Eastern Range Troubles:
Blame Sequestration? (Source: SPACErePORT)
It has now been announced that a downrange radar fire is behind
this week's Atlas-5 launch delay, but could the range's recent
history point to a deeper problem? Over the past five years, the Air Force's
budget for operating and maintaining the Eastern Range has been reduced
by tens of millions of dollars.
These cuts are the result of government-wide budget reductions,
including mandated sequestration cuts.
Unique capabilities and redundant systems have been eliminated (like
optical tracking) and personnel numbers have been minimized. Although
GPS metric tracking is being implemented for some vehicles, radars are still required for backup. Other
upgrade plans have been delayed in favor of sticking with legacy systems. In
the near term, maintaining these legacy systems is less expensive than
investing in upgrades, even though the upgraded systems would be
cheaper to operate and more efficient in the long term.
If you were to build the Eastern Range from scratch today, it would probably
look nothing like the Eastern Range we now have. It would be
interesting to see whether the current range equipment problem is a
direct or only an indirect consequence of the Air Force's penny-wise,
pound-foolish austerity. (3/26)
Lockheed Martin Aims to
Carry NASA Astronauts in Mini-Shuttle (Source: WDSU)
Executives with Lockheed Martin and Sierra Nevada Space Systems gave
the media a look at the beginning stages of the Dream Chaser spacecraft
being constructed at the site. It is one of three being built to
shuttle astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS).
Lockheed Martin has been contracted by Sierra Nevada to begin building
the Dream Chaser mini-shuttle for space orbit. It is in early stages of
development, but the Michoud facility is where things like the cabin
and wings will be constructed for the space vehicle. (3/26)
New Rain-Sensing
Satellite Can X-ray Tropical Cyclones (Source: WIRED)
Scientists now basically have the ability to X-ray rainstorms and
cyclones from space. NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA just
released the first images from the Global Precipitation Measurement
(GPM) Core Observatory satellite, which launched on Feb. 27.
This
image, taken with GPM’s space-based radar, provides a
snapshot into an extratropical cyclone that spun through the northwest
Pacific Ocean on Mar. 10. Red indicates heavy rainfall, yellow is less
intense, and blue indicates light rain or snow. Previous satellites,
like the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, have used space-based
radar before but were designed to monitor heavy rain, not snow. (3/26)
Remaining SOFIA Science
Budget Earmarked for Closeout Costs (Source: Space News)
NASA might have to raid an international airborne astrophysics
observatory’s remaining science budget just to pay the costs of
canceling the mission, an agency official said. NASA proposed grounding
the billion-dollar Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy
(SOFIA) as part of its 2015 budget request, requesting $12 million for
the U.S. government budget year that begins Oct. 1 to close out the
program. (3/26)
Editorial: Accountants
Lost in Space (Source: Washington Times)
NASA pays no attention to its cell phone bill. A recent audit of the
space agency’s books found that the bureaucrats who helped put man on
the moon can’t keep track of its telephones. The NASA inspector general
reveals that 14 percent of agency-issued smartphones, tablets, cell
phones and wireless modem aircards — a total of 2,280 mobile devices —
went unused for at least seven months.
This failure to maintain an accurate inventory of such devices cost
American taxpayers $679,000 over the seven-month period from June
through December 2013. And that’s a conservative estimate. Over the
course of a year, taxpayers are likely paying out nearly $1.2 million
for mobile devices that are never taken out of the box. NASA’s
negligence extends to laptops as well. The agency doesn’t even know how
many laptops it has. (3/26)
NASA Visitor Center
Offers a Look at Wallops Programs (Source: DelMarVaNow)
As Rob Marshall of Temperanceville studied a sounding rocket timeline
inside the NASA Wallops Visitor Center here last Saturday, families
from Maryland and New Jersey were trickling into the center behind him.
Marshall, who has been a part of the sounding rockets program at
Wallops for nearly 15 years, and his wife Kim and daughter Paige
blended in with the crowd while looking at the small exhibit posted
with pictures of various experiments.
With this month’s debut of new visitor hours and weekend educational
programs, Saturdays at the visitor center are a time for locals and
visitors to intermingle as they learn more about Wallops, its programs
and science in general. Before taking a brief tour through the center
with her parents, Paige Marshall attended the Saturday morning
children’s story time that began at 11. (3/26)
Rocket Woman Makes
History Leading ULA's Alabama Rocket Plant (Source:
Huntsville Times)
Cindy Nafus has gone from “the only woman in the room” at management
meetings to the only woman in America running a rocket plant. At 53,
she’s the new “site lead” at United Launch Alliance’s Decatur plant,
where 800 employees build the Atlas and Delta rockets that provide most
of the lift to America’s space program. (3/26)
Galileo Brochure Conjurs
Up ‘Inconceivable’ GPS Cutoff Scenario (Source: Space News)
The European Commission’s argument that its Galileo satellite
positioning, navigation and timing program is a hedge against the day
when the U.S. government arbitrarily shuts off GPS — for whatever
reason — has been a driving political motivation for Galileo since the
project’s beginning in the mid-1990s. So has the idea that GPS, which
is funded mainly by the U.S. Defense Department, should be seen as
inherently unreliable for non-military users compared to compared to
Galileo, which is 100 percent financed by civil authorities.
U.S. government officials — military and civil — have gone hoarse over
the years explaining that GPS has been formally declared a dual-use
system overseen by a civil-military board. The infrastructure, often
described as a global utility, generates thousands of jobs and billions
in annual commercial revenue and underpins the global financial system
in addition to being the default positioning and navigation service for
the NATO alliance. Click here.
(3/26)
Robonaut Legs Headed for
International Space Station (Source: Parabolic Arc)
NASA’s built and is sending a set of high-tech legs up to the
International Space Station for Robonaut 2 (R2), the station’s robotic
crew member. The new legs will be delivered to the space station aboard
the SpaceX-3 cargo resupply mission, due to launch March 30 from the
Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida. (3/26)
After Engine Problem,
Soyuz to Dock With Station Friday (Source: RIA Novosti)
A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying a trio of crew members is scheduled
to dock automatically with the International Space Station on Friday.
Vitaly Lopota, the head of the company that oversees the manufacture of
the craft, said cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev along
with NASA astronaut Steven Swanson are "in good health" and will
rendezvous with the station early Friday morning.
The Soyuz spacecraft was originally scheduled to dock with the ISS on
Wednesday, but was unable to complete a fine-tune burn of its engines
for an expedited approach, a flight path that has only been recently
tested in an effort to reduce the time astronauts spend in the cramped
craft. (3/26)
Bolden: Bringing Space
Launches Back to America (Source: NASA)
Later today, NASA astronaut Steve Swanson will liftoff towards the
International Space Station, not from the Space Coast of Florida or
some other American spaceport, but from Kazakhstan on a Russian
spacecraft. And unfortunately, the plan put forward by the Obama
Administration to address this situation has been stymied by some in
Congress.
Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle – a decision made in 2004 –
the United States has been dependent on the Russians to get our
astronauts to the International Space Station. Recognizing that this
was unacceptable, President Obama has requested in NASA’s budget more
than $800 million each of the past 5 years to incentivize the American
aerospace industry to build the spacecraft needed to launch our
astronauts from American soil.
Had this plan been fully funded, we would have returned American human
spaceflight launches – and the jobs they support – back to the United
States next year. With the reduced level of funding approved by
Congress, we’re now looking at launching from U.S. soil in 2017. (3/25)
GeoMetWatch Taps Exelis
for Weather Sensors (Source: Space News)
Exelis Geospatial Systems will provide the infrared sounding
instruments that commercial weather satellite startup GeoMetWatch plans
to fly as hosted payloads on commercial and possibly government
satellites operating in geostationary orbit. Financial terms of the
deal were not disclosed and they did not say how many sensors Exelis
would deliver under the deal, but GeoMetWatch’s remote sensing license
from the U.S. Commerce Department permits it to operate up to six
sounders in geostationary orbit. (3/26)
Future Ukrainian Space
Tourist Takes Government Post (Source: Kyev Post)
Borys Filatov, the newly appointed deputy governor of Dnipropetrovsk,
earlier this month exited his glossy S-class Mercedes. Wearing a dapper
blue suit, the millionaire businessman headed to the entrance of a drab
administration building like he had done for about two weeks, since his
long-time business partner and friend Ihor Kolomoyskiy became the
oblast’s governor in early March.
He began his career as a lawyer with an interest in journalism. In
2010, he went on a trip through eight African countries and developed a
TV film from the adventure. His flair for adventure has also led him to
sign up for Virgin Galactics’ space tourism program (a ticket that cost
him some $200,000). His flight is set for this fall. Click here.
(3/26)
Could a Facebook Deal
Revive Armadillo Aerospace? (Source: NewSpace Journal)
Last August, gaming entrepreneur John Carmack announced that his small
space venture, Armadillo Aerospace, was in “hibernation mode” because
of a lack of funding. He said he was actively looking for outside
investors willing to fund operations. “If we don’t wind up landing an
investor, it’ll probably stay in hibernation until there’s another
liquidity event where I’m comfortable throwing another million dollars
a year into things,” he said at the time.
There’s been no news about Carmack finding an outside investor for
Armadillo, but there may have been a “liquidity event” for Carmack.
Days after his QuakeCon appearance, Carmack announced he had joined
Oculus VR, a startup company pursuing virtual reality technology with a
headset called Oculus Rift, as the company’s chief technology officer.
Yesterday, Facebook announced it was acquiring Oculus VR in a
cash-and-stock deal valued at about $2 billion. That is a pretty big
liquidity event. (3/26)
NML Sues SpaceX Over
Argentina Contracts (Source: Space News)
Billionaire Paul Singer’s NML Capital Ltd., seeking to enforce $1.7
billion in judgments over Argentina’s defaulted bonds, sued billionaire
Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp. along with the South
American nation for its rights to at least two satellite launches.
Through its National Space Activities Commission, Argentina has
contracted with SpaceX for launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base in
California, scheduled for 2015 and 2016, according to the complaint
filed today in Los Angeles federal court. In doing so, NML said, the
country has acquired property in the U.S. that can be seized, according
to the complaint.
“Argentina’s contract for SpaceX launch slots clearly constitutes
property used for a commercial activity, which means a creditor, like
my client NML, can seize it under the applicable law,” Robert Cohen, a
lawyer for the firm, said in a statement. (3/26)
Third Annual California
Aerospace Week Was March 24-26 (Source: AIAA)
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and NASA
co-hosted California Aerospace Week, March 24–26, in Sacramento,
California. Featuring a mix of panels, exhibits, hearings and
discussions, the event focused on the importance of aerospace to
California. A resolution was introduced in the California State Senate
on the afternoon of March 24, proclaiming the week of March 24–28:
“California Aerospace Week.” Click here.
(3/19)
Shrinking Visitor Center
Threatens Spaceport America Tourism Plans (Source:
Parabolic Arc)
Plans for a visitor’s center at Spaceport America have continued to
shrink due to a lack of funding and revenues. And that could pose
significant risks to New Mexico’s plans to boost the local economy by
attracting more than 200,000 visitors to the remote facility where
Virgin Galactic plans to launch tourists into space.
In fact, the New Mexico Spaceport Authority appears to be going down
the very path that its own Strategic Business Plan warns will result in
a poor visitor experience and fewer tourists paying money to see the
high-tech spaceport. Original plans called for an elaborate stand-alone
visitor’s center at the spaceport that would house exhibits, theater,
restaurant and other amenities.
According to NMSA’s Strategic Business Plan, the effort will require
adequate marketing of the remote location by an experienced hospitality
management firm. The plan noted a slowdown in previous years in travel
to New Mexico due to the recession and higher gas prices. It also
warned that any cutbacks in the planned visitor experience could
adversely impact the number of tourists. (3/25)
NASA Solicits New
Collaborative Commercial Space Partnerships (Source: NASA)
Building on the success of NASA's commercial spaceflight initiatives,
agency officials announced Monday plans to solicit proposals from U.S.
private enterprises for unfunded partnerships to collaboratively
develop new commercial space capabilities.
The Collaborations for Commercial Space Capabilities (CCSC) initiative
will advance entrepreneurial efforts through access to NASA's
spaceflight resources. Using Space Act Agreements (SAAs), NASA and its
partners would agree to a series of mutually beneficial activities. New
partnerships must identify benefits under one or more elements of
NASA's 2014 Strategic Plan, which include expanding human presence into
the solar system and surface of Mars to advance exploration, science,
innovation, benefits to humanity and international collaboration. (3/25)
Editorial: It's Time to
Extend Routine Space Operations to the Moon (Source:
Space.com)
When the XPRIZE Foundation announced the Google Lunar XPRIZE in 2007,
Astrobotic Technology chairman Red Whittaker declared his intention to
compete on the first day. Since then, we have worked methodically on
the technology and operations for the $20 million Grand Prize. We have
approached this from the outset as an opportunity to build a business.
With only a few lunar landings since Apollo, there remains a deep
cultural belief that they are extraordinarily difficult and expensive.
Bold, risky pursuits are called "moon shots." Indeed, NASA estimated
that the Apollo program cost $170 billion in 2005 dollars — about $28
billion for each of the six landings.
Although the technology is now in reach, bootstrapping a new market is
always challenging. Businesses and research institutions won't
routinely develop lunar payloads until regular, affordable transport is
assured, but the transport business won't mature until reliable payload
customers justify the investment. (3/24)
Spacecraft Returns Seven
Particles From Birth of the Solar System (Source: Science)
After a massive, years-long search, researchers have recovered seven
interstellar dust particles returned to Earth by the Stardust
spacecraft. The whole sample, reported here this week at the Lunar and
Planetary Science Conference, weighs just a few trillionths of a gram,
but it’s the first time scientists have laid their hands on primordial
material unaltered by the violent birth of the solar system. The
Stardust spacecraft, launched in 1999, has already accomplished its
prime objective: collecting dust particles in the tail of comet Wild 2
and returning them in a reentry capsule ejected as Stardust passed by
Earth in 2006.
NASA went to all that trouble because comets were supposed to be the
repository of the primordial ice and rock—the product of eons of star
birth and death—that went into building the solar system. But it turned
out that the minerals in the comet dust that Stardust managed to
collect weren’t that pristine: They had been heated, melted, and
totally transformed somewhere near the nascent sun and then carried
outward to be incorporated into comets in the ultradeep freeze far
beyond the outermost planets. (3/25)
SpaceX President Gwynne
Shotwell Wins Space Society Pioneer Award (Source: NSS)
The National Space Society takes great pleasure in awarding its 2014
Space Pioneer Award for the Entrepreneurial Business category to SpaceX
President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne R. Shotwell. NSS will
present the Space Pioneer Award to Mrs. Shotwell on May 16, at NSS's
annual conference, the 2014 International Space Development Conference
(ISDC). The conference will be held at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in
Los Angeles, CA, and will run from May 14-18, 2014. (3/25)
This Chamber Simulates
Mars Right Here on Earth (Source: The Verge)
Researchers in Spain have developed a vacuum chamber that can recreate
most of the physical conditions found on Mars. The chamber, which cost
over $200,000 to make and took a year to build, allows scientists to
test the electromechanical gear that's being considered for use in
future missions to the red planet. Their results were published today
in Review of Scientific Instruments.
In the study, scientists were able to mimic Mars' temperature, gas
composition, total pressure, and UV radiation using environmental data
collected from previous NASA missions. The researchers also included a
system that allows them to douse instruments with Martian dust
directly, to see how they hold up while in use. "In my view, the main
problem for devices on Mars is the dust, which covers all the
instrumentation and therefore decreases their average lifespan," said
Jose Angel Martin-Gago, a physicist at the University of Madrid. (3/25)
UD Researchers to Test
NASA Mars Mission Power Generators (Source: Dayton Daily
News)
The extreme day and night temperatures on Mars will be simulated in a
new University of Dayton Research Institute laboratory to test the
power generator used in NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover. UD researchers
were chosen to test the performance of two Multi-Mission Radioisotope
Thermoelectric Generators under an ongoing five-year, $3.75 million
contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, said Chadwick Barklay, a
UDRI distinguished research scientist. (3/25)
NASA is Shutting Down
'Space Station Live' (Source: NASA Watch)
JSC is pulling the plug on Space Station Live due to budget cuts. You
are encouraged to contact the space agency and ask to reconsider the
decision. As suggested on the site, you can submit your concerns by
emailing NASA official Jennifer B. Price at jsc-isslive@mail.nasa.gov
with ISS Live Web Site in the Subject.
ISS Live is a unique resource. It displays real-time telemetry data on
the space station's electrical, environmental, attitude control,
communications, and other systems. Mobile apps for Android and iOS are
also available for checking the telemetry on your smartphone or tablet.
Live telemetry, from a real spaceship. A lot of the same data flight
controllers have on their console displays at NASA's Mission Control
Center in Houston. This is possibly one of the geekiest resources ever.
(3/25)
Soyuz Flies US-Russian
Crew to Space Station (Source: Voice of America)
The United States and Russia may be at odds over Ukraine, but they are
still cooperating in space. A Russian Soyuz rocket took off from
Kazakhstan Tuesday to fly two cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut to the
International Space Station. Oleg Artemyev, Alexander Skvortsov, and
Steve Swanson will spend the next six months aboard the station
carrying out a series of scientific experiments. (3/25)
Have We Spotted Dark
Matter in the Milky Way? (Source: Sky & Telescope)
So what is this elusive matter? A popular theory is that it consists of
a yet-undiscovered exotic massive particle that barely interacts with
normal matter. These particles have so far eluded detection. But
theoretically they act as their own antiparticles, and can annihilate
to produce a cascade of familiar particles, including electrons and
positrons. The collision should generate gamma-rays — the most
energetic photons in nature.
NASA’s Fermi Gamma-Ray Space Telescope has been scouring the sky in
search of this tell-tale annihilation signature since its launch in
2008. While the telescope has spotted a large number of gamma rays
pouring outward from the center of our galaxy, astronomers have not
been able to determine if this detection is due to dark matter
annihilation or other natural particle accelerators. A team of
astronomers led by Tansu Daylan has further scrutinized the excess
Fermi signal, and has ruled out pulsars as the cause.
This leads to the conclusion that the signal must be due to
annihilating dark matter — a claim that would resolve one of the
biggest mysteries in physics. “If our interpretation is correct, this
signal would constitute the discovery of an entirely new particle that
makes up the majority of the mass found in the universe,” says coauthor
Dan Hooper. “I can't find words that are strong enough to capture the
significance of such a discovery.” (3/25)
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