John Glenn, Former Astronaut And Ohio
Senator, Cuts Ad For Obama (Source: Huffington Post)
Former Ohio Democratic Senator and astronaut John Glenn appears in a
new ad for President Barack Obama, released Monday. Glenn, 91, says to
the camera, "Growing up in Ohio, you learn to size up a person by their
character." He continues, "And that's why I'm supporting President
Barack Obama." "He stood firm against the doubters and helped rescue
the auto industry," he says. "He's taken on big corporations and
foreign powers when they've threatened our jobs, our freedom, our way
of life." "And you know he means what he says -- that's the Ohio way,"
Glenn says. "Barack Obama has earned my vote, and my trust." (10/15)
The Uncertain Future of Launch
Indemnification Legislation (Source: Space Politics)
An obscure, yet important, provision in federal law that supports the
commercial space transportation industry is launch indemnification. The
law requires commercial launch companies to be financially
responsible-—usually through insurance-—for third-party losses in the
event of a launch accident up to a “maximum probable loss” (MPL) amount
determined in the launch licensing process. Losses above that, up to
about $2.7 billion in current-year dollars, would be covered by the
federal government before reverting back to the launch provider.
In practice, there’s never been an accident with third-party losses
that have exceeded the MPL, but the industry feels having
indemnification in place is important to protect the industry and keep
it competitive with launch service providers in other nations. The
indemnification provision needs to be renewed through legislation on a
regular basis, and it’s set to expire at the end of the year unless
renewed. However, with two and a half months to go, legislation to
extend indemnification has not been introduced in either the House or
Senate, let alone passed.
Since Congress has a full slate of work ahead of it when it returns for
a lame-duck session after the November elections, there is a risk that
the provision could expire, although people in industry as well as on
Capitol Hill believe that some kind of extension will pass before
year’s end. (10/14)
The Last, Best Hope for Export Control
Reform? (Source: Space Politics)
The question of extending launch indemnification isn’t the only space
policy issue that Congress will be facing when they return for their
lame-duck session next month. Also on their plates will be the ongoing
export control reform effort, in the form of legislation returning to
the president the authority to remove satellites and related components
off the US Munitions List (USML) and thus out of the purview of the
International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR).
The space industry has sought to get such reforms passed for years, and
now they’re closer to success than ever before—but with no guarantee
they’ll make it past the finish line before Congress adjourns at the
end of the year. The most likely way export control reform would make
it into law is through the defense authorization bill, formally known
as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The House version of
the NDAA, HR 4310, included a provision returning authority for
determining export controls for satellites and related components to
the president, reversing the language in the 1999 version of the NDAA
that explicitly placed them on the USML.
There is a standalone bill in the Senate, introduced in May by Sen.
Michael Bennet (D-CO), that would do the same, but including the
language in the NDAA is considered a better path to passage. (There is
no requirement that there be a defense authorization bill passed every
year, but congressional observers note it’s been decades since a year
went by without one.) The Senate has scheduled a week to take up its
version of the NDAA during the lame-duck session after the election.
(10/14)
ULA Completes Final CCDev 2 Milestone
(Source: Parabolic Arc)
NASA partner United Launch Alliance (ULA) has completed the fifth and
final milestone for its Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2)
agreement with the agency’s Commercial Crew Program. The Hazard, System
Safety and Probabilistic Risk Assessment detailed how ULA’s Atlas V
rocket launch system hardware would ensure crew safety during launch
and ascent.
“The ULA team did an outstanding job outlining how it plans to
integrate its launch vehicle with completely different spacecraft
designs,” said Ed Mango, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program manager. During
the year-long unfunded partnership, five reviews by technical experts
from NASA and ULA assessed the company’s design implementation plans,
detailed system and sub-system analysis, qualification, certification
and flight data. (10/15)
SpaceX Aims Big with Massive New Rocket
(Source: Flight Global)
Launcher developer SpaceX has promised a new engine for a new rocket,
larger than the Falcon 9 that NASA expects to become a mainstay of its
Earth orbit operations. SpaceX says the new engine would not be based
on the 160,000lb-thrust (712kN) Merlin 1 series that powers Falcon 9.
Musk said the new rocket, which he calls MCT, will be "several times"
as powerful as the 1 Merlin series, and won't use Merlin's RP-1 fuel.
Beyond adding that it will have "a very big core size", he declined to
elaborate, promising more details in "between one and three years".
Musk declined to say what 'MCT' stands for, and declined to answer
further questions on the project.
During an April interview, SpaceX president Gwynne Shotwell discussed a
project with similar characteristics, describing engines with "more
than 1.5 million pounds" of thrust. "I think we're still considering
vehicle diameter. But the vehicle diameter is large, 7m minimum,
multiple engines. These are big rockets." She further noted that the
company was examining grouping several of the engines together, as
SpaceX has done with the current Falcon 9 rocket. (10/15)
Planet with Four Suns Discovered
(Source: BBC)
Astronomers have found a planet whose skies are illuminated by four
different suns - the first known of its type. The distant world orbits
one pair of stars and has a second stellar pair revolving around it. It
remains a mystery how the Neptune-like world avoids being pulled apart
by the gravitational forces generated its four stars. The planet,
located just under 5,000 light-years away, has been named PH1 after the
Planet Hunters site. (10/15)
Is It Time to Create a Mars
Exploration Mission Directorate? (Source: Space Review)
A recent report by an independent group for NASA outlined several
future directions for the agency's Mars exploration program. Chris
Carberry argues that NASA should use this opportunity to consolidate
its Mars exploration efforts, both robotic and human, into a separate
division within the agency. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2172/1
to view the article. (10/15)
A Space Policy To-Do List for After
the Election (Source: Space Review)
Election Day next month doesn't mark the end of politics, or space
policy discussions, for this year. Jeff Foust reports on two
little-known but key issues regarding space that Congress will have to
address after the elections. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2171/1
to view the article. (10/15)
Future Exoplanet Missions: NASA and
the World (Source: Space Review)
A wide variety of spacecraft missions, both proposed and under
development, can support the discovery and study of extrasolar planets.
Philip Horzempa concludes his two-part look at these missions, and the
need to better organize and fund exoplanet research at NASA. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2170/1
to view the article. (10/15)
China's Satellite Explores Dangerous
Asteroid (Source: ZDNet)
After probing the moon, Chinese satellite Chang'e II left the lunar
orbit and began to explore asteroid No. 4179 which is 7 million km away
from Earth. The country also set out plans to send retrievable rovers
to the moon by 2017. Chang'e II's successful mission of exploring and
orbiting the Moon marks one of China's space exploration milestones.
The satellite flew to the 4.6km by 4.6km-asteroid No. 4179, which
impact could equal that of 500 million Hiroshima atomic bombs should it
hit Earth. (10/15)
Mojave Spaceport: The 'Silicon Valley'
of Space (Source: BBC)
The first thing you see as you drive into the Mojave Air and Space Port
is a reminder of how hard it is to get into space. Towering over the
entrance is the white cone of the Rotary Rocket, a radical launch
system that is half rocket, half helicopter. The fully reusable craft,
developed in the 1990s, was supposed to reduce the cost of launching
payloads into orbit by a factor of ten. In the end, the rocket failed
literally and metaphorically to get far off the ground. But to Stuart
Witt, CEO of the spaceport, the vehicle is a daily reminder of the ‘can
do’ attitude he hopes to encourage.
The Air and Space Port, two hours drive east of Los Angeles, has become
one of the most exciting – and least talked about – places in the
modern space industry. Over the last 12 years, this vast expanse of
flat, scrubby desert has hosted more than 6,000 rocket tests and is now
home to 14 space companies. If you can cope with the blistering heat, a
short walk along the runway will take you past hangers, industrial
units and sheds that belong to The Spaceship Company, Virgin Galactic,
XCOR Aerospace and Masten Space Systems.
So far, the only craft they’ve flown into space is SpaceShipOne, a ship
that is the template for Virgin Galactic’s space tourism venture.
Nevertheless, the area is now spoken of by some as a new Silicon Valley
or, as Witt prefers, a new Kitty Hawk – the North Carolina backwater
where the Wright brothers experimented with powered flight. Whatever
the comparison, the thrust is still the same. Mojave is a place where
people dare to try. (10/15)
Australia Will Soon Have a National
Space Policy (Source: The Conversation)
A draft of Australia’s first national space policy was recently
considered by federal cabinet and is currently undergoing a
consultation process with experts within the space sector. The
document, which will likely be called “Australia’s Satellite
Utilization Policy”, should be released early next year (though no
official date has been announced). The probable title for the report is
symptomatic of Australia’s long-held approach to space matters –
intense pragmatism. It also points to a continuing nervousness among
politicians about the word “space”. (10/15)
ISS Research Competition Underway
(Source: Space Florida)
The Space Florida ISS Research Competition got off to a resounding
start last week with a tightly packed Workshop audience of researchers
and scientists vying to have their research payloads flown to the
International Space Station. With no costs for competition
winners to fly their research to the ISS, (other than providing their
own payloads), scientists from academia, medical research institutions
and the commercial world, were anxious to take advantage of this unique
opportunity. NanoRacks provided all the technical information at
the Workshop and the event was recorded and can be viewed in full on
YouTube here .
(10/14)
Reusable Booster System Business Case
Incomplete (Source: National Research Council)
Due to uncertainties in the business case and yet-to-be mitigated
technology risks associated with the Reusable Booster System (RBS)
concept, it is currently premature for Air Force Space Command to
invest substantially in developing RBS, says a new report from the
National Research Council. However, the report strongly endorses the
continued research and advanced technology development needed for
future launch systems and concludes that reusability remains an option
in the future.
The RBS concept, an unmanned launch vehicle with an autonomous guidance
and control system, was designed to address one of Air Force Space
Command's identified four long-term science and technology challenges
of providing full-spectrum launch capability at dramatically lower
cost. The system consists of a reusable first stage and an expendable
second stage. The first stage is designed to return to the launch site
so it can be recovered and reused in future launches. (10/15)
Space Florida Receives Another Award
for Boeing Project (Source: Space Florida)
This week, Space Florida – the State of Florida’s spaceport authority
and aerospace development agency – received the 13th Annual H. Bruce
Russell Global Innovator's Award by CoreNet Global for recent work with
NASA/Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and The Boeing Company in establishing
Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program Headquarters and Manufacturing Site
for the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft in Florida.
CoreNet Global is the world’s leading association for corporate real
estate and workplace professionals, service providers and economic
developers. The H. Bruce Russell Global Innovator's Award is CoreNet
Global's most prestigious, recognizing business development innovation
at the highest level.
In this transaction, State and federal government agencies worked in a
first-of-its-kind partnership with the private sector (Boeing) to
position Florida for growth and leadership in next-generation human
space exploration initiatives. Space Florida first worked with KSC to
repurpose excessed Space Shuttle era facilities for commercial use,
then formed an agreement with Boeing for use of one of those facilities
(KSC’s Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3, or “OPF-3”) to manufacture,
assemble, and test the company’s CST-100 spacecraft. (10/15)
Defense-Spending Shift is Coming, With
or Without Sequestration (Source: Reuters)
Whether Congress puts a halt on the sequestration cuts set to go into
effect Jan. 2, the defense industry will have to undergo a radical
shift due to budget shortfalls, this feature says. Finding a balance
between necessary defense spending for safety and the need for a
balanced budget has been tricky, and defense contractors are advocating
for policymakers to find cuts elsewhere. "Defense has already been cut
through the muscle and we are now into the bone," said Marion Blakey,
president and CEO of the Aerospace Industries Association. (10/13)
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