Cliffhanger at New Mexico Rocket Fest (Source: MSNBC)
Armadillo Aerospace demonstrated how alluring rocket science is - and how damnably difficult it can be - on the first day of the X Prize Cup in New Mexico. The alluring part came when the thousands who thronged to the base watched Armadillo's alien-looking "Mod" rocket ship rise into the crisp desert sky on a tongue of flame. The difficulty was brought home when the Mod tumbled to the ground, missing out by just a few seconds on a $350,000 NASA-funded prize in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge. Until the crash, Mod had hit every mark on the checklist for winning the $350,000 Level 1 prize: It lifted off from its starting pad, rose to at least 50 meters in altitude, eased back down and across to another pad 100 meters away and touched down safely, staying in the air for 90 seconds.
The good news for Armadillo is that the Mod can be overhauled overnight, and that there will be at least two more chances to win NASA's money on Sunday, the second and final day of the X Prize Cup air and rocket expo. Even before Mod's tragic tumble, Armadillo had been struggling with a fuel-line clog - a glitch that bedeviled them in the morning as well as the afternoon. Led by video-game whiz John Carmack, the team tinkered with the fuel system - at one point reportedly using a bent paper clip to clear the blockage. But this year's tumble - like Armadillo's tumble at last year's Lunar Lander Challenge - just goes to show why rocket science is the quintessential difficult thing to do, and why space entrepreneurs are notoriously bad at predicting when their snazzy spaceships will be good to go.
Florida Universities Eye Space Programs (Source: ERAU)
Multiple Florida universities are pursuing the opportunity to win state funding for research “Centers of Excellence”, with about $100 million available overall. At least two space-focused centers will be proposed, with decisions expected in June 2008. Meanwhile, officials developing recommendations for mitigating post-Shuttle economic impacts in Florida are considering a diversification initiative that would include university space research and technology programs.
Ohio State University Gets $20 Million Donation for Space Research (Source: Columbus Dispatch)
Ohio State University received $20 million for space research from a donor who didn't want to be named. The money will let Ohio State hire an expert in space propulsion and power systems and another expert whose work will focus on finding other planets in the galaxy with the potential to support life. The $20 million will be split among Ohio State's College of Engineering and its College of Mathematical and Physical Sciences. It will pay for two faculty members, one for each school, and provide fellowships for students who can assist in their research efforts. OSU's senior vice president for research, said he hopes the money will help attract the nation's best minds in these fields to help plumb the mysteries of the universe from Columbus.
University of Cincinnati Gets $20 Million Donation for Space Research (Source: Cincinnati Enquirer)
The University of Cincinnati is flying high. UC has received a $20 million bequest from an anonymous donor to study space exploration. It's the largest bequest from a single individual in UC history and will establish two endowed chairs plus a Space Exploration Research Fund. Ohio State University announced an identical gift Friday. For the two endowed chairs, UC will consider candidates currently on campus and conduct an international search. Departments ranging from astrophysics to surgery to cosmology could benefit from the gift.
Rocketplane's Design Unveiled (Source: NewsOK.com)
Keeping quiet about what is happening behind the doors at Rocketplane Global has not won the company much public praise — and that's no secret to Rocketplane leaders. "We've been our own worst enemy because we've been quiet,” program manager David Faulkner said. Rocketplane took a step toward openness Friday when the Oklahoma City company revealed the new design of the XP, the spacecraft that is scheduled to take tourists beyond the Earth in 2010. The new airframe is based on Rocketplane's own design, unlike the original, which was a modification of a Learjet.
"We looked at the costs and it was almost as much to modify a Learjet as it was to build a Rocketplane,” Faulkner said. Other changes to the spacecraft are the tail — now a T-tail instead of V-tail — new jet engines and increased capacity. Rocketplane's initial design held four people, including the pilot. The new XP will hold six people. "We needed to increase the capacity so we could better address the market,” Faulkner said. The change in tail design will help reduce weight on the spacecraft, while the new J-85 afterburning engines will increase performance thrust, Faulkner said. "We'll get up to 40,000 feet before the rocket is lit,” he said. "Before, it would get up to 25,000 feet.”
Space Tourism Plan Not in Line for Canadian Cash (Source: Globe & Mail)
Industry Minister Jim Prentice aborted plans yesterday to approve a project to blast tourists into space under Ottawa's regional development program. Mr. Prentice stepped in after The Globe and Mail reported that PlanetSpace was in line for a $45 million share of the regional benefits flowing from a major purchase of military planes from U.S.-based manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Sources said the Lockheed Martin had won initial approvals to spend $45 million over six years on PlanetSpace's project.
"There have been no discussions between Industry Minister Prentice or any member of his staff regarding Lockheed Martin investing $45 million of its own money in the so-called PlanetSpace space-tourism project in Cape Breton. Nor will there be any such discussions," Bill Rodgers, Mr. Prentice's director of communications, said. To get the contract to sell 17 Hercules C130Js to the Canadian Forces, Lockheed Martin has to promise to spend the equivalent of the $3.2 billion purchase price in the form of regional benefits in Canada. "Space tourism does not qualify as an IRB [Industrial Regional Benefit] under the Government of Canada's procurement policies and Minister Prentice has absolutely no intention of changing that. Space tourism will be left to tourists," Mr. Rodgers said.
A spokesman for Lockheed Martin said it is up to Industry Canada to approve the company's regional-benefits plan. The spokesman added that Lockheed Martin will "not have a problem meeting its IRB obligations," under which the company must lock in 60 percent of investments before the contract is signed. Editor's Note: PlanetSpace is one of several companies with current "Space Act" agreements with NASA to potentially provide cargo and crew transport services for the International Space Station. These services would probably not fall under the "space tourism" categorization identified by Mr. Rodgers.
Reports: Japan Plans an Unmanned Moon Landing by 2015 (Source: International Herald Tribune)
Japan plans to follow up its first lunar satellite orbit this month by sending an unmanned probe to land on the moon by 2015. The Space Activities Commission decided Friday to aim to land a SELENE-2 probe on the moon's surface. The landing would be a follow-up to the launch on Sept. 14 of the Selenological and Engineering Explorer — or SELENE — probe for what officials call the largest mission to the moon since the U.S. Apollo project. The 2015 moon probe — expected to cost about 50 billion yen ($437 million) — would consist of an unmanned lander, a rover to study the lunar surface and a small satellite to transfer data.
Neil Armstrong Gets Purdue University Engineering Building (Source: Journal Gazette)
Purdue University has named a new classroom and research building after an ex-student who took more than seven years to graduate. But then Neil Armstrong’s plans always were up in the air. The first person to set foot on Earth’s moon stepped back onto the Purdue campus Friday for dedication ceremonies at the new $53.2 million Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering. “For me, this is particularly special, on this homecoming with my family here, this gathering of Purdue astronauts … a full moon … everything is in the lineup,” Armstrong told a dinner audience of more than 500 people – including 15 other astronauts who are Purdue alumni. The media-shy Armstrong did not attend the morning ceremony, but a couple hundred students, faculty, alumni and media did.
Space Teachers Wanted (Source: MSNBC)
Space activists took one small step toward bringing more teachers to the final frontier today, by opening up the application process for a privately backed "Teachers in Space" project. Organizers plan to award seats on a suborbital spacecraft to one science/tech teacher and another teacher in any subject area. Speaking amid the buildup to this weekend's X Prize Cup air and rocket expo, project manager Edward Wright noted that schoolteachers were among the first on the frontier during America's infancy. "We believe that teachers have the right stuff for opening the space frontier and playing the same role today," he told reporters at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Visit http://www.teachersinspace.org/apply.htm to apply.
Satellites Help Brazil Reduce Amazon Deforestation (Source: INPE)
The Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE) has placed a contract for a third year with DMC International Imaging (DMCii) to acquire high-resolution satellite images of the entire 5 million square kilometres of the Amazon rainforest. Since 2004 INPE’s program to monitor deforestation has dramatically reduced the rate of logging from 27,000 sq.km. per year to about 10,000 sq.km. in 2007. DMC imagery is provided by the five-satellite international Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC). The DMC small satellites, built by Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL), use wide area cameras to capture the high-resolution images. The latest satellite, built for China, was launched into the DMC on 27 October 2005. Two new DMC satellites will be launched in 2008 and a third in 2009.
ISU Launches International Institute of Space Commerce in the Isle of Man (Source: ISU)
The International Space University (ISU) has launched the International Institute of Space Commerce (IISC) as the world's leading authority on space commerce. It is located at the International Business School (IBS) in the Isle of Man to capitalize on the island's growing importance as a space industry jurisdiction. "We created the IISC to focus on the business of space, the policy and regulatory issues facing it," said Walter Peeters, dean of International Space University and director of the IISC. By agreement with the ISU, the Isle of Man Government has made a five-year commitment to establish and host the IISC. Both ISU and the IBS are working together to strengthen links between the two institutions with the longer term goal of facilitating both academic and student exchanges to the benefit of both groups.
First Commercial Spacesuit Debuts at X Prize Cup (Source: Space.com)
Being a well-dressed suborbital space traveler translates into style as well as safety. Orbital Outfitters strutted out the world's first commercial spacesuit here at the X Prize Cup festivities – their approach to solving the engineering, safety and marketing appeal of an emergency crew suit. Dubbed the Industrial Suborbital Space Suit-Crew (or IS3C for short), the garment was presented in catwalk-like fashion, a first generation prototype that Orbital Outfitters envision as the new free-fall collection of apparel. The idea is to create a high quality IS3C system for space flight crews. Orbital Outfitters is implementing a leasing arrangement for the suit to help contain up-front costs for customers.
Trouble Found on Space Station Device (Source: AP)
Spacewalking astronauts doing construction work outside the space station Sunday made a disturbing discovery: what appear to be metal shavings inside a joint that is needed to turn a set of solar power panels. The rotary joint, 10 feet in diameter, has experienced intermittent vibrations and power spikes for nearly two months. Space station managers were hoping a thermal cover or bolt might be hanging up the mechanism, which would have been relatively easy to fix, and were disheartened when Daniel Tani radioed down that metal shavings were everywhere. The astronaut used tape to dab up some of the shavings. It will be returned to Earth aboard Discovery next week for analysis. NASA is uncertain whether the flecks are actually metallic, possibly from the aluminum foil lining the thermal covers, or some other material.
OW! for Four: Armadillo Catches Fire (Source: WIRED)
Armadillo's fourth and final shot at winning the $350,000 portion of the $2 million Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge ended Sunday in flames. After a loud explosion, a pool of fire spread approximately 30 feet away from the rocket, according to one photographer. The dwindling crowd gave Armadillo and its team leader, software icon John Carmack, a better-than-tepid round of applause. "Today is officially a bad day," Carmack told an X Prize representative. It looks like the $2 million purse, a portion of which insiders predicted Carmack would be taking home, will carry over until the 2008 X Prize Cup, which may allow more teams to compete.
By Edward Ellegood
LinkedIn Group
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