Astronauts4Hire, Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Lab Partnership (Source: A4H)
Tampa-based Astronauts4Hire has entered into a research and training partnership with the Ashton Graybiel Spatial Orientation Laboratory (AGSOL). The two organizations recently signed a memorandum of understanding agreement focused on addressing the goals, challenges, and issues of astronaut training for private spaceflight.
A particular emphasis of the collaboration between Astronauts4Hire and AGSOL will be improving task performance under modified gravity conditions and mitigating space motion sickness, which has plagued almost three quarters of all astronauts. Representatives from Astronauts4Hire toured the AGSOL on July 14 and gained a firsthand perspective of the lab’s capabilities to support human sensorimotor control in unusual force environments. (7/31)
Bova: ‘Designed’ by Politicians, Shuttles Were Engineering Marvels (Source: Naples News)
I saw, firsthand, how uninformed political decisions can cripple a technical program. In 1956, the White House wanted the world to see that Vanguard was a peaceful program, so no military missiles were allowed to serve as its booster. Instead, a totally new launching vehicle was built, powered by a rocket engine with barely enough thrust to lift a 20-pound satellite into orbit. Built by General Electric, that rocket engine was very unreliable.
Years later, I learned how political decisions hamstrung the space shuttle’s design and performance, from Dr. Thomas Paine, who was chief administrator of NASA at the time. NASA wanted to build a space station in orbit around the Earth and a reusable vehicle to shuttle personnel and cargo to and from the space station (which is why the vehicle was called the “shuttle”). The politicians said fine, but allocated only a third of the money needed to start the job.
NASA chose to tackle the shuttle first, since it was more technically demanding than the space station. Engineers began to design a fully reusable vehicle. Too expensive, the politicians said. So NASA had to design a partially reusable shuttle, a vehicle that took off like a rocket and returned from orbit as a 99-ton glider, unpowered. Even at that, the shuttle needed strap-on solid rocket boosters to get off the ground. (7/31)
NASA Tech for Anti-Gravity Treadmill Now in Clearwater (Source: WFTS)
Running without any weight sounds impossible. However, it is now possible thanks to a unique treadmill that is now in available in Clearwater. The anti-gravity treadmill is so unique, there is only one in the Bay Area. The treadmill is called the AlterG.
"It's a very different type of sensation," said Brian Gillooly, rehab coordinator at Morton Plant Mease Hospital. "Basically, without NASA, we probably don't have this," Gillooly said. NASA came up with the technology to help astronauts. (7/31)
Editorial: Sunrise for Space Program (Source: inForum)
Obama’s decision to cultivate private spaceflight may be just what the industry needs to finally gain traction. The U.S. now boasts: multiple demonstrated, private space-faring vehicles (SpaceShipTwo by Virgin Galactic, and the Falcon-9/Dragon by SpaceX); the world’s first commercial spaceport (Spaceport America); plans for advanced inflatable space habitats (by Bigelow Aerospace); and state-of-the-art private astronaut training facilities (the NASTAR center).
With the shuttle out of the way, NASA is now free to focus on developing technologies to return to deep space exploration. Dozens of key problems have been identified in which innovative technological solutions are required (everything from new propulsion technologies to treatments for space radiation).
The shuttle program may have come to a close, but our space program has most certainly not been eclipsed – it is simply transitioning from one sunset to an even brighter sunrise. (7/31)
Space Tourism More Fiction Than Fact (Source: Sign On San Diego)
Now that the shuttle program is over, the conversation has turned to related topics, like space tourism. At least a couple of companies, -- Virgin Galactic and Space Adventures -- are taking deposits for future flights that will cost from $110,000 to $200,000. But this whole venture looks more like fiction than fantasy, say Gary Robbins and Scott Paulson, co-hosts of the U-T Science Talk. Clear here to listen to their show. (7/31)
Soon, India to Have its Own Space Shuttle (Source: NDTV)
The Americans recently retired their one of the most successful space shuttles, the Atlantis. Now, India is working towards realizing its dream - to create a re-usable satellite launch vehicle. An engineering model of what scientists at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) call the re-usable launch vehicle, is currently housed at a secure and secret facility in Kerala. Covered with special heat resistant tiles, soon it will roar skywards.
The unmanned Indian space shuttle will be initially launched vertically like a rocket and in the first few flights it will be dropped back into the sea, but later it will make a landing like any other aircraft. ISRO feels this technology will drastically reduce the cost of launching satellites to space. Indeed ISRO is dreaming big. (7/31)
Space Can Make Eastern Shore Blast Off (Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Just as NASA's space shuttle program is relegated to the history books, the stars are aligning to turn the NASA Wallops Flight Facility with the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport into a successful incubator for commercial spaceflight. A key factor is Orbital Sciences Corp. stepping in for the shuttle and utilizing the Eastern Shore launch site to supply the International Space Station.
For decades, Wallops was the proverbial bridesmaid — never the bride. Decades of glamorous space exploration efforts — putting men in space, on the moon and in a space station — went to Cape Canaveral and the Johnson Space Center. This was not really a fair shake, since Wallops was where the space program began in 1945. As America's first spaceport, it also launched the first female in space. Local legend Miss Sam was the monkey whose successful test mission helped clear the way for the 1961 suborbital flight of Alan B. Shepard Jr. — the first American in space. (7/31)
Wallops Crew Earns Shout-Out (Source: DelMarVaNow.com)
The crew of the last space shuttle mission gave a shout-out from space to NASA Wallops Flight Facility during the mission. The Space Shuttle Atlantis launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 8 and landed safely at 5:57 a.m. July 21, marking the last of 135 space shuttle launches dating back to 1981 -- and the end of an era in manned spaceflight in the United States. The crew of the Atlantis thanked Wallops' employees for their support of the program over the years.
Wallops' Research Range Services program supports NASA missions by providing tracking, telemetry, meteorological, optical and command and control services for vehicles including the space shuttle, as well as orbital and suborbital rockets, aircraft, satellites, balloons and unmanned aircraft systems vehicles. (7/31)
20 Years After Nanotube, Space Elevator Still Far From Take Off (Source: Intl. Business Times)
The Space Elevator is an evolving technology that is expected to replace the chemical rocket technology in future. The Space Elevator uses carbon nanotube as a ribbon for passengers to climb up orbit of the earth and then launch into distant planets. Despite the successful production in 1991 of carbon nanotubes, making them suitable for a tether still remains a challenge. Once that is achieved, it would help in shipping high-volumes at a lower cost than rockets. (7/31)
NASA, Merritt Island High Take On Satellite (Source: Florida Today)
The next generation of scientists, engineers and explorers may very well come from Merritt Island High. At the very least, a dozen technology-inspired students may have a leg up on the competition. Engineers from NASA's Kennedy Space Center are working with Merritt Island students to construct a satellite as part of a project called CubeSat.
Merritt Island is one of two high schools in the nation to begin work on the project. Their mission is to construct and prepare for launch a small satellite, which will collect data and transmit it to other satellites or to the ground. (7/31)
Poll: Public Would Have Been Happy Continuing to Fly Shuttle (Source: Florida Today)
Americans like space travel, and they generally don't mind their tax dollars being spent on exploration. They tend to like NASA as an organization. They liked the shuttle. But they don't mind that private companies may get to do some of the flying of U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station.
Those are among the intriguing findings of a poll by the respected IBOPE Zogby International taken in the wake of NASA's final space shuttle mission this month. Certainly, the results won't alter national space policy. The politicians making those decisions are far more driven by job concerns in their individual states and districts and those factors -- above all others -- always have driven congressional decision-making on space. (7/31)
Launches Leave Legacy of Costly Cleanups at KSC (Source: Florida Today)
NASA spent decades to send men to the moon, launch the space shuttles and build a laboratory in space, and now it will take a century to clean up the chemical messes left behind. Plumes of carcinogenic chemicals used in the launching of the space shuttles, Apollo moon shots and other rockets seeped deep into sandy soils beneath launch pads and other structures at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
They form viscous toxic goo that will take $1 billion in cleanup costs agencywide over many decades, and could bog down funding for next-generation spacecraft. NASA estimates it will spend $96 million in the next 30 years at KSC, including $6 million this year. The Air Force says it will take another $50 million to get the rest of its cleanups at Cape Canaveral under way by 2017. (7/31)
NASA Chief to Workers: Congress Debt Ceiling Talks Won't Stall Space Agency (Source: Space.com)
Congress may be facing a looming Tuesday (Aug. 2) deadline to raise the U.S. national debt ceiling, but NASA will be open for business as usual next week, the agency's chief told employees. In a memo to space agency workers Friday (July 29), NASA Administrator Charles Bolden reminded employees that the agency's mission (like those of other federal agencies) will continue as Congress works to find a resolution to the U.S. debt ceiling crisis.
"As you know, Congress is debating how it plans to meet its obligations and raise the debt ceiling so that the country can pay its bills," Bolden wrote in the memo. "The President expects that Congress will do its job, enact an increase of the debt ceiling that he can sign into law, and end this impasse. I am sending this note to remind you that NASA employees should plan to come to work next week, as scheduled, at their normal place and time." (7/31)
July 30, 2011
Experts: Opportunities Increasing for Engagement with China (Source: Space News)
The United States and Europe face barriers to effectively engage with China on space policy matters, but recent changes within the Chinese government and industry present an opportunity for dialogue and possible technical cooperation, a panel of experts agreed July 28.
Among Washington space policy circles it is often said the motives behind Chinese space policies and actions are, at best, not transparent and, at worst, nefarious. These sentiments are in many cases inaccurate and reflective of a failure to communicate between both sides, three academic and policy experts said at an event here hosted by the Secure World Foundation. (7/30)
Weird Moon Crater May Be Crash Site of Old NASA Spacecraft (Source: Space.com)
A strange-looking scar on the moon has astronomers wondering whether the cause of this peculiar impact feature is a piece of space debris that smashed into the lunar surface or a spacecraft that made a planned crash landing decades ago. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera spotted the curious impact using its narrow-angle camera, which has such a high resolution that it can often see small features from Apollo-era spacecraft that either landed or crashed.
The "butterfly-shaped" mass of lunar rubble could be the remnants of NASA's Lunar Orbiter 2, which made a planned crash landing on the moon in 1967 at the end of its mission. The unmanned Lunar Orbiter 2 was a spacecraft used in 1966 to help scope out possible landing sites for the Apollo and Surveyor missions. (7/30)
Astrium Profits Weighed Down by Services Division (Source: Space News)
Europe’s EADS aerospace giant said its Astrium space division reported higher sales but lower pretax profit for the first six months of 2011 and said revenue from its Astrium Services division fell by 26 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Astrium Services, which in recent years has distinguished itself as the fastest growing and most profitable of EADS’s space businesses, reported a 26 percent drop in revenue, to 378.3 million euros ($544.4 million), for the six months ending June 30. (7/30)
Spaceflight Psychology and the New ‘Right Stuff’ (Source: WIRED)
With arguably the coolest job on or off the planet, astronauts need nobody’s pity. Nonetheless, theirs is a life of extraordinary psychological demands: leadership, technical proficiency, split-second decision making and ironclad focus. And beyond fulfilling the “hero” requirements, astronauts have to deal with mundane chores, like bringing in new supplies and taking out the garbage.
The view is the best thing about their work environment. Air conditioning units put out constant noise. Microgravity is disorienting. Body fluids move all over the place, leaving them with puffy faces. Astronauts often have trouble sleeping and suffer from flu-like symptoms known as the “space crud.” Even on Earth, with the ability to go home at the end of the day, we’d find these taxing.
“You can train people in simulators, but in space there is no walking out of it,” said Douglas Vakoch, clinical psychologist and a director at the SETI Institute. “Flights are becoming longer and more complicated, so the stress is higher too.” Click here to read the article. (7/30)
Bullish Eutelsat Plans To Boost Spending on New Satellites (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat reconfirmed its status as the fastest-growing of the world’s major operators and said it remains so optimistic about prospects in Russia, Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa that it is raising, not lowering, its investment in new satellites in the next three years. Bucking the trend of its fellow major operators, Eutelsat now expects to spend 550 million euros ($788 million) per year through 2014 on spacecraft to capture the demand that the company says remains dynamic in these regions. (7/30)
Garver: NASA Must Evolve the Way It Works with the Private Sector (Source: Space News)
Despite concerns that funding shortfalls will hamper NASA’s efforts to promote a private industry capable of ferrying cargo and crew into low Earth orbit, government and industry officials attending the Space Frontier Foundation’s annual conference said they were confident that commercial firms would continue to play an increasingly important role in the U.S. space program.
NASA officials are working diligently “on evolving the way we work with the private sector,” Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said July 28 at the NewSpace 2011 conference here. While the overall percentage of NASA’s budget going to the private sector is likely to remain at the current level of approximately 85 percent, the space agency is changing the way it spends that money in an effort to help private companies “leverage that money to bring in more private investment, more innovation, open new markets, reduce costs and provide economic gain.” (7/30)
Russia to Launch Three Rockets in August (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russia's space agency Roscosmos is planning to launch two satellites and a space freighter next month. The Express-AM4 satellite will be launched on August 18 on board a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan.
A Progress M-12M cargo spacecraft will be launched from Baikonur to the International Space Station on August 24 on board the Soyuz-U launch vehicle. A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket will orbit a Glonass-M navigation satellite after the launch on August 25 from the Plesetsk Space Center in northern Russia. (7/30)
What Lies Inside Jupiter? (Source: NASA)
Jupiter's swirling clouds can be seen through any department store telescope. With no more effort than it takes to bend over an eyepiece, you can witness storm systems bigger than Earth navigating ruddy belts that stretch hundreds of thousands of kilometers around Jupiter's vast equator. It's fascinating. It's also vexing. According to many researchers, the really interesting things--from the roots of monster storms to stores of exotic matter--are located at depth. The clouds themselves hide the greatest mysteries from view.
NASA's Juno probe, scheduled to launch on August 5th, could change all that. The goal of the mission is to answer the question, What lies inside Jupiter? There are many basic things researchers would like to know—like how far down does the Great Red Spot go? How much water does Jupiter hold? And what is the exotic material near the planet's core? (7/30)
Vancouver Island: Future Spaceport? (Source: Canadian Press)
Whether Canada should have its own space-launch facility is a debate that's been making the rounds in the scientific and business communities for years without any progress being made. But that hasn't stopped Redouane Fakir as he develops a proposal to build the first-ever rocket launch site on Canada's west coast. His dream is to eventually make Vancouver Island Canada's future hub for space science and exploration — once he lines up the cash, local co-operation, and government approval.
The astrophysicist already has his eye on a site, even at this early stage: Estevan Point, an isolated peninsula halfway down the west coast of the island. Fakir says he wants to build a "parking-lot-sized" launch pad that would send Canadian space probes into a polar orbit. Fakir says the platform, which could also be used to send up scientific balloons, would not be busy all the time. (7/30)
Macdonald Dettwiler Says Revenue Could Turn Flat (Source: Reuters)
Macdonald Dettwiler and Associates, the Canadian satellite and data distribution company, reported a rise in quarterly profit on Friday and announced a share buy-back, but it warned of flat revenues next year. MDA, famous for creating the robotic arm used on NASA space shuttles, lost a major source of business with the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan this year, while a Ukrainian communications satellite project has hit hurdles. (7/30)
Space: A New Frontier for Tech Lobbying (Source: Politico)
President Barack Obama’s élan for Elon Musk, the serial entrepreneur bent on launching private rockets into space cheaply, includes multiple personal visits, high praise and apparent reciprocation: Musk this year attended a $35,800-a-head Obama fundraiser and has filled other Democratic coffers with cash. But in the new post-space shuttle space race, it takes more than glad-handing with the president to get the lucrative civilian and military contracts involving both human and cargo transport.
Musk, who founded PayPal and Tesla Motors, is no pauper. His outfit, SpaceX — and other relative newcomers such as Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada Corp. and Orbital Sciences Corp., are all fighting to wrestle a greater share of riches from Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which are to space launches as the USS Enterprise is to “Star Trek” and still lord over all other firms when it comes to government contracts.
Since 2003, SpaceX’s lobbying expenditures have steadily increased each year, nearly reaching the $600,000 mark in 2010. Through June 30, the company has this year spent $320,000 lobbying federal entities from the Senate and Office of Management and Budget to NASA and the Air Force, putting it on pace to again exceed the previous year’s total. Musk has personally made more than $200,000 in campaign contributions to federal candidates and committees since the 2008 election cycle. Click here. (7/30)
PSLV Success, ISRO Still in Trouble (Source: People's Democracy)
ISRO’s PSLV rocket provided limited but effective capability within a certain range of applications including communications. PSLV has been used to launch a total of 44 satellites to date including 23 for other countries including academic, observational, remote sensing and student-project micro-satellite payloads.
But when it came to intensive communication requirements for round-the-clock services such as television including direct-to-home services and telephony, ISRO and India have had to depend largely on the launch capabilities of others especially the Russians and the Europeans from their launch pad in Kourou in French Guiana. (7/30)
UK Man to be First to Fly Tourists Into Space (Source: BBC)
A Wiltshire man is set to become the first pilot to fly tourists into space. David Mackay, 53, from Salisbury, is the chief pilot for Virgin Galactic. Mr. Mackay, who spent 16 years with the RAF before joining Virgin Atlantic in 1995, said he had held a lifelong ambition to become an astronaut.
Mr Mackay was one of four pilots selected to become Virgin Galactic test pilots. He went on to work with the development team at Virgin's Spaceport out in the Mojave Desert in California, where he made test flights in Virgin's WhiteKnightTwo "mothership". (7/30)
Atlas and Delta Rockets Arrive Together on Delta Ship (Source: Florida Today)
Another space first: The company that launches Atlas and Delta rockets delivered a combined shipment of both vehicles for the first time this week. The United Launch Alliance Delta Mariner sailed into port with the Atlas V that will launch NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory in November. The ship also carried the Delta IV rocket that will launch an Air Force communications satellite in December. (7/30)
New Webb Telescope Technologies Already Helping Human Eyes (Source: NASA)
Even while construction of the James Webb Space Telescope is underway on the most advanced infrared vision of any space observatory, its technologies are already proving useful to human eye health here on Earth. "The Webb telescope program has enabled a number of improvements in measurement technology for astronomy, mirror fabrication, and measurement of human eyes, diagnosis of ocular diseases and potentially improved surgery," said Dr. Dan Neal, Research Fellow at Abbott Medical Optics Inc. in Albuquerque, N.M. (7/29)
Is the Space Age Over Or Just Beginning? (Source: Huffington Post)
Just as the first robber barons helped open up the new frontier of the Old West, we may see a new generation of robber barons capitalizing on the opportunities of space. It was prefigured in science fiction, with Robert Heinlein's D.D. Harriman in The Man Who Sold the Moon over 60 years ago and, more recently, warp drive inventor Zefram Cochrane in the otherwise social democratic Star Trek: First Contact in 1996.
With a variety of private players, it promises to be a very interesting era. Though the accidents that plagued the early days of aviation could have even more devastating impacts in these still early days of space. Of course, had we chosen differently, we could have much more advanced results already. Once upon a time, we were to have gone to Mars by, well, a quarter century ago. But the Vietnam War was catastrophically expensive. (7/29)
China Makes it Two in a Week with Successful Launches (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
For the second time this week this week alone, China has launched a satellite – this time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The Shi Jian 11-02 satellite was launch at 07:42UTC by a Long March 2C (Chang Zheng-2C) launch vehicle from the SLS-2 launch pad – as the Chinese prepare for a busy August. (7/29)
The United States and Europe face barriers to effectively engage with China on space policy matters, but recent changes within the Chinese government and industry present an opportunity for dialogue and possible technical cooperation, a panel of experts agreed July 28.
Among Washington space policy circles it is often said the motives behind Chinese space policies and actions are, at best, not transparent and, at worst, nefarious. These sentiments are in many cases inaccurate and reflective of a failure to communicate between both sides, three academic and policy experts said at an event here hosted by the Secure World Foundation. (7/30)
Weird Moon Crater May Be Crash Site of Old NASA Spacecraft (Source: Space.com)
A strange-looking scar on the moon has astronomers wondering whether the cause of this peculiar impact feature is a piece of space debris that smashed into the lunar surface or a spacecraft that made a planned crash landing decades ago. NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera spotted the curious impact using its narrow-angle camera, which has such a high resolution that it can often see small features from Apollo-era spacecraft that either landed or crashed.
The "butterfly-shaped" mass of lunar rubble could be the remnants of NASA's Lunar Orbiter 2, which made a planned crash landing on the moon in 1967 at the end of its mission. The unmanned Lunar Orbiter 2 was a spacecraft used in 1966 to help scope out possible landing sites for the Apollo and Surveyor missions. (7/30)
Astrium Profits Weighed Down by Services Division (Source: Space News)
Europe’s EADS aerospace giant said its Astrium space division reported higher sales but lower pretax profit for the first six months of 2011 and said revenue from its Astrium Services division fell by 26 percent compared to the same period a year ago. Astrium Services, which in recent years has distinguished itself as the fastest growing and most profitable of EADS’s space businesses, reported a 26 percent drop in revenue, to 378.3 million euros ($544.4 million), for the six months ending June 30. (7/30)
Spaceflight Psychology and the New ‘Right Stuff’ (Source: WIRED)
With arguably the coolest job on or off the planet, astronauts need nobody’s pity. Nonetheless, theirs is a life of extraordinary psychological demands: leadership, technical proficiency, split-second decision making and ironclad focus. And beyond fulfilling the “hero” requirements, astronauts have to deal with mundane chores, like bringing in new supplies and taking out the garbage.
The view is the best thing about their work environment. Air conditioning units put out constant noise. Microgravity is disorienting. Body fluids move all over the place, leaving them with puffy faces. Astronauts often have trouble sleeping and suffer from flu-like symptoms known as the “space crud.” Even on Earth, with the ability to go home at the end of the day, we’d find these taxing.
“You can train people in simulators, but in space there is no walking out of it,” said Douglas Vakoch, clinical psychologist and a director at the SETI Institute. “Flights are becoming longer and more complicated, so the stress is higher too.” Click here to read the article. (7/30)
Bullish Eutelsat Plans To Boost Spending on New Satellites (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Eutelsat reconfirmed its status as the fastest-growing of the world’s major operators and said it remains so optimistic about prospects in Russia, Central Europe, the Middle East and Africa that it is raising, not lowering, its investment in new satellites in the next three years. Bucking the trend of its fellow major operators, Eutelsat now expects to spend 550 million euros ($788 million) per year through 2014 on spacecraft to capture the demand that the company says remains dynamic in these regions. (7/30)
Garver: NASA Must Evolve the Way It Works with the Private Sector (Source: Space News)
Despite concerns that funding shortfalls will hamper NASA’s efforts to promote a private industry capable of ferrying cargo and crew into low Earth orbit, government and industry officials attending the Space Frontier Foundation’s annual conference said they were confident that commercial firms would continue to play an increasingly important role in the U.S. space program.
NASA officials are working diligently “on evolving the way we work with the private sector,” Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said July 28 at the NewSpace 2011 conference here. While the overall percentage of NASA’s budget going to the private sector is likely to remain at the current level of approximately 85 percent, the space agency is changing the way it spends that money in an effort to help private companies “leverage that money to bring in more private investment, more innovation, open new markets, reduce costs and provide economic gain.” (7/30)
Russia to Launch Three Rockets in August (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russia's space agency Roscosmos is planning to launch two satellites and a space freighter next month. The Express-AM4 satellite will be launched on August 18 on board a Proton-M carrier rocket from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan.
A Progress M-12M cargo spacecraft will be launched from Baikonur to the International Space Station on August 24 on board the Soyuz-U launch vehicle. A Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket will orbit a Glonass-M navigation satellite after the launch on August 25 from the Plesetsk Space Center in northern Russia. (7/30)
What Lies Inside Jupiter? (Source: NASA)
Jupiter's swirling clouds can be seen through any department store telescope. With no more effort than it takes to bend over an eyepiece, you can witness storm systems bigger than Earth navigating ruddy belts that stretch hundreds of thousands of kilometers around Jupiter's vast equator. It's fascinating. It's also vexing. According to many researchers, the really interesting things--from the roots of monster storms to stores of exotic matter--are located at depth. The clouds themselves hide the greatest mysteries from view.
NASA's Juno probe, scheduled to launch on August 5th, could change all that. The goal of the mission is to answer the question, What lies inside Jupiter? There are many basic things researchers would like to know—like how far down does the Great Red Spot go? How much water does Jupiter hold? And what is the exotic material near the planet's core? (7/30)
Vancouver Island: Future Spaceport? (Source: Canadian Press)
Whether Canada should have its own space-launch facility is a debate that's been making the rounds in the scientific and business communities for years without any progress being made. But that hasn't stopped Redouane Fakir as he develops a proposal to build the first-ever rocket launch site on Canada's west coast. His dream is to eventually make Vancouver Island Canada's future hub for space science and exploration — once he lines up the cash, local co-operation, and government approval.
The astrophysicist already has his eye on a site, even at this early stage: Estevan Point, an isolated peninsula halfway down the west coast of the island. Fakir says he wants to build a "parking-lot-sized" launch pad that would send Canadian space probes into a polar orbit. Fakir says the platform, which could also be used to send up scientific balloons, would not be busy all the time. (7/30)
Macdonald Dettwiler Says Revenue Could Turn Flat (Source: Reuters)
Macdonald Dettwiler and Associates, the Canadian satellite and data distribution company, reported a rise in quarterly profit on Friday and announced a share buy-back, but it warned of flat revenues next year. MDA, famous for creating the robotic arm used on NASA space shuttles, lost a major source of business with the withdrawal of Canadian troops from Afghanistan this year, while a Ukrainian communications satellite project has hit hurdles. (7/30)
Space: A New Frontier for Tech Lobbying (Source: Politico)
President Barack Obama’s élan for Elon Musk, the serial entrepreneur bent on launching private rockets into space cheaply, includes multiple personal visits, high praise and apparent reciprocation: Musk this year attended a $35,800-a-head Obama fundraiser and has filled other Democratic coffers with cash. But in the new post-space shuttle space race, it takes more than glad-handing with the president to get the lucrative civilian and military contracts involving both human and cargo transport.
Musk, who founded PayPal and Tesla Motors, is no pauper. His outfit, SpaceX — and other relative newcomers such as Blue Origin, Sierra Nevada Corp. and Orbital Sciences Corp., are all fighting to wrestle a greater share of riches from Boeing and Lockheed Martin, which are to space launches as the USS Enterprise is to “Star Trek” and still lord over all other firms when it comes to government contracts.
Since 2003, SpaceX’s lobbying expenditures have steadily increased each year, nearly reaching the $600,000 mark in 2010. Through June 30, the company has this year spent $320,000 lobbying federal entities from the Senate and Office of Management and Budget to NASA and the Air Force, putting it on pace to again exceed the previous year’s total. Musk has personally made more than $200,000 in campaign contributions to federal candidates and committees since the 2008 election cycle. Click here. (7/30)
PSLV Success, ISRO Still in Trouble (Source: People's Democracy)
ISRO’s PSLV rocket provided limited but effective capability within a certain range of applications including communications. PSLV has been used to launch a total of 44 satellites to date including 23 for other countries including academic, observational, remote sensing and student-project micro-satellite payloads.
But when it came to intensive communication requirements for round-the-clock services such as television including direct-to-home services and telephony, ISRO and India have had to depend largely on the launch capabilities of others especially the Russians and the Europeans from their launch pad in Kourou in French Guiana. (7/30)
UK Man to be First to Fly Tourists Into Space (Source: BBC)
A Wiltshire man is set to become the first pilot to fly tourists into space. David Mackay, 53, from Salisbury, is the chief pilot for Virgin Galactic. Mr. Mackay, who spent 16 years with the RAF before joining Virgin Atlantic in 1995, said he had held a lifelong ambition to become an astronaut.
Mr Mackay was one of four pilots selected to become Virgin Galactic test pilots. He went on to work with the development team at Virgin's Spaceport out in the Mojave Desert in California, where he made test flights in Virgin's WhiteKnightTwo "mothership". (7/30)
Atlas and Delta Rockets Arrive Together on Delta Ship (Source: Florida Today)
Another space first: The company that launches Atlas and Delta rockets delivered a combined shipment of both vehicles for the first time this week. The United Launch Alliance Delta Mariner sailed into port with the Atlas V that will launch NASA's $2.5 billion Mars Science Laboratory in November. The ship also carried the Delta IV rocket that will launch an Air Force communications satellite in December. (7/30)
New Webb Telescope Technologies Already Helping Human Eyes (Source: NASA)
Even while construction of the James Webb Space Telescope is underway on the most advanced infrared vision of any space observatory, its technologies are already proving useful to human eye health here on Earth. "The Webb telescope program has enabled a number of improvements in measurement technology for astronomy, mirror fabrication, and measurement of human eyes, diagnosis of ocular diseases and potentially improved surgery," said Dr. Dan Neal, Research Fellow at Abbott Medical Optics Inc. in Albuquerque, N.M. (7/29)
Is the Space Age Over Or Just Beginning? (Source: Huffington Post)
Just as the first robber barons helped open up the new frontier of the Old West, we may see a new generation of robber barons capitalizing on the opportunities of space. It was prefigured in science fiction, with Robert Heinlein's D.D. Harriman in The Man Who Sold the Moon over 60 years ago and, more recently, warp drive inventor Zefram Cochrane in the otherwise social democratic Star Trek: First Contact in 1996.
With a variety of private players, it promises to be a very interesting era. Though the accidents that plagued the early days of aviation could have even more devastating impacts in these still early days of space. Of course, had we chosen differently, we could have much more advanced results already. Once upon a time, we were to have gone to Mars by, well, a quarter century ago. But the Vietnam War was catastrophically expensive. (7/29)
China Makes it Two in a Week with Successful Launches (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
For the second time this week this week alone, China has launched a satellite – this time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. The Shi Jian 11-02 satellite was launch at 07:42UTC by a Long March 2C (Chang Zheng-2C) launch vehicle from the SLS-2 launch pad – as the Chinese prepare for a busy August. (7/29)
July 29, 2011
Virgin Galactic Appoints First Chief Financial Officer (Source: Virgin Galactic)
Virgin Galactic has appointed Kenneth H. Sunshine as its first Chief Financial Officer. In this newly created role, Sunshine will be responsible for managing the company’s financial strategy, driving growth and overseeing all finance and accounting functions as Virgin Galactic transitions from a development project to a commercially operational business. (7/29)
Rockwell Collins Reports 11% Increase in Quarterly Profit (Source: AIA)
Rockwell Collins reported an 11% jump in earnings to $158 million for its fiscal third quarter, compared with $142 million for the same period last year. The aircraft supplier missed analysts' expectations for the quarter and lowered its full-year sales outlook. However, the company's growth in commercial systems offset some of its losses in government systems, said CEO Clay Jones. (7/22)
Honeywell Quarterly Profit Soars (Source: AIA)
Honeywell International reported a 43% increase in quarterly profit, prompting the manufacturer to increase its full-year outlook. The company, which benefited from an increase in demand, posted a profit of $810 million for the second quarter. During the same quarter last year, Honeywell reported a $566 million profit. (7/22)
UTC Studies Sale of Rocket Assets (Source: Wall Street Journal)
United Technologies Corp. is considering a partial sale or other strategic option for its rocket-engine business, highlighting increased fragility of the U.S. space industrial base. Jim Maser, head of the company's Rocketdyne unit, said potential asset sales are under review as part of a broad internal assessment of the unit's competitive stance. No formal talks are under way with prospective bidders, and Rocketdyne, which is part of the Pratt & Whitney operations of United Technologies, also is mulling potential acquisitions or joint ventures. (7/25)
China, India and Iran Race to Explore Space as U.S. Withdraws (Source: AIA)
As the U.S. pulls back from its human-spaceflight program, foreign countries are engaged in a new space-exploration race. China, India and other nations are building rockets, satellites, research centers and lunar rovers. "The Chinese have major aspirations in space," said Marion Blakey, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. "It would be a terrible thing to watch their backs as they go into deep space while we are grounded." (7/25)
General Electric Reports 18% Jump in Quarterly Profit (Source: Bloomberg)
General Electric's finance unit helped the company post quarterly earnings that exceeded Wall Street estimates. GE reported $3.73 billion in profit from continuing operations for the second quarter, an 18% increase from the same quarter last year. "The source of earnings growth was really GE Capital, where profits more than doubled," said Matt Collins, an analyst at Edward Jones. "Industrial revenue growth actually slowed and profits declined, but if the healthy order growth continues, earnings should rebound in 2012 and beyond." (7/22)
Defense-Industry Employees Might Reconsider Career Track (Source: Washington Post)
Officials at the Department of Defense are encouraging defense contractors to reduce expenses, causing a ripple effect through the industry. Some companies have trimmed their workforces, prompting concerns that some of the most skilled workers in the industry might reconsider their options. "If you begin to see young talent with technical degrees going elsewhere, it's a genuine problem for our country from a national security standpoint and an economic standpoint," said Marion C. Blakey, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. (7/26)
Most Export-Control Changes Don't Need Congress, Official Says (Source: The Hill)
Michael Froman of the White House said that most of the Obama administration's proposed export-control changes could be enacted without congressional action. Froman, the deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, said that about 80% of the proposals could be put into place through "executive authority," but the administration has crafted legislation for some of the most important reforms. Remy Nathan, vice president of international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association, said the proposed changes would help clarify whether items are military or commercial. (7/26)
FAA Loses Millions Daily Because of Lawmakers' Deadlock (Source: Bloomberg)
Randy Babbitt, administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the agency is losing $30 million daily because lawmakers have failed to approve legislation reauthorizing the agency to collect taxes. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he isn't planning to bring an FAA extension bill to the Senate floor for a vote. He and other Senate Democrats oppose a measure that has been approved by the House because it would stop government support for flights to 13 airports in small towns. (7/25)
Use Taxpayer Dollars for America's Space Program -- Not Russia's (Source: AIA)
With the retirement of the historic space shuttle, the United States now runs the risk of becoming a supplicant: we will have no choice but to pay the Russians $60 million a seat to send a U.S. astronaut to the International Space Station. Instead of funding Russia's space program, it would seem to anyone with the long view that these taxpayer dollars would be better spent investing in new NASA programs for commercial space flight and Mars exploration. (7/26)
Celestis Taking Reservations for Next Earth Orbit Mission (Source: Celestis)
Our next Earth Orbit mission, The New Frontier Flight, is scheduled to occur in Q3/Q4 2011 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This will be our 11th memorial spaceflight. With over 300 participants already on board, space is very limited: At this point, we have less than a dozen available preferred positions remaining. The price for the preferred capsule service is $3,995.00. If you are considering memorializing your loved one on board this historic space mission, then we recommend you contact us ASAP to make a reservation. Click here. (7/22)
Embry-Riddle Offers Accident Investigation Short Courses (Source: ERAU)
Embry-Riddle's Professional Programs Office will host several five-day Center for Aerospace Safety/Security Education (CASE) short courses that combine the latest in safety, security, human factors, and aircraft accident investigation topics in a professional and dynamic classroom environment. Participants may elect to take courses independently or to complete three of the courses to receive a Certificate of Management in Aviation Safety. Click here. (7/26)
Igniting Innovation Showcase on Sep. 7 (Source: TRDA)
Join Space Florida and the Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA) for the Igniting Innovation Showcase in Port Canaveral, Florida on September 7, 2011. This full-day of business presentations and exhibitions will feature approximately 40 aerospace, aviation, biotech, life science, clean tech, defense, homeland security, information technology and telecommunications companies from across the state. Chosen from TRDA's Clean Tech Ventures and Capital Acceleration initiatives, these companies represent some of the most innovative and promising entrepreneurial firms. Click here. (7/27)
Unique Volcanic Complex Discovered on Lunar Far Side (Source: Space Daily)
Analysis of new images of a curious "hot spot" on the far side of the Moon reveal it to be a small volcanic province created by the upwelling of silicic magma. The unusual location of the province and the surprising composition of the lava that formed it offer tantalizing clues to the Moon's thermal history. (7/26)
Voyage to Vaccine Discovery Continues with Space Station Salmonella Study (Source: Space Daily)
Any scientist can tell you that research is a time-consuming pursuit. In fact, it can take decades to show results, as the knowledge compounds and inspires additional studies. This building of information is what led to the Recombinant Attenuated Salmonella Vaccine or RASV investigation, which launched to the International Space Station on July 8, 2011.
The investigation combines decades of expertise between two Arizona State University research teams. One team, led by Cheryl Nickerson, Ph.D. specializes in the use of the spaceflight platform to provide insight into how microbial pathogens cause infection and disease in the human body. The other team, led by Roy Curtiss III, Ph.D. focuses on the design and clinical testing of next generation vaccines to protect against diseases caused by pathogenic microbes. (7/29)
Why Tiangong is Not a Station Hub (Source: Space Daily)
There's been another round of inaccurate reporting in the Chinese media about China's Tiangong space laboratory. Stories have claimed that Tiangong 1, due to be launched within two months, is the cornerstone of a Chinese space station. This is not true.
Let's review the facts in brief. Tiangong 1 is a small space laboratory module with a single docking port. It will be launched before the end of September 2011. Later this year, we expect the unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft to dock with it. Shenzhou 8 will return to Earth after staying docked with the Tiangong 1 laboratory for less than a month.
Next year, we expect the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft to be launched to Tiangong 1. This time, there will be astronauts aboard. Tiangong is testing many of the technologies that China will need to build a space station. China has announced plans to build a large space station in the years ahead. But Tiangong 1 is not going to be a part of that space station. (7/29)
Raytheon's Quarterly Earnings More than Double (Wall Street Journal)
Raytheon raised its full-year earnings forecast as it reported $438 million in profit for the second quarter, more than double the company's profit for the same quarter last year. The defense contractor said its main missile-systems operation experienced weaker results, but they were offset by cost controls. The company has also looking at foreign customers as the U.S. cuts defense spending. (7/29)
Will Defense Contractors Get Paid if U.S. Government Shuts Down? (Source: USA Today)
The possibility of a U.S. government shutdown has left defense contractors wondering if -- and when -- they will get paid. Cord Sterling of the Aerospace Industries Association said the government would probably honor current contracts, but eschew signing new contracts. "But none of us knows. We've never been in this situation," he said. (7/28)
Blog: FAA Shutdown Sidelines NextGen Initiative (Source: Reason Online)
Blogger Robert Poole says the Federal Aviation Administration should make NextGen a priority once the agency receives funding. "I hope the current shutdown of FAA's NextGen modernization program serves as a wake-up call to airlines and the traveling public," he writes. "We desperately need to modernize our 1960s-era air traffic control system."
Editor's Note: Also affected by the FAA shutdown are workers in the Office of Commercial Space Transportation. (7/29)
Boeing's Profit Rises 20%, Northrop's Falls 27% in 2nd Quarter (Source: LA Times)
Aerospace giants Boeing and Northrop Grumman reported contrasting second-quarter financial results as each coped with a declining Pentagon appetite for weapons. Boeing, boosted on sales of its commercial jets, said its earnings climbed 20% in the quarter, while Northrop, which relies on the Pentagon for nearly all of its business, posted a 27% decline in profit.
Northrop said it earned $520 million, down from $740 million a year earlier.The company saw sales decline in all of its business units — technical services, aerospace, electronics and information systems. Its largest unit, aerospace systems, which makes fighter jets and robotic spy planes, experienced the biggest downturn, with sales falling 9% to $2.6 billion. (7/28)
EADS Profit Rises on Airbus Deliveries (Source: Bloomberg)
European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co., the parent of Airbus SAS, said profit in the first half rose 39 percent after higher plane deliveries outweighed lower revenue at the defense subsidiary. Earnings before interest and tax advanced to 563 million euros ($806 million) from 406 million euros a year earlier. (7/29)
China Launches Another Experimental Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched an experimental orbiter into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province on Friday, aboard a Long March II-C carrier rocket. The launch marked the 142nd flight for the Long March rocket family. (7/28)
Navy Drops Former Astronaut Nowak (Source: CNN)
A former astronaut accused of assaulting a romantic rival has been forced to retire from the Navy with an "other than honorable" discharge. Capt. Lisa Nowak's retirement is effective September 1. Her "conduct fell well short of that expected of senior officers in our Navy and demonstrated a complete disregard for the well-being of a fellow service member," Juan Garcia, the assistant secretary of the Navy, said in a statement. (7/29)
Other Nations Forge Ahead in Space While US Takes Break (Source: Engineering News)
The wider significance of Space Adventures' circumlunar tourist mission is that the Russians will be able to develop a lunar spacecraft at almost no cost to themselves. The initial tourist flight will almost certainly be followed by national Russian scientific missions. In due course, it is easy to imagine the second habitation module being replaced by a lunar landing module. And the Russians finally landing people on the Moon.
Meanwhile, back on earth, ESA continues its own slow but steady advance to independent crewed spaceflight capability, with a re-entry technology development program. Couple this with the agency’s tremendously successful robot freighter, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (which cannot re-enter the earth’s atmosphere) and ESA could have its own, four-person space capsule by 2020.
And, of course, the Chinese have already put three manned spacecraft into orbit so far, and are planning to launch a one-module space laboratory in the near future. China has, as yet, no manned lunar program, but is considering one. The space age is far from over, even if the Americans are taking time out. (7/29)
Job Fair for Jettisoned Shuttle Workers (Source: Executive Gov)
Federal agencies hosted a job fair Tuesday in Cape Canaveral, Fla. for job seekers looking for employment after the Space Shuttle program ended, Greenwire reports. NASA and the Office of Personnel Management hosted the job fair to help the nearly 5,500 employees at the Kennedy Space Center who have lost their jobs. (7/28)
Groups Rally to Create Second Life for Space Contractors (Source: Houston Business Journal)
The Houston Technology Center is opening a new office near NASA’s Johnson Space Center to support the redeployment of JSC contractors whose jobs were on the chopping block as a result of the space shuttle program winding down. The center’s goal is to not only help transition some of the 4,000 people estimated to lose jobs, but to establish new business in the process. (7/29)
SpaceX Eyes November 30 Cargo Launch to Station (Source: Reuters)
SpaceX, a privately owned firm developing a space taxi with U.S.-government backing, plans to launch its second test capsule on November 30 and send it all the way to the International Space Station. SpaceX leveraged $300 million of NASA funds with $500 million from investors, including founder and chief executive Elon Musk, to develop the Falcon family of rockets, multipurpose Dragon capsules, manufacturing and test sites, and launch facilities in Florida and at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. (7/28)
Senators Subpoena Rocket Documents From NASA (Source: Aviation Week)
The chairman and ranking Republican of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee have made good on their threat to subpoena documents related to NASA’s selection of a design for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS), setting up a showdown over the agency’s pace in meeting a congressional order.
The subpoena from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), the panel chair, and ranking minority member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) went to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on July 27, after the committee and its staff apparently were unsatisfied with NASA’s progress in meeting the 2010 NASA Authorization Act’s call for a heavy-lift launch vehicle.
The design was due in January, and the panel has been threatening a rare subpoena for information for more than a month. “As the Senate committee responsible for developing NASA’s policies and authorizing its expenditures, we also have the duty to make sure that NASA is spending taxpayers’ dollars in accordance with the law,” Rockefeller and Hutchison wrote to Bolden in June. (7/29)
Virgin Taking a Break From Test Flights (Source: Space.com)
The space tourism company Virgin Galactic is taking a summer break from testing its suborbital rocket plane – a hiatus in preparation for the next stage of demonstration flights. Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo launch system entered a quiet period of data assessment after a campaign of piloted glide tests, including a midair evaluation of the craft’s unique re-entry technology.
Technicians at the Mojave Air and Space Port from Scaled Composites, the designers and builders of the system, will apply lessons learned from the SpaceShipTwo glide flights as they prepare for the next phase of testing, George Whitesides, chief executive and president of Virgin Galactic, said. (7/29)
Physicists Weigh Antimatter with Amazing Accuracy (Source: Space.com)
A new measurement provides the most accurate weight yet of antimatter, revealing the mass of the antiproton (the proton's antiparticle) down to one part in a billion. To give a sense of just how accurate their measurement was, researcher Masaki Hori said: "Imagine measuring the weight of the Eiffel Tower. The accuracy we've achieved here is roughly equivalent to making that measurement to within less than the weight of a sparrow perched on top. Next time it will be a feather."
The result, detailed this week in the journal Nature, may help scientists investigate the mystery of why the universe is made of regular matter even though they suspect roughly equal parts of matter and antimatter were around just after the universe formed. When a particle, such as a proton, meets with its antimatter partner, the antiproton, the two annihilate each other in a powerful explosion. (7/29)
ISS Set for Science Surge (Source: Flight Global)
With the wheels barely cool after the final touchdown of the Space Shuttle program, member space agencies of the International Space Station's Multilateral Coordination Board met to discuss the future of the orbiting laboratory - which could soon take on a new role as a testbed for ambitious manned or unmanned missions into deeper space.
Missions to Mars or an asteroid or to establish lunar bases, are expected to depend on technologies and in-space working techniques that would be developed on the ISS. The Board, which meets periodically to co-ordinate ISS activities with senior representatives from the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, a Japanese ministry, NASA and Russia's Roscosmos, discussed the requirements of various possible missions. (7/29)
Commercial Space Sector Boost Expected (Source: Insurance Daily)
The end of the US space shuttle program could boost the commercial space sector, providing extra business for insurers, according to Simon Clapham, space underwriter at Liberty Syndicates. Few space shuttle payloads have been insured since the Challenger disaster in 1986, after which commercial cargo was no longer transported on the shuttle.
However, Lloyd’s underwriters have already written insurance for so called space tourists traveling to the International Space Station onboard the Soyuz spacecraft, and new operators in the sector, such as SpaceX, the launch vehicle developer, need insurance.
Hiscox space underwriter, Denis Bensoussan, comments that work is currently underway with brokers and commercial ventures to develop insurance solutions for launch vehicles, cargo, crew and individual passengers on commercial space flights. (7/28)
Florida Teacher Sees End of Shuttle as an Opportunity (Source: WFLA)
Spend any time at all in Lori Bradner's science classroom at the Central Florida Aerospace Academy, and it's pretty clear she has a passion for the space program. "If they open up the astronaut corps I'm going to apply," Bradner said. She's already had some incredible opportunities with NASA, like her trip to Space Camp for educators in Huntsville, Ala., and her recent trip on the agency's Zero-Gravity Plane.
"I got to fly in reduced gravity, in zero G, which was phenomenal," she said. There was also the satellite uplink with the International Space Station, which she scored for her students back in January. "Our students got to talk to the astronauts. It was fabulous." Those experiences and a lifetime spent saturated in all things space makes the end of the shuttle program especially poignant for Bradner. (7/22)
Virgin Galactic has appointed Kenneth H. Sunshine as its first Chief Financial Officer. In this newly created role, Sunshine will be responsible for managing the company’s financial strategy, driving growth and overseeing all finance and accounting functions as Virgin Galactic transitions from a development project to a commercially operational business. (7/29)
Rockwell Collins Reports 11% Increase in Quarterly Profit (Source: AIA)
Rockwell Collins reported an 11% jump in earnings to $158 million for its fiscal third quarter, compared with $142 million for the same period last year. The aircraft supplier missed analysts' expectations for the quarter and lowered its full-year sales outlook. However, the company's growth in commercial systems offset some of its losses in government systems, said CEO Clay Jones. (7/22)
Honeywell Quarterly Profit Soars (Source: AIA)
Honeywell International reported a 43% increase in quarterly profit, prompting the manufacturer to increase its full-year outlook. The company, which benefited from an increase in demand, posted a profit of $810 million for the second quarter. During the same quarter last year, Honeywell reported a $566 million profit. (7/22)
UTC Studies Sale of Rocket Assets (Source: Wall Street Journal)
United Technologies Corp. is considering a partial sale or other strategic option for its rocket-engine business, highlighting increased fragility of the U.S. space industrial base. Jim Maser, head of the company's Rocketdyne unit, said potential asset sales are under review as part of a broad internal assessment of the unit's competitive stance. No formal talks are under way with prospective bidders, and Rocketdyne, which is part of the Pratt & Whitney operations of United Technologies, also is mulling potential acquisitions or joint ventures. (7/25)
China, India and Iran Race to Explore Space as U.S. Withdraws (Source: AIA)
As the U.S. pulls back from its human-spaceflight program, foreign countries are engaged in a new space-exploration race. China, India and other nations are building rockets, satellites, research centers and lunar rovers. "The Chinese have major aspirations in space," said Marion Blakey, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. "It would be a terrible thing to watch their backs as they go into deep space while we are grounded." (7/25)
General Electric Reports 18% Jump in Quarterly Profit (Source: Bloomberg)
General Electric's finance unit helped the company post quarterly earnings that exceeded Wall Street estimates. GE reported $3.73 billion in profit from continuing operations for the second quarter, an 18% increase from the same quarter last year. "The source of earnings growth was really GE Capital, where profits more than doubled," said Matt Collins, an analyst at Edward Jones. "Industrial revenue growth actually slowed and profits declined, but if the healthy order growth continues, earnings should rebound in 2012 and beyond." (7/22)
Defense-Industry Employees Might Reconsider Career Track (Source: Washington Post)
Officials at the Department of Defense are encouraging defense contractors to reduce expenses, causing a ripple effect through the industry. Some companies have trimmed their workforces, prompting concerns that some of the most skilled workers in the industry might reconsider their options. "If you begin to see young talent with technical degrees going elsewhere, it's a genuine problem for our country from a national security standpoint and an economic standpoint," said Marion C. Blakey, president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. (7/26)
Most Export-Control Changes Don't Need Congress, Official Says (Source: The Hill)
Michael Froman of the White House said that most of the Obama administration's proposed export-control changes could be enacted without congressional action. Froman, the deputy national security adviser for international economic affairs, said that about 80% of the proposals could be put into place through "executive authority," but the administration has crafted legislation for some of the most important reforms. Remy Nathan, vice president of international affairs at the Aerospace Industries Association, said the proposed changes would help clarify whether items are military or commercial. (7/26)
FAA Loses Millions Daily Because of Lawmakers' Deadlock (Source: Bloomberg)
Randy Babbitt, administrator for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the agency is losing $30 million daily because lawmakers have failed to approve legislation reauthorizing the agency to collect taxes. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he isn't planning to bring an FAA extension bill to the Senate floor for a vote. He and other Senate Democrats oppose a measure that has been approved by the House because it would stop government support for flights to 13 airports in small towns. (7/25)
Use Taxpayer Dollars for America's Space Program -- Not Russia's (Source: AIA)
With the retirement of the historic space shuttle, the United States now runs the risk of becoming a supplicant: we will have no choice but to pay the Russians $60 million a seat to send a U.S. astronaut to the International Space Station. Instead of funding Russia's space program, it would seem to anyone with the long view that these taxpayer dollars would be better spent investing in new NASA programs for commercial space flight and Mars exploration. (7/26)
Celestis Taking Reservations for Next Earth Orbit Mission (Source: Celestis)
Our next Earth Orbit mission, The New Frontier Flight, is scheduled to occur in Q3/Q4 2011 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. This will be our 11th memorial spaceflight. With over 300 participants already on board, space is very limited: At this point, we have less than a dozen available preferred positions remaining. The price for the preferred capsule service is $3,995.00. If you are considering memorializing your loved one on board this historic space mission, then we recommend you contact us ASAP to make a reservation. Click here. (7/22)
Embry-Riddle Offers Accident Investigation Short Courses (Source: ERAU)
Embry-Riddle's Professional Programs Office will host several five-day Center for Aerospace Safety/Security Education (CASE) short courses that combine the latest in safety, security, human factors, and aircraft accident investigation topics in a professional and dynamic classroom environment. Participants may elect to take courses independently or to complete three of the courses to receive a Certificate of Management in Aviation Safety. Click here. (7/26)
Igniting Innovation Showcase on Sep. 7 (Source: TRDA)
Join Space Florida and the Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA) for the Igniting Innovation Showcase in Port Canaveral, Florida on September 7, 2011. This full-day of business presentations and exhibitions will feature approximately 40 aerospace, aviation, biotech, life science, clean tech, defense, homeland security, information technology and telecommunications companies from across the state. Chosen from TRDA's Clean Tech Ventures and Capital Acceleration initiatives, these companies represent some of the most innovative and promising entrepreneurial firms. Click here. (7/27)
Unique Volcanic Complex Discovered on Lunar Far Side (Source: Space Daily)
Analysis of new images of a curious "hot spot" on the far side of the Moon reveal it to be a small volcanic province created by the upwelling of silicic magma. The unusual location of the province and the surprising composition of the lava that formed it offer tantalizing clues to the Moon's thermal history. (7/26)
Voyage to Vaccine Discovery Continues with Space Station Salmonella Study (Source: Space Daily)
Any scientist can tell you that research is a time-consuming pursuit. In fact, it can take decades to show results, as the knowledge compounds and inspires additional studies. This building of information is what led to the Recombinant Attenuated Salmonella Vaccine or RASV investigation, which launched to the International Space Station on July 8, 2011.
The investigation combines decades of expertise between two Arizona State University research teams. One team, led by Cheryl Nickerson, Ph.D. specializes in the use of the spaceflight platform to provide insight into how microbial pathogens cause infection and disease in the human body. The other team, led by Roy Curtiss III, Ph.D. focuses on the design and clinical testing of next generation vaccines to protect against diseases caused by pathogenic microbes. (7/29)
Why Tiangong is Not a Station Hub (Source: Space Daily)
There's been another round of inaccurate reporting in the Chinese media about China's Tiangong space laboratory. Stories have claimed that Tiangong 1, due to be launched within two months, is the cornerstone of a Chinese space station. This is not true.
Let's review the facts in brief. Tiangong 1 is a small space laboratory module with a single docking port. It will be launched before the end of September 2011. Later this year, we expect the unmanned Shenzhou 8 spacecraft to dock with it. Shenzhou 8 will return to Earth after staying docked with the Tiangong 1 laboratory for less than a month.
Next year, we expect the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft to be launched to Tiangong 1. This time, there will be astronauts aboard. Tiangong is testing many of the technologies that China will need to build a space station. China has announced plans to build a large space station in the years ahead. But Tiangong 1 is not going to be a part of that space station. (7/29)
Raytheon's Quarterly Earnings More than Double (Wall Street Journal)
Raytheon raised its full-year earnings forecast as it reported $438 million in profit for the second quarter, more than double the company's profit for the same quarter last year. The defense contractor said its main missile-systems operation experienced weaker results, but they were offset by cost controls. The company has also looking at foreign customers as the U.S. cuts defense spending. (7/29)
Will Defense Contractors Get Paid if U.S. Government Shuts Down? (Source: USA Today)
The possibility of a U.S. government shutdown has left defense contractors wondering if -- and when -- they will get paid. Cord Sterling of the Aerospace Industries Association said the government would probably honor current contracts, but eschew signing new contracts. "But none of us knows. We've never been in this situation," he said. (7/28)
Blog: FAA Shutdown Sidelines NextGen Initiative (Source: Reason Online)
Blogger Robert Poole says the Federal Aviation Administration should make NextGen a priority once the agency receives funding. "I hope the current shutdown of FAA's NextGen modernization program serves as a wake-up call to airlines and the traveling public," he writes. "We desperately need to modernize our 1960s-era air traffic control system."
Editor's Note: Also affected by the FAA shutdown are workers in the Office of Commercial Space Transportation. (7/29)
Boeing's Profit Rises 20%, Northrop's Falls 27% in 2nd Quarter (Source: LA Times)
Aerospace giants Boeing and Northrop Grumman reported contrasting second-quarter financial results as each coped with a declining Pentagon appetite for weapons. Boeing, boosted on sales of its commercial jets, said its earnings climbed 20% in the quarter, while Northrop, which relies on the Pentagon for nearly all of its business, posted a 27% decline in profit.
Northrop said it earned $520 million, down from $740 million a year earlier.The company saw sales decline in all of its business units — technical services, aerospace, electronics and information systems. Its largest unit, aerospace systems, which makes fighter jets and robotic spy planes, experienced the biggest downturn, with sales falling 9% to $2.6 billion. (7/28)
EADS Profit Rises on Airbus Deliveries (Source: Bloomberg)
European Aeronautic, Defense & Space Co., the parent of Airbus SAS, said profit in the first half rose 39 percent after higher plane deliveries outweighed lower revenue at the defense subsidiary. Earnings before interest and tax advanced to 563 million euros ($806 million) from 406 million euros a year earlier. (7/29)
China Launches Another Experimental Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China launched an experimental orbiter into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gansu Province on Friday, aboard a Long March II-C carrier rocket. The launch marked the 142nd flight for the Long March rocket family. (7/28)
Navy Drops Former Astronaut Nowak (Source: CNN)
A former astronaut accused of assaulting a romantic rival has been forced to retire from the Navy with an "other than honorable" discharge. Capt. Lisa Nowak's retirement is effective September 1. Her "conduct fell well short of that expected of senior officers in our Navy and demonstrated a complete disregard for the well-being of a fellow service member," Juan Garcia, the assistant secretary of the Navy, said in a statement. (7/29)
Other Nations Forge Ahead in Space While US Takes Break (Source: Engineering News)
The wider significance of Space Adventures' circumlunar tourist mission is that the Russians will be able to develop a lunar spacecraft at almost no cost to themselves. The initial tourist flight will almost certainly be followed by national Russian scientific missions. In due course, it is easy to imagine the second habitation module being replaced by a lunar landing module. And the Russians finally landing people on the Moon.
Meanwhile, back on earth, ESA continues its own slow but steady advance to independent crewed spaceflight capability, with a re-entry technology development program. Couple this with the agency’s tremendously successful robot freighter, the Automated Transfer Vehicle (which cannot re-enter the earth’s atmosphere) and ESA could have its own, four-person space capsule by 2020.
And, of course, the Chinese have already put three manned spacecraft into orbit so far, and are planning to launch a one-module space laboratory in the near future. China has, as yet, no manned lunar program, but is considering one. The space age is far from over, even if the Americans are taking time out. (7/29)
Job Fair for Jettisoned Shuttle Workers (Source: Executive Gov)
Federal agencies hosted a job fair Tuesday in Cape Canaveral, Fla. for job seekers looking for employment after the Space Shuttle program ended, Greenwire reports. NASA and the Office of Personnel Management hosted the job fair to help the nearly 5,500 employees at the Kennedy Space Center who have lost their jobs. (7/28)
Groups Rally to Create Second Life for Space Contractors (Source: Houston Business Journal)
The Houston Technology Center is opening a new office near NASA’s Johnson Space Center to support the redeployment of JSC contractors whose jobs were on the chopping block as a result of the space shuttle program winding down. The center’s goal is to not only help transition some of the 4,000 people estimated to lose jobs, but to establish new business in the process. (7/29)
SpaceX Eyes November 30 Cargo Launch to Station (Source: Reuters)
SpaceX, a privately owned firm developing a space taxi with U.S.-government backing, plans to launch its second test capsule on November 30 and send it all the way to the International Space Station. SpaceX leveraged $300 million of NASA funds with $500 million from investors, including founder and chief executive Elon Musk, to develop the Falcon family of rockets, multipurpose Dragon capsules, manufacturing and test sites, and launch facilities in Florida and at Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. (7/28)
Senators Subpoena Rocket Documents From NASA (Source: Aviation Week)
The chairman and ranking Republican of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee have made good on their threat to subpoena documents related to NASA’s selection of a design for the heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS), setting up a showdown over the agency’s pace in meeting a congressional order.
The subpoena from Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), the panel chair, and ranking minority member Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) went to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden on July 27, after the committee and its staff apparently were unsatisfied with NASA’s progress in meeting the 2010 NASA Authorization Act’s call for a heavy-lift launch vehicle.
The design was due in January, and the panel has been threatening a rare subpoena for information for more than a month. “As the Senate committee responsible for developing NASA’s policies and authorizing its expenditures, we also have the duty to make sure that NASA is spending taxpayers’ dollars in accordance with the law,” Rockefeller and Hutchison wrote to Bolden in June. (7/29)
Virgin Taking a Break From Test Flights (Source: Space.com)
The space tourism company Virgin Galactic is taking a summer break from testing its suborbital rocket plane – a hiatus in preparation for the next stage of demonstration flights. Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo launch system entered a quiet period of data assessment after a campaign of piloted glide tests, including a midair evaluation of the craft’s unique re-entry technology.
Technicians at the Mojave Air and Space Port from Scaled Composites, the designers and builders of the system, will apply lessons learned from the SpaceShipTwo glide flights as they prepare for the next phase of testing, George Whitesides, chief executive and president of Virgin Galactic, said. (7/29)
Physicists Weigh Antimatter with Amazing Accuracy (Source: Space.com)
A new measurement provides the most accurate weight yet of antimatter, revealing the mass of the antiproton (the proton's antiparticle) down to one part in a billion. To give a sense of just how accurate their measurement was, researcher Masaki Hori said: "Imagine measuring the weight of the Eiffel Tower. The accuracy we've achieved here is roughly equivalent to making that measurement to within less than the weight of a sparrow perched on top. Next time it will be a feather."
The result, detailed this week in the journal Nature, may help scientists investigate the mystery of why the universe is made of regular matter even though they suspect roughly equal parts of matter and antimatter were around just after the universe formed. When a particle, such as a proton, meets with its antimatter partner, the antiproton, the two annihilate each other in a powerful explosion. (7/29)
ISS Set for Science Surge (Source: Flight Global)
With the wheels barely cool after the final touchdown of the Space Shuttle program, member space agencies of the International Space Station's Multilateral Coordination Board met to discuss the future of the orbiting laboratory - which could soon take on a new role as a testbed for ambitious manned or unmanned missions into deeper space.
Missions to Mars or an asteroid or to establish lunar bases, are expected to depend on technologies and in-space working techniques that would be developed on the ISS. The Board, which meets periodically to co-ordinate ISS activities with senior representatives from the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, a Japanese ministry, NASA and Russia's Roscosmos, discussed the requirements of various possible missions. (7/29)
Commercial Space Sector Boost Expected (Source: Insurance Daily)
The end of the US space shuttle program could boost the commercial space sector, providing extra business for insurers, according to Simon Clapham, space underwriter at Liberty Syndicates. Few space shuttle payloads have been insured since the Challenger disaster in 1986, after which commercial cargo was no longer transported on the shuttle.
However, Lloyd’s underwriters have already written insurance for so called space tourists traveling to the International Space Station onboard the Soyuz spacecraft, and new operators in the sector, such as SpaceX, the launch vehicle developer, need insurance.
Hiscox space underwriter, Denis Bensoussan, comments that work is currently underway with brokers and commercial ventures to develop insurance solutions for launch vehicles, cargo, crew and individual passengers on commercial space flights. (7/28)
Florida Teacher Sees End of Shuttle as an Opportunity (Source: WFLA)
Spend any time at all in Lori Bradner's science classroom at the Central Florida Aerospace Academy, and it's pretty clear she has a passion for the space program. "If they open up the astronaut corps I'm going to apply," Bradner said. She's already had some incredible opportunities with NASA, like her trip to Space Camp for educators in Huntsville, Ala., and her recent trip on the agency's Zero-Gravity Plane.
"I got to fly in reduced gravity, in zero G, which was phenomenal," she said. There was also the satellite uplink with the International Space Station, which she scored for her students back in January. "Our students got to talk to the astronauts. It was fabulous." Those experiences and a lifetime spent saturated in all things space makes the end of the shuttle program especially poignant for Bradner. (7/22)
July 28, 2011
NASTAR Center Completes Fifth Suborbital Scientist Training (Source: NASTAR)
The NASTAR Center, the premier commercial aerospace training and research center in the world, completed another Suborbital Scientist Training Course for private astronauts that will conduct commercial space research missions on suborbital spaceflights. The fifth Suborbital Scientist class (SS Class #5) included 10 individuals, eight of which were Astronauts4Hire members interested in taking commercial payloads into space as a service for researchers. All participants successfully completed the training program. (7/21)
Rick Perry Blasts Obama for NASA Cuts, Forcing Americans to “Hitchhike in Space” (Source: Houston Chronicle)
An era of human space exploration has come to its end — and a new frontier in presidential politics has dawned. Texas Gov. Rick Perry blasted President Obama for shutting down the nation’s “legacy of leadership” — a move he claims will leave ”American astronauts with no alternative but to hitchhike in space.”
The governor (and potential presidential candidate) also accused the Obama administration of leading “federal agencies and programs astray, this time forcing NASA away from its original purpose of space exploration, and ignoring its groundbreaking past and enormous future potential.” Perry also noted that about 4,000 contract positions at JSC will be lost due to the end of the program. (He did not mention that the end of the shuttle program was set into motion during the presidential administration of his predecessor as Texas governor, George W. Bush.)
The issue of NASA job cuts is resonant in the three hardest-hit states: Florida, Texas and Alabama. But while Texas and Alabama are all-but-certain to vote Republican in 2012, Florida is a key swing state. Perry’s savage critique of Obama’s vision for NASA could serve two political purposes: Reinforcing a popular position at home and creating problems for the president with Florida voters. (7/22)
Mars Rover to Launch from Cape Canaveral, Comb Massive Crater (Source: Florida Today)
A Martian crater that may once have held water will be NASA's next target for exploration on the red planet when the Curiosity rover lands there in a year. The Gale crater was the winner among four possible landing sites because the layered terrain reminded scientists of the Southwestern United States. "This kind of terrain around here reminds us a lot of Sedona, Ariz.," said John Grotzinger, the mission's project scientist at the California Institute of Technology. "There is a lot of rock -- hundreds of meters of it, layer after layer -- that we can study to tell us the history of Mars and Gale crater." (7/22)
The Shuttle is Dead; Long Live the Politics (Source: Discovery)
If you were to listen to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, you'd think there's a super-secret replacement spaceship ready to be rolled out to the launch pad. But how bright is the future for human spaceflight, really? Internationally, human spaceflight is the buzzword for technological prowess. Sadly, for NASA, it's become a political punch bag.
Perhaps it's to be expected that the former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin is at odds with Bolden's enthusiasm: "When you push aside all the puffery and high-flying political announcements, with the landing of Atlantis, the human spaceflight program of the US will come to an end for the indefinite future," Griffin told the BBC on Thursday.
How can two administrators, from two different administrations, have polar-opposite opinions on NASA's human spaceflight program? Is it purely political? Or is there a genuine confusion as to where NASA is going? One thing's for certain, for the thousands of highly skilled space shuttle workers who are now without jobs, the future is anything but rosy. Click here to read the article. (7/22)
Wonky Gyro Grounds Private Moon Lander (Source: MIT Technology Review)
The champagne was poured, and rocket-shaped cookies handed out to an audience of investors, space engineers, and journalists assembled at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. Yet a technical problem grounded the commercial moon lander being celebrated, post-poning the first public test flight of a non-government Moon craft.
The lander belongs to Moon Express, a year-old startup bidding to win the Google Lunar X Prize that will award prizes totaling $30 million to privately funded spacecraft that reach the lunar surface before the end of 2015. One of the lander's gyroscopes failed and had to be replaced by a component from another company. But the replacement worked slightly differently, convincing the lander it was spinning in the opposite direction to its true rotation. Previous flights have taken place successfully behind closed doors. (7/23)
NASA Layoffs Hit 2,000 Workers Day After Atlantis Landing (Source: First Coast News)
An estimated 2,000 NASA workers were laid off Friday, one day after space shuttle Atlantis landed ending the program. The news was expected, but will devastate the Space Coast economy, from housing to employment. It's an region where the space industry is connected to all parts; the area code here is 3-2-1, a nod to the famous countdown clock.
"The space shuttle is just now maturing to where it's a great flight vehicle. And what are we doing with it? We're scrapping it. We're turning it into a museum," said Steve Bishop, a former NASA worker. At NASA, employees got their pink slips throughout the day. "It's very uncertain with so many people leaving," said fired worker Freddy Maldonado. (7/22)
Russians: 'It's Our Space Age Now' (Source: MSNBC)
Russian space officials are hailing the end of the space shuttle era as the beginning of the "Soyuz epoch." For at least the next few years, Russian Soyuz craft will serve as the only way to get back and forth from the International Space Station, and NASA will be paying up to $63 million a seat for the ride. Russian cosmonauts will also make up half of the space station's crews from here on out, even though NASA has paid most of the estimated $100 billion cost of construction. (7/22)
NASA Heavy Lift Rocket Plan Emerging (Source: Space Politics)
NASASpaceFlight.com reported on a draft manifest for the Space Launch System (SLS) under a “budget restricted” scenario. According to that document, the first SLS launch would take place in 2017 and send an uncrewed Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) on a circumlunar trajectory. The next SLS mission would not take place until 2021, and carry a crewed Orion on the same type of mission. Those initial SLS missions would use the initial SLS configuration with shuttle-derived components. The “evolved” SLS, with a capacity of 130 metric tons to LEO, would not debut until 2032. (7/28)
Remind Me Again, Why Isn't Pluto a Planet? (Source: Discovery)
Last week, news broke that a team of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope had discovered a new moon in orbit around Pluto. They were actually looking for signs of a ring system when they stumbled across another tiny object -- now imaginatively called "P4" -- bringing Pluto's moon count to four. What I hadn't anticipated was a deluge of messages asking me if this means Pluto is now a planet again.
Well, the answer is a resounding no. It is still, and always will be, a dwarf planet. But what rules have we applied to Pluto to forever condemn it to the back seats of the solar system rankings? Before we look at the well established rules of planetary terminology, it's worth remembering why we even need such a definition. Click here to read the article. (7/26)
The Future of Russia’s Space Industry (Source: Russia & India Report)
After the successful rocket launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, the head of Russia’s Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Vladimir Popovkin, shared with reporters his vision of the future of Russia’s rocket and space industry. “We are working to attract private business to the space industry,” said Popovkin. “Perhaps, a number of enterprises will be re-established as a private-public partnership.” He did not go into detail about the reform, explaining that the concept is not yet fully developed.
“The idea was that because the government is investing significant funds in space projects, it is necessary to create conditions for the private sector’s involvement,” said Izvestia’s source. “As an example, he had cited projects for the creation of the GLONASS system and the Vostochny Cosmodrome: we are talking about state investment in these projects in the amount of dozens of billions of rubles a year."
While speaking of promising projects, Popovkin had cited a flight to Mars as an example which, according to the head of Roscosmos, could also be funded by large private business. The idea to interest the private business sector in large-scale space projects is actively being promoted by NASA. However, the main focus of the NASA leadership slightly differs as it suggests that the state will cease funding large-scale space projects altogether, allowing private companies to execute them instead. (7/26)
Outfitting the Next Mars Rover (Source: WIRED)
A rock-vaporizing laser. Miniaturized chemical analyzers. A flying crane. As NASA prepares to launch the Mars Science Laboratory, a rover that will “follow the water” and pursue potential signs of life on Mars, international teams are tricking it out with a new set of scientific instruments that can analyze data in real time as the rover moves across the surface.
Since future NASA funding is up in the air and the rest of the planetary science community is arguing that other targets in the solar system are long overdue, MSL may be the agency’s last chance for several years to get wheels back on the rocky red ground. It’s a $2.5 billion gamble that aims to redefine our understanding of habitability in the universe. So engineers are making sure MSL has the right tools for the job. (7/26)
Editorial: Bill Nelson, NASA's Coulda-Been Hero Who Wasn't (Source: Sunshine State News)
So, four hours after the Atlantis astronauts land, Sen. Bill Nelson sends out a big, weepy "Help me pay tribute" plea. You could almost feel his lip quiver... Oh, please. Isn't this all coming a tad late, Senator? Seems to me we "owe" our space shuttle workers more than a smarmy group kiss led by Candidate Disappointment panning for votes.
The one Floridian close enough to the president of the United States to have kept NASA and the Kennedy Space Center in the president's face and maybe, just maybe, could have persuaded him to rethink his decision ... somehow managed to do just enough yet not enough. Just enough to convince some on the Space Coast he was working to save their jobs. Not enough to sacrifice his president's warm embrace or the pipeline to national-party cash. That's Sen. Bill Nelson.
Anywhere from 10,000 to 25,000 Florida jobs will evaporate because we're no longer looking to set up science labs on the Moon, we're going to Mars. And by the time we get there, most of the jobs that send up the rockets will have gone to other states. There was a time when I thought this senator was going to come through. A year ago he and Sen. Hutchison of Texas supported Sen. Rockefeller's bill to pump more money into the space program and keep the Space Station open until 2020. But that was it. That was his whole offense. He was shooting a cap pistol when he needed an Uzi. (7/22)
Could the Moon Provide Clean Energy for Earth? (Source: CNN)
Gerald Kulcinski has a big problem. The nuclear engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin needs a rare element to fuel his research into a fusion reactor. But the cost of the isotope -- helium-3 -- is rising faster than a rocket headed to space. A few years ago it was $1,000 a gram, this year it is $7,000 and next year, well, he assumes it will be tens of thousands of dollars. There are only about 30 kilograms of 3He on Earth, Kulcinski said.
The Kulcinski team's approach toward creating fusion is unique. Ninety-nine percent of research is geared toward using deuterium and tritium together. But using helium-3 instead of tritium would be much safer and drastically cut the chance of nuclear weapons proliferation. If 3He-3He fusion works, there would be no radioactive waste. A breakthrough would be huge, but the team needs more years and more helium-3.
The thing is that there are tons of helium-3 -- on the moon. About 1 million tons, Kulcinski said, adding that we also have a pretty good idea as to where the 3He is on the moon. We would know precisely how many trillions of dollars of the stuff is there if someone goes back to the moon and establishes a base there. "A few years ago we thought we were going back soon but that's all changed now," he said. (7/22)
Florida Space Workers Face Few Job Prospects With End of Shuttle Program (Source: Bloomberg)
About 9,000 people living near the Kennedy Space Center who work for NASA contractors will lose their jobs, Denise Beasley, a spokeswoman for Brevard Workforce, a county agency that helps space employees find new positions, said. That leaves five graduates of the class of 1975 at Astronaut High School in Titusville, 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the space center, with few prospects, they said at a Cracker Barrel restaurant on the eve of Atlantis’s touchdown.
“We’re all 54 years old, and we should be able to relax, and instead we’re all starting over,” said Tish Lawing. Her husband works for a company that helps remove shuttle waste and her father worked in the space center’s launch-control center. “This is going to be a ghost town.” Declines in home prices, already slumping with the national real-estate collapse, will be “exacerbated” by the shuttle’s end. Titusville-area prices have fallen 47 percent over the past five years, more than the U.S.’s 18 percent decline and Florida’s 45 percent drop, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. (7/21)
One Percent for NASA (Source: Petosky News)
NASA is turning over low Earth orbit to private companies, but it will be at least five years before the private sector puts people in space. Meanwhile, Russia will ferry our astronauts to space for $63 million per person using 1960s technology. Who really won the space race? The United States won, and we are still ahead, but we keep lurching in one direction, then another. We start a program, cancel it, start another. We have no clear definition of where we are going or how to get there.
In an eloquent commentary about the upcoming end of the shuttle program, NPR’s Scott Simon noted NASA’s $19 billion budget is about 0.5 percent of all federal spending. (It was nine times that — 4.4 percent — in the mid-1960s). “Would it be so out of whack, as some space enthusiasts suggest, for the United States to double what’s spent on space to, say, 1 percent of the federal budget?” Simon asked. “To plot a course for Mars, one of Jupiter’s moons or an asteroid, and inspire a new generation?” (7/26)
GAO: Blocked Fuel Line Hampered Military Satellite (Source: AP)
A small piece of cloth stuck in a fuel line may be the reason a military communications satellite hasn't reached its planned orbit since it was launched in August, government auditors said Thursday. The Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite is still expected to reach its intended altitude, but not until October, nearly a year late. The Air Force Space Command and the contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp., devised a work-around plan to get the satellite to its intended altitude.
A Government Accounting Office report said the blocked fuel line was most likely caused by a piece of cloth inadvertently left in the line during the manufacturing process. The GAO report said the total cost of the satellite system is $12.9 billion and that it incurred $250 million in extra costs and a two-year delay because of quality problems with parts, including defective electronics in a power system. (7/21)
Father of 321 Says Space Coast Area Code Still Rings True (Source: Florida Today)
Robert "Ozzie" Osband says Brevard's 321 area code is still appropriate. "We will still be the countdown capital of the world," said the person most credited with pushing the Florida Public Service Commission to designate 321 as the Space Coast's area code, in a tribute to the space program's countdown to liftoff.
The 321 replaced 407 locally at a time when an increase in landline phone, mobile phones and fax lines in Central Florida necessitated a new area code. The change started to take effect in 1999. He is quick to note that, even with the end of the shuttle program, he and others will have many unmanned rocket launches to watch in the coming years before a new human spaceflight program starts launching from the Space Coast. (7/22)
Jobs for Laid Off Texas NASA Workers (Source: KUHF)
Emil Peña with Rice University is part of a special task force put together by the Greater Houston Partnership, looking at ways to repurpose these skilled workers from JSC to the energy industry. Several local energy companies are listening, given the calibre and standards of the former NASA contractors. Veronica Reyes directs the Aerospace Transition Center, a small storefront located in a strip mall in Clear Lake, that helps former contractors find work. She says they've set up hundreds of interviews so far. (7/22)
For Marshall Center, Shuttle has Landed but Paperwork Flies On (Source: Huntsville Times)
The last space shuttle has landed, but the paperwork rolls on. So do the victory laps as Huntsville's Marshall Space Flight Center celebrates and closes the 30-year shuttle era. "There's still a lot of work to do," Marshall shuttle team member Ann Towry said. "The job's not over yet."
What kind of work are we talking about? Imagine your last move multiplied by a million. Files must be organized, backed up and stored. Equipment must be accounted for and decommissioned. Inventories must be checked and double-checked in a process sure to take months. (7/23)
FAA Raises Concerns with LightSquared's Revised Proposal (Source: Wall Street Journal)
LightSquared has modified its proposal for launching a wireless broadband network, but the Federal Aviation Administration said the proposed network would still interfere with global position systems, which are critical to aviation. "The effects of LightSquared deployment would be far-reaching and potentially devastating to aviation. Proposed LightSquared operations would severely impact the efficiency and modernization of the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world," according to a report from the FAA's Navigation Services. (7/27)
Large Asteroid Not Far From Earth in Same Orbit Around Sun (Source: BBC)
The 200-300m-wide rock sits in front of our planet at a gravitational "sweet spot", and poses no danger. Its position in the sky makes it a so-called Trojan asteroid - a type previously detected only at Jupiter, Neptune and Mars. It is a fascinating find because the relative stability and proximity of Trojans would make possible targets for astronaut missions when we eventually go beyond the space station.
2010 TK7 is probably not the rock of choice, simply because it travels too far above and below the plane of Earth's orbit, which would require a lot of fuel to reach it. Nonetheless, its detection means it is highly likely there are other, more suitable Trojans out there waiting to be found. It traces quite a complex path at its orbital point. Currently, it is about 80 million km from Earth, and should come no closer than about 25 million km.
The team says its orbit appears stable at least for the next 10,000 years. 2010 TK7's existence should not really be a surprise. Jupiter, Neptune and Mars all have collections of rocks sitting in the so-called Lagrange points 60 degrees ahead of or behind the planets in their orbits. In the case of Jupiter, the number of Trojans now tops 1,000 rocks. (7/28)
Telenor Revenue Down 12 Percent (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Telenor Satellite Broadcasting of Norway on July 21 reported a 12 percent drop in revenue for the three months ending June 30 compared to the same period a year ago as it continued to feel the effects of a new, less favorable contract with its biggest customer. Oslo-based Telenor said second-quarter revenue, at 243 million Norwegian kroner ($44.9 million), was up 1.7 percent over the previous quarter, when the new contract with Norway’s Canal Digital took effect. (7/22)
NASA Brass Tells Workforce To Embrace Change (Source: Aviation Week)
Though difficult for a workforce facing economic upheaval, it’s time for change, top NASA officials said. “As we move forward, we stand on the shoulders of these astronauts and the tens of thousands of people who supported us on the ground as well as those who cheered our triumphs and mourned our tragedies,” Bolden, a former shuttle astronaut, told workers as they gathered before Atlantis.
“I recognize that change is very hard, but huge improvement really comes from change,” Bill Gerstenmaier says. “It’s time to move on and focus on the future,” added Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, another former shuttle astronaut who is reshaping the Florida shuttle base into a multi-mission launch complex suitable for commercial space transportation companies as well as new NASA exploratory vehicles. (7/22)
With Launch Site Behind Schedule Taurus 2 Facing Two-month Delay (Source: Space News)
The inaugural flight of Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Taurus 2 rocket will be delayed by about two months, to December, to allow time for the completion and certification of rocket propellant and pressurization facilities at the vehicle’s Virginia launch site. Orbital still intends to demonstrate its space station cargo vehicle on the second Taurus 2 flight about two months after the first successful liftoff, meaning that mission, in which the Cygnus capsule will approach the international space station, will be delayed to February.
ISS Crew to Launch Mini-Satellite on August (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russian cosmonauts aboard the Space Station will launch a mini-satellite during a spacewalk on August 3. The mini-satellite, Kedr, is part of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) project, and is designed to transmit greeting messages in 15 languages and relay images of Earth and telemetry data to amateur radio operators. Its name comes from Russian cosmonaut Yury Gagarin's call sign and it is being launched in honor of the 50th anniversary of Garagin's flight. (7/22)
Ex-NASA Agent Pleads Guilty in Church Theft Case (Source: Marin Independent Journal)
A former NASA special agent pleaded guilty Thursday to failing to report nearly $300,000 he stole from his Southern California church on his tax forms. Alvin Danielle Allen admitted before a U.S. District Judge that he filed fraudulent tax returns from 2004 to 2008. He faces up to three years in federal prison when he is sentenced Nov. 7.
The Internal Revenue Service said Allen was a deacon at Lancaster Baptist Church and served on a church committee that counted tithes when he stole the cash contributions. A hidden camera caught him putting cash into his pockets in October 2009. (7/21)
Space Shuttle A Defense Issue (Source: Wheeling News-Register)
Americans would not tolerate a situation in which deployment of U.S. troops to a trouble spot abroad depended on a call to Moscow, Brussels or Tokyo asking if we could please borrow transport aircraft or ships for the purpose. Yet, on Thursday, we entered just such a situation regarding a potential theater of war - space. (7/22)
Jews in Space: Played a Central Role in Shuttle Program (Source: Jewish Herald Voice)
Achievements of the 30-year exploration program include the building of the International Space Station, the launching of observatories, and teaching how humans can live and work in space. There have been a total of 14 Jews who’ve flown into space – a dozen Americans, one Israeli and one Soviet. (7/21)
Defense Industry Faces Reduced U.S. Spending, Analysts Say (Source: Reuters)
Defense companies are bracing for cuts to government spending and are expecting consolidation over the next couple of years, according to analysts. The 105 top defense contractors' core performance was flat again in 2010, after similar performance in 2009, Deloitte says. "That's an indicator of the status of the industry, which is treading water at this point," said Tom Captain, vice chairman for aerospace and defense at Deloitte. (7/27)
Lockheed Prepared for Possible Defense Cuts, CEO Says (Source: Bloomberg)
Bob Stevens, CEO of Lockheed Martin, said the company is as prepared as possible for changes in global military programs, including possible cuts to defense spending by the U.S. The defense contractor raised its full-year profit outlook after reporting a 3.9% increase in profit for the second quarter. Lockheed Martin posted a $742 million profit for the quarter, compared with $714 million in the same quarter last year. (7/27)
AIA: Government to Lose $200 Million Per Week During FAA Shutdown (Source: AIA)
Congress has failed to come to an agreement on reauthorization for the Federal Aviation Administration, which has halted construction projects at airports and led to furloughs of nearly 4,000 employees. According to the Aerospace Industries Association, the government's inability to collect ticket and fuel taxes during the impasse will result in lost revenue of $200 million per week. (7/27)
Europe Wants to be Part of NASA's Space Exploration Plan (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
The European Space Agency and NASA are negotiating the idea of modifying parts of Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle to travel with the U.S.' Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. "Our interest is firstly to capitalize on what we have already developed," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general at the European Space Agency. "The ATV is a major development for Europe." (7/27)
Wheels Stop (Source: Space Review)
When the shuttle Atlantis landed Thursday morning, it was more than just the end of the Space Shuttle program. Jeff Foust discusses how it represents an end of a much longer era in human spaceflight, as the momentum built up from the original race to the Moon is finally exhausted. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1892/1 to view the article. (7/25)
The Bbest of Spacecraft, the Worst of Spacecraft (Source: Space Review)
The Space Shuttle's legacy has been widely debated as the program reaches its end: despite all its accomplishments, it failed to achieve its original goals of cost reduction. Andre Bormanis argues that the shuttle should best be remembered for taking a step on the path towards better and less expensive space access. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1891/1 to view the article. (7/25)
The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning? (Source: Space Review)
The end of the Space Shuttle program marks a profound change for NASA, in more ways than one. Roger Handberg warns that in the post-shuttle era the political environment for NASA may become more difficult and partisan. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1890/1 to view the article. (7/25)
Churned in Space? Ohio State Fair’s Tribute to the Shuttle (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Ohio apparently is commemorating NASA’s now-retired space shuttle program as only Ohio can: with a butter sculpture at the Ohio State Fair, which opens August 7 in Columbus. “The astronaut was unveiled at noon today in the Dairy Building on the state fairgrounds. The figure, not of a specific person, is eating freeze-dried ice cream at a shuttle control panel. (7/26)
Daunting Space Task: Send Astronauts to Asteroid (Source: AP)
With the space shuttle now history, NASA's next great mission is so audacious, the agency's best minds are wrestling with how to pull it off: Send astronauts to an asteroid in less than 15 years. The challenges are innumerable. Some old-timers are grousing about it, saying going back to the moon makes more sense. But many NASA brains are thrilled to have such an improbable assignment.
And NASA leaders say civilization may depend on it. An asteroid is a giant space rock that orbits the sun, like Earth. And someday one might threaten the planet. But sending people to one won't be easy. You can't land on an asteroid because you'd bounce off — it has virtually no gravity. Reaching it might require a NASA spacecraft to harpoon it. Heck, astronauts couldn't even walk on it because they'd float away.
NASA is thinking about jetpacks, tethers, bungees, nets and spiderwebs to allow explorers to float just above the surface of it while attached to a smaller mini-spaceship. It would take half a year to reach an asteroid. The deep space propulsion system isn't perfected yet. Football-field-sized solar panels would help, meaning the entire mothership complex would be fairly large. It would have to protect the space travelers from killer solar and cosmic ray bursts. And, they would need a crew capsule, maybe two, for traveling between the asteroid complex and Earth. (7/23)
Death of Space? (Source: Weekly Standard)
Forty-two years ago, Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin ascended from the surface of the moon and rendezvoused with Michael Collins in the command module Columbia for their trip home from mankind’s maiden voyage to the moon. All three men are now in their 80s, and no human being has been on the moon since each of them was 42 — and now even the space shuttle has had its last liftoff.
Americans, however, do not seem to be content with this state of demise. A new CNN poll reminded Americans that, for the foreseeable future, “all manned U.S. space flights will take place in spacecraft that are owned by other countries” and then asked whether “the end of the space shuttle program” would be “good” or “bad” for the U.S.” By a margin of almost 3 to 1 (50 to 16 percent), Americans answered that it would be “bad.”
Moreover, by a margin of slightly more than 3 to 1 (75 to 23 percent), Americans think that we “should,” rather than “should not,” “develop a replacement spacecraft that will be capable of sending U.S. astronauts into space and returning them to Earth.” And by a margin of 28 points (64 to 36 percent), Americans think that it’s at least “fairly important” for us “to be ahead of Russia and other countries in space exploration.” (7/22)
Spaceport Authority Seeks Media Relations Services (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) has issued a request for proposals for media relations services for Spaceport America, announced Christine Anderson, executive director of the spaceport. "Spaceport America has been attracting attention from news and media outlets worldwide," said Anderson in a news release Friday. "This contract will help develop, manage and maintain effective communications with members of the local, national and international press corps as well as the public about our exciting project."
The RFP calls for services in the following areas: media relations and liaison, public relations outreach, media tours, press releases, statement writing and press coverage archival work. The RFP is available for download under the "Proposals" tab at www.spaceportamerica.com. (7/23)
Manned Space Flight? Call The Russians! (Source: DelCo Daily Times)
Say what you want about Americans, but at least we’re consistent. After all, we have willfully allowed the demise of our nation, not from outside invasion, but within. And the biggest culprit is overseas outsourcing. We have outsourced our energy needs. Rather than utilizing our mammoth domestic reserves, we are bent over a barrel, paying through the nose to nations who don’t put put America on their Christmas card lists. This transfer of wealth, the largest in history, continues unabated.
We have outsourced virtually our entire manufacturing base. When a nation makes nothing, it is infinitely harder to rebound from a severe recession, so expect the economy to be in the tank for the long haul. So now that the Space Shuttles have been retired, it’s no surprise that we have outsourced manned space flight. Naturally, we have no shuttle replacement, since that would have required common sense, so now we are in the peculiar situation of relying on the same folks who less than two decades ago were our archenemy --- the Russians. (7/22)
India to Focus on Domestic Needs for Satellites (Source: Economic Times)
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman, Dr K Radhakrishnan said on Thursday, that the country's nodal space agency will be focused more on meeting the nation's domestic requirements for satellites, than looking for export orders. ISRO has around 150 of its own transponders currently in operation, while leasing 86 transponders from abroad. (7/23)
Branson on Virgin's Space Travel Plans (Source: BBC)
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is hoping to take tourists into space by 2013. He told the BBC there could also be the possibility of much faster international air travel. Click here to see the video. (7/23) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14242878
‘Think Of The Moon As Just Another Continent’ (Source: Forbes)
Infospace and Intellius founder Naveen Jain didn’t grab a spot on Forbes’ list of billionaires at the peak of the dot-com boom by being understated. Last week Jain unveiled a plan that could put the first entrepreneurial venture on the Moon. “The moon has never been explored from an entrepreneurial perspective,” he told a crowd of party-goers sipping champagne as violinists played “Fly Me To The Moon,” at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. “Think of the moon as just another continent that is part of our ecosystem.”
Jain’s Moon Express is just one of 29 groups competing for the Google Lunar X Prize, which will award $30 million to the first team to put a lander on the moon by the December 2015, but it might be the most entrepreneurial. The plan is to build a business that takes stuff to the Moon. The first customer — the International Lunar Observer Association — wants Moon Express to put a telescope on the far side of the Moon. (7/22)
One More Step Backwards (Source: Washington Times)
America has been in a downward spiral for too long. Our leaders in Congress and the White House continue to choose paths that have already been proven wrong by history on everything from giving up leadership on space travel to economic policy. A United States of America was created for just the kind of capacity it took to inspire millions around the world with spaceflight. Yet, today it seems our focus is spending more borrowed money for more and bigger entitlement programs. (7/22)
Florida Officials Must Spur Growth in Space Industry (Source: Sun-Sentinel)
The Space Coast can't count on Washington to rescue its economy. Last year, President Obama pledged $40 million to help the Space Coast recover, but most of the money got eliminated earlier this year when Congress and the White House agreed to cut $38 billion in federal spending. This month, a House panel proposed lopping about $2 billion from NASA's next budget, which would further diminish the agency's capacity to offset the loss of shuttle jobs.
While Florida's members in Congress should unite in opposing plans to gut NASA's budget, Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature should step up their efforts to promote new space development and jobs. After wasting some critical years under former Gov. Charlie Crist — they didn't pass a single space-related bill in 2009 — legislators put together a strong package of measures this year to spur the industry's growth in Florida.
Legislators need to keep looking for ways to boost the state's efforts to grow the space industry. Funding for Space Florida, the space development agency, has been inconsistent over the years. A stable funding plan for the agency would help convince companies that Florida is committed to the industry. The governor shouldn't hesitate to be more outspoken in highlighting space jobs. Florida also should be poised for the opportunity to lead the nation into the commercial space age. (7/23)
Enceladus Supplies Water for Saturn Atmosphere (Source: Space Daily)
Observing Saturn, Herschel has detected evidence of water molecules in a huge torus surrounding the planet and centred on the orbit of its small moon, Enceladus. The water plumes on Enceladus, which were detected by the Cassini-Huygens mission, inject the water into the torus and part of it eventually precipitates into Saturn's atmosphere. (7/27)
Invitation to a Dialogue: Our Ambitions in Space (Source: New York Times)
As one of the most enthusiastic supporters of human space flight for 60 years, I appreciate your support of a “far more ambitious set of manned voyages” to follow the end of the shuttle program (which did, indeed, fail to live up to its promise) and “inspire a new generation.” I believe that Apollo and the shuttle’s Hubble telescope repair flights proved conclusively the value of human space flight. Apollo sent half a dozen manned expeditions to land on the moon in less than a dozen years from the program’s conception. That’s “ambitious,” and it certainly inspired my generation.
Unfortunately, I cannot characterize the Obama plan as either ambitious or inspiring. President Obama wants us to spend the next 25 years on scientifically useless stunts like sending manned expeditions to land on a small asteroid and to orbit Mars. The goal is to land on Mars and search for life. We should immediately start on the Mars Direct proposal of Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society. We could return to the moon before this decade is out, followed by the first human landing on Mars early in the next decade. (7/28)
Russia: ISS to be Sunk After 2020 (Source: Space Daily)
Russia and its partners plan to plunge the International Space Station (ISS) into the ocean at the end of its life cycle after 2020 so as not to leave space junk, its space agency said Wednesday. "After it completes its existence, we will be forced to sink the ISS. It cannot be left in orbit, it's too complex, too heavy an object, it can leave behind lots of rubbish," according to a Russian space agency official. (7/28)
NASA, SpaceX Agree on Space Station Flight (Source: Space Daily)
NASA and SpaceX, based in California, have agreed on the private spacecraft company's first date with the International Space Station, the space agency says. The SpaceX Dragon capsule will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Nov. 30 and will rendezvous and dock with the ISS Dec. 7. The original plan had been for two missions, one for a rendezvous and a second for the actual docking, but after a successful test flight SpaceX requested that NASA combine the two missions. (7/26)
Spaceport America Awards Florida Company Contract for Visitor's Center (Source: Las Cruces Sun Journal)
Arts & Technology, Inc. - doing business as IDEAS - works with The Walt Disney Company, NASCAR, the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and others. Now the Orlando, Fla.-based design and production company is bringing its expertise to southern New Mexico.
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority announced on Wednesday that IDEAS will develop the Spaceport America Visitor Experience. The company was awarded a two-phase contract of a not-to-exceed value of $7.5 million. IDEAS will oversee the design and development of the Visitor Experience and facilities at Spaceport America, as well as the design, fabrication and installation of all exhibits and attractions for visitors to the spaceport. (7/27)
New Uses for Space Station (Source: ESA)
For more than a decade, the International Space Station has been a busy orbiting research lab. But it could soon take on a new role as a testbed for ambitious missions deeper into space. Future ventures could include Mars missions, lunar habitats or traveling to an asteroid – all needing new technologies and techniques that could be tested on the Station.
Following yesterday's meeting of the orbital outpost's Multilateral Coordination Board, member agencies expect to begin identifying specific technology initiatives based on sample exploration missions. The Board meets periodically to coordinate Station activities, with senior representatives from ESA, NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, Russia's Roscosmos and Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (7/28)
Human-Rated Launcher Flight Computers In Works (Source: Aviation Week)
Developers of future human-rated launch vehicles will have a commercial flight computer to plug in if a new development internally funded by Ball Aerospace & Technologies works out. Ball based the design of its prototype launch vehicle flight computers on hardware already in use by NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center simulation laboratories for developing software and test systems for human-rated launch vehicles.
The fault-tolerant computers are designed for human-rated systems, Ball says. With NASA turning over to the private sector the job of transporting cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS), the company also has developed phased array antennas, avionic assemblies and cryogenic storage systems for future human spacecraft. (7/27)
White House Proposes Export Control Changes (Source; Aviation Week)
The Obama administration is proposing to shift tanks, trucks and other military vehicles currently controlled on the U.S. Munitions List (USML) to the less-restrictive U.S. Commerce Control List (CCL) by year’s end as part of a broader effort to reform the U.S. arms export licensing process.
The licensing process governs foreign sales of sensitive U.S. technologies to other countries, including commercial communications satellites. Under a proposed federal rule issued July 15, the Commerce Department would implement a new regulatory framework for the transfer of defense articles that the president determines no longer warrant control under the Arms Export Control Act, which governs the State Department-administered USML. (7/21)
The NASTAR Center, the premier commercial aerospace training and research center in the world, completed another Suborbital Scientist Training Course for private astronauts that will conduct commercial space research missions on suborbital spaceflights. The fifth Suborbital Scientist class (SS Class #5) included 10 individuals, eight of which were Astronauts4Hire members interested in taking commercial payloads into space as a service for researchers. All participants successfully completed the training program. (7/21)
Rick Perry Blasts Obama for NASA Cuts, Forcing Americans to “Hitchhike in Space” (Source: Houston Chronicle)
An era of human space exploration has come to its end — and a new frontier in presidential politics has dawned. Texas Gov. Rick Perry blasted President Obama for shutting down the nation’s “legacy of leadership” — a move he claims will leave ”American astronauts with no alternative but to hitchhike in space.”
The governor (and potential presidential candidate) also accused the Obama administration of leading “federal agencies and programs astray, this time forcing NASA away from its original purpose of space exploration, and ignoring its groundbreaking past and enormous future potential.” Perry also noted that about 4,000 contract positions at JSC will be lost due to the end of the program. (He did not mention that the end of the shuttle program was set into motion during the presidential administration of his predecessor as Texas governor, George W. Bush.)
The issue of NASA job cuts is resonant in the three hardest-hit states: Florida, Texas and Alabama. But while Texas and Alabama are all-but-certain to vote Republican in 2012, Florida is a key swing state. Perry’s savage critique of Obama’s vision for NASA could serve two political purposes: Reinforcing a popular position at home and creating problems for the president with Florida voters. (7/22)
Mars Rover to Launch from Cape Canaveral, Comb Massive Crater (Source: Florida Today)
A Martian crater that may once have held water will be NASA's next target for exploration on the red planet when the Curiosity rover lands there in a year. The Gale crater was the winner among four possible landing sites because the layered terrain reminded scientists of the Southwestern United States. "This kind of terrain around here reminds us a lot of Sedona, Ariz.," said John Grotzinger, the mission's project scientist at the California Institute of Technology. "There is a lot of rock -- hundreds of meters of it, layer after layer -- that we can study to tell us the history of Mars and Gale crater." (7/22)
The Shuttle is Dead; Long Live the Politics (Source: Discovery)
If you were to listen to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, you'd think there's a super-secret replacement spaceship ready to be rolled out to the launch pad. But how bright is the future for human spaceflight, really? Internationally, human spaceflight is the buzzword for technological prowess. Sadly, for NASA, it's become a political punch bag.
Perhaps it's to be expected that the former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin is at odds with Bolden's enthusiasm: "When you push aside all the puffery and high-flying political announcements, with the landing of Atlantis, the human spaceflight program of the US will come to an end for the indefinite future," Griffin told the BBC on Thursday.
How can two administrators, from two different administrations, have polar-opposite opinions on NASA's human spaceflight program? Is it purely political? Or is there a genuine confusion as to where NASA is going? One thing's for certain, for the thousands of highly skilled space shuttle workers who are now without jobs, the future is anything but rosy. Click here to read the article. (7/22)
Wonky Gyro Grounds Private Moon Lander (Source: MIT Technology Review)
The champagne was poured, and rocket-shaped cookies handed out to an audience of investors, space engineers, and journalists assembled at the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. Yet a technical problem grounded the commercial moon lander being celebrated, post-poning the first public test flight of a non-government Moon craft.
The lander belongs to Moon Express, a year-old startup bidding to win the Google Lunar X Prize that will award prizes totaling $30 million to privately funded spacecraft that reach the lunar surface before the end of 2015. One of the lander's gyroscopes failed and had to be replaced by a component from another company. But the replacement worked slightly differently, convincing the lander it was spinning in the opposite direction to its true rotation. Previous flights have taken place successfully behind closed doors. (7/23)
NASA Layoffs Hit 2,000 Workers Day After Atlantis Landing (Source: First Coast News)
An estimated 2,000 NASA workers were laid off Friday, one day after space shuttle Atlantis landed ending the program. The news was expected, but will devastate the Space Coast economy, from housing to employment. It's an region where the space industry is connected to all parts; the area code here is 3-2-1, a nod to the famous countdown clock.
"The space shuttle is just now maturing to where it's a great flight vehicle. And what are we doing with it? We're scrapping it. We're turning it into a museum," said Steve Bishop, a former NASA worker. At NASA, employees got their pink slips throughout the day. "It's very uncertain with so many people leaving," said fired worker Freddy Maldonado. (7/22)
Russians: 'It's Our Space Age Now' (Source: MSNBC)
Russian space officials are hailing the end of the space shuttle era as the beginning of the "Soyuz epoch." For at least the next few years, Russian Soyuz craft will serve as the only way to get back and forth from the International Space Station, and NASA will be paying up to $63 million a seat for the ride. Russian cosmonauts will also make up half of the space station's crews from here on out, even though NASA has paid most of the estimated $100 billion cost of construction. (7/22)
NASA Heavy Lift Rocket Plan Emerging (Source: Space Politics)
NASASpaceFlight.com reported on a draft manifest for the Space Launch System (SLS) under a “budget restricted” scenario. According to that document, the first SLS launch would take place in 2017 and send an uncrewed Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) on a circumlunar trajectory. The next SLS mission would not take place until 2021, and carry a crewed Orion on the same type of mission. Those initial SLS missions would use the initial SLS configuration with shuttle-derived components. The “evolved” SLS, with a capacity of 130 metric tons to LEO, would not debut until 2032. (7/28)
Remind Me Again, Why Isn't Pluto a Planet? (Source: Discovery)
Last week, news broke that a team of astronomers using the Hubble Space Telescope had discovered a new moon in orbit around Pluto. They were actually looking for signs of a ring system when they stumbled across another tiny object -- now imaginatively called "P4" -- bringing Pluto's moon count to four. What I hadn't anticipated was a deluge of messages asking me if this means Pluto is now a planet again.
Well, the answer is a resounding no. It is still, and always will be, a dwarf planet. But what rules have we applied to Pluto to forever condemn it to the back seats of the solar system rankings? Before we look at the well established rules of planetary terminology, it's worth remembering why we even need such a definition. Click here to read the article. (7/26)
The Future of Russia’s Space Industry (Source: Russia & India Report)
After the successful rocket launch from Baikonur Cosmodrome, the head of Russia’s Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos), Vladimir Popovkin, shared with reporters his vision of the future of Russia’s rocket and space industry. “We are working to attract private business to the space industry,” said Popovkin. “Perhaps, a number of enterprises will be re-established as a private-public partnership.” He did not go into detail about the reform, explaining that the concept is not yet fully developed.
“The idea was that because the government is investing significant funds in space projects, it is necessary to create conditions for the private sector’s involvement,” said Izvestia’s source. “As an example, he had cited projects for the creation of the GLONASS system and the Vostochny Cosmodrome: we are talking about state investment in these projects in the amount of dozens of billions of rubles a year."
While speaking of promising projects, Popovkin had cited a flight to Mars as an example which, according to the head of Roscosmos, could also be funded by large private business. The idea to interest the private business sector in large-scale space projects is actively being promoted by NASA. However, the main focus of the NASA leadership slightly differs as it suggests that the state will cease funding large-scale space projects altogether, allowing private companies to execute them instead. (7/26)
Outfitting the Next Mars Rover (Source: WIRED)
A rock-vaporizing laser. Miniaturized chemical analyzers. A flying crane. As NASA prepares to launch the Mars Science Laboratory, a rover that will “follow the water” and pursue potential signs of life on Mars, international teams are tricking it out with a new set of scientific instruments that can analyze data in real time as the rover moves across the surface.
Since future NASA funding is up in the air and the rest of the planetary science community is arguing that other targets in the solar system are long overdue, MSL may be the agency’s last chance for several years to get wheels back on the rocky red ground. It’s a $2.5 billion gamble that aims to redefine our understanding of habitability in the universe. So engineers are making sure MSL has the right tools for the job. (7/26)
Editorial: Bill Nelson, NASA's Coulda-Been Hero Who Wasn't (Source: Sunshine State News)
So, four hours after the Atlantis astronauts land, Sen. Bill Nelson sends out a big, weepy "Help me pay tribute" plea. You could almost feel his lip quiver... Oh, please. Isn't this all coming a tad late, Senator? Seems to me we "owe" our space shuttle workers more than a smarmy group kiss led by Candidate Disappointment panning for votes.
The one Floridian close enough to the president of the United States to have kept NASA and the Kennedy Space Center in the president's face and maybe, just maybe, could have persuaded him to rethink his decision ... somehow managed to do just enough yet not enough. Just enough to convince some on the Space Coast he was working to save their jobs. Not enough to sacrifice his president's warm embrace or the pipeline to national-party cash. That's Sen. Bill Nelson.
Anywhere from 10,000 to 25,000 Florida jobs will evaporate because we're no longer looking to set up science labs on the Moon, we're going to Mars. And by the time we get there, most of the jobs that send up the rockets will have gone to other states. There was a time when I thought this senator was going to come through. A year ago he and Sen. Hutchison of Texas supported Sen. Rockefeller's bill to pump more money into the space program and keep the Space Station open until 2020. But that was it. That was his whole offense. He was shooting a cap pistol when he needed an Uzi. (7/22)
Could the Moon Provide Clean Energy for Earth? (Source: CNN)
Gerald Kulcinski has a big problem. The nuclear engineering professor at the University of Wisconsin needs a rare element to fuel his research into a fusion reactor. But the cost of the isotope -- helium-3 -- is rising faster than a rocket headed to space. A few years ago it was $1,000 a gram, this year it is $7,000 and next year, well, he assumes it will be tens of thousands of dollars. There are only about 30 kilograms of 3He on Earth, Kulcinski said.
The Kulcinski team's approach toward creating fusion is unique. Ninety-nine percent of research is geared toward using deuterium and tritium together. But using helium-3 instead of tritium would be much safer and drastically cut the chance of nuclear weapons proliferation. If 3He-3He fusion works, there would be no radioactive waste. A breakthrough would be huge, but the team needs more years and more helium-3.
The thing is that there are tons of helium-3 -- on the moon. About 1 million tons, Kulcinski said, adding that we also have a pretty good idea as to where the 3He is on the moon. We would know precisely how many trillions of dollars of the stuff is there if someone goes back to the moon and establishes a base there. "A few years ago we thought we were going back soon but that's all changed now," he said. (7/22)
Florida Space Workers Face Few Job Prospects With End of Shuttle Program (Source: Bloomberg)
About 9,000 people living near the Kennedy Space Center who work for NASA contractors will lose their jobs, Denise Beasley, a spokeswoman for Brevard Workforce, a county agency that helps space employees find new positions, said. That leaves five graduates of the class of 1975 at Astronaut High School in Titusville, 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the space center, with few prospects, they said at a Cracker Barrel restaurant on the eve of Atlantis’s touchdown.
“We’re all 54 years old, and we should be able to relax, and instead we’re all starting over,” said Tish Lawing. Her husband works for a company that helps remove shuttle waste and her father worked in the space center’s launch-control center. “This is going to be a ghost town.” Declines in home prices, already slumping with the national real-estate collapse, will be “exacerbated” by the shuttle’s end. Titusville-area prices have fallen 47 percent over the past five years, more than the U.S.’s 18 percent decline and Florida’s 45 percent drop, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency. (7/21)
One Percent for NASA (Source: Petosky News)
NASA is turning over low Earth orbit to private companies, but it will be at least five years before the private sector puts people in space. Meanwhile, Russia will ferry our astronauts to space for $63 million per person using 1960s technology. Who really won the space race? The United States won, and we are still ahead, but we keep lurching in one direction, then another. We start a program, cancel it, start another. We have no clear definition of where we are going or how to get there.
In an eloquent commentary about the upcoming end of the shuttle program, NPR’s Scott Simon noted NASA’s $19 billion budget is about 0.5 percent of all federal spending. (It was nine times that — 4.4 percent — in the mid-1960s). “Would it be so out of whack, as some space enthusiasts suggest, for the United States to double what’s spent on space to, say, 1 percent of the federal budget?” Simon asked. “To plot a course for Mars, one of Jupiter’s moons or an asteroid, and inspire a new generation?” (7/26)
GAO: Blocked Fuel Line Hampered Military Satellite (Source: AP)
A small piece of cloth stuck in a fuel line may be the reason a military communications satellite hasn't reached its planned orbit since it was launched in August, government auditors said Thursday. The Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite is still expected to reach its intended altitude, but not until October, nearly a year late. The Air Force Space Command and the contractor, Lockheed Martin Corp., devised a work-around plan to get the satellite to its intended altitude.
A Government Accounting Office report said the blocked fuel line was most likely caused by a piece of cloth inadvertently left in the line during the manufacturing process. The GAO report said the total cost of the satellite system is $12.9 billion and that it incurred $250 million in extra costs and a two-year delay because of quality problems with parts, including defective electronics in a power system. (7/21)
Father of 321 Says Space Coast Area Code Still Rings True (Source: Florida Today)
Robert "Ozzie" Osband says Brevard's 321 area code is still appropriate. "We will still be the countdown capital of the world," said the person most credited with pushing the Florida Public Service Commission to designate 321 as the Space Coast's area code, in a tribute to the space program's countdown to liftoff.
The 321 replaced 407 locally at a time when an increase in landline phone, mobile phones and fax lines in Central Florida necessitated a new area code. The change started to take effect in 1999. He is quick to note that, even with the end of the shuttle program, he and others will have many unmanned rocket launches to watch in the coming years before a new human spaceflight program starts launching from the Space Coast. (7/22)
Jobs for Laid Off Texas NASA Workers (Source: KUHF)
Emil Peña with Rice University is part of a special task force put together by the Greater Houston Partnership, looking at ways to repurpose these skilled workers from JSC to the energy industry. Several local energy companies are listening, given the calibre and standards of the former NASA contractors. Veronica Reyes directs the Aerospace Transition Center, a small storefront located in a strip mall in Clear Lake, that helps former contractors find work. She says they've set up hundreds of interviews so far. (7/22)
For Marshall Center, Shuttle has Landed but Paperwork Flies On (Source: Huntsville Times)
The last space shuttle has landed, but the paperwork rolls on. So do the victory laps as Huntsville's Marshall Space Flight Center celebrates and closes the 30-year shuttle era. "There's still a lot of work to do," Marshall shuttle team member Ann Towry said. "The job's not over yet."
What kind of work are we talking about? Imagine your last move multiplied by a million. Files must be organized, backed up and stored. Equipment must be accounted for and decommissioned. Inventories must be checked and double-checked in a process sure to take months. (7/23)
FAA Raises Concerns with LightSquared's Revised Proposal (Source: Wall Street Journal)
LightSquared has modified its proposal for launching a wireless broadband network, but the Federal Aviation Administration said the proposed network would still interfere with global position systems, which are critical to aviation. "The effects of LightSquared deployment would be far-reaching and potentially devastating to aviation. Proposed LightSquared operations would severely impact the efficiency and modernization of the safest, most efficient aerospace system in the world," according to a report from the FAA's Navigation Services. (7/27)
Large Asteroid Not Far From Earth in Same Orbit Around Sun (Source: BBC)
The 200-300m-wide rock sits in front of our planet at a gravitational "sweet spot", and poses no danger. Its position in the sky makes it a so-called Trojan asteroid - a type previously detected only at Jupiter, Neptune and Mars. It is a fascinating find because the relative stability and proximity of Trojans would make possible targets for astronaut missions when we eventually go beyond the space station.
2010 TK7 is probably not the rock of choice, simply because it travels too far above and below the plane of Earth's orbit, which would require a lot of fuel to reach it. Nonetheless, its detection means it is highly likely there are other, more suitable Trojans out there waiting to be found. It traces quite a complex path at its orbital point. Currently, it is about 80 million km from Earth, and should come no closer than about 25 million km.
The team says its orbit appears stable at least for the next 10,000 years. 2010 TK7's existence should not really be a surprise. Jupiter, Neptune and Mars all have collections of rocks sitting in the so-called Lagrange points 60 degrees ahead of or behind the planets in their orbits. In the case of Jupiter, the number of Trojans now tops 1,000 rocks. (7/28)
Telenor Revenue Down 12 Percent (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Telenor Satellite Broadcasting of Norway on July 21 reported a 12 percent drop in revenue for the three months ending June 30 compared to the same period a year ago as it continued to feel the effects of a new, less favorable contract with its biggest customer. Oslo-based Telenor said second-quarter revenue, at 243 million Norwegian kroner ($44.9 million), was up 1.7 percent over the previous quarter, when the new contract with Norway’s Canal Digital took effect. (7/22)
NASA Brass Tells Workforce To Embrace Change (Source: Aviation Week)
Though difficult for a workforce facing economic upheaval, it’s time for change, top NASA officials said. “As we move forward, we stand on the shoulders of these astronauts and the tens of thousands of people who supported us on the ground as well as those who cheered our triumphs and mourned our tragedies,” Bolden, a former shuttle astronaut, told workers as they gathered before Atlantis.
“I recognize that change is very hard, but huge improvement really comes from change,” Bill Gerstenmaier says. “It’s time to move on and focus on the future,” added Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana, another former shuttle astronaut who is reshaping the Florida shuttle base into a multi-mission launch complex suitable for commercial space transportation companies as well as new NASA exploratory vehicles. (7/22)
With Launch Site Behind Schedule Taurus 2 Facing Two-month Delay (Source: Space News)
The inaugural flight of Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Taurus 2 rocket will be delayed by about two months, to December, to allow time for the completion and certification of rocket propellant and pressurization facilities at the vehicle’s Virginia launch site. Orbital still intends to demonstrate its space station cargo vehicle on the second Taurus 2 flight about two months after the first successful liftoff, meaning that mission, in which the Cygnus capsule will approach the international space station, will be delayed to February.
ISS Crew to Launch Mini-Satellite on August (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russian cosmonauts aboard the Space Station will launch a mini-satellite during a spacewalk on August 3. The mini-satellite, Kedr, is part of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) project, and is designed to transmit greeting messages in 15 languages and relay images of Earth and telemetry data to amateur radio operators. Its name comes from Russian cosmonaut Yury Gagarin's call sign and it is being launched in honor of the 50th anniversary of Garagin's flight. (7/22)
Ex-NASA Agent Pleads Guilty in Church Theft Case (Source: Marin Independent Journal)
A former NASA special agent pleaded guilty Thursday to failing to report nearly $300,000 he stole from his Southern California church on his tax forms. Alvin Danielle Allen admitted before a U.S. District Judge that he filed fraudulent tax returns from 2004 to 2008. He faces up to three years in federal prison when he is sentenced Nov. 7.
The Internal Revenue Service said Allen was a deacon at Lancaster Baptist Church and served on a church committee that counted tithes when he stole the cash contributions. A hidden camera caught him putting cash into his pockets in October 2009. (7/21)
Space Shuttle A Defense Issue (Source: Wheeling News-Register)
Americans would not tolerate a situation in which deployment of U.S. troops to a trouble spot abroad depended on a call to Moscow, Brussels or Tokyo asking if we could please borrow transport aircraft or ships for the purpose. Yet, on Thursday, we entered just such a situation regarding a potential theater of war - space. (7/22)
Jews in Space: Played a Central Role in Shuttle Program (Source: Jewish Herald Voice)
Achievements of the 30-year exploration program include the building of the International Space Station, the launching of observatories, and teaching how humans can live and work in space. There have been a total of 14 Jews who’ve flown into space – a dozen Americans, one Israeli and one Soviet. (7/21)
Defense Industry Faces Reduced U.S. Spending, Analysts Say (Source: Reuters)
Defense companies are bracing for cuts to government spending and are expecting consolidation over the next couple of years, according to analysts. The 105 top defense contractors' core performance was flat again in 2010, after similar performance in 2009, Deloitte says. "That's an indicator of the status of the industry, which is treading water at this point," said Tom Captain, vice chairman for aerospace and defense at Deloitte. (7/27)
Lockheed Prepared for Possible Defense Cuts, CEO Says (Source: Bloomberg)
Bob Stevens, CEO of Lockheed Martin, said the company is as prepared as possible for changes in global military programs, including possible cuts to defense spending by the U.S. The defense contractor raised its full-year profit outlook after reporting a 3.9% increase in profit for the second quarter. Lockheed Martin posted a $742 million profit for the quarter, compared with $714 million in the same quarter last year. (7/27)
AIA: Government to Lose $200 Million Per Week During FAA Shutdown (Source: AIA)
Congress has failed to come to an agreement on reauthorization for the Federal Aviation Administration, which has halted construction projects at airports and led to furloughs of nearly 4,000 employees. According to the Aerospace Industries Association, the government's inability to collect ticket and fuel taxes during the impasse will result in lost revenue of $200 million per week. (7/27)
Europe Wants to be Part of NASA's Space Exploration Plan (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
The European Space Agency and NASA are negotiating the idea of modifying parts of Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle to travel with the U.S.' Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle. "Our interest is firstly to capitalize on what we have already developed," said Jean-Jacques Dordain, director general at the European Space Agency. "The ATV is a major development for Europe." (7/27)
Wheels Stop (Source: Space Review)
When the shuttle Atlantis landed Thursday morning, it was more than just the end of the Space Shuttle program. Jeff Foust discusses how it represents an end of a much longer era in human spaceflight, as the momentum built up from the original race to the Moon is finally exhausted. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1892/1 to view the article. (7/25)
The Bbest of Spacecraft, the Worst of Spacecraft (Source: Space Review)
The Space Shuttle's legacy has been widely debated as the program reaches its end: despite all its accomplishments, it failed to achieve its original goals of cost reduction. Andre Bormanis argues that the shuttle should best be remembered for taking a step on the path towards better and less expensive space access. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1891/1 to view the article. (7/25)
The Beginning of the End or the End of the Beginning? (Source: Space Review)
The end of the Space Shuttle program marks a profound change for NASA, in more ways than one. Roger Handberg warns that in the post-shuttle era the political environment for NASA may become more difficult and partisan. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1890/1 to view the article. (7/25)
Churned in Space? Ohio State Fair’s Tribute to the Shuttle (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Ohio apparently is commemorating NASA’s now-retired space shuttle program as only Ohio can: with a butter sculpture at the Ohio State Fair, which opens August 7 in Columbus. “The astronaut was unveiled at noon today in the Dairy Building on the state fairgrounds. The figure, not of a specific person, is eating freeze-dried ice cream at a shuttle control panel. (7/26)
Daunting Space Task: Send Astronauts to Asteroid (Source: AP)
With the space shuttle now history, NASA's next great mission is so audacious, the agency's best minds are wrestling with how to pull it off: Send astronauts to an asteroid in less than 15 years. The challenges are innumerable. Some old-timers are grousing about it, saying going back to the moon makes more sense. But many NASA brains are thrilled to have such an improbable assignment.
And NASA leaders say civilization may depend on it. An asteroid is a giant space rock that orbits the sun, like Earth. And someday one might threaten the planet. But sending people to one won't be easy. You can't land on an asteroid because you'd bounce off — it has virtually no gravity. Reaching it might require a NASA spacecraft to harpoon it. Heck, astronauts couldn't even walk on it because they'd float away.
NASA is thinking about jetpacks, tethers, bungees, nets and spiderwebs to allow explorers to float just above the surface of it while attached to a smaller mini-spaceship. It would take half a year to reach an asteroid. The deep space propulsion system isn't perfected yet. Football-field-sized solar panels would help, meaning the entire mothership complex would be fairly large. It would have to protect the space travelers from killer solar and cosmic ray bursts. And, they would need a crew capsule, maybe two, for traveling between the asteroid complex and Earth. (7/23)
Death of Space? (Source: Weekly Standard)
Forty-two years ago, Apollo 11’s Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin ascended from the surface of the moon and rendezvoused with Michael Collins in the command module Columbia for their trip home from mankind’s maiden voyage to the moon. All three men are now in their 80s, and no human being has been on the moon since each of them was 42 — and now even the space shuttle has had its last liftoff.
Americans, however, do not seem to be content with this state of demise. A new CNN poll reminded Americans that, for the foreseeable future, “all manned U.S. space flights will take place in spacecraft that are owned by other countries” and then asked whether “the end of the space shuttle program” would be “good” or “bad” for the U.S.” By a margin of almost 3 to 1 (50 to 16 percent), Americans answered that it would be “bad.”
Moreover, by a margin of slightly more than 3 to 1 (75 to 23 percent), Americans think that we “should,” rather than “should not,” “develop a replacement spacecraft that will be capable of sending U.S. astronauts into space and returning them to Earth.” And by a margin of 28 points (64 to 36 percent), Americans think that it’s at least “fairly important” for us “to be ahead of Russia and other countries in space exploration.” (7/22)
Spaceport Authority Seeks Media Relations Services (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) has issued a request for proposals for media relations services for Spaceport America, announced Christine Anderson, executive director of the spaceport. "Spaceport America has been attracting attention from news and media outlets worldwide," said Anderson in a news release Friday. "This contract will help develop, manage and maintain effective communications with members of the local, national and international press corps as well as the public about our exciting project."
The RFP calls for services in the following areas: media relations and liaison, public relations outreach, media tours, press releases, statement writing and press coverage archival work. The RFP is available for download under the "Proposals" tab at www.spaceportamerica.com. (7/23)
Manned Space Flight? Call The Russians! (Source: DelCo Daily Times)
Say what you want about Americans, but at least we’re consistent. After all, we have willfully allowed the demise of our nation, not from outside invasion, but within. And the biggest culprit is overseas outsourcing. We have outsourced our energy needs. Rather than utilizing our mammoth domestic reserves, we are bent over a barrel, paying through the nose to nations who don’t put put America on their Christmas card lists. This transfer of wealth, the largest in history, continues unabated.
We have outsourced virtually our entire manufacturing base. When a nation makes nothing, it is infinitely harder to rebound from a severe recession, so expect the economy to be in the tank for the long haul. So now that the Space Shuttles have been retired, it’s no surprise that we have outsourced manned space flight. Naturally, we have no shuttle replacement, since that would have required common sense, so now we are in the peculiar situation of relying on the same folks who less than two decades ago were our archenemy --- the Russians. (7/22)
India to Focus on Domestic Needs for Satellites (Source: Economic Times)
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) chairman, Dr K Radhakrishnan said on Thursday, that the country's nodal space agency will be focused more on meeting the nation's domestic requirements for satellites, than looking for export orders. ISRO has around 150 of its own transponders currently in operation, while leasing 86 transponders from abroad. (7/23)
Branson on Virgin's Space Travel Plans (Source: BBC)
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is hoping to take tourists into space by 2013. He told the BBC there could also be the possibility of much faster international air travel. Click here to see the video. (7/23) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14242878
‘Think Of The Moon As Just Another Continent’ (Source: Forbes)
Infospace and Intellius founder Naveen Jain didn’t grab a spot on Forbes’ list of billionaires at the peak of the dot-com boom by being understated. Last week Jain unveiled a plan that could put the first entrepreneurial venture on the Moon. “The moon has never been explored from an entrepreneurial perspective,” he told a crowd of party-goers sipping champagne as violinists played “Fly Me To The Moon,” at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, Calif. “Think of the moon as just another continent that is part of our ecosystem.”
Jain’s Moon Express is just one of 29 groups competing for the Google Lunar X Prize, which will award $30 million to the first team to put a lander on the moon by the December 2015, but it might be the most entrepreneurial. The plan is to build a business that takes stuff to the Moon. The first customer — the International Lunar Observer Association — wants Moon Express to put a telescope on the far side of the Moon. (7/22)
One More Step Backwards (Source: Washington Times)
America has been in a downward spiral for too long. Our leaders in Congress and the White House continue to choose paths that have already been proven wrong by history on everything from giving up leadership on space travel to economic policy. A United States of America was created for just the kind of capacity it took to inspire millions around the world with spaceflight. Yet, today it seems our focus is spending more borrowed money for more and bigger entitlement programs. (7/22)
Florida Officials Must Spur Growth in Space Industry (Source: Sun-Sentinel)
The Space Coast can't count on Washington to rescue its economy. Last year, President Obama pledged $40 million to help the Space Coast recover, but most of the money got eliminated earlier this year when Congress and the White House agreed to cut $38 billion in federal spending. This month, a House panel proposed lopping about $2 billion from NASA's next budget, which would further diminish the agency's capacity to offset the loss of shuttle jobs.
While Florida's members in Congress should unite in opposing plans to gut NASA's budget, Gov. Rick Scott and the Florida Legislature should step up their efforts to promote new space development and jobs. After wasting some critical years under former Gov. Charlie Crist — they didn't pass a single space-related bill in 2009 — legislators put together a strong package of measures this year to spur the industry's growth in Florida.
Legislators need to keep looking for ways to boost the state's efforts to grow the space industry. Funding for Space Florida, the space development agency, has been inconsistent over the years. A stable funding plan for the agency would help convince companies that Florida is committed to the industry. The governor shouldn't hesitate to be more outspoken in highlighting space jobs. Florida also should be poised for the opportunity to lead the nation into the commercial space age. (7/23)
Enceladus Supplies Water for Saturn Atmosphere (Source: Space Daily)
Observing Saturn, Herschel has detected evidence of water molecules in a huge torus surrounding the planet and centred on the orbit of its small moon, Enceladus. The water plumes on Enceladus, which were detected by the Cassini-Huygens mission, inject the water into the torus and part of it eventually precipitates into Saturn's atmosphere. (7/27)
Invitation to a Dialogue: Our Ambitions in Space (Source: New York Times)
As one of the most enthusiastic supporters of human space flight for 60 years, I appreciate your support of a “far more ambitious set of manned voyages” to follow the end of the shuttle program (which did, indeed, fail to live up to its promise) and “inspire a new generation.” I believe that Apollo and the shuttle’s Hubble telescope repair flights proved conclusively the value of human space flight. Apollo sent half a dozen manned expeditions to land on the moon in less than a dozen years from the program’s conception. That’s “ambitious,” and it certainly inspired my generation.
Unfortunately, I cannot characterize the Obama plan as either ambitious or inspiring. President Obama wants us to spend the next 25 years on scientifically useless stunts like sending manned expeditions to land on a small asteroid and to orbit Mars. The goal is to land on Mars and search for life. We should immediately start on the Mars Direct proposal of Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society. We could return to the moon before this decade is out, followed by the first human landing on Mars early in the next decade. (7/28)
Russia: ISS to be Sunk After 2020 (Source: Space Daily)
Russia and its partners plan to plunge the International Space Station (ISS) into the ocean at the end of its life cycle after 2020 so as not to leave space junk, its space agency said Wednesday. "After it completes its existence, we will be forced to sink the ISS. It cannot be left in orbit, it's too complex, too heavy an object, it can leave behind lots of rubbish," according to a Russian space agency official. (7/28)
NASA, SpaceX Agree on Space Station Flight (Source: Space Daily)
NASA and SpaceX, based in California, have agreed on the private spacecraft company's first date with the International Space Station, the space agency says. The SpaceX Dragon capsule will launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket Nov. 30 and will rendezvous and dock with the ISS Dec. 7. The original plan had been for two missions, one for a rendezvous and a second for the actual docking, but after a successful test flight SpaceX requested that NASA combine the two missions. (7/26)
Spaceport America Awards Florida Company Contract for Visitor's Center (Source: Las Cruces Sun Journal)
Arts & Technology, Inc. - doing business as IDEAS - works with The Walt Disney Company, NASCAR, the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum and others. Now the Orlando, Fla.-based design and production company is bringing its expertise to southern New Mexico.
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority announced on Wednesday that IDEAS will develop the Spaceport America Visitor Experience. The company was awarded a two-phase contract of a not-to-exceed value of $7.5 million. IDEAS will oversee the design and development of the Visitor Experience and facilities at Spaceport America, as well as the design, fabrication and installation of all exhibits and attractions for visitors to the spaceport. (7/27)
New Uses for Space Station (Source: ESA)
For more than a decade, the International Space Station has been a busy orbiting research lab. But it could soon take on a new role as a testbed for ambitious missions deeper into space. Future ventures could include Mars missions, lunar habitats or traveling to an asteroid – all needing new technologies and techniques that could be tested on the Station.
Following yesterday's meeting of the orbital outpost's Multilateral Coordination Board, member agencies expect to begin identifying specific technology initiatives based on sample exploration missions. The Board meets periodically to coordinate Station activities, with senior representatives from ESA, NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, Russia's Roscosmos and Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. (7/28)
Human-Rated Launcher Flight Computers In Works (Source: Aviation Week)
Developers of future human-rated launch vehicles will have a commercial flight computer to plug in if a new development internally funded by Ball Aerospace & Technologies works out. Ball based the design of its prototype launch vehicle flight computers on hardware already in use by NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center simulation laboratories for developing software and test systems for human-rated launch vehicles.
The fault-tolerant computers are designed for human-rated systems, Ball says. With NASA turning over to the private sector the job of transporting cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS), the company also has developed phased array antennas, avionic assemblies and cryogenic storage systems for future human spacecraft. (7/27)
White House Proposes Export Control Changes (Source; Aviation Week)
The Obama administration is proposing to shift tanks, trucks and other military vehicles currently controlled on the U.S. Munitions List (USML) to the less-restrictive U.S. Commerce Control List (CCL) by year’s end as part of a broader effort to reform the U.S. arms export licensing process.
The licensing process governs foreign sales of sensitive U.S. technologies to other countries, including commercial communications satellites. Under a proposed federal rule issued July 15, the Commerce Department would implement a new regulatory framework for the transfer of defense articles that the president determines no longer warrant control under the Arms Export Control Act, which governs the State Department-administered USML. (7/21)
July 20, 2011
Hawaii Pursues Development of International Lunar Research Park (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Frank Schewengerdt of the International Lunar Research Park presented a three phase, public-private partnership to develop a lunar settlement. The steps include: a) conducting terrestrial testing at a high-fidelity prototype on the Big Island of Hawaii; b) establishing a “lunar robotic village” that would use advance robotics and tele-operations to construct infrastructure and capabilities; and c) building out the International Lunar Research Park for human habitation.
Schewengerdt said the facility would be operated by an international consortia of governments, private companies, academic institutes and non-profit organizations. He compared it to the numerous research parks that have been established on Earth. According to the organization’s website, the effort has been in the works since late last year. In late May, NASA Ames and the state of Hawaii signed a two-year agreement that covered a broad range of work on human and robotic exploration in space. Click here. (7/20)
NASA Slapped With FOIA Request (Source: Tea Party in Space)
Today NASA acknowledged the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The request targets the $11 billion dollar earmark and bailout for the new Space Launch System (SLS) championed by Senators Nelson and Hutchison. Fiscal responsibility is non-partisan. As more people begin to take notice of SLS the better. TPIS congratulates POGO for taking the initiative to look into SLS. (7/20)
Official Overarching Messages Regarding Shuttle Retirement (Source: NASA Watch)
"The Bush Administration in 2004 made the decision to end the Space Shuttle program. President Obama extended the program's life by adding two Space Shuttle launches to the manifest: STS-134, which was funded in the President's FY 2010 Budget Request; and STS-135 which was funded as part of the agreement that the President reached with Congress for FY 2011 funding."
"An independent commission found that the previous Administration's plan for human spaceflight in the post-Shuttle era was not viable under any feasible budget scenario. Among other challenges, it would have left NASA without the ability to get to the International Space Station until after it was de-orbited in 2016, and weakened other important NASA priorities including science, aeronautics, and technology development." (7/20)
Pristine Forecast For Last Shuttle Landing (Source: Florida Today)
NASA forecasters are calling for Chamber-of-Commerce weather for the planned landing early Thursday of the nation's 135th and final shuttle flight -- an operation that is slated to end with touch down at Kennedy Space Center about 40 minutes before sunrise. The four astronauts flying Atlantis are scheduled to glide onto Runway 15 at 5:56 a.m. Thursday. (7/20)
Editorial: U.S. Set to Take One Small Step Into Mess of its Own Making (Source: National Post)
There is no program in place to immediately take over for the space shuttles. NASA, along with commercial partners, is working to develop “space taxis” which would be run by the private sector and capable of sending astronauts and cargo into low-Earth orbit. Such flights would be used to resupply the space station, or conduct whatever other missions that might require a short-range vessel capable of flying into space, but not breaking free of the Earth’s gravity.
NASA, meanwhile, hopes to focus its effort on developing technologies, rockets and manned vessels that would operate well beyond Earth’s orbit, including proposed missions to asteroids and Mars. If successful, that would be a logical division of labor. If NASA could focus on deep space exploration, it could unleash a new era of exploration, perhaps the greatest the world has ever known.
But it’s too early to take any of this for granted. Commercial flights to the space station are years away at best. And NASA’s plans for its new super-booster and manned capsule, while promising, could easily fall victim to the U.S. budgetary crisis. That would be a tragedy, if it happened. It would be a great disappointment if the U.S. became so enfeebled by its own worst fiscal impulses that it was forced to turn inward and abandon exploration of the final frontier to grapple with partisan politics and a legacy of reckless spending at home. (7/20)
Congressional Support Impacts How NASA Spends (Source: NPR)
As the shuttle Atlantis makes its final orbits of the Earth Wednesday night, it's carrying four astronauts, some trash from the space station and a load of congressional politics. Capitol Hill has always been deeply involved in NASA's activities — and sometimes seems to regard NASA as a jobs program as well as a space program. Click here to listen to the story. (7/20)
Mark Kelly Not Ruling Out Politics (Source: Bakersfield Now)
Former astronaut Mark Kelly is planning his life post-NASA, keeping an open mind about running for political office while traveling the country for speaking engagements, he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Kelly said he will be paid to speak at various events beginning in the next couple of months. Kelly said a career in politics is "not the plan right now" but added, "I've learned over a lot of years that you should never rule anything out."
Kelly has been mentioned as a potential candidate for office in Arizona, particularly for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Jon Kyl. Kelly has previously said that Giffords "is the politician in the family" and that he found speculation about his plans interesting, saying it must be a slow summer. Kelly said he was attracted to speaking nationwide because it offers him flexibility. (7/20)
How To Keep NASA Talent In Houston (Source: KUHF)
Houston Mayor Annise Parker says she's concerned about the brain drain that could happen if Johnson Space Center employees take jobs elsewhere. "NASA has spent literally millions of dollars over the decades of the buildup of the space program assembling some of the finest scientists and engineers here in Houston, in Florida, in Alabama, to work on various aspects of our space program. And I don't want to see those great skills broken up and drift away."
Parker says Houston has the capacity to absorb many of those employees into the energy and medical industries. But she's also trying to make Houston the hub for privatized space jobs. "If we're going to go to the private sector, it absolutely makes sense to try to bring as much of those competitive processes here into the Houston where you already have the people who can do the work."
"It's an uphill battle. We're working with Bay Area Economic Partnership, the Greater Houston Partnership, we're working with our congressional delegation. We have an investment by the U.S. taxpayers, an investment that's very important to the residents and taxpayers of this area, let's try to bring those companies here and utilize the resources here." (7/20)
Hubble Points to Pluto's Fourth Moon (Source: USA Today)
Hubble space telescope images reveal that Pluto has a fourth moon, perhaps as small as 8 miles wide, astronomers reported Wednesday. Dubbed P4 for now, the moonlet joins Pluto's other satellites, Charon, some 648 miles across, Hydra and Nix, smaller objects perhaps only 20 miles wide themselves. (7/20)
Michael Griffin a Candidate for UAH Presidency (Source: Huntsville Times)
Former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has emerged as a candidate to become president of the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Griffin is the first candidate to publicly acknowledge his interest in the job as a search committee seeks a replacement for David Williams, who resigned in March to become engineering dean at Ohio State University. (7/20)
Obama Administration Defends Delay Approving New Heavy-Lift Plan (Source: Huntsville Times)
The Obama administration is defending its delay approving a plan to build a NASA heavy-lift rocket Congress has ordered. Huntsville's Marshall Space Flight Center is scheduled to lead development of the new rocket, which would carry astronauts on deep space missions.
NASA has submitted an operational plan for the rocket work, but it is under review by the Office of Management and Budget. NASA has told Congress it has no idea when OMB will give the go-ahead. Any delay now is worth it to make sure NASA's plan is viable in the current budget environment, an OMB spokeswoman said. "Space exploration remains a commitment of this administration," spokeswoman Meg Reilly said.
"But as we take a critical eye to every aspect of the federal budget, we must ensure that every dollar spent in this area is used effectively and efficiently." Reilly said OMB is "working with NASA now to better understand the costs of this approach to ensure that a final plan is practicable and sustainable over the long term." It would be "reckless to make a final determination before the results of NASA's independent cost assessment are in," Reilly said. (7/20)
'Skinless' Shuttle Also Soon to Retire (Source: Discovery)
Unlike famous sibling spaceships -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour -- the little-known space shuttle inside Building 16 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston never got a name. It's known only by the manufacturer's designation Orbiter Vehicle 95, or OV-95, though it has "flown" all 135 space shuttle missions -- at least 15 times apiece -- plus dozens of precursor test flights by the prototype shuttle Enterprise. (7/20)
Shuttle Workers Grapple with Reinventing Themselves (Source: CNN)
Once Atlantis lands, 2,300 shuttle workers are expected to be laid off later this week. In August, another 1,000 will get their pink slips. About 8,000 shuttle workers, in total, who live in the area of the Kennedy Space Center will be unemployed due to the end of the shuttle program. For Billy McClure, his next chapter may be retirement. "I want to do something I want to do," he said.
Ray Zink is the runway move director. He's trying to be positive. At the shuttle landing facility, he and his team are prepping their vehicles to meet Atlantis. He's already thinking about his next life adventure. "We all have a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge and we'd love to pass it on to another generation," he told CNN.
"I want to open a business where we have labs and hands-on experiments and places where we can go into schools and talk to kids ... and just sort of inspire kids," he said. Bill Bender doesn't know what his next destination is. He was laid off five months ago. He has found far too many people vying for far too few jobs. (7/20)
Kottkamp: As Shuttle Ends, Space Program Needs a New Beginning (Source: Sunshine State News)
Last year President Barack Obama came to Florida and announced what he called a “bold new vision” for our nation’s space program. While his proposal (which was revised after his initial proposal received significant push-back) saved some of the jobs that will otherwise be lost when the space shuttle is retired, calling his plans for our space program “bold,” or using the word “vision” to describe the proposal, is a stretch.
Today we need a renewed commitment to our nation’s space exploration program. It is time to give America another challenge, another purpose, a mission with a defined timeline: to Mars by 2020. Americans rise to the occasion every time we are challenged. Now is the time for us to take on the next great challenge in space exploration, not to retreat from our history... An investment in the space program is an investment in the future of our nation.
Editor's Note: Jeff Kottkamp is a former Republican Lt. Governor under Gov. Charlie Crist. He also served as the chairman of Space Florida's board of directors. (7/20)
Obama Pulls the Plug on a Great Run in Space (Source: Pajamas Media)
Obama’s termination of NASA’s manned space capabilities may carry political consequences. In 2012, thousands of unemployed aerospace workers along Florida’s Space Coast and I-4 corridor are unlikely to forget who aborted the program. There are also military consequences to the Obama policy. Allowing so much unemployed aerospace engineering talent to scatter to the wind affects America’s military capabilities. Relying on Russia to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station is only the most visible example of other countries surpassing America in space. (7/20)
New Space Race May Boost U.S. Industrial Base (Source: National Defense)
With NASA’s space shuttle program ended, the Defense Department is seeking to re-energize the nation’s industrial base. To that end, officials are implementing a new national security space strategy that emphasizes international collaboration and global partnerships to augment, protect and operate satellite systems.
U.S. military forces are dependent upon space-based technologies, including GPS and commercial communication satellites, to conduct operations. But as demand soars for more satellite-enabled capabilities, there are growing challenges that could hinder attempts to field systems. Budgetary constraints are complicating progress in an increasingly competitive market.
Greg Schulte said the Pentagon wants to energize the industrial base. The Defense Department has proposed to Congress a new acquisition approach called EASE, or evolutionary acquisition for space efficiency. It promotes block buys of space systems, technology insertion and advanced procurement to provide more stability to satellite acquisition programs. (7/20)
SpaceX Station Cargo Mission Planned (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA officials are honing plans for a late November launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon on the first U.S. commercial cargo delivery mission to the orbiting science laboratory, NASA ISS program manager Mike Suffredini says. Agency and company officials reached agreement on planning dates of Nov. 30 for the launch and Dec. 7 for the rendezvous and berthing of the Dragon cargo spacecraft with the station during a July 15 meeting.
The plan depends on how SpaceX intends to manage the deployment of two small satellites during the flight that could pose an impact hazard to the station. “I think we will find a way to sort that out,” Suffredini says.
The strategy combines the second and third Dragon demonstration missions outlined in NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems program agreement. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk proposed as much following the company’s Dec. 8 initial demonstration flight. (7/20)
Is SpaceX the New NASA? (Source: CBS News)
Erica Hill speaks with SpaceX program manager, Garrett Reisman, about the commercial company's plans regarding space travel and exploration. Click here to see the news segment. (7/20)
Editorial: Obama on Right Track in Space (Source: Decatur Daily)
President Barack Obama, we are told, is an enemy of capitalism and an enemy of spaceflight. The rest of the nation may be able to accept the rhetoric, but in Decatur we should know better. Politicians who normally trumpet the private sector over government lambasted him for reducing NASA’s role in servicing the International Space Station. With carefully managed partnerships between NASA and proven companies, he would hand over more control to the private sector. He would let NASA instead focus more resources on missions like traveling to Mars.
We should know better than to criticize his space strategy because we see, close up, a company that likely will participate in the missions that NASA has perfected in recent decades. United Launch Alliance builds the best rockets in the world, right here in Decatur. Its success rate has no equal in the world, and lives routinely depend on the success of its missions.
The President's plan balances the efficiencies of a competitive private sector with the strict oversight of NASA experts. It also leaves the NASA engineers at Huntsville’s Marshall Space Flight Center and elsewhere to focus not on continuing missions they have mastered through the shuttle program, but on untried goals that demand their expertise. Obama’s detractors would prevent NASA from focusing on extraordinary goals, and would bar the private sector from participating in tasks which it can handle. (7/20)
Maryland Space Science is Preparing for Liftoff (Source: Baltimore City Paper)
Maryland boasts the highest concentration of astronomers in the country, 11 times the national average, and the second highest concentration of physicists. It’s home to an exhaustive list of long-running and successful organizations and businesses, government-funded and private, that contribute directly or indirectly to space and Earth science.
In addition to STScI and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), the state boasts the Goddard Space Flight Center, which has sent instruments to every planet in the solar system. Maryland’s space sector is currently contracted at $1.4 billion a year from NASA; it employs 15,061 people, totaling more than $1.6 billion in wages. (7/20)
Commercial Astronaut: Shuttle's End Is 'Sad Day' (Source: KJCT)
Ever since NASA's space shuttle had its final launch earlier this month, there have been questions about the future of our nation's space program. One man with direct ties to those efforts is also unsure. Mike Melvill, best known as the world's first commercial astronaut in space (he accomplished that feat in 2004) said the final shuttle launch was a 'sad day.' As much as he would like to see more launches down the road, Melvill worries that America is moving away from that.
"I think that it's a big mistake because what will happen is the politicians will realize they're now saving money and there will be no way to get money to build a new system," he commented. "We'll be relying on the Russians forever because of this mistake." Despite Melvill's opinion, President Obama has vowed a responsible return to space. He hopes NASA will have developed a new vehicle ready to take Americans into the final frontier by 2015.
Melvill says that thinking is backwards. He criticizes the plan saying NASA should have had a replacement before they retired the shuttle program. (7/20)
Merritt Island High Team May Launch Satellite (Source: Florida Today)
After working with NASA engineering mentors last school year, Merritt Island High students were selected as the second high school group in the nation to build and potentially launch a small satellite, called a CubeSat, from a NASA rocket. The activity is an extra-curricular activity for the students, whose numbers vary from eight to a dozen.
Teachers Alison Fetig and Julie White and Kennedy Space Center mentors worked with the students to meet requirements and pass the first of several reviews. The students designed their satellite, which they named StangSat, to communicate with a university satellite about launch data.
Editor's Note: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University serves on the advisory board for the school's da Vinci Academy for aerospace studies. (7/20)
We're Looking for a Few Good Astronauts (Source: Discover)
Until recently NASA was the only game in town for aspiring astronauts like Brian Shiro. But for the first time in the history of manned spaceflight, astronauts will soon be able to reach the final frontier in vehicles neither designed nor operated by a government space agency. Once NASA completes its last shuttle mission, its manned exploration arm will become little more than a deep-pocketed customer.
For seats on private space vehicles, each of which will require trained pilots and crew. That shift could open up outer space to a new class of astronaut, trained and employed more like airline pilots than Apollo explorers. “These changes create the potential for the first-ever privately trained astronauts,” says Ken Bowersox, a vice president at SpaceX and a former NASA astronaut. Last year, aiming to get some fresh blood into the pipeline, Shiro cofounded Astronauts4Hire (A4H).
A4H is a Florida-based nonprofit that he says will train the first generation of commercial spaceflight crews. Beginning this summer, 5 to 10 of the group’s members will experience crushing g-forces in a giant rotating centrifuge and may even confront weightlessness on parabolic jet flights. Astronauts4Hire’s initial program, which lasts a few weeks and runs $10,000 per person, is a far cry from the two years of grueling training given to NASA recruits, but Shiro hopes it will give participants a jump on the competition. (7/20)
Should We End Space Exploration? (Source: Guardian)
The ultimate dream of a manned mission to Mars seems as distant as ever, and in this time of recession the expense of space travel seems hard to justify to the public. Is it time to accept that we have gone as far as we can with space exploration? Or should mankind remember the words of HG Wells – "Life, for ever dying to be born afresh, for ever young and eager, will presently stand upon this earth as upon a footstool, and stretch out its realm amidst the stars." (7/20)
Arianespace: Russian Soyuz Rockets Have Bright Future (Source: Itar-Tass)
A new phase of France-Russia cooperation will start with the launch of a Soyuz rocket from the European Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, according to Arianespace President Jean-Yves le Gall. He said the future of the Soyuz Kourou program would be clear in two or three years.
The launch of a Soyuz rocket costs twice less than the launch of a European Ariane-5, but Soyuz rockets will not become rivals of Arianes, because they have different missions, le Gall said. The prospective Soyuz Kourou launches will provide a broad range of space delivery vehicles to Europe, among them the heavy Ariane rocket capable of delivering 9.5 tons of payload, the medium Soyuz with the payload of up to three tons, and the light Vega with the payload capacity of up to 1.5 tons. (7/20)
The Shuttle's Successors (Source: BBC)
After three decades, the shuttle era is all but over and the United States no longer has the means to send astronauts into space. Nasa is looking to the private sector to provide a new generation of space vehicles to take on the work of delivering crew and cargo to the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit. We detail five of the possible successors to the shuttle. Click here to see the graphic. (7/19)
Brazilian Space Agency Overhaul Raises Union Hackles (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) President Marcus Antonio Raupp’s bold effort to overhaul and consolidate the nation’s fractured space effort is meeting opposition from a key union worried that the change will outsource their jobs to private industry. The proposal provides for the merger of AEB with the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and thus creating a new body to run the program.
Perhaps the union's biggest worry is the introduction of a “main contractor” for the Brazilian space program. This company or institution would be responsible for carrying out a project from beginning to end, setting deadlines and other subcontracting companies. In view of the union, the company – which is said to be Embraer – takes over the functions now performed by the space agency and its union workers. (7/19)
Cape Canaveral Job Fair On July 26 (Source: NASA)
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Brevard Workforce are partnering to host a job fair with private sector companies and federal employers from across the country on July 26. The Space Coast Job Fair and Hands-on Training Event will be held at 11 a.m. EDT at the Radisson Resort at the Port, 8701 Astronaut Blvd., Cape Canaveral, Fla.
More than 45 employers are expected to take part in the event. NASA has been working with local, state and federal officials to provide future planning support and placement for non-civil servant contractors who work to support the Space Shuttle Program, which will end next month. In addition to this event, NASA's Human Resources Office has hosted workshops, seminars and other events to help prepare employees for future opportunities. For more on KSC's workforce support efforts, visit http://kscvoice.com. (7/19)
NASA Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson On Why We Should Send People To Space (Source: Huffington Post)
The 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster, which killed all seven crew members on board just 73 seconds into the flight, convinced Tracy Caldwell Dyson, then age 16, to become an astronaut. As a teen passionate about science and close with her teachers, Dyson said she could relate to the high school teacher, Christa McAuliffe, who was on board the shuttle, and the buzzed-about launch piqued her interest in NASA. Her desire to become an astronaut only intensified following the explosion, which left her with the sense that a great deal was at stake for the agency.
“It felt like something was taken away from us and I didn’t want to see it destroyed,” she said of NASA’s space program. “I felt even more motivated to be a part of NASA and help rebuild it, even though I was only 16 at the time.” Twenty-five years later, Dyson has been a NASA astronaut for more than a decade, logging nearly 200 days in space, including three spacewalks and six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). She joined NASA after receiving a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of California,
In an exclusive interview for The Huffington Post’s Women in Tech series, Dyson shared her perspective on traveling to space, NASA’s future, the challenges of being a female astronaut, and more. Click here to read the interview. (7/20)
Urine: The Astronaut's Sports Drink (Source: MIT Technology Review)
One of the four astronauts on Atlantis tested a device that Wired calls "a textbook-sized kit that can convert urine into drinkable water." (The astronaut actually ran an "experimental fluid," not his or her urine, through the device.) The device works using a process called forward osmosis, by which the drinkable bits of urine slowly pass from an outer bag into an inner one.
A special electrolyte solution gets injected into a semi-permeable inner bag. Dirty fluid is then added to an outer bag. The fact that the electrolyte solution has a much greater osmotic pressure drives it to draw (cleanish) water molecules out of the dirty fluid and into the inner part of the bag. The whole process takes four to six hours, at the end of which you have your own jug of UrineAde. (7/20)
Rep. Lamar Smith: America Deserves a Better Space Program (Source: Space News)
According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, two out of three Americans believe our country is on the wrong track and nearly six in 10 say that the economy has not even started to recover. Under President Obama, 20 million Americans are out of work, underemployed, or given up looking for a job. Another recent poll found that a majority of Americans believe that the United States should “continue to be a world leader in manned space exploration.”
These two polls — one about Americans’ sense of our country being on the wrong track and the other about American leadership in space — have more in common than you might think. America’s space program is on the wrong track. NASA’s industry partners have recently announced massive layoffs of many thousands of highly-skilled engineers and technicians who previously worked on the space shuttle as it now retires and on NASA’s canceled Constellation program.
We are on the wrong track because these layoffs are due to the Obama administration diverting nearly $3 billion per year out of NASA’s manned spaceflight budget from what was planned under President Bush’s budget projection. It is troubling to see what the Obama administration is doing to America’s manned spaceflight program. At a time when our nation seeks to inspire students to study math, science, and engineering, they only see NASA’s industry partners laying off thousands of aerospace engineers and technicians across the country. (7/20)
Pentagon Worries About Space Industry With End of Shuttle Program (Source: National Journal)
As the space-shuttle era draws to a close and budget pressures threaten to constrain spending, a senior Defense Department official said on Tuesday that the government needs to take steps to protect the aerospace industrial base and to preserve the United States’ technological edge in space. The Defense Department has not been involved in the shuttle program since the 1980s, but NASA and the military’s own space operations remain inextricably linked.
“While we don’t share the shuttle, we do share the industrial base,” Gregory Schulte, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for space policy, told reporters at a breakfast on Tuesday morning. “And so anything that NASA does is important to us in terms of the industrial base. And anything that we do is important to NASA as well.” (7/20)
DOD Space Program Broadens Industry, Foreign Partnerships (Source: DOD)
The Defense Department is expanding partnerships with spacefaring companies and nations to maintain the strategic advantage it gains in space, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy said today. Ambassador Gregory L. Schulte said NASA’s final space shuttle flight this week represents “a time of transition” for the civil and military space programs. “Space,” Schulte said, “is increasingly congested, contested and competitive.” (7/20)
U.S. Wants to Talk Outer Space with China (Source: Reuters)
The United States wants to open a regular dialogue with China on outer space in an effort to create "rules for the road" and reduce the risk of misunderstandings, a U.S. defense official said on Tuesday. China is making major investments in space and, unlike in the United States, distinguishing between China's civil and military space sectors is difficult because "the two are essentially one," Gregory Schulte, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said.
The United States recognizes that China is a "major space-faring country," he said. China is developing a broader range of space-borne capabilities to ward off adversaries, including jammers and lasers, which provides added incentive for the United States to open a channel for talks. "We've actually proposed to establish a regular dialogue with China on space," Schulte said. (7/20)
Interest in Space Memorabilia Soars as Shuttle Era Ends (Source: USA Today)
The day after the space shuttle Atlantis launched on its final journey, space memorabilia collectors flooded the website of Goldberg's Auctions in Los Angeles for a shot at nabbing a piece of NASA history. "It's the end of an era," says CEO Ira Goldberg. "These items will become historical treasure pieces."
Since the dawn of the space program in the 1950s , collectors have longed for a physical connection to the cosmos, from astronaut autographs to moon rocks. Now space shuttle relics are surging in price and popularity as NASA's 30-year-old space shuttle program ends with the landing of Atlantis, scheduled for Thursday at Kennedy Space Center. (7/20)
European Commission Wants Individual Nations To Fund GMES (Source: Space News)
The European Commission, in a surprise move, is proposing that its satellite-based Earth observation program be removed from its seven-year budget starting in 2014 and instead be funded by voluntary contributions from individual European governments. The decision to take the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) effort off the commission’s books just as it begins operations drew immediate criticism from a group representing European geo-information companies.
Up to now, it had been assumed that GMES and the Galileo satellite navigation project — the two so-called “flagship” European Union space programs — would secure long-term funding for the commission’s next budget cycle, which covers the period from 2014 through 2020. The proposed budget is by no means the last word. Nearly two years of negotiations with the parliament and with individual governments still lie ahead. (7/20)
Lockheed Looks For More Job Cuts (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. is making voluntary-layoff offers to 6,500 U.S. employees at its corporate headquarters and in its enterprise-business-services segment. Lockheed eliminated about 3,300 positions in its aeronautics, space systems and other segments earlier this year. (7/20)
Congressman Green Pitches NASA Workers To Interior Department (Source: KUHF)
The Interior Department is looking to hire hundreds of inspectors for offshore oil and gas rigs. It’s part of the effort to both improve safety and speed production in the wake of last year’s Gulf oil spill. Houston Congressman Gene Green is petitioning the department to hire Johnson Space Center employees and contractors that are being let go with the end of the shuttle program.
“Those folks could be trained very quickly, because they have a technical background, to also inspect vessels and oil and gas rigs, cause frankly, if they were inspecting the Shuttle and things going into space, they know some of the quality requirements that you have to have, and I want the same thing in our offshore drilling platforms.”
Green says hiring idled NASA workers would solve two problems: Interior’s difficulty finding skilled workers and the Houston area’s ability to hold onto the ones it has now. Fourteen members of Congress have signed Green’s letter to Interior, including the entire Houston delegation. (7/20)
The Lost Dream of Trippy '70s Space Colonies (Source: The Atlantic)
"We have put men on the Moon. Can people live in space? Can permanent communities be built and inhabited off the Earth? Not long ago these questions would have been dismissed as science fiction, as fantasy or, at best as the wishful thinking of men ahead of their times," a 1975 NASA design study begins. "Now they are asked seriously not only out of human curiosity, but also because circumstances of the times stimulate the thought that space colonization offers large potential benefits and hopes to an increasingly enclosed and circumscribed humanity."
In the wake of the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, the dwindling resources of the Earth were on the minds of many. The solution, for a particular kind of Big Engineering adherent, wasn't to reduce the human footprint on this planet, but to extend it beyond the blue marble. The space colony movement probably marks the apex of nominally realistic ambitious thinking about off-world living. The goal was to build a 10,000-person orbiting community with materials and technologies available to people in the 1970s. Click here. (7/20)
Is Commercial Space & Building Spaceports the Next Step? (Source: WMFE)
NASA and the US space manned space program are betting that commercial ventures will pick up where the Space Shuttle leaves off at the end of this week. Mark Simpson talks with George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic about how close the company is to realizing its vision of bringing tourists into space from the New Mexico desert. Representing the industry side of things, Craig Steidle, president of the Commercial Space Flight Federation discusses how politicians in Washington DC view spaceports. Click here for the audio. (7/20)
After Shuttle Lands, Mission Control to Go Quiet (Source: AP)
In the geeky world of space engineering, this large, high-ceilinged room is close to holy. Inside, people speak in hushed tones and observe time-honored traditions. The place is Mission Control. Beginning moments after launch, flight controllers here choreograph everything astronauts do, from waking up and eating to walking in space. "That building, we think of it as a cathedral of spaceflight," said John McCullough, head of NASA's flight director office. Flight controllers are "the keepers and enforcers of traditions" that date back to the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo days.
When Atlantis lands Thursday, the famous room will seem even more ghostly. After 30 years and 135 missions, shuttles will no longer need controlling. NASA plans to turn the space into a training venue, mostly for astronauts going to the International Space Station and flight controllers working with the station. Over the next couple of months, 800 or 900 people in the mission operations division will be laid off, said Paul Hill, head of that division and a former flight director himself. (7/20)
AIA Applauds Obama Move to Ease Export Restrictions (Source: AIA)
The Obama administration has proposed modernizing some of the controls on exported products that are not a security risk. The Aerospace Industries Association applauded the proposal. "For years the U.S. export control system has created confusion and delay in exporting defense equipment to our allies and driven up compliance costs across the industrial base," said AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey. "These reforms are common-sense ways of supporting our military partners and our export competitiveness." (7/20)
Lawmakers' Quarrel Could Lead to Shutdown of FAA (Source: CNBC)
The House and the Senate continue to disagree over a labor provision in legislation that would extend long-term funding to the Federal Aviation Administration. The dispute could lead to a shutdown of the FAA, whose operating authority expires this week. If that happens, air traffic controllers would still continue to work because they are considered essential employees, Republican lawmakers said. (7/20)
Astronauts4Hire Members Complete Suborbital Scientist Training (Source: A4H)
Eight Astronauts4Hire members have successfully completed the Suborbital Scientist Training Program at the National AeroSpace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center in Southampton, Pennsylvania. Astronauts4Hire and NASTAR will collaborate to refine and further develop curricula to prepare future scientist crews. (7/20)
Money Facts: The Space Shuttle Program (Source: SFGate.com)
The space shuttle program costs each taxpayer $93 each year. (Adjusted for inflation and averaged). If that seems like a small price to pay in the name of science and adventure, you are most likely sad to see the space shuttle program retired. If it's money that you could spend on more important items, then the farewell to the most visible piece of NASA is probably a welcome sight.
The Space Shuttle program has fallen victim to a lack of funding. As that is largely unpopular among Washington politicians, it still remains a source of national pride. A recent survey found that 55% of Americans believe that the shuttle program was money well spent, while 58% feel that it is essential that the United States remain leaders in the space travel and exploration. Exactly what are the costs that America has incurred and what costs will we incur when the program is gone? Click here. (7/20)
Frank Schewengerdt of the International Lunar Research Park presented a three phase, public-private partnership to develop a lunar settlement. The steps include: a) conducting terrestrial testing at a high-fidelity prototype on the Big Island of Hawaii; b) establishing a “lunar robotic village” that would use advance robotics and tele-operations to construct infrastructure and capabilities; and c) building out the International Lunar Research Park for human habitation.
Schewengerdt said the facility would be operated by an international consortia of governments, private companies, academic institutes and non-profit organizations. He compared it to the numerous research parks that have been established on Earth. According to the organization’s website, the effort has been in the works since late last year. In late May, NASA Ames and the state of Hawaii signed a two-year agreement that covered a broad range of work on human and robotic exploration in space. Click here. (7/20)
NASA Slapped With FOIA Request (Source: Tea Party in Space)
Today NASA acknowledged the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The request targets the $11 billion dollar earmark and bailout for the new Space Launch System (SLS) championed by Senators Nelson and Hutchison. Fiscal responsibility is non-partisan. As more people begin to take notice of SLS the better. TPIS congratulates POGO for taking the initiative to look into SLS. (7/20)
Official Overarching Messages Regarding Shuttle Retirement (Source: NASA Watch)
"The Bush Administration in 2004 made the decision to end the Space Shuttle program. President Obama extended the program's life by adding two Space Shuttle launches to the manifest: STS-134, which was funded in the President's FY 2010 Budget Request; and STS-135 which was funded as part of the agreement that the President reached with Congress for FY 2011 funding."
"An independent commission found that the previous Administration's plan for human spaceflight in the post-Shuttle era was not viable under any feasible budget scenario. Among other challenges, it would have left NASA without the ability to get to the International Space Station until after it was de-orbited in 2016, and weakened other important NASA priorities including science, aeronautics, and technology development." (7/20)
Pristine Forecast For Last Shuttle Landing (Source: Florida Today)
NASA forecasters are calling for Chamber-of-Commerce weather for the planned landing early Thursday of the nation's 135th and final shuttle flight -- an operation that is slated to end with touch down at Kennedy Space Center about 40 minutes before sunrise. The four astronauts flying Atlantis are scheduled to glide onto Runway 15 at 5:56 a.m. Thursday. (7/20)
Editorial: U.S. Set to Take One Small Step Into Mess of its Own Making (Source: National Post)
There is no program in place to immediately take over for the space shuttles. NASA, along with commercial partners, is working to develop “space taxis” which would be run by the private sector and capable of sending astronauts and cargo into low-Earth orbit. Such flights would be used to resupply the space station, or conduct whatever other missions that might require a short-range vessel capable of flying into space, but not breaking free of the Earth’s gravity.
NASA, meanwhile, hopes to focus its effort on developing technologies, rockets and manned vessels that would operate well beyond Earth’s orbit, including proposed missions to asteroids and Mars. If successful, that would be a logical division of labor. If NASA could focus on deep space exploration, it could unleash a new era of exploration, perhaps the greatest the world has ever known.
But it’s too early to take any of this for granted. Commercial flights to the space station are years away at best. And NASA’s plans for its new super-booster and manned capsule, while promising, could easily fall victim to the U.S. budgetary crisis. That would be a tragedy, if it happened. It would be a great disappointment if the U.S. became so enfeebled by its own worst fiscal impulses that it was forced to turn inward and abandon exploration of the final frontier to grapple with partisan politics and a legacy of reckless spending at home. (7/20)
Congressional Support Impacts How NASA Spends (Source: NPR)
As the shuttle Atlantis makes its final orbits of the Earth Wednesday night, it's carrying four astronauts, some trash from the space station and a load of congressional politics. Capitol Hill has always been deeply involved in NASA's activities — and sometimes seems to regard NASA as a jobs program as well as a space program. Click here to listen to the story. (7/20)
Mark Kelly Not Ruling Out Politics (Source: Bakersfield Now)
Former astronaut Mark Kelly is planning his life post-NASA, keeping an open mind about running for political office while traveling the country for speaking engagements, he told The Associated Press on Wednesday. Kelly said he will be paid to speak at various events beginning in the next couple of months. Kelly said a career in politics is "not the plan right now" but added, "I've learned over a lot of years that you should never rule anything out."
Kelly has been mentioned as a potential candidate for office in Arizona, particularly for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Jon Kyl. Kelly has previously said that Giffords "is the politician in the family" and that he found speculation about his plans interesting, saying it must be a slow summer. Kelly said he was attracted to speaking nationwide because it offers him flexibility. (7/20)
How To Keep NASA Talent In Houston (Source: KUHF)
Houston Mayor Annise Parker says she's concerned about the brain drain that could happen if Johnson Space Center employees take jobs elsewhere. "NASA has spent literally millions of dollars over the decades of the buildup of the space program assembling some of the finest scientists and engineers here in Houston, in Florida, in Alabama, to work on various aspects of our space program. And I don't want to see those great skills broken up and drift away."
Parker says Houston has the capacity to absorb many of those employees into the energy and medical industries. But she's also trying to make Houston the hub for privatized space jobs. "If we're going to go to the private sector, it absolutely makes sense to try to bring as much of those competitive processes here into the Houston where you already have the people who can do the work."
"It's an uphill battle. We're working with Bay Area Economic Partnership, the Greater Houston Partnership, we're working with our congressional delegation. We have an investment by the U.S. taxpayers, an investment that's very important to the residents and taxpayers of this area, let's try to bring those companies here and utilize the resources here." (7/20)
Hubble Points to Pluto's Fourth Moon (Source: USA Today)
Hubble space telescope images reveal that Pluto has a fourth moon, perhaps as small as 8 miles wide, astronomers reported Wednesday. Dubbed P4 for now, the moonlet joins Pluto's other satellites, Charon, some 648 miles across, Hydra and Nix, smaller objects perhaps only 20 miles wide themselves. (7/20)
Michael Griffin a Candidate for UAH Presidency (Source: Huntsville Times)
Former NASA Administrator Michael Griffin has emerged as a candidate to become president of the University of Alabama in Huntsville. Griffin is the first candidate to publicly acknowledge his interest in the job as a search committee seeks a replacement for David Williams, who resigned in March to become engineering dean at Ohio State University. (7/20)
Obama Administration Defends Delay Approving New Heavy-Lift Plan (Source: Huntsville Times)
The Obama administration is defending its delay approving a plan to build a NASA heavy-lift rocket Congress has ordered. Huntsville's Marshall Space Flight Center is scheduled to lead development of the new rocket, which would carry astronauts on deep space missions.
NASA has submitted an operational plan for the rocket work, but it is under review by the Office of Management and Budget. NASA has told Congress it has no idea when OMB will give the go-ahead. Any delay now is worth it to make sure NASA's plan is viable in the current budget environment, an OMB spokeswoman said. "Space exploration remains a commitment of this administration," spokeswoman Meg Reilly said.
"But as we take a critical eye to every aspect of the federal budget, we must ensure that every dollar spent in this area is used effectively and efficiently." Reilly said OMB is "working with NASA now to better understand the costs of this approach to ensure that a final plan is practicable and sustainable over the long term." It would be "reckless to make a final determination before the results of NASA's independent cost assessment are in," Reilly said. (7/20)
'Skinless' Shuttle Also Soon to Retire (Source: Discovery)
Unlike famous sibling spaceships -- Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour -- the little-known space shuttle inside Building 16 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston never got a name. It's known only by the manufacturer's designation Orbiter Vehicle 95, or OV-95, though it has "flown" all 135 space shuttle missions -- at least 15 times apiece -- plus dozens of precursor test flights by the prototype shuttle Enterprise. (7/20)
Shuttle Workers Grapple with Reinventing Themselves (Source: CNN)
Once Atlantis lands, 2,300 shuttle workers are expected to be laid off later this week. In August, another 1,000 will get their pink slips. About 8,000 shuttle workers, in total, who live in the area of the Kennedy Space Center will be unemployed due to the end of the shuttle program. For Billy McClure, his next chapter may be retirement. "I want to do something I want to do," he said.
Ray Zink is the runway move director. He's trying to be positive. At the shuttle landing facility, he and his team are prepping their vehicles to meet Atlantis. He's already thinking about his next life adventure. "We all have a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge and we'd love to pass it on to another generation," he told CNN.
"I want to open a business where we have labs and hands-on experiments and places where we can go into schools and talk to kids ... and just sort of inspire kids," he said. Bill Bender doesn't know what his next destination is. He was laid off five months ago. He has found far too many people vying for far too few jobs. (7/20)
Kottkamp: As Shuttle Ends, Space Program Needs a New Beginning (Source: Sunshine State News)
Last year President Barack Obama came to Florida and announced what he called a “bold new vision” for our nation’s space program. While his proposal (which was revised after his initial proposal received significant push-back) saved some of the jobs that will otherwise be lost when the space shuttle is retired, calling his plans for our space program “bold,” or using the word “vision” to describe the proposal, is a stretch.
Today we need a renewed commitment to our nation’s space exploration program. It is time to give America another challenge, another purpose, a mission with a defined timeline: to Mars by 2020. Americans rise to the occasion every time we are challenged. Now is the time for us to take on the next great challenge in space exploration, not to retreat from our history... An investment in the space program is an investment in the future of our nation.
Editor's Note: Jeff Kottkamp is a former Republican Lt. Governor under Gov. Charlie Crist. He also served as the chairman of Space Florida's board of directors. (7/20)
Obama Pulls the Plug on a Great Run in Space (Source: Pajamas Media)
Obama’s termination of NASA’s manned space capabilities may carry political consequences. In 2012, thousands of unemployed aerospace workers along Florida’s Space Coast and I-4 corridor are unlikely to forget who aborted the program. There are also military consequences to the Obama policy. Allowing so much unemployed aerospace engineering talent to scatter to the wind affects America’s military capabilities. Relying on Russia to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station is only the most visible example of other countries surpassing America in space. (7/20)
New Space Race May Boost U.S. Industrial Base (Source: National Defense)
With NASA’s space shuttle program ended, the Defense Department is seeking to re-energize the nation’s industrial base. To that end, officials are implementing a new national security space strategy that emphasizes international collaboration and global partnerships to augment, protect and operate satellite systems.
U.S. military forces are dependent upon space-based technologies, including GPS and commercial communication satellites, to conduct operations. But as demand soars for more satellite-enabled capabilities, there are growing challenges that could hinder attempts to field systems. Budgetary constraints are complicating progress in an increasingly competitive market.
Greg Schulte said the Pentagon wants to energize the industrial base. The Defense Department has proposed to Congress a new acquisition approach called EASE, or evolutionary acquisition for space efficiency. It promotes block buys of space systems, technology insertion and advanced procurement to provide more stability to satellite acquisition programs. (7/20)
SpaceX Station Cargo Mission Planned (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA officials are honing plans for a late November launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9/Dragon on the first U.S. commercial cargo delivery mission to the orbiting science laboratory, NASA ISS program manager Mike Suffredini says. Agency and company officials reached agreement on planning dates of Nov. 30 for the launch and Dec. 7 for the rendezvous and berthing of the Dragon cargo spacecraft with the station during a July 15 meeting.
The plan depends on how SpaceX intends to manage the deployment of two small satellites during the flight that could pose an impact hazard to the station. “I think we will find a way to sort that out,” Suffredini says.
The strategy combines the second and third Dragon demonstration missions outlined in NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Systems program agreement. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk proposed as much following the company’s Dec. 8 initial demonstration flight. (7/20)
Is SpaceX the New NASA? (Source: CBS News)
Erica Hill speaks with SpaceX program manager, Garrett Reisman, about the commercial company's plans regarding space travel and exploration. Click here to see the news segment. (7/20)
Editorial: Obama on Right Track in Space (Source: Decatur Daily)
President Barack Obama, we are told, is an enemy of capitalism and an enemy of spaceflight. The rest of the nation may be able to accept the rhetoric, but in Decatur we should know better. Politicians who normally trumpet the private sector over government lambasted him for reducing NASA’s role in servicing the International Space Station. With carefully managed partnerships between NASA and proven companies, he would hand over more control to the private sector. He would let NASA instead focus more resources on missions like traveling to Mars.
We should know better than to criticize his space strategy because we see, close up, a company that likely will participate in the missions that NASA has perfected in recent decades. United Launch Alliance builds the best rockets in the world, right here in Decatur. Its success rate has no equal in the world, and lives routinely depend on the success of its missions.
The President's plan balances the efficiencies of a competitive private sector with the strict oversight of NASA experts. It also leaves the NASA engineers at Huntsville’s Marshall Space Flight Center and elsewhere to focus not on continuing missions they have mastered through the shuttle program, but on untried goals that demand their expertise. Obama’s detractors would prevent NASA from focusing on extraordinary goals, and would bar the private sector from participating in tasks which it can handle. (7/20)
Maryland Space Science is Preparing for Liftoff (Source: Baltimore City Paper)
Maryland boasts the highest concentration of astronomers in the country, 11 times the national average, and the second highest concentration of physicists. It’s home to an exhaustive list of long-running and successful organizations and businesses, government-funded and private, that contribute directly or indirectly to space and Earth science.
In addition to STScI and the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), the state boasts the Goddard Space Flight Center, which has sent instruments to every planet in the solar system. Maryland’s space sector is currently contracted at $1.4 billion a year from NASA; it employs 15,061 people, totaling more than $1.6 billion in wages. (7/20)
Commercial Astronaut: Shuttle's End Is 'Sad Day' (Source: KJCT)
Ever since NASA's space shuttle had its final launch earlier this month, there have been questions about the future of our nation's space program. One man with direct ties to those efforts is also unsure. Mike Melvill, best known as the world's first commercial astronaut in space (he accomplished that feat in 2004) said the final shuttle launch was a 'sad day.' As much as he would like to see more launches down the road, Melvill worries that America is moving away from that.
"I think that it's a big mistake because what will happen is the politicians will realize they're now saving money and there will be no way to get money to build a new system," he commented. "We'll be relying on the Russians forever because of this mistake." Despite Melvill's opinion, President Obama has vowed a responsible return to space. He hopes NASA will have developed a new vehicle ready to take Americans into the final frontier by 2015.
Melvill says that thinking is backwards. He criticizes the plan saying NASA should have had a replacement before they retired the shuttle program. (7/20)
Merritt Island High Team May Launch Satellite (Source: Florida Today)
After working with NASA engineering mentors last school year, Merritt Island High students were selected as the second high school group in the nation to build and potentially launch a small satellite, called a CubeSat, from a NASA rocket. The activity is an extra-curricular activity for the students, whose numbers vary from eight to a dozen.
Teachers Alison Fetig and Julie White and Kennedy Space Center mentors worked with the students to meet requirements and pass the first of several reviews. The students designed their satellite, which they named StangSat, to communicate with a university satellite about launch data.
Editor's Note: Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University serves on the advisory board for the school's da Vinci Academy for aerospace studies. (7/20)
We're Looking for a Few Good Astronauts (Source: Discover)
Until recently NASA was the only game in town for aspiring astronauts like Brian Shiro. But for the first time in the history of manned spaceflight, astronauts will soon be able to reach the final frontier in vehicles neither designed nor operated by a government space agency. Once NASA completes its last shuttle mission, its manned exploration arm will become little more than a deep-pocketed customer.
For seats on private space vehicles, each of which will require trained pilots and crew. That shift could open up outer space to a new class of astronaut, trained and employed more like airline pilots than Apollo explorers. “These changes create the potential for the first-ever privately trained astronauts,” says Ken Bowersox, a vice president at SpaceX and a former NASA astronaut. Last year, aiming to get some fresh blood into the pipeline, Shiro cofounded Astronauts4Hire (A4H).
A4H is a Florida-based nonprofit that he says will train the first generation of commercial spaceflight crews. Beginning this summer, 5 to 10 of the group’s members will experience crushing g-forces in a giant rotating centrifuge and may even confront weightlessness on parabolic jet flights. Astronauts4Hire’s initial program, which lasts a few weeks and runs $10,000 per person, is a far cry from the two years of grueling training given to NASA recruits, but Shiro hopes it will give participants a jump on the competition. (7/20)
Should We End Space Exploration? (Source: Guardian)
The ultimate dream of a manned mission to Mars seems as distant as ever, and in this time of recession the expense of space travel seems hard to justify to the public. Is it time to accept that we have gone as far as we can with space exploration? Or should mankind remember the words of HG Wells – "Life, for ever dying to be born afresh, for ever young and eager, will presently stand upon this earth as upon a footstool, and stretch out its realm amidst the stars." (7/20)
Arianespace: Russian Soyuz Rockets Have Bright Future (Source: Itar-Tass)
A new phase of France-Russia cooperation will start with the launch of a Soyuz rocket from the European Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, according to Arianespace President Jean-Yves le Gall. He said the future of the Soyuz Kourou program would be clear in two or three years.
The launch of a Soyuz rocket costs twice less than the launch of a European Ariane-5, but Soyuz rockets will not become rivals of Arianes, because they have different missions, le Gall said. The prospective Soyuz Kourou launches will provide a broad range of space delivery vehicles to Europe, among them the heavy Ariane rocket capable of delivering 9.5 tons of payload, the medium Soyuz with the payload of up to three tons, and the light Vega with the payload capacity of up to 1.5 tons. (7/20)
The Shuttle's Successors (Source: BBC)
After three decades, the shuttle era is all but over and the United States no longer has the means to send astronauts into space. Nasa is looking to the private sector to provide a new generation of space vehicles to take on the work of delivering crew and cargo to the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit. We detail five of the possible successors to the shuttle. Click here to see the graphic. (7/19)
Brazilian Space Agency Overhaul Raises Union Hackles (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) President Marcus Antonio Raupp’s bold effort to overhaul and consolidate the nation’s fractured space effort is meeting opposition from a key union worried that the change will outsource their jobs to private industry. The proposal provides for the merger of AEB with the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) and thus creating a new body to run the program.
Perhaps the union's biggest worry is the introduction of a “main contractor” for the Brazilian space program. This company or institution would be responsible for carrying out a project from beginning to end, setting deadlines and other subcontracting companies. In view of the union, the company – which is said to be Embraer – takes over the functions now performed by the space agency and its union workers. (7/19)
Cape Canaveral Job Fair On July 26 (Source: NASA)
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Brevard Workforce are partnering to host a job fair with private sector companies and federal employers from across the country on July 26. The Space Coast Job Fair and Hands-on Training Event will be held at 11 a.m. EDT at the Radisson Resort at the Port, 8701 Astronaut Blvd., Cape Canaveral, Fla.
More than 45 employers are expected to take part in the event. NASA has been working with local, state and federal officials to provide future planning support and placement for non-civil servant contractors who work to support the Space Shuttle Program, which will end next month. In addition to this event, NASA's Human Resources Office has hosted workshops, seminars and other events to help prepare employees for future opportunities. For more on KSC's workforce support efforts, visit http://kscvoice.com. (7/19)
NASA Astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson On Why We Should Send People To Space (Source: Huffington Post)
The 1986 space shuttle Challenger disaster, which killed all seven crew members on board just 73 seconds into the flight, convinced Tracy Caldwell Dyson, then age 16, to become an astronaut. As a teen passionate about science and close with her teachers, Dyson said she could relate to the high school teacher, Christa McAuliffe, who was on board the shuttle, and the buzzed-about launch piqued her interest in NASA. Her desire to become an astronaut only intensified following the explosion, which left her with the sense that a great deal was at stake for the agency.
“It felt like something was taken away from us and I didn’t want to see it destroyed,” she said of NASA’s space program. “I felt even more motivated to be a part of NASA and help rebuild it, even though I was only 16 at the time.” Twenty-five years later, Dyson has been a NASA astronaut for more than a decade, logging nearly 200 days in space, including three spacewalks and six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). She joined NASA after receiving a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of California,
In an exclusive interview for The Huffington Post’s Women in Tech series, Dyson shared her perspective on traveling to space, NASA’s future, the challenges of being a female astronaut, and more. Click here to read the interview. (7/20)
Urine: The Astronaut's Sports Drink (Source: MIT Technology Review)
One of the four astronauts on Atlantis tested a device that Wired calls "a textbook-sized kit that can convert urine into drinkable water." (The astronaut actually ran an "experimental fluid," not his or her urine, through the device.) The device works using a process called forward osmosis, by which the drinkable bits of urine slowly pass from an outer bag into an inner one.
A special electrolyte solution gets injected into a semi-permeable inner bag. Dirty fluid is then added to an outer bag. The fact that the electrolyte solution has a much greater osmotic pressure drives it to draw (cleanish) water molecules out of the dirty fluid and into the inner part of the bag. The whole process takes four to six hours, at the end of which you have your own jug of UrineAde. (7/20)
Rep. Lamar Smith: America Deserves a Better Space Program (Source: Space News)
According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, two out of three Americans believe our country is on the wrong track and nearly six in 10 say that the economy has not even started to recover. Under President Obama, 20 million Americans are out of work, underemployed, or given up looking for a job. Another recent poll found that a majority of Americans believe that the United States should “continue to be a world leader in manned space exploration.”
These two polls — one about Americans’ sense of our country being on the wrong track and the other about American leadership in space — have more in common than you might think. America’s space program is on the wrong track. NASA’s industry partners have recently announced massive layoffs of many thousands of highly-skilled engineers and technicians who previously worked on the space shuttle as it now retires and on NASA’s canceled Constellation program.
We are on the wrong track because these layoffs are due to the Obama administration diverting nearly $3 billion per year out of NASA’s manned spaceflight budget from what was planned under President Bush’s budget projection. It is troubling to see what the Obama administration is doing to America’s manned spaceflight program. At a time when our nation seeks to inspire students to study math, science, and engineering, they only see NASA’s industry partners laying off thousands of aerospace engineers and technicians across the country. (7/20)
Pentagon Worries About Space Industry With End of Shuttle Program (Source: National Journal)
As the space-shuttle era draws to a close and budget pressures threaten to constrain spending, a senior Defense Department official said on Tuesday that the government needs to take steps to protect the aerospace industrial base and to preserve the United States’ technological edge in space. The Defense Department has not been involved in the shuttle program since the 1980s, but NASA and the military’s own space operations remain inextricably linked.
“While we don’t share the shuttle, we do share the industrial base,” Gregory Schulte, deputy assistant secretary of Defense for space policy, told reporters at a breakfast on Tuesday morning. “And so anything that NASA does is important to us in terms of the industrial base. And anything that we do is important to NASA as well.” (7/20)
DOD Space Program Broadens Industry, Foreign Partnerships (Source: DOD)
The Defense Department is expanding partnerships with spacefaring companies and nations to maintain the strategic advantage it gains in space, the deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy said today. Ambassador Gregory L. Schulte said NASA’s final space shuttle flight this week represents “a time of transition” for the civil and military space programs. “Space,” Schulte said, “is increasingly congested, contested and competitive.” (7/20)
U.S. Wants to Talk Outer Space with China (Source: Reuters)
The United States wants to open a regular dialogue with China on outer space in an effort to create "rules for the road" and reduce the risk of misunderstandings, a U.S. defense official said on Tuesday. China is making major investments in space and, unlike in the United States, distinguishing between China's civil and military space sectors is difficult because "the two are essentially one," Gregory Schulte, deputy assistant secretary of defense for space policy, said.
The United States recognizes that China is a "major space-faring country," he said. China is developing a broader range of space-borne capabilities to ward off adversaries, including jammers and lasers, which provides added incentive for the United States to open a channel for talks. "We've actually proposed to establish a regular dialogue with China on space," Schulte said. (7/20)
Interest in Space Memorabilia Soars as Shuttle Era Ends (Source: USA Today)
The day after the space shuttle Atlantis launched on its final journey, space memorabilia collectors flooded the website of Goldberg's Auctions in Los Angeles for a shot at nabbing a piece of NASA history. "It's the end of an era," says CEO Ira Goldberg. "These items will become historical treasure pieces."
Since the dawn of the space program in the 1950s , collectors have longed for a physical connection to the cosmos, from astronaut autographs to moon rocks. Now space shuttle relics are surging in price and popularity as NASA's 30-year-old space shuttle program ends with the landing of Atlantis, scheduled for Thursday at Kennedy Space Center. (7/20)
European Commission Wants Individual Nations To Fund GMES (Source: Space News)
The European Commission, in a surprise move, is proposing that its satellite-based Earth observation program be removed from its seven-year budget starting in 2014 and instead be funded by voluntary contributions from individual European governments. The decision to take the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) effort off the commission’s books just as it begins operations drew immediate criticism from a group representing European geo-information companies.
Up to now, it had been assumed that GMES and the Galileo satellite navigation project — the two so-called “flagship” European Union space programs — would secure long-term funding for the commission’s next budget cycle, which covers the period from 2014 through 2020. The proposed budget is by no means the last word. Nearly two years of negotiations with the parliament and with individual governments still lie ahead. (7/20)
Lockheed Looks For More Job Cuts (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Defense contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. is making voluntary-layoff offers to 6,500 U.S. employees at its corporate headquarters and in its enterprise-business-services segment. Lockheed eliminated about 3,300 positions in its aeronautics, space systems and other segments earlier this year. (7/20)
Congressman Green Pitches NASA Workers To Interior Department (Source: KUHF)
The Interior Department is looking to hire hundreds of inspectors for offshore oil and gas rigs. It’s part of the effort to both improve safety and speed production in the wake of last year’s Gulf oil spill. Houston Congressman Gene Green is petitioning the department to hire Johnson Space Center employees and contractors that are being let go with the end of the shuttle program.
“Those folks could be trained very quickly, because they have a technical background, to also inspect vessels and oil and gas rigs, cause frankly, if they were inspecting the Shuttle and things going into space, they know some of the quality requirements that you have to have, and I want the same thing in our offshore drilling platforms.”
Green says hiring idled NASA workers would solve two problems: Interior’s difficulty finding skilled workers and the Houston area’s ability to hold onto the ones it has now. Fourteen members of Congress have signed Green’s letter to Interior, including the entire Houston delegation. (7/20)
The Lost Dream of Trippy '70s Space Colonies (Source: The Atlantic)
"We have put men on the Moon. Can people live in space? Can permanent communities be built and inhabited off the Earth? Not long ago these questions would have been dismissed as science fiction, as fantasy or, at best as the wishful thinking of men ahead of their times," a 1975 NASA design study begins. "Now they are asked seriously not only out of human curiosity, but also because circumstances of the times stimulate the thought that space colonization offers large potential benefits and hopes to an increasingly enclosed and circumscribed humanity."
In the wake of the 1973 OPEC oil embargo, the dwindling resources of the Earth were on the minds of many. The solution, for a particular kind of Big Engineering adherent, wasn't to reduce the human footprint on this planet, but to extend it beyond the blue marble. The space colony movement probably marks the apex of nominally realistic ambitious thinking about off-world living. The goal was to build a 10,000-person orbiting community with materials and technologies available to people in the 1970s. Click here. (7/20)
Is Commercial Space & Building Spaceports the Next Step? (Source: WMFE)
NASA and the US space manned space program are betting that commercial ventures will pick up where the Space Shuttle leaves off at the end of this week. Mark Simpson talks with George Whitesides, CEO of Virgin Galactic about how close the company is to realizing its vision of bringing tourists into space from the New Mexico desert. Representing the industry side of things, Craig Steidle, president of the Commercial Space Flight Federation discusses how politicians in Washington DC view spaceports. Click here for the audio. (7/20)
After Shuttle Lands, Mission Control to Go Quiet (Source: AP)
In the geeky world of space engineering, this large, high-ceilinged room is close to holy. Inside, people speak in hushed tones and observe time-honored traditions. The place is Mission Control. Beginning moments after launch, flight controllers here choreograph everything astronauts do, from waking up and eating to walking in space. "That building, we think of it as a cathedral of spaceflight," said John McCullough, head of NASA's flight director office. Flight controllers are "the keepers and enforcers of traditions" that date back to the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo days.
When Atlantis lands Thursday, the famous room will seem even more ghostly. After 30 years and 135 missions, shuttles will no longer need controlling. NASA plans to turn the space into a training venue, mostly for astronauts going to the International Space Station and flight controllers working with the station. Over the next couple of months, 800 or 900 people in the mission operations division will be laid off, said Paul Hill, head of that division and a former flight director himself. (7/20)
AIA Applauds Obama Move to Ease Export Restrictions (Source: AIA)
The Obama administration has proposed modernizing some of the controls on exported products that are not a security risk. The Aerospace Industries Association applauded the proposal. "For years the U.S. export control system has created confusion and delay in exporting defense equipment to our allies and driven up compliance costs across the industrial base," said AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey. "These reforms are common-sense ways of supporting our military partners and our export competitiveness." (7/20)
Lawmakers' Quarrel Could Lead to Shutdown of FAA (Source: CNBC)
The House and the Senate continue to disagree over a labor provision in legislation that would extend long-term funding to the Federal Aviation Administration. The dispute could lead to a shutdown of the FAA, whose operating authority expires this week. If that happens, air traffic controllers would still continue to work because they are considered essential employees, Republican lawmakers said. (7/20)
Astronauts4Hire Members Complete Suborbital Scientist Training (Source: A4H)
Eight Astronauts4Hire members have successfully completed the Suborbital Scientist Training Program at the National AeroSpace Training and Research (NASTAR) Center in Southampton, Pennsylvania. Astronauts4Hire and NASTAR will collaborate to refine and further develop curricula to prepare future scientist crews. (7/20)
Money Facts: The Space Shuttle Program (Source: SFGate.com)
The space shuttle program costs each taxpayer $93 each year. (Adjusted for inflation and averaged). If that seems like a small price to pay in the name of science and adventure, you are most likely sad to see the space shuttle program retired. If it's money that you could spend on more important items, then the farewell to the most visible piece of NASA is probably a welcome sight.
The Space Shuttle program has fallen victim to a lack of funding. As that is largely unpopular among Washington politicians, it still remains a source of national pride. A recent survey found that 55% of Americans believe that the shuttle program was money well spent, while 58% feel that it is essential that the United States remain leaders in the space travel and exploration. Exactly what are the costs that America has incurred and what costs will we incur when the program is gone? Click here. (7/20)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
