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September 5, 2010
Garver: “A Lessening of Tensions” in the NASA Budget Debate (Source: Space Politics)
NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver sounded an optimistic and even a bit of a conciliatory note about the ongoing debate in Congress about the future direction of the space agency. “All four bills, I believe, do acknowledge that there are things in our budget proposal that are important to do,” she said, mentioning the extension of the ISS and increased funding for Earth sciences as two examples of items supported in House and Senate versions of NASA authorization and appropriations legislation. However, she added, “we clearly still have priorities like fully funding the commercial crew element of the budget, like fully funding our technology portion of the budget.”
One additional area of concern she mentioned that has not gotten as much publicity is funding the transition and closeout of the Constellation program. The budget proposal includes $2.5 billion over two years for that, but Garver noted that no funding for that is included in any of the current Congressional legislation. “Just because you don’t have that in the budget doesn’t mean we’re not going to have to spend that money,” she warned. “Those dollars will have to be embedded in some of the other programs if it is not singled out in a line item.”
On heavy-lift, she said that NASA was “working with Congress to get a broader, deeper understanding” on how to go forward on this. She suggested that the agency didn’t feel it should be restricted on the design of an HLV by language such as that in the report accompanying the Senate’s authorization bill, which mandates a specific shuttle-derived approach. “We don’t feel that the best way to make those technical decisions is at the level of political leadership” but instead where the technical expertise resides at NASA and in industry. Political leadership, she said, can instead drive the “figures of merit” for such a system, such as affordability. (9/2)
Pressure Builds for House To Change NASA Authorization Bill (Source: Space Policy Online)
Fourteen Nobel Prize winners plus former NASA officials, former astronauts and others sent a letter to House Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) urging him to reconsider the provisions of the NASA authorization bill (H.R. 5781) reported by his committee. The bill has not yet been voted upon by the House.
Both the House committee's bill and the bill that passed the Senate last month (S. 3729) require NASA to develop its own crew transportation system for LEO and beyond, promising that the government system will not compete with any commercial systems that emerge. The Senate bill is much more supportive of commercial efforts, though not as strongly as the President. (9/1)
Recess Holding Up Action on NASA Bill (Source: Bay Area Citizen)
“Currently, House members are taking their summer break and won’t return until Sept. 15,” Congressman Pete Olson said. “We almost got [the NASA bill] to a vote before we left,” he said, explaining that the California delegation had a problem with an insurance item in the legislation, which has been passed by the House Committee on Science and Technology and now goes before the full House. Once it is passed by the House, then a compromise will have to be worked out between the House and Senate, which has already passed the measure. (8/31)
Space Technology Leadership Rests with Virginia Delegation (Source: TriCities.com)
Virginia U.S. Sen. Mark Warner had vision for Virginia’s commercial Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport when he supported the NASA Authorization Act of 2010, (S 3729), last month. Virginians can only hope that the full House delegation will act in a similar manner this fall. Warner and Virginia Sen. Jim Webb voted to fund commercial space crew development, commercial cargo, and new space technology propulsion development. Each is essential in providing new launch business opportunities and hundreds of high technology jobs at Wallops Island and throughout Virginia.
However, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science (HR 5781), is seeking to take our nation on a different path by failing to fund the items referenced in the Senate-passed measure. The House Committee bill, expected to come to the House floor for amendments and debate in mid-to-late September, is essentially the destruction of the American space program by underfunding a false program now over budget and way behind schedule.
The two Virginia NASA facilities at Langley and Wallops fair much better with the Senate measure, as compared to the flawed House committee measure. Virginia’s commercial spaceport, co-located on the NASA Wallops Flight Facility, will stand ready to commence commercial cargo delivery to the International Space Station next year. (9/3)
Nobel Winners Sign Letter Backing Obama Space Plan (Source: New York Times)
Fourteen Nobel laureates have signed a letter supporting President Obama’s proposed strategy for NASA and criticizing a NASA authorization bill under consideration in the House of Representatives. The House bill, the writers said, would leave “substantially underfunded” the areas of technology development, commercial spaceflight, robotic missions, and university and student research.
“These are the key elements of the president’s new plan for NASA that must be retained in any consensus solution reached by Congress and the White House,” said the letter, delivered to the office of Representative Bart Gordon, a Tennessee Democrat who leads the Committee on Science and Technology.
A Senate version of the authorization bill, passed last month, reduced money for commercial crew and technology development to finance the development of a heavy-lift rocket. The House bill would take away almost all the money from the commercial crew program and instead offer loan guarantees. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation, a trade group, helped coordinate the effort. (9/1)
Nobel Prize Winners Back Obama Space Plan (Source: What’s New)
In recent years NASA's programs for advanced technology has been cut by more than 50%, robotic exploration precursor missions were eliminated, commercial spaceflight, student research and robotic exploration were scaled back or postponed, and University research was sharply curtailed.
In a letter to Rep. Bart Gordon (D-TN), chair of the House Science Committee, 14 Nobel laureates, joined by leaders in the space program, endorsed Pres. Obama’s strategy of restoring these programs by abandoning the Constellation program that would return astronauts to the moon for no apparent purpose. The Obama plan would position NASA to shift its focus to astrobiology, which has emerged as the most exciting field of space research. (9/4)
Aldrin: Forget the Moon, Let's Colonize Mars (Source: 3News.co.nz)
The second man to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, says New Zealand should take part in colonizing Mars. The retired astronaut is in Australia promoting a charity and took the opportunity to push his dream for occupying our neighbour in the solar system. Speaking from Australia, he says NASA astronauts shouldn't go back to the moon but aim for Mars.
“Going back to the moon; getting there 50 years after we first got to the moon? Why would we want to do that?” Aldrin thinks that a co-operative global effort needs to be established to make Mars an affordable goal for mankind and that countries like Australia and New Zealand should be involved. (9/3)
Sen. Hatch Backs Constellation But Isn't Against Commercial Firms (Source: Deseret News)
Sen. Orrin Hatch summed it up even before ATK's test firing began Tuesday morning: he isn't against private firms competing in the work to put humans into space, but there has been only one such launch so far and it was "primitive compared with what you're going to see here today." Ares and the whole Constellation program, designed to return Americans to the moon and then to land astronauts on Mars, is under attack by the Obama administration.
The administration has been pushing to engage private firms in the effort, though many in Congress are fighting to continue funding Constellation. Hatch, R-Utah, speaking at an impromptu press conference here, said the program is "very, very important," and that "we've been in a massive effort" to keep it funded. "I hope this administration will see the light on this." Because of efforts on the congressional budget process, Hatch said, "we've come a long way from where the administration was originally." (9/1)
NASA & ATK Successfully Test Five-Segment Solid Rocket Motor (Source: NASA)
With a loud roar and mighty column of flame, NASA and ATK successfully completed a two-minute, full-scale test of the largest and most powerful solid rocket motor designed for flight. The motor is potentially transferable to future heavy-lift launch vehicle designs. The stationary firing of the first-stage development solid rocket motor, dubbed DM-2, was the most heavily instrumented solid rocket motor test in NASA history. More than 760 instruments measured 53 test objectives. (8/31)
DM-2 and the Future of SRBs (Source: Space Review)
This week NASA and ATK are scheduled to perform the second test-firing of a five-segment solid rocket motor originally developed for the Ares 1. Jeff Foust describes the planning for the test and its significance given the uncertain future of NASA's human spaceflight plans. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1688/1 to view the article. (8/30)
Ares (or Something Else) Rocket Motor Test (Source: CFNews13)
ATK, the NASA contractor that builds the solid rocket boosters for the space shuttle, is testing a larger version of the solid rocket motor in Utah today. The motor, called DM-2 for Demonstration Motor 2, is bolted down on a base, and the plan is to fire it for about 2 minutes while recording data from hundreds of instruments. Last September, they did the same thing with DM-1, but this time, they are going to cool the motor to 40 degrees before firing it.
These motors are derived from the shuttle solid rocket boosters, but where the SRBs are composed of four segments bolted together in line, the new motor will have five segments, creating greater thrust. It was developed as part of the Constellation program, to be used on the Ares I rockets, and later on the heavy lift Ares V. Bills currently making their way through Congress call for using current technology on future rockets. So even if it isn’t called Ares, ATK figures the motor may well be used on some other vehicle. (8/31)
ATK Crew Dreaming of Launch Assistance Role (Source: Standard-Examiner)
The Kennedy Space Center in Florida may be a home to space rocket launches, but a technical crew shadowing the blastoff could one day sit in Davis County. A backup technical crew with real-time monitoring of any NASA launch site is just one element in the works at ATK's new Engineering Development Lab, which was opened by the company in the last year.
Sitting at consoles in a Clearfield lab will be technicians capable of helping the Florida crew, or any other, should problems arise with the hardware that boosts the rockets into Earth's orbit or space. Developing the expertise to troubleshoot the avionics system is part of the mission for the lab's engineers, who are already testing the vital systems being built for the next generation of NASA rockets. (8/31)
Counting Down to Commercial Space Launches (Source: Technology Review)
A small fleet of privately developed spacecraft will head into orbit in the next few years--assuming that current levels of public and private funding can be sustained. If it happens, this will mark a new chapter in space exploration and research, as NASA comes to rely more on private companies for the technology to put manned and unmanned vehicles in space.
To develop their new spacecraft, these companies have received financial assistance from NASA for reaching various milestones under the so-called Commercial Orbital Transportation Services and Commercial Crew Development programs, which are oriented toward getting commercial providers to deliver cargo, and eventually crews, to the International Space Station. But since supplying the ISS is a somewhat limited market, and subject to the funding whims of Congress, the manufacturers hope to bring in additional revenue by opening up new markets for their vehicles. Click here for more. (9/2)
SpaceX Asks For Oct. 23 Dragon Launch Slot (Source: Aviation Week)
SpaceX has requested Oct. 23 on the 45th Space Wing’s calendar for launch of its second Falcon 9 rocket, which will aim to place a Dragon cargo capsule into orbit. The flight is the first of up to three launches planned under SpaceX’s $278-million Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) contract with NASA, which is intended to help pay for the rocket and capsule’s design, development and flight testing.
In addition to a second flight test for the Falcon 9, which had a successful debut on June 4, the COTS-1 mission will test Dragon’s avionics, flight computers, guidance, navigation and control systems, back-shell heat shield, reentry and recovery systems. The Dragon vehicle is expected to be recovered in the Pacific test range close to the southern California coast after three orbits. A second operational Dragon that will maneuver to within 6 mi. of the ISS is targeted for launch early next year, while a provisional third test would have the Dragon actually dock at the station. (8/30)
NASA in Plans to Launch Manned Mission to an Asteroid by 2025 (Source: Daily Mail)
NASA scientists are making plans to send a manned mission to visit an asteroid. President Obama has already declared that he wants a manned asteroid mission to take place by 2025 to form part of a test run for technologies needed for a Mars mission. And Lockheed Martin has already completed a study looking at how the Orion space capsule, which is to replace the Shuttle, could be used for such a mission.
As well as being a valuable dry run for a Mars mission, sending astronauts to an asteroid could also help scientists plan for how to protect Earth from any possible collision with one in the future. Lockheed has been working on a design since 2007 and have come up with a plan which would send two astronauts to an asteroid in a mission that culd last as long as six-months. (9/1)
NASA: Only Two Asteroids Currently Fit Bill for Astronaut Visit (Source: AIA)
NASA says that it has identified only two asteroids that appear to be suitable destinations for astronauts in the next 20 years, but it says more could emerge as it gains knowledge about objects that pass within 28 million miles of Earth. President Barack Obama has set a goal of a manned mission reaching an asteroid by 2025, and a mission requires an asteroid that is large enough and that astronauts could reach within a few months of launch from Earth. (9/2)
Mesmerizing Time-Lapse Shows Every Asteroid Discovered Since 1980 (Source: Huffington Post)
A new video using data from the Asteroid Orbital Elements Database presents a visual history of the asteroids discovered since 1980. In 1980, according to the video, there were only 8,954 known asteroids. By 1990, that number had grown to over 14,000. As the video moves into the mid 1990's we see much higher discovery rates as automated sky scanning systems come online. Most of the surveys are imaging the sky directly opposite the sun and you'll see a region of high discovery rates aligned in this manner. When the video ends in 2010, the solar system looks positively packed. Click here to watch. (8/30)
Lockheed Martin to Unveil Asteroid Mission Proposal (Source: AIA)
Lockheed Martin was to unveil a proposal this week for a mission with two astronauts to reach a Near Earth Asteroid using two Orion capsules and a dual-launch strategy as soon as 2016. The "Plymouth Rock" mission would take place nearly a decade ahead of the asteroid goal outlined by President Barack Obama in April, and Lockheed Martin officials said they have found the mission would not be as difficult as expected, with the design requirements for the lunar mission similar to those for an asteroid mission. (8/31)
NASA Proposes System to Power Spacecraft with Earth's Magnetic Field (Source: AIA)
NASA is preparing a bid to demonstrate an innovative, chemical-free technology that would propel spacecraft without fuel but with the use of a tether that generates an electric current that pushes against Earth's magnetic field. In addition to propelling spacecraft, the tether could lower a satellite's orbit to allow it to more quickly re-enter Earth's atmosphere at the end of its life and avoid becoming another piece of space debris. (9/3)
NASA Selects Investigations for First Mission to Encounter the Sun (Source: NASA)
NASA has begun development of a mission to visit and study the sun closer than ever before. The unprecedented project, named Solar Probe Plus, is slated to launch no later than 2018. The small car-sized spacecraft will plunge directly into the sun's atmosphere approximately four million miles from our star's surface.
As the spacecraft approaches the sun, its revolutionary carbon-composite heat shield must withstand temperatures exceeding 2550 degrees Fahrenheit and blasts of intense radiation. The spacecraft will have an up close and personal view of the sun enabling scientists to better understand, characterize and forecast the radiation environment for future space explorers.
NASA has selected five investigations costing approximately $180 million for preliminary analysis, design, development and tests. The will be built by scientist at the Smithsonian, Naval Research Laboratory, Berkeley University, Southwest Research Institute, and the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. (9/2)
Grounded Space Station Test Module Could Expand ISS Capabilities (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center are cleaning and studying a grounded space station module that could be launched in a few years as a hub for inflatable habitats and technology demonstrations. Kirk Shireman, NASA's deputy International Space Station program manager, said plans to launch the new component will depend on the outcome of space budget and policy debates among Congress and the White House.
Right now, the outpost has enough docking and berthing ports to receive all the visiting cargo freighters planned over the next few years, including Japan's H-2 Transfer Vehicle and commercial automated vehicles being developed by SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. The station also has room to receive a future U.S. rescue capsule or crew transportation system, according to Shireman. But if NASA, an international partner, or commercial firm wants to add new pieces to the station, there could be a shortage of docking and berthing ports on the modules already in space. (8/31)
NASA Selects Two Firms for Experimental Space Vehicle Test Flights (Source: NASA)
NASA's Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research Program (CRuSR) has awarded a total of approximately $475,000 to Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwall, Texas and Masten Space Systems of Mojave, Calif. The awards will allow the two companies to perform test flights of their experimental vehicles near the edge of space.
The flights will demonstrate the capabilities of new vehicles to provide recoverable launch and testing of small payloads going to "near-space," the region of Earth's atmosphere between 65,000 and 350,000 feet. The CRuSR program fosters the development of commercial reusable transportation to near space. The overall goal of the program is regular, frequent and predictable access to near-space at a reasonable cost with easy recovery of intact payloads. (8/30)
Spaceport America Launches Planned by Armadillo Aerospace (Source: KRWG)
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) has announced that Armadillo Aerospace of Rockwell, Texas, plans to launch three NASA-funded tests of their vertical takeoff and landing rocket technology from Spaceport America this winter. "These launches mark an important step in NASA's plan to empower the emerging commercial spaceflight industry to assume a greater role in the nation's space program," said Rick Homans, executive director of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority. "Spaceport America is the launch pad for this new industry, and Armadillo's decision to launch here affirms our important position."
Armadillo Aerospace is developing new vehicles that can launch small payloads to suborbital "near space", which NASA defines as altitudes between about 19 and 106 km, and return them safely to earth. Armadillo will move its test operations to Spaceport America for two NASA-funded CRuSR (Commercial Reusable Suborbital Research Program) flights to 15 kilometers, under the Amateur Class III waiver, and a subsequent fully licensed or permit flight to at least 40 kilometers this winter.
Armadillo's grant will help fund flights from Spaceport America, and was made possible through NASA's CRuSR program. Homans added that the Armadillo announcement comes just two weeks after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) awarded at least $5 million to New Mexico State University to develop a Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation. (9/3)
Editorial: New Space Race Can Give New Mexico Economic Lift-Off (Source: The Independent)
It is approaching truth or consequences time for space tourism. Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic has some big milestones coming up in its effort to put paying passengers into zero-gravity, and a host of rivals are also stepping up their experimental work. But while it is too early to say who might succeed – and who might fail – in this modern-day space race, I would put my chips on one economic winner in particular: the state of New Mexico.
The desert state is one of the poorest in the union. Around one in five New Mexicans lives below the poverty line, but the government in Santa Fe is gambling big on space, and with the open spaces and clear skies of its desert in its favor, it increasingly appears to have been the right bet. The partnership between business, government and now local academics, too, is turning New Mexico into the space state. Its desert is home to Spaceport America, where Virgin will be headquartered and from where it plans to carry out the first powered flight of the VSS Enterprise in the next few months.
State subsidies of up to $300m (£200m) are going into the Spaceport, which is no small sum, but the risk that it has helped build a white elephant is declining. Armadillo Aerospace will be conducting future NASA-funded tests of its vertical take-off-and- landing craft from Spaceport America. And New Mexico State University in nearby Las Cruces is the home of a new FAA funded "center of excellence" in related research. (9/4)
Spaceport America Will Bring Big New Mexico Economic Impact (Source: AZ Central)
Lou Gomez, a Spaceport America program manager, said one of the benefits of Spaceport America will be it's economic impact on the area. Once it's completed and fully operational, it will provide 2,200 new jobs and pump nearly $5 billion into the local economy over 20 years. The spaceport should be completed next year with space travel still at least a couple more years away. Test flights are being conducted. So far 350 people have already signed up to fly to space. The cost for a ticket, $200,000. However, prices are expected to go down. (9/1)
New Mexico Spaceport Authority Seeks Deputy Director (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) is accepting applications for a Deputy Director to oversee the daily operations of Spaceport America, the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport. This position announcement marks another significant milestone as the historic project transitions from a construction site to an operating spaceport. The Deputy Director will be responsible for flight and ground safety, tenant relations, FAA compliance programs, and technical, security and maintenance services. (9/1)
Wallops Island Could Benefit from a Private-Sector Space Race (Source: Virginia Business)
When the Taurus II rocket soars into space next year from a launch pad at NASA’s Wallops Island just a few hundred feet from the Atlantic Ocean, it’s going to be a show unlike any that Virginia’s Eastern Shore has ever seen. At 131 feet and 320 tons, the Taurus II is bigger by far than any of the thousands of smaller unmanned rockets launched from Wallops since its creation in 1945.
Construction began last year on a new concrete launch pad that’s connected to what looks like a highway on-ramp. It will be used to roll the rocket into place. A few hundred yards away is a new building for assembling the rocket pieces now being built and tested at other sites. The entire rocket will be put together while lying on its side and then raised upright on the pad.
Then, if all goes as planned, it will lift off in a dramatic trail of fire as it soars toward the International Space Station, which orbits the Earth about 200 miles above the planet’s surface. The rocket will bring as much as 7,000 kilograms (15,400 pounds) of supplies, such as food and oxygen and equipment for maintenance or new experiments. (8/30)
Wallops Island Could Host Human Space Flights (Source: Parabolic Arc)
According to Virginia Business: "Virginia is hoping the Taurus project is a sign of things to come... Another company looking at Wallops is Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace. It’s designing the first privately owned space station that it hopes to launch four years from now. Customers most likely would be nations without space programs. Michael Gold, director of the company’s Washington office, has been to Wallops to explore the idea of using the Atlas V launch system — co-owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin... 'Potentially bringing human space flight to Virginia would be frankly the largest economic impact to hit the state in a generation,' said a Bigelow official. 'We have a very strong interest in Wallops and utilizing it ... and avoiding the red tape you might face in Florida.' ”
Bigelow hopes to launch its first space station in 2014, followed by a second in two years later. By the end of the decade, the number of support launches for these facilities would reach into the high 20s. This number would probably be more than Cape Canaveral could handle given its other launches. Bigelow, which wants to launch from the United States, is looking at flying on multiple vehicles from different launch sites. (8/30)
Orbital Pushes ‘Cheap’ Taurus-2 Rocket, Virginia Spaceport (Source: DOD Buzz)
Currently, most DoD launches are handled by the EELV program, not known for its low costs or lack of cost growth over the last five years. EELV launches cost around $250 million a pop. Orbital says it can provide Taurus-2 launches for “quite a bit south of $100 million a launch,” There are around three DoD launches for payloads of 10,000 pounds to 12,000 pounds each year, that could be supported by Taurus-2 rockets, according to an Orbital official.
Taurus-2 will use the Russian NK-33 engine, which Aerojet has modified and is now known as the AJ-26 engine. For those who may worry about U.S. dependence on Russian-built rockets, Orbital says there are 36 engines already in America, with another three dozen in Russia. “Once the supply gets down to a certain level,” he says American companies have the right to co-produce the engine here.
In addition to using a lower cost rocket, Orbital also believes its Wallops Island launch site in Virginia offers greater flexibility because there is no competition with other launches, and it can both loft payloads to the space station, as well as into orbits that appeal to the intelligence community and to the weather satellite community. “You can reach a lot more locations from Wallops than you can from the Cape,” said an Orbital official. (9/3)
California Aerospace Industry Fared Relatively Well Over Recession (Source: AIA)
California's aerospace industry, which accounts for about 25% of the aerospace industry in the U.S., was not as adversely affected by the recession as others in the manufacturing sector, according to a recent study. The study found that the industry added more than 5,500 jobs between 2004 and 2008, and despite a sharp decline of nearly 14,500 job losses in 2009, the industry declined only 5% between 2004 and 2009, compared to 12% in the overall manufacturing sector. (9/1)
Ames Research Center Looks to Shrink Environmental Footprint (Source: Silicon Valley Business Journal)
Deborah L. Feng has worked at NASA Ames Research Center for 25 years, moving through a number of positions and eventually to director of center operations. The research center is one of 10 NASA field installations, with more than $3 billion in capital equipment and a $600 million annual budget. Feng says managing the facility is similar to being a city manager because the center serves more than 600,000 people. Click here to read a Q&A with Feng. (9/1)
Retired Space Shuttle Launch Pad to be Dismantled Soon (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
NASA is expected to give final approval this week to demolish the servicing towers at a mothballed space shuttle launch pad, clearing the complex for a still-unknown rocket of the future. Workers at launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center are stripping the facility of antiquated equipment to ready it for a new program, but NASA still doesn't know when a new rocket could blast off from the storied complex or what the launcher will look like.
NASA knows any next-generation rocket will not use the shuttle's custom-made fixed and rotating service structures, so those towers will come down this fall. The demolition will leave the pad with its raised concrete surface, sound suppression water tower and three 594-foot-tall lightning masts erected in 2009. (9/1)
KSC Workers Refocus as Cuts Creep Closer (Source: Florida Today)
Jaci Remrey woke up early one morning and thought, "Five weeks. That's all that's left of my job." Remrey, 59, of Cocoa Beach, was recently notified she was being let go from Wiltech Corp. of Florida based at Kennedy Space Center. Her last day is Oct. 1. News such as this could easily send anyone into the throes of depression.
But Remrey, who's not married and has adult children in another state, still walks into work the way she did the first day more than a decade ago: with a smile and a "good morning." Even her supervisor is surprised at how well she is taking the news. Her positive attitude is helping her coworkers remain upbeat.
Losing a job is one of life's most stressful events, and on Oct. 1, more than 900 workers will leave KSC for what could be the last time. The overall loss of aerospace jobs as the space shuttle program ends next year is expected to surpass 8,000. (9/5)
NASA Extends USA Contract (Source: NASA)
NASA has extended the Space Program Operations Contract with United Space Alliance to March 31, 2011. The $909,593,590 contract extension supports flight operations for the Space Shuttle and International Space Station programs. The contract provides mission design and planning, astronaut and flight controller training, system integration, flight operations, vehicle processing, launch and recovery, vehicle sustaining engineering, and flight crew equipment processing. This is a cost reimbursement contract with award and performance fees. (8/31)
USA Contract Extension Won't Save Florida Jobs (Source: CFNews13)
NASA and USA signed a $1 billion contract extension related to flight operations for space shuttle and International Space Station programs. The extension runs through March 31 and could be extended again if Congress approves a third shuttle mission. The contract extension will not affect the company-wide layoffs of 1,400 workers on Oct. 1. A total of 900 of those workers are here in Florida. (9/1)
Heat Shield Job Vital to Slowing Space Shuttles (Source: Florida Today)
Shuttle Discovery took on a holiday flair after its April return to Kennedy Space Center. Following post-flight inspections, thousands of green tags sprouted from the spacecraft like pine needles. "It looked like a Christmas tree," said Richard McGehee, a United Space Alliance technician who works on the orbiter's heat shields. But the scene, which unfolds after every mission, was not festive.
Each tag indicated a "discrepancy," a place where one of the more than 24,000 delicate tiles lining the vehicle's underside or one of its roughly 1,470 insulating "blankets" needed repair before the next mission -- the last planned for Discovery -- in November. (8/31)
Firm Eyes Space Coast Space Workers for Medical Tech (Source: Florida Today)
Three friends founded a company in 2004 to staff medical clinics for the government. They named their Merritt Island-based business after a famous physician, the apostle Luke. In 2009, Luke & Associates posted revenues of $37.5 million, and the company has now hired 1,100 medical workers at 68 bases in 36 states. Next year, it could double that number of employees, to 2,200, including some possibly hired from the ranks of unemployed space industry workers. The company, with 44 workers in the Merritt Island office, expects sales of more than $100 million in 2010. (8/31)
Space Coast Firm Grows with Langley Subcontract Work (Source: Craig Technologies)
Woman-Owned engineering and technical services firm Craig Technologies has earned work share at their fifth NASA project site--Langley Research Center (LaRC)--as part of the LaRC Information Technology Enhanced Services (LITES) contract award. As subcontractor to SGT, Inc. Craig Technologies will provide technical support for high-end systems used by Mission and Mission-support staff at LaRC, necessary for such operations as high performance computing, geometry modeling, grid generation, data visualization, image processing, computational analysis, and airspace and traffic operations simulation. (8/30)
EDA Solicits Applications for $35 Million to Expand and Diversify Space Coast Economy (Source: EDA)
The U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced the upcoming availability of funding through the Space Coast Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) Competition under EDA’s Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) Program. The $35 million, multi-agency initiative solicits competitive applications for this major effort to build on existing strengths and promote collaboration between public, private, and nonprofit partners in the region.
The competition was one of several key recommendations presented to the President by the Task Force on Space Industry Workforce & Economic Development, which was tasked with developing a plan to grow the Space Coast’s economy and prepare its workers for 21st century opportunities. The competition will be coordinated by EDA in collaboration with members of the Task Force, including NASA, the Small Business Administration, the Department of Labor, and other agencies. Click here to view the solicitation. (9/1)
Space Station Crew Talks with Florida Students (Source: NASA)
Approximately 500 middle school students and teachers at the Pinellas County Science Center in St. Petersburg, Fla., will have an out-of-this-world phone conversation with NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Flight Engineers Doug Wheelock, Tracy Caldwell Dyson, and Shannon Walker will make the long-distance phone call on Sep. 9, from 11:45 a.m. to 12:05 p.m. EDT.
Students have prepared for the downlink by using data from NASA's satellite network to complete lessons in robotics and marine science. NASA astronaut Robert Springer will be on hand at the center to speak with the students and answer questions. NASA education staffers also will conduct experiments with the students. (9/2)
Embry-Riddle Launches New Ph.D. in Space-Focused Engineering Physics (Source: ERAU)
A unique new Ph.D. program in Engineering Physics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University lifts off this week with a group of students taking courses in space physics, planetary orbits, solar wind, remote sensing, spacecraft dynamics, and more. “This degree is a blend of physics and engineering and its focus on the space program is a rare combination,” said John Olivero, professor and chair of the physical sciences department at the university’s Daytona Beach, Fla., campus, where it is offered. (8/30)
Embry-Riddle and AIA Sponsor Webinar on Aerospace Business Outlook and Strategy (Source: AIA)
Join us during National Aerospace Week for a free webinar presented jointly by AIA and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. Learn about current economic and other key industry drivers and their potential impact on the competitive strategies of U.S. aerospace manufacturers in the coming years. Click here to register. (9/2)
NASA Selects University Finalists for Inflatable Loft Competition (Source: NASA)
NASA and the National Space Grant Foundation have selected university teams from Maryland, Oklahoma and Wisconsin as finalists in a competition to design, manufacture, assemble and test an inflatable loft. NASA is challenging college students to design and rapidly develop prototype concepts for inflatable habitat lofts for the next generation of space explorers. The loft will be integrated onto an existing NASA operational hard-shell prototype habitat. The winning concepts may be applied to space exploration habitats of the future. (9/1)
Kansas State Studies Physical Impacts of Space Travel (Source: Kansas State Collegian)
Funded by a $1.2 million grant from NASA, a group of Kansas State researchers and engineers will spend the next three years studying the physiological changes to the human body caused by low-gravity environments. “We are going to compare performance on a lunar obstacle course with exercises that we do in a lab,” Barstow said. “These are standard tests like push-ups and sit-ups. They will also do a ‘max-run’ on a treadmill along with some ‘max-arms’ tests. That is year one.” (9/3)
National Aerospace Week Coming Sep. 12-18 (Source: AIA)
Celebrate the achievements of the U.S. aerospace industry on September 12-18 during National Aerospace Week. Visit www.NationalAerospaceWeek.org to learn about aerospace and check out events going on throughout the U.S. (9/3)
Activation of Space Operations Group at Florida's Tyndall AFB (Source: USAF)
Members of the 601st Air and Space Operations Center held a ceremony to commemorate the activation of the 101st Air and Space Operations Group. The 101st AOG, which is a Florida Air National Guard unit, provides the manning for the 601st AOC to fulfill their mission of defending the homeland. (9/3)
Top U.S. Military Space Officer Tapped To Lead Strategic Command (Source: Space News)
U.S. Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler was nominated by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to be the next commander of U.S. Strategic Command. Kehler has been the commanding general at Air Force Space Command at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., since October 2007. He will succeed Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, who is set to retire from duty in December. In their previous assignments, Kehler was the deputy commander of Strategic Command and Chilton was the commander of Air Force Space Command. (9/2)
Troop Drawdown Likely to Step Up Pressure for Defense Spending Cuts (Source: AIA)
As concern over the U.S. budget deficit grows, the end of the country's combat mission in Iraq and plans to begin withdrawing U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2011 may put increased pressure on the Pentagon to reduce spending. The drawdowns will likely boost the political arguments for those urging defense cuts, after years of having their arguments dismissed following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. (8/30)
Five Teams at Pentagon Set Up to Address Areas of Efficiency (Source: AIA)
The Pentagon has set up five teams to focus on specific areas as part of Defense Secretary Robert Gates' plan to improve efficiency. The teams will address the areas of affordability, incentives, contract terms, metrics and service contracts, and officials say they expect to be able to save 2% to 3% of the Department of Defense budget every year. (9/1)
AIA: Export Reforms Will Aid National Security, Help Small Businesses (Source: AIA)
Under sweeping reforms of the U.S. export system proposed by President Barack Obama, technology exports will be assigned the appropriate level of protection across all levels of risk, allowing thousands of products that otherwise would have faced lengthy review to be downgraded or removed from the lists altogether. Some opposition to the reforms are expected from members of both parties, but the Aerospace Industries Association praised the reforms as being important to national security and particularly helpful to small businesses. (8/31)
Some Restrictions on Exports to be Eased Following Complaints (Source: AIA)
President Barack Obama was expected to announce today a lifting of some restrictions on the sale of products with military applications to foreign buyers, following complaints from companies that the export rules were too burdensome. The rules were intended largely to keep dual-use technology out of the hands of military adversaries, but businesses said the list of prohibited parts was too long and out of date. The changes are expected to affect companies such as Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Microsoft. (8/30)
Export Controls for the 21st Century (Source: Wall Street Journal)
The current U.S. export control system is a legacy of the Cold War and fails to distinguish between low-tech items and the most advanced proprietary technology. This week, President Barack Obama will announce a major step forward in the administration's efforts to fundamentally reform the nation's export-control system so that we strengthen our national security and enhance the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing and technology.
Export controls constitute the regulations we have to restrict the export of certain products and technology for national security and other reasons. The changes that we are making-—in what we control, how we control it, how we enforce those controls, and how we manage our controls—-will help strengthen national security by focusing on controlling the most critical technologies and preserving our technological edge. (9/1)
Lockheed Chief: Congress Should Approve Export Changes (Source: DOD Buzz)
Lockheed Martin CEO Bob Stevens says he hopes Congress looks favorably on the Obama administration’s proposed arms export control reforms because it will make U.S. companies more competitive, help generate U.S. jobs and better protect crucial U.S. technology. The administration announced roll-out of its first tranche of substantial changes yesterday, none of them requiring congressional approval.
But Congressional aides have indicated deep unease with some of the administration’s more ambitious proposals, such as a single agency overseeing arms export licenses and merging the State and Commerce departments lists governing what is subject to an arms export license. Stevens said he hoped “that we can turn to facts and look to history and the experience we have had over the last couple of decades and recognize that the world is changing. Today much technology is already available on a global basis.”
Stevens said he believes “we have the resources, the understanding” to create a single list of technologies and “to safeguard and to protect them.” U.S. competitiveness should also drive arms export changes, he said: “It’s also in the interest of members of Congress and the administration and people like me in the industry to work on ways we can be more competitive.” (9/1)
Licensing Intellectual Property Rights Out of this World (Source: Space News)
The harsh environment of outer space turns even the most routine tasks into significant engineering challenges. I was recently surprised to realize that outer space operations can also turn even the most routine contractual language into a legal conundrum. As an in-house attorney for a research laboratory that specializes in guidance, navigation and control technologies, I was reviewing a typical license agreement for software that would be used on a small satellite. The agreement stated that we would have a “worldwide” license to use the software for our intended purpose.
At first, I read the word “worldwide” without concern, as this term is commonly used in license agreements to convey that there are no geographic restrictions on the recipient’s use of the licensed technology. Yet, on second thought, I wondered whether a worldwide license actually gives us sufficient rights to use the software in a satellite that is arguably out of this world (i.e. orbiting Earth). What, exactly, is the geographic scope of a worldwide license? Could a licensor take advantage of this ambiguity to extract additional payments from an unsuspecting licensee? Click here for more. (9/1)
China Publishes Official Chinese Names for Places on the Moon (Source: Xinhua)
China's Ministry of Civil Affairs has published the official Chinese names for places on the earth's moon, in a first that eliminates confusion and will help the nation's lunar exploration efforts. The ministry published the Chinese names for 468 places and will publish more at a later date. The International Astronomical Union has given names to more than 9,000 places on the moon, said a ministry official Thursday. The project to standardize Chinese lunar names was initiated by the ministry. The ministry is also drafting technical regulations for the naming of places on the moon in Chinese, according to the official. (9/2)
Satellite-Watchers Worry About China (Source: MSNBC)
Strange maneuvers involving two Chinese satellites have some space-watchers worried. The worriers are concerned that the orbital shifts involving two Shijian ("Practice") research satellites were aimed at practicing techniques for disrupting other governments' satellites in the event of an international crisis. The nightmare scenario would involve a fleet of spacecraft that went after America's telecom and Earth-watching satellites, cutting off military communications and orbital surveillance capabilities. (8/31)
Dancing in the Dark: The Orbital Rendezvous of China’s SJ-12 and SJ-06F (Source: Space Review)
Earlier this month two Chinese satellites made a close approach to, and perhaps even made contact with, each other. Brian Weeden examines the facts about this event and its implications for space security. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1689/1 to view the article. (8/30)
China Launches Satellite (Source: AFP)
China successfully launched a satellite for radio and television broadcasts early on Sunday. The SinoSat-6 satellite was sent up from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan Province in south-west China. The satellite was carried on the Long March 3B carrier rocket. SinoSat-6 is intended to serve as a substitute for SinoSat-3, which was launched in June 2007 but failed to deploy its solar panels and communication antennae. (9/5)
Russia Launches Navigation Satellites on Proton Rocket (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
A Proton rocket blasted off overnight Wednesday with three spacecraft to help expand Russia's Glonass satellite navigation system to provide positioning services around the world. The Proton rocket launched from pad 81 at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the first pink hues of sunrise splashed the dawn sky. (9/2)
Russian Cosmonauts Long for Hot Showers on Space Station (Source: RIA Novosti)
A team of Russian cosmonauts working at the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) are unhappy about the absence of hot showers onboard, a Russian cosmonaut said on Thursday. The U.S. segment of the station has a shower cabin that was delivered by the Endeavor shuttle in 2008. "There are wipes and towels onboard instead of a shower. It is not so easy to do without it for six months. Besides, it turned out that the towels we wipe ourselves with are not only damp, but also cold. Even if they are heated up a bit, they cool down very quickly," said Oleg Kotov, who recently returned from the orbiting platform. (9/2)
Space Blogger Turned Down as “Hero of Russia” Candidate (Source: Russia Today)
The Defense Ministry of Russia has twice rejected requests to honor cosmonaut and space blogger Maksim Suraev with the “Hero of Russia” title. Surayev went into orbit in September 2009 together with space tourist Guy Laliberte and American astronaut Geoffrey Williams. He spent 169 days at the International Space Station. He is also known as the first Russian space blogger: On his page at the Russian Space Agency Roskosmos website, he told readers about everyday life aboard the ISS and posted pictures of the station. (9/3)
Putin Rules Out Lease of Vostochny Spaceport (Source: Itar-Tass)
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has ruled out a possibility of leasing the Vostochny spaceport. "Russia ranks first in the world in space rocket launchings; therefore, we do not have to lease. We will fulfill our obligations that exist today and the obligations that will arise tomorrow. We have contracts in space activities; intergovernmental agreements scheduled for several years had been concluded and will be concluded in future. Moreover, today we cannot satisfy all the requests," Putin said. (8/31)
Russia to Mothball Historic Sputnik Launch Site (Source: AOL News)
The Russian government announced that the historic Baikonur Cosmodrome, where the space race began with the 1957 launch of Sputnik, will be replaced within the decade by a new facility in Siberia. The world's oldest and largest space center, Baikonur has the disadvantage of being in Kazakhstan rather than in the Russian Federation, the heir to the Soviet space program. Putin noted that while the agreement between Russia and Kazakhstan on the use of Baikonur runs until 2050, the new facility would begin launching unmanned spacecraft by 2015 and will take on all of Baikonur's functions by 2018. (8/31)
Frustration Grows in South Korea Over Russian Rocket Stalemate (Source: Korea Times)
South Korea looks to rely on Russian technology to jumpstart its efforts to involve in the Asian space race, but engineers and officials here seem increasingly frustrated over being at the mercy of a capricious business partner. The country has bungled on its first two attempts to launch as satellite from the Naro spaceport in South Jeolla Province and claims that Russia’s Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center bound by contract to provide a third attempt.
However, the Russians, who have clearly approached the Korean rocket project as an experiment on course of developing their next-generation Angara rockets, are reluctant to build any more Korea Space Launch Vehicles 1s (KSLV-1s). Fighting words are flying left and right between Korea’s Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Khrunichev Center as the discontent over the Russian rocket holdout becomes uglier and uglier.
The Khrunichev Center will fully burden the cost for building and transporting another KSLV-1, ministry officials said, and the new rocket will be launched at the Naro Space Center sometime during next year, ministry officials said. But the Khrunichev Center is now saying this isn’t true, claiming that there were no discussions over the possibility of an additional launch in the recent FRB meeting. The countries have yet to agree on what caused KSLV-1 to explode just two minutes into its June flight, and Khrunichev insisted that the decision over a third launch could only be possible after the investigation over the second launch is concluded. (9/2)
Russia To Test Chandrayaan-2 Lander Next Year (Source: Aviation Week)
Next year, Russian space agency Roscomos plans to test the lander that will be part of India’s second Moon mission, Chandrayaan-2. Scheduled to be lofted in 2013, Chandrayaan-2 will have an orbiter, a lander and a rover. It is slated to fly on India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. While the lander will be provided by Russia, the orbiter and the rover are being built by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). The rover will move on wheels on the lunar surface, pick up samples of soil or rocks, perform a chemical analysis and send the data to the spacecraft orbiting above. (9/1)
India Announces Instrument Suite for Chandrayaan–2 Moon Orbiter, Lander and Rover (Source: SpaceRef)
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) announced the suite of instruments for its second mission to the moon after it's first orbiter Chandrayaan–1 was successful in its mission. The second mission is scheduled to be launched on India's Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Center, Sriharikota in 2013. India will build the orbiter and rover and Russia will build the lander. Click here to see the list of instruments to be included. (8/30)
India to Build World's Largest Solar Telescope (Source: sify news)
India is inching closer towards building the world's largest solar telescope in Ladakh on the foothills of the Himalayas that aims to study the sun's microscopic structure. The National Large Solar Telescope (NLST) project has gathered momentum with a global tender floated for technical and financial bidding by the Bangalore-based Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA). It calls for expression of interest to design, manufacture and install the two-meter class solar telescope at a cost of around $31 million. (9/2)
Bangalore Cool to Virtual Telescope Idea (Source: sify News)
India's premier science city failed to live up to its reputation as it gave a tepid response to a Microsoft-sponsored workshop here on the concept of the 'virtual telescope'. Though the city is host to about 70 scientific and research institutions, including the renowned Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), there were only a few takers to peep into the universe or scan the outer space through the computer-programmed telescope.
California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune, partnered with Microsoft Research Labs to conduct the workshop in which a computer program that allows you to scan the universe and zoom into outer space through its Windows was on demo. (9/4)
Japanese Radar Satellite Shuts Down (Source: Space News)
A Japanese spy satellite launched in February 2007 to keep an eye on North Korea has shut down and prospects for reviving it are "extremely grim," the Daily Yomiuiri and other Japanese media outlets reported over the weekend. Japan's Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center said the nation's lone radar-imaging satellite experienced a battery-related glitch Aug. 23 that took the spacecraft out of service. Owing to a November 2003 launch failure that destroyed two spy satellites, Japan has just four spy satellites in orbit, including the balky radar craft. (8/30)
Buzz Aldrin Calls for New Zealand to Help in Mars Exploration (Source: Stuff)
Moonwalk pioneer Buzz Aldrin says Australia and New Zealand should be part of an international coalition to explore and colonise Mars. International co-operation in space was very difficult and in many ways inefficient, the second man to walk on the moon said. "But I think if we can take the English-speaking people ... we can have American science, technology and bring together the UK, Australia, New Zealand, India and South Africa ... and have a togetherness organization," he said. (9/2)
Danish Amateurs Aim to Rocket Themselves Into Space (Source: Discovery)
Kristian von Bengtson and Peter Madsen of Denmark don't have a death wish, or even a mid-life crisis. Yet they're the first to admit that their efforts to put themselves in space on home-built rockets certainly begs the question. A major milestone is set for as early as this week when the men launch for the first time their suborbital rocket, a solid-propellant, liquid oxidizer affair called HEAT-1X Tycho Brahe (named after a 16th century Danish discoverer of a supernova).
Von Bengtson says he won't be disappointed if the rocket fails. "There's a good chance of that," he said. "Basically we're just going to go out there and push the button and build a new rocket -- no matter what happens." Additional test flights will follow over the next three to 10 years, von Bengtson says, before he and Madsen, 39, take turns trapping themselves inside the one-person capsule and blasting off for a suborbital ride to space. (8/30)
Danish Rocketeers Postpone Launch (Source: BBC)
A group of Danish rocket enthusiasts trying to launch a dummy 30km into the sky had to abort the mission when a valve on their rocket jammed. The Copenhagen Suborbitals group is attempting to fly its DIY vehicle from a restricted military test area near Bornholm island in the Baltic Sea. The man-sized dummy is strapped inside a pressurised, tubular capsule.
When Sunday's countdown reached zero, a puff of smoke was seen from the rocket but nothing happened. A subsequent inspection found a valve controlling the flow of very cold, liquid oxygen to the motor had frozen up. No further attempt to would be made to launch on Sunday, the rocketeers said. The Danish government has given Copenhagen Suborbitals the use of its ESD139 test range until Sep. 17. If the Heat-1X booster cannot fly before that date, the team will have to wait until 2011 for another chance to launch. (9/5)
Google Space Competition to be Held in the Isle of Man (Source: Isle of Man Newsroom)
THE fourth Google Lunar X PRIZE team summit will be held in the Isle of Man during World Space Week. 22 teams from around the world will compete in the international competition which requires engineers and entrepreneurs to develop low cost methods of robotic space exploration.
Senior executives from the competing teams will come together, on October 4 and 5, with representatives from Google and the X PRIZE Foundation, industry experts and Space Isle representatives from the Isle of Man. To win the grand prize of 30 million dollars, teams must successfully soft land a privately funded spacecraft on the moon, explore the lunar surface by moving at least 500 meters and transmit a specific set of video images and data back to the Earth. (9/3)
Young Emirati Women Aim for the Stars at NASA (Source: The National)
On June 1, Shamma al Qassim boarded a plane bound for the US as the first Emirati woman to become a NASA intern. On Sunday, Reem Ketait will become the second. Ms. al Qassim, 19, along with two other Emirati students – Hazza Bani Malek, 20, and Hamad Rajab, 21 – spent 10 weeks training alongside NASA engineers as part of the Educational Associates program. Until a few months ago, the program admitted only US citizens. But thanks to an agreement between NASA and the RAK-based Arab Youth Venture Foundation, Emirati students may well become a regular feature at the Ames Research Center in California. (9/2)
NASA Sends Experts to Help Chile Miners (Source: AFP)
A team of NASA doctors and scientists will travel to Chile this week to lend its expertise to efforts to keep 33 trapped miners fit and healthy. The Chilean government had asked NASA to provide technical advice that might assist the trapped miners at the San Jose gold and copper mine near the town of Copiapo.
NASA's expert knowledge of how astronauts deal mentally and physically with arduous space journeys could help the miners cope for months in their dark, cramped underground world. "The environment may be different, but the human response in physiology, behavior, responses to emergencies is quite similar," said NASA deputy chief medical officer Michael Duncan, one of the four-strong team. (8/31)
NASA Doctor Urges Against 'False Hopes' for Chile Miners (Source: BBC)
A team of NASA experts have arrived in Chile to aid the rescue of 33 miners and advised officials not to give them "false hopes". The NASA team, which includes a doctor, nutritionist, and engineer and a psychologist, arrived in Santiago after a request by the Chilean authorities. They are due to travel to the mine site on Wednesday. NASA's Dr Michael Duncan told a news conference he didn't think the long wait would be a surprise to the miners. (9/1)
Hold Off on Booze, NASA Urges Trapped Chile Miners (Source: Reuters)
Already deprived of sunlight, fresh air and their loved ones for 26 days, NASA doctors say 33 miners trapped deep in a Chilean mine must continue to forego two other pleasures: alcohol and cigarettes. Facing a wait of around two to four months as rescuers race to drill a narrow shaft 2,300 feet vertically down to extract them, the miners are in good spirits, and included wine on a wish-list of items to be sent down a tiny borehole from the surface.
Health officials have sent them high-protein, high-calorie foods in narrow plastic tubes to help them build up their strength after losing an estimated 22 lb (10 kg) each during 17 days entombed after a cave-in before they were found alive. Booze will have to wait. (9/1)
Space Spin-Offs Could Help the Elderly (Source: Public Service UK)
Future spin-off benefits from the work of the UK Space Agency could help government to tackle social problems including elderly care. Over the last 50 years, Britain has been involved in a number of cutting edge projects alongside partners in the European Space Agency – producing valuable societal benefits such as improved telecoms, climate change monitoring and satellite navigation in vehicles. But looking ahead, he pinpointed advanced telecare as an area that would benefit from space research and could aid government "to ensure older people live a full life without necessarily going into homes". (8/31)
ORBITEC Helps NASA Grow Vegetables in Space (Source: ORBITEC)
Long duration space missions will require Astronauts to grow food to supplement their diet. ORBITEC's "VEGGIE" vegetable production systems will be used for this purpose during this fall's annual "Desert RATS" space analog testing. Desert RATS (Research and Technology Studies) tests offer a chance for a NASA-led team of engineers, astronauts, and scientists to conduct technology development research in the Arizona desert.
During the trials, researchers study the effectiveness of new designs for space suits, robots, rovers, surface networking and communications, exploration information systems and computing, habitats, and other equipment, and gain experience in the use of new technologies designed to make planetary exploration safer, easier, and more efficient.
For this year’s trip to the desert, ORBITEC delivered one of its the “VEGGIE” units, or deployable plant growth systems for producing salad-type crops in space. The VEGGIE design provides growing areas that can be linked together to provide up to one square meter of growing area, but stowed within a single crew transfer bag on the Space Shuttle. (9/1)
NASA’s ATHLETE Rover Steps Up to Long Desert Trek (Source: NASA)
The ATHLETE rover, currently under development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., is in the Arizona desert this month to participate in NASA's Research and Technology Studies, also known as Desert RATS. The desert tests offer a chance for a NASA-led team of engineers, astronauts and scientists from across the country to test concepts for future missions. (9/4)
Accepted Notion of Mars as Lifeless Is Challenged (Source: New York Times)
For all the triumph of NASA’s 1976 Viking mission, which put two unmanned spacecraft on Mars, there was one major disappointment: The landers failed to find carbon-based molecules that could serve as the building blocks of life. The complete lack of these organic molecules was a surprise, and the notion of a desolate, lifeless Mars persisted for years.
Now, some scientists say that conclusion was premature and perhaps even incorrect. They suggest that such building blocks — known as organic molecules, although they need not come from living organisms — were indeed in the soil, but that they were inadvertently destroyed before they could be detected. If true, that could cast the scientific conclusions of the Viking mission in a new light, especially since another Viking experiment claimed to have found living microbes in the soil. (9/4)
Venus Crater Debate Heats Up (Source: Nature)
A tortured, volcanic wasteland, baked by a runaway greenhouse effect, the surface of Venus has clearly had an unpleasant history. But just how unpleasant has become the subject of renewed debate among planetary scientists trying to understand the planet's enigmatic topography. Ever since NASA's Magellan spacecraft radar-mapped Venus twenty years ago, researchers have been struck by the relative sparseness and random distribution of its impact craters. The pattern, completely unlike that found on other terrestrial planets, suggests a surface that is uniformly young. (8/31)
When We Find Habitable Extrasolar Planets, How Will We Look for Life? (Source: Seed)
You might think looking for planets outside of the solar system is a little like looking for a needle in a haystack. Actually, finding a needle in a haystack is easy as long as you have a powerful enough metal detector. Try finding that same needle in a barn full of cannonballs, using only your metal detector. If you’re looking for planets similar to Earth, reduce the size of the needles a hundred-fold. Now you might have a better idea of what searching for planets orbiting stars hundreds of light-years away is really like.
Last week, NASA announced that its team of scientists working on the Kepler mission had found a likely candidate for a planet outside of the solar system that’s roughly the same size as Earth. Unfortunately, even if it is verified, it’s unlikely to harbor life, as surface temperatures for a planet so close to its sun are estimated at over 2,000° C.
So what would it take to actually find a planet similar enough to our own that carbon-based life—the only form of life known here on Earth—would be possible? Last month, astronomy graduate student Alexander Bastides Fry discussed efforts to find extraterrestrial life. The most obvious planet to support this type of life would be roughly Earth-size, Earth-distance from a star similar to the Sun. Click here. (9/1)
Void That is Truly Empty Solves Dark Energy Puzzle (Source: New Scientist)
Empty space may really be empty. Though quantum theory suggests that a vacuum should be fizzing with particle activity, it turns out that this paradoxical picture of nothingness may not be needed. A calmer view of the vacuum would also help resolve a nagging inconsistency with dark energy, the elusive force thought to be speeding up the expansion of the universe.
Quantum field theory tells us that short-lived pairs of particles and their antiparticles are constantly being created and destroyed in apparently empty space. A branch of the theory, called quantum chromodynamics (QCD) - which explains how gluons and quarks, the particles that make up protons and neutrons, behave - predicts that a vacuum should be awash with an interacting sea or "condensate" of quarks and gluons. Click here to read the article. (9/1)
Is the Grand Design Within Our Grasp? (Source: MSNBC)
More than a decade ago, British physicist Stephen Hawking said there was a 50-50 chance that a unified "theory of everything" would be discovered in 20 years' time. Now Hawking thinks the theory has been found. In "The Grand Design," he and co-author Leonard Mlodinow explain why a concept called M-theory offers the only path they can see to understanding the universe's grand design. Hawking got a lot of attention this week for his observation that God wasn't needed to explain the origin of the universe. But his claim that "M-theory is the unified theory Einstein was hoping to find" could be, if anything, more scientifically controversial.
"Stephen often overstates the case, and that's fine," said Lawrence Krauss, a theoretical physicist at Arizona State University who's coming out with his own book about the ultimate questions of physics next year. "That's by virtue of the fact that it's hard for him to go into detail because of his medical condition. Because of that, he makes brief, blunt statements. It's almost like the Bible. Whenever he says anything, people jump on it."
M-theory is a key jumping-off point for "The Grand Design." The string theorists who came up with the term have never agreed on exactly what the "M" stands for, although the words "membrane," "matrix," "mystery" and "magic" have all been floated as possibilities. My favorite explanation is that M-theory is the "mother of all theories." Click here for more. (9/4)
Second Super-Fast Flip of Earth's Poles Found (Source: New Scientist)
Some 16 million years ago, north became south in a matter of years. Such fast flips are impossible, according to models of the Earth's core, but this is now the second time that evidence has been found. The magnetic poles swap every 300,000 years, a process that normally takes up to 5000 years. In 1995 an ancient lava flow with an unusual magnetic pattern was discovered in Oregon. It suggested that the field at the time was moving by 6 degrees a day - at least 10,000 times faster than usual. "Not many people believed it," says Scott Bogue of Occidental College in Los Angeles. (9/3)
Editorial: Seattle Museum of Flight Deserves to Showcase a Space Shuttle (Source: Seattle Times)
Three museums will be given a space shuttle next year, when the shuttles are retired. Seattle's Museum of Flight should be one of them. Aerospace is in Seattle's blood. We design and build jet aircraft. Seattle developed the shuttle's heat-shielding tiles, at the University of Washington. Seattle has made its Museum of Flight one of the finest aircraft museums in the country — because flight is something people care about here. We have an astronaut, Bonnie Dunbar, as president of the museum.
NASA is insisting that all applicants have a space ready for a shuttle by July 2011. The Palmdale, Calif., people offer a hangar. The New York people have a barge. Seattle's Museum of Flight has broken ground on a beautiful glass building. Seattle is not Chicago or New York. But to them, a shuttle would be just another thing. Here, it would be part of our identity. (9/2)
Intrepid Museum Tries to Land Shuttle (Source: WNYC)
The Intrepid's executive director, Susan Marenoff, believes her museum has everything NASA will be looking for in an adoptive institution. It has plans to build a new structure to house the shuttle on Pier 86. Marenoff also says her museum has proven fundraising strategies. And, since the museum is located in New York City, it may be able to bring the most visitors of any U.S. museum.
"If in fact, NASA wants the most eyeballs to see this shuttle and have the most, as many people as possible, benefit from being able to experience viewing it," Marenoff says, "then we think that there's not even a second thought other than New York City." (8/31)
NASA, Internet Archive and Flickr Launch Historic Image Collection (Source: NASA)
Three compilations of images from more than half a century of NASA history are available for comment on a section of the photo-sharing site Flickr known as The Commons. Visitors to NASA on The Commons can help tell the photos' story by adding tags, or keywords, to the images to identify objects and people. In addition, viewers can communicate with other visitors by sharing comments. These contributions will help make the images easier to find online and add insight about NASA's history.
The capability to interact with these already-public photos is the result of a partnership between NASA, Flickr from Yahoo! in Sunnyvale, Calif., and Internet Archive, a non-profit digital library based in San Francisco. Three sets of photos share a common theme of NASA beginnings. The "Launch and Takeoff" set captures iconic spacecraft and aircraft taking flight. "Building NASA" spotlights ground-breaking events and the construction of some of NASA's one-of-a-kind facilities. The "Center Namesakes" set features photos of the founders and figureheads of NASA's 10 field centers. To view NASA on The Commons images, visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/nasacommons. (8/30)
NASA Presents Challenge to Top Chef Contestants (Source: NASA)
A new dish is being prepared for astronauts working in space. Bravo TV's Emmy-award winning reality show "Top Chef" will feature a special challenge for the five remaining "chef'testants." The winning contestant will have his or her recipe prepared by NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and flown on a future space shuttle mission. Food preparation and taste have come a long way since the Apollo era. Today, the menu for astronauts includes 180 food and beverage items. These include tomato basil soup, chicken fajitas, shrimp cocktail, scrambled eggs and beef tips with mushrooms. They can also munch on nuts, granola bars and cookies. Beverages come in powdered form and include coffee, tea, apple cider, orange juice and lemonade. (9/1)
James Cameron Hosts The ZERO-G Experience (Source: X PRIZE Foundation)
Helping to raise funds for the X PRIZE Foundation, "Avatar" Producer/Director, James Cameron, will participate as the honored guest aboard an extraordinary ZERO-G Experience taking off from Van Nuys Airport (VNY) in Los Angeles on Oct. 9. Additional X PRIZE Board Members and special guests have purchased seats to participate in this special event. Three available seats for this once-in-a-lifetime adventure will be auctioned on eBay to the general public beginning Aug. 31 and ending Sep. 3. To find out more information about the auction and to bid on seats, visit http://eBay.com/cameron. (8/30)
Mos Def Encourages Students To Go To Space (Source: All Hip Hop)
Rapper/actor Mos Def will team with NASA to encourage students to pursue higher education using science and technology this Sunday (September 5th) in Oakland, California. The rapper will team with famed African-American NASA astronaut Leland Melvin to debut a special holographic presentation at the Chabot Space & Science Center. (9/1)
Space Foundation Seeks 'Space Heroes' (Source: Florida Today)
Buzz Lightyear? Capt. Kirk? Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana? Story Musgrave? John Glenn? Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin? Or maybe famed NASA Flight Director Gene Kranz because failure was not an option. Who is your Space Hero? The Space Foundation wants to know.
Begun earlier this month, the foundation's "Space Heroes" survey simply asks who rocks your universe and why. The aim is to determine who inspires people to support and promote space exploration. Take the survey at http://www.spacefoundation.org. (8/30)
Pioneer Woman in Aviation to be Honored at Caltech (Source: Pasadena Star-News)
Aerospace engineer and executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company Joanne Maguire is the 2010 recipient of the prestigious International von Kármán Wings Award for her sustained and visionary accomplishments in aerospace. She is the first woman to win the award.
The von Kármán Wings Award acknowledges outstanding contributions by international innovators, leaders, and pioneers in aerospace and is presented by the Aerospace Historical Society, which is part of the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at Caltech (GALCIT). For the past 26 years, the society has been dedicated to the preservation of the history and achievements of aerospace. (9/1)
First Black Man in Space Down to Earth About Career Moves (Source: San Francisco Examiner)
Physician Bernard Harris was the first black man to walk in space. He has since left NASA and established a successful venture capital firm, along with a foundation aimed at promoting science education for disadvantaged youth. He will speak to 950 students at Marina Middle School on Friday. Click here to read an interview with Dr. Harris. (8/31)
Accident Fatal to Former Astronaut with Florida Roots (Source: Bay Area Citizen)
Former scientist-astronaut Dr. William “Bill” Lenoir, who flew on the fifth space shuttle flight in November 1982, died Saturday. He was 71. He died from head injuries sustained in a bicycle accident on Aug. 26. The Miami native was the first native-born Florida astronaut and a descendant of Gen. William Lenoir, a Revolutionary War officer. His former wife, Elizabeth, served as mayor of El Lago from 1979 to 1984 and was one of the first women to head a Bay Area city. (9/3)
O'Keefe, Son Recovering From Alaska Plane Crash (Source: US News)
Sean O'Keefe, the Washington-based CEO of EADS North America who survived the August 9 Alaska plane crash that killed former Sen. Ted Stevens, is expected to leave intensive care in the next several days, according to a family spokesman. O'Keefe, a former Navy secretary and NASA administrator, returned to Washington from Anchorage last week and underwent some minor surgery on a fracture in his lower left leg. "This appears to be the only surgery that Sean will require," family spokesman Paul Pastorek said on a web page created to keep friends and family updated. (8/31)
Veteran Astronaut Joins ASRC (Source: ASRC)
ASRC Research and Technology Solutions (ARTS) today announced that former NASA astronaut and retired U.S. Navy Capt. Scott Altman has joined ARTS as vice president of strategic planning. A veteran of four space flights, Altman most recently served as chief of the Exploration Branch within the Astronaut Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
In his new position, Altman will lead ARTS’ strategic planning process and will focus on leveraging the company’s expertise in engineering, information technology and technical services within the space, aviation and defense industries. He will also lead new business initiatives within the commercial space market. (9/1)
COM DEV Announces Third Quarter Fiscal 2010 Results (Source: COM DEV)
COM DEV announced third quarter financial results for the period ended July 31, 2010. All amounts are stated in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted. Revenue was $52.3 million, compared to $61.5 million in the third quarter of 2009. Net loss was $1.7 million, compared to net income of $5.2 million for the third quarter of the prior year. (9/4)
Astrotech Reports Results for Fourth Quarter and FY-2010 (Source: Astrotech)
Astrotech posted a fourth quarter FY-2010 net loss of $1.6 million, compared with a fourth quarter FY-2009 net income of $2.6 million, on revenue of $10.4 million. Astrotech's net income for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2010 was $0.3 million on revenue of $28.0 million compared to net income of $4.7 million on revenue of $32.0 million for the prior fiscal year. (8/30)
Boeing Weather Satellite Accepted Into Service by NASA, NOAA (Source: Daily Breeze)
A Boeing-built satellite completed on-orbit testing and was accepted into service by NASA and NOAA. Boeing manufactured the satellite at its facility in El Segundo. GOES-15, Boeing's eighth Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, "completes the fleet of advanced meteorological satellites that Boeing designed, built and launched to provide enhanced weather monitoring over North America," said a Boeing official. (9/2)
LockMart Advancing on Next-Gen Commercial Remote Sensing System For GeoEye (Source: Space Daily)
The Lockheed Martin team developing GeoEye's next-generation, high-resolution commercial Earth-imaging satellite system known as GeoEye-2, has successfully completed on-schedule a System Requirements Review (SRR), an important program milestone that precedes the Preliminary Design Review. (9/1)
Ball Aerospace, ITT in Deal to Build DigitalGlobe Earth Imaging Satellite (Source: AIA)
Earth imaging company DigitalGlobe Inc., based in Longmont, Co., has recruited Ball Aerospace & Technologies and ITT to build and integrate the company's WorldView-3 satellite. Under the deal, Ball Aerospace will be paid up to $180.6 million if it meets deadlines and technology milestones, and ITT will be paid up to $120.5 million. (8/31)
Satellite Antennas Made by Harris Crucial to Military (Source: Florida Today)
Satellite antennas made by Harris Corp. in Palm Bay are a crucial part of a data transfer system that allows soldiers on the battlefield in Afghanistan and other locations to transmit and gather video information. In December, United Launch Alliance orbited the last of three satellites from Cape Canaveral, completing the Wideband Global SATCOM constellation, helping soldiers transmit video to and from the battlefield and allowing video to be transmitted from unmanned drones.
Three additional satellites are scheduled for launch beginning no earlier than December 2011. Each $300 million, 7,600-pound, Boeing-built satellite carries 10 Harris phased array antennas that can be pointed at specific parts of the battlefield. (8/30)
Harkness Screens Lift Off at Kennedy Space Center (Source: Govt. Video)
NASA's latest attraction at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, "Exploration Space: Explorers Wanted," incorporates live theatre, interactive experiences and large-scale multimedia presentations to display what the future of space travel may look like. BRC Imagination Arts, designer and producer of immersive experiences, needed screens and frames to match the awesome project; it turned to Harkness Screens.
With four custom-shaped trapezoidal Harkness Contrast Grey front projection screens flying above the stage and two large main stage rear projection screens, the viewer is completely engulfed. The main stage 16:9 Harkness Translite Super Grey 14x7.8-feet rear projection screen was also custom designed to fit into a scenic LED bezel. (8/30)
Get FLORIDA SPACErePORT Updates on Twitter (Source: SPACErePORT)
Got Twitter? You can get periodic updates on breaking news items by following me at http://twitter.com/FLspacereport. (9/5) |
