ULA Leadership Shift Could be
Precursor for More Changes (Source: Defense News)
An unexpected leadership change at the United Launch Alliance (ULA) may
be just the first move for a company facing competition for the first
time. After leading ULA since its inception in 2006, Michael Gass is
stepping down. Craig Cooning, president of Boeing Network and Space
Systems and a ULA board member, said Bruno is “well-qualified to ensure
ULA keeps pace with changing customer needs and launch industry
dynamics.”
The announcement put as positive a spin as possible on Gass’ departure,
but reading between the lines makes it clear leaders at the parent
companies felt a change was needed, said Teal Group analyst Marco
Caceres. “Gass hung his hat on ULA’s track record of successful
launches,” Caceres said. But ULA looked complacent when matched against
the dynamic Elon Musk, whose SpaceX will shortly begin competing with
ULA for military space launches.
“Generally, when you see abrupt leadership changes, there’s an abrupt
change of strategic or tactical course needed,” Callan said. “You don’t
make those changes unless you see something that needs fast corrective
action.” Caceres said he expects to see layoffs and a streamlining of
ULA to find all possible cost savings. “My sense is you’re going to see
at ULA a restructuring of some sort, because ultimately they’re going
to have to find a way to be a lot more competitive on price,” he said.
(8/18)
Dentons Creates ‘Space Law’ Group
(Source: Washington Post)
International law firm Dentons has created a practice group focused on
representing companies that manufacture, operate and invest in
satellites, as it eyes potential in the fast-growing commercial space
industry.
The new group is led by attorneys Del Smith, Liz Evans and Deepak
Reddy, who recently joined Dentons from Jones Day. Smith is in
Washington and Evans and Reddy are in New York. The group includes 15
attorneys spread across 10 of the firm’s offices around the world,
whose legal expertise spans mergers and acquisitions, finance,
restructuring, regulatory, insurance, intellectual property, antitrust
and litigation. (8/17)
Zero-G Flights Offer That Floating
Sensation (Source: The National)
UAE residents will be able to float and flip weightlessly for a few
minutes when they sign up for “zero gravity” flights scheduled to take
off next year. Starting at just under Dh10,000, the 90-minute flights,
operated by Swiss Space Systems (S3), are scheduled to take place over
six days from April 9 to 11 and April 16 to 18. The UAE is one of more
than 15 countries the flights will depart from around the world from
January next year.
S3 is one of several private companies offering civilians the chance to
experience weightlessness, something that is generally experienced only
by scientists and astronauts. The company uses modified Airbus jets to
perform 15 parabolas, each providing between 20 and 25 seconds of
weightlessness during the course of the hour-and-a-half-long flight.
(8/18)
Challenger Center Holds Back to School
Bash in Tallahassee (Source: WCTV)
It was back to school for Leon County Schools on Monday. Today the
Challenger Learning Center held a back to school bash for children and
their families. Folks enjoyed hands on science demonstrations and tours
of the space mission simulator. The center also held several free
screenings in its IMAX and Planetarium theaters, including Madagascar's
Island of Lemurs, Hidden Universe, and The Last Reef.
Staff at the center says it’s their way of saying thank you for a great
summer. Michelle Personette, the Executive Director of Challenger
Learning Center, said, "The community supports us. We are a non-profit.
And the community supports us throughout the year. This is our way to
give back to them. It's an exciting time. All the kids are going back
to school and we want to make sure the community and the kids are ready
and excited to go back to school." (8/16)
The Cosmos in a Cornfield
(Source: Space Review)
When it comes to space museums, people most likely think of the
National Air and Space Museum or one of the NASA visitor centers.
Dwayne Day describes the impressive collection of artifacts that can be
found in a museum located right in the middle of the country. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2581/1
to view the article. (8/18)
Alternative Propulsion Concepts Power
Debate (Source: Space Review)
New propulsion technologies that promise to greatly reduce travel times
would seem to be universally welcomed, but such concepts often get
mired in debates about their feasibility. Jeff Foust reports on
developments involving a couple of different proposals that have either
been treated as revolutionary advances or dismissed as ineffective or
even impossible. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2580/1
to view the article. (8/18)
India's SAARC Satellite Proposal: a
Boost to a Multilateral Space Agenda (Source: Space Review)
India's new prime minister recently proposed that India collaborate
with other South Asian nations on a joint satellite program. Ajey Lele
examines the potential benefits of such cooperation and how to best
implement it. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2579/1
to view the article. (8/18)
NASA Won’t Abandon Commercial Crew
Loser (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
As NASA closes in on the next major milestone of its Commercial Crew
Program (CCP), the agency has noted its desire to continue the “sharing
of knowledge” with any partner that loses out on continued NASA
funding. The first NASA crew to ride on a US commercial vehicle is
expected to occur in December, 2017 – a date that continues to be
challenged by funding uncertainties.
The transition toward commercial transportation of NASA astronauts is a
flagship program for the Agency. The last NASA crew to ride into space
on an American vehicle were the astronauts of STS-135, as Atlantis
closed out the 30 year career of the Space Shuttle Program (SSP). A
painful void between the end of Shuttle and the availability of the
next American crew vehicle was always going to be unavoidable. However,
due to continued changes to NASA’s direction – including the aborted
Constellation Program (CxP) – the gap has grown. Click here.
(8/17)
Aerojet Rocketdyne Completes Engine
Test for Super Strypi Launch Vehicle (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Aerojet Rocketdyne's new Low Earth Orbiting Nanosatellite Integrated
Defense Autonomous System (LEONIDAS) first stage solid propellant
rocket motor (LEO-46) successfully completed a hot-fire static test at
the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Edwards Air Force Base in
California. Aerojet Rocketdyne monitored the full-scale, full-duration
firing of the 52-inch diameter by 40-foot long motor as it generated
nearly 300,000-lbf of thrust during the 73-second test. LEO-46 is the
first stage of a three-stage propulsion system developed for the Super
Strypi rail-launched, spin stabilized launch vehicle.
The unique design of the solid rocket motors (SRM), combined with the
simplicity of the launch vehicle architecture, enables low cost space
access for small satellite packages up to 250 kg to 300 kg. The LEO-46
firing completes the series of three successful LEO motor ground test
demonstrations. The LEO-7 second stage motor and the LEO-1 third stage
motor were successfully tested in August 2012 and September 2013,
respectively. (8/15)
Lockheed Taps GenDyn for Space Fence
Ground Equipment (Source: Space Daily)
Ground structures for housing the U.S. Space Fence program are to be
designed and built by a General Dynamics business unit under contract
from Lockheed Martin. The structures - as well as integration of
mechanical systems for the project - will start next year on Kwajalein
Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. (8/14)
ISS Dumps Trash with Cygnus
(Source: Space Daily)
Nearly 3,300 pounds of trash burned up in the Earth's atmosphere on
Sunday, disposing of waste produced by the International Space Station
and giving astronauts a chance to study atmospheric re-entry.
Astronauts aboard the ISS bid farewell to the "SS Janice Voss" Cygnus
resupply ship at roughly 6:40 a.m. Friday, about 90 minutes after
unberthing it from the station. Using a Canadian-built robotic arm
called an SSRMS, the resupply craft was held ten meters from the
station, allowing it to safely use its own thrusters to detach and
successfully descend. (8/15)
The Future of CubeSats (Source:
Space Daily)
To investigate climate change, scientists and engineers at NASA's
Goddard Space Flight Center are developing the IceCube satellite, which
will be no larger than a loaf of bread. In 2016, this satellite will
mature technology that scientists will use to analyze cloud ice in the
atmosphere. "We're using IceCube to test a radiometer that we want to
fly on a big space mission," said Jeffrey Piepmeier, associate head of
Goddard's Microwave Instruments and Technology Branch.
"Climate scientists have never used this frequency to measure cloud ice
from space before." The project highlights a growing trend toward
testing instruments and running scientific experiments aboard CubeSats.
Scientists however face a number of challenges when working on
CubeSats. Due to their size, CubeSats cannot power many of NASA's
formidable scientific instruments, and there are limits to what can be
miniaturized. (8/18)
Rocket Launch from Wallops Rescheduled
for Aug. 23 (Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch)
The launch of a Department of Defense rocket from NASA's Wallops Flight
Facility has been rescheduled. The Terrier-Lynx suborbital rocket was
scheduled to be launched Saturday. NASA says in a news release that the
new launch date is Aug. 23. NASA didn't say why the launch was
postponed. (8/18)
Black Holes Do Come in Medium Sizes
(Source: Space.com)
Black holes do indeed come in three sizes: small, medium and extra
large, a new study suggests. Astronomers have studied many black holes
at either size extreme — "stellar-mass" black holes, which are a few
dozen times as weighty as the sun, and supermassive black holes, which
can contain millions or billions of times the mass of the sun and lurk
at the heart of most, if not all, galaxies.
Researchers have spotted hints of much rarer medium-size black holes,
which harbor between 100 and several hundred thousand solar masses. But
it's tough to weigh these objects definitively — so tough that their
existence has been a matter of debate. But that debate can now be put
to rest, says a research team that has measured an intermediate black
hole's mass with unprecedented precision. (8/18)
Skylon Tech Could Power Hypersonic
Aircraft for US Military (Source: Space.com)
Engine technology being developed for a British space plane could also
find its way into hypersonic aircraft built by the U.S. military. The
U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory is studying hypersonic vehicles that
would use the Synergetic Air-Breathing Rocket Engine (SABRE), which the
English company Reaction Engines Ltd. is working on to power the Skylon
space plane, AFRL officials said.
SABRE burns hydrogen and oxygen. It acts like a jet engine in Earth's
thick lower atmosphere, taking in oxygen to combust with onboard liquid
hydrogen. When SABRE reaches an altitude of 16 miles (26 kilometers)
and five times the speed of sound (Mach 5), however, it switches over
to Skylon's onboard liquid oxygen tank to reach orbit. (8/18)
Wanted: Unmanned Space Plane to Fly On
the Cheap (Source: Space.com)
It's a dream older than the Space Age itself: a fully reusable rocket
that can fly into space, deploy its cargo, return to Earth and then do
it again rapidly, cheaply and with minimal maintenance. Despite
billions of dollars and decades of work spent on projects as diverse as
NASA's space shuttle, National Aerospace Plane and Rotary Rocket, cheap
access to space is not yet a reality, making it difficult to unlock the
enormous potential of outer space.
However, all that could change in the next few years, according to
those working on a new set of vehicles. "The need is there. The
technology is ready. So, let's go do it," said Jeff Lane, chief
engineer of Advanced High Speed Systems at Northrop Grumman Aerospace
Systems, during a cheap access to space panel discussion during the
NewSpace Conference in San Jose, California. Lane's company leads one
of three competing teams in the XS-1 program, which is the U.S.
government's latest attempt at cheap access to space. (8/18)
Russians Take ISS Spacewalk (Source:
Itar-Tass)
Oleg Artemyev and Aleksandr Skvortsov, flight engineers of the
International Space Station (ISS) crew, will take a spacewalk on Monday
and hand-launch a Russo-Peruvi an nanosatellite, the Chasqui-1. Their
extravehicular activities will be mainly scientific. Artemyev and
Skvortsov will assemble scientific instrumentation of equipment for the
Expose-R experiment, take a swab from a porthole under the Test
experiment, remove panels of the Endurance experiment and the third
container of Biorisk one, and photograph the shield vacuum insulation
on the surface of the orbital station.
The cosmonauts will carry out a number of other technical operations as
well. Artemyev is to launch the Russo-Peruvian nanosatellite Chasqui-1.
The cosmonaut told a pre-flight news conference that the process of
launching the satellite by hand had been thoroughly tried out on the
ground. The calculated duration of the spacewalk is six hours and 16
minutes. (8/18)
No comments:
Post a Comment