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January 30, 2012
The GOP Candidates are Talking About Space (Source: CNN)
Newt Gingrich got a lot of mileage out of his comments on building a moon colony by 2020. Whether you think that should get him a one-way ticket to the moon on the first flight or you believe his vision is an inspiration, he did accomplish one big thing. Gingrich got the conversation started. What kind of space program do we want? What kind can we afford? Had Gingrich not said what he said, the space program might have been totally ignored, as it has been so often in the past.
Folks at NASA say they can’t afford to hit the restart button again. “That’s a very real worry,” says John Matson, associate editor for Scientific American. “If every administration has a different vision and direction then nothing is gonna happen.” That is pretty much exactly what’s happened in recent decades. For a while, both Bush presidents talked of getting humans back to the moon and on to Mars. Of course, that went away, as it was deemed way too costly.
Now, there is a supposed flexible path that this administration is following that maybe sends astronauts to an asteroid and eventually Mars using a new heavy lift rocket yet to be designed or built. So, when you say NASA is “wandering in the desert of space,” as Cernan told me once, it’s not all on the agency. There’s plenty of blame to go around. Matson says that one big criticism of the Obama space plan is “the flexible path doesn’t carry firm timelines. A lot of people worry we’re not gonna get anywhere.” (1/28)
Candidates Respond to Space Question in GOP Debate (Source: SPACErePORT)
During Monday night's GOP debate, both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich responded to questions about the future of our nation's space program, asked in the context of ongoing economic problems on the state's Space Coast. Romney gave the first response, saying space should be a national priority and that it is important for science, commercial, and military development. He said stakeholder groups including NASA, the Air Force, industry, and universities should come together to establish a vision for space exploration, and that funding for space should come from a mix of government and private sources.
Romney said the folks on the Space Coast have technology and vision for supporting the space program. Meanwhile, Gingrich's answer focused on reducing NASA's bureaucracy and establishing a series of space prizes to advance the exploration and development of space. He envisioned a series of space stations, a moon base, and missions to Mars. Gingrich said he wants "vastly more money" to encourage private sector involvement in space.
Alan Boyle of MSNBC tweeted that it "sounds like both Romney and Gingrich would start at square one on NASA vision. Deja vu all over again." Good point. It doesn't seem like either candidate would want to continue down the current path for space exploration, which could lead to familiar inaction and gridlock when one of them attempts to sway Congress as president. (1/23)
Candidates Debate Space Policy on CNN (Source: SPACErePORT)
During Thursday's nationally televised GOP presidential debate, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, and Rick Santorum all had an opportunity to discuss their vision for space exploration, mostly in response to 'grandiose' comments made Wednesday by Gingrich. Gingrich reiterated his ideas (and hinted at having Florida Sen. Marco Rubio as a running mate), but Paul revealed little interest in space (and none in going to the Moon), aside from for military purposes. Paul suggested a healthier economy would allow very-rich people to invest in space enterprise.
Romney again spoke of bringing expert stakeholders together to set a direction for a "vibrant and strong" space program. He suggested that Gingrich's Moon base idea is unrealistic and expensive. In response to Gingrich comments that a lunar base might largely be privately financed, Romney said that as a business leader, he would have fired any executive who proposed investing billions for a lunar base.
Santorum stressed his pledge to reduce federal spending during every year of his presidency, which would leave little opportunity for non-essential investments in space exploration. He suggested that the other candidates were basically putting irresponsible space ideas forward to get votes. Romney made a similar accusation about Gingrich, but Gingrich countered that all the candidates should be learning and adopting the priorities of the states where they're campaigning. (1/26)
Editorial: Candidates Short-Sighted on Space (Source: Florida Today)
Florida's early primary gambit pays off. The good news: Presidential candidates are paying attention to space as they campaign in Florida. The bad news? The candidates who have plans are short on details. Some consider space exploration a luxury we can’t afford. Most, and maybe all, of the candidates don’t have even a loose grasp on United States space policy. Let’s hope nobody is casting their vote for president based solely on space issues. (1/29)
Poll: Who Has the Best Space Plan? (Source: Mashable)
Forget about presidential politics for a moment. Forget left and right, Republican and Democrat. Forget the GOP primaries and the same tired old debates that have filled the opinion pages for the last four years. Instead, to determine the next occupant of the White House, try this question on for size: Would you rather build a moon base or start mining the asteroid belt? Or do you think space exploration should be de-emphasized, and that NASA should be run with the help of the business community? Click here to take the poll. Editor's Note: Here's another poll from Tea Party in Space (TPIS). (1/27)
Weatherman: Space Coast Votes Are Key to Presidential Hopefuls (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Over the last 20 years, the road to the White House has run through Florida's I-4 Corridor. More late money, attention and campaign resources have been directed to this region than any other part of the country. This area’s importance to the presidential race has intensified now that Florida has 29 Electoral College votes, compared to 27 in 2008. Florida is the largest swing state in the country and, therefore, has never been more important.
As a matter of national security and global competitiveness, the candidates must make space a part of their respective platforms. The space industry was Florida’s first high profile, high-wage industry and launched the high-tech juggernaut that the Space Coast, and much of Florida, is today. Much of America’s technological prowess of the last generation was the product of the space program. To abandon that capability is to condemn this nation to a second class status.
The future of space needs to include a definitive program that we know will succeed. Whether this is the Space Launch System (SLS) or commercial space, we need commitment and sustained appropriation. The Constellation program was cancelled due to inadequate funding. We cannot continue to invest our future in similar programs that we know will suffer the same fate... The candidates want and need our votes, so it is incumbent upon each of them to demonstrate his understanding of the issues surrounding the Space Coast and our high-tech companies, and how this fits into the bigger issues of national security and global leadership. We have the delegates; each candidate needs to demonstrate why he should get them. (1/26)
Romney: I Will Restore America's Space Program (Source: Mitt Romney)
"The U.S. space program is a strategic national asset, which makes critical contributions to our scientific knowledge, technological innovation, economic competitiveness, national security, and international leadership. We have watched with dismay as President Obama dismantled the structure that was guiding both the government and commercial space sectors, while providing no purpose or vision or mission. This failure of leadership has thrust the space program into disarray and triggered a dangerous erosion of our technical workforce and capabilities. In short, we have a space program unworthy of a great nation."
"Restoring the U.S. space program to greatness will require the leadership, management skill, and commitment to American exceptionalism possessed by only one candidate in this race: Mitt Romney. We support Mitt’s candidacy and believe that his approach to space policy will produce results instead of empty promises. As his long record of success in both the private and public sectors attests, Mitt will do more than provide our space program with an inspiring vision and mission of exploration. He will also set aggressive yet achievable goals, adhere to realistic budgets, and execute on a carefully drawn plan."
"As president, Mitt Romney will facilitate close collaboration not only within the government’s civil and national security space sectors, but also with the private sector and with research institutions. He will create conditions for a strong and competitive commercial space industry that can contribute greatly to our national capabilities and goals. And he will ensure that NASA returns its focus to the project of manned space exploration that uniquely affirms American strength and values around the globe. Under his leadership, America will once again lead the world in space." Click here. (1/27)
Romney to Moon Base Executive: You're Fired! (Source: Politico)
Gingrich is willing to spend more on certain important priorities, extravagant though they may seem, while Mitt Romney reinforced his conservative bona-fides by arguing that moon travel isn’t worth the cost. “I spent 25 years in business. If I had a business executive come to me and say they wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I’d say, ‘You’re fired,’” Romney quipped.
“The idea that corporate America wants to go off to the moon and build a colony there, it may be a big idea, but it’s not a good idea,” Romney added. “We’ve seen politicians — and Newt, you’ve been part of this — go from state to state and promise exactly what that state wants to hear. The Speaker comes here to Florida, wants to spend untold amount of money having a colony on the moon. I know it’s very exciting on the Space Coast.”
In a line that got loud applause, he added: “Look, this idea of going state to state and promising what people want to hear, promising billions, hundreds of billions of dollars to make people happy, that’s what got us into the trouble we’re in now. We’ve got to say no to this kind of spending.” Gingrich shot back by arguing that local issues should actually be important to a president. “First, I thought we were a country where one of the purposes of candidates going around was to actually learn about the states they campaigned in and actually be responsive to the needs of the states they campaign in,” he said. (1/27)
Mitt Romney Would Have Fired Mike Griffin (Source: Space Frontier Foundation)
During last night’s Republican presidential debate, Governor Mitt Romney stated that “a moonbase would be an enormous expense,” and later stated that if someone had come to him saying they had wanted to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, he would’ve said “You’re fired.” Today, it was revealed that former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin is member of the Romney Space Policy Advisory Group. This is the same NASA Administrator who was the chief architect of an unaffordable and unsustainable plan to return humans to the Moon that would have cost about $200 Billion. (1/29)
Former Astronauts and Administrator Endorse Romney (Source: Space Politics)
In advance of his appearance Friday afternoon in Cape Canaveral, the Mitt Romney campaign released a letter from several key figures in the American space community endorsing him, calling him someone who “will restore America’s space program”. They repeat earlier comments by Romney that he would bring together the civil, commercial, and military space sectors to find common ground and perhaps share resources.
Among the letters signatories are former astronauts Bob Crippen and Gene Cernan; the latter has been one the most vocal ex-astronaut critics of the Obama Administration’s space policy. Former NASA administrator Mike Griffin is also a signatory, along with several other former space officials: Scott Pace (now head of George Washington University’s Space Policy Institute), Mark Albrecht, and Peter Marquez. (Albrecht has been critical of NASA’s evolution into a “risk-averse feudal empire”.) The commercial side is represented by Eric Anderson of Space Adventures. (1/27)
Anderson: Romney Would be “Advocate” of Commercial Space (Source: Space Politics)
Eric Anderson said he was contacted a few months ago by the Romney campaign to serve on a space working group, whose members are those who signed Friday’s letter; he added he’s met Romney several times and talked to him “one-on-one” on commercial space in particular. “He had not thought a lot about commercial space,” Anderson admitted, but in those personal conversations, Romney indicated to Anderson his enthusiasm for the private sector’s recent developments in human space flight capabilities. Anderson believes that if Romney won the presidency he would be an advocate of commercial space.
“You must remember, Mitt Romney is a very experienced businessman. People in business of course believe in private industry! They know that if you can find goods and services in the private sector then clearly those would be preferable to the government recreating that capability.” Anderson suggested that the Obama administration should have done more since rolling out its plans two years ago. “In terms of commercial support, the current policy is not a bad one at all,” he said. “However, the execution of that policy and its support evaporated after that initial period... [There is] the general sense that the White House didn’t really back the plan up.”
Anderson said there was also “good and bad ideas” in Newt Gingrich’s plans to use billion-dollar prizes to incentivize the private sector to go to the Moon and Mars. Prizes, he noted, have been effective on smaller scales when carefully tailored, citing the $10-million Ansari X PRIZE in particular, but he’s not sure that they would work on the much larger scale proposed by Gingrich. “It has to be realistic,” he said. “NASA has been kicked around like a pinball. We can’t keep stopping and starting,” he said. A new plan “can’t break the bank like Constellation, and it can’t be directionless... [Romney] would take decisive action on what NASA’s mission should be.” (1/29)
Romney Declines to Outline Plan for the Future of the Space Program (Source: ABC News)
Mitt Romney said today that he believes creating a “mission” for the space program is “integral,” but declined to outline any specifics of that mission, saying he rejects the idea of making promises to voters on the so-called Space Coast until he’s studied the program, seeming to make reference to GOP rival Newt Gingrich who did just that earlier this week.
“I’m not going to come here today and tell you precisely what the mission will be,” said Romney, speaking at Astrotech Space Operations, a commercial space company that sends satellites and cargo into space, that is stationed just steps away from the Kennedy Space Center. “I’m going to tell you how I’m going to get there.” (1/28)
Romney Seeks Space Reboot (Source: SPACErePORT)
To the chagrin of many space advocates who feel the issue has been studied enough, GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney pledged to initiate another national discussion to determine NASA's overarching mission. Blaming President Obama for failing to define a national space program, Romney pulled together a somewhat controversial group of space industry experts who endorsed his candidacy and would presumably contribute to the development of a new space vision. One response: "Nothing says 'vision' like geriatric astronauts and the people who gave us the Constellation disaster." (1/28)
Ron Paul Voices Little Support for Space (Source: SPACErePORT)
GOP hopeful Ron Paul did not campaign for the Florida Primary, because it is a winner-take-all state and he had little hope of coming out on top. But he did participate in two Florida-based debates and revealed his opinions on space exploration during one of them. Paul indicated support only for military space capabilities, ands was dismissive of Newt Gingrich's ideas. He did, however, suggest that a healthier economy would enable greater commercial investment in space. (1/28)
Santorum: Moon Base Idea is 'Crass Politics' (Source: Politico)
Santorum was asked at Florida State University about whether he'd expand NASA programs after Newt Gingrich's pledge for a new moon base. "I go back to trying to be very up front and honest with the people of Florida, the people of the country," he said. But given a potential explosion of inflation, he said, "the idea that anybody's going out and talking about grand, new, very expensive schemes to spend more money at a time when we do not have our fiscal house in order, in my opinion, is plain, crass politics." (1/26)
GOP Hopeful Rick Santorum Bails on Brevard Visit (Source: Florida Today)
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum has canceled plans to speak at Saturday’s Space Coast Tiger Bay luncheon. Barbara Davis, head of the Brevard Republican Executive Committee, said she was notified that Santorum would be out of town an unable to participate in the event. J.B. Kump, Tiger Bay executive director (and former district director for Congressman Dave Weldon), said those who had purchased tickets for the event are being notified of the cancellation and will receive full refunds. (1/26)
Gingrich Faces Struggling Space Coast Audience for Space Speech (Source: Huntsville Times)
Newt Gingrich, riding a wave of popularity in the Republican Party after winning the South Carolina primary, will find a Space Coast struggling to re-invent itself after the end of the 30-year-old space shuttle program (which cost thousands of Florida jobs) and a long fight over the future of NASA between Congress and President Barack Obama. That fight is over now, but the compromise solution has left uncertainty in Florida and other space states.
Obama ended NASA's behind-schedule Constellation rocket program in favor of government support for building a U.S. commercial space industry to ferry astronauts and cargo to and from the International Space Station. His idea was that NASA would spend much of the coming decade preparing for the complex challenges of deep space missions.
Fearing loss of the nation's spaceflight capability, Congress forced the White House to agree to allow NASA to develop a new heavy-lift rocket instead. That rocket will be developed in Huntsville by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The Huntsville area lost an estimated 1,500-2,000 aerospace jobs in 2010 and 2011 as the Constellation and space shuttle programs wound down. (1/23)
Gingrich Wows Space Coast Audience with 'Grandiose' Space Vision (Source: SPACErePORT)
“I am sick of being told we have to be timid and I am sick of being told we have to be limited to technologies that are 50 years old,” Newt Gingrich told a cheering Space Coast audience, unveiling his vision for a permanent lunar base (by the end of his second term) and strengthened U.S. leadership in space. Like President Obama, Gingrich called for increased commercialization in Earth orbit. For Mars exploration he proposed a $10 billion prize and development of new propulsion technologies to shorten the trip. He was highly critical of NASA's bureaucracy, arguing that much progress could be made in space if the agency were not bound by its traditional ways of doing business.
Gingrich repeatedly pointed to the aviation industry for examples of how the space industry should evolve. Rather than launching once per day, which seems to be our current technical limit, Gingrich sees 5-8 launches per day, with airport-like operations. He wants 10% of NASA's budget devoted to prizes (recalling the prize that Lindbergh won to cross the Atlantic). He pointed at the airline industry's evolution in the 1930s as a guide for space transportation. He said if we can change the expectations that come with bureaucracy, and ramp up our sense of urgency, we can accomplish amazing things. (1/25)
Gingrich Moon Base: Inspired Idea Would Reverse America's Enfeeblement (Source: Telegraph)
I’m never been sure about Newt Gingrich. He’s giving us Right-wing nuts a bad name. Plus he’s almost certain to lose to Obama, who I wouldn’t say is the worst US president ever, but is certainly in the bottom one. On the other hand Chuck Norris has given his endorsement to Gingrich, and now he’s come out with a genuinely inspiring idea: an American moon base.
The suggestion has been widely ridiculed, and on the face of it there are many problems. But space has that rare ability to inspire; advocates of space travel argue that the Mercury and Apollo missions of the 1960s led to a huge increase in children studying science, with obvious benefits for society as a whole. Sadly, though, like the British before them, Americans have lost interest in doing things and become more interested in being things, and indulging in self-gratification.
Space has a further, very important benefit – the power to unite humanity like nothing else. Our species are, by their very nature, tribalistic and doomed to remain so; yet after the 1969 moon landings, wherever Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins went on earth, they were fêted not as representatives of the United States but of all humanity. (1/27)
Newt Gingrich: Let's Go To The Moon Permanently, Get To Mars ASAP (Source: Huffington Post)
Space travel is an issue that will likely come up in few states besides Florida this primary season, but both Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were quick to recognize the importance of the Space Coast is to this state and agreed that the issue is important for the country. "It should certainly be a priority," said Romney when asked whether, during a time of reduced federal spending, space exploration should be a focus. "What we have now is a president who does not have a vision or a mission for NASA. As a result of that, there are people on the Space Coast that are suffering. Florida itself is suffering as a result," he said.
Gingrich added that he would like to go back to the moon "permanently" and get to Mars "as rapidly as possible, building a series of space stations and developing commercial space." Romney and Gingrich both said that space exploration should be a collaborative effort between the federal government and the private sector. Gingrich was then asked whether he would "put more tax dollars into the space race and commit to putting an American on Mars instead of relying on the private sector." "Well, the two are not incompatible," he replied.
"For example, most of the great breakthroughs in aviation were as a result of prizes. Lindbergh flew to Paris for a $25,000 prize. I would like to see vastly more of the money spent encouraging the private sector into a very aggressive experimentation. I would like a leaner NASA. I don't think building a bigger bureaucracy and having a greater number of people sit in rooms and talk gets you there. But if we had a series of goals that we were prepared to offer prizes for, there is every reason to believe you have folks in this country and around the world who would put up an amazing amount of money and would make the Space Coast literally hum with activity because they'd be drawn to achieve prizes." (1/23)
Clarification: Will Grandiose-Class Prizes Work? (Source: SPACErePORT)
In response to a question about Newt Gingrich's idea for mega-prizes for mega-space achievements (like a habitable lunar base), I was quoted in the Washington Post saying "Prizes at that scale don't work very well." I was actually recounting to the Post reporter a conversation I had prior to the interview, with someone who was of that opinion. My own opinion is somewhat different. Having been involved in a couple of NASA prize projects, I think they're a great way to stimulate innovation and private sector investment. I'm ambivalent about whether it is prudent to scale them up to the level of a lunar base.
With the other prize projects I've supported, the devil is in the details of how they're structured. Every rule raises a dozen questions and requirements for clarification. Keeping it simple is key, but that isn't always possible when the sponsor wants to truly advance the state-of-the-art. And it can be very difficult to scope a prize purse that is large enough and achievable enough to entice multiple private competitors into a high-risk, high-cost race. If not achievable in a reasonable amount of time, the prize challenge might encumber for years billions of tax dollars that might be more expeditiously invested elsewhere.
So could a "grandiose-class" prize for a habitable lunar base or a private Mars landing work? I think it can, but I'm not sure if it would be good public policy. As was discussed during Thursday's debate, perhaps more private sector money could fund such things. Remember that the Orteig Prize (which Charles Lindbergh won) and those prizes sponsored by the X-Prize Foundation were/are funded by private investors. (1/27)
How Gingrich Would Colonize the Moon (Source: News OK)
Newt Gingrich has dreamed up a lot of weird ideas, but this one tops them all, according to the former House Speaker. “At one point early in my career I introduced the Northwest Ordinance in Space,” the Republican presidential candidate told thousands of voters on Florida’s Space Coast. Under Gingrich's proposal, once there were “13,000 Americans living on the moon, they [could] petition to become a state,” he said.
Standing before an adoring crowd of supporters, Gingrich joked that the proposal — which would essentially colonize the moon — was “the weirdest thing I have ever done.” The crowd laughed. But Gingrich grew more serious as he explained the rationale behind his proposal. “I wanted every young American to say to themselves, ‘I could be one of those people,’” he said. All practicalities aside, the idea would inspire young people to dream, he said.
“[That’s] the difference between romantics and so-called practical people,” Gingrich concluded. Gingrich borrowed the term “Northwest Ordinance” from the Second Continental Congress’ establishment of a territory in 1787 that was later used as a model for adopting new states into the Union. (1/25)
Why Newt's Moon Base Will Remain an Impossible Dream (Source: Guardian)
In the latest tell-people-what-they-want-to-hear speech on the endless election circuit, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich made a remarkable promise: he wants a moon base. My response was, hell, don't we all? Ahead of next week's primary, Newt "grandiose is my middle name" Gingrich told an audience on Florida's Space Coast that, by the end of his second term in the Oval Office America would have a permanent base on the moon, used for science, tourism and manufacturing. Bear in mind Gingrich is not the first Republican in recent times to propose a gargantuan new space dream for America.
In 2004, President George Bush called for a return to the moon, followed by Mars expeditions. NASA duly came up with the Constellation program. Two years later, the space agency unveiled plans to build a permanent moon base within 20 years, which could be used as a launch site for future missions to Mars. There are good scientific reasons for such a base. NASA's plan was that, by 2020, four-person crews would make week-long trips while power supplies, rovers and living quarters were being built on the lunar surface.
In the mid-2020s, when the base was fully-built, people would stay for up to six months at a time to prepare for longer journeys to Mars. By the end of the decade pressurised roving vehicles could take people on long exploratory trips across the lunar surface. Bush never matched his words with cash, however. Over the years that the Constellation program was being designed and discussed, NASA's budget did not increase in any commensurate way to develop the required technology. Technology will not be the problem. With the right investment, America's scientists and engineers could easily get the job done. The major issue today is the same as it was in 2004: where will the money come from? (1/29)
Newt’s Lunar Colony Plans are Loony, But His Advocacy for NASA is Right On (Source: American Prospect)
"People are looking at [prizes] as a panacea," lunar scientist Paul Spudis said. "But they're not that. They're a tool." As of yet, there have been no commercial trips to space, and the largest available jackpot-—a $50 million award offered by Robert Bigelow for building a reusable space capsule—-went unclaimed after six years. No one had come close to reaching the goal, and no test flights were even attempted.
While it has struggled to get off the ground, there are still many who believe a boom in private space companies could be right around the corner. "It is a very credible path for [NASA] to do far more than they are doing now without massive budget increases by making more effective use of the private sector," said Jeff Greason, CEO of XCOR Aerospace and a member of Obama's space commission in 2009. "Prizes are good, yes, and if used correctly can stimulate markets. Prizes have an upper limit to the scope of project they can entail."
Where Obama and Gingrich diverge is on the scope of projects that can be entrusted to the nongovernment entities. Gingrich's proposed prize pool is larger than anything previously offered to private individuals, but he is also tasking companies to complete unprecedented projects while guaranteeing hard deadlines for success. President Obama also hinted at a new path for space on the campaign trail in 2008. As Ryan Lizza notes in this week's New Yorker, Obama had to scale back his ambitions once he entered office and faced the realities of a crumbling economy. (1/29)
Is There Anything We Need on the Moon? (Source: Foreign Policy)
Newt Gingrich has been the target of a lot of mockery for his space policy speech. The idea may seem a bit out of place in a campaign that has been overwhelmingly focused on the more terrestrial concerns of a struggling U.S. economy, but it isn't actually that novel a concept. NASA had plans for the construction of a moon base during the George W. Bush presidency which have since been scrapped. China, Japan, and Russia all have moon base plans at various stages of development.
But beyond nationalist bravado, pure scientific research, or the fun of space tourism, is there any reason for people to be on the moon? Is there anything we want there? Are there really lunar riches waiting to be scooped up? Well, perhaps. But not as many as you might think. Click here. (1/29)
Logsdon on Gingrich: Realistic Goals Not His Strong Suit (Source: Space.com)
"When we are not expecting a U.S. crewed launch to the ISS until 2016-2017 and are just getting started on a lunar-class launch vehicle, establishing a lunar outpost by 2020 is a fantasy," space policy expert John Logsdon, professor emeritus at George Washington University, told SPACE.com via email. "It would be much better to set realistic goals, but that is not Mr. Gingrich's strong suit." (1/25)
Editorial: Newt's Awesome Space Plan Shields a Bad Candidate (Source: Florida Today)
Newt Gingrich was running late for his rally at the Holiday Inn, giving me an extra hour in a muggy, standing-room-only banquet room to reminisce about his record. Amid the din of his fans, I recalled how Gingrich all but invented today’s dysfunctional Congress, where parties vote in lock step, minority members accomplish nothing and politicians treat each other to focus-group-tested insults.
How Gingrich became the first U.S. speaker to be reprimanded for wrongdoing by the House after taking improper cash and gifts and giving false information to the ethics committee. How Gingrich led the impeachment of President Bill Clinton in 1998 for lying about an affair — even as Gingrich had cheated on his wife for six years. I despised Gingrich by the time he took the stage in Cocoa on Wednesday.
Then, Newt seduced me with one of the best speeches on space I’ve ever heard. Just as the Wright Brothers tried and failed, just as Abraham Lincoln called for a Transcontinental Railroad, Gingrich would try the untried as president. We would launch, fail, learn and discover. Gingrich would dream big and deliver for the Space Coast and NASA where President Barack Obama has made a “total mess.” Brevard could ask for little more. (1/29)
Simberg on Gingrich: Would be Most Space-Conversant President (Source: Reason)
"Had Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX) not switched parties seven years ago while being allowed to keep his seniority, the 88-year-old defender of the status quo would not be the current chairman of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee. Instead the chairmanship would have fallen to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), who has defended the administration’s space policy. Rohrabacher will almost certainly take over when Hall retires or is term-limited out in five years. If Newt Gingrich by some miracle wins the GOP presidential nomination and the White House, he would be the most space-conversant commander in chief in American history. So the stars might yet align [to fix our space program]." (1/26)
Gingrich isn't a newcomer to this issue. He has been geeking out on space for a long time. He even founded the congressional Space Caucus. Many of his space speech's explicit points were excellent—-and consistent with the current push for more reliance on the private sector—especially the 10 percent of NASA's budget he proposed setting aside for prizes to encourage private spending and innovation. (1/26)
Tea Party Group Likes Newt's Space Ideas (Source: TPIS)
Mr. Gingrich's bold ideas challenge the status quo that is infecting the 9th floor at NASA Headquarters. Moreover, Newt touched on a theme that we at TEA Party in Space (TPIS) have railed against: the inefficiencies of the government bureaucracies. This is not an attack on the people working at NASA, this is what the system is set up to do. What Mr. Gingrich correctly points out is that the system is broken. We are relying on a system to get astronauts to the ISS that has had three failures in the last six months. We are watching the Chinese lay out plans to overtake us in space and our arrogant politicians simply scoff it aside.
NASA doesn't have a clue on how to achieve Mr. Gingrich's ideas and vision of a moon base, but Bigelow Aerospace does. And this isn't just pie in the sky. We have private entrepreneurs who are investing their fortunes into spaceflight. Hundreds of millions of dollars, of their personal wealth, doing more with less and having better results in the process. This is the model that must be endorsed by NASA and political leaders and then enacted. Mr. Gingrich articulates a vision that TPIS supports entirely.
But now comes the interesting part for Mr. Gingrich. He must articulate his vision in a way that will not only sway NASA leaders but also politicians who "bring home the bacon" to their states and districts. The bacon, of course, is prized NASA dollars that have been flowing to the same districts and same states for decades. It can be done. Mr. Gingrich says his vision will create more jobs in the aerospace sector, we agree Mr. Speaker, but how? (1/26)
Tea Party Group Rips Griffin Testimony on Delta-4 Versus Chinese Rocket (Source: TPIS)
Tea Party in Space (TPIS), one of multiple groups critical of NASA's planned development of a new heavy-lift rocket, has posted a video where former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin testifies that China's new Long-March-5 could be used for manned lunar missions, while the U.S. would not be able to conduct such missions without a new heavy-lift rocket. Interestingly, in the same testimony he describes that the U.S. Delta-4 has an equivalent lift capability to the Long-March-5, yet never suggests that it could be used for the same type of lunar missions.
TPIS says Dr. Griffin, if given the chance, would "bring back the Big Government NASA Bureaucracy" that wasted billions of dollars on the Constellation program, building new redundant launch capabilities instead of using existing U.S. vehicles. Click here. (1/28)
TEA Party Endorses Newt Gingrich in Florida Primary (Source: Sunshine State News)
The TEA Party of Florida endorsed Newt Gingrich in the Florida presidential primary, saying the former House speaker has "articulated direct and serious steps designed to reduce spending, cut our deficits, pay down our national debt, and return liberty to our citizens in doing so." Reconstituted from the party whose candidates garnered 310,000 votes in 20 races in 2010, TEA is pursuing a broader outreach strategy this year. (1/26)
Follow-Through With Congress Key to Gingrich Space Vision (Source: Florida Today)
The vision Gingrich unapologetically called “grandiose” offered few details about how it would be implemented, what budget was needed or whether it could earn support from Congress. But Gingrich said his space program would be “very different” and make some within NASA “uncomfortable,” drawing applause. Next Tuesday’s Republican primary may tell if voters on the Space Coast and across the state find the proposals inspiring or threatening to a space program still adjusting to changes implemented by President Barack Obama.
Mike McCulley, a former shuttle pilot who went on to lead shuttle contractor United Space Alliance, said “consistent, steady leadership” was paramount, noting that little ultimately came from the space exploration vision President George W. Bush introduced in 2004... "President Bush gave a good speech, but nobody followed up on it.” (1/26)
Editorial: Why I Endorsed Newt Gingrich (Source: Daily Kos)
Gingrich's space vision is one that I share, a message I can believe in despite the messenger. What this is about ultimately, isn’t a moonbase – it’s about space settlement. It’s about using space to help people, help the earth and grow humanity to become better. Yes, believe it – we can use space to help people right now. Now, let me compare it to Romney’s “plan” for space. He said he would’ve fired the person who came to him, suggesting that they spend hundreds of billions of dollars to build a moonbase.
Then, the very next day, THE VERY NEXT DAY, Romney’s campaign announced that the people advising him on space are almost entirely the same people who developed George Bush’s plan to go back to the moon. Just to return – to repeat Apollo – not to build a base. And that would have cost--wait for it--about $200 billion. So Romney has hired people who have done the exact thing he says he’d fire people for (arguably even worse). Yes, the Romney Reversal can be done in 24 hours, and if your head is spinning, don’t worry… you didn’t magically teleport into orbit.
President Obama rightly choose not to retain Dr. Griffin, and his Constellation cronies, despite active lobbying (including an email campaign started by Griffin’s wife) to retain not just Constellation, but Griffin and the core Constellation Team. In effect, President Obama fired the people Romney said he would fire. Now these same people are working for... Mitt Romney. Real progress in space doesn’t require a huge budget increase, despite Romney’s complaint. It requires vision and a willingness to reform NASA. And this is why I’ve endorsed Newt. And, its why, come November, I’ll be voting to re-elect President Obama. Click here. (1/28)
Is Gingrich's Pro-Obama Space Policy Stance About to Flip Flop? (Source: NASA Watch)
From a February 2010 op-ed written by Newt Gingrich and Bob Walker, published in the Washington Times: "Despite the shrieks you might have heard from a few special interests, the Obama administration's budget for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration deserves strong approval from Republicans. The 2011 spending plan for the space agency does what is obvious to anyone who cares about man's future in space and what presidential commissions have been recommending for nearly a decade."
"Bipartisan cooperation has been difficult to achieve in Congress, but here is a chance. By looking forward, NASA has given us a way to move forward. It deserves broad support for daring to challenge the status quo. It has proposed the real change that Americans are seeking." Editor's Note: After essentially endorsing President Obama's approach to establishing a post-Shuttle direction for NASA, one wonders whether Newt Gingrich will change his position as he campaigns for the GOP nomination and the presidency. Click here. (1/24)
Gingrich Versus Obama: A Perfect Storm for Space Launch Industry? (Source: SPACErePORT)
What if Newt Gingrich wins the GOP nomination to run against President Obama in the General Election? We would have a space-savvy Gingrich basically agreeing with many of President Obama's current space policies, but very critical of his lack of emphasis on space exploration. We would see both Gingrich and Obama looking for ways to streamline the NASA bureaucracy (Gingrich to encourage innovation and Obama to save money). We would see Gingrich calling for an aviation-like approach to space transportation, and Obama supporting a greater role for the FAA.
With the Defense Department now considering base closures, NASA looking at ways to turn KSC into an airport-like facility, and Congress pushing legislation to dispose of unneeded federal facilities, we could see big changes at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (1/26)
Beware Campaign Promises: Obama and Space (Source: Space Policy Online)
In August 2008, candidate Barack Obama gave a rousing space speech in Florida. Criticizing the Bush Administration for giving NASA a vision but not the money to achieve it, Obama asserted "We cannot cede our leadership in space." He vowed to "close the gap" between when the space shuttle program ended and a new system was available and ensure the people of Florida who worked in the space industry did not lose their jobs when the shuttle ended. "We need a real vision," Obama proclaimed, and announced he would reestablish a National Space Council to formulate it. "Under my watch, NASA will inspire the world once again," he said then, and "grow the economy" in Florida.
After his election budget realities set in, Ryan Lizza writes, Obama was told by advisers to cancel the Constellation program because it "was behind schedule, over budget, and 'unachievable." Obama agreed as he wrestled with the need to cut other favorite programs as well. This highlighted Obama’s growing realization that the post-partisan political world he believed in as a candidate and his initial months in office bears little resemblance to Washington reality. It is another lesson in the folly of believing what presidential candidates say during campaigns versus what they can deliver if they win.
Editor’s Note: Here’s a tally of President Obama’s space promises. President Obama's biggest space policy mistake may have been his failure to follow-through on his promise to establish a National Space Council. A multi-agency council could have coordinated a smoother roll-out and implementation of the post-Constellation space policy. (1/25)
Growing Budget Deficits May Have Scuttled an “Inspiring” Obama Space Program (Source: Space Politics)
Tuesday night President Obama will give his State of the Union speech before a joint session of Congress. Some have wondered if he might sneak a brief mention of space into the speech because astronaut Mark Kelly will be at the speech, sitting with the First Lady. Of course, the primary reason why he’ll be there has little to do with his NASA career but instead because of his wife, Gabrielle Giffords.
Another reason why it’s unlikely space would get much a mention in the address is that the administration may have something along the lines of space policy fatigue. This week’s issue of The New Yorker features a long article that takes readers behind the scenes of the Obama Administration, based on hundreds of pages of internal memos obtained by the magazine. The article takes a broad look at the administration acted and reacted to various issues, including, as it turns out, space.
The article notes that as a candidate for president in 2008, Obama “had promised a bold space program”, a reference to his space policy white paper the campaign released in August 2008. However, according to the New Yorker article, those plans foundered on projections of growing budget deficits. “Especially in light of our new fiscal context, it is not possible to achieve the inspiring space program goals discussed during the campaign,” a November 2009 memo (authorship unstated) advised the president. That sentence, the article noted, was in bold and underlined for particular emphasis. (1/23)
Obama Moved Space Policy in the Right Direction, But Still a Long Way to Go (Source: Reason)
By any reasonably objective measure, U.S. human spaceflight policy is an awful mess. We have spent hundreds of billions of federal taxpayer dollars during the last half-century, with little to show for it in terms of significant human expansion off the planet. In some ways, we have gone backward. There are near-term, cost-effective solutions to our space problems, but the people who guide policy in Congress aren’t interested in them, insisting instead on pouring further tens of billions into a giant rocket that probably will never fly and that internal NASA documents show is unneeded.
After the Obama administration announced its modest policy changes, the space policy establishment disingenuously and often mendaciously sought to preserve its decades-long rent seeking by feeding into national anxieties about American exceptionalism and the president himself. Sadly, the old guard has had some success. Bad policies are perpetuated because most people on Capitol Hill, members and staff alike, are too busy with more important matters than space and tend to defer to colleagues who compete for space-committee assignments so that they can keep the pork coming. The situation has been aggravated by the Obama administration’s political missteps.
Despite adopting the best space policy in years, perhaps ever, it blundered in rolling out the changes and remains inarticulate, confused, and confusing in explaining them, allowing obfuscation by supporters of the status quo to go largely unchecked. It is ironic that an administration otherwise hell-bent on increasing government ownership and control in so many other aspects of American life would be the one that finally came up with a policy designed to privatize a function that has long been performed by a government agency, with the explicit goal of encouraging competition. Click here. (1/26)
Does Obama’s Planned NOAA Move Make Sense? (Sources: Space News, Washington Post)
President Obama’s plan to shift NOAA from the Commerce Department to the Interior Department has raised questions about the agency’s role and whether the move would help or hurt its mission. While some believe Interior, which oversees the nation’s parks and other land holdings along with its wildlife, is a better fit for NOAA than Commerce, which is focused on promoting U.S. business, others fear the agency — which manages weather satellites, commercial and recreational fisheries, and a range of coastal, ocean and atmospheric programs — will lose clout in the move.
“NOAA will be less prominent as one small part of Interior than it is in Commerce,” David Goldston of the Natural Resources Defense Council wrote. NOAA’s $4.9 billion budget is about 60 percent of Commerce’s overall funding. Of course, whether it should even be in Commerce is a point of contention. It ended up there because President Richard Nixon was miffed at his interior secretary.
In some ways, NOAA could fit more easily within Interior, with its science-oriented U.S. Geological Survey and the Fish and Wildlife Service, which oversees imperiled species and their habitat. Others say that some divisions mesh better with Commerce. The National Weather Service, for instance, provides critical planning information on everything from precipitation to temperature fluctuations for the farming and transportation sectors. (1/23)
Mark Kelly to be President Obama's State of the Union Guest (Source: Huffington Post)
The White House says President Barack Obama has invited Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' husband to attend Tuesday's State of the Union address. White House spokesman Jay Carney says the president looks forward to having Mark Kelly, a retired NASA astronaut, as a guest in the first lady's box. Carney says Obama and Kelly spoke Monday morning. He says the president thanked both Giffords and Kelly for their patriotism and dedication to the country. (1/23)
Kelly Will Not Run for Congress (Source: Omaha.com)
Capt. Mark Kelly said Monday that his wife "feels pretty good" about her decision to resign from Congress. Kelly, a retired astronaut, was at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln on Monday to deliver a lecture as part of the Peter J. Hoagland Integrity in Public Service Lecture Series. About 500 people attended. "Everyone thought Gabby would run again," Kelly said. "She could've. She could've hung onto her seat and done the politically expedient thing. But she wanted to do the right thing. She wanted to focus on her recovery."
Kelly said he has been asked repeatedly but will not run for Congress. "Right now my goal is to make sure she can get back to where she needs to be so she can go to work," he said. Public service is something with which Kelly, who spent 35 years in the U.S. Navy and with NASA, has experience. His mother, Patricia Kelly, was a police officer. His twin brother, Scott Kelly, is also an astronaut. (1/24)
President Obama on NASA's Day of Remembrance (Source: NASA)
On this solemn day (Jan. 26), we join the NASA family and all Americans in honoring the brave men and women who gave their lives in the pursuit of space exploration. It is important to remember that pushing the boundaries of space requires great courage and has come with a steep price three times in our Nation’s history – for the crews of Apollo 1 and the space shuttles Challenger and Columbia. The loss of these pioneers is felt every day by their family, friends, and colleagues, but we take comfort in the knowledge that their spirit will continue to inspire us to new heights.
Today, our Nation is pursuing an ambitious path that honors these heroes, builds on their sacrifices, and promises to expand the limits of innovation as we venture farther into space than we have ever gone before. The men and women who lost their lives in the name of space exploration helped get us to this day, and it is our duty to honor them the way they would have wanted to be honored – by focusing our sights on the next horizon. (1/26)
The Difficult Road to the Moon (Source: Space Review)
Fifty years ago this week NASA launched the first in a series of Ranger spacecraft to the Moon, with poor results. Drew LePage examines the development of those spacecraft and the unfortunate outcomes of those early missions. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2009/1 to view the article. (1/23)
Caution and Optimism About the Future of Human Spaceflight (Source: Space Review)
Six months after the Space Shuttle completed its final mission, many are still uneasy about the future of America's human spaceflight efforts. Jeff Foust reports that many in the field see cause for optimism for the future, mixed with a dose of caution about the obstacles in the path ahead. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2011/1 to view the article. (1/23)
A Vision for a New Frontier Purpose for American Spaceflight (Source: Space Review)
Supporters of spaceflight have struggled to find rationales to back continued expenditures on relevant projects. Robert D. Lancaster argues that future spaceflight efforts should be based on planetary defense, access to resources, and settlement. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2010/1 to view the article. (1/23)
NASA Has Fizzled, But Wernher von Braun’s Exuberant Vision Lives On (Source: Reason)
During World War II, Wernher von Braun had a lot on his mind. The German rocket scientist was busy running Adolf Hitler’s V-1 and V-2 programs, which sent more than 10,000 rockets into England in 1944 and 1945. But beneath Von Braun’s famously exacting manner lurked a dreamer who throughout the conflict obtained a treasured subscription to Astounding Science Fiction by using a false name and a neutral mail drop in Sweden. The magazines made their way to Germany in diplomatic pouches.
When Von Braun immigrated to the U.S., he took to the pages of Collier's magazine to launch one of the most influential popular science writing series of all time. Von Braun sketched out his vision of a manned space program—starting with orbiting and spinning space stations, working through lunar landings, and culminating in a massive expedition to Mars. Illustrated by the great astronomical artist Chesley Bonestell, the series fired the imaginations of a generation of tech lovers; it was science fiction with all the rivets showing. Many cite it as the true beginning of the U.S. space program.
As Von Braun would put it, in an update to the old saw, “Late to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise.” The Collier’s campaign was his way to use science fictional ideas to advertise the future he wanted to create. And it worked: Von Braun went on to run the famous Apollo program, which put a man on the moon... Congress came to see NASA primarily as a jobs program, not an exploratory agency. Slowly, NASA complied with the post-Apollo vision—- safety-obsessed, with few big goals for manned flight beyond low Earth orbit. Very little useful science got done in the space station. NASA never did the experiments needed to develop the technologies required for a genuine interplanetary expedition. Click here. (1/26)
Zubrin: How Much Is an Astronaut's Life Worth (Source: Reason)
If we could put a man on the Moon, why can’t we put a man on the Moon? Starting with near zero space capability in 1961, NASA put men on our companion world in eight years. Yet despite vastly superior technology and hundreds of billions of dollars in subsequent spending, the agency has been unable to send anyone else farther than low Earth orbit ever since. Why? Because we insist that our astronauts be as safe as possible.
Keeping astronauts safe merits significant expenditure. But how much? There is a potentially unlimited set of testing procedures, precursor missions, technological improvements, and other protective measures that could be implemented before allowing human beings to once again try flying to other worlds. Were we to adopt all of them, we would wind up with a human spaceflight program of infinite cost and zero accomplishment.
In recent years, the trend has moved in precisely that direction, with NASA’s manned spaceflight effort spending more and more to accomplish less and less. If we are to achieve anything going forward, we have to find some way to strike a balance between human life and mission accomplishment. What we need is a quantitative criterion to assess what constitutes a rational expenditure to avert astronaut risk. In plain English, we need to answer a basic question: How much is an astronaut’s life worth? Click here. (1/26)
NASA Set To Start Spending for Big Human Spaceflight Programs in 2012 (Source: Space News)
With the space shuttle fleet having retired in July, leaving NASA with no independent means to launch astronauts to the international space station, human spaceflight will be the primary focus of the agency’s 2012 procurement activity. NASA intends to select one or two companies this year to finalize designs for commercially operated vehicles to ferry crews to and from the station starting around 2017.
The agency also intends to competitively award contracts for risk reduction studies for the Space Launch System (SLS), a congressionally mandated heavy-lift rocket that in combination with the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle will support manned missions beyond low Earth orbit starting as soon as 2021. The next phase of the Commercial Crew Program, which was to feature fixed-price contract awards, will now be administered under a Space Act Agreement structure. (1/23)
Expensive NASA Rocket Draws Skepticism (Source Houston Chronicle)
Depending on one's perspective, it's either the best of times or worst of times for NASA's human spaceflight program. Citing gains made in 2011, agency Administrator Charles Bolden said the new year "truly marks the beginning of a new era in the human exploration of our solar system." Contrast that with Paul Spudis, a scientist at Houston's Lunar and Planetary Institute, who described NASA's just-completed 2011 as an "annus horribilis."
At issue is whether, by choosing to build an expensive new rocket over the next decade, NASA is laying the groundwork for human exploration beyond the moon, or laying a gravestone for American human spaceflight. As engineers at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama begin designing a rocket that would eventually be capable of blasting 130 metric tons into orbit, many spaceflight experts are questioning why NASA chose what could be the most expensive and riskiest approach to expanding the human spaceflight program beyond low-Earth orbit.
"I'm very skeptical about the heavy-lift rocket," said Chris Kraft, NASA's first manned spaceflight director and the director of flight operations during the Apollo 11 mission. "I believe everybody at NASA, except those at the top level, thinks that's the case. The people at the division and branch level all believe there are better ways to get going." Editor's Note: Let's remember that President Obama wanted to wait until 2016 to decide on a heavy-lift rocket approach. Congress forced NASA to move forward immediately with the heavy-lift rocket. (1/29)
Engineers Removing Shuttle Components for Heavy Lift Rocket (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Kennedy Space Center engineers have begun removing Main Propulsion System (MPS) hardware from the aft of the retired orbiters. The flight-flown hardware – a natural match to the RS-25Ds the SLS will initially fly with – will live on with the monster rocket, as much as some of the orbiter hardware will be focused on the test program side of SLS’ development.
The MPS relates to the powerhouse in the aft compartment of the vehicle, aiding the acceleration from lift-off of an orbiter to Main Engine Cutoff (MECO) – the phase of ascent referred to as “powered flight”. As such, the Integrated MPS consists of the three RS-25Ds, the External Tank (ET), a propellant management system used to transport fuel and oxidizer from the tank to the engines, and a multi-purpose helium system. (1/23)
Next Solicitation for Commercial Crew Program Expected Feb. 7 (Source: Space News)
NASA plans to solicit proposals Feb. 7 for the third round of its commercial crew program and award at least two funded Space Act Agreements this summer that will run through 2014 and prepare competing astronaut transportation concepts for production. NASA has rebranded this initiative as the “Commercial Crew integrated Capability” program, according to a procurement notice posted online Jan. 23. It was formerly known as the Commercial Crew Integrated Design Contract. (1/23)
Say So Long to CCDev, Hello to CCiCap (Source: Parabolic Arc)
NASA has done it again. The acronym happy space agency has changed the name of its commercial human spaceflight (CHSF) program. The program formerly known as Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) is being succeeded by Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap). Try to say that acronym 10 times. Or even thrice. Go ahead. I’ll wait…no, try it again…ah, not even close… See what I mean? Impossible. (1/24)
Boeing GPS IIF Satellites Assembled Using 'Pulse' Manufacturing Line (Source: SpaceRef)
Boeing has accelerated the assembly of its Global Positioning System (GPS IIF) satellites through the use of a pulse-line manufacturing approach adapted from the Boeing 737 airplane production line. "Using this pulse-line approach, we are able to build up to six satellites per year," said Craig Cooning. "This is the highest satellite production rate in Boeing history, and it ensures we will deliver the remaining GPS IIF satellites on schedule."
Boeing is currently under contract for 12 GPS IIF satellites for the U.S. Air Force. Two are in orbit and meeting mission requirements; two have been completed and are being stored until launch; and eight are in various stages of pulse-line production. The next GPS IIF launch is scheduled during the third quarter of 2012. Boeing is prepared to deliver several GPS IIF satellites within the next year. (1/24)
Meet the 21st-Century Pioneers Who Want to Take You Into Space (Source: Reason.com)
Lots of kids go through an astronaut phase, usually sometime between fireman and president of the United States. For the last three generations of American children dreaming of slipping the surly bonds of Earth, the only game in the galaxy has been a federal agency: the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). But since NASA’s space shuttle program shuddered to a stop in July 2011 with the final flight of the Atlantis, those kids—and the adults they have become—have been forced to look outside of government for liftoff.
As luck would have it, there are quite a few men (and they are virtually all men) who would be more than happy to help. These 21st-century pioneers want to make spaceflight affordable, accessible, and commonplace, making a buck off your childhood fantasies in the process. They can’t offer the moon, yet. But they can supply various modes of travel and ways to achieve the astronaut experience, with or without Tang and freeze-dried ice cream. Click here. (1/23)
Diamandis: Rocket Man (Source: Forbes)
Peter Diamandis' $10 million X Prize bounty sparked a boom in commercial tourism. You won't believe what he wants to do next. According to the fast-talking, hand-chopping impresario of the tech and space worlds: “The system is broken, access to health care is inconvenient, inefficient, bureaucratic—at worst, it’s even inaccurate,” he intones, striding on the stage in the standard tech mogul uniform—white shirt, blue jacket and jeans—as MRI-like images dance behind him on a gigantic screen. Stats roll off his tongue: an average 21-day wait for a doctor’s appointment; the 2-hour delay in the office; a coming shortage of 91,000 doctors. That’s just in America.
The crowd listens keenly, less for Diamandis’ subject matter—a deadly topic, even at an electronics show—or his matter-of-fact style than this track record and his cash. Diamandis is launching his latest payload: a $10 million X Prize, his seventh contest, to whoever develops the first medical tricorder—yes, that all-purpose handheld that was standard equipment among Star Trek medics. Click here. (1/27)
Anderson: Extraterrestrial Outfitter (Source: Air & Space)
Eric Anderson is clear about his goal. “I’d like to go to space in the next five to 10 years,” he says. “I don’t want to wait.” He sits comfortably on a white leather couch in his office at Space Adventures in Vienna, Virginia, wearing a dark suit and open-collar shirt. A trim, fit man with a closely shaved head, he acts like he’s ready to go tomorrow. But wait he must, until he develops the net worth required to take his dream trip. That may explain why he’s working two high-profile jobs at once: chairman of Space Adventures, and president and CEO of Seattle-based Intentional Software. “Intentional actually could be worth billions and billions of dollars,” he says. “It could be my ticket.”
For the last 10 years, Anderson and Space Adventures have been brokering deals for well-heeled passengers to fly aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station. Now that those trips have become more or less routine, Anderson is primed for his own ride. And he’s ready to take Space Adventures to the next level—to the moon. Click here. (1/25)
ASAP: Commercial Crew Program at Risk From Inadequate Budget Oversight (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) believes that NASA’s commercial crew program is at risk from inadequate funding and the space agency’s decision budget-based decision to use less intrusive Space Act Agreements (SAA) to oversee the work of developing vehicles to replace the retired space shuttle.
“It appears to the ASAP that the FY-2012 funding level approved by Congress, which was less than half of what was requested by the Administration, will not allow commercial crew transportation to the ISS by 2016,” ASAP said in its annual report released this week. “In fact, if the new funding level continues into the future, it is the ASAP’s belief that the program is in jeopardy, thus extending the current lack of a U.S. human spaceflight capability and resulting in no alternative to reliance on Russia to obtain access to the ISS.” (1/26)
Dream Chaser Making Impressive Progress Ahead of CCDev-3 (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) has provided a positive overview on their progress in readying their Dream Chaser spacecraft for commercial crew operations in 2016. A fan favorite – due to its baby shuttle orbiter appearance – Dream Chaser has been paired with the highly reliable Atlas V launch vehicle as part of their Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) aspirations. Click here. (1/26)
Masten Flight Tests GENIE System (Source: Parabolic Arc)
NASA could test its payloads on Earth under realistic flight conditions before sending them into space by using a technology flown by Draper Laboratory last month. Using the GENIE (Guidance Embedded Navigator Integration Environment) System, Draper recently fully controlled the Xombie suborbital rocket built by Masten Space Systems during a closed loop tethered flight at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
This successful first step brings the NASA Dryden Flight Opportunities Program closer to a new testbed capability that could be used to validate future planetary technology payloads. Aircraft available to test NASA instruments today are unable to fly at the desired trajectories for planetary landings, and computer simulations are used to generate that data. However, a GENIE controlled flight vehicle could mimic a spacecraft’s final approach to the Moon and Mars here on Earth.
Emerging and advancing future space technologies will then have the opportunity to fly their payloads terrestrially to raise their overall Technology Readiness Level and show that they are ready for use in space. Draper plans to conduct a free-flying demonstration with GENIE and the Masten rocket later this winter. The GENIE precision landing GN&C system was developed jointly between Draper and the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) under the Autonomous Landing Hazard Avoidance Technology (ALHAT) and Morpheus lander programs. (1/23)
ATK Advances Liberty Rocket for Commercial Crew Launches (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Alliant Techsystems successfully held a Launch System Initial Systems Design (ISD) Review of its Liberty Transportation System. This is the third milestone to be completed under ATK’s unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. ATK has five milestones to meet under the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) agreement, which enables NASA and ATK teams to exchange technical information related to Liberty during the Preliminary Design Review phase of the program.
During the ISD, Liberty team members from ATK, its European-based partner, Astrium, and their subcontractors presented the status of Liberty’s system level requirements, preliminary design and certification process to representatives from the Commercial Crew Program at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and other NASA centers. The current SAA continues through at least March. The two milestones met earlier include a Requirements Status Briefing and a Technical Interchange Meeting for the Liberty Transportation System. Two additional milestones are scheduled to be completed under this SAA. (1/20)
SpaceX Offers Interactive Panorama View of Dragon Interior (Source: SpaceX)
In the coming days, we'll take a closer look at some of Dragon's advanced technologies in celebration of the Year of the Dragon and the opening of a new era in space travel. They include a new interactive panorama of the interior of a SpaceX capsule in cargo delivery configuration. Click here. (1/23)
Jeff Greason Talks Florida Space Politics (Source: NPR)
"I think the space industry will continue to be a growing part of both the U.S. and the world economy in the future. I think how much of it is on Florida's coast is going to be tied to the policy choices that we make as a nation in what we do with the federal government's space program, with the NASA space program.... The future of what NASA is a choice that we make, it's not a destiny, and there are multiple things we can do with the nation's space program, and some of them might have a very bright future for Florida."
"The Cape has a natural advantage as a launch site for expendable large boosters, and really the choice that hasn't been clearly brought into focus in national policy is if we wanted to select a policy that was good for Florida, we would select a policy that had a lot of launches. And, you know, the more launches there are, the more activity that there will tend to be at the Cape."
"That's not the only thing that can be done in Florida, but that's an area where Florida has a real advantage over other sites. And it's a challenge, if I may say, in the current posture of our program is that we are, as was discussed earlier, putting our energies towards the development of a larger booster that would fly less often. And that's not necessarily such a great thing for Florida." (1/25)
Space Coast Economy Moves On From Shuttle's End (Source: Florida Today)
The shuttle program was ending and the economic forecast was dire: Unemployment would hit 16 or even 17 percent as up to 8,000 space workers entered unemployment. Foreclosures would cascade through the housing market. Home sales would erode. And indeed, during the past three years as the Great Recession rolled across the country, dishing out its own punishment, the shuttle program hosted its final mission and those thousands of workers fell into joblessness. The housing market continued its post-bubble slump, with sale prices falling to decade-old lows.
Unemployment peaked at 12.8 percent in January 2010, the highest it has been since the Apollo era (but well short of the predictions). Foreclosure filings approached 10,000 in 2010, by far the highest total ever in Brevard County. The trends were all headed the wrong way. Now, with another full year of economic data added to the picture, a different trend is emerging: improvement.
Brevard, it seems, has absorbed the economic blow from the end of the shuttle program, and residents can expect the economy to improve, gradually. That means a net gain of jobs, more spending and more positive impact from economic development. In several key facets of the Brevard economy, 2011 was better than 2010, which indicates that, in many aspects, 2010 was the low point for the county since the recession began in late 2007. (1/29)
Next Frontier For Florida's Space Coast (Source: NPR)
Can the private space industry ever replace all those jobs along the Space Coast? I'm hearing from some experts that the answer is: eventually, but it will look very different than it has for the last 50 years and some change. There's been one big program, obviously, the space shuttle program. There's been one sort of entity that all of the workers, some 15,000 workers, have worked on. But now you're looking at kind of a new paradigm. Just last week, NASA went to the administration and told them that they had sort of a new way of looking at their culture, much more diversified is what we're looking at.
Kennedy Space Center would be, instead of working on one project, an eclectic mix. NASA will be over here in one area, maybe the Department of Energy is over here in another area working on alternative energy technology, and over here there's the commercial space industry park, and so on. So could we have all of those jobs back? Yes, but it's going to take some five to 10 years, probably at the minimum. In the meantime, there's some work but nowhere near as much. (1/25)
Space Florida Receives OK for Spaceport Projects (Source: Florida Today)
Space Florida received board approval to spend more than $10 million to renovate a former shuttle hangar at Kennedy Space Center, modernize a Cape Canaveral launch pad and update the state’s space master plan. During a meeting in Tallahassee, board members reviewed a proposal that would give the agency title to a $100 million facility being built to house the retired shuttle orbiter Atlantis at the KSC Visitor Complex, a financing arrangement that helps the complex’s operator. Space Florida says a plan to take over title of the Atlantis exhibit facility repeats the financing structure used in 2005 to support the Visitor Complex’s construction of the $35 million Shuttle Launch Experience attraction.
$5 million would start work to ready Kennedy’s Orbiter Processing Facility-3 and Processing Control Center for commercial use by Boeing, which plans to assemble commercial crew capsules there. The hangar is expected to be ready to support commercial operations by the first quarter of 2014. Space Florida, the state’s aerospace economic development agency, took over use of the facility last year and will lease it to Boeing.
At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Space Florida is upgrading Launch Complex-46 for potential launches of Athena or Minotaur rockets. The agency will spend up to $5 million to modernize the complex’s communications infrastructure and refurbish mechanical and electrical facilities. An update of the Canaveral Spaceport master plan will spell out how to transform KSC and the Cape into a “cohesive and coordinated commercial, civil and military spaceport." Click here. (1/25)
Starfighters Expands Fleet at KSC (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The final pieces of a unique squadron of supersonic jets arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 19, where they will be reassembled and put to work with a private company aiming to use them for research and microgravity training. The new planes were part of a group of five F-104 fighters bought by Starfighters Inc. from the Italian Air Force. The company already had four of the aircraft, but that wasn’t enough for the company to pursue a number of different opportunities.
Starfighters operates out of a hangar at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy under an agreement with Kennedy. Svetkoff’s main goal is to fly research and development missions, ranging from experiments flown for universities to evaluating rocket and spacecraft components in high-stress environments including high-acceleration and microgravity.
Space Florida and Embry-Riddle University already have partnerships with the company. Because the aircraft can soar to some 70,000 feet and speed past Mach 2, it can be used to launch small satellites into space. The 19-foot-long, 900-pound rocket, about the size of a Sparrow missile, has already been tested in a series of taxi runs hanging from an F-104′s wings. Test flights carrying the rocket but not launching it will be conducted in the next month and the first launch is in works to take place in the summer. Click here. (1/25)
NASA Seeks Partner to Preserve Shuttle Depot Capabilities (Source: SPACErePORT)
NASA has issued a Request for Information (RFI) inviting non-federal organizations to consider taking temporary stewardship of an impressive array of NASA-owned equipment in the NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot (NSLD). About 25 people from a dozen organizations attended a walk-through of the NSLD on Monday to view the equipment, which includes lathes, fabrication equipment, avionics equipment, autoclaves, vibration testing chambers, etc. Embry-Riddle was the only university represented, and none of the other organizations were what I would consider "new space" companies.
NASA hopes to identify a single organization to take the equipment under a five-year renewable Space Act Agreement. NASA would maintain ownership of the equipment and could take some items back before the five year agreement expires. The suite of equipment represents what could become a state-of-the-art aerospace fabrication enterprise, very well suited for a company developing launch vehicles or payloads.
The NSLD facility is located in the city of Cape Canaveral, not on KSC property. It is a very large facility leased to United Space Alliance. Disposition of the facility is not technically part of the NASA RFI, but some potential users might want to take control of the entire facility, rather than relocate the equipment to another location. (1/23)
Wallops Media Roundtable With NASA's Space Technology Director (Source: NASA)
Journalists are invited to a roundtable discussion at 11 a.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 24, with NASA's Chief Technologist Mason Peck during his visit to the agency's Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Virginia. Wallops Flight Facility Director Bill Wrobel will join Peck for the event. They will discuss Wallops' important role in the agency's development of cutting-edge technologies and innovations that will enable NASA's future missions in science, exploration and space operations.
Wallops will conduct critical high-altitude balloon and sounding rocket flights for several major space technology projects during the coming years. The center will test inflatable aerodynamic decelerators for safely returning cargo to Earth from the International Space Station and landing large payloads on planetary surfaces. NASA also will launch a small technology secondary payload aboard a commercial rocket from Wallops this year. (1/24)
Wallops Evolving Into Smallsat Launch Center (Source: Aviation Week)
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, long a center for sounding rocket science campaigns, is becoming a site for small satellite launches as well, according to NASA’s new chief technologist. Mason Peck, a Cornell professor who assumed a two-year assignment managing NASA’s open-ended technology-development effort Jan. 3, toured the venerable launch site on Virginia’s eastern shore Jan. 24, and found it a promising spot for smallsat work.
The center is developing its own “six-pack” dispenser that would be able to launch the equivalent of six cubesats on a commercial launch vehicle, says Peck, who has been an advocate of cubesat work for students in his academic role. And Wallops has three launch pads for commercial orbital launches, including a new pad nearing certification to loft Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Antares commercial cargo launcher.
The first flight-test of Antares will carry a few cubesats supplied by Ames Research Center that are designed to vet the use of smart-phone hardware as low-cost cubesat avionics. Wallops has launched more than 14,000 rockets since its first lifted off July 4, 1945. Most of those were suborbital sounding rockets, but in addition to the long-standing launch capabilities, the facility has processing and fabrication capabilities that may be useful as NASA looks for low-cost ways to test nascent technologies in space. Those include the six-pack dispenser, which Peck called a “Pez dispenser for cubesats” that can handle a mix of as many as six cubesats. (1/26)
NASA Langley Reopens Back Gate During Lunch Hours (Source: DailyPress.com)
NASA Langley Research Center employees will once again be able to drive into the Hampton facility's back gate at lunch time, which is a relief to Poquoson business owners. NASA Langley Director Lesa Roe told Poquoson Mayor Gene Hunt about the change Tuesday. Starting Jan. 30 the back gate will be open to incoming traffic again from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
NASA Langley's back gate on Wythe Creek Road used to be open to both incoming and outgoing traffic from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. In October incoming access was changed to 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. only because budget cuts eliminated the gate guard. The new traffic pattern added an additional two-mile drive for employees to get back into work via the front gate. Since then Poquoson businesses, and particularly restaurants, have seen a drop in lunchtime business. (1/24)
Vermont's Reach Into Space (Source: VPR)
On some clear nights, you can step outside, stare into the Vermont sky and catch a glimpse of the International Space Station. There are several Vermonters who are involved with the project. We hear from former NASA Astronaut Colonel Jerry Carr and Jennifer Kimball, who is a Flight Controller for the International Space Station. They provide their perspective on space exploration and look at what future there is for NASA. Click here. (1/27)
Mojave: The Race to Send Civilians to Space (Source: KGET)
Ground has already been broken at the Mojave Spaceport on a huge hanger, funded by Paul Allen of Microsoft and X-Prize fame. Congressman Kevin McCarthy toured the site Friday, right next door to where SpaceShip One made history. This huge space vehicle is being built by Mojave-based Scaled Composites, also of X-Prize fame. Paul Allen's new company, "Stratolaunch Systems" says this new vehicle will be the biggest aircraft ever flown, using six of the biggest aircraft engines in use today, and its being built right here in Kern County.
Stratolaunch, in the eyes of Paul Allen and Burt Rutan, represents a quantum leap for civilian space flight. There are renderings of the envisioned launch vehicle that will carry the next generation of spaceships into the sky before they rocket in to orbit. "Kevin Mickey (Scaled Composites) said standing on the dirt, he has 100 job openings right now at Scaled Composites, 60 technicians,40 engineers for one project, that's just one company." said Stuart Witt.
The Federal Aviation Administration regulates the fledgling commercial space flight industry. But, some fear the government may interfere with the development of space tourism, pushing new regulations that could hinder research. McCarthy wants to impose an eight-year "learning period" for the FAA before it considers new regulations on commercial space flight. Stuart Witt says in the last ten years the Air and Spaceport has spawned more than 2,000 jobs and the innovations sparked here will carry generations of civilian astronauts into the heavens for years to come. (1/29)
Mojave Becoming Aerospace Epicenter (Source: Bakersfield.com)
Aerospace types love this rural desert location for its clear, dry weather, its sparse population and its comfortable distance from major news outlets. But Dave Masten, CEO of Masten Space Systems, says there's another reason his company stays in Mojave. "The neighbors don't complain," Masten says with a grin. "Even if you're testing a rocket engine," he says. "And rocket tests can be very loud."
"Mojave is the premier place for civilian flight research and testing in the United States," says Jeff Greason, chief executive of XCOR Aerospace, a Mojave-based company focused on the research, development and production of reusable launch vehicles and rocket propulsion systems. Greason calls Mojave "the Silicon Valley of the private space industry."
When Stuart Witt came to Mojave nearly 10 years ago, the airport had about 14 business tenants generating a few hundred jobs. Today there are more than 65 tenants and close to 2,500 jobs, with more coming. But there's a wariness beneath the surface, a concern that forces beyond his control could stick a pin in the balloon. "Every facility is filled, and we're building more," Witt says of the airport's 100 percent occupancy. "It's a good-news story but it could change overnight." Click here. (1/29)
Mojave, New Mexico Spaceports Find Complementary Roles (Source: Bakersfield.com)
Spaceport America, billed as the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport, shares thousands of square miles of restricted air space with neighboring White Sands Missile Range. That close proximity to a restricted military facility is yet another parallel with Mojave's space port, which has close neighbors in Edwards Air Force Base and NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center. In the future, launches at the New Mexico facility may occur on a daily basis, possibly multiple times per day, Wilson says.
Such a role is not in Mojave's immediate future, but Mojave Air & Space Port General Manager Stu Witt contends that the east Kern site has the potential to become a busy center of commercial spaceflight. "Easily doable if the requirement arises," Witt says. The New Mexico facility is capable of both horizontal and vertical launches, and the spaceport's high desert elevation of close to 4,600 feet places rockets that much closer to their destination. (1/29)
Spaceflight Bill On New Mexico County's Agenda (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
Doña Ana County commissioners on Tuesday will indicate their support - or lack thereof - for a bill that would restrict a space traveler's right to sue in most cases of injury or death. A proposal for the 2012 state legislative session - which started this week in Santa Fe - would limit lawsuits against manufacturers and suppliers of spacecraft. Virgin Galactic, the company that intends to operate flights from Spaceport America in Sierra County, already has state protection from most lawsuits.
Proponents of the bill argue its needed to keep the spaceport, located just north of Doña Ana County, competitive with three other aerospace-focused states that have already OK'd similar measures. County Commissioner Scott Krahling - also a board member of the state's spaceport authority - is proposing Tuesday's measure, a formal declaration of support for the bill. A draft version of the document points out that Virginia, Florida and Texas have approved their own versions of the legislation and "consequently could be more appealing to spaceport-related operators, manufacturers and suppliers," according to the county's agenda.
The resolution urges the Legislature and Gov. Susana Martinez to pass the proposal, known as the "Spaceflight Informed Consent Act." Spaceport officials have said previously the proposal wouldn't restrict the ability of passengers to sue in cases of extreme negligence or intentional injury. (1/23)
New Mexico Spaceport Lawsuit Protection Bill Moves Forward (Source: AP)
Dona Ana County Commissioners unanimously signed off on a state bill that would restrict a space travelers right to sue Spaceport and Virgin Galactic in most cases of injury or death. A proposal for the 2012 state legislative session would limit lawsuits against manufacturers and suppliers of spacecraft. Backers of the bill argue it's needed to keep the spaceport north of Dona Ana County competitive with three other aerospace-focused states that have already OK'd similar measures. (1/26)
New Mexico Spaceport Officials to Hear from Virgin Galactic (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority will hear an update from Virgin Galactic and discuss a proposed change spaceport officials said is needed to state law when it convenes today in Santa Fe. Spaceport proponents are pushing for a law change in the current legislative session that would restrict lawsuits by passengers against parts suppliers and manufacturers of spacecraft. The taxpayer-financed, $209 million Spaceport America, located just north of Dona Ana County, is an under-construction launch site for commercial space vehicles. (1/26)
New Mexico Spaceport Board to Meet on Feb. 7 (Source: NMSA)
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority Board of Directors will meet at 10:30 am, on Feb. 7 at the Civic Center, 400 W. Fourth Street, in Truth or Consequences. Agendas may be obtained at least 24 hours before the meeting at the New Mexico Spaceport Authority Office at 901 E. University Ave., 965L, Las Cruces, NM 88001. Click here. (1/28)
Armadillo Aerospace Launches Suborbital Rocket From Spaceport America (Source: @Jeff_Foust)
According to the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, Armadillo Aerospace launched another STIG-A suborbital rocket from Spaceport America. The mission was not a complete success. After takeoff, the rocket reached an altitude of 137,000 feet, but its recovery system malfunctioned. The vehicle was recovered downrange after a "hard landing". (1/28)
NASA's Ed Mango in Colorado to Help Guide Local Companies' Space Efforts (Source: Denver Post)
With the space shuttle fleet retired, it is up to private spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the international space station and other low-Earth-orbit destinations. It's Ed Mango's job at NASA to help companies — such as Sierra Nevada Space Systems and United Launch Alliance — make those spacecraft and the rockets to launch them.
The goal, said Mango, who manages NASA's commercial crew program, "is to develop the best concepts" in collaboration with private companies with an eye on flying by 2017. The only way to the space station until then is to rely on the Russians at $63 million per seat, raising concerns about the loss of U.S. leadership in space. Click here. (1/24)
Insurance Group Includes Space Tourism Among "Emerging Risks" (Source: Insurance Journal)
The Willis Group identified 18 “emerging risks,” as causing increasing concern among the world’s insurance community. While “headline-grabbing events” – the euro zone crisis, the Arab Spring, natural catastrophes like the Japanese earthquake and Thai floods – have all received extensive exposure and commentary, “new risks are emerging that could blindside business executives,” Wills warns.
The survey focuses on 18 emerging risks facing industries as diverse as Energy, Banking, Captives and Power & Utilities. The blog also polls readers asking them to identify which of the risks listed they think will have the greatest impact in 2012. Number nine on the list is "Space Tourism". Click here. (1/24)
Congressman Wants to Extend Moratorium on Human Spaceflight Regulation (Source: Daily Independent)
Eight years ago, I witnessed firsthand the beginning of a new space age right here in Kern County: the era of private spaceflight. The Mojave Air and Space Port has led the way in cutting-edge aerospace innovation, and is home to a thriving private commercial space industry that was born from the Ansari X-Prize. Currently, the Space Port is at 100 percent capacity with a quarter of all jobs there in the private commercial space industry. And this is just the beginning. More jobs are coming. It’s clear that the private sector is ready and willing to step up to keep America at the forefront of space flight.
The business owners and innovators in our community are well aware of the government’s affinity to regulate just for the sake of regulating. Fortunately, in 2004, common sense legislation regarding the regulation of commercial space flight was passed that gave the industry room to innovate and grow while also protecting the safety of crew members and the public. This is an example of government allowing the private sector to do what it does best: innovate and create new technologies.
However, the legislation is slated to expire at the end of this year, and that could mean a whole slew of new regulations on the growing $34 billion commercial space flight industry. There is no question that the safety of crew members and the public is of utmost importance, but unleashing Washington bureaucrats on this industry now could mean the end of private commercial space flight in America before it even gets off the ground. That is why I am fighting to extend the 2004 provisions. The successes witnessed and the jobs already created are just a glimpse into the full economic and technological possibilities of private commercial space flight. (1/24)
Compromise Removes Roadblock for FAA Funding (Source: Reuters)
A compromise reached by Senate and House lawmakers on labor issues removes a major roadblock for long-term funding for the Federal Aviation Administration. The compromise would strengthen the rules that airline and railroad workers must follow to hold union elections. The FAA funding extension expires Jan. 31. The agency has been funded by short-term extensions for more than four years, which has stalled a plan to improve the nation's air traffic control system. (1/23)
Senate Approves Short-Term FAA Funding Extension (Source: Wall Street Journal)
The Senate again approved a funding extension for the Federal Aviation Administration. The measure will extend funding through Feb. 17. House and Senate negotiators are negotiating a final bill for long-term funding for the FAA. (1/27)
Launch Vehicle Competition Increases (Source: Aviation Week)
Launch industry managers worldwide will go after government markets as the industry continues its recovery from a downturn that has brought a reduction in the number of competitors in the market and forced the remaining players to restructure. While the reduction of launch vehicle operators and an increase in launch opportunities is driving recovery for the survivors, an expected decline in satellite purchases and rise in the number of launch vehicle operators down the road could fuel greater competition in coming years.
The downturn meant many players could not afford to stay in business. Forced to restructure under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June 2009, Sea Launch Co. conducted no launches between April 2009 and mid-2011. Other players, such as the United Launch Alliance (ULA), pulled out of the commercial market to focus almost entirely on government contracts. Launch operators in India, China and Japan, and many in Russia, also rely almost exclusively on government contracts. Click here. (1/27)
Russian Proton Launch With Dutch Satellite Postponed (Source: RIA Novosti)
The launch of a Russian Proton-M carrier rocket with a Dutch telecommunication satellite onboard scheduled for Friday has been postponed indefinitely for technical reasons, Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Friday. This is the second delay in the rocket’s launch, which was initially scheduled for December 26, but then postponed for technical reasons.
“Today we are planning to carry out operations to dismount the Proton-M rocket from the launch pad…and transport it to the integration building,” a statement on the Roscosmos website said. “The date and time of the launch will be established after all registered problems are fixed and additional tests are held,” the statement read. (1/27)
Russia 'to Postpone Next Manned Space Launches' (Source: AFP)
Russia is set to postpone the next two manned launches for the International Space Station (ISS) for several weeks due to technical problems with the Soyuz spaceship. A source told Interfax that the Soyuz TMA-04M vessel had not withstood tests to its pressure chamber ahead of the planned mission on March 30 and the first flight would be postponed to mid-April or the first half of May.
"This re-entry capsule now cannot be used for manned spaceflight," the source said. That mission would fly with the re-entry capsule that was due to go up on the next mission on May 30 and as a result that mission would also likely be postponed to the middle or end of June. The re-entry capsule goes inside the spacecraft and is the portion that eventually returns the astronauts to Earth when the mission is over. (1/27)
Ukraine Delays Launch of First Telecom Satellite Until Next Year (Source: Itar Tass)
Ukraine has once again delayed the launch of its first telecom satellite Lybid until next year, Ukrainian State Space Agency head Yuri Alexeyev said. He said Ukraine failed to confirm the orbital slot of Lybid in due time and a French satellite took that place. “It took us six months to coordinate the new orbital slot. It was previously located at 38 degrees East, now it is 48 degrees East,” he said. “The new orbital slot will broaden the area covered by the Ukrainian satellite. It will fully cover Ukraine, its neighbors, North Africa and some of Asia.” (1/27)
Ukraine, Russia to Launch Two Dnepr Rockets in 2012 (Source: RIA Novosti)
Ukraine and Russia will carry out two rocket launches under the joint Dnepr space program, head of the National Space Agency of Ukraine Yuri Alekseyev said. Moscow has recently decided to continue the implementation of the joint Russian-Ukrainian program to use decommissioned RS-20 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in commercial space launches under the Dnepr program. “We are planning to carry out two launches [this year],” Yuri Alekseyev said. “The first, with a Korean KOMPSAT-5 satellite, is tentatively scheduled for April-May…and probably in September or October we will have a launch with a large number of Arab satellites,” he said. (1/27)
Sea Launch Plans Another Intelsat Mission (Source: Sea Launch)
During the third quarter of 2012, Sea Launch will launch the Intelsat 21 satellite aboard a Zenit 3SL rocket aboard the company's Odyssey platform in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. In 2010, Sea Launch and Intelsat signed a multiple-launch agreement for up to five missions. (1/24)
Ariane 5 Upgrade Could End Subsidies (Source: Aviation Week)
European Space Agency subsidies intended to offset high fixed costs incurred by the Arianespace commercial launch consortium could be unnecessary by decade’s end if ESA members agree to invest a little over €1 billion to upgrade the Ariane 5 rocket, according to Astrium Chief Executive Francois Auque. The 19-nation agency is currently providing about €120 million in annual price supports to the European launch services company, which manages missions of the Astrium-built Ariane 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle.
In recent years Arianespace has struggled to break even, though additional product offerings in 2011 and 2012, including Europeanized Soyuz rockets and the new Italian Vega launcher, are expected to offset the company’s high fixed costs. The uptick in launch tempo alone is not likely to alleviate the company’s reliance on continued ESA price supports. But Auque says the need for that particular line of ESA financing could be eliminated by increased lift capacity planned for the Ariane 5 Mid-life Evolution (ME), which would add 20% to the payload capacity of the rocket at no additional cost. (1/23)
Vega Expected to be Price-competitive With Russian Rockets (Source: Space News)
Europe’s Vega small-satellite launcher, whose inaugural flight is scheduled for mid-February, will be sold commercially for about 32 million euros ($42 million) per launch — a price that can compete with converted Russian ballistic missiles, Vega officials said. Program managers said the rocket’s competitive position is even better than it was at the start of development. (1/23)
Vega's Heavy Burden (Source: Flight Global)
To avoid the prospect of losing a high-value commercial payload on a risky maiden flight, Vega's first mission - VV01 - will carry a basket of scientific spacecraft, including nine so-called "cubesats", the 1kg 10cmx10cm boxes that are increasingly popular with low-budget researches thankful for any lift to orbit.
But while loss of the main payload would also not be a financial disaster, science would be far, far poorer if Vega fails to deliver the Italian space agency's LARES, or Laser Relativity Satellite, which will study the so-called frame dragging prediction of Einstein's theory of general relativity. This asserts that the rotation of a massive object such as the Earth will impose a drag on a smaller object passing nearby. (1/26)
Delta Mariner Damages Bridge in Kentucky, En Route to Florida Spaceport (Source: WTVF)
State officials have begun inspecting what's left of a southwestern Kentucky bridge that collapsed after being struck by a cargo ship carrying rocket parts to Cape Canaveral. Inspectors began the in-depth review of the Eggner Ferry Bridge at daylight Friday.
The three-story-high Motor Vessel Delta Mariner struck span "E" of the bridge around 8:10 p.m. Thursday. That span of bridge is 322 feet long. Officials with Marshal County said the parts of the bridge collapsed into water and also became attached to the ship. Four vehicles were on the bridge at the time of the collision. No one was hurt. Click here. (1/27)
ULA Statement on Delta Mariner Accident (Source: SpaceRef)
The 312-foot vessel was carrying vehicle components for an upcoming United Launch Alliance launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. There are no injuries on the Mariner or the bridge. Initial inspections have shown that the flight hardware being transported was not damaged. The Coast Guard is conducting an investigation. The Delta Mariner was commissioned in 2002 to transport flight hardware from the United Launch Alliance factory in Decatur, Ala., to launch sites at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., and Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. (1/27)
Crashed Ship Was Carrying Atlas-5 Rocket (Source: Space.com)
When it crashed into (and partially tore down) a Kentucky bridge, the Delta Mariner was carrying an Atlas 5 rocket and other components from the ULA factory in Alabama to the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The flight hardware will be used for two upcoming launches from the Cape, including one slated to blast off April 27. The rocket parts seem to have survived the accident intact. "There's no damage to the cargo," said Sam Sacco, spokesman for Foss Marine, the company that owns and operates the Delta Mariner. "Based on what we know right now, there's no real damage to the vessel itself, either." (1/28)
US Space Industry Losing Competitive Edge Under ITAR (Source: Examiner)
The U.S. space industry is losing its competitive edge and risks falling short of future national security requirements unless the government reforms export control regulations and promotes the international competitiveness of U.S. industry, according to a new report released by the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA).
"A strong and globally competitive space industrial and supplier base is a major national security asset," said AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey. "Reforming America's export control system and promoting space exports will better serve our national security and bolster our economy and technological leadership."
The AIA report released on Monday, “Competing for Space: Satellite Export Policy and U.S. National Security,” surveys U.S. satellite systems and component manufacturers about the challenges the space industrial base faces as a result of strict U.S. export policies. Between the adverse impacts on industry is loss of global market share and dampening of satellite component sales opportunities to sustain U.S. space technology leadership. (1/24)
U.S. Should Reform Export Process for Aerospace Industry (Source: AIA)
The Aerospace Industries Association says export controls should be reformed to ease the process for U.S. aerospace companies. "Promotion of satellite and space exports to U.S. allies and partners will help ensure our security and aerospace industrial base remains second to none," said AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey. (1/24)
Pentagon Recommends More Military Base Closures (Source: FL-DC)
Florida is bracing for another round of military base closures planned as part of a sweeping Pentagon move to cut spending by $487 billion over the next decade. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Thursday the closures are part of the Pentagon’s strategy to reshape its mission to favor quick-strike capabilities over conventional, land-based operations while meeting congressionally mandated spending reductions. Rep. Jeff Miller, a Panhandle Republican and Florida’s most senior member of the House Armed Services Committee, was “disappointed” in the administration plan. (1/27)
Pentagon Plan Includes Base Closings and Pay Raise Cuts (Source: New York Times)
The Pentagon took the first major step toward shrinking after a decade of war, announcing it wanted to limit pay raises for troops, increase health insurance fees for military retirees and close bases in the U.S. Although the pay-raise limits are modest, and would not start until 2015, the proposed cuts are certain to ignite a political fight in Congress. Increasing health insurance fees for former service members and closing bases are also fraught with political risk, particularly in an election year when Republican candidates are charging that President Obama is decimating the military.
Next year’s Pentagon budget is to be $525 billion, down from $531 billion this year. As the Pentagon is called on to find $259 billion in cuts over the next five years — and $487 billion over the decade — the department’s base budget (not counting war costs) will nonetheless rise to $567 billion by 2017. For comparison, the current Defense Department base budget is $531 billion. Pentagon officials said savings from any future base closings were not factored into the five-year budget that Mr. Panetta was sending to the White House, but one official described the closings as “the right thing to do.” (1/26)
Editorial: Cut Military Personnel, Not Military Programs (Source: Newark Star-Ledger)
Gen. Ronald Fogleman, a retired Air Force chief of staff, says the Pentagon should focus on reducing military personnel instead of cutting high-tech programs. "Instead of these reckless cuts to research and modernization, we should reduce the active military and expand the National Guard and Reserves -- saving hundreds of billions of dollars," he writes. (1/24)
More Limits on U.S. Space Systems Unacceptable (Source: Heritage Foundation)
The Obama Administration launched a push for an international Code of Conduct pertaining to activities of space-faring nations, but its activities have been cloaked in secrecy. This lack of transparency caused 37 Republican Senators to request more information about the Administration’s negotiations on this issue in February 2011. According to Ellen Tauscher, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, “We will never do a legally binding agreement because I can't do one. I can't get anything ratified.” It appears that the Administration is trying to circumvent the Senate’s constitutional role in consenting to the ratification of international agreements that should be concluded as treaties. Click here. (1/26)
U.S. Air Force Draws Final Curtain on DWSS (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Air Force has officially stopped work on the Defense Weather Satellite System (DWSS), which arose from the ashes of a canceled civil-military program only to be rejected by Congress. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles said it took the action to implement the 2012 defense authorization and appropriations bills, both of which were signed into law late last year.
“Today the Air Force Defense Meteorological System Program constellation of satellites continues to provide high-quality and timely weather data to forecasters with two more satellites yet to be launched,” the service said. The Air Force requested $445 million in 2012 for DWSS, which was under contract to Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems of Redondo Beach, Calif. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2012 provided $43 million to terminate DWSS and $125 million for an unspecified follow-on weather satellite program. (1/24)
Pentagon To Buy Less Commercial Satellite Imagery (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Defense Department intends to reduce planned purchases of commercial satellite imagery in 2013 as part of a broader initiative aimed at reducing U.S. military expenditures by $259 billion over the next five years, according to a Pentagon planning document released Jan. 26.
However, the document says the Pentagon will continue to increase its commercial satellite imaging capacity, an indication that planned government-backed investments in new spacecraft will go forward. Commercial imagery was listed among several programs targeted for substantial reductions, the document said, specifying that purchases for imaging capacity that exceeds requirements will be affected. (1/26)
Spacecom on Verge of Ordering Large Ka-Band Satellite (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Spacecom of Israel, whose planned expansion beyond the Middle East and Europe is starting with the Africa-centered Amos 5 spacecraft that began commercial service on Jan. 25, expects to order a large Amos 6 satellite equipped with Ka-band spot beams in addition to C- and Ku-band transponders within weeks. Tel Aviv-based Spacecom has been discussing Amos 6 for nearly two years but did not issue a formal request for proposals to prospective manufacturers until last summer. A request for final bids is being sent out in the coming days, with a decision on the builder to be made before April. (1/26)
Pentagon Denies Downing Russian Mars Probe (Source: WIRED)
The Russians are pretty sure they know why their Mars moon probe fritzed out. It must have been U.S. radar waves, emanating from a facility named after the hated Ronald Reagan all the way out into the depths of space. And wouldn’t that be just like Reagan? Alas, that’s “utterly impossible,” says Brian Weeden, a former officer with the U.S. Air Force Space Command. Radar just doesn’t work like that. And the Pentagon denies the whole thing, of course. Problem is, Weeden says, “it’s going to be almost impossible to disprove to the believers.” Welcome to another edition of Tinfoil Tuesday, our exploration of the planet’s least likely conspiracy theories. (1/24)
NASA Says No to Phobos-Grunt Crash Theory Test (Source: RIA Novosti)
NASA has refused to participate in an experiment designed to show if U.S. radars could have had an impact on Russia’s troubled Phobos-Grunt Mars probe, Anatoly Shylov said on Thursday. “Roscosmos filed an official request to the U.S. side to participate in the investigation, but they refused,” Shylov said. The official also said that the government commission inquiry into the cause of the probe’s crash had issued a final report with the results of the investigation. It is expected to be published next week. (1/26)
Plasma Cloud Responsible for Phobos Mission Failure? (Source: RIA Novosti)
The answer to the mysterious failure of the Phobos mission may now be close at hand. An inter-departmental commission looking into why the Phobos-Grunt space probe did not make it to Mars has come up with the likely version of events. Scientists say the formation of plasma on the probe whilst inside the Earth's magnetosphere may have caused the device to fail. (1/26)
Launch of Research Spaceship to Mars Should be Repeated (Source: Itar-Tass)
The launch of a research spaceship to the Mars should be repeated. This proposal is not only in favour of the interests of science, but also some considerations that failures should be overcome with new deeds and new victories, Director the Institute of Space Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Academician Lev Zeleny said in comments on a new RAS initiative.
RAS sent a letter to the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) that insisted the Phobos-Grunt project is unique. “A major amount of work was done for the project, scientists and designers have done a huge amount of work and introduced innovations. We cannot refuse from all these developments over the Phobos-Grunt failure,” Zeleny commented on the letter. “All space agencies do so. This was and remains our traditions. The failures should be overcome with new ambitious successful undertakings,” he noted. (1/24)
Russian Scientist Claims Signs of Life Spotted on Venus (Source: Daily Caller)
A Russian scientist has published what he claims is evidence of life on Venus, Earth’s nearest neighbor in the direction of the sun. Leonid Ksanfomaliti, an astronomer based at the Space Research Institute of Russia’s Academy of Sciences, analyzed photographs taken by a Russian landing probe during a 1982 during a mission to explore the heavily acid-clouded planet.
Venus is roughly the same size as Earth, but it has a thick atmosphere dominated by carbon dioxide. With an atmospheric pressure 92 times Earth’s, a waterless and volcano-riddled surface and a surface temperature of 894 degrees, the planet has never been considered a serious target of research into the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
But in his article, published in the magazine Solar System Research, Ksanfomaliti says the Russian photographs depict objects resembling a “disk,” a “black flap” and a “scorpion.” “What if we forget about the current theories about the non-existence of life on Venus?” he wrote. “Let’s boldly suggest that the objects’ morphological features would allow us to say that they are living.” (1/20)
Russian Scientist's Claim of Life on Venus Proven False (Source: Space.com)
A respected Russian scientist claims to have found signs of life on Venus in photographs taken by a Soviet probe 30 years ago. However, outside analysis suggests he is breathing life into an assortment of camera lens covers and image blurs. Leonid Ksanfomaliti, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences who worked on unmanned Soviet missions to Venus during the 1970s and '80s, has written a new article in the journal Solar System Research.
In the article, he calls attention to several objects photographed by the Venera-13 landing probe, a spacecraft that landed on Venus in 1982. The objects — including features described as a disc and a scorpion — appear to change locations from one photo to the next. "Let's boldly suggest that the objects' morphological features would allow us to say that they are living," Ksanfomaliti stated.
Whether the scientist really has suggested that the old photographs contain living creatures that were somehow overlooked previously, or whether his words have been mistranslated, misconstrued or should have been quietly ignored, the claim has made headlines around the globe. Click here to view the photo. (1/23)
Russia Must Be Ready for Space, Cyber Wars (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russia must be ready for wars in space and in networks, Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Nikolai Makarov said. "As you see, warfare center has moved to aerospace and information spheres, including cyber security, from traditional war theaters on land and sea. Concepts of network-centric war have made great progress," Makarov told an Academy of Military Sciences meeting. "We appraise how ... this question is being solved in Western leading countries." (1/29)
Roskosmos at a Crossroads (Source: Russia BTH)
To mark the 50th anniversary of Yury Gagarin’s first space flight, the year 2011 was declared the Year of Space. It was not the best year for the Russian space industry: There were 32 launches, and four of them failed. This puts the failure rate at 12.5 percent –– only the first years of space exploration in the 1960s saw a higher rate. The accidents suggest a systemic crisis in the Russian space industry. Can it be overcome?
Thirty-two launches are scheduled for 2012, the same as the previous year. Nearly half of them are mixed projects either involving foreign partners or conducted exclusively on behalf of foreign customers. As for ambitious projects such as interplanetary flights, there are none on the list. However, Russia plans two flights to the moon by 2020, while in the long term, Roskosmos intends to establish a manned base on the moon. (1/26)
One Russian Ship Vacates Station Port for Next Vehicle (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
After 82 days docked to the International Space Station, a Russian Progress resupply freighter pulled away Monday afternoon to fly independently into a higher orbit for deployment of a science satellite and setting the stage for another cargo ship launching to the outpost later this week. The Progress M-13M spacecraft reached the station Nov. 2 to deliver three tons of equipment, food, rocket fuel, air and water. It was marked resumption of the Russian-provided supply chain after the August launch failure of the previous ship. (1/23)
Russian Space Freighter to be Buried in Pacific (Source: RIA Novosti)
The Progress M-13M cargo spacecraft will be sunk in a remote area in the Pacific Ocean on Wednesday after deploying a micro-satellite, a spokesman for the Russian Mission Control said. The space freighter undocked from the Pirs docking module on the International Space Station (ISS) at 02:10 a.m. Moscow time on Tuesday. After two orbit corrections, the Progress was positioned at about 500 km from the orbital station to deploy the Chibis-M micro-satellite, which carries about 12 kg of equipment to study high-altitude powerful pulses of gamma-and X-ray. (1/24)
Space Station Resupply Ship Successfully Launched (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
A Russian Soyuz booster successfully launched Wednesday from the Baikonur Cosmodrome and propelled a resupply freighter on its two-day pursuit to rendezvous with the International Space Station. (1/25)
Progress Docks with ISS (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A Progress cargo spacecraft carrying nearly three tons of supplies successfully docked with the International Space Station on Friday evening. The Progress M-14M spacecraft (designated Progress 46 by NASA) docked to the Pirs module of the ISS at 7:09 pm EST Friday, two days after launch from Baikonur. The ship is carrying 2.9 tons of food, water, propellant, and other supplies for the station's six-person crew. (1/28)
NASA Should Improve Escape Plan from Space Station (Source: Florida Today)
A safety group cautioned that there is a more than 30% chance astronauts will need to abandon the International Space Station by 2020. The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel urged NASA to improve its escape plan. "While this possibility has been known for some time, NASA has not yet shared with the panel an explicit plan to deal with this situation," the panel said. (1/27)
Russia Launches Astronaut Recruitment Drive (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russia’s state space agency Roscosmos has launched a cosmonaut selection competition. Candidates should apply with the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. A lucky few will be selected for cosmonaut training by a commission made up of representatives of the training center, rocket and space corporation Energia and the Institute of Biomedical Problems. The Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center also held a recruitment contest for potential cosmonauts last year. The contest targeted a broad spectrum of people, but mainly those employed in the rocket and space industry. (1/27)
Want to Be a NASA Astronaut? Apply Today (Source: ABC News)
Tonight is the deadline for applications for the next astronaut class. It’s a leap of faith because there is no great space race anymore and Newt Gingrich is the only candidate who even mentions a future in space for the U.S. Nevertheless, NASA said that as of midday today, it had received 5,100 applications, more than ever before. Only about a dozen new astronauts will be chosen. (1/27)
Should the U.S. Collaborate with China in Space? (Source: Scientific American)
The next time humans set foot on the moon, they may well plant a five-starred red flag there. The Chinese space program is developing rapidly, and further progress should come this year when taikonauts, a colloquial term for Chinese astronauts, visit the Tiangong-1 space module.
The president’s chief science adviser John Holdren has said the U.S. would benefit from cooperation with China. The two countries could tackle the problem of space debris and, possibly, lay groundwork for a joint mission to Mars. His thinking fits with the Obama administration’s so-called Asian pivot, a shift in focus from the Middle East to China’s growing influence; the idea is that science and technology cooperation could be a useful lever in negotiations.
But federal legislation now prohibits NASA from pursuing any such joint efforts. The relevant clause first popped up last April in a stopgap funding bill, and in November it reappeared in the legislation funding NASA for 2012. The author of the provision is Representative Frank Wolf of Virginia, who cites China’s human-rights record and the threat of espionage. (1/23)
A Wolf in Rocket Clothing (Source: NHPR)
The latest twist in the Obama administration’s so-called Asian pivot. The president’s chief science advisor, John Holdren, has said the US would benefit from cooperating with China on future space missions. But federal legislation now prohibits NASA from pursuing such efforts with a little known clause that’s popped up in two pieces of legislation within the past year. Click here to hear an interview with John Matson of Scientific American. (1/24)
China To See Heavy 2012 Space Activity (Source: Aviation Week)
China’s plan to launch 12 more Compass navigation satellites and inaugurate their operational use this year is only one of several key satellite activities planned for 2012. With eight satellites of the Compass constellation in orbit, the goal is to add a dozen more and then, by year’s end, begin regional service in the Asia-Pacific region, ESA's Karl Bergquist said. Compass is envisioned as 35 spacecraft — 30 in near Earth orbit and five in geosynchronous orbit — around 2020 for global service.
As part of 20 launches expected in 2012 in China, the country will likely orbit a civilian synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing spacecraft. It may become the first opportunity for Western countries to gauge the performance of Chinese SAR spacecraft, since little is known about the six military versions in operation. The spacecraft is being billed as intended for environmental monitoring. Also due this year is the launch of Cbers-3, the latest remote sensing satellite in the partnership with Brazil. Cbers-4 would follow in 2014. Click here. (1/28)
China's SatNav Sector Annual Output Predicted to Reach $35 Billion in 2015 (Source: Xinhua)
The annual output value of China's satellite navigation industry is estimated to reach more than 225 billion yuan ($35.64 billion) in 2015, according to a latest research report on the country's geographic information sector. Compiled by a think-tank under the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation, the report predicted the industry would become the country's third new IT economic growth point, after mobile communication and Internet. (1/24)
Iran Set to Launch Large New Rocket, Repeat Fatal Monkey Mission (Source: America Space)
Iran is poised to begin a surge in space launch activity that will also include the first test of the large new space booster that could also eventually serve as a nuclear armed ballistic missile. As many as 4 new spacecraft including a radar imaging satellite and two optical imaging spacecraft are to be launched as part of this surge, the Iranian Fars News Agency announced January 22. In addition Iran is also planning a second attempt to launch a monkey 75 mi. into space after its first attempt in mid 2011 failed, killing the primate. (1/23)
Opening of UK Site Producing the Heart of Galileo (Source: ESA)
The first Galileo satellites are already in orbit, with more on the way. Today ESA’s Director General and the UK’s Universities and Science Minister attended the grand opening of the facility where navigation payloads for the next batch of Galileo satellites are being built. UK company Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) in Guildford, Surrey, is assembling the payloads for the next 14 Galileo satellites. These follow on from the initial four, the second pair of which will be launched this autumn. (1/25)
NEC Tapped To Build Another Japanese Asteroid Probe (Source: Space News)
NEC Corp. of Tokyo said Jan. 25 that it has been selected to start work on designing and building hardware for Japan’s Hayabusa-2 asteroid sample-return mission, which the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) hopes to launch in 2014. Chris Shimizu, an NEC spokesman, said that the selection will allow NEC to start building the probe, which will be similar in design to the original Hayabusa spacecraft that traveled 6 billion kilometers over seven years to collect about 60 particles of the asteroid 25143 Itokawa and return them to Earth in June 2010. (1/25)
India: Space War (Source: Indian Express)
On June 1, 2011, shortly after the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Security to annul the Antrix-Devas deal, three of ISRO's chairmen—-past and present—-sat together in the company of former president A P J Kalam. To the undiscerning eye, it looked like business as usual—past chairmen still associated in some form or the other with the country’s premier space science agency, rarely touched by controversy, continuing a guru-shishya relationship with their successors.
On the face of one of the former chairmen, G Madhavan Nair, who already stood accused of not following procedures in a major business deal during his tenure, there was, however, a great deal of unhappiness. In colloquial Malayalam—the language spoken in Kerala, the state where all ISRO chairmen since 1994 came from—the look is sometimes described as like that of a simian who has bitten on a piece of ginger.
In ISRO circles, there has always been talk of a deep-running, though never openly discussed, feud between Malayali scientists and Tamil scientists, since the organization is largely dominated by people from Kerala and Tamil Nadu, but it has never blown out in public like the current feud between Nair and Radhakrishnan. Over the years, ISRO has fostered a management style where a strong chairman commands full authority and allegiance and steers the space agency and its programs. Click here. (1/29)
Morale of Indian Space Scientists Hit (Source: The Hindu)
Eminent space scientist and the former Chairman of ISRO, U.R. Rao, on Saturday described as “sad” the Center's action in the controversial Antrix-Devas deal barring four space scientists from holding government posts and the developments thereafter. Dr. Rao was referring to the January 13 order in which the Department of Space sought exclusion of the former ISRO Chairman, G. Madhavan Nair, and three other space scientists from re-employment, committee roles or any other important role under the government. (1/29)
Antrix: Ex-ISRO Chief Madhavan Nair Banned from Future Government Job (Source: Indian Express)
In an unprecedented disciplinary action, four of the biggest names in the space community, including former chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) G Madhavan Nair, have been barred from occupying any government position — current or in future — for their role in the Antrix-Devas deal, in which a private company was accused to have been wrongfully allotted S-band frequencies for radio waves. (1/24)
South Africa Space Agency Looks to Cyberspace for Help with Real Space (Source: Meme Burn)
The South African National Space Agency (SANSA) has put out a call on Facebook and Twitter for the country’s citizens to have a say in the drafting of the National Space Program (NSP). According to agency’s website, the aim of the NSP is to “make South Africa a leading space player by 2030″. The site also invites South Africans to share their “thoughts on ‘Space Vision 2030′ via the face book [sic] or Twitter”.
Speaking to Business Day, a leading South African newspaper, Arthur Goldstuck of internet research firm World Wide Worx said SANSA’s move was something of a first among South African state agencies. “The Presidency is on Twitter, but not the president, and it does not encourage interaction,” he said. He added that the decision to use social media was “forward thinking because it shows they are in tune with where people are going”. It seems that social media is not the only high-tech method SANSA is using to come up with a viable national space program. (1/23)
A Brazilian Bump in the Road for New Telescope (Source: Sarahaskew.net)
In recent years the E-ELT project, Europe’s flagship next-generation optical observatory, seems to have gone from strength to strength: in 2010-2011, ESO Council officially gave the green light to the baseline technical design of the telescope (with the primary mirror slightly reduced in size), several member countries pledged their support for the project, others announced substantial investments into the development of hardware and instrumentation, and crucially, membership fees from giant new member state Brazil looked set to provide a major boost to the project’s financial coffers.
But apparently the E-ELT has hit a snag. This article in Brazilian publication Veja talks about Brazil’s failure to ratify the accession to ESO and support for the E-ELT project because of financial difficulties in 2011. Although an agreement was signed between ESO and the then science minister of Brazil in December 2010, Brazil’s parliament has yet to give its approval. Since then, Brazil’s been through general elections, and the new science minister hasn’t been forthcoming in continuing this approval process. (1/22)
How to Make A Giant Telescope Mirror (Source: NPR)
The world's largest mirrors for the world's largest telescopes are made under the football stadium at the University of Arizona. Why there? Why not? "We wanted some space, and it was just used for parking some cars, and this seemed like a good use," says Roger Angel. Angel is the master of making big mirrors for telescopes. For 30 years he has been using a method called spin casting to make the largest solid telescope mirrors in the world. At the moment, he's making the second of seven mirrors, each 27 feet across, that will go into the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), which will be sited on a peak in the Andes Mountains in Chile. Click here. (1/26)
How to Picture a Black Hole (Source: WIRED)
This month, researchers are inaugurating the Event Horizon Telescope, a project that will try to take the first detailed pictures of the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. This observation would be a remarkable achievement, underscoring the progress that has been made in black-hole research in just the last few decades.
As recently as the 1970s, astronomers still argued over whether black holes were theoretical constructs or real physical objects. They now have ample evidence that black holes are not only real, but abundant in the cosmos. Here on Earth, advanced computer simulations have given astronomers a wealth of information, leading theoretical physicist Kip Thorne of Caltech to suggest that black-hole research is entering a new golden age. (1/23)
A Bold Plan to Study Dark Energy (Source: Sky & Telescope)
On the afternoon of January 8th, a small group of journalists and scientists headed north from downtown Austin, the venue for 219th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, to the University of Texas campus. There we learned about HETDEX, the Hobby-Eberly Telescope Dark Energy Experiment, which David Lambert, the director of McDonald Observatory, introduced as the first major effort to "map the evolution of dark energy as a function of time."
The universe has been expanding since the Big Bang, but observations in the last couple of decades show that this expansion is accelerating, rather than slowing down. Dark energy was first postulated in 1992 as the hypothetical force that causes this stepped-up expansion. Calculations suggest that it constitutes about three-fourths of the energy in the universe — yet remains one of the least understood scientific phenomena. (1/23)
UF Astronomers Contribute to NASA’s Planet Discoveries (Source: UF)
NASA announced the discovery of 11 new “solar systems” hosting at least 26 planets found with data from NASA’s Kepler Mission. The discovery nearly doubles the number of verified Kepler planets so far. It also triples the number of stars known to have more than one planet that transits – or passes in front of — its host star. Such systems are particularly valuable for the clues they provide about how planets form.
Eric B. Ford, associate professor of the astronomy department at the University of Florida, is part of the Kepler Mission science team. Ford’s research group at UF, including graduate student Robert Morehead and postdoctoral associate Althea Moorhead, has contributed to several previous Kepler discoveries. Ford is lead author of the paper describing Kepler-23 and Kepler-24, two of the 11 systems announced today. (1/29)
Instrument Glitch Found on Renamed Suomi NPP Satellite (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
With a stunning snapshot of the Earth to share, the United States' freshly launched dual-purpose polar-orbiting weather and climate-tracking observatory has been branded with a new name to honor a pioneer. Launched with the mouthful name National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project, or NPP, on Oct. 28, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the craft originally was conceived as a experimental test-bed for a future era of weather platforms.
While the satellite remains in checkout mode, its instruments have produced a stunning view of the Americas from the Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument as seen above. That testing, however, has uncovered a larger than expected decrease in sensor sensitivity in four of VIIRS's near-infrared and visible channels because of tungsten oxide contamination on the surface of the instrument's mirror during preflight coating, causing it to darken. (1/26)
Pluto: A Dwarf Planet with Rings? (Source: National Geographic)
NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is currently speeding through the outer solar system toward its July 2015 date with Pluto, when it will take a good close look at the dwarf planet’s mysterious surface, atmosphere, moons, and… rings? Less than three-quarters the size of our moon, Pluto nevertheless has no shortage of fascinating features. It has a curiously mottled coloration that seems to change with its seasons, an atmosphere that expands and falls back onto its surface, a system of four moons in orbit around it — the most recent of which, currently called “P4″, was announced just last summer — and, according to Planetary Science Institute senior scientist Henry Throop, possibly even a system of rings.
Vesta Likely Cold and Dark Enough for Ice (Source: Space Daily
Though generally thought to be quite dry, roughly half of the giant asteroid Vesta is expected to be so cold and to receive so little sunlight that water ice could have survived there for billions of years, according to the first published models of Vesta's average global temperatures and illumination by the sun. (1/26)
Titan: Mile-Wide Dunes on Earth's Frozen Twin Intrigue Scientists (Source: CS Monitor)
The discovery of intriguing differences among vast fields of sand dunes on Saturn's moon Titan is opening a window on the haze-shrouded satellite's geology and climate, researchers say. Radar images from NASA's Cassini orbiter reveal that the size and spacing of the dunes change depending on the latitude of the dune fields and the elevation of the land on which they sit. The findings may help uncover the distribution of winds on the moon and yield clues to help resolve a long-standing debate over how and where the sand itself formed. Click here. (1/27)
'Amazing' Mars Rover Opportunity Begins Ninth Year of Exploration (Source: Space.com)
A NASA rover celebrates eight years on the Martian surface today (Jan. 24), and the long-lived robot is still going strong. The Opportunity rover landed on the Red Planet on this day in 2004, three weeks after its twin, Spirit, touched down. While NASA declared Spirit dead last year, Opportunity continues to gather data, helping scientists understand more and more about Mars' wetter, warmer past. (1/24)
Hundreds of Meteorites Found in Antarctica (Source: Space.com)
A gang of heavily insulated scientists has wrapped up its Antarctic expedition, with its members thawing out from the experience, but pleased to have bagged more than 300 space rocks. They are participants in the Antarctic Search for Meteorites program, or ANSMET for short. Since 1976, ANSMET researchers have been recovering thousands of
According to the ANSMET website, the specimens are currently the only reliable, continuous source of new, nonmicroscopic extraterrestrial material. Given that there are no active planetary sample-return missions coming or going at the moment, the retrieval of meteorites is the cheapest and only guaranteed way to recover new things from worlds beyond the Earth. (1/23)
NASA’s Robotic Satellite Servicing Demo Delayed Until March (Source: Space News)
NASA’s Robotic Refueling Mission, a space station-based demonstration effort caught up in a cascading series of delays following the last summer’s crash of a Russian cargo module, will finally begin its first on-orbit satellite servicing tests in March, the project’s lead said. “We will go through the first tasks from March through June, and then pick it up again with the refueling tasks from July through September [and] October,” said Frank Cepollina. (1/23)
NASA Welcomes Our Surgical Robot Overlords (Source: Discovery)
Near-Earth orbit is packed with satellites, essential to communication and navigation back on Earth. But many of those satellites are aging, so what happens when they break down, or need refueling? Simply ditching the satellites would be wasteful -- it costs many millions of dollars to build and launch a satellite -- and then there's the fact that it's getting pretty crowded up there. The obvious solution is to send astronauts up to make the necessary repairs, thereby extending the lifetime of an ailing satellite, but this is expensive and risky (especially for the astronauts).
In the case of more distant satellites, it might not even be feasible. So NASA is funding research on developing remotely operated robotic systems that might be up to the challenge. Enter the engineers of Johns Hopkins University, who helped pioneer medical robotic surgeries with the invention of the Da Vinci console that enables surgeons to steer surgical robots through complicated surgical procedures. Click here. (1/27)
Satellite Data Track Plants’ Response to Warming Temperatures (Source: Space News)
Warming temperatures are having a significant impact on the distribution and health of plants in arctic and tropical regions, according to recent studies that rely on long-term satellite records to study the changes. Researchers from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center used Landsat Earth imaging satellite data to determine how plants in Northern Quebec were responding to warming temperatures. Click here. (1/23)
Why Does NASA’s Chief Climate Scientist Keep Getting Arrested? (Source: Gizmodo)
Jim Hansen has been head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies for 31 years. In this time, he's been arrested twice. Why? How? Because, as he tells Scientific American today, he believes the White House is ignoring its own agency's alarming data on the state of the Earth's environment.
Both arrests happened during protests against mountain-top removal coal mining. Above you can watch his speech at the Appalachia Rising in September 2010, where he delivered this bon mot: "We are in danger of becoming the land of the rich and the home of the bribe." After the talk, he was arrested along with 100 others for failing to obey an order to disperse.
Hansen testified before congress twice in the '80s about the implications of global warming. After that, he tells Scientific American, he stayed away from activism so he could concentrate on doing science. By 2004, he had produced so much science that made it clear the environment was in grave danger, and the government was doing so little about it, that he dove back into speaking out. (1/26)
Threat From Retired Satellite Exceeds NASA Standards (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
The Rossi X-ray Timing Explorer, a NASA satellite retired from service Jan. 5, will present a 1-in-1,000 chance of harming someone when it makes an uncontrolled fall from Earth orbit some time after 2014, a level ten times riskier than NASA now requires for re-entering spacecraft, according to an agency spokesperson.
The forecast for the satellite's re-entry calls for a return between 2014 and 2023. Fluctuations in solar activity cause the atmosphere to expand and contract, making it difficult to accurately predict when uncontrolled satellites will re-enter. The satellite, launched in December 1995, was designed before NASA issued standards for public safety from re-entering spacecraft. NASA satellites must now have a probability of striking a person of less than 1-in-10,000. (1/26)
Asteroid Passes Close to Earth (Source: CNN)
An asteroid about the size of a school bus will pass close to Earth today, but it poses no danger to the planet, NASA astronomers say. The huge rock, called Asteroid 2012 BX34, will close to within about 36,750 miles of Earth, or about .17 times the distance between the Earth and the moon, according to Asteroid Watch, which is operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Near Earth Object Office. "It wouldn't get through our atmosphere intact even if it dared to try," an Asteroid Watch tweet says of the 37-foot diameter rock. (1/27)
Kepler Scientists Find 26 More Exoplanets (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Scientists analyzing data from NASA's Kepler spacecraft announced Thursday the discovery of 26 more extrasolar planets orbiting 11 stars. None of the planets appear similar to the Earth in size and orbit: their masses range from 1.5 times the Earth to larger than Jupiter, while all orbit closer to their stars than Venus orbits the Earth. One of the systems, Kepler-33, has five planets, while several other stars have pairs if planets in orbital resonances. Scientists said the findings help demonstrate that planets around stars are relatively common in the galaxy. (1/27)
NOAA Satellites Aid in the Rescue of 207 People in 2011(Source: NOAA)
In 2011, NOAA satellites were critical in the rescues of 207 people from life-threatening situations throughout the United States and its surrounding waters. The satellites picked up distress signals from emergency beacons carried by downed pilots, shipwrecked boaters and stranded hikers, and relayed the information about their location to first responders on the ground.
NOAA’s polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites are part of the international Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking System, called COSPAS-SARSAT. This system uses a network of satellites to quickly detect and locate distress signals from emergency beacons onboard aircraft and boats, and from smaller, handheld personal locator beacons called PLBs. (1/23)
Space Weather Center to Add World's First 'Ensemble Forecasting' Capability (Source: SpaceRef.com)
After years of relative somnolence, the sun is beginning to stir. By the time it's fully awake in about 20 months, the team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., charged with researching and tracking solar activity, will have at their disposal a greatly enhanced forecasting capability. Goddard's Space Weather Laboratory recently received support under NASA's Space Technology Program Game Changing Program to implement "ensemble forecasting," a computer technique already used by meteorologists to track potential paths and impacts of hurricanes and other severe weather events. (1/29)
Biggest Solar Storm Since 2005 Underway (Source Washington Post)
Fast on the heels of a solar storm that delivered a glancing blow over the weekend — triggering bright auroras in Canada and Scandinavia — the sun released an even more energetic blast of radiation and charged plasma overnight that could disrupt GPS signals and the electrical grid Tuesday, especially at high latitudes, space weather experts warned Monday morning. Already, the storm could be disrupting satellite communications as streams of radiation from the sun bounce across the Earth’s magnetic field, which extends above the surface into space. (1/23)
Hyperactive Sun Helping to Clear Out Space Junk (Source: National Geographic)
In the latest issue of NASA's Orbital Debris Quarterly News, agency scientist Nicholas Johnson notes that an increased influx of solar heat is causing Earth's upper atmosphere—specifically, a layer known as the thermosphere—to swell. In turn, the puffed-up thermosphere has accelerated the rate at which space debris is being removed from Earth's orbit, Johnson found.
In general, "the increase in solar activity causes more energy to be deposited into the atmosphere, which in turn is heated and expands," explained Johnson, chief scientist of NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This increases atmospheric density at a given altitude, thereby increasing drag. This causes [orbiting space junk] to lose energy and fall into a lower orbit," where the debris eventually reenters the atmosphere, Johnson said. (1/28)
Space Station Orbit Raised to Avoid Space Junk (Source: RIA Novosti)
Specialists of Russia’s Mission Control Center raised the orbit altitude of the International Space Station (ISS) in the early hours of Sunday to prevent a possible collision with a Chinese satellite fragment, a spokesman for the Center said. “The maneuver was performed using Zvezda service module engines,” the spokesman said. The altitude of the ISS orbit was raised by 1.7 kilometers to 391.6 kilometers, he said, adding that the maneuver lasted 64 seconds. (1/29)
Edison Program Will Seek Proposals for Small Satellite Demos (Source: NASA)
The Edison Program plans to release a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) requesting proposals for low-cost, flight demonstrations of small satellite technology on January 23, 2012. The topic areas of interest in this solicitation will be limited to demonstrations of communications systems for small satellites, proximity operations with small satellites and propulsion systems for Cubesat-scale spacecraft. Other technology and application demonstrations will be addressed in future solicitations. Further details will be provided when the solicitation is released. The synopsis of the BAA for Edison Small Satellite Demonstration Missions is posted here. (1/28)
Embry Riddle and SpaceTEC Sign Agreement to Advance Aerospace Education (Source: ERAU)
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University and SpaceTEC have entered into a new partnering agreement allowing SpaceTEC certified students to enter Embry-Riddle's aerospace education programs. Students from the SpaceTEC consortium of community and technical colleges who are enrolled in coursework or who pass Core and/or Concentration Certification Examinations and currently hold the SpaceTEC Certified Aerospace Technician credentials will be eligible to transfer all work toward the A.S. and/or A.A.S. degrees and continue their education toward higher degrees at Embry-Riddle.
SpaceTEC is a National Science Foundation Center for Aerospace Technical Education. Based at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, SpaceTEC is a consortium of leading national institutions, including Brevard Community College (Florida), Calhoun Community College (Alabama), Community College of the Air Force (Alabama), Doña Ana Community College (New Mexico), Edmonds Community College (Washington), Thomas Nelson Community College (Virginia), and Tulsa Technology Center (Oklahoma). These partners serve the aerospace technical education/training needs of U.S. spaceports, NASA centers and military installations, and aerospace industry clusters. (1/23)
Tallahassee Educator Named to National STEM Board (Source: WTXL)
Susan Borland, education manager of the Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee, was selected from the Challenger Learning Center national network to sit on the board of directors for the network headquarters, Challenger Center for Space Science Education. Challenger Center for Space Science Education is a not-for-profit education organization whose mission is to inspire an interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education through exploration and discovery.
Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee is part of a national network of 48 Challenger Learning Centers throughout the US, Canada, United Kingdom and South Korea. Combined, Challenger Centers reach 400,000 students and 15,000 teachers each year through mission-based activities focused on STEM education.
Borland began her career with the Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee in February 1999 and was involved in all aspects of planning the center. As education manager, her duties include standards based curriculum planning, workshop preparation and delivery, camp coordination, grant writing and the management of the education department. She currently serves as a network consultant and mentor for the Challenger Center for Space Science Education network. (1/23)
NASA Selects 2 Deltona Teachers for Astronomy Research Flights (Source: Daytona Beach News-Journal)
Two Deltona teachers have been selected to participate in research flights aboard NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy. Mike Cimino of Heritage Middle School and John Clark of Deltona High School are among 26 educators from around the nation chosen for the program. As Airborne Astronomy Ambassadors, they'll work with professional astronomers for scientific observations this year and next. The observatory is a modified Boeing 747SP jetliner equipped with a 100-inch diameter telescope based in Palmdale, California. (1/27)
Teens Send Lego Toy Toward Space (Source: MSNBC)
It's very cool that two 17-year-old Canadians sent a flag-toting Lego figurine into the sky on a weather balloon, as part of a weekend project that cost less than $500. It's cooler still that they got back some fantastic video of the toy silhouetted against the backdrop of a curving Earth beneath a black sky. But let's not call it putting a "Lego man in space." Even though the balloon ascended to around 80,000 feet, that's only a quarter of the way to the boundary of outer space. Click here. (1/27)
Making Space Exploration Come Alive for Young Earthlings (Source: Huffington Post)
According to Virgin Galactic's George Whitesides: "It's important for children today to realize that they are growing up in a world where, if anyone puts their mind to it, they can go to space." He added, "Since the dawn of the space age, only about 525 people have been to space." And as space travel today is made safe and more affordable for the private citizen, "Virgin Galactic is hoping to fly that number of people into space the first year to year-and-a-half of our operation." Click here. (1/24)
Third Rock Radio Serves Target Space Audience (Source: Navigator)
Yesterday, Mars moved into its retrograde cycle, and recent solar flares from the sun made the news in what astronomers are calling the biggest space storm in seven years. Such science and tech news is catered toward a niche demographic, and while there’s no shortage of media outlets that realize this, a new Internet radio station has been created for NASA that combines science and space news with an indie, new rock, and alternative music format.
Third Rock Radio: America’s Space Station, has been streaming online for just over a month and has quickly gained a global, targeted audience. “The reception has been everything we hoped for and more,” said Pat Fant, co-founder of Third Rock. “We have listeners in over 40 different countries, and we kind of stopped counting.”
Fant, along with fellow co-founder who simply goes by Cruze, started RFC Media about three years ago and have built radio stations on the Web for brands and businesses. After a number of clients, they were able to start a new project for NASA. “When we first starting talking to NASA about the idea, everybody liked it, but wasn’t sure exactly what sort of form it would take,” Cruze said. (1/27)
Discovery Headed to the Smithsonian (Source: AP)
The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum is preparing to welcome the space shuttle Discovery into its collection. The shuttle will be flown to Washington Dulles International Airport on the back of a Boeing 747 in April, including a flyover above the nation's capital. The flyover is planned for April 17. A museum spokeswoman later said the flyover has not been confirmed, and details are still being finalized. A formal welcome ceremony is planned for April 19 at the museum's Udvar-Hazy Center. Shuttle Endeavour will travel to the California Science Center in Los Angeles in the second half of the year. (1/24)
Cabana to Moderate Panel on 50 Years of Spaceflight at KSC (Source: NSCFL)
KSC Director Bob Cabana will moderate a panel of 'KSC Legends' during a Feb. 14 luncheon of the National Space Club (Florida Committee) in Cape Canaveral. The panel will include Steve Francois, JoAnn Morgan, Ike Rigell, Bob Sieck, and Lee Solid, focusing on 50 years of spaceflight at KSC. Click here for information. (1/24)
Coalition for Space Exploration Appoints New Chairman, Deputy (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The Coalition for Space Exploration announced veteran aerospace communicators Lon Rains of Northrop Grumman and Mary Engola of Ball Aerospace will lead the Coalition in 2012. Rains and Engola will serve as the new chair and deputy chair, respectively. Each will serve a one-year term, effective January through December 2012.
The Coalition for Space Exploration is a group of space industry businesses and organizations collaborating to ensure that the United States remains the leader in space, science and technology. By reinforcing the value and benefits of space exploration with the nation’s leaders, the Coalition intends to build lasting support for a long-term, sustainable, strategic direction for space exploration. Through marketing, communications and outreach efforts, the Coalition highlights the benefits of a robust American space program. (1/23)
Astronauts4Hire Sponsors 2012 Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (Source: A4H)
Tampa-based Astronauts4Hire has become a sponsor of the 2012 Next-generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC) to be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Resort in Palo Alto, California from February 27-29, 2012. The NSRC will bring together researchers from government, industry, and academia in the largest forum of its kind focused on the research and education capabilities of new suborbital vehicles. (1/24)
TRDA Announces 2012 Clean Tech Venture Initiative (Source: TRDA)
Clean Tech Ventures is a part of the i2 Capital Accelerator, which is a program of the Technological Research and Development Authority (TRDA). The i2 Clean Tech Ventures program consists of four weeks of intense mentoring that kicks off with a two-day business boot camp. The i2 Mentor Network is a statewide network of "been there, done that" technology entrepreneurs that have founded and raised capital for their own companies. Our mentors have collectively raised over $300 million for their own companies, and will work with you to prepare your company for the capital raising process. Click here. (1/24)
Law Focused on Space a Growing Specialty (Source: Denver Business Journal)
As humans encroach more and more into the space around Earth, the legal issues surrounding outer space increase at warp speed. Just ask Holland & Hart partner Rachel Yates, who has become one of the nation’s most prominent space law attorneys. Colorado’s growing clout in the space industry and the increasing commercialization of space transportation has meant more business for Yates, who leads Denver-based Holland & Hart LLP’s space law practice. The practice has doubled in the last five years, in terms of time spent on aerospace clients, she said. (1/23)
LightSquared Files Ethics Complaint (Source: Politico)
Exasperated by a government process that has left them scrambling to avoid bankruptcy, LightSquared filed a complaint with NASA’s inspector general’s office Thursday alleging that a key member of a panel that advises the government on GPS violated ethics laws. Bradford Parkinson, second in command of a federal advisory board that has played an integral role informing the government’s views of the LightSquared-GPS controversy, “appears to have violated a federal conflict of interest statute” as a special government employee, the filing states.
Parkinson serves as vice chairman of the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Advisory Board, which advises the Defense Department, the Transportation Department and a host of other federal agencies on GPS policy. Parkinson has a multimillion dollar stake in Trimble, a GPS manufacturing company at the heart of a campaign to derail the broadband company from entering the market. The PNT Advisory Board operates under the auspices of NASA. (1/26)
Loral Selected to Provide High Power Communications Satellite (Source: SpaceRef)
Loral has been awarded a contract to provide a high power communications satellite. Further information on the contract award will be released at a later date. (1/25)
United Technologies Reports 11% Jump in Q4 Profit (Source: Bloomberg)
United Technologies reported an 11% jump in profit for the fourth quarter, to $1.33 billion, compared with $1.2 billion for the same quarter in the previous year. The company's aerospace units posted improved sales for the quarter, while sales dropped at its air-conditioning division. (1/26)
General Dynamics Q4 Profit Drops (Source: Wall Street Journal)
General Dynamics reported a 17% drop in profit for the fourth quarter as compared to the same quarter the previous year. The company took a $111 million impairment charge, as well as $78 million in losses, for Jet Aviation in the quarter. However, the defense contractor forecast stronger earnings in 2012. (1/26)
Lockheed Martin Profit Declines 15% on Weak Electronic, Space-Unit Sales (Source: Bloomberg)
Lockheed Martin's fourth-quarter profit fell 15 percent on weak sales in its electronic and space businesses.
Net income from continuing operations fell to $698 million, from $821 million a year earlier. Lockheed forecast 2012 full-year sales of $45 billion to $46 billion. Space Systems sales declined 7.4 percent to $2.11 billion, Lockheed said. Unit profit declined 7.5 percent to $258 million. (1/26)
Boeing Profits Rise by 20% in Q4 (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Boeing posted a 20% increase in fourth-quarter profit to $1.39 billion, compared with the same quarter a year earlier. However, the aircraft manufacturer offered a conservative forecast for 2012 with earnings per share of $4.05 to $4.25. "Despite pockets of economic uncertainty and defense-budget pressures, our markets remain large and growing," Boeing CEO Jim McNerney said. (1/26)
Raytheon Profit Rises (Source: Bloomberg)
Improved performance at Raytheon Co.'s missile and space units drove a rise in fourth-quarter profits of 9.4%, the company says, although the 2012 outlook fell on lower anticipated sales. CEO Bill Swanson is focusing "on wringing costs out of programs to improve profitability," this feature notes. "We know as a company, if we weren’t taking costs out, somebody would be replacing us," Swanson said. (1/27) |
