White Sands Suborbital Launch Planned on Mar. 2 (Source: Launch Alert)
Observers across part of the American Southwest may enjoy a light show on the morning of March 2nd thanks to the scheduled launch of a missile from New Mexico. The Juno target missile is scheduled to lift-off from Fort Wingate near Gallup between 6:30 and 7:30 a.m. Mountain Time* and fly across the state to White Sands. (2/28)
Braun: 10 Years for Heavy-Lift (Source: PhysOrg.com)
Once the US space shuttle program closes, it will be about a decade before America can make a new vehicle for sending astronauts to space, NASA's chief technologist predicts. When the longtime centerpiece of US spaceflight shutters later this year, NASA will focus on experiments at the International Space Station (ISS) and on partnerships with private industry to build new spacecraft, Robert Braun said.
But with spending squeezed and NASA at odds with lawmakers over a 2016 timeframe for building a new heavy-lift rocket and crew vehicle to replace the 30-year-old shuttle program, Braun said that developing the future mode of travel could take longer than Congress, or the US public, may want to hear. "Let's call it -- think about it as a decade if you want to put a time stamp to it," said Braun, who gathered along with a host of veteran astronauts, politicians and space enthusiasts at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday to witness the final blastoff for the Discovery space shuttle. (2/28)
Robotics Shutdown Briefly Strands Astronaut (Source: AP)
A robotic system shutdown interrupted Monday's spacewalk outside the International Space Station, leaving an astronaut stuck with an 800-pound pump in his hands for nearly a half-hour. Good thing it was weightless. Spacewalker Stephen Bowen was in no danger, but it didn't sound pleasant. Mission Control asked if he was comfortable. "I'm fine as long as it's not too much longer," Bowen radioed. "How much longer?"
Bowen was perched on a small platform at the end of the 58-foot robotic arm, used to carry spacewalking astronauts where they need to go. The problem arose at the two-hour mark when a work station controlling the robot arm shut down. The astronauts operating the arm inside the space station rushed to another computer station and got it working again. It took a while to get the second station working. For nearly a half-hour, the arm was motionless, with Bowen stuck gripping the 5-by-4-foot broken cooling pump.
Despite the snag, Bowen and Drew managed to complete all their major chores, including prep work for installing a new storage room at the station. They even had time for an education experiment. In a bit of space trivia, Drew became the world's 200th spacewalker when he emerged from the 220-mile-high complex. The first was Soviet cosmonaut Alexi Leonov in 1965. He and Bowen will go back out Wednesday for one final spacewalk. (2/28)
Space Tourism May Mean One Giant Leap for Researchers (Source: New York Times)
If all goes as planned, within a couple of years, tourists will be rocketing into space aboard a Virgin Galactic space plane — paying $200,000 for about four minutes of weightlessness — before coming back down for a landing on a New Mexico runway. Sitting in the next seat could be a scientist working on a research experiment. Science, perhaps even more than tourism, could turn out to be big business for Virgin and other companies that are aiming to provide short rides above the 62-mile altitude that marks the official entry into outer space, eventually on a daily basis.
A $200,000 ticket is prohibitively expensive except for a small slice of the wealthy, but compared with the millions of dollars that government agencies like NASA typically spend to get experiments into space, “it’s revolutionary,” said S. Alan Stern, an associate vice president of the Southwest Research Institute’s space sciences and engineering division in Boulder, Colo. He is a spirited evangelist for the science possibilities of what is known in aerospace circles as suborbital travel. Just as important as the lower cost, scientists will be able to get their experiments to space more quickly and more often, Dr. Stern said. (2/28)
XCOR Announces Global Network (Source: Space Daily)
XCOR Aerospace announced its initial team of suborbital payload integration specialists who will begin taking orders and facilitating experiment development and integration for commercial, educational and government suborbital research missions aboard XCOR's Lynx reusable suborbital launch vehicle. Capable of up to four flights per day, the Lynx is expected to provide three to four minutes of micro-gravity and/or exposure to the harsh environment of space and the opportunity to investigate largely unknown regions of our upper atmosphere critical to environmental studies.
These pioneering payload integrators represent both large, established companies and start-up space entities run by seasoned executives and fresh new entrepreneurs from places like Asia, Europe, North America, and South Africa. XCOR will be adding additional specialist firms to the network in the coming months. (2/28)
Space Elevator: Science Fact Or Science Fiction (Source: Space Daily)
A space elevator is a concept that promises to permit launching spacecraft into orbit without the use of a launch vehicle. In theory, it is a structure that can transport objects from the Earth's surface upward and into space. Although many elevator variants have been proposed, they all involve traveling vertically along a fixed cable or ribbon made of super-strength materials under non-rocket power.
Physics tells us that this structure must extend from a point on the equator up to, and well beyond, the geostationary orbit. At the end of the cable or ribbon there must be a counter-mass to insure sufficient tension forces through centrifugal acceleration, due to the Earth's rotation. Heights of up to 65,000 km have been suggested. The space elevator has been proposed as a launching mechanism for geostationary satellites and for spacecraft traveling beyond Earth.
Space elevator physics seems straightforward. None of the basic laws of mechanics seems to be violated. And, this concept seems to be a great motivator for innovative thinking, especially in universities and among advanced thinkers. But, if physical principles are satisfied, is the space elevator fact or fiction? Click here to read the article. (2/28)
Oklahoma Bill Restoring Aerospace Engineering Tax Incentives Passes Committee (Source: OK Aerospace Alliance)
The State Chamber of Oklahoma recently formed its first aerospace committee with a purpose to take a statewide leadership role in the protection and growth of the aerospace industry in Oklahoma. House Bill 1008 passed the House Revenue and Taxation Committee by a vote of 8-1. The bill will now move to the full House of Representatives for consideration. An almost identical bill, Senate Bill 3, has already cleared the Senate Finance Committee and is set for a vote in the full Senate in the coming days. (2/28)
India Budget 2011: Over 35% Hike for Department of Space (Source: Outlook India)
Budget for India's Space strides was today hiked by little over one third of its last year's allocation with the human space flight and Chandrayaan-II cornering handsome amounts. The Human Space Flight program of ISRO was allocated Rs 98.81 crore as against the token amount of Rs 14.71 crore last year, while the sequel to India's maiden moon mission got Rs 80 crore as against Rs 25 crore the previous year. (2/28)
Scott Picks New Enterprise Florida Leader: Gray Swoope (Source: EOG)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is recommending Gray Swoope, currently Gov. Haley Barbour’s chief of economic development in Mississippi, to take over a new state agency and Enterprise Florida. According to a letter sent by Scott to Enterprise Florida Vice Chairman Hal Melton, the governor reiterated his plan to create a Department of Commerce, which would include economic development, workforce training and community development.
He said he wanted to maintain the private investment in Enterprise Florida, but said the same person would lead the group as well as the Department of Commerce. His choice for that job is Swoope, who is the executive director of the Mississippi Development Authority. Scott, clearly impressed with Swoope’s credentials, said Swoope helped convince companies like Toyota and GE Aviation to build facilities in Mississippi." (2/28)
Shuttle Debris, Explained (Source: PBS)
Three minutes and 51 seconds after Discovery blasted off on Friday, NASA's video feed showed what looked like a piece of flying debris breaking from the shuttle. It's believed that the debris was a piece of foam near the upper area of the hydrogen tank, popped off by a process known as "cryopumping." During launch, trapped air underneath the foam expands, sometimes forcing chunks of foam to break free.
Here's how it works. Ambient air gets sucked into cracks in the foam and then condenses or freezes, said John Honeycutt, external tank project manager for NASA. As fuel heats up, that trapped nitrogen and oxygen can turn back into a gas, expanding too quickly for the foam to handle, popping it off. "So it's like a balloon blowing up," Honeycutt said. "You've got a volume in there that gets overpressurized, and the weak link is the foam, and it pops the foam."
The event occurred beyond the time frame during which impacts can cause serious damage. The time between launch and 135 seconds into flight is known as "aerodynamically sensitive transport time." During that time, the atmosphere is still strong enough to do damage to the shuttle during transport. This event occurred well after that window. (2/28)
DigitalGlobe Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2010 Results (Source: MarketWire)
DigitalGlobe, a provider of commercial high-resolution earth imagery products and services, reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2010. Fourth quarter 2010 revenue was $83.6 million, an increase of 14.7% compared with the same period last year. Fourth quarter 2010 net income was $1.3 million, compared with net income of $13.8 million for the same period last year. (2/28)
US Astronauts to 'Bottle' Space for Japan (Source: AFP)
Two American astronauts began on Monday the first of two spacewalks to install a permanent spare closet on the orbiting International Space Station and also to bottle some outer space for Japan. The unusual project is part of a team effort with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, JAXA, to open up a metal cylinder that has been signed by other astronauts, and bring it back for public display. The so-called "Message in a Bottle" experiment, in which they will "expose a metal canister to capture the vacuum of space," is planned for the end of the six-hour spacewalk, NASA said. (2/28)
Thales Alenia Space To Build Up German Base (Source: Aviation Week)
Thales will redeploy space-related activities at Thales Alenia Space (TAS) to enable the Franco-Italian space contractor to establish a significant presence in Germany. Chairman/CEO Luc Vigneron said the company will transfer undisclosed equipment activities to TAS so it can build up an industrial base in Germany that will allow it to bid more effectively for German and European institutional awards. The activity will “just be a kernel initially,” he says, “but will grow over time.” TAS already has a sizable industrial footprint in France, Italy, Spain and Belgium, but not in Germany, which is Europe’s second-biggest space spender. (2/28)
The Big Question: Should NASA Plan a One-Way Mission to Mars? (Source: Houston Chronicle)
I spoke to a University of Houston undergraduate communications class this afternoon (taught by Dwight Silverman), and toward the end I asked if anyone was excited about human spaceflight. In a class of 15 to 20 kids, not one raised his or her hand. They were excited about things like medical research and artificial intelligence.
Recently I wrote that NASA needs to take some risks if it's going to make great leaps in exploration, and I also believe the "great leap" within our grasp is putting humans on Mars. In a budget-constrained world, given the challenges posed by radiation and launching with enough propellant to blast back off Mars once we get there, it's becoming increasingly obvious that if we're going to go to Mars in the next half-century, it probably will be a one-way mission. So far the space agency has shown very little interest in the idea. (2/28)
50 Billion Alien Planets May Inhabit Our Milky Way Galaxy (Source: Space.com)
Our galaxy could be home to a whopping 50 billion planets, say scientists working on NASA's Kepler planet-hunting telescope. While Kepler hasn't found nearly that many planets — to date it's counted 1,235 candidate planets — that cosmic tally is researchers' best guess, extrapolated from preliminary data. The Kepler spacecraft, which launched in March 2009, is the world's most sophisticated observatory dedicated to studying alien planets.
Kepler scientists presented an update on the spacecraft's findings this month at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C. "I am really delighted to find that we are seeing so many candidates," said William Borucki, Kepler's principal investigator. "It means there's a very rich ocean of planets out there to explore." (2/28)
Grappling With a MAD Space Future (Source: The Diplomat)
Its new space strategy calls for the US to reach out to allies in Asia. But will differences with China undermine progress? While the United States once dominated military space activities, in recent years a number of factors have combined to make space less hospitable to its national security interests and Washington more willing to reach out to potential partners—including those in Asia.
One complicating factor for the United States has been growing congestion resulting from foreign satellites, orbital debris, and radiofrequency interference. Another has been the spread of offensive space capabilities and activities, which has placed more space targets under threat. But a third is the reality that US space dominance has simply been eroded—dozens of governments, companies, and other actors now launch and operate satellites, while the United States itself is making fewer satellites.
It’s with these developments in mind that the United States is looking to transform its space policy in partnership with the private sector, foreign governments, and intergovernmental organizations, a strategy highlighted in the National Security Space Strategy (NSSS) released this month. (2/28)
Anderson Named to Lead New Mexico Spaceport (Source: Albuquerque Business Journal)
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority has named Christine Anderson as executive director of Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. Anderson served for 30 years in civilian positions with the U.S. Air Force, including several executive stints at Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque. Before retiring, Anderson was a member of the Senior Executive Service, the civilian equivalent of the military rank of general.
Anderson was the founding director of the Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland’s Air Force Research Laboratory. She served as director of the Space Technology Directorate at the Air Force Phillips Laboratory, also at Kirtland, and as director of the Military Satellite Communications Joint Program Office at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles, where she oversaw management of a $50 billion portfolio of assets.
Anderson earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the University of Maryland. She completed the National Security Leadership Program at Johns Hopkins University and the Senior Management in Government Program at Harvard University. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. (2/28)
FAA's Proposed FY-12 Budget Includes FAA Tech Center (FY-11 Unknown) (Source: SPACErePORT)
The FAA's proposed budget for FY-12 includes $26.63 million for the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST). Within that total is some level of (ideally second-year) funding for a proposed Commercial Spaceflight Technical Center (Tech Center) that would be located at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Here are some excerpts from the budget document:
"On August 15, 2010, the Presidential Task Force on Space Industry Workforce and Economic Development recommended that the FAA establish a Commercial Spaceflight Technical Center at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Technical Center will provide safety and technical support for future commercial space launch activities and support the continued development of safety processes, standards, and regulations for commercial spaceflight. Our FY 2012 request allows us to hire 50 personnel (25 FTE) for the Technical Center in FY 2012 with the remaining 25 FTE annualized in FY 2013."
"The demand for FAA services has never been so complex or comprehensive. As NASA retires the space shuttles, it will begin to utilize commercial space transportation systems to access the International Space Station (ISS) and to develop commercial human spaceflight systems. This change increases the workload of FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation. The FAA’s FY 2012 budget request therefore supports a commercial spaceflight technical center at Kennedy Space Center." (2/28)
FAA Views Spaceflight Among Challenges for NextGen (Source: SPACErePORT)
The FAA's budget document for FY-12 describes spaceflight requirements in multiple sections. Notably, the section describing NextGen challenges says this about spaceflight: "Enhancing safety, security, and environmental performance must remain the center of our planning as we improve the current NAS and accommodate new elements with the proliferation of very light jets,
unmanned aircraft systems, and commercial space flight."
"The [FAA budget] request includes base funding of $15.4 million plus programmatic increases of $11.23 million and 32 FTE to develop and implement additional safety processes and requirements specifically for commercial human spaceflight and space traffic management as well as incentivize advancements in low-cost access to space. Key outputs of the request include a projected 6 license and permit applications, 40 launch or reentry operations inspections, 8 launch site inspections, 5 environmental assessments, plus new rulemaking products and the Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation." (2/28)
Editorial: Farewell to Shuttle; is ULA Next? (Source: Decatur Daily)
The shuttle's legacy is far from perfect. ...The successes of the shuttle era owe much to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville. The next chapter of American space flight is hard to see through the clouds of political controversy. Marshall and its many employees in the Decatur area have a vested interest in a continuation of the program that remains in-house. Ares I was the rocket proposed during former President George W. Bush's administration as a shuttle replacement. President Barack Obama changed the national trajectory.
Obama's idea should raise concerns. Competition is great, but the profit motive translates into cost-cutting. As anyone affected by the BP oil spill will attest, that's not always a good thing. On the other hand, NASA is perpetually dogged by inadequate funding, a situation that increases the risk for its astronauts.
One thing we know is that Obama's vision of the private sector servicing the International Space Station is likely to benefit Decatur. The nation's most reliable heavy-lift rockets are manufactured at Decatur's United Launch Alliance plant. ULA is in the process of modifying the rockets for manned flight. Will the next chapter of U.S. space flight be a revised version of the NASA shuttle or a modification of ULA's successful rockets? Astronaut safety, not politics, should decide the issue. (2/28)
FAA 2012 Budget Proposal Includes Space Access Prize (Source: Space Politics)
Speaking at the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in Orlando, George Nield, the FAA associate administrator for commercial space transportation, announced that the FAA’s 2012 budget request includes $5 million for a space access prize. “We plan to work with both NASA and the DOD to discuss how best to implement this program, but I think our initiative has a lot of potential to benefit this crowd, so please stay tuned.” Here's an excerpt from the budget:
"In addition, $5 million is requested to establish a program for incentivizing advancements in space transportation by non-governmental organizations. The Low Cost Access to Space Incentive would provide a $5 million award designed to jump-start the creation of an entirely new market segment, with immediate benefits to private industry, NASA, the Department of Defense, and academia. Consistent with the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, FAA shall consult widely both within and outside the Federal Government, in defining the scope and criteria for the competition. This program also supports the President’s Directive for “agencies to increase their ability to promote and harness innovation by using policy tools such as prizes and challenges.” (2/28)
Aspiring Students 'Shoot for the Stars' With Experiment for Space Launch (Source: UCF)
Three University of Central Florida undergraduate students are getting the opportunity of a lifetime -- building an experiment that is scheduled to launch into space in late 2011 or 2012. “It was a bit intimidating at first,” said Josh Steele, a computer engineering major from Jensen Beach, who’s building an experiment that will help test theories about how planets form. Steele and two other undergraduates are working with graduate student Laura Seward and recent graduate Nico Brown to build the experiment. UCF Associate Professor Joshua Colwell is leading the project, which was one of three selected nationally to fly aboard Blue Origin’s space vehicle New Shepard. (2/28)
Extraordinary Close-Up Reveals Sponge-Like Surface of Saturn Moon (Source: Daily Mail)
For all the world, it looks like a sponge in extreme close-up in a darkened room. One of 62 confirmed moons circling the ringed planet, Hyperion is dotted with huge, deep craters that have astronomers buzzing. Their main question is simple - what lies at the bottom of these strange craters? A NASA spokesman said: 'Nobody's sure. To help find out, the robot Cassini spacecraft is orbiting Saturn and swooped past the sponge-textured moon.' Click here to see a photo. (2/28)
Eagle Lands Gently on Hapless Pair Who Lifted Neil Armstrong Signature (Source: Boston Herald)
Two men trying to land a big payday on the name of American hero Neil Armstrong were given probation by a judge who ruled they’ve suffered enough already. Thomas Chapman and Paul Brickman were each sentenced to two years’ probation for trying to auction online a signed customs declaration Chapman stole from the notoriously autograph-shy Apollo 11 commander last March while employed as a U.S. Customs agent at Logan International Airport.
Because Armstrong’s identity wasn’t stolen and Chapman’s hijinks cost him a job he’d held for 20 years, assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Fisher told Stearns the feds weren’t pressing for prison time for the lifelong friends. Fisher said Armstrong, 80, the first man to walk on the moon, “understands the gravity of the situation, but is in allegiance with our recommendation.” A contrite Chapman, 50, of Malden, said he has asked God for forgiveness and was simply honored to meet the world’s most famous astronaut. “I didn’t want to ask him for his autograph,” he said. “The only thing I had was this form.” (2/28)
How Does Space Beer Taste? It's Out of This World (Source: Perth Now)
WE might not have our own space program yet, but we sure as hell have our priorities right. Two Australian companies have developed the very first space beer. With the impending explosion of the space tourism industry — expected to take off as early as next year — Saber Astronautics Australia teamed up with the Four Pines Brewing Company to develop the very first beer that can be consumed safely in space. Jaron Mitchell, the founder of Four Pines, said the creation of space beer was an event for the history books. (2/28)
Russia Deputy PM Blasts 'Childish' Space Agency (Source: AFP)
Russian space agency Roskosmos has committed "childish" errors and failed to build enough spacecraft, the government said Monday in an unprecedented rebuke to the Russian equivalent of NASA. Russia's powerful Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov issued the dressing down at a meeting with Roskosmos's leadership after two satellite launches ended in partial or complete failure in the last three months.
In December three Glonass navigation satellites ended up plummeting into the Pacific off the US state of Hawaii after launch due to what officials concluded was a simple fuel miscalculation. And this month Russia put its new Geo-IK-2 military satellite into the wrong orbit, rendering it useless for defence purposes.
"Any repeat of the mistakes of the recent past -- and I am referring to the loss of the Glonass satellites and the partial Geo-IK failure -- is of course unacceptable," he warned, quoted by Russian news agencies. Meanwhile, Ivanov said that Roskosmos had failed meet its goals in the production of spacecraft and rockets, saying that in 2010 it produced only five out of the 11 spacecraft it was supposed to make. (2/28)
SwRI Makes Deposits on Virgin Galactic Flights (Source: Virgin Galactic)
Virgin Galactic’s signed contract with the Southwest Research Institute is the first such agreement to fly scientists into space (over 100 kilometers or 328,000 feet above the Earth), enabling valuable microgravity, biology, climate and astronomy research.
As part of the contract, SwRI has made full deposits for two researchers to fly on Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft, with the intent to make similar arrangements for an additional six seats for a total value of $1.6 million. As well as flying its own researchers, who will carry scientific experiments developed by its in-house technical staff, SwRI also aims to assist American researchers who do not have direct spaceflight experience to develop and fly their payloads and personnel on suborbital missions. (2/28)
Suborbital Back Out of the Shadows (Source: Space Review)
In the last couple years commercial suborbital spaceflight has been overshadowed by growing interest in, and debate about, commercial orbital human spaceflight. Jeff Foust reports that vehicle developments and growing customer interest could soon thrust suborbital back into the spotlight. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1790/1 to view the article. (2/28)
When Will our Martian Future Get Here? (Source: Space Review)
The grand human expeditions into the solar system predicted decades ago have failed to come to pass, like any number of other predictions about life in the 21st century. Andre Bormanis wonders if the future of space exploration will, in fact, be more virtual as those technologies become increasingly capable. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1789/1 to view the article. (2/28)
Russia, Revolutions, and the Red Planet (Source: Space Review)
The concept of using rovers to explore the surface of Mars has been successfully demonstrated by NASA, but it wasn't that long ago that the agency had no plans for such missions. Lou Friedman recalls how it was Russian interest, carried on even as the Soviet Union collapsed, that influenced present-day Martian exploration. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1788/1 to view the article. (2/28)
Tough Little Spinner (Source: Space Review)
Communications satellites, inelegant boxy contraptions today, were once spinning drum-shaped spacecraft. Dwayne Day describes one such spinner that lives on ot this day, owned by an obscure satellite operator. Visit
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1787/1 to view the article. (2/28)
February 27, 2011
Endeavour Ready to Leave Hangar in Preparation for Final Flight (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
The shuttle Endeavour will take its first steps toward space Monday when the ship moves a quarter-mile from its processing hangar to the Vehicle Assembly Building to join a burnt orange fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters. Endeavour is scheduled to back out of Orbiter Processing Facility bay No. 2 Monday morning on a 76-wheel transporter.
The 100-ton space plane has been inside the hangar since landing on its last mission in February 2010. After being thoroughly inspected and geared up for another mission, the orbiter's payload bay doors were closed in November. Endeavour was precisely weighed and workers measured its center-of-gravity Feb. 14, then technicians mounted the ship atop the transporter Feb. 15. Endeavour's landing gear was retracted in preparation for rollover Feb. 16. (2/27)
Hawaii Telescope Establishes Near-Earth Asteroid Discovery Record (Source: Space Daily)
The Pan-STARRS PS1 telescope on Haleakala, Maui, discovered 19 near-Earth asteroids on the night of January 29, the most asteroids discovered by one telescope on a single night. "This record number of discoveries shows that PS1 is the world's most powerful telescope for this kind of study," said Nick Kaiser, head of the Pan-STARRS project. "NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's support of this project illustrates how seriously they are taking the threat from near-Earth asteroids." (2/27)
The Beer has Landed: Astronauts4Hire Completes Space Beer Microgravity Test (Source: Astronauts4Hire)
Astronauts4Hire has completed its inaugural paid contract to test the world’s first beer designed for consumption in space. The experiment, which marks humanity’s first formal study on alcohol absorption in microgravity, took place aboard a parabolic trajectory microgravity flight out of Cape Canaveral, Florida operated by Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G). Yesterday’s flight was the first in a series of microgravity flights qualifying the beer recipe for consumption in space, funded in part by sales of the beverage on Earth. (2/27)
Lynx Gets a Makeover (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Wind tunnel tests have led to some tweaks in XCOR’s Lynx vehicle. The vehicle's nose is a bit rounder. And there is also an optional payload shroud on top of fuselage which will be used to launch small satellites into orbit. Click here to see the photos. (2/27)
Amateur Rocketry Challenge: Get Paid to Launch Your Rocket Above 100,000 Feet (Source: Rocketry Planet)
Can you really get paid to launch your rocket above 100,000 feet? You can if you take up John Carmack of Armadillo Aerospace on his recent offer. Earlier this week, the gamer-turned-aerospace developer posted an offer of $5,000 for the first rocket to exceed 100,000 feet above launch altitude that could provide a GPS serial log of the flight with at least one report above the magic number. The rocket would also have to be recovered intact within 24 hours of the launch.
Paul Breed and Robin Snelson are kicking in an additional $2000 and $1000, respectively, bringing the prize up to $8,000. Carmack has also indicated that the rocket can be balloon launched but it still must gain 100k feet [30.48 kilometers] under rocket propulsion from the point it leaves the launch platform. Click here for information. (2/27)
Exotic Superfluid Found in Ultra-Dense Stellar Corpse (Source: WIRED)
The ultra-dense meains of the galaxy’s youngest supernova are full of bizarre quantum matter. Two new studies show for the first time that the core of the neutron star Cassiopeia A, is a superfluid, a friction-free state of matter that normally only exists in ultra-cold laboratory settings. “The interior of neutron stars is one of the best kept secrets of the universe,” said astrophysicist Dany Page. “It looks like we broke one of them.” Click here to read the article. (2/27)
Human Spaceflight's Future May Lie in Orbiting Hotel, Other Ventures (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
With NASA's future in disarray, the next advance in human spaceflight may rest with a businessman more familiar with wake-up calls than rocket launches. Hotelier Robert Bigelow, owner of Budget Suites of America, wants to expand his hospitality empire and open a new space station by 2016 that could lodge up to a dozen guests.
Though the idea sounds far-fetched, Bigelow already has put two prototypes into orbit and is in talks with NASA about attaching one of his modules to the International Space Station. "This will be the time when we see which countries are the ones that have the power to take control of mankind's future," wrote Bigelow recently.
The venture has supporters talking about the dawn of a new commercial space age. But working against Bigelow — besides the laws of physics — are decades of broken promises from space entrepreneurs and the elusiveness of making a profit beyond Earth's gravity. This time around, however, the stakes are much higher. Click here to view the article. (2/27)
Russia to Launch Two More GLONASS Satellites in 2011 (Source: Interfax)
Russia will launch two more navigation satellites this year in addition to one launched on Saturday, the chief of the country's Plesetsk spaceport said. Maj. Gen. Oleg Maidanovich, who was talking to reporters after a GLONASS-K satellite went to orbit from Plesetsk, was referring to GLONASS-M satellites to be carried into space by Soyuz 21-B rockets with Fregat upper stages. (2/27)
Shuttle Discovery Docks with Space Station for 13th and Final Time (Source: CNN)
Some 220 miles above the Earth's surface, the shuttle Discovery docked Saturday afternoon with the International Space Station for the last time. Due to problems lining up with each other, the shuttle's "hard-mating" with the permanent orbiter threatened to push the six-man crew off schedule. The hook-up was finished around 3 p.m., yet NASA's Mission Control noted a possibility that the installation of an express logistics carrier would not be completed until Sunday, one day later than planned. (2/27)
European Space Concepts Enter Competition (Source: BBC)
The European Space Agency (Esa) has selected four new mission concepts to compete for a launch opportunity at the start of the 2020s. The mission ideas cover a broad range of disciplines, from investigations of black holes and general relativity to a near-Earth asteroid sample-return and studies of planets orbiting far-away stars. The concepts have rather impenetrable names right now - Loft, STE-Quest, MarcoPolo-R, and Echo - but that will change for the one eventually selected. (2/27)
Last Flights Reminds Us How Much Houston Will Miss the Shuttle Program (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Houstonians have had front-row seats to the saga of manned space exploration since President John F. Kennedy told a Rice stadium crowd in 1962 that America was going to the moon. His successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, cemented the city's role in that effort by securing for the region what would become the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake.
The magnificent launch of the oldest space shuttle, Discovery, on its 39th and likely last flight Friday was a bittersweet reminder that an era of NASA missions planned and controlled from JSC is waning, and the future of the program, and Houston's role in it, is uncertain. Only two more shuttle flights are scheduled before the fleet is mothballed in museums. (2/27)
Launches May End, But Space Coast Still Entices (Source: InForum.com)
Unless a sexy new program, such as commercial space travel or something Mars-bound, comes along, the Kennedy Space Center likely will make the transition from a living part of history to a museum. But it will make a heck of a museum. Before my lunch with an astronaut, I wandered among America’s earliest rockets, tall as buildings and well kept, even if they seemed borrowed from a 1950s movie set through modern eyes.
Later that afternoon, I headed out on the two-hour “Discover KSC” tour on a bus of about 40 filled seats and a tour guide. We set out from the visitors center and into the heart of Kennedy Space Center, where the Vehicle Assembly Building adorned with an American flag and NASA logo loomed. That’s where shuttles have been mated with their fuel tanks and solid-fuel rockets.
The next day I joined an even longer tour of adjacent Cape Canaveral. That tour brought us into the control room that sent the first American rocket into space. It brought us to the control room that controlled Shepard’s launch. It brought us to the exact spot where Apollo 1 caught fire; they asked us to remove our hats for that one. The Cape Canaveral tour was nothing but history, which seemed encouraging for the future of the Space Coast. Even after the end of the shuttle program, anyone with a sense of space history will still find something there. (2/27)
Just Another Asteroid Hurtling Toward Earth (Source: Boston Globe)
Hollywood hype aside, close encounters of a rocky kind are fairly common. But they’re fascinating to local scientists who want to learn how it all began, and maybe fend off armageddon. At 4:33 a.m. on a recent Friday, Timothy Spahr was startled awake by a beep from his cellphone: A text message alerted him that a rocky object was hurtling toward Earth. He told his wife it was “some asteroid thing’’ and went to check his computer.
In Hollywood, this would be the opening scene to a doomsday movie. But for Spahr, director of the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, it is just another day. About once a month, an object on a potential crash course with Earth disturbs his slumber. They almost always miss — and this time was no different. The asteroid was just a few feet across and on track to miss by about 11,000 miles. He sent a note to contacts at NASA and posted information about it online. (2/27)
The shuttle Endeavour will take its first steps toward space Monday when the ship moves a quarter-mile from its processing hangar to the Vehicle Assembly Building to join a burnt orange fuel tank and twin solid rocket boosters. Endeavour is scheduled to back out of Orbiter Processing Facility bay No. 2 Monday morning on a 76-wheel transporter.
The 100-ton space plane has been inside the hangar since landing on its last mission in February 2010. After being thoroughly inspected and geared up for another mission, the orbiter's payload bay doors were closed in November. Endeavour was precisely weighed and workers measured its center-of-gravity Feb. 14, then technicians mounted the ship atop the transporter Feb. 15. Endeavour's landing gear was retracted in preparation for rollover Feb. 16. (2/27)
Hawaii Telescope Establishes Near-Earth Asteroid Discovery Record (Source: Space Daily)
The Pan-STARRS PS1 telescope on Haleakala, Maui, discovered 19 near-Earth asteroids on the night of January 29, the most asteroids discovered by one telescope on a single night. "This record number of discoveries shows that PS1 is the world's most powerful telescope for this kind of study," said Nick Kaiser, head of the Pan-STARRS project. "NASA and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's support of this project illustrates how seriously they are taking the threat from near-Earth asteroids." (2/27)
The Beer has Landed: Astronauts4Hire Completes Space Beer Microgravity Test (Source: Astronauts4Hire)
Astronauts4Hire has completed its inaugural paid contract to test the world’s first beer designed for consumption in space. The experiment, which marks humanity’s first formal study on alcohol absorption in microgravity, took place aboard a parabolic trajectory microgravity flight out of Cape Canaveral, Florida operated by Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G). Yesterday’s flight was the first in a series of microgravity flights qualifying the beer recipe for consumption in space, funded in part by sales of the beverage on Earth. (2/27)
Lynx Gets a Makeover (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Wind tunnel tests have led to some tweaks in XCOR’s Lynx vehicle. The vehicle's nose is a bit rounder. And there is also an optional payload shroud on top of fuselage which will be used to launch small satellites into orbit. Click here to see the photos. (2/27)
Amateur Rocketry Challenge: Get Paid to Launch Your Rocket Above 100,000 Feet (Source: Rocketry Planet)
Can you really get paid to launch your rocket above 100,000 feet? You can if you take up John Carmack of Armadillo Aerospace on his recent offer. Earlier this week, the gamer-turned-aerospace developer posted an offer of $5,000 for the first rocket to exceed 100,000 feet above launch altitude that could provide a GPS serial log of the flight with at least one report above the magic number. The rocket would also have to be recovered intact within 24 hours of the launch.
Paul Breed and Robin Snelson are kicking in an additional $2000 and $1000, respectively, bringing the prize up to $8,000. Carmack has also indicated that the rocket can be balloon launched but it still must gain 100k feet [30.48 kilometers] under rocket propulsion from the point it leaves the launch platform. Click here for information. (2/27)
Exotic Superfluid Found in Ultra-Dense Stellar Corpse (Source: WIRED)
The ultra-dense meains of the galaxy’s youngest supernova are full of bizarre quantum matter. Two new studies show for the first time that the core of the neutron star Cassiopeia A, is a superfluid, a friction-free state of matter that normally only exists in ultra-cold laboratory settings. “The interior of neutron stars is one of the best kept secrets of the universe,” said astrophysicist Dany Page. “It looks like we broke one of them.” Click here to read the article. (2/27)
Human Spaceflight's Future May Lie in Orbiting Hotel, Other Ventures (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
With NASA's future in disarray, the next advance in human spaceflight may rest with a businessman more familiar with wake-up calls than rocket launches. Hotelier Robert Bigelow, owner of Budget Suites of America, wants to expand his hospitality empire and open a new space station by 2016 that could lodge up to a dozen guests.
Though the idea sounds far-fetched, Bigelow already has put two prototypes into orbit and is in talks with NASA about attaching one of his modules to the International Space Station. "This will be the time when we see which countries are the ones that have the power to take control of mankind's future," wrote Bigelow recently.
The venture has supporters talking about the dawn of a new commercial space age. But working against Bigelow — besides the laws of physics — are decades of broken promises from space entrepreneurs and the elusiveness of making a profit beyond Earth's gravity. This time around, however, the stakes are much higher. Click here to view the article. (2/27)
Russia to Launch Two More GLONASS Satellites in 2011 (Source: Interfax)
Russia will launch two more navigation satellites this year in addition to one launched on Saturday, the chief of the country's Plesetsk spaceport said. Maj. Gen. Oleg Maidanovich, who was talking to reporters after a GLONASS-K satellite went to orbit from Plesetsk, was referring to GLONASS-M satellites to be carried into space by Soyuz 21-B rockets with Fregat upper stages. (2/27)
Shuttle Discovery Docks with Space Station for 13th and Final Time (Source: CNN)
Some 220 miles above the Earth's surface, the shuttle Discovery docked Saturday afternoon with the International Space Station for the last time. Due to problems lining up with each other, the shuttle's "hard-mating" with the permanent orbiter threatened to push the six-man crew off schedule. The hook-up was finished around 3 p.m., yet NASA's Mission Control noted a possibility that the installation of an express logistics carrier would not be completed until Sunday, one day later than planned. (2/27)
European Space Concepts Enter Competition (Source: BBC)
The European Space Agency (Esa) has selected four new mission concepts to compete for a launch opportunity at the start of the 2020s. The mission ideas cover a broad range of disciplines, from investigations of black holes and general relativity to a near-Earth asteroid sample-return and studies of planets orbiting far-away stars. The concepts have rather impenetrable names right now - Loft, STE-Quest, MarcoPolo-R, and Echo - but that will change for the one eventually selected. (2/27)
Last Flights Reminds Us How Much Houston Will Miss the Shuttle Program (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Houstonians have had front-row seats to the saga of manned space exploration since President John F. Kennedy told a Rice stadium crowd in 1962 that America was going to the moon. His successor, President Lyndon B. Johnson, cemented the city's role in that effort by securing for the region what would become the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake.
The magnificent launch of the oldest space shuttle, Discovery, on its 39th and likely last flight Friday was a bittersweet reminder that an era of NASA missions planned and controlled from JSC is waning, and the future of the program, and Houston's role in it, is uncertain. Only two more shuttle flights are scheduled before the fleet is mothballed in museums. (2/27)
Launches May End, But Space Coast Still Entices (Source: InForum.com)
Unless a sexy new program, such as commercial space travel or something Mars-bound, comes along, the Kennedy Space Center likely will make the transition from a living part of history to a museum. But it will make a heck of a museum. Before my lunch with an astronaut, I wandered among America’s earliest rockets, tall as buildings and well kept, even if they seemed borrowed from a 1950s movie set through modern eyes.
Later that afternoon, I headed out on the two-hour “Discover KSC” tour on a bus of about 40 filled seats and a tour guide. We set out from the visitors center and into the heart of Kennedy Space Center, where the Vehicle Assembly Building adorned with an American flag and NASA logo loomed. That’s where shuttles have been mated with their fuel tanks and solid-fuel rockets.
The next day I joined an even longer tour of adjacent Cape Canaveral. That tour brought us into the control room that sent the first American rocket into space. It brought us to the control room that controlled Shepard’s launch. It brought us to the exact spot where Apollo 1 caught fire; they asked us to remove our hats for that one. The Cape Canaveral tour was nothing but history, which seemed encouraging for the future of the Space Coast. Even after the end of the shuttle program, anyone with a sense of space history will still find something there. (2/27)
Just Another Asteroid Hurtling Toward Earth (Source: Boston Globe)
Hollywood hype aside, close encounters of a rocky kind are fairly common. But they’re fascinating to local scientists who want to learn how it all began, and maybe fend off armageddon. At 4:33 a.m. on a recent Friday, Timothy Spahr was startled awake by a beep from his cellphone: A text message alerted him that a rocky object was hurtling toward Earth. He told his wife it was “some asteroid thing’’ and went to check his computer.
In Hollywood, this would be the opening scene to a doomsday movie. But for Spahr, director of the Minor Planet Center at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, it is just another day. About once a month, an object on a potential crash course with Earth disturbs his slumber. They almost always miss — and this time was no different. The asteroid was just a few feet across and on track to miss by about 11,000 miles. He sent a note to contacts at NASA and posted information about it online. (2/27)
February 26, 2011
$18,000 in Prizes Offered by Yuri’s Night for Advertisement Competition and Space Sweepstakes (Source: Yuri's Night)
Yuri's Night is excited to commemorate the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight by launching two contests: the “Call to Humanity” Space Exploration Ad Competition, which calls on talented graphic designers, artists, and other creative individuals to create a powerful and inspiring print campaign that will move people to think about and support humanity’s future in space, and the "International Space Sweepstakes," a free global drawing.
The Ad Competition Grand Prize is a 4-day Space Travelers “Zero-G Flight-Russia” travel package (with a $1,000 voucher for travel to and from Moscow), which consists of a microgravity flight aboard an Ilyushin-76 aircraft in Russia and an all-inclusive 4-day tour of the homeland of Yuri Gagarin – a $9,000 value in total. The submissions will be rated by a panel of celebrity judges based on their emotional impact, artistic merit, and adherence to the themes. The deadline for submissions is March 31.
Simultaneously, Yuri’s Night is launching the International Space Sweepstakes to give anyone in the world the chance to travel to Russia, witness a rocket launch at Baikonur, and experience the history of the Russian space program first hand. Entries are free (though donations to Yuri’s Night are encouraged), but are limited to one per person. All interested and eligible participants are welcome (and encouraged) to participate in both the Competition and the Sweepstakes. The winner, who will be chosen by random selection, will receive a 10-day Space Travellers "VIP Lift-Off in Baikonur" travel package and a $1,000 travel voucher for travel to and from Moscow. Click here. (2/26)
Hawaii Trying to Capitalize on Commercial Space Exploration (Source: Pacific Business News)
The Hawaii Senate is considering a bill that would authorize the state to pursue a Federal Aviation Administration spaceport license that could launch the state into the multibillion-dollar space exploration and tourism business. Senate Bill 112 would enable the state’s Office of Aerospace Development to conduct the environmental and safety assessments that are required for the license, said Sen. Will Espero, D-Ewa Beach-Waipahu, author of the bill. A similar measure was passed by the Legislature in 2009, but funds were not released by then-Gov. Linda Lingle. (2/26)
Ex-UF Space Researcher and Wife Convicted of Obtaining Fraudulent NASA Contracts (Source: Gainesville Sun)
A U.S. District Court jury in Gainesville found former UF nuclear engineering professor Samim Anghaie and his wife, Sousan, both guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and more than two dozen counts of wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a dozen other counts involving money laundering for both Samim and Sousan Anghaie and a charge of making false statements for Sousan Anghaie. Samim was found guilty of using false documents, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, while Sousan was found not guilty of the charge. The couple are free on bond while they await their sentencing date, which has not yet been scheduled.
They were accused of submitting false information, including research taken from UF students without their knowledge, to obtain contracts from NASA and the U.S. Air Force. They have obtained $3.4 million in contracts since 1999 and used the money they received from the contracts to buy multiple vehicles and homes, according to prosecutors. Samim Anghaie started at UF in 1980 and was director of its Innovative Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Institute. (2/26)
India Tests Rocket Motor, Delays Satellite Launch (Source: Hindustan Times)
After 16 successful launches of its workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in the last 17 years, the Indian space agency is now testing a key component to re-qualify its on-flight performance parameters to avoid any unpleasant surprises. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is testing the gas motor which is fitted in the second stage/engine powered by liquid fuel for high temperature tolerance levels.
The test has forced ISRO to postpone the launch of its remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2 and two other payloads by nearly a month. Remote sensing satellites like Resourcesat send back pictures and other data for various uses. India is a major player in providing such data in the global market. The rocket was scheduled for launch this week. (2/26)
Russia Launches Navigation System Satellite (Source: Reuters)
Russia launched on Saturday one of the final satellites needed to complete a space-based navigation system, which Moscow hopes will challenge the dominant U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS). The satellite, Glonass-K, which was launched shortly after 6:00 a.m. local time, reached orbit, said Aleksei Zolotukhin, spokesman for the Defense Ministry's space forces. The entry of the space craft into space "went according to plan. Steady telemetric communications have been established with the space craft," he said.
After the embarrassing loss of three satellites last year, two more are expected to be launched in 2011 to complete the $2 billion project that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said will give Russia "satellite navigation sovereignty." Moscow is hoping the navigation technology Glonass will create a revolution in domestic consumer technology, with applications expected to be used in mobile telephones and automobiles. (2/26)
How Serious is Space Solar Power? (Source: MSNBC)
The idea of beaming down power from outer space has surfaced in science-fiction stories and government studies for decades now. Commercial deals have been struck, prototype satellites have been proposed, international initiatives have been announced. But has any real progress been made toward developing space-based solar power systems?
A few ventures have been working on the technological challenge of beaming power from Point A to Point B, in the form of laser beams or microwaves. In 2009, a company called LaserMotive won $900,000 in a NASA-backed competition for beam-powered robots. The same company proved last year that they could keep a quadrocopter up in the air all night, just by focusing a laser beam on its power-generating arrays. And in 2008, Managed Energy Technology demonstrated a wireless RF transmission system that could send a small-scale power beam over a distance of up to 90 miles.
But all these experiments are firmly grounded on planet Earth. Has anyone gotten to the point of building the hardware for beaming experiments in outer space? "None of them that I know of is at the point of turning steel," said Air Force Col. M.V. "Coyote" Smith. Smith spearheaded a 2007 study for the Defense Department that laid out a scenario for the military use of space-based solar power, and made a follow-up proposal for a power-beaming satellite project called "One Lightbulb." Click here to see the article. (2/26)
Space Coast State Senator Disagrees with Governor on High Speed Rail (Source: SPACErePORT)
State Senator Thad Altman, chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security, opposes Gov. Rick Scott's decision to block a $2.4 billion federal investment to develop a high speed rail system in Central Florida.
“The action of the Governor to not allow the private sector to make public proposals on high speed rail is not only unfriendly to business but also shows a lack of vision toward new and emerging technologies. I ask Governor Scott to at least give Floridians a chance to compete before he sends $2.4 billion dollars of our hard earned tax dollars to the Federal Government and eventually to another state."
"Floridians have put a man on the moon and we live in the number one travel destination on the planet. I believe, if there are people in the world who can make this exciting technology work, it is us. I say to Governor Scott, please get out of our way, let the people of Florida ‘get to work’ on this project. Have faith in us; we can do it.” (2/26)
Pentagon Considering Commercial Launches for Space Experiments (Source: Space News)
On the heels of its successful November launch, the U.S. Air Force’s Space Test Program has begun planning a mission that could involve hosting military experiments on commercial satellites or hitching a ride to space on a commercial launch vehicle.
The Space Test Program at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., organizes space launches for experiments developed by many government agencies. The most recent STP-S26 mission crammed seven small satellites atop a Minotaur 4 rocket and demonstrated numerous technologies that the military may incorporate into future operational missions. (2/25)
Eumetsat Secures Full Approval for New Weather Satellite System (Source: Space News)
Europe’s Eumetsat meteorological organization on Feb. 25 said it has secured the backing of all 26 of its member governments for the six-satellite Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system, an investment of more than 2.37 billion euros ($3.2 billion) whose approval ends one of the most stressful periods in the organization’s history. (2/25)
Injured Astronaut Aboard Space Shuttle 'In Spirit' (Source: AP)
An astronaut who was bumped from space shuttle Discovery's final flight following a bicycle crash told his orbiting friends Friday that he's with them "in spirit." Injured just last month, Timothy Kopra hobbled on crutches into Mission Control and called Discovery's six astronauts, congratulating them on "an awesome launch" and wishing them well. Astronaut Michael Barratt teasingly confided that Kopra was aboard the shuttle "in a little bit more than spirit, but we'll have to explain that when we get back." (2/25)
Two High-priority Climate Missions Dropped from NASA’s Budget Plans (Source: Space News)
Even though NASA’s Earth science budget is slated to rise next year, thespace agency has been ordered by the White House to shelve a pair of big-ticket climate change missions that just last year were planned for launch by 2017. Under pressure to rein in federal spending, the White House eliminated funding for the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) and Deformation, Ecosystem Structure and Dynamics of Ice (DESDynI) missions. (2/25)
Detector Array Deterioration Poses New Problem for JWST (Source: Space News)
NASA is investigating a detector problem common to three primary instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that could get worse with time as a planned 2014 launch date for the overbudget flagship-class astronomy mission slips further into the future. NASA chartered a Failure Review Board Feb. 7 to assess the problem, which affects detector arrays made by Teledyne Imaging Sensors of Camarillo, Calif., for JWST’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and Fine Guidance Sensor-Tunable Filter Imager. (2/25)
Gov't Shutdown Wouldn't Leave Shuttle Discovery Stuck in Space (Source: Space.com)
If Congress is unable to agree on a federal budget for 2011 before the current stopgap measure expires on March 4, the potential government shutdown that would follow should not leave NASA's space shuttle Discovery in the lurch. The Discovery mission will extend through the March 4 deadline for congressional budget talks, but a top NASA official said that shouldn't be a problem. "we'll be able to just press on and continue kind of the way we're heading and see what happens and what goes forward," NASA's space operations chief Bill Gerstenmaier said. (2/25)
Thales’ 2010 Revenue Showed Slight Increase (Source: Space News)
French defense and aerospace contractor Thales Group on Feb. 24 said revenue from its space business, mainly its 67 percent ownership of hardware builder Thales Alenia Space and 33 percent share of satellite services provider Telespazio, rose “very slightly” in 2010 but booked multiple large orders. Thales Alenia Space reported revenue in 2009 of 2.05 billion euros ($2.94 billion). (2/25)
Thuraya Accuses Libya of Jamming Satellite Signals (Source: Space News)
Mobile satellite services operator Thuraya Telecommunications on Feb. 25 said it has “conclusive evidence” that Libya, one of its shareholders, is the source of “unlawful and intentional jamming” of Thuraya signals in Libya and surrounding areas over the past week. The Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based company has dealt with Libya-based jamming in the past.
The Thuraya-2 satellite’s network is operational, it said, but is still contending with jamming attempts at its beams serving Libya. The Thuraya statement follows similar complaints from Arab television broadcaster Al Jazeera, which said its signals into Libya had been jammed, and that the broadcaster had traced the jamming’s source to a Libyan intelligence service facility south of Tripoli. (2/25)
More Evidence Against Dark Matter? (Source: Science)
Thousands of physicists, astrophysicists, and astronomers are searching for dark matter, mysterious stuff whose gravity seems to hold the galaxies together. However, an old and highly controversial theory that simply changes the law of gravity can explain a key property of galaxies better than the standard dark-matter theory, one astronomer reports. That claim isn't likely to win over many skeptics, but even some theorists who favor the standard theory say the analysis hands them a homework problem they should solve. (2/25)
Russia, Israel Eye Joint Development of Communication Satellites (Source: Xinhua)
Russia and Israel have set up a joint group that would focus on the development of communications satellite. "We will consider the options of making several communication satellites and the joint development of a remote sensing satellite," said Anatoly Perminov, head of Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). (2/25)
NASA Langley Names News Chief (Source: NASA)
NASA Langley Office of Communications has selected Robert D. Wyman as news chief. Wyman, a 42-year-old native of Greensboro, N.C., who currently resides in Virginia Beach, Va., began work at the center Feb. 14. As news chief, he will be responsible for all interactions with print, broadcast and social media, as well as overseeing the creation and distribution of information about the center's key activities. (2/25)
Where Old Spacesuits End Up (Source: Voice of America)
No one appreciates the technology and design of the spacesuit more than Dr. Joseph Kerwin, who in 1973, was one of the first astronauts to conduct in-space repairs. He and fellow astronaut Pete Conrad fixed a jammed solar panel on the Skylab space station. That would not have been possible without the spacesuit, which Kerwin describes as "a little spacecraft." The suit provided protection from meteorites and vacuum. It circulated oxygen, removed carbon dioxide, kept the astronauts cool, provided communication and enough mobility to do the job.
All suits which have returned from space, more than 200 of them, belong to the Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space Museum. In addition to flown suits, the museum has gloves, helmets and other ancillary equipment. Most are stored at a facility 10 kilometers from Washington, in a room where humidity and temperature are carefully controlled. Kerwin’s suit is here. So is that of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon. There are suits from the earlier Mercury missions, and several experimental suits which were never used. Stored on shelves, they are shrouded under protective covering. (2/25)
Yuri's Night is excited to commemorate the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight by launching two contests: the “Call to Humanity” Space Exploration Ad Competition, which calls on talented graphic designers, artists, and other creative individuals to create a powerful and inspiring print campaign that will move people to think about and support humanity’s future in space, and the "International Space Sweepstakes," a free global drawing.
The Ad Competition Grand Prize is a 4-day Space Travelers “Zero-G Flight-Russia” travel package (with a $1,000 voucher for travel to and from Moscow), which consists of a microgravity flight aboard an Ilyushin-76 aircraft in Russia and an all-inclusive 4-day tour of the homeland of Yuri Gagarin – a $9,000 value in total. The submissions will be rated by a panel of celebrity judges based on their emotional impact, artistic merit, and adherence to the themes. The deadline for submissions is March 31.
Simultaneously, Yuri’s Night is launching the International Space Sweepstakes to give anyone in the world the chance to travel to Russia, witness a rocket launch at Baikonur, and experience the history of the Russian space program first hand. Entries are free (though donations to Yuri’s Night are encouraged), but are limited to one per person. All interested and eligible participants are welcome (and encouraged) to participate in both the Competition and the Sweepstakes. The winner, who will be chosen by random selection, will receive a 10-day Space Travellers "VIP Lift-Off in Baikonur" travel package and a $1,000 travel voucher for travel to and from Moscow. Click here. (2/26)
Hawaii Trying to Capitalize on Commercial Space Exploration (Source: Pacific Business News)
The Hawaii Senate is considering a bill that would authorize the state to pursue a Federal Aviation Administration spaceport license that could launch the state into the multibillion-dollar space exploration and tourism business. Senate Bill 112 would enable the state’s Office of Aerospace Development to conduct the environmental and safety assessments that are required for the license, said Sen. Will Espero, D-Ewa Beach-Waipahu, author of the bill. A similar measure was passed by the Legislature in 2009, but funds were not released by then-Gov. Linda Lingle. (2/26)
Ex-UF Space Researcher and Wife Convicted of Obtaining Fraudulent NASA Contracts (Source: Gainesville Sun)
A U.S. District Court jury in Gainesville found former UF nuclear engineering professor Samim Anghaie and his wife, Sousan, both guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and more than two dozen counts of wire fraud. Each count carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
The jury was unable to reach a verdict on a dozen other counts involving money laundering for both Samim and Sousan Anghaie and a charge of making false statements for Sousan Anghaie. Samim was found guilty of using false documents, which carries a penalty of up to five years in prison, while Sousan was found not guilty of the charge. The couple are free on bond while they await their sentencing date, which has not yet been scheduled.
They were accused of submitting false information, including research taken from UF students without their knowledge, to obtain contracts from NASA and the U.S. Air Force. They have obtained $3.4 million in contracts since 1999 and used the money they received from the contracts to buy multiple vehicles and homes, according to prosecutors. Samim Anghaie started at UF in 1980 and was director of its Innovative Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Institute. (2/26)
India Tests Rocket Motor, Delays Satellite Launch (Source: Hindustan Times)
After 16 successful launches of its workhorse rocket Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in the last 17 years, the Indian space agency is now testing a key component to re-qualify its on-flight performance parameters to avoid any unpleasant surprises. The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) is testing the gas motor which is fitted in the second stage/engine powered by liquid fuel for high temperature tolerance levels.
The test has forced ISRO to postpone the launch of its remote sensing satellite Resourcesat-2 and two other payloads by nearly a month. Remote sensing satellites like Resourcesat send back pictures and other data for various uses. India is a major player in providing such data in the global market. The rocket was scheduled for launch this week. (2/26)
Russia Launches Navigation System Satellite (Source: Reuters)
Russia launched on Saturday one of the final satellites needed to complete a space-based navigation system, which Moscow hopes will challenge the dominant U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS). The satellite, Glonass-K, which was launched shortly after 6:00 a.m. local time, reached orbit, said Aleksei Zolotukhin, spokesman for the Defense Ministry's space forces. The entry of the space craft into space "went according to plan. Steady telemetric communications have been established with the space craft," he said.
After the embarrassing loss of three satellites last year, two more are expected to be launched in 2011 to complete the $2 billion project that Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said will give Russia "satellite navigation sovereignty." Moscow is hoping the navigation technology Glonass will create a revolution in domestic consumer technology, with applications expected to be used in mobile telephones and automobiles. (2/26)
How Serious is Space Solar Power? (Source: MSNBC)
The idea of beaming down power from outer space has surfaced in science-fiction stories and government studies for decades now. Commercial deals have been struck, prototype satellites have been proposed, international initiatives have been announced. But has any real progress been made toward developing space-based solar power systems?
A few ventures have been working on the technological challenge of beaming power from Point A to Point B, in the form of laser beams or microwaves. In 2009, a company called LaserMotive won $900,000 in a NASA-backed competition for beam-powered robots. The same company proved last year that they could keep a quadrocopter up in the air all night, just by focusing a laser beam on its power-generating arrays. And in 2008, Managed Energy Technology demonstrated a wireless RF transmission system that could send a small-scale power beam over a distance of up to 90 miles.
But all these experiments are firmly grounded on planet Earth. Has anyone gotten to the point of building the hardware for beaming experiments in outer space? "None of them that I know of is at the point of turning steel," said Air Force Col. M.V. "Coyote" Smith. Smith spearheaded a 2007 study for the Defense Department that laid out a scenario for the military use of space-based solar power, and made a follow-up proposal for a power-beaming satellite project called "One Lightbulb." Click here to see the article. (2/26)
Space Coast State Senator Disagrees with Governor on High Speed Rail (Source: SPACErePORT)
State Senator Thad Altman, chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs, Space, and Domestic Security, opposes Gov. Rick Scott's decision to block a $2.4 billion federal investment to develop a high speed rail system in Central Florida.
“The action of the Governor to not allow the private sector to make public proposals on high speed rail is not only unfriendly to business but also shows a lack of vision toward new and emerging technologies. I ask Governor Scott to at least give Floridians a chance to compete before he sends $2.4 billion dollars of our hard earned tax dollars to the Federal Government and eventually to another state."
"Floridians have put a man on the moon and we live in the number one travel destination on the planet. I believe, if there are people in the world who can make this exciting technology work, it is us. I say to Governor Scott, please get out of our way, let the people of Florida ‘get to work’ on this project. Have faith in us; we can do it.” (2/26)
Pentagon Considering Commercial Launches for Space Experiments (Source: Space News)
On the heels of its successful November launch, the U.S. Air Force’s Space Test Program has begun planning a mission that could involve hosting military experiments on commercial satellites or hitching a ride to space on a commercial launch vehicle.
The Space Test Program at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., organizes space launches for experiments developed by many government agencies. The most recent STP-S26 mission crammed seven small satellites atop a Minotaur 4 rocket and demonstrated numerous technologies that the military may incorporate into future operational missions. (2/25)
Eumetsat Secures Full Approval for New Weather Satellite System (Source: Space News)
Europe’s Eumetsat meteorological organization on Feb. 25 said it has secured the backing of all 26 of its member governments for the six-satellite Meteosat Third Generation (MTG) system, an investment of more than 2.37 billion euros ($3.2 billion) whose approval ends one of the most stressful periods in the organization’s history. (2/25)
Injured Astronaut Aboard Space Shuttle 'In Spirit' (Source: AP)
An astronaut who was bumped from space shuttle Discovery's final flight following a bicycle crash told his orbiting friends Friday that he's with them "in spirit." Injured just last month, Timothy Kopra hobbled on crutches into Mission Control and called Discovery's six astronauts, congratulating them on "an awesome launch" and wishing them well. Astronaut Michael Barratt teasingly confided that Kopra was aboard the shuttle "in a little bit more than spirit, but we'll have to explain that when we get back." (2/25)
Two High-priority Climate Missions Dropped from NASA’s Budget Plans (Source: Space News)
Even though NASA’s Earth science budget is slated to rise next year, thespace agency has been ordered by the White House to shelve a pair of big-ticket climate change missions that just last year were planned for launch by 2017. Under pressure to rein in federal spending, the White House eliminated funding for the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) and Deformation, Ecosystem Structure and Dynamics of Ice (DESDynI) missions. (2/25)
Detector Array Deterioration Poses New Problem for JWST (Source: Space News)
NASA is investigating a detector problem common to three primary instruments on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) that could get worse with time as a planned 2014 launch date for the overbudget flagship-class astronomy mission slips further into the future. NASA chartered a Failure Review Board Feb. 7 to assess the problem, which affects detector arrays made by Teledyne Imaging Sensors of Camarillo, Calif., for JWST’s Near Infrared Camera (NIRCam), Near Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) and Fine Guidance Sensor-Tunable Filter Imager. (2/25)
Gov't Shutdown Wouldn't Leave Shuttle Discovery Stuck in Space (Source: Space.com)
If Congress is unable to agree on a federal budget for 2011 before the current stopgap measure expires on March 4, the potential government shutdown that would follow should not leave NASA's space shuttle Discovery in the lurch. The Discovery mission will extend through the March 4 deadline for congressional budget talks, but a top NASA official said that shouldn't be a problem. "we'll be able to just press on and continue kind of the way we're heading and see what happens and what goes forward," NASA's space operations chief Bill Gerstenmaier said. (2/25)
Thales’ 2010 Revenue Showed Slight Increase (Source: Space News)
French defense and aerospace contractor Thales Group on Feb. 24 said revenue from its space business, mainly its 67 percent ownership of hardware builder Thales Alenia Space and 33 percent share of satellite services provider Telespazio, rose “very slightly” in 2010 but booked multiple large orders. Thales Alenia Space reported revenue in 2009 of 2.05 billion euros ($2.94 billion). (2/25)
Thuraya Accuses Libya of Jamming Satellite Signals (Source: Space News)
Mobile satellite services operator Thuraya Telecommunications on Feb. 25 said it has “conclusive evidence” that Libya, one of its shareholders, is the source of “unlawful and intentional jamming” of Thuraya signals in Libya and surrounding areas over the past week. The Dubai, United Arab Emirates-based company has dealt with Libya-based jamming in the past.
The Thuraya-2 satellite’s network is operational, it said, but is still contending with jamming attempts at its beams serving Libya. The Thuraya statement follows similar complaints from Arab television broadcaster Al Jazeera, which said its signals into Libya had been jammed, and that the broadcaster had traced the jamming’s source to a Libyan intelligence service facility south of Tripoli. (2/25)
More Evidence Against Dark Matter? (Source: Science)
Thousands of physicists, astrophysicists, and astronomers are searching for dark matter, mysterious stuff whose gravity seems to hold the galaxies together. However, an old and highly controversial theory that simply changes the law of gravity can explain a key property of galaxies better than the standard dark-matter theory, one astronomer reports. That claim isn't likely to win over many skeptics, but even some theorists who favor the standard theory say the analysis hands them a homework problem they should solve. (2/25)
Russia, Israel Eye Joint Development of Communication Satellites (Source: Xinhua)
Russia and Israel have set up a joint group that would focus on the development of communications satellite. "We will consider the options of making several communication satellites and the joint development of a remote sensing satellite," said Anatoly Perminov, head of Russia's Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos). (2/25)
NASA Langley Names News Chief (Source: NASA)
NASA Langley Office of Communications has selected Robert D. Wyman as news chief. Wyman, a 42-year-old native of Greensboro, N.C., who currently resides in Virginia Beach, Va., began work at the center Feb. 14. As news chief, he will be responsible for all interactions with print, broadcast and social media, as well as overseeing the creation and distribution of information about the center's key activities. (2/25)
Where Old Spacesuits End Up (Source: Voice of America)
No one appreciates the technology and design of the spacesuit more than Dr. Joseph Kerwin, who in 1973, was one of the first astronauts to conduct in-space repairs. He and fellow astronaut Pete Conrad fixed a jammed solar panel on the Skylab space station. That would not have been possible without the spacesuit, which Kerwin describes as "a little spacecraft." The suit provided protection from meteorites and vacuum. It circulated oxygen, removed carbon dioxide, kept the astronauts cool, provided communication and enough mobility to do the job.
All suits which have returned from space, more than 200 of them, belong to the Smithsonian Institution’s Air and Space Museum. In addition to flown suits, the museum has gloves, helmets and other ancillary equipment. Most are stored at a facility 10 kilometers from Washington, in a room where humidity and temperature are carefully controlled. Kerwin’s suit is here. So is that of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon. There are suits from the earlier Mercury missions, and several experimental suits which were never used. Stored on shelves, they are shrouded under protective covering. (2/25)
February 25, 2011
Space Camp Changing Direction With NASA's New Vision (Source: WAFF)
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center's Space Camp lifted off with the space shuttle program, but it won't end with the last mission. Shuttle veteran Robert "Hoot" Gibson gave hundreds of kids a play by play for Discovery's last launch Thursday. The retired astronaut said he is confident interest the space program will remain high as NASA moves towards more commercial space flight. The Space Camp theme now is "The Moon, Mars, and Beyond"
"Here at Space Camp, we focused for quite a few years on the space shuttle and the things that it did. And as we move into future and retire the space shuttle, Space Camp is going to pick up the reins and move into the next phase," said Gibson. Marcia Lindstom, the Space Camp's Director of Operations said they are revamping the Mission Center Complex to mirror NASA's changing direction.
"You can have a lunar-themed mission, or a Mars mission. Or even an asteroid,. So it's moon, Mars and beyond. Children are still interested. They still want to discover, explore, understand. And we still want to inspire and teach and encourage them to dream huge dreams," Lindstrom said. (2/25)
Will Our 'Sputnik Moment' Fizzle Out? (Source: MSNBC)
One month after President Barack Obama urged America to rise up and respond to a "Sputnik moment" in international high-tech competition, there are rising worries that the trend line for civilian research and development spending is going down rather than up. The most worrisome development came last Friday, when the House approved a spending plan for the rest of the current fiscal year that would make deep cuts in spending for science and tech programs.
The budget for the Energy Department's Office of Science, for example, would be cut by 18 percent. Ned Sauthoff, head of the U.S. ITER fusion research program, said such a reduction really translates into a roughly 30 percent cut, because a whole year's worth of spending reductions would have to be spread over about seven months. If the House's budget becomes law, that could mean the shutdown of all the particle accelerators at federal labs, as well as a premature end to dozens of experiments in next-generation biofuels, batteries and nuclear reactors.
Biomedical research would take a hit as well — which carries a particularly deep sting for geneticist Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard as well as co-chair of the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. He believes the 21st century will be "the century of biomedical research," and worries that the United States could lose its lead in the field to other countries. Click here to read the article. (2/25)
Suborbital Research Contracts Adding Up (Source: Hobby Space)
With the 2011 Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference coming up next week in Orlando, we might soon see more announcements like the one last week from XCOR about the purchase by SwRI of research flights on their Lynx spaceplane. There have been several other publicly announced contracts for research payloads to fly on commercial reusable suborbital rocket vehicles. Click here for a summary. (2/25)
Pentagon Picks Boeing over EADS for Tanker Contract (Source: AIA)
The Pentagon announced on Thursday that it had selected Boeing as the winner of a long and tumultuous bidding battle for a $35 billion contract to build 179 aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force. "This competition favored no one, except the taxpayer and the war fighter," Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said. However, the decision is expected to strengthen perceptions in Europe that the U.S. defense market is virtually closed to European defense suppliers. The losing bidder was EADS North America, a unit of European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.
Editor's Note: When the EADS/Northrop Grumman team initially won this contract (which Boeing protested), many of the resulting jobs were to be at Northrop Grumman's facilities on Florida's Space Coast. This was one of the projects that locals hoped would employ workers who were leaving the Space Shuttle program. (2/25)
Defense Contractors Bracing for Big Budget Cuts (Source: AIA)
Defense contractors are bracing for major cuts in the defense budget, as underscored by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen's statement last week that debt is the "greatest threat to our national security." Companies "should be concerned," said Michael Herson, president of American Defense International. "They need to adapt to the changes that are coming," he said. (2/25)
Florida High Speed Rail Lost in Space (Source: Transportation Nation)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott will make no formal announcement about his final decision to kill the Tampa-to-Orlando high speed rail line. It seems that the people of Florida and the nation will have to settle for a brief interview Scott gave to a local Fox News affiliate. “I’m not convinced that project is a good project,” he said. “There’s a significant risk of cost overruns for construction. Historically that’s what’s happened with those projects.”
Neither the reporter nor the Governor seemed to appreciate the irony that these remarks were delivered at the Kennedy Space Center, where Discovery departed on its final mission yesterday. NASA’s shuttle program, a rather expensive mode of transportation enjoyed by only a few, has nevertheless brought great economic development to the region, and the winding down of the shuttle program will mean many layoffs.
Constructing America’s first high speed rail line in Florida, while not as difficult as building a space station, would more than make up for that dip in employment. Senator Nelson, who was also on hand at the launch, told Fox that the Governor “has made a mistake that’s going to cost people 24,000 jobs in the immediate future.” Nelson called the Governor’s decision to reject $2.4 Billion in federal high speed rail funds “pitiful,” “a monumental mistake,” and “hasty and ill-informed.” (2/25)
Sen. Rubio Subcommittee Assignments Include NASA Oversight (Source: St. Petersburg Times)
Marco Rubio announced his four subcommittee assignments on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee for the 112th Congress. Rubio’s assignments include the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, the Subcommittee on Science and Space, and the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security.
As a member of the Subcommittee on Science and Space, Senator Rubio will have oversight responsibility over NASA and space policy, which is not only important to Florida but our nation. “These subcommittee assignments represent the broad economic diversity of Florida. From the men and women of NASA to those who work in the fishing industry along our coast, these subcommittees will allow me to focus on crafting the policies necessary to promote private sector job creation in Florida while ensuring that our space program continues to play an important role in our national security,” said Senator Rubio.
Editor's Note: Sen. Rubio and several other members of Congress lately have conveyed their beliefs that NASA's mission is critical to national security. Perhaps NASA should take the hint and promote itself in those terms to the 112th Congress, or perhaps even pursue new collaborations with the Department of Defense. Of course, "national security" isn't necessarily the same as "national defense" and plenty of folks would argue that remaining at the forefront of space exploration and development is vital to our national economic security. (2/25)
Space Tourism Poised to Blast Off in the Next Two Years (Source: MSNBC)
As a self-described “adventure junkie,” Yanik Silver of Potomac, Md., has raced cars in Baja, run with the bulls in Pamplona and swum with great white sharks off the coast of South Africa. Still to accomplish? A trip into suborbital space, a goal the founder of Maverick Business Adventures hopes to achieve as space tourist No. 144 on the Virgin Galactic passenger list when the company begins commercial service in the next 18 months to two years.
The experience won’t be cheap — Silver has already put down a $175,000 deposit on the $200,000 trip — but he’s convinced it will be worth it. “It’ll be an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he told msnbc.com.
'As fans of space travel are well aware, NASA’s space shuttle program is on a glide path toward retirement. On Thursday, Discovery blasted off on its final trip to the International Space Station, to be followed by the final flights for Endeavour (April) and Atlantis (June).
In their stead, a handful of entrepreneurs are hoping to offer commercial space travel for the general public — or at least its most deep-pocketed members. Last month, Space Adventures, which has already taken seven “space tourists” to the space station, announced it would offer three similar trips on Russian Soyuz spacecraft starting in 2013. Factoring inflation, exchange rates and mission profile, the estimated tab for a seat on the 10- to 12-day trip is “probably close to $50 million,” said company President Tom Shelley. (2/25)
Scott, Nelson, Rubio, Many from Congress Watch Launch From Spaceport (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The list of VIPs who attended the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery included Florida Gov. Rick Scott, both Florida U.S. senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio and a host of U.S. Congress members including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. They joined several top administration officials such as Ray Mabus, secretary of the Navy, and a handful of celebrities such as musician Herbie Hancock, international dignitaries and space industry leaders to witness the final launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Among others: Florida Congressmen Ander Crenshaw, Sandy Adams, Dennis Ross and Frederica Wilson, Mike McIntyre from North Carolina, Ralph Hall from Texas, Roscoe Bartlett from Maryland, David Wu from Oregon, Candice Miller from Michigan, Donna Edwards from Maryland, Chellie Pingree from Maine and Randy Hultgren from Illinois. Editor's Note: Several state legislators attended the launch too. (2/25)
NASA Chief Reflects on Budget Cuts (Source: CNN)
CNN's John Zarrella sits down with NASA chief Charles Bolden about the budget cuts for the United States space program. The chief also talked about his disappointment of the lack of progress on developing a vehicle to replace the space shuttle. Click here to see the interview. (2/25)
NASA Targets June Merger of Operations, Exploration Divisions (Source: Space News)
NASA expects by June 5 to combine its Exploration Systems and Space Operations mission directorates into a single organization, dubbed the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, according to internal briefing charts. The new organization is expected to better-align NASA’s manned spaceflight goals as the U.S. space agency retires its fleet of shuttle orbiters and outsources crew and cargo transportation to and from the international space station to private firms. (2/25)
Two Planets Found Sharing One Orbit (Source: New Scientist)
Buried in the flood of data from the Kepler telescope is a planetary system unlike any seen before. Two of its apparent planets share the same orbit around their star. If the discovery is confirmed, it would bolster a theory that Earth once shared its orbit with a Mars-sized body that later crashed into it, resulting in the moon's formation.
The two planets are part of a four-planet system dubbed KOI-730. They circle their sun-like parent star every 9.8 days at exactly the same orbital distance, one permanently about 60 degrees ahead of the other. In the night sky of one planet, the other world must appear as a constant, blazing light, never fading or brightening. (2/25)
California Rocket Launch Scrubbed Again, Delayed Until Next Month (Source: Santa Maria Times)
With crews still troubleshooting a problem that led them to scrub Wednesday's liftoff attempt, the Taurus XL rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base has been delayed for at least a week. Liftoff of the rocket carrying NASA's Glory satellite reportedly has slipped to early or mid-March as crews have suspended launch preparations until they solve a problem with ground support equipment, officials said this morning.
Just before 2 a.m. Wednesday, with less than 10 minutes before the rocket was scheduled to lift off, ground controllers spotted a glitch before transitioning the Taurus to internal power. A 47-second launch window - essentially just one shot a day - left no time for the launch team to troubleshoot the problem and proceed with blastoff. "We had an indication that a ‘hold-fire' command was sent when indeed it had not," said Omar Baez, NASA launch director. (2/25)
Affording the Final Shuttle Launch (Source: Space Politics)
NASA administrator Charles Bolden suggested that NASA stretched out the shuttle program far longer than it should have. “It was time for the shuttle to go a long time ago, in deference to a vehicle that was going to take humans to the Moon,” he said, suggesting that the Challenger accident 25 years ago forced NASA “to stick with the shuttle and break off our exploration dreams for a while.” He also criticized the situation the current gap of several years between the retirement of the shuttle and a replacement system to carry US astronauts to orbit.
“What is not acceptable is the fact that the most powerful nation in the world, the United States of America, finds itself in a situation that we didn’t do the proper planning to have a vehicle in place to replace shuttle when it lands its last landing in June,” he said.
Bolden said it likely would. “We are budgeted for 135 and unless something disastrous happens, it’s our intent to fly it,” he said. Shuttle managers are also confident the money will be there. “We have a plan in place to shuffle the money around and fund the flight, STS-135,” said shuttle launch integration Mike Moses, the Orlando Sentinel reports, adding that “we’ve gotten the letter from headquarters saying we’ll be able to fly STS-135 regardless of what happens in the next budget.” (2/25)
Texas Congressman Less Optimistic on Final Shuttle Flight Funding (Source: Space Politics)
Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) told Houston TV station KTRK that “it’s still a fight” over whether NASA gets sufficient funding to fly the final (STS-135) Shuttle mission, suggesting yet again that money be taken from NASA earth sciences programs to pay for the shuttle mission, should it come to that. While the House has passed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through the rest of fiscal year 2011 (cutting NASA’s budget by several hundred million dollars in the process). “We’re optimistic it’s going to be there when we get there,” Chris Ferguson, commander of STS-135, told KTRK. “If it is, fantastic and if it’s not, well it’s the will of taxpayers.” (2/25)
Last Shuttle Lunch Casts Doubt on Future of NASA's Prestige in U.S. (Source: UF Independent Alligator)
The space shuttle Discovery took its final voyage Thursday to the International Space Station. It was NASA’s third-to-last shuttle launch, which for some students represents a saddening finality for a staple of scientific and American pride. Some students think the U.S. will lose something special when NASA’s shuttle program ends.
“The space exploration is the stuff that everyone loves,” said Peter Nguyen, a UF physics and astronomy double major. “It’s a source of national pride.” Evan Kassof, a UF physics and music composition double major, said a big loss will be the diminishing role of an iconic hero: the astronaut. “The sad thing is we won’t have astronauts, and that will make American kids even less interested in science,” he said. (2/25)
First-Time Viewers Flock to Cocoa Beach (Source: Florida Today)
As Discovery edged heavenward at 4:53 p.m., Don and Joyce Joy turned their faces toward the sky, too. Broad smiles flashed as the crowd of between 350 and 500 on Cocoa Beach Pier erupted. The Joys, retirees and first-time shuttle launch viewers, from Yakima, Wash., spent the afternoon near Mai Tiki Bar at pier’s end. They passed the time chatting with Don’s sister, Jean Clement of Marinette, Wis., who is visiting The Villages. (2/25)
Would Finding E.T. Change Our View of God? (Source: Discovery)
Probably one of the highest risk/reward activity in modern science is being conducted by a very small group of astronomers: the search for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations (SETI). Because they are trying to answer a purely hypothetical question, SETI astronomers certainly have detractors that wonder if the pursuit is worth even a modest investment. But answering the question “are we alone?” would have a profound cultural and theological impact on our view of our place in the universe. Click here to read the article. (2/25)
The U.S. Space and Rocket Center's Space Camp lifted off with the space shuttle program, but it won't end with the last mission. Shuttle veteran Robert "Hoot" Gibson gave hundreds of kids a play by play for Discovery's last launch Thursday. The retired astronaut said he is confident interest the space program will remain high as NASA moves towards more commercial space flight. The Space Camp theme now is "The Moon, Mars, and Beyond"
"Here at Space Camp, we focused for quite a few years on the space shuttle and the things that it did. And as we move into future and retire the space shuttle, Space Camp is going to pick up the reins and move into the next phase," said Gibson. Marcia Lindstom, the Space Camp's Director of Operations said they are revamping the Mission Center Complex to mirror NASA's changing direction.
"You can have a lunar-themed mission, or a Mars mission. Or even an asteroid,. So it's moon, Mars and beyond. Children are still interested. They still want to discover, explore, understand. And we still want to inspire and teach and encourage them to dream huge dreams," Lindstrom said. (2/25)
Will Our 'Sputnik Moment' Fizzle Out? (Source: MSNBC)
One month after President Barack Obama urged America to rise up and respond to a "Sputnik moment" in international high-tech competition, there are rising worries that the trend line for civilian research and development spending is going down rather than up. The most worrisome development came last Friday, when the House approved a spending plan for the rest of the current fiscal year that would make deep cuts in spending for science and tech programs.
The budget for the Energy Department's Office of Science, for example, would be cut by 18 percent. Ned Sauthoff, head of the U.S. ITER fusion research program, said such a reduction really translates into a roughly 30 percent cut, because a whole year's worth of spending reductions would have to be spread over about seven months. If the House's budget becomes law, that could mean the shutdown of all the particle accelerators at federal labs, as well as a premature end to dozens of experiments in next-generation biofuels, batteries and nuclear reactors.
Biomedical research would take a hit as well — which carries a particularly deep sting for geneticist Eric Lander, president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard as well as co-chair of the President's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology. He believes the 21st century will be "the century of biomedical research," and worries that the United States could lose its lead in the field to other countries. Click here to read the article. (2/25)
Suborbital Research Contracts Adding Up (Source: Hobby Space)
With the 2011 Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference coming up next week in Orlando, we might soon see more announcements like the one last week from XCOR about the purchase by SwRI of research flights on their Lynx spaceplane. There have been several other publicly announced contracts for research payloads to fly on commercial reusable suborbital rocket vehicles. Click here for a summary. (2/25)
Pentagon Picks Boeing over EADS for Tanker Contract (Source: AIA)
The Pentagon announced on Thursday that it had selected Boeing as the winner of a long and tumultuous bidding battle for a $35 billion contract to build 179 aerial refueling tankers for the Air Force. "This competition favored no one, except the taxpayer and the war fighter," Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn said. However, the decision is expected to strengthen perceptions in Europe that the U.S. defense market is virtually closed to European defense suppliers. The losing bidder was EADS North America, a unit of European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co.
Editor's Note: When the EADS/Northrop Grumman team initially won this contract (which Boeing protested), many of the resulting jobs were to be at Northrop Grumman's facilities on Florida's Space Coast. This was one of the projects that locals hoped would employ workers who were leaving the Space Shuttle program. (2/25)
Defense Contractors Bracing for Big Budget Cuts (Source: AIA)
Defense contractors are bracing for major cuts in the defense budget, as underscored by Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen's statement last week that debt is the "greatest threat to our national security." Companies "should be concerned," said Michael Herson, president of American Defense International. "They need to adapt to the changes that are coming," he said. (2/25)
Florida High Speed Rail Lost in Space (Source: Transportation Nation)
Florida Gov. Rick Scott will make no formal announcement about his final decision to kill the Tampa-to-Orlando high speed rail line. It seems that the people of Florida and the nation will have to settle for a brief interview Scott gave to a local Fox News affiliate. “I’m not convinced that project is a good project,” he said. “There’s a significant risk of cost overruns for construction. Historically that’s what’s happened with those projects.”
Neither the reporter nor the Governor seemed to appreciate the irony that these remarks were delivered at the Kennedy Space Center, where Discovery departed on its final mission yesterday. NASA’s shuttle program, a rather expensive mode of transportation enjoyed by only a few, has nevertheless brought great economic development to the region, and the winding down of the shuttle program will mean many layoffs.
Constructing America’s first high speed rail line in Florida, while not as difficult as building a space station, would more than make up for that dip in employment. Senator Nelson, who was also on hand at the launch, told Fox that the Governor “has made a mistake that’s going to cost people 24,000 jobs in the immediate future.” Nelson called the Governor’s decision to reject $2.4 Billion in federal high speed rail funds “pitiful,” “a monumental mistake,” and “hasty and ill-informed.” (2/25)
Sen. Rubio Subcommittee Assignments Include NASA Oversight (Source: St. Petersburg Times)
Marco Rubio announced his four subcommittee assignments on the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee for the 112th Congress. Rubio’s assignments include the Subcommittee on Communications, Technology and the Internet, the Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries, and Coast Guard, the Subcommittee on Science and Space, and the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security.
As a member of the Subcommittee on Science and Space, Senator Rubio will have oversight responsibility over NASA and space policy, which is not only important to Florida but our nation. “These subcommittee assignments represent the broad economic diversity of Florida. From the men and women of NASA to those who work in the fishing industry along our coast, these subcommittees will allow me to focus on crafting the policies necessary to promote private sector job creation in Florida while ensuring that our space program continues to play an important role in our national security,” said Senator Rubio.
Editor's Note: Sen. Rubio and several other members of Congress lately have conveyed their beliefs that NASA's mission is critical to national security. Perhaps NASA should take the hint and promote itself in those terms to the 112th Congress, or perhaps even pursue new collaborations with the Department of Defense. Of course, "national security" isn't necessarily the same as "national defense" and plenty of folks would argue that remaining at the forefront of space exploration and development is vital to our national economic security. (2/25)
Space Tourism Poised to Blast Off in the Next Two Years (Source: MSNBC)
As a self-described “adventure junkie,” Yanik Silver of Potomac, Md., has raced cars in Baja, run with the bulls in Pamplona and swum with great white sharks off the coast of South Africa. Still to accomplish? A trip into suborbital space, a goal the founder of Maverick Business Adventures hopes to achieve as space tourist No. 144 on the Virgin Galactic passenger list when the company begins commercial service in the next 18 months to two years.
The experience won’t be cheap — Silver has already put down a $175,000 deposit on the $200,000 trip — but he’s convinced it will be worth it. “It’ll be an incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience,” he told msnbc.com.
'As fans of space travel are well aware, NASA’s space shuttle program is on a glide path toward retirement. On Thursday, Discovery blasted off on its final trip to the International Space Station, to be followed by the final flights for Endeavour (April) and Atlantis (June).
In their stead, a handful of entrepreneurs are hoping to offer commercial space travel for the general public — or at least its most deep-pocketed members. Last month, Space Adventures, which has already taken seven “space tourists” to the space station, announced it would offer three similar trips on Russian Soyuz spacecraft starting in 2013. Factoring inflation, exchange rates and mission profile, the estimated tab for a seat on the 10- to 12-day trip is “probably close to $50 million,” said company President Tom Shelley. (2/25)
Scott, Nelson, Rubio, Many from Congress Watch Launch From Spaceport (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The list of VIPs who attended the launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery included Florida Gov. Rick Scott, both Florida U.S. senators Bill Nelson and Marco Rubio and a host of U.S. Congress members including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California. They joined several top administration officials such as Ray Mabus, secretary of the Navy, and a handful of celebrities such as musician Herbie Hancock, international dignitaries and space industry leaders to witness the final launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery.
Among others: Florida Congressmen Ander Crenshaw, Sandy Adams, Dennis Ross and Frederica Wilson, Mike McIntyre from North Carolina, Ralph Hall from Texas, Roscoe Bartlett from Maryland, David Wu from Oregon, Candice Miller from Michigan, Donna Edwards from Maryland, Chellie Pingree from Maine and Randy Hultgren from Illinois. Editor's Note: Several state legislators attended the launch too. (2/25)
NASA Chief Reflects on Budget Cuts (Source: CNN)
CNN's John Zarrella sits down with NASA chief Charles Bolden about the budget cuts for the United States space program. The chief also talked about his disappointment of the lack of progress on developing a vehicle to replace the space shuttle. Click here to see the interview. (2/25)
NASA Targets June Merger of Operations, Exploration Divisions (Source: Space News)
NASA expects by June 5 to combine its Exploration Systems and Space Operations mission directorates into a single organization, dubbed the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, according to internal briefing charts. The new organization is expected to better-align NASA’s manned spaceflight goals as the U.S. space agency retires its fleet of shuttle orbiters and outsources crew and cargo transportation to and from the international space station to private firms. (2/25)
Two Planets Found Sharing One Orbit (Source: New Scientist)
Buried in the flood of data from the Kepler telescope is a planetary system unlike any seen before. Two of its apparent planets share the same orbit around their star. If the discovery is confirmed, it would bolster a theory that Earth once shared its orbit with a Mars-sized body that later crashed into it, resulting in the moon's formation.
The two planets are part of a four-planet system dubbed KOI-730. They circle their sun-like parent star every 9.8 days at exactly the same orbital distance, one permanently about 60 degrees ahead of the other. In the night sky of one planet, the other world must appear as a constant, blazing light, never fading or brightening. (2/25)
California Rocket Launch Scrubbed Again, Delayed Until Next Month (Source: Santa Maria Times)
With crews still troubleshooting a problem that led them to scrub Wednesday's liftoff attempt, the Taurus XL rocket launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base has been delayed for at least a week. Liftoff of the rocket carrying NASA's Glory satellite reportedly has slipped to early or mid-March as crews have suspended launch preparations until they solve a problem with ground support equipment, officials said this morning.
Just before 2 a.m. Wednesday, with less than 10 minutes before the rocket was scheduled to lift off, ground controllers spotted a glitch before transitioning the Taurus to internal power. A 47-second launch window - essentially just one shot a day - left no time for the launch team to troubleshoot the problem and proceed with blastoff. "We had an indication that a ‘hold-fire' command was sent when indeed it had not," said Omar Baez, NASA launch director. (2/25)
Affording the Final Shuttle Launch (Source: Space Politics)
NASA administrator Charles Bolden suggested that NASA stretched out the shuttle program far longer than it should have. “It was time for the shuttle to go a long time ago, in deference to a vehicle that was going to take humans to the Moon,” he said, suggesting that the Challenger accident 25 years ago forced NASA “to stick with the shuttle and break off our exploration dreams for a while.” He also criticized the situation the current gap of several years between the retirement of the shuttle and a replacement system to carry US astronauts to orbit.
“What is not acceptable is the fact that the most powerful nation in the world, the United States of America, finds itself in a situation that we didn’t do the proper planning to have a vehicle in place to replace shuttle when it lands its last landing in June,” he said.
Bolden said it likely would. “We are budgeted for 135 and unless something disastrous happens, it’s our intent to fly it,” he said. Shuttle managers are also confident the money will be there. “We have a plan in place to shuffle the money around and fund the flight, STS-135,” said shuttle launch integration Mike Moses, the Orlando Sentinel reports, adding that “we’ve gotten the letter from headquarters saying we’ll be able to fly STS-135 regardless of what happens in the next budget.” (2/25)
Texas Congressman Less Optimistic on Final Shuttle Flight Funding (Source: Space Politics)
Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) told Houston TV station KTRK that “it’s still a fight” over whether NASA gets sufficient funding to fly the final (STS-135) Shuttle mission, suggesting yet again that money be taken from NASA earth sciences programs to pay for the shuttle mission, should it come to that. While the House has passed a continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government through the rest of fiscal year 2011 (cutting NASA’s budget by several hundred million dollars in the process). “We’re optimistic it’s going to be there when we get there,” Chris Ferguson, commander of STS-135, told KTRK. “If it is, fantastic and if it’s not, well it’s the will of taxpayers.” (2/25)
Last Shuttle Lunch Casts Doubt on Future of NASA's Prestige in U.S. (Source: UF Independent Alligator)
The space shuttle Discovery took its final voyage Thursday to the International Space Station. It was NASA’s third-to-last shuttle launch, which for some students represents a saddening finality for a staple of scientific and American pride. Some students think the U.S. will lose something special when NASA’s shuttle program ends.
“The space exploration is the stuff that everyone loves,” said Peter Nguyen, a UF physics and astronomy double major. “It’s a source of national pride.” Evan Kassof, a UF physics and music composition double major, said a big loss will be the diminishing role of an iconic hero: the astronaut. “The sad thing is we won’t have astronauts, and that will make American kids even less interested in science,” he said. (2/25)
First-Time Viewers Flock to Cocoa Beach (Source: Florida Today)
As Discovery edged heavenward at 4:53 p.m., Don and Joyce Joy turned their faces toward the sky, too. Broad smiles flashed as the crowd of between 350 and 500 on Cocoa Beach Pier erupted. The Joys, retirees and first-time shuttle launch viewers, from Yakima, Wash., spent the afternoon near Mai Tiki Bar at pier’s end. They passed the time chatting with Don’s sister, Jean Clement of Marinette, Wis., who is visiting The Villages. (2/25)
Would Finding E.T. Change Our View of God? (Source: Discovery)
Probably one of the highest risk/reward activity in modern science is being conducted by a very small group of astronomers: the search for signals from extraterrestrial civilizations (SETI). Because they are trying to answer a purely hypothetical question, SETI astronomers certainly have detractors that wonder if the pursuit is worth even a modest investment. But answering the question “are we alone?” would have a profound cultural and theological impact on our view of our place in the universe. Click here to read the article. (2/25)
February 24, 2011
Southwest Research Institute Buys Six XCOR Lynx Missions (Source: XCOR)
In a first for the reusable suborbital launch vehicle industry, XCOR Aerospace announced that the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), a commercial entity, has purchased six suborbital flights to carry SwRI experiments as pathfinder missions for other SwRI suborbital clients. This is the first such contract SwRI has issued, and XCOR is proud to be chosen for this opportunity.
"When someone issues a commercial contract with their own money, this means something," said XCOR Chief Operating Officer Andrew Nelson. "XCOR feels SwRI signing their first contract with us demonstrates the superiority of the Lynx platform over others in the field. We have the ability to fly up to four times a day, quickly perform an experiment and then return it to the customer. In addition, we offer the best price in class versus the competition."
Each of the six flights will include a SwRI trained principal investigator / payload specialist. This group of talented individuals includes Dr. Alan Stern, former NASA Associate Administrator for Science, Dr. Dan Durda, who has campaigned in F-18s and Dr. Cathy Olkin, an experienced SwRI researcher. On these flights, the SwRI principal investigators will perform research using biomedical, microgravity, and astronomy imaging experiments conceived and prepared for flight at SwRI. SwRI has an option to purchase three additional flights at any time, providing more value for the money spent and greater flexibility for experimental research. (2/24)
Russia Postpones GLONASS Launch (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Unspecified technical reasons have postponed the launch of a Russian navigation satellite for 24 hours. A Soyuz-2.1 was scheduled to launch at 10:15 pm EST Wednesday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia and place a GLONASS-K navigation satellite into orbit. That launch has been rescheduled to Friday because of "technical reasons", without elaborating. The launch would be the first for the GLONASS system since three such satellites were lost in a Proton launch failure in December. Russia is working to fully reconstitute its GLONASS satellite constellation, its version of the American GPS satellite navigation system. (2/24)
NASA Glory Launch Postponed Again, to Friday (Source: SpaceToday.net)
The launch of a NASA earth sciences satellite on a Taurus XL was scrubbed early Wednesday because of a technical glitch. The Taurus XL was scheduled to launch at 5:09 am EST (1009 GMT) Wednesday and place NASA's Glory satellite into Sun-synchronous orbit. However, the countdown was stopped several minutes before launch because of an issue with a control console that was providing erroneous readings that controllers were not able to understand and resolve in time for the launch. NASA announced later Wednesday that the next launch attempt would be at the same time on Friday. (2/24)
Sotheby's to Auction Soviet Vostok Space Capsule (Source: RIA Novosti)
Sotheby's auction house announced on Thursday that it will auction a 1961 Soviet space capsule on April 12, the 50th anniversary of the first manned mission to space. The Vostok 3KA-2 spacecraft is the twin of the Vostok 3KA-3, which carried Yuri Gagarin into space. The 3KA-2 model lifted off 20 days before Gagarin's momentous flight carrying a cosmonaut mannequin (Ivan Ivanovich) and a live dog (Zvezdochka, or little star.)
The capsule, which was scorched during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, went on display at the gallery of the auction house on Thursday. It is expected to sell for between $2 million and $10 million, the Associated Press reported. The interior of the space ship, which contained 815 kg of instruments classed as "secret" until 1986, has been stripped for security reasons. The owner of the capsule, who wished to remain anonymous, bought it privately from the Russians years ago and felt the 50th anniversary was an appropriate time to sell. (2/24)
Maui Finds Its Place in Space (Source: Maui Weekly)
Astronomers and other scientists agree that the threat of catastrophic bombardment by natural objects from space is real and that steps need to be taken to meet that threat. Thousands of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are known to exist. At any time, one or more of these objects could emerge as a threat to our planet. “The only way to beat the odds is to locate every possible asteroid or comet that could pose a threat to the Earth,” said David Levy, co-discover of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which collided with the planet Jupiter in 1994.
Exceptionally good observing conditions on Maui attract those who track potential threats to our planet. “Maui is a huge participant in the future space workforce,” said Larry Denneau, a senior software engineer for the PanSTARRS (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System atop Haleakalä) Moving Object Processing System. “As one of the software architects for the asteroid detection system, I am excited to see PanSTARRS begin to realize its potential as a hazardous asteroid finder, and to see the Maui community involved in discovering and tracking them,” he said. (2/24)
Up to 250 JPL Employees Could Face Layoffs as NASA Deals with Budget Uncertainties (Source: Pasadena Star-News)
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory plans to lay off an estimated 200 to 250 employees before the end of March as the space agency deals with evolving federal budget constraints, a JPL official said. President Obama's budget proposal calling for keeping NASA's budget flat at about $18.7 billion through fiscal year 2012 and beyond would mean delays in several projects now in the pipeline, while ongoing projects would be fully funded.
"If we can make a small reduction in workforce now we will have enough money to keep going for the remainder of the year," Richard O'Toole, executive manager of JPL's office of legislative affairs, said Wednesday. The decision to lay off up to 250 employees was made about month and a half ago, O'Toole said, in response to ongoing uncertainties in the 2011 budget and had nothing to do with the proposed 2012 budget. (2/24)
NASA on the Defense (Source: AJC)
After President Obama unveiled his budget in 2010, I wrote a blog about how the U.S. space program had been taking its lumps in the Congress. A year later the story is much the same. NASA's Administrator Charles Bolden just doesn't move many on Capitol Hill who are on the fence about funding the agency. A week ago, NASA took its lumps in the GOP budget cutting bill that made it through the House. At first, the GOP shielded the space agency from sizeable cuts, but on the floor both parties joined to change that.
For example, Democrats and Republicans pulled almost $300 million out of NASA and shifted that to grants for local police in the popular COPS program. NASA was lucky that so many Republicans defected during a later vote on $22 billion in extra cuts, because those reductions would have gone across-the-board, and hit the space agency in the chops.
When I started covering the space program in the 1980s, NASA's budget was about 1% of the overall federal budget. Now it is less than one-half of one percent - and threatening to get even smaller. It hasn't helped that American space policy has zigged and zagged among different packages of goals from administration to administration, as the budget slowly increased, but always seemed under siege. (2/24)
List of NASA CCDev Callbacks Grows to Eight (Source: Space News)
NASA is proceeding with plans to award roughly $200 million to companies developing technologies in support of the agency’s commercial space transportation goals. NASA contacted eight companies in February, inviting ATK, Blue Origin, Boeing, Excalibur Almaz, Orbital Sciences, Sierra Nevada, SpaceX and ULA to Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss their proposals for a second round of awards under the agency’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. NASA hopes to make the awards in March. (2/24)
Europe's ATV Supply Ship Has Docked with the Space Station (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Europe's second Automated Transfer Vehicle has arrived at the space station with seven tons of fresh supplies, rocket fuel and propellant. The ATV control center is located in Toulouse, France. Engineers in Moscow and Houston supported the ATV arrival. (2/24)
Rep. Adams Packs Room for Talk with Space Coast Residents (Source: Florida Today)
U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams reiterated her support for continued human spaceflight during a wide-ranging discussion with constituents Wednesday night in Titusville. She said sending astronauts into space should be NASA’s priority, rather than the agency spending $1 billion on climate change research. That comment and others gained the backing of most of the 100 people who packed a county meeting room in Titusville for the event. (2/23)
Texas Man Enters Plea in Hacking of NASA (Source: AP)
A Texas man who prosecutors say hacked into the computer systems of a Minnesota company and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has pleaded to one count of wire fraud. Prosecutors announced that 26-year-old Jeremey Parker of Houston entered his plea on Wednesday. A sentencing date has not been set. In his plea agreement, Park admitted to stealing about $275,000 from a company, and he also admitted that in September 2009 he hacked into two NASA computers that supported oceanographic data being back to Earth from satellites that was available to paying researchers. Parker made the data freely available. NASA spent about $43,000 to repair the damage. (2/23)
Shelton Visits 45th Space Wing (Source: AFSPC)
Gen. William Shelton, Air Force Space Command Commander visited Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Tuesday and Wednesday. This was his first visit since assuming command last month. Gen. Shelton's primary message was about his priorities, which he called "my three No. 1's, because they all equally important". They include: 1) Support the Joint Warfighter; 2) Get control of the cost of space programs; and 3) Normalize and operational cyberspace operations. (2/23)
Hoped-for Space Shuttle Atlantis Flight Now Planned (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA’s hope to fly three more space shuttle flights, including Thursday’s launch of Discovery, now appear close enough to be met that managers are counting on it. Mike Moses, space shuttle launch integration manager for NASA, said that agency budget crunchers are confident they have found the money to launch and fly Atlantis on one extra flight this year.
Until now, NASA had been counting for sure on only two more space shuttle launches: Discovery, plus that of Endeavour as early as April 19. The proposed final mission for Atlantis, known as as STS-135, was sought, but not officially funded. While it still might not be firmly funded, and while NASA’s funding still can change, Moses said NASA now is counting on it. It could launch as early as June 28. (2/23)
Space Buffs Can Blast Off With These Must-Have NASA iPhone and iPad Apps (Source: Appolicious)
With NASA’s long-running space shuttle program winding down in the coming months, interest has peaked in attending one of the last few remaining launches at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Here are a solid set of iOS (iPad/iPhone) titles are a must-have for all serious space buffs, no matter where you’ll be watching these final launches from! Click here. (2/23)
New Mexico’s Bet on Space Tourism Hits a Snag (Source: New York Times)
Somewhere off a dusty road in southern New Mexico sits a hulking horseshoe-crab-shaped structure and a two-mile-long slab of concrete flanked by mesas and mountains. Welcome to Spaceport America, the country’s first facility built specifically for commercial space travel — an endeavor that the state envisioned as the epicenter of a fledgling industry where tourists would pay large sums to take suborbital flights into space.
These days, though, after years of planning and debate, New Mexico’s grand ambitions for Spaceport have come down to earth, its future entwined with the state’s struggling economy. Though more than 400 people have put down flight deposits totaling more than $55 million, it is still not exactly clear when the first flight will launch. Gov. Susana Martinez removed the Spaceport’s supervising board, pushed out its executive director and began a review of the project’s finances, saying the Spaceport needed more robust private investment. Click here to read the article. (2/23)
In a first for the reusable suborbital launch vehicle industry, XCOR Aerospace announced that the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), a commercial entity, has purchased six suborbital flights to carry SwRI experiments as pathfinder missions for other SwRI suborbital clients. This is the first such contract SwRI has issued, and XCOR is proud to be chosen for this opportunity.
"When someone issues a commercial contract with their own money, this means something," said XCOR Chief Operating Officer Andrew Nelson. "XCOR feels SwRI signing their first contract with us demonstrates the superiority of the Lynx platform over others in the field. We have the ability to fly up to four times a day, quickly perform an experiment and then return it to the customer. In addition, we offer the best price in class versus the competition."
Each of the six flights will include a SwRI trained principal investigator / payload specialist. This group of talented individuals includes Dr. Alan Stern, former NASA Associate Administrator for Science, Dr. Dan Durda, who has campaigned in F-18s and Dr. Cathy Olkin, an experienced SwRI researcher. On these flights, the SwRI principal investigators will perform research using biomedical, microgravity, and astronomy imaging experiments conceived and prepared for flight at SwRI. SwRI has an option to purchase three additional flights at any time, providing more value for the money spent and greater flexibility for experimental research. (2/24)
Russia Postpones GLONASS Launch (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Unspecified technical reasons have postponed the launch of a Russian navigation satellite for 24 hours. A Soyuz-2.1 was scheduled to launch at 10:15 pm EST Wednesday from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia and place a GLONASS-K navigation satellite into orbit. That launch has been rescheduled to Friday because of "technical reasons", without elaborating. The launch would be the first for the GLONASS system since three such satellites were lost in a Proton launch failure in December. Russia is working to fully reconstitute its GLONASS satellite constellation, its version of the American GPS satellite navigation system. (2/24)
NASA Glory Launch Postponed Again, to Friday (Source: SpaceToday.net)
The launch of a NASA earth sciences satellite on a Taurus XL was scrubbed early Wednesday because of a technical glitch. The Taurus XL was scheduled to launch at 5:09 am EST (1009 GMT) Wednesday and place NASA's Glory satellite into Sun-synchronous orbit. However, the countdown was stopped several minutes before launch because of an issue with a control console that was providing erroneous readings that controllers were not able to understand and resolve in time for the launch. NASA announced later Wednesday that the next launch attempt would be at the same time on Friday. (2/24)
Sotheby's to Auction Soviet Vostok Space Capsule (Source: RIA Novosti)
Sotheby's auction house announced on Thursday that it will auction a 1961 Soviet space capsule on April 12, the 50th anniversary of the first manned mission to space. The Vostok 3KA-2 spacecraft is the twin of the Vostok 3KA-3, which carried Yuri Gagarin into space. The 3KA-2 model lifted off 20 days before Gagarin's momentous flight carrying a cosmonaut mannequin (Ivan Ivanovich) and a live dog (Zvezdochka, or little star.)
The capsule, which was scorched during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, went on display at the gallery of the auction house on Thursday. It is expected to sell for between $2 million and $10 million, the Associated Press reported. The interior of the space ship, which contained 815 kg of instruments classed as "secret" until 1986, has been stripped for security reasons. The owner of the capsule, who wished to remain anonymous, bought it privately from the Russians years ago and felt the 50th anniversary was an appropriate time to sell. (2/24)
Maui Finds Its Place in Space (Source: Maui Weekly)
Astronomers and other scientists agree that the threat of catastrophic bombardment by natural objects from space is real and that steps need to be taken to meet that threat. Thousands of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs) are known to exist. At any time, one or more of these objects could emerge as a threat to our planet. “The only way to beat the odds is to locate every possible asteroid or comet that could pose a threat to the Earth,” said David Levy, co-discover of Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9, which collided with the planet Jupiter in 1994.
Exceptionally good observing conditions on Maui attract those who track potential threats to our planet. “Maui is a huge participant in the future space workforce,” said Larry Denneau, a senior software engineer for the PanSTARRS (Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System atop Haleakalä) Moving Object Processing System. “As one of the software architects for the asteroid detection system, I am excited to see PanSTARRS begin to realize its potential as a hazardous asteroid finder, and to see the Maui community involved in discovering and tracking them,” he said. (2/24)
Up to 250 JPL Employees Could Face Layoffs as NASA Deals with Budget Uncertainties (Source: Pasadena Star-News)
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory plans to lay off an estimated 200 to 250 employees before the end of March as the space agency deals with evolving federal budget constraints, a JPL official said. President Obama's budget proposal calling for keeping NASA's budget flat at about $18.7 billion through fiscal year 2012 and beyond would mean delays in several projects now in the pipeline, while ongoing projects would be fully funded.
"If we can make a small reduction in workforce now we will have enough money to keep going for the remainder of the year," Richard O'Toole, executive manager of JPL's office of legislative affairs, said Wednesday. The decision to lay off up to 250 employees was made about month and a half ago, O'Toole said, in response to ongoing uncertainties in the 2011 budget and had nothing to do with the proposed 2012 budget. (2/24)
NASA on the Defense (Source: AJC)
After President Obama unveiled his budget in 2010, I wrote a blog about how the U.S. space program had been taking its lumps in the Congress. A year later the story is much the same. NASA's Administrator Charles Bolden just doesn't move many on Capitol Hill who are on the fence about funding the agency. A week ago, NASA took its lumps in the GOP budget cutting bill that made it through the House. At first, the GOP shielded the space agency from sizeable cuts, but on the floor both parties joined to change that.
For example, Democrats and Republicans pulled almost $300 million out of NASA and shifted that to grants for local police in the popular COPS program. NASA was lucky that so many Republicans defected during a later vote on $22 billion in extra cuts, because those reductions would have gone across-the-board, and hit the space agency in the chops.
When I started covering the space program in the 1980s, NASA's budget was about 1% of the overall federal budget. Now it is less than one-half of one percent - and threatening to get even smaller. It hasn't helped that American space policy has zigged and zagged among different packages of goals from administration to administration, as the budget slowly increased, but always seemed under siege. (2/24)
List of NASA CCDev Callbacks Grows to Eight (Source: Space News)
NASA is proceeding with plans to award roughly $200 million to companies developing technologies in support of the agency’s commercial space transportation goals. NASA contacted eight companies in February, inviting ATK, Blue Origin, Boeing, Excalibur Almaz, Orbital Sciences, Sierra Nevada, SpaceX and ULA to Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss their proposals for a second round of awards under the agency’s Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. NASA hopes to make the awards in March. (2/24)
Europe's ATV Supply Ship Has Docked with the Space Station (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Europe's second Automated Transfer Vehicle has arrived at the space station with seven tons of fresh supplies, rocket fuel and propellant. The ATV control center is located in Toulouse, France. Engineers in Moscow and Houston supported the ATV arrival. (2/24)
Rep. Adams Packs Room for Talk with Space Coast Residents (Source: Florida Today)
U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams reiterated her support for continued human spaceflight during a wide-ranging discussion with constituents Wednesday night in Titusville. She said sending astronauts into space should be NASA’s priority, rather than the agency spending $1 billion on climate change research. That comment and others gained the backing of most of the 100 people who packed a county meeting room in Titusville for the event. (2/23)
Texas Man Enters Plea in Hacking of NASA (Source: AP)
A Texas man who prosecutors say hacked into the computer systems of a Minnesota company and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center has pleaded to one count of wire fraud. Prosecutors announced that 26-year-old Jeremey Parker of Houston entered his plea on Wednesday. A sentencing date has not been set. In his plea agreement, Park admitted to stealing about $275,000 from a company, and he also admitted that in September 2009 he hacked into two NASA computers that supported oceanographic data being back to Earth from satellites that was available to paying researchers. Parker made the data freely available. NASA spent about $43,000 to repair the damage. (2/23)
Shelton Visits 45th Space Wing (Source: AFSPC)
Gen. William Shelton, Air Force Space Command Commander visited Patrick Air Force Base and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Tuesday and Wednesday. This was his first visit since assuming command last month. Gen. Shelton's primary message was about his priorities, which he called "my three No. 1's, because they all equally important". They include: 1) Support the Joint Warfighter; 2) Get control of the cost of space programs; and 3) Normalize and operational cyberspace operations. (2/23)
Hoped-for Space Shuttle Atlantis Flight Now Planned (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA’s hope to fly three more space shuttle flights, including Thursday’s launch of Discovery, now appear close enough to be met that managers are counting on it. Mike Moses, space shuttle launch integration manager for NASA, said that agency budget crunchers are confident they have found the money to launch and fly Atlantis on one extra flight this year.
Until now, NASA had been counting for sure on only two more space shuttle launches: Discovery, plus that of Endeavour as early as April 19. The proposed final mission for Atlantis, known as as STS-135, was sought, but not officially funded. While it still might not be firmly funded, and while NASA’s funding still can change, Moses said NASA now is counting on it. It could launch as early as June 28. (2/23)
Space Buffs Can Blast Off With These Must-Have NASA iPhone and iPad Apps (Source: Appolicious)
With NASA’s long-running space shuttle program winding down in the coming months, interest has peaked in attending one of the last few remaining launches at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Here are a solid set of iOS (iPad/iPhone) titles are a must-have for all serious space buffs, no matter where you’ll be watching these final launches from! Click here. (2/23)
New Mexico’s Bet on Space Tourism Hits a Snag (Source: New York Times)
Somewhere off a dusty road in southern New Mexico sits a hulking horseshoe-crab-shaped structure and a two-mile-long slab of concrete flanked by mesas and mountains. Welcome to Spaceport America, the country’s first facility built specifically for commercial space travel — an endeavor that the state envisioned as the epicenter of a fledgling industry where tourists would pay large sums to take suborbital flights into space.
These days, though, after years of planning and debate, New Mexico’s grand ambitions for Spaceport have come down to earth, its future entwined with the state’s struggling economy. Though more than 400 people have put down flight deposits totaling more than $55 million, it is still not exactly clear when the first flight will launch. Gov. Susana Martinez removed the Spaceport’s supervising board, pushed out its executive director and began a review of the project’s finances, saying the Spaceport needed more robust private investment. Click here to read the article. (2/23)
February 23, 2011
PolitiFact Says Rep. Posey Charges of Underfunding NASA are "Mostly True" (Source: PolitiFact)
According to Space Coast Congressman Bill Posey: "The president promised to close the space gap, but he now seems intent on repeating the events that created the space gap in the first place -- putting in place a new rocket design and then trying to underfund the effort..." The PolitiFact "Truth-o-Meter" says Posey's charge is "Mostly True." Click here to read the article. (2/23)
SpaceX Named One of 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World by MIT’s Technology Review (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX has been named one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world by MIT’s Technology Review. “Private companies will dominate near-Earth space travel. And SpaceX, with its manufacturing advances for making rocket engines and astronaut capsules, is leading the way,” said Jason Pontin, Technology Review Editor in Chief and Publisher. (2/23)
DirecTV Swings to Profit (Source: Wall Street Journal)
DirecTV Group Inc. swung to a fourth-quarter profit as the satellite-TV provider continues to take market share from its cable rivals. The El Segundo, Calif., company added 289,000 net new U.S. customers, or more than double its growth from a year ago, while its Latin America unit signed up 378,000 net new customers in the period. The growth stands in contrast to the cable providers, which continued their slow bleed of video customers in the fourth quarter. (2/23)
Lynx Development Proceeds Towards First Test Flight (Source: Parabolic Arc)
I’ve been hearing some good things out of Mojave about XCOR. It seems that most of the funding is in place, the rest will soon be, and that work is coming along nicely on building the first test flight vehicle which the company hopes to fly soon. XCOR anticipates commercial flights in the US to start in late 2012, with production Lynx vehicles flying internationally by 2014. XCOR’s COO, Andrew Nelson said that the company continues to develop and produce safe, reliable and reusable rocket powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and other enabling technologies.
“We’re building the Lynx, have a robust wet lease order book and we’re making engines for other customers,” Nelson said. “We’re always delighted to talk to potential investors and partners interested to join us in our development program.”
Of course, estimates on first commercial flights have been optimistic before (it’s perpetually 18 months away), the signs are pointing in the right direction. The big question is: Who will be first to fly commercially? XCOR or Virgin Galactic. I think Richard Branson would be pretty embarrassed if its the former. (2/23)
Former Senior NASA Official Returning to Capitol Hill (Source: Space News)
Christopher M. Shank, one of former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin’s top aides, is returning to Capitol Hill in March as deputy chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas). Smith, a 24-year veteran of the House of Representatives, chairs the House Judiciary Committee and serves on the Homeland Security Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee, which oversees NASA. (2/23)
Second Space Flight for Embry-Riddle Alumni Astronauts Alvin Drew and Nicole Stott (Source: ERAU)
Space shuttle Discovery’s final launch will be a landmark event for Embry-Riddle – the first time that two of its alumni will serve together in space. U.S. Air Force Col. B. Alvin Drew Jr. and Nicole P. Stott are assigned as mission specialists on the STS-133 flight to the International Space Station (ISS), the second space flight for both of them. (2/23)
Boeing Offers India Significant Space Cooperation (Source: IANS)
Boeing has offered to partner with India on manned space missions, including on the very significant "composite cryogenic tanks" for the launch and propulsion control of rockets. The development is apparently a result of President Barack Obama's visit here last November and the recent removal of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) from the so-called US Commerce Entities list which prohibited the transfer of dual use high technology to them. (2/23)
How Climate Change Models Could Get Better, Thanks to NASA (Source: Christian Science Monitor)
The Glory satellite's data should help atmospheric scientists improve climate models. Better models not only would increase scientists' knowledge of how the climate system operates, but also would help them make more accurate projections of the effects of global warming – even as atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to rise, as a result of burning fossil fuels and land-use changes. (2/23)
NASA Ames to be at Forefront of Agency's Commercial Space Efforts (Source: Palo Alto Daily News)
As NASA looks to the commercial space industry to take on the expensive task of shuttling humans into space, Ames Research Center in Mountain View could play a central role in developing the agency's partnerships with companies. Under a 2012 fiscal year budget proposed by President Barack Obama last week, NASA Ames will become the home of a new "emerging commercial space" office, center director Simon "Pete" Worden said Tuesday. The office "will be a clearinghouse where we can assist NASA, figuring out how we can better use these emerging commercial opportunities, as well as get feedback from the commercial community on how NASA can help them," Worden said. (2/23)
2012 Olympic Flame May be Sent to ISS (Source: RIA Novosti)
The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos is positive about a recently advanced idea to send Olympic Flame to the International Space Station (ISS) and back to Earth as a part of the preparations for the 2012 Winter Olympics, Stats Secretary Vitaly Davydov said. "Frankly speaking, we have not studied possibilities to deliver Olympic Flame to the ISS. This is a very specific issue; naked flame onboard the space station is prohibited for safety reasons," Davydov said, adding that if elaborated and technically sound project of delivery was worked out, Roscosmos would consider it. (2/23)
Taurus Launch Delayed at Vandenberg (Source: Launch Alert)
Launch of NASA's Glory mission spacecraft on a Taurus XL rocket at Vandenberg AFB, Calif, was scrubbed for 24 hours this morning at about the T-11 minute point due to a problem associated with the flight termination system. Engineers still are evaluating the issue. Good weather is forecast for Thursday. The time for launch attempt tomorrow (Feb. 24) remains the same as today at 2:09:43 a.m. PST. (2/23)
Shuttle Launch Looking Good for Thursday (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA held a briefing on the planned launch of space shuttle Discovery on STS-133 at 4:50 p.m. Thursday, and everything is still a go. The only issue NASA is tracking is a small internal hydrogen leak on a reaction control system, said NASA test director Steve Payne. “We’ve seen this issue before. It is well within our acceptable limits and we’re going to accept it for flight. It should be waived here shortly,” Payne said. (2/23)
New Boeing Division To Pursue Hosted Payload Opportunities (Source: Space News)
Boeing Satellite Systems International on Feb. 22 announced it is forming a new division to market to the U.S. government extra space on satellites the company builds for commercial satellite fleet operators. Boeing officials said they hope to turn what has been an episodic business in selling “hosted payload” capacity into a regular service. (2/22)
Surprising Earth-like Clouds Found in Saturn Moon's Smog (Source: Space.com)
In the dense smog of Saturn's largest moon Titan, one far dirtier than anything on Earth, scientists have uncovered a surprise — pearly white cirrus-like clouds much like the ones that can be seen in our skies. These new findings shed light on how Titan's mysterious atmosphere works. (2/22)
How Kleopatra Got its Moons (Source: UC Berkeley)
The asteroid Kleopatra, like its namesake, the last pharaoh and queen of Egypt, gave birth to twins – two moons probably spawned by the asteroid sometime in the past 100 million years. A team of French and American astronomers, including Franck Marchis, a research astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, also confirm earlier reports that the asteroid is shaped like a dog bone.
In addition, the team’s detailed study of the asteroid using small telescopes as well as the large Keck II telescope is Hawaii allowed it to determine the precise orbits of the twin moons and calculate the density of Kleopatra, showing that the asteroid is probably a big pile of rock and metal rubble. (2/22)
Space Policy Unit Calls for Australian Satellites (Source: IT News)
With satellite technology underpinning Australian banking, defense and meteorological systems, relying wholly on international providers may not be the best idea, the Space Policy Unit has suggested. According to unit chair Rosalind Dubs, Australia was “a significant user of space services”, but had become overly dependent on third parties.
Australian civilians and the military used the US Global Positioning System (GPS), which also provided time information to banks. Meanwhile, Geoscience Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology cooperated with agencies from the US, Europe, Japan, China and India for earth observation and weather data. Although the Australian Communications and Media Authority currently regulated 12 satellite networks, including those operated by the Department of Defense, Optus and Foxtel, Dubs said the Government did not own any of its satellites. (2/22)
NASA Proposes License Grant for Bigelow Technology (Source: Parabolic Arc)
NASA has recommended that Bigelow Aerospace be granted a license to market some of its patented inflatable space habitat technology, according to a notice published in the Federal Registrar. "NASA hereby gives notice of its intent to grant a partially exclusive license in the United States to practice the invention described and claimed in United States Patent 7,509,774 (issued March 31, 2009) and NASA Case No. MSC 24201-1, entitled 'Apparatus For Integrating A Rigid Structure Into A Flexible Wall Of An Inflatable Structure' to Bigelow Aerospace". (2/22)
NASA Awards SAIC $62 Million IT Contract Extension (Source: Space Daily)
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has been awarded a contract extension by NASA for the Unified NASA Information Technology Services (UNITeS) contract to continue providing a broad range of information technology (IT) services in support of the NASA Information Technology Service Network. (2/22)
According to Space Coast Congressman Bill Posey: "The president promised to close the space gap, but he now seems intent on repeating the events that created the space gap in the first place -- putting in place a new rocket design and then trying to underfund the effort..." The PolitiFact "Truth-o-Meter" says Posey's charge is "Mostly True." Click here to read the article. (2/23)
SpaceX Named One of 50 Most Innovative Companies in the World by MIT’s Technology Review (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX has been named one of the 50 most innovative companies in the world by MIT’s Technology Review. “Private companies will dominate near-Earth space travel. And SpaceX, with its manufacturing advances for making rocket engines and astronaut capsules, is leading the way,” said Jason Pontin, Technology Review Editor in Chief and Publisher. (2/23)
DirecTV Swings to Profit (Source: Wall Street Journal)
DirecTV Group Inc. swung to a fourth-quarter profit as the satellite-TV provider continues to take market share from its cable rivals. The El Segundo, Calif., company added 289,000 net new U.S. customers, or more than double its growth from a year ago, while its Latin America unit signed up 378,000 net new customers in the period. The growth stands in contrast to the cable providers, which continued their slow bleed of video customers in the fourth quarter. (2/23)
Lynx Development Proceeds Towards First Test Flight (Source: Parabolic Arc)
I’ve been hearing some good things out of Mojave about XCOR. It seems that most of the funding is in place, the rest will soon be, and that work is coming along nicely on building the first test flight vehicle which the company hopes to fly soon. XCOR anticipates commercial flights in the US to start in late 2012, with production Lynx vehicles flying internationally by 2014. XCOR’s COO, Andrew Nelson said that the company continues to develop and produce safe, reliable and reusable rocket powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced non-flammable composites and other enabling technologies.
“We’re building the Lynx, have a robust wet lease order book and we’re making engines for other customers,” Nelson said. “We’re always delighted to talk to potential investors and partners interested to join us in our development program.”
Of course, estimates on first commercial flights have been optimistic before (it’s perpetually 18 months away), the signs are pointing in the right direction. The big question is: Who will be first to fly commercially? XCOR or Virgin Galactic. I think Richard Branson would be pretty embarrassed if its the former. (2/23)
Former Senior NASA Official Returning to Capitol Hill (Source: Space News)
Christopher M. Shank, one of former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin’s top aides, is returning to Capitol Hill in March as deputy chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas). Smith, a 24-year veteran of the House of Representatives, chairs the House Judiciary Committee and serves on the Homeland Security Committee and the Science, Space and Technology Committee, which oversees NASA. (2/23)
Second Space Flight for Embry-Riddle Alumni Astronauts Alvin Drew and Nicole Stott (Source: ERAU)
Space shuttle Discovery’s final launch will be a landmark event for Embry-Riddle – the first time that two of its alumni will serve together in space. U.S. Air Force Col. B. Alvin Drew Jr. and Nicole P. Stott are assigned as mission specialists on the STS-133 flight to the International Space Station (ISS), the second space flight for both of them. (2/23)
Boeing Offers India Significant Space Cooperation (Source: IANS)
Boeing has offered to partner with India on manned space missions, including on the very significant "composite cryogenic tanks" for the launch and propulsion control of rockets. The development is apparently a result of President Barack Obama's visit here last November and the recent removal of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) from the so-called US Commerce Entities list which prohibited the transfer of dual use high technology to them. (2/23)
How Climate Change Models Could Get Better, Thanks to NASA (Source: Christian Science Monitor)
The Glory satellite's data should help atmospheric scientists improve climate models. Better models not only would increase scientists' knowledge of how the climate system operates, but also would help them make more accurate projections of the effects of global warming – even as atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to rise, as a result of burning fossil fuels and land-use changes. (2/23)
NASA Ames to be at Forefront of Agency's Commercial Space Efforts (Source: Palo Alto Daily News)
As NASA looks to the commercial space industry to take on the expensive task of shuttling humans into space, Ames Research Center in Mountain View could play a central role in developing the agency's partnerships with companies. Under a 2012 fiscal year budget proposed by President Barack Obama last week, NASA Ames will become the home of a new "emerging commercial space" office, center director Simon "Pete" Worden said Tuesday. The office "will be a clearinghouse where we can assist NASA, figuring out how we can better use these emerging commercial opportunities, as well as get feedback from the commercial community on how NASA can help them," Worden said. (2/23)
2012 Olympic Flame May be Sent to ISS (Source: RIA Novosti)
The Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos is positive about a recently advanced idea to send Olympic Flame to the International Space Station (ISS) and back to Earth as a part of the preparations for the 2012 Winter Olympics, Stats Secretary Vitaly Davydov said. "Frankly speaking, we have not studied possibilities to deliver Olympic Flame to the ISS. This is a very specific issue; naked flame onboard the space station is prohibited for safety reasons," Davydov said, adding that if elaborated and technically sound project of delivery was worked out, Roscosmos would consider it. (2/23)
Taurus Launch Delayed at Vandenberg (Source: Launch Alert)
Launch of NASA's Glory mission spacecraft on a Taurus XL rocket at Vandenberg AFB, Calif, was scrubbed for 24 hours this morning at about the T-11 minute point due to a problem associated with the flight termination system. Engineers still are evaluating the issue. Good weather is forecast for Thursday. The time for launch attempt tomorrow (Feb. 24) remains the same as today at 2:09:43 a.m. PST. (2/23)
Shuttle Launch Looking Good for Thursday (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA held a briefing on the planned launch of space shuttle Discovery on STS-133 at 4:50 p.m. Thursday, and everything is still a go. The only issue NASA is tracking is a small internal hydrogen leak on a reaction control system, said NASA test director Steve Payne. “We’ve seen this issue before. It is well within our acceptable limits and we’re going to accept it for flight. It should be waived here shortly,” Payne said. (2/23)
New Boeing Division To Pursue Hosted Payload Opportunities (Source: Space News)
Boeing Satellite Systems International on Feb. 22 announced it is forming a new division to market to the U.S. government extra space on satellites the company builds for commercial satellite fleet operators. Boeing officials said they hope to turn what has been an episodic business in selling “hosted payload” capacity into a regular service. (2/22)
Surprising Earth-like Clouds Found in Saturn Moon's Smog (Source: Space.com)
In the dense smog of Saturn's largest moon Titan, one far dirtier than anything on Earth, scientists have uncovered a surprise — pearly white cirrus-like clouds much like the ones that can be seen in our skies. These new findings shed light on how Titan's mysterious atmosphere works. (2/22)
How Kleopatra Got its Moons (Source: UC Berkeley)
The asteroid Kleopatra, like its namesake, the last pharaoh and queen of Egypt, gave birth to twins – two moons probably spawned by the asteroid sometime in the past 100 million years. A team of French and American astronomers, including Franck Marchis, a research astronomer at the University of California, Berkeley, also confirm earlier reports that the asteroid is shaped like a dog bone.
In addition, the team’s detailed study of the asteroid using small telescopes as well as the large Keck II telescope is Hawaii allowed it to determine the precise orbits of the twin moons and calculate the density of Kleopatra, showing that the asteroid is probably a big pile of rock and metal rubble. (2/22)
Space Policy Unit Calls for Australian Satellites (Source: IT News)
With satellite technology underpinning Australian banking, defense and meteorological systems, relying wholly on international providers may not be the best idea, the Space Policy Unit has suggested. According to unit chair Rosalind Dubs, Australia was “a significant user of space services”, but had become overly dependent on third parties.
Australian civilians and the military used the US Global Positioning System (GPS), which also provided time information to banks. Meanwhile, Geoscience Australia and the Bureau of Meteorology cooperated with agencies from the US, Europe, Japan, China and India for earth observation and weather data. Although the Australian Communications and Media Authority currently regulated 12 satellite networks, including those operated by the Department of Defense, Optus and Foxtel, Dubs said the Government did not own any of its satellites. (2/22)
NASA Proposes License Grant for Bigelow Technology (Source: Parabolic Arc)
NASA has recommended that Bigelow Aerospace be granted a license to market some of its patented inflatable space habitat technology, according to a notice published in the Federal Registrar. "NASA hereby gives notice of its intent to grant a partially exclusive license in the United States to practice the invention described and claimed in United States Patent 7,509,774 (issued March 31, 2009) and NASA Case No. MSC 24201-1, entitled 'Apparatus For Integrating A Rigid Structure Into A Flexible Wall Of An Inflatable Structure' to Bigelow Aerospace". (2/22)
NASA Awards SAIC $62 Million IT Contract Extension (Source: Space Daily)
Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) has been awarded a contract extension by NASA for the Unified NASA Information Technology Services (UNITeS) contract to continue providing a broad range of information technology (IT) services in support of the NASA Information Technology Service Network. (2/22)
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