie voice of Darth Vader when the U.S. speaks about its space ambitions — or conducts tests on dual-use technology that are shrouded in secrecy.
Especially with the human spaceflight program currently in “redesign,” the earlier message of America leading mankind off planet Earth and into the solar system and beyond has been garbled into something far less positive, with Americans unaware, unconcerned or both...The message America seems to be sending globally about its space aspirations is being received as less about strategic leadership than in the past, and far more about militarily dominating the heavens through (potentially) offensive technology — and that message is largely viewed as threatening. (5/30)
Divorcing Musk From SpaceX (Source: SpaceKSC Blog)
Many canards are circulating around the Internet in an attempt to discredit President Obama's FY 2011 NASA budget proposal. For some reason critics have fixated on one company, SpaceX. Its founder and CEO, entrepreneur Elon Musk, is currently going through a divorce. A website quoted Musk's divorce papers as stating he had "run out of cash" four months ago. Obama critics quickly seized on this to falsely claim that SpaceX is out of money and about to go bankrupt, but a SpaceX executive quickly refuted the allegation.
SpaceX vice president Larry Williams said SpaceX is unaffected by Musk's personal finances. Williams said that although Musk remains SpaceX's largest shareholder "he is only one of a number of investors at this point." Other large investors, he said, include Menlo Park, Calif.-based Draper Fisher Jurveston and the Founders Fund, a San Francisco firm managed by one of Musk’s former PayPal partners. (5/30)
Were Aliens Found at Ohio State University? (Source: NPR)
when Ohio State Professor Jerry Ehman sat at his kitchen table on Aug. 18, 1977, and saw six numbers and letters on the computer printout in front of him — six symbols that have become one of the grandest riddles in modern science — he chose the simplest expression of all. He took a red pen, circled the letters and then wrote: "Wow!"
Eighteen years earlier, two Cornell physicists had tried to imagine how an intelligent alien civilization might try to signal Earth. We should look, they said, for a radio transmission. They guessed that the aliens would choose a frequency that would mean something to creatures who know math and chemistry. Hydrogen atoms resonate at a particular rate: 1420 megahertz (MHz). So look, they said, for a signal coming in at 1420 MHz. And look for something loud, something that would catch our attention.
And on Aug. 15, in it came, exactly as predicted. What Jerry saw was, yes, a radio signal and, yes, a radio signal very, very close to 1420 MHz (it was 1420.4556, just a smidge from where it was expected). It lasted 2 to 2 1/2 minutes. It was loud. And the transmission had the shape that had been predicted. If you look at this printout, you will see this sequence of letters and numbers: 6EQUJ5. (5/30)
May 27, 2010
FAA Awards More Than $4 Billion in NextGen Contracts (Source: AIA)
The FAA on Wednesday announced one of its largest-ever contract awards, earmarking up to $4.4 billion for early-stage implementation of the NextGen air traffic control system. The 10-year contracts with Boeing Co., General Dynamics Corp. and ITT Corp. include large-scale demonstration projects to show how GPS navigation will be integrated with the current radar-based system, plus advanced weather imaging technology for pilots and controllers. (5/27)
Shuttle Atlantis Back on Earth After Final Space Voyage (Source: AIA)
Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP) May 26, 2010 - The shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth Wednesday from the final space flight of its 25-year career, marking the beginning of a bittersweet end for NASA's storied space shuttle program. Shuttle commander Ken Ham touched the spacecraft down at 8:48 am (1248 GMT), completing a flawless landing on the runway at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. (5/27)
Editorial: Gates Must Win Battle to Curb Pentagon Spending (Source: AIA)
It is essential that Defense Secretary Robert Gates succeed in his battle to reduce Pentagon spending, according to this editorial. Gates isn't looking for radical change, but he faces big challenges in Congress, illustrated by the House Armed Services Committee vote just this month to approve funding for a second F-35 fighter engine that the Pentagon says it doesn't need and can't afford. (5/27)
Official: Export Control Reform Needed to Keep U.S. Space Industry Competitive (Source: AIA)
While the U.S. has long been the dominant force in the space industry, European and Asian firms threaten to overtake it, and as their technology advances, the U.S. will become less competitive, said the Pentagon's industrial policy chief at a recent forum. Export control to allow U.S. firms to more easily sell products abroad is needed to help boost the U.S. industry, said Brett Lambert. (5/27)
Delta Launch Delays Push Falcon-9 Mission Back (Source: SPACErePORT)
SpaceX says the delay of the Delta IV GPS satellite launch has taken up a lot of resources at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and in turn pushed the first test launch of Falcon 9 from May 28/29 to no earlier than June 2/3. (5/27)
NASA Spacecraft Penetrates Mysteries of Martian Ice Cap (Source: NASA)
Data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have helped scientists solve a pair of mysteries dating back four decades and provided new information about climate change on the Red Planet. The Shallow Radar, or SHARAD, instrument aboard MRO revealed subsurface geology allowing scientists to reconstruct the formation of a large chasm and a series of spiral troughs on the northern ice cap of Mars.
On Earth, large ice sheets are shaped mainly by ice flow. According to this latest research, other forces have shaped, and continue to shape, polar ice caps on Mars. The northern ice cap is a stack of ice and dust layers up to two miles deep, covering an area slightly larger than Texas. Analyzing radar data on a computer, scientists can peel back the layers like an onion to reveal how the ice cap evolved over time.
Data from Mars now points to both the canyon and spiral troughs being created and shaped primarily by wind. Rather than being cut into existing ice very recently, the features formed over millions of years as the ice sheet grew. By influencing wind patterns, the shape of underlying, older ice controlled where and how the features grew. (5/27)
Congressional Hearings Are Orchestrated Ambushes for Bolden (Source: NASA Watch)
It is becoming increasingly apparent that every hearing on the topic of President Obama's space policy - especially when Charlie Bolden is in the hot seat - is designed to be an ambush announced in advance. The witness panel is usually stacked numerically with opponents. In this case this hearing is a blatant attempt to pick up the food fight where it left off last week on the other side of the Hill. Since it is fair game to repeatedly have Apollo astronauts testify who are publicly against the plan, why not have a few Apollo vets testify who are publicly for it - like Buzz Aldrin and Rusty Schweickart?
And by the way, with all due respect for the accomplishments of all of these who have or will testify, but when is Congress going to call upon people to testify who will actually spend their future career living and working in the space program that is being discussed? Why is it that we only seem to hear from 60-,70-, 80-year olds talking about someone else's future? (5/25)
Hanley Rallies Constellation Backers Within NASA (Source: NASA Watch)
Members of the Constellation community are saying that they have been told that contract termination letters for Constellation work will be sent out on/around 1 June. Moreover, Jeff Hanley has reportedly been telling his troops not to worry about these contract-related letters since the "Plan B" sorts of work that he has been directing them to do (with Mike Coats' and Charlie Bolden's backing) are really to set the stage for things that "the next Administration" will be doing. Stay tuned. (5/26)
Nelson Begins Formal Push for Additional Shuttle Flight (Source: NASA Watch)
"As we begin work on the NASA reauthorization bill for fiscal year 2011, I write to inform you of my intention to include language authorizing an additional space shuttle flight... this new mission. STS-135, would be flown with a minimum crew of four astronauts and would provide critical spare parts and logistics for long-term ISS operations" (5/26)
NASA Vision Gets Another Battering (Source: MSNBC)
For the second time this month, NASA's chief faced tough talk on Capitol Hill from lawmakers - as well as from Apollo moonwalkers Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, plus longtime aerospace executive Tom Young. Both astronauts told members of Congress that returning humans to the moon was not only desirable, but necessary for future exploration - even though NASA says it's no longer a priority. "By now you probably have figured out that this committee is not with you," Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., told Bolden. The administrator said he was getting that message.
The main themes of the criticism are that NASA should keep going with the Constellation program and not rely on buying launch services from commercial providers. Constellation calls for the development of new NASA rockets, starting with the solid-fueled Ares 1, to service the International Space Station and eventually return to the moon.
The White House's budget proposal calls for the cancellation of Constellation, while going ahead with the development of some of the hardware, such as a scaled-down Orion crew capsule for emergency rescue and a heavy-lift rocket for trips beyond Earthorbit. The Obama administration sided with an independent panel's report concluding that the original Constellation budget and timeline were wildly unrealistic. (5/26)
NASA Ousts Outspoken Constellation Chief (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA ousted the outspoken head of its Constellation moon program on Wednesday, prompting an immediate protest from congressional lawmakers who again accused the White House of taking steps to kill the project. Word that Constellation Manager Jeff Hanley was moved to a deputy position at Johnson Space Center reached Congress just as the House science committee was meeting with NASA chief Charlie Bolden to debate White House plans to replace the space shuttle with commercial rockets.
Bolden had little response at the hearing, but said afterward that Hanley lost his job because he was “conflicted” and had become a lightning rod for controversy. For example, one day after president Barack Obama visited Kennedy Space Center to lay out his reasons for canceling Constellation, Hanley told his team to pour all its efforts into designing a test launch program for Constellation’s Ares I rocket. (5/26)
Race is On for Museums to Host Retired Space Shuttles (Source: AFP)
US museums are wasting no time in jostling to showcase the three retiring space shuttles after Atlantis touched down on Earth this week, capping the last scheduled mission of its 25-year career. "No doubt the competition is fierce," said Bill Moore, chief operating officer of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. His institution is among some 21 others competing to preserve and exhibit the Atlantis, Discovery or Endeavour space shuttles. (5/27)
Why NASA Keeps A Close Eye On Sun's Irradiance (Source: Space Daily)
For more than two centuries, scientists have wondered how much heat and light the sun expels, and whether this energy varies enough to change Earth's climate. In the absence of a good method for measuring the sun's output, the scientific conversation was often heavy with speculation. (5/27)
The FAA on Wednesday announced one of its largest-ever contract awards, earmarking up to $4.4 billion for early-stage implementation of the NextGen air traffic control system. The 10-year contracts with Boeing Co., General Dynamics Corp. and ITT Corp. include large-scale demonstration projects to show how GPS navigation will be integrated with the current radar-based system, plus advanced weather imaging technology for pilots and controllers. (5/27)
Shuttle Atlantis Back on Earth After Final Space Voyage (Source: AIA)
Cape Canaveral, Florida (AFP) May 26, 2010 - The shuttle Atlantis returned to Earth Wednesday from the final space flight of its 25-year career, marking the beginning of a bittersweet end for NASA's storied space shuttle program. Shuttle commander Ken Ham touched the spacecraft down at 8:48 am (1248 GMT), completing a flawless landing on the runway at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. (5/27)
Editorial: Gates Must Win Battle to Curb Pentagon Spending (Source: AIA)
It is essential that Defense Secretary Robert Gates succeed in his battle to reduce Pentagon spending, according to this editorial. Gates isn't looking for radical change, but he faces big challenges in Congress, illustrated by the House Armed Services Committee vote just this month to approve funding for a second F-35 fighter engine that the Pentagon says it doesn't need and can't afford. (5/27)
Official: Export Control Reform Needed to Keep U.S. Space Industry Competitive (Source: AIA)
While the U.S. has long been the dominant force in the space industry, European and Asian firms threaten to overtake it, and as their technology advances, the U.S. will become less competitive, said the Pentagon's industrial policy chief at a recent forum. Export control to allow U.S. firms to more easily sell products abroad is needed to help boost the U.S. industry, said Brett Lambert. (5/27)
Delta Launch Delays Push Falcon-9 Mission Back (Source: SPACErePORT)
SpaceX says the delay of the Delta IV GPS satellite launch has taken up a lot of resources at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport and in turn pushed the first test launch of Falcon 9 from May 28/29 to no earlier than June 2/3. (5/27)
NASA Spacecraft Penetrates Mysteries of Martian Ice Cap (Source: NASA)
Data from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) have helped scientists solve a pair of mysteries dating back four decades and provided new information about climate change on the Red Planet. The Shallow Radar, or SHARAD, instrument aboard MRO revealed subsurface geology allowing scientists to reconstruct the formation of a large chasm and a series of spiral troughs on the northern ice cap of Mars.
On Earth, large ice sheets are shaped mainly by ice flow. According to this latest research, other forces have shaped, and continue to shape, polar ice caps on Mars. The northern ice cap is a stack of ice and dust layers up to two miles deep, covering an area slightly larger than Texas. Analyzing radar data on a computer, scientists can peel back the layers like an onion to reveal how the ice cap evolved over time.
Data from Mars now points to both the canyon and spiral troughs being created and shaped primarily by wind. Rather than being cut into existing ice very recently, the features formed over millions of years as the ice sheet grew. By influencing wind patterns, the shape of underlying, older ice controlled where and how the features grew. (5/27)
Congressional Hearings Are Orchestrated Ambushes for Bolden (Source: NASA Watch)
It is becoming increasingly apparent that every hearing on the topic of President Obama's space policy - especially when Charlie Bolden is in the hot seat - is designed to be an ambush announced in advance. The witness panel is usually stacked numerically with opponents. In this case this hearing is a blatant attempt to pick up the food fight where it left off last week on the other side of the Hill. Since it is fair game to repeatedly have Apollo astronauts testify who are publicly against the plan, why not have a few Apollo vets testify who are publicly for it - like Buzz Aldrin and Rusty Schweickart?
And by the way, with all due respect for the accomplishments of all of these who have or will testify, but when is Congress going to call upon people to testify who will actually spend their future career living and working in the space program that is being discussed? Why is it that we only seem to hear from 60-,70-, 80-year olds talking about someone else's future? (5/25)
Hanley Rallies Constellation Backers Within NASA (Source: NASA Watch)
Members of the Constellation community are saying that they have been told that contract termination letters for Constellation work will be sent out on/around 1 June. Moreover, Jeff Hanley has reportedly been telling his troops not to worry about these contract-related letters since the "Plan B" sorts of work that he has been directing them to do (with Mike Coats' and Charlie Bolden's backing) are really to set the stage for things that "the next Administration" will be doing. Stay tuned. (5/26)
Nelson Begins Formal Push for Additional Shuttle Flight (Source: NASA Watch)
"As we begin work on the NASA reauthorization bill for fiscal year 2011, I write to inform you of my intention to include language authorizing an additional space shuttle flight... this new mission. STS-135, would be flown with a minimum crew of four astronauts and would provide critical spare parts and logistics for long-term ISS operations" (5/26)
NASA Vision Gets Another Battering (Source: MSNBC)
For the second time this month, NASA's chief faced tough talk on Capitol Hill from lawmakers - as well as from Apollo moonwalkers Neil Armstrong and Gene Cernan, plus longtime aerospace executive Tom Young. Both astronauts told members of Congress that returning humans to the moon was not only desirable, but necessary for future exploration - even though NASA says it's no longer a priority. "By now you probably have figured out that this committee is not with you," Rep. John Garamendi, D-Calif., told Bolden. The administrator said he was getting that message.
The main themes of the criticism are that NASA should keep going with the Constellation program and not rely on buying launch services from commercial providers. Constellation calls for the development of new NASA rockets, starting with the solid-fueled Ares 1, to service the International Space Station and eventually return to the moon.
The White House's budget proposal calls for the cancellation of Constellation, while going ahead with the development of some of the hardware, such as a scaled-down Orion crew capsule for emergency rescue and a heavy-lift rocket for trips beyond Earthorbit. The Obama administration sided with an independent panel's report concluding that the original Constellation budget and timeline were wildly unrealistic. (5/26)
NASA Ousts Outspoken Constellation Chief (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA ousted the outspoken head of its Constellation moon program on Wednesday, prompting an immediate protest from congressional lawmakers who again accused the White House of taking steps to kill the project. Word that Constellation Manager Jeff Hanley was moved to a deputy position at Johnson Space Center reached Congress just as the House science committee was meeting with NASA chief Charlie Bolden to debate White House plans to replace the space shuttle with commercial rockets.
Bolden had little response at the hearing, but said afterward that Hanley lost his job because he was “conflicted” and had become a lightning rod for controversy. For example, one day after president Barack Obama visited Kennedy Space Center to lay out his reasons for canceling Constellation, Hanley told his team to pour all its efforts into designing a test launch program for Constellation’s Ares I rocket. (5/26)
Race is On for Museums to Host Retired Space Shuttles (Source: AFP)
US museums are wasting no time in jostling to showcase the three retiring space shuttles after Atlantis touched down on Earth this week, capping the last scheduled mission of its 25-year career. "No doubt the competition is fierce," said Bill Moore, chief operating officer of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. His institution is among some 21 others competing to preserve and exhibit the Atlantis, Discovery or Endeavour space shuttles. (5/27)
Why NASA Keeps A Close Eye On Sun's Irradiance (Source: Space Daily)
For more than two centuries, scientists have wondered how much heat and light the sun expels, and whether this energy varies enough to change Earth's climate. In the absence of a good method for measuring the sun's output, the scientific conversation was often heavy with speculation. (5/27)
May 25, 2010
XCOR and Masten Partner for NASA Landers Business (Source: XCOR & Masten)
XCOR Aerospace and Masten Space Systems have announced a strategic business and technology relationship to pursue jointly the anticipated NASA sponsored unmanned lander projects. These automated lander programs are expected to serve as robotic test beds on Earth, on the lunar surface, Mars, near Earth objects and other interplanetary locales, helping NASA push the boundaries of technology and opening the solar system for future human exploration. (5/25)
Delta-4 Launch Delayed Again (Source: Decatur Daily)
A Delta IV rocket made in Decatur’s United Launch Alliance plant is struggling to get off the ground. Six seconds before its scheduled launch Monday night from Cape Canaveral, Fla., the United States Air Force scrubbed the mission for the third time. The launch was scrubbed Friday because signals between the GPS satellite and the launch control center failed. On Sunday, launch managers scrubbed the launch because they needed more time to solve the problem. Monday, a steering problem on a solid rocket monitor caused the delay. The next launch will not be before Thursday, after space shuttle Atlantis returns from a 12-day mission. (5/25)
GAO Says NASA Didn't Break Law with 'Study Teams' (Source: Huntsville Times)
NASA hasn't broken the law by spending nearly 13,000 hours of staff time planning what comes after the Constellation rocket program, the Government Accountability Office said Monday, but it must be careful not to cross the legal line while Congress continues to debate whether Constellation will end. The GAO investigated NASA's recent activities in response to a March request from U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith, R-Huntsville; U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville; and 13 other representatives. (5/25)
Save the Space Program, Houston Readers Say (Source: Houston Business Journal)
Houstonians are protective of the region’s NASA jobs, according to responses to the latest BusinessPulse survey. Houston Business Journal asked readers if it was a waste of time to save the human space flight program, and 73 percent responded “no - we need space exploration/save jobs.” Of the other response choices, 14 percent said the program was not worth saving, while another 10 percent chose “yes - Obama will do want he wants anyway.” (5/25)
Phoenix Mars Lander Officially Dead (Source: National Geographic)
The lights have officially gone out for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. After several unsuccessful attempts to reestablish communication, a picture of the lander taken from orbit shows at least part of the craft's solar panels has broken off. Phoenix shines with a bluish tint in a shot taken July 20, 2008, by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In a picture taken May 7, 2010, the lander is darkened by a covering of reddish material.
Phoenix now appears smaller, and its shadow has changed shape. "We assumed that one of the most likely things that would cause it to perish over the winter would be ice buildup on the solar arrays, causing them to collapse," said Barry Goldstein, project manager for the Phoenix team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. (5/25)
First Orion Capsule Coming Together (Source: Universe Today)
The first Orion crew capsule is rapidly taking shape as assembly work to construct the skeletal framework of the first pathfinder Orion capsule – the Ground Test Article – or GTA, is nearing completion. The Lockheed Martin team building Orion is just one weld away from completing the framework of an Orion cabin at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. “Our work is continuing with the funding which is still approved until September 2010. Orion is a very functional vehicle. All subsystems will be state of the art...Orion is not Apollo on Steroids," said Larry Price.
“We are building on what is known and it’s a very contemporary approach. The flight avionics are very similar to commercial airliners. We can take advantage of the latest advances in avionics and computing. Orion has been designed for long duration interplanetary functionality to operate beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for 6 months or more to visit the Moon, Asteroids, Lagrange points and other targets of interest for scientific investigation”, Price explained. (5/25)
Norm Augustine Explains How Committee Concluded Constellation 'Unsustainable' (Source: Huntsville Times)
The man whose blue-ribbon panel gave President Obama the argument he used to kill NASA's Constellation program came to Huntsville Monday expecting "deep concern, even hostility" from a town with 2,200 Constellation jobs at risk. Norm Augustine was right. He got direct, even blunt questions, and the applause was polite but tepid after his luncheon speech to the regional chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Augustine chaired the committee that reviewed the choices facing America's space program last year. The president has since chosen one of its suggested options, which is to kill the Ares rocket parts of Constellation while preserving the Orion capsule in modified form, provide startup funding for commercial launch companies, and focus NASA on deep-space research. He isn't on a tour defending the commission's findings, Augustine said. "You invited me," he said, "and I'm here." Click here to view the article. (5/25)
CAGW Releases Issue Brief on NASA Constellation Program (Source: CAGW)
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released an Issue Brief on NASA's Constellation program. The program is the latest in a series of troubled post-Apollo NASA human spaceflight programs, plagued by slipping deadlines and ballooning costs. "The brutal reality is that the Constellation program has become a symbol of the ‘old NASA,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.
In 2006, the GAO estimated that the total budget required for implementing the Constellation Program (through initial lunar missions) was nearly $230 billion. In 2009, the GAO concluded that “while the agency has already obligated more than $10 billion in contracts, at this point NASA does not know how much Ares I and Orion will ultimately cost, and will not know until technical and design challenges have been addressed.”
Efforts to terminate this enormously wasteful and ineffective program have encountered the usual congressional interference. Sens. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) have attached a measure protecting funding for Constellation to an emergency war funding bill. (5/25)
Aerospace, Military Contracting Merger Activity Lifts Off Again (Source: AIA)
As private equity emerges to support deals that lenders are still shying away from, merger activity in the aerospace and military contracting industries is picking up. As many as 35 mergers, worth a total of $2.33 billion, have already taken place this year, compared to the 25 deals worth $96.2 million in the same period last year, which was the lowest level of activity in a decade. And while the value of the transactions has surpassed even the same period in 2008, the level is still well below the $11.76 billion peak seen in 2007. (5/25)
Aerospace Industry Faces "Intellectual Disarmament" (Source: AIA)
More than 20% of Boeing Co. workers have already reached the company's optional retirement age of 55, leading Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Jim Albaugh to worry about "intellectual disarmament" as fewer young people choose to study math and science. State leaders in Washington estimate 21,000 aerospace workers will be needed to replace retirees over the next decade, while nationwide the industry will need more than 129,000 workers over five years, according to the Aerospace Industries Association. (5/25)
Black Hole Shoved Aside, Along With 'Central' Dogma (Source: Science News)
Supermassive black holes are shiftier beasts than astronomers suspected. A new analysis reveals that the giant black hole at the core of the highly studied galaxy M87 somehow got displaced about 22 light-years from the galaxy’s center. “This result signals a necessary shift in the supermassive black hole paradigm,” said David Batcheldor of the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. The prevalence of off-center black holes “could represent a significant change in our understanding of supermassive black holes, galaxies and the ways in which they may interact with each other,” he added. (5/25)
More Salvos Fired in NASA Moon Program Fight (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The congressional battle over NASA’s future has morphed into trench warfare, as neither proponents nor opponents of the agency’s troubled Constellation moon rocket program has been able to overcome the legislative gridlock. The latest two attempts to break through came today, as the House science committee plans to meet Wednesday to debate President Obama’s plans to replace the space shuttle with commercial rockets. Four House members are asking their colleagues to sign a letter that asks Obama to quickly make a decision about a heavy-lift rocket that could take explorers beyond low-Earth orbit — and consider pieces of the Constellation program, which already has cost has cost $9 billion.
The letter never mentions Ares I or its heavy-lift brother the Ares V, but it notes that it is in the “nation’s best interest to leverage the investments made in Constellation over the last 5 years, into a beyond low Earth orbit exploration program, today.” At the same time, proponents of the White House plan are touting the support of Citizens Against Government Waste, a watchdog group, which today came out against Constellation. (5/25)
XCOR Aerospace and Masten Space Systems have announced a strategic business and technology relationship to pursue jointly the anticipated NASA sponsored unmanned lander projects. These automated lander programs are expected to serve as robotic test beds on Earth, on the lunar surface, Mars, near Earth objects and other interplanetary locales, helping NASA push the boundaries of technology and opening the solar system for future human exploration. (5/25)
Delta-4 Launch Delayed Again (Source: Decatur Daily)
A Delta IV rocket made in Decatur’s United Launch Alliance plant is struggling to get off the ground. Six seconds before its scheduled launch Monday night from Cape Canaveral, Fla., the United States Air Force scrubbed the mission for the third time. The launch was scrubbed Friday because signals between the GPS satellite and the launch control center failed. On Sunday, launch managers scrubbed the launch because they needed more time to solve the problem. Monday, a steering problem on a solid rocket monitor caused the delay. The next launch will not be before Thursday, after space shuttle Atlantis returns from a 12-day mission. (5/25)
GAO Says NASA Didn't Break Law with 'Study Teams' (Source: Huntsville Times)
NASA hasn't broken the law by spending nearly 13,000 hours of staff time planning what comes after the Constellation rocket program, the Government Accountability Office said Monday, but it must be careful not to cross the legal line while Congress continues to debate whether Constellation will end. The GAO investigated NASA's recent activities in response to a March request from U.S. Rep. Parker Griffith, R-Huntsville; U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville; and 13 other representatives. (5/25)
Save the Space Program, Houston Readers Say (Source: Houston Business Journal)
Houstonians are protective of the region’s NASA jobs, according to responses to the latest BusinessPulse survey. Houston Business Journal asked readers if it was a waste of time to save the human space flight program, and 73 percent responded “no - we need space exploration/save jobs.” Of the other response choices, 14 percent said the program was not worth saving, while another 10 percent chose “yes - Obama will do want he wants anyway.” (5/25)
Phoenix Mars Lander Officially Dead (Source: National Geographic)
The lights have officially gone out for NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. After several unsuccessful attempts to reestablish communication, a picture of the lander taken from orbit shows at least part of the craft's solar panels has broken off. Phoenix shines with a bluish tint in a shot taken July 20, 2008, by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In a picture taken May 7, 2010, the lander is darkened by a covering of reddish material.
Phoenix now appears smaller, and its shadow has changed shape. "We assumed that one of the most likely things that would cause it to perish over the winter would be ice buildup on the solar arrays, causing them to collapse," said Barry Goldstein, project manager for the Phoenix team at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. (5/25)
First Orion Capsule Coming Together (Source: Universe Today)
The first Orion crew capsule is rapidly taking shape as assembly work to construct the skeletal framework of the first pathfinder Orion capsule – the Ground Test Article – or GTA, is nearing completion. The Lockheed Martin team building Orion is just one weld away from completing the framework of an Orion cabin at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. “Our work is continuing with the funding which is still approved until September 2010. Orion is a very functional vehicle. All subsystems will be state of the art...Orion is not Apollo on Steroids," said Larry Price.
“We are building on what is known and it’s a very contemporary approach. The flight avionics are very similar to commercial airliners. We can take advantage of the latest advances in avionics and computing. Orion has been designed for long duration interplanetary functionality to operate beyond Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for 6 months or more to visit the Moon, Asteroids, Lagrange points and other targets of interest for scientific investigation”, Price explained. (5/25)
Norm Augustine Explains How Committee Concluded Constellation 'Unsustainable' (Source: Huntsville Times)
The man whose blue-ribbon panel gave President Obama the argument he used to kill NASA's Constellation program came to Huntsville Monday expecting "deep concern, even hostility" from a town with 2,200 Constellation jobs at risk. Norm Augustine was right. He got direct, even blunt questions, and the applause was polite but tepid after his luncheon speech to the regional chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Augustine chaired the committee that reviewed the choices facing America's space program last year. The president has since chosen one of its suggested options, which is to kill the Ares rocket parts of Constellation while preserving the Orion capsule in modified form, provide startup funding for commercial launch companies, and focus NASA on deep-space research. He isn't on a tour defending the commission's findings, Augustine said. "You invited me," he said, "and I'm here." Click here to view the article. (5/25)
CAGW Releases Issue Brief on NASA Constellation Program (Source: CAGW)
Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released an Issue Brief on NASA's Constellation program. The program is the latest in a series of troubled post-Apollo NASA human spaceflight programs, plagued by slipping deadlines and ballooning costs. "The brutal reality is that the Constellation program has become a symbol of the ‘old NASA,” said CAGW President Tom Schatz.
In 2006, the GAO estimated that the total budget required for implementing the Constellation Program (through initial lunar missions) was nearly $230 billion. In 2009, the GAO concluded that “while the agency has already obligated more than $10 billion in contracts, at this point NASA does not know how much Ares I and Orion will ultimately cost, and will not know until technical and design challenges have been addressed.”
Efforts to terminate this enormously wasteful and ineffective program have encountered the usual congressional interference. Sens. Robert Bennett (R-Utah) and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) have attached a measure protecting funding for Constellation to an emergency war funding bill. (5/25)
Aerospace, Military Contracting Merger Activity Lifts Off Again (Source: AIA)
As private equity emerges to support deals that lenders are still shying away from, merger activity in the aerospace and military contracting industries is picking up. As many as 35 mergers, worth a total of $2.33 billion, have already taken place this year, compared to the 25 deals worth $96.2 million in the same period last year, which was the lowest level of activity in a decade. And while the value of the transactions has surpassed even the same period in 2008, the level is still well below the $11.76 billion peak seen in 2007. (5/25)
Aerospace Industry Faces "Intellectual Disarmament" (Source: AIA)
More than 20% of Boeing Co. workers have already reached the company's optional retirement age of 55, leading Boeing Commercial Airplanes President Jim Albaugh to worry about "intellectual disarmament" as fewer young people choose to study math and science. State leaders in Washington estimate 21,000 aerospace workers will be needed to replace retirees over the next decade, while nationwide the industry will need more than 129,000 workers over five years, according to the Aerospace Industries Association. (5/25)
Black Hole Shoved Aside, Along With 'Central' Dogma (Source: Science News)
Supermassive black holes are shiftier beasts than astronomers suspected. A new analysis reveals that the giant black hole at the core of the highly studied galaxy M87 somehow got displaced about 22 light-years from the galaxy’s center. “This result signals a necessary shift in the supermassive black hole paradigm,” said David Batcheldor of the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. The prevalence of off-center black holes “could represent a significant change in our understanding of supermassive black holes, galaxies and the ways in which they may interact with each other,” he added. (5/25)
More Salvos Fired in NASA Moon Program Fight (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The congressional battle over NASA’s future has morphed into trench warfare, as neither proponents nor opponents of the agency’s troubled Constellation moon rocket program has been able to overcome the legislative gridlock. The latest two attempts to break through came today, as the House science committee plans to meet Wednesday to debate President Obama’s plans to replace the space shuttle with commercial rockets. Four House members are asking their colleagues to sign a letter that asks Obama to quickly make a decision about a heavy-lift rocket that could take explorers beyond low-Earth orbit — and consider pieces of the Constellation program, which already has cost has cost $9 billion.
The letter never mentions Ares I or its heavy-lift brother the Ares V, but it notes that it is in the “nation’s best interest to leverage the investments made in Constellation over the last 5 years, into a beyond low Earth orbit exploration program, today.” At the same time, proponents of the White House plan are touting the support of Citizens Against Government Waste, a watchdog group, which today came out against Constellation. (5/25)
May 21, 2010
Payload Glitch Delays Delta-4 Launch of GPS Satellite from Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: SPACErePORT)
A United Launch Alliance Delta-4 rocket will try again on Saturday night to launch the first of a new generation of Global Positioning System satellites from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The launch was scrubbed a few minutes before liftoff on Friday night due to an issue with the GPS satellite. (5/21)
NASA Outlines Flagship Tech Demonstrations (Source: Aviation Week)
The latest in a series of requests for information (RFIs) from NASA under its proposed Fiscal 2011 budget lists six “flagship” space testbeds costing $400 million to $1 billion each that would push technologies needed for exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Technologies include in-space fuel depots; advanced solar-electric propulsion; lightweight modules, including inflatables; aerocapture and/or landing at asteroids and larger bodies; automated rendezvous and docking; and closed-loop life support systems. Click here to read the article. (5/21)
NASA Releases RFI for Commercial Crew Transport (Source: NASA)
NASA is currently in the conceptual phase of developing requirements for a Commercial Crew Transportation (CCT) capability that would be able to transport NASA astronauts and spaceflight participants safely to and from LEO and the ISS. The purpose of this RFI is to collect information from industry to help NASA plan the overall strategy for the development and demonstration of a CCT capability and to receive comments on NASA human-rating technical requirements that have been drafted as part of this initiative. Click here for information. (5/21)
Orion Lifeboat Making Waves for Boeing’s Commercial Crew Plans (Source: Space News)
Boeing is willing to build a crew capsule for NASA on a commercial fixed-price basis but is troubled by the agency’s plans to continue funding development of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle to serve as a space station lifeboat, according to a Boeing executive. "We would have a cost-plus, government-funded capsule competing against a commercially fixed-price capsule,” Jayne Schnaars, Boeing’s vice president of business development for space exploration, said. “So we’re working with NASA to say, ‘We want this business, we know we can do it, help us.’” (5/21)
Ariane 5 ECA Finally Launches with Astra 3B and COMSATBw 2 Satellites (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Arianespace’s delayed opening launch of 2010, with the Astra 3B and COMSATBw 2 satellites, has launched from the European Spaceport in French Guiana via the Ariane 5 ECA. Launch was at 10.01pm GMT. Technical issues delayed the launch from March, before another issue in April caused the rollback and review of the vehicle’s hardware. (5/21)
Go For Launch! (Source: Air and Space)
In this unique time-lapse video created from thousands of individual frames, photographers Scott Andrews, Stan Jirman and Philip Scott Andrews condense six weeks of painstaking work into three minutes, 52 seconds. The action starts in the hangar-like Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where Discovery has been outfitted for its STS-131 mission. Click here. (5/21)
NASA: Space Station Nearing Completion (Source: NASA)
According to a NASA twitter message, the International Space Station is now 98% complete by habitable volume, 94% complete by pressurized volume & 93% complete by mass. (5/21)
International Cooperation Emphasis of Forthcoming U.S. Space Policy (Source: Space News)
The U.S. will soon unveil a pair of new space policy documents that will prescribe increased international cooperation on the development of space systems and detail a code of conduct for space operations. The White House National Security Council has been leading an interagency effort to draft a new National Space Policy to provide guidance for U.S. civil and military space activities. The framework for the policy changes is in place, but specifics about their implementation are still being hammered out, said Michael Nacht, assistant secretary of defense for global strategic affairs. The National Space Policy is expected to be finalized around the end of May, he said. (5/21)
Harris Corp. To Buy CapRock for $525 Million (Source: Space News)
Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Fla., agreed to pay $525 million to acquire managed satellite network services provider CapRock Communications. CapRock of Houston is a privately held firm with 700 employees that specializes in communications services for government and commercial customers in remote locations such as battlefields and oil rigs. The company had an operating income of $28 million last year on revenue of $359 million, Harris said in a press release. The deal is expected to close late this year. Harris is a $5 billion company with 15,000 employees, about half of which are scientists and engineers. (5/21)
Oberstar: Expect FAA Reconciliation by July 4 (Source: AIA)
Official negotiations have not yet begun to iron out differences in House and Senate legislation for long-term reauthorization of the FAA, but Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn. -- chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee -- predicts a deal will be done by July 4 on a long-term reauthorization of the FAA. (5/21)
Cabana Featured at June 8 Space Club Luncheon (Source: NSCFL)
"KSC Today and Tomorrow" will be the focus of Robert Cabana's remarks during a National Space Club luncheon on June 8. Cabana is the director of KSC. The luncheon will be held at the Radisson Resort at Port Canaveral, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Visit http://www.nscfl.org for information and registration. RSVP before June 3. (5/21)
Wieman: Science Education May Not Be Rocket Science (Source: Science)
NASA has the right stuff for space exploration, but it may not be the best classroom teacher. So says Carl Wieman, the Nobelist who President Obama has tapped to oversee the Administration’s heightened effort to improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education from within OSTP.
Wieman was asked if NASA should play a bigger role in the federal effort to raise student achievement and produce a better-trained workforce. He politely but firmly suggested that NASA stick to what it does best—-sending astronauts and scientific instruments into the heavens. “NASA has a unique role in inspiring people...And there’s something really dramatic about rockets blasting into outer space. But...NASA does not bring much expertise to exactly what’s critical to achieving learning in science and engineering.”
Wieman knows of what he speaks. In parallel with his Nobel-winning research on lasers, Wieman has spent 2 decades studying how students learn and how to train teachers to be more effective. And for several years he has chaired the Board on Science Education at the National Academies’ National Research Council, which reviewed NASA’s education programs and found them wanting. (5/21)
Editorial: Commercial Rocket Uncertainty Shows Why NASA Should Fly (Source: Florida Today)
Sometime in the next few weeks, the first major test of President Obama’s plan to use private rockets to ferry astronauts into orbit should occur at Cape Canaveral. But if Falcon 9 goes kaput, opponents will say it’s proof the proposal won’t work and calls to cancel it will grow. In truth, win or lose, the situation is more complex than either side acknowledges.
Success would be a win for commercial backers, but wouldn’t answer serious questions surrounding the approach. And while failure would provide opponents with ammunition, it’s common for new rockets to have trouble on maiden flights and become highly reliable mainstays. Those factors point to why the White House and Congress should select a dual-track strategy that would OK commercial companies to move forward while also allowing NASA to continue testing a system involving the Ares 1 rocket.
Obama has already tacked somewhat in that direction, saying a stripped-down version of the manned Orion spacecraft he initially killed with the rest of the Constellation moon project would proceed. Unlike some critics, we believe private companies have the potential to play a valuable role and should be given the chance to prove it. (5/21)
Longevity Record on Mars for a NASA Space Rover (Source: New York Times)
The NASA rover Opportunity is now the longest surviving spacecraft on the surface of Mars. As of Thursday, 2,307 Earth days — more than six years — have passed since the Opportunity landed on Jan. 25, 2004. In rover local time, that is 2,246 Sols, or Martian days. That surpasses the mark of 2,245 Sols set by the Viking 1 lander, which set down on Mars on July 20, 1976, and operated until its last transmission in November 1982.
The Opportunity is currently driving to a large crater, named Endeavour, that it will not reach for two more years, if it persists that long. That would be far beyond what was hoped for when it first landed. The Opportunity, and its twin, the Spirit, were designed for a three-month mission. (5/21)
SpaceShipTwo Flown To Launch Altitude (Source: Aviation Week)
Scaled Composites has successfully pressurized and powered up Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) from the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft in flight for the first time. The milestone was achieved on the second captive-carry test flight, which took the vehicle to its planned launch altitude at around 51,000 ft. On its first flight under the wings of WK2 on March 22, the spaceship was carried to an altitude of 45,000 ft., but the vehicle was not pressurized or activated. "A simulated spaceship decent/glide mission was made from altitude,” says Scaled Composites, based in Mojave, Calif. (5/21)
Embry-Riddle Joins FAA Heavy Hitters Supporting NextGen (Source: Aviation Week)
FAA’s biggest guns -- current and past -- turned out to urged the swift implementation and funding of NextGen, the satellite-based air traffic management system, at Aviation Week’s “NextGen ahead” symposium last week in Washington, D.C.. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's NextGen Testbed program director led and participated on multiple panel sessions. (5/21)
Embry-Riddle Project Assesses Capacity Issues at Cecil Field Spaceport (Source: SPACErePORT)
Under an MOU with the FAA, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has assigned students from its Air Traffic Management program to conduct a study of capacity chokepoints at the newly licensed commercial spaceport. The two students are looking at Cecil's current and future air traffic densities impacting the Special-Use Airspace that supports the spaceport. (5/21)
Arizona Museum Scrubs Bid to Get Shuttle for $28.8M (Source: Arizona Daily Star)
The Pima Air and Space Museum survived the first two rounds of proposals to host one of the soon-to-be retired space shuttles, but withdrew after concluding the cost of acquiring one was too high. "Essentially, we determined we were not in a position to raise $28.8 million in the short time frame given," said the museum's executive director. She said NASA wanted the money raised by the end of this year. She said the museum also took a realistic look at the competition and decided it would be gambling a lot of staff time and effort on a long shot. (5/21)
New Mexico, Swedish Spaceports Work Together (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
Two lines in Paul McCartney's song "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" vocalizes "hands across the water, heads across the sky." That could also apply to the blossoming relationship between Spaceport America and Spaceport Sweden. An agreement to begin a "Sister Spaceport" connection between the two facilities began almost four months ago. Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden, has spent much of this week in Las Cruces meeting with Spaceport of America and state officials, and educators.
Nillsdotter said Thursday she is excited about all the possibilities that exist to develop a strong collaboration between the two facilities. "This is a new global industry," Nilsdotter said. "Hence, there is a lot we can learn from each other." (5/21)
Pioneers Gather to Celebrate Space Station's Ancestor (Source: Florida Today)
Pioneers of an early U.S. military effort to build a space station gathered in Cocoa Beach today to reminisce about a program that was cut shortly after one test flight but which helped lay the groundwork for Skylab and, eventually, the International Space Station. The program, created in the early 1960s, was the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory. Planners envisioned a laboratory module about the size of a small house trailer that would allow four Air Force crewmembers to operate in a "shirt-sleeve" environment in orbit. It would have given the United States a unique vantage point for surveillance of the then-Soviet Union. (5/21)
A United Launch Alliance Delta-4 rocket will try again on Saturday night to launch the first of a new generation of Global Positioning System satellites from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The launch was scrubbed a few minutes before liftoff on Friday night due to an issue with the GPS satellite. (5/21)
NASA Outlines Flagship Tech Demonstrations (Source: Aviation Week)
The latest in a series of requests for information (RFIs) from NASA under its proposed Fiscal 2011 budget lists six “flagship” space testbeds costing $400 million to $1 billion each that would push technologies needed for exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Technologies include in-space fuel depots; advanced solar-electric propulsion; lightweight modules, including inflatables; aerocapture and/or landing at asteroids and larger bodies; automated rendezvous and docking; and closed-loop life support systems. Click here to read the article. (5/21)
NASA Releases RFI for Commercial Crew Transport (Source: NASA)
NASA is currently in the conceptual phase of developing requirements for a Commercial Crew Transportation (CCT) capability that would be able to transport NASA astronauts and spaceflight participants safely to and from LEO and the ISS. The purpose of this RFI is to collect information from industry to help NASA plan the overall strategy for the development and demonstration of a CCT capability and to receive comments on NASA human-rating technical requirements that have been drafted as part of this initiative. Click here for information. (5/21)
Orion Lifeboat Making Waves for Boeing’s Commercial Crew Plans (Source: Space News)
Boeing is willing to build a crew capsule for NASA on a commercial fixed-price basis but is troubled by the agency’s plans to continue funding development of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle to serve as a space station lifeboat, according to a Boeing executive. "We would have a cost-plus, government-funded capsule competing against a commercially fixed-price capsule,” Jayne Schnaars, Boeing’s vice president of business development for space exploration, said. “So we’re working with NASA to say, ‘We want this business, we know we can do it, help us.’” (5/21)
Ariane 5 ECA Finally Launches with Astra 3B and COMSATBw 2 Satellites (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Arianespace’s delayed opening launch of 2010, with the Astra 3B and COMSATBw 2 satellites, has launched from the European Spaceport in French Guiana via the Ariane 5 ECA. Launch was at 10.01pm GMT. Technical issues delayed the launch from March, before another issue in April caused the rollback and review of the vehicle’s hardware. (5/21)
Go For Launch! (Source: Air and Space)
In this unique time-lapse video created from thousands of individual frames, photographers Scott Andrews, Stan Jirman and Philip Scott Andrews condense six weeks of painstaking work into three minutes, 52 seconds. The action starts in the hangar-like Orbiter Processing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where Discovery has been outfitted for its STS-131 mission. Click here. (5/21)
NASA: Space Station Nearing Completion (Source: NASA)
According to a NASA twitter message, the International Space Station is now 98% complete by habitable volume, 94% complete by pressurized volume & 93% complete by mass. (5/21)
International Cooperation Emphasis of Forthcoming U.S. Space Policy (Source: Space News)
The U.S. will soon unveil a pair of new space policy documents that will prescribe increased international cooperation on the development of space systems and detail a code of conduct for space operations. The White House National Security Council has been leading an interagency effort to draft a new National Space Policy to provide guidance for U.S. civil and military space activities. The framework for the policy changes is in place, but specifics about their implementation are still being hammered out, said Michael Nacht, assistant secretary of defense for global strategic affairs. The National Space Policy is expected to be finalized around the end of May, he said. (5/21)
Harris Corp. To Buy CapRock for $525 Million (Source: Space News)
Harris Corp. of Melbourne, Fla., agreed to pay $525 million to acquire managed satellite network services provider CapRock Communications. CapRock of Houston is a privately held firm with 700 employees that specializes in communications services for government and commercial customers in remote locations such as battlefields and oil rigs. The company had an operating income of $28 million last year on revenue of $359 million, Harris said in a press release. The deal is expected to close late this year. Harris is a $5 billion company with 15,000 employees, about half of which are scientists and engineers. (5/21)
Oberstar: Expect FAA Reconciliation by July 4 (Source: AIA)
Official negotiations have not yet begun to iron out differences in House and Senate legislation for long-term reauthorization of the FAA, but Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn. -- chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee -- predicts a deal will be done by July 4 on a long-term reauthorization of the FAA. (5/21)
Cabana Featured at June 8 Space Club Luncheon (Source: NSCFL)
"KSC Today and Tomorrow" will be the focus of Robert Cabana's remarks during a National Space Club luncheon on June 8. Cabana is the director of KSC. The luncheon will be held at the Radisson Resort at Port Canaveral, beginning at 11:30 a.m. Visit http://www.nscfl.org for information and registration. RSVP before June 3. (5/21)
Wieman: Science Education May Not Be Rocket Science (Source: Science)
NASA has the right stuff for space exploration, but it may not be the best classroom teacher. So says Carl Wieman, the Nobelist who President Obama has tapped to oversee the Administration’s heightened effort to improve science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education from within OSTP.
Wieman was asked if NASA should play a bigger role in the federal effort to raise student achievement and produce a better-trained workforce. He politely but firmly suggested that NASA stick to what it does best—-sending astronauts and scientific instruments into the heavens. “NASA has a unique role in inspiring people...And there’s something really dramatic about rockets blasting into outer space. But...NASA does not bring much expertise to exactly what’s critical to achieving learning in science and engineering.”
Wieman knows of what he speaks. In parallel with his Nobel-winning research on lasers, Wieman has spent 2 decades studying how students learn and how to train teachers to be more effective. And for several years he has chaired the Board on Science Education at the National Academies’ National Research Council, which reviewed NASA’s education programs and found them wanting. (5/21)
Editorial: Commercial Rocket Uncertainty Shows Why NASA Should Fly (Source: Florida Today)
Sometime in the next few weeks, the first major test of President Obama’s plan to use private rockets to ferry astronauts into orbit should occur at Cape Canaveral. But if Falcon 9 goes kaput, opponents will say it’s proof the proposal won’t work and calls to cancel it will grow. In truth, win or lose, the situation is more complex than either side acknowledges.
Success would be a win for commercial backers, but wouldn’t answer serious questions surrounding the approach. And while failure would provide opponents with ammunition, it’s common for new rockets to have trouble on maiden flights and become highly reliable mainstays. Those factors point to why the White House and Congress should select a dual-track strategy that would OK commercial companies to move forward while also allowing NASA to continue testing a system involving the Ares 1 rocket.
Obama has already tacked somewhat in that direction, saying a stripped-down version of the manned Orion spacecraft he initially killed with the rest of the Constellation moon project would proceed. Unlike some critics, we believe private companies have the potential to play a valuable role and should be given the chance to prove it. (5/21)
Longevity Record on Mars for a NASA Space Rover (Source: New York Times)
The NASA rover Opportunity is now the longest surviving spacecraft on the surface of Mars. As of Thursday, 2,307 Earth days — more than six years — have passed since the Opportunity landed on Jan. 25, 2004. In rover local time, that is 2,246 Sols, or Martian days. That surpasses the mark of 2,245 Sols set by the Viking 1 lander, which set down on Mars on July 20, 1976, and operated until its last transmission in November 1982.
The Opportunity is currently driving to a large crater, named Endeavour, that it will not reach for two more years, if it persists that long. That would be far beyond what was hoped for when it first landed. The Opportunity, and its twin, the Spirit, were designed for a three-month mission. (5/21)
SpaceShipTwo Flown To Launch Altitude (Source: Aviation Week)
Scaled Composites has successfully pressurized and powered up Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo (SS2) from the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft in flight for the first time. The milestone was achieved on the second captive-carry test flight, which took the vehicle to its planned launch altitude at around 51,000 ft. On its first flight under the wings of WK2 on March 22, the spaceship was carried to an altitude of 45,000 ft., but the vehicle was not pressurized or activated. "A simulated spaceship decent/glide mission was made from altitude,” says Scaled Composites, based in Mojave, Calif. (5/21)
Embry-Riddle Joins FAA Heavy Hitters Supporting NextGen (Source: Aviation Week)
FAA’s biggest guns -- current and past -- turned out to urged the swift implementation and funding of NextGen, the satellite-based air traffic management system, at Aviation Week’s “NextGen ahead” symposium last week in Washington, D.C.. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University's NextGen Testbed program director led and participated on multiple panel sessions. (5/21)
Embry-Riddle Project Assesses Capacity Issues at Cecil Field Spaceport (Source: SPACErePORT)
Under an MOU with the FAA, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has assigned students from its Air Traffic Management program to conduct a study of capacity chokepoints at the newly licensed commercial spaceport. The two students are looking at Cecil's current and future air traffic densities impacting the Special-Use Airspace that supports the spaceport. (5/21)
Arizona Museum Scrubs Bid to Get Shuttle for $28.8M (Source: Arizona Daily Star)
The Pima Air and Space Museum survived the first two rounds of proposals to host one of the soon-to-be retired space shuttles, but withdrew after concluding the cost of acquiring one was too high. "Essentially, we determined we were not in a position to raise $28.8 million in the short time frame given," said the museum's executive director. She said NASA wanted the money raised by the end of this year. She said the museum also took a realistic look at the competition and decided it would be gambling a lot of staff time and effort on a long shot. (5/21)
New Mexico, Swedish Spaceports Work Together (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
Two lines in Paul McCartney's song "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey" vocalizes "hands across the water, heads across the sky." That could also apply to the blossoming relationship between Spaceport America and Spaceport Sweden. An agreement to begin a "Sister Spaceport" connection between the two facilities began almost four months ago. Karin Nilsdotter, director of Spaceport Sweden, has spent much of this week in Las Cruces meeting with Spaceport of America and state officials, and educators.
Nillsdotter said Thursday she is excited about all the possibilities that exist to develop a strong collaboration between the two facilities. "This is a new global industry," Nilsdotter said. "Hence, there is a lot we can learn from each other." (5/21)
Pioneers Gather to Celebrate Space Station's Ancestor (Source: Florida Today)
Pioneers of an early U.S. military effort to build a space station gathered in Cocoa Beach today to reminisce about a program that was cut shortly after one test flight but which helped lay the groundwork for Skylab and, eventually, the International Space Station. The program, created in the early 1960s, was the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory. Planners envisioned a laboratory module about the size of a small house trailer that would allow four Air Force crewmembers to operate in a "shirt-sleeve" environment in orbit. It would have given the United States a unique vantage point for surveillance of the then-Soviet Union. (5/21)
May 20, 2010
Busy Schedule for Rocket Obama Wants Scrapped (Source: New York Times)
The rocket that President Obama wants to kill is not dead yet. NASA managers in charge of the rocket, the Ares I, which is part of the program to send astronauts back to the moon, have put together an ambitious testing program to accelerate its development, including a flight in November 2014 with astronauts aboard. That would be four months earlier than NASA’s current schedule, which calls for the first manned flight in March 2015, and much faster than the 2017 date predicted by a blue-ribbon panel that reviewed NASA’s human spaceflight program last year.
Delays and rising costs are the primary reasons the Obama administration cites for its desire to kill the moon mission and turn over to private companies the business of launching astronauts. But loud objections have come from some members of Congress, particularly those in Texas, Florida and Alabama, the homes of the NASA centers undertaking most of the development work for the moon program, known as Constellation.
Senator Bill Nelson said, “If I had to guess right now, I’d say that the Senate is going to come out with some continued testing for an Ares I-X vehicle, to keep the options alive.” In the latest version of the plan, a second flight test, with a fully developed first stage but a dummy second stage, would launch in March 2013. Mr. Hanley said that flight could include a high-altitude test of the launching abort system that is designed to pull the crew capsule away from the rocket in case of trouble. (5/20)
Space and Science Organizations Support NASA 2011 Budget Proposal (Source: Planetary Society)
A dozen non-profit organizations, representing science and engineering constituencies as well as the public, issued a statement of support for the human space exploration plan outlined in NASA's proposed FY-2011 budget. The Joint Statement says, in part: "We believe this is an opportunity for NASA to craft the exploration strategy in partnership with science and applied science that includes the International Space Station, safe and cost-effective access to low Earth orbit, robotic precursors, and other missions." Click here to read the statement. (5/20)
Sen. Warner Steps-Up for Commercial Space (Source: Spaceports Blog)
Virginia Senator Mark R. Warner that caught the eye of the NewSpace community with his pro-commercial space comments during last week's Senate hearing on space. "I do think there’s interesting opportunities to leverage off of things like the X PRIZE Foundation and the kind of energy that that generated in this sector...I think it [commercialization] holds some great possibilities and opportunities...for Wallops.”
Space advocates throughout Virginia were pleased to see Senator Warner step-up in the committee to provide support to the fledgling commercial space sector taking root on the Delmarva Peninsula. Additional commercial space launch orbital carriers are being welcomed in the Commonwealth of Virginia. (5/20)
Whitesides Says Space Tourism is Just “a Small Number of Years” Away (Source: MSNBC)
When asked how soon Virgin Galactic will begin operations, George Whitesides said "It’s going to be sooner than you think...we want to make sure that the experience is safe...You know, Richard Branson is going to be on the first commercial flight, so you can be sure that it’s going to be very safe...I think a small number of years is the answer.” (5/20)
Japan Launches Venus Probe and Solar Sail (Source: MSNBC)
A powerful new Japanese spacecraft and experimental solar sail have blasted off together to start a six-month trek to explore Venus and cosmic parts beyond. One mission is aimed at uncovering the secrets of Venus and its cloud-covered surface, while the other could become the first interplanetary solar sail to fly successfully in space. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, is backing both spaceflights. (5/20)
Loral Announces Milestone in NASA Ames Project (Source: Loral)
Loral announced its support for NASA's new direction in conjunction with the preliminary design review for the propulsion system that it is building for a spacecraft that will study the lunar atmosphere. May 19 marked an important milestone in SS/L's contract to provide a propulsion system to NASA Ames Research Center for the Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft. The review confirmed that the preliminary design of the propulsion system meets all system requirements. (5/20)
Lockheed Martin Realigns Commercial Space Systems Structure (Source: Lockheed Martin)
Lockheed Martin has aligned its Commercial Space Systems unit within the company's Global Communications Systems business, a new organizational structure designed to enhance synergies and efficiencies in providing advanced communications solutions to government and commercial customers around the globe. (5/20)
SpaceX Selects New Placeholder Date For Falcon 9 (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX is targeting May 27 or May 28 for the maiden launch of its Falcon 9 rocket, which is being readied for flight at Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The 180-foot rocket had been listed on the Air Force Eastern Range schedule for launch this coming Sunday. However, the California-based company and subcontractor Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Co. of Simsbury, Conn., still are working with the Air Force to qualify the Flight Termination System for the Falcon 9. (5/20)
Delta IV GPS Launch Rescheduled for May 21 (Source: USAF)
The launch attempt of the United Launch Alliance Delta IV with the Air Force's Global Positioning System IIF-01 satellite has been rescheduled for May 21. During normal processing for launch, mission managers determined a piece of ground support equipment used to control one of the swing arms on the Fixed Umbilical Tower was not operating correctly and needed replacing. Replacing this GSE component will add one day to launch processing. The launch is rescheduled for Friday, May 21, with a launch window of 11:25 - 11:43 p.m. EDT. (5/20)
Official: Secret Air Force Space Plane Likely Not a Weapon (Source: AIA)
Amid speculation that an unmanned, robotic Air Force space plane that launched in April could be a new space weapon or weapon platform, one former Air Force official says the plane is more likely an orbital spy vehicle. The X-37B space plane was launched under heavy secrecy, prompting some space technology experts to express concern that it could raise worries among nations such as China and Russia about U.S. military capabilities in space. (5/20)
Bolden at Odds with Nelson on Ares I Tests (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
On most space issues, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and NASA Chief Charlie Bolden stand together. But the old friends seem to have found one major point of disagreement: Obama’s plans to cancel Ares I. Nelson wants to continue testing the Ares I to help NASA build a bigger rocket that could one day land astronauts on a nearby asteroid (and save a few hundred Florida jobs in the process). “It will not only be important to...building a heavy-lift vehicle...it’s going to be critical to the solid rocket motors that protect this country’s national security,” Nelson said.
But the White House has resisted this effort, largely because it says Ares I testing would cost too much and impede plans to use commercial rockets for ISS transport. “I can’t pay for an Ares I today. It’s too expensive,” said Bolden. “That’s an easy decision for me because it wipes out everything...It is incredibly costly for me to go off and try a series of Ares I tests to support a heavy-lift at the present cost of solid rocket motors. Now, there is an answer. Get the cost down. And ATK says they can do that. But we’re not there right now.”
Right before that statement, Bolden elaborated: “Ares I is not important to the continued development of heavy-lift unless the nation decides that it needs to preserve the capability to develop large segmented solid rocket motors. And that decision still has to be made. Right now, we’re leaning toward liquids. And if you’re leaning toward liquids, why would you spend a lot of time using Ares I as a development vehicle if that’s not going to part of the mix?” (5/20)
Fiengold Bill Attempts Constellation Cancellation (Source: Space Politics)
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced S. 3356, intended “to increase the maximum age for children eligible for medical care under the CHAMPVA program, and for other purposes.” The first section of the bill alters the maximum age, and the second section (of two) does, well, “other purposes.”: It would authorize the "Cancellation of Human Lunar Mission Under Constellation." (5/20)
Chicago Planetarium in the Running for Shuttle (Source: AP)
The president of the Adler Planetarium says the institution on Chicago’s lakefront is in the running to receive one of three soon-to-be retired space shuttles. Adler president Paul Knappenberger said Wednesday that the Adler is one of 21 planetariums and museums around the nation under consideration by NASA. (5/20)
The rocket that President Obama wants to kill is not dead yet. NASA managers in charge of the rocket, the Ares I, which is part of the program to send astronauts back to the moon, have put together an ambitious testing program to accelerate its development, including a flight in November 2014 with astronauts aboard. That would be four months earlier than NASA’s current schedule, which calls for the first manned flight in March 2015, and much faster than the 2017 date predicted by a blue-ribbon panel that reviewed NASA’s human spaceflight program last year.
Delays and rising costs are the primary reasons the Obama administration cites for its desire to kill the moon mission and turn over to private companies the business of launching astronauts. But loud objections have come from some members of Congress, particularly those in Texas, Florida and Alabama, the homes of the NASA centers undertaking most of the development work for the moon program, known as Constellation.
Senator Bill Nelson said, “If I had to guess right now, I’d say that the Senate is going to come out with some continued testing for an Ares I-X vehicle, to keep the options alive.” In the latest version of the plan, a second flight test, with a fully developed first stage but a dummy second stage, would launch in March 2013. Mr. Hanley said that flight could include a high-altitude test of the launching abort system that is designed to pull the crew capsule away from the rocket in case of trouble. (5/20)
Space and Science Organizations Support NASA 2011 Budget Proposal (Source: Planetary Society)
A dozen non-profit organizations, representing science and engineering constituencies as well as the public, issued a statement of support for the human space exploration plan outlined in NASA's proposed FY-2011 budget. The Joint Statement says, in part: "We believe this is an opportunity for NASA to craft the exploration strategy in partnership with science and applied science that includes the International Space Station, safe and cost-effective access to low Earth orbit, robotic precursors, and other missions." Click here to read the statement. (5/20)
Sen. Warner Steps-Up for Commercial Space (Source: Spaceports Blog)
Virginia Senator Mark R. Warner that caught the eye of the NewSpace community with his pro-commercial space comments during last week's Senate hearing on space. "I do think there’s interesting opportunities to leverage off of things like the X PRIZE Foundation and the kind of energy that that generated in this sector...I think it [commercialization] holds some great possibilities and opportunities...for Wallops.”
Space advocates throughout Virginia were pleased to see Senator Warner step-up in the committee to provide support to the fledgling commercial space sector taking root on the Delmarva Peninsula. Additional commercial space launch orbital carriers are being welcomed in the Commonwealth of Virginia. (5/20)
Whitesides Says Space Tourism is Just “a Small Number of Years” Away (Source: MSNBC)
When asked how soon Virgin Galactic will begin operations, George Whitesides said "It’s going to be sooner than you think...we want to make sure that the experience is safe...You know, Richard Branson is going to be on the first commercial flight, so you can be sure that it’s going to be very safe...I think a small number of years is the answer.” (5/20)
Japan Launches Venus Probe and Solar Sail (Source: MSNBC)
A powerful new Japanese spacecraft and experimental solar sail have blasted off together to start a six-month trek to explore Venus and cosmic parts beyond. One mission is aimed at uncovering the secrets of Venus and its cloud-covered surface, while the other could become the first interplanetary solar sail to fly successfully in space. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, is backing both spaceflights. (5/20)
Loral Announces Milestone in NASA Ames Project (Source: Loral)
Loral announced its support for NASA's new direction in conjunction with the preliminary design review for the propulsion system that it is building for a spacecraft that will study the lunar atmosphere. May 19 marked an important milestone in SS/L's contract to provide a propulsion system to NASA Ames Research Center for the Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft. The review confirmed that the preliminary design of the propulsion system meets all system requirements. (5/20)
Lockheed Martin Realigns Commercial Space Systems Structure (Source: Lockheed Martin)
Lockheed Martin has aligned its Commercial Space Systems unit within the company's Global Communications Systems business, a new organizational structure designed to enhance synergies and efficiencies in providing advanced communications solutions to government and commercial customers around the globe. (5/20)
SpaceX Selects New Placeholder Date For Falcon 9 (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX is targeting May 27 or May 28 for the maiden launch of its Falcon 9 rocket, which is being readied for flight at Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The 180-foot rocket had been listed on the Air Force Eastern Range schedule for launch this coming Sunday. However, the California-based company and subcontractor Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Co. of Simsbury, Conn., still are working with the Air Force to qualify the Flight Termination System for the Falcon 9. (5/20)
Delta IV GPS Launch Rescheduled for May 21 (Source: USAF)
The launch attempt of the United Launch Alliance Delta IV with the Air Force's Global Positioning System IIF-01 satellite has been rescheduled for May 21. During normal processing for launch, mission managers determined a piece of ground support equipment used to control one of the swing arms on the Fixed Umbilical Tower was not operating correctly and needed replacing. Replacing this GSE component will add one day to launch processing. The launch is rescheduled for Friday, May 21, with a launch window of 11:25 - 11:43 p.m. EDT. (5/20)
Official: Secret Air Force Space Plane Likely Not a Weapon (Source: AIA)
Amid speculation that an unmanned, robotic Air Force space plane that launched in April could be a new space weapon or weapon platform, one former Air Force official says the plane is more likely an orbital spy vehicle. The X-37B space plane was launched under heavy secrecy, prompting some space technology experts to express concern that it could raise worries among nations such as China and Russia about U.S. military capabilities in space. (5/20)
Bolden at Odds with Nelson on Ares I Tests (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
On most space issues, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and NASA Chief Charlie Bolden stand together. But the old friends seem to have found one major point of disagreement: Obama’s plans to cancel Ares I. Nelson wants to continue testing the Ares I to help NASA build a bigger rocket that could one day land astronauts on a nearby asteroid (and save a few hundred Florida jobs in the process). “It will not only be important to...building a heavy-lift vehicle...it’s going to be critical to the solid rocket motors that protect this country’s national security,” Nelson said.
But the White House has resisted this effort, largely because it says Ares I testing would cost too much and impede plans to use commercial rockets for ISS transport. “I can’t pay for an Ares I today. It’s too expensive,” said Bolden. “That’s an easy decision for me because it wipes out everything...It is incredibly costly for me to go off and try a series of Ares I tests to support a heavy-lift at the present cost of solid rocket motors. Now, there is an answer. Get the cost down. And ATK says they can do that. But we’re not there right now.”
Right before that statement, Bolden elaborated: “Ares I is not important to the continued development of heavy-lift unless the nation decides that it needs to preserve the capability to develop large segmented solid rocket motors. And that decision still has to be made. Right now, we’re leaning toward liquids. And if you’re leaning toward liquids, why would you spend a lot of time using Ares I as a development vehicle if that’s not going to part of the mix?” (5/20)
Fiengold Bill Attempts Constellation Cancellation (Source: Space Politics)
Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) introduced S. 3356, intended “to increase the maximum age for children eligible for medical care under the CHAMPVA program, and for other purposes.” The first section of the bill alters the maximum age, and the second section (of two) does, well, “other purposes.”: It would authorize the "Cancellation of Human Lunar Mission Under Constellation." (5/20)
Chicago Planetarium in the Running for Shuttle (Source: AP)
The president of the Adler Planetarium says the institution on Chicago’s lakefront is in the running to receive one of three soon-to-be retired space shuttles. Adler president Paul Knappenberger said Wednesday that the Adler is one of 21 planetariums and museums around the nation under consideration by NASA. (5/20)
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