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Senate
Confirms Bolden as NASA Administrator (Source: AIA)
The Senate on Wednesday confirmed the appointment of a former astronaut to
lead NASA. Charles Bolden should be sworn in by July 20, marking the 40th
anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Bolden will take over the agency
at a time when the U.S. is struggling to define its future in space. Sen.
Bill Nelson, D-Fla., himself a former astronaut, said he hopes Bolden will
"bring back the magic from a time when we rode rockets to the
moon." (7/17)
Where
Were You When Apollo 11 Landed? Not Born Yet (Source: AP)
Most Americans have never known a world where man hasn't been to the moon. It
used to be a given that people knew where they were when man first walked on
the moon on July 20, 1969, watching the black-and-white images on television.
But now most Americans don't know where they were because the majority of
Americans hadn't been born yet. The median age of Americans, as of last year,
was 36.8, meaning more than half of U.S. residents are younger than 40,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau. No figures have been calculated for this
year yet. Five years ago, when NASA celebrated the 35th anniversary of the
moon landing, the median age of Americans was 36.1, so most residents were at
least alive when Armstrong made his giant leap for mankind. (7/19)
4 Decades Ago We Landed on the Moon -- Will We Go Further? (Source:
Orlando Sentinel)
Two months ago, former NASA astronaut Scott Parazynski ascended Mount
Everest, carrying a lunar rock brought back by the Apollo 11 mission that
landed on the moon 40 years ago tomorrow. Along the way, he endured hardships
like those experienced by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin: bulky equipment,
rocky terrain and a lack of oxygen.
The effort made Parazynski the first astronaut to summit the world's highest
peak. It also gave him a deeper understanding of why his boyhood heroes of
Armstrong and Edmund Hillary sought the unknown. "Any time you explore
... you learn things you never expected," said Parazynski. "Any
country that doesn't explore is going to ultimately recede." That faith
that exploration brings its own rewards is the fundamental rationale behind
NASA's efforts to return astronauts to the moon by 2020. By most other
standards — cost, safety and scientific gain — the benefits are dubious.
(7/19)
Apollo Helped U.S. Engineering Dominance (Source: Shelbyville
Times-Gazette)
Professor Billy Hix believes the space program was a powerful motivator which
led young people to careers in science and engineering. "Without a
doubt," he said, "that was an inspirational time for young men
going into engineering." The lessening of interest in the space program
over the years has taken away some of that motivation, and Hix said that
NASA, and the Defense Department, are worried.
At the time of the Apollo 11 program, said Hix, the average age of the
personnel seated at consoles in Mission Control was 28. Today, it's 52. When
Hix works with industries in Huntsville, he said he sees engineers who tend
to be in their 40s and 50s. Hix stressed the importance of science and
engineering to everything from commerce to national security. Our leadership
may be at risk. Hix said that in 2007, the U.S. graduated 64,000 engineers
\-- while China graduated nearly 10 times that many. (7/19)
The Economic Failure of the Space Program (Source: Business
Week)
Yes, let us celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing, an
amazing human achievement. But remember something else as well: The U.S.
space program turned out to be one of the great economic and innovative
failures of our time. For a decade it absorbed a big chunk of the country’s
scientific and technical resources, while producing very few economically
useful spinoffs.
Consider this: From 1962 to 1972, when the last Apollo mission landed on the
moon, space-related activities got 59% of nondefense government R&D
spending. To put it another way, while we were spending at a rapid pace on
space travel, we didn’t put money into R&D in other key areas like energy
and natural resources. (This omission had real consequences during the energy
crisis of the 1970s).
Co
Let’s put the spending into other terms. Between 1962 and 1972, the U.S.
space program spent $176 billion (inflation-adjusted in 2009 dollars). In
magnitude, that comes close to the mammoth federal expenditures on building
the interstate highway system over the same period (outlays from the Federal
Highway Trust Fund totaled $220 billion in 2009 dollars from 1962-72). (7/19)
Pro/Con - Should Space Exploration Continue? (Source: Daytona Beach
News Journal)
Ellen Koven: Absolutely, yes! Let's not allow our wallets to determine our destiny.
Don't ask me how much money we should spend, and which rocket systems are
better than others. I'm no scientist, but I don't believe all of life is
focused on our single little orb, Earth. Budget cuts can't stop our yearning
to know what else is out there. Aside from that, space exploration also has a
practical side.
Denise Covert: Weigh the cost. I can't say I really cared at all about the
space program until I graduated college and moved to Brevard County. I find
myself conflicted about what the future of the program should be. Space
exploration is admirable, and has led to so many scientific advancements (not
just Tang). We've poured so much money into the International Space Station,
it doesn't make sense to abandon it. Also, private industries are coming up
with their own rockets that may be a cost-saving alternative to what NASA's
looking at. But the fact remains that our economy is in crisis, and we are
hemorrhaging money. (7/15)
After Walking on Moon, Astronauts Trod Various Paths (Source: CNN)
It turns out going to the moon is a tough act to follow. For all their Buck
Rogers, "Right Stuff," history-making achievements, the question
for many of the 12 astronauts who walked on the lunar surface starting four
decades ago ultimately became "one giant leap to where, exactly?"
"You have your peak experience at 38 or 39," says space historian
Andrew Chaiken, summing up their collective experience, "and [they] have
a hard time coming up with something to do for an encore."
In the 40 years since the Apollo program first took humans to the moon, the
astronauts' lives have taken diverse paths. Almost all had been military test
pilots before joining NASA; in later life, they found themselves ministers,
politicians and conspiracy buffs. Some struggled with common issues: Many of
their marriages fell apart and alcoholism affected at least one. Click here
to view the article. (7/18)
Apollo 9's Rusty Schweickart, of Sonoma, Would Rather Look Ahead
(Source: Contra Costa Times)
He was among the first to float untethered in space, taking in Earth's round
fullness through nothing but a clear visor. Russell "Rusty"
Schweickart piloted the lunar module on its first space flight, a crucial test
run for the Apollo 11 moon landing three months later. He spent 46 minutes
outside, running tasks, testing the portable life support pack — he lived, so
it worked — and Earth-gazing.
Schweickart lays claim to a celestial slice of history. But 40 years later,
something about Memory Lane chafes. "It's kind of been-there,
done-that," said the Apollo 9 crewman, now 73 and living in Sonoma with
his wife, Nancy. Schweickart fears NASA is reliving space-race glory at a
steep cost. He laments the push — directed by President George W. Bush in
2004 — to get Americans back on the moon for longer stays, perhaps to set up
a lunar outpost, even a launching pad for future missions. "Moon, Mars
and Beyond," he says, is making Swiss cheese out of NASA's budget.
(7/19)
How Michael Collins Became the Forgotten Astronaut of Apollo 11
(Source: The Observer)
As Armstrong and Aldrin took their famous walk on the moon, a third member of
the team sat alone in the mothership plagued by terrors of returning to Earth
alone. It was the secret terror that gripped astronaut Michael Collins
throughout the Apollo 11 project 40 years ago. As his spacecraft, Columbia,
swept over the lunar surface, Collins - the mission's third and largely
forgotten crewman - waited for a call from fellow astronauts Neil Armstrong
and Buzz Aldrin to say their lander craft had successfully blasted off from
the Moon.
The realization that the normally icy-cool astronaut was so obsessed by such
an outcome puts a fresh perspective on the celebrations that will, this
weekend, absorb the United States as it commemorates the moment, on 21 July
1969, that an American first walked on another world. (7/19)
Did 1969 Mark the End of the Dream? (Source: AFP)
By the early 21st century, we would be colonizing the Moon, honeymooning on
Mars and scouting the moons of Jupiter, if the visions conjured by the first
lunar landing were to be believed. Forty years later, the sad truth is this:
today, we do not venture beyond our own backyard. Our travelling horizon lies
no farther than the International Space Station, some 350 kilometers (220
miles) above our heads. The two pioneers of manned space flight, Russia and
America, have indeed been joined by China, but so far it is done no more than
replicate their brief low-orbital trips of nearly half a century ago. While
robots do all the real exploration of space, humans are stuck in a rut, says
Francis Rocard, an astrophysicist in charge of Solar System exploration at
France's National Centre for Space Studies (CNES). (7/13)
Editorial: Commercial Space Could Lead the Way (Source: Panama City
News Herald)
Apollo’s 40th anniversary rekindles a lot of bygone feelings of pride and awe
that we felt in those heady days. But they’re accompanied by a melancholy of
lost opportunities, and a nostalgia for when Americans were all on the same
page, not because we were grieving or fighting, but because we were inspired
and had a sense of accomplishment. That might have been the last great thing
Big Government did.
Today, the future of manned space flight rests not in Washington, which has
neither the will nor the money to do it, but in the private sector. Space
entrepreneurship has been progressing, attracting investors and testing new
vehicles. The first step will be space tourism in low-Earth orbit. But if
there’s money to be made in, say, mining the moon, the private sector will
find a way to do it. That’s a very practical, profit-driven approach to
space. Too bad it lacks the romanticism that surrounded Apollo 11. I’m going
to enjoy its anniversary this weekend, because I’ll probably never see
anything like it again. (7/19)
Rocketing Past NASA (Source: Washington Post)
On Oct. 4, 2004, a group of revolutionaries in the Mojave Desert sent a
little dart-shaped rocket called SpaceShipOne beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
Burt Rutan, the ship's designer, had gotten tired of waiting for NASA to
change -- to become more nimble and innovative -- or else get out of the way.
So he created the first purely privately funded manned space vehicle.
"Government space agencies want to commit us to their old-fashioned
technologies," he says. "We already know how that stuff works. What
we need is the freedom to try some new, smarter and less expensive
ideas."
Four decades later, a succession of corporate buyouts and takeovers has left
just two contenders, Boeing and Lockheed Martin, that have the heft and
experience required for building the big, beefy spacecraft NASA will need for
any future moonshots. NASA cannot innovate radical new rocket technologies
while it is so dependent on a couple of huge corporations with an interest in
protecting their investments and infrastructure dedicated to the old
shuttles.
But beyond that creaking federal-industrial universe, change is afoot. Rutan,
Branson and other private pioneers in the "NewSpace" business are
starting to unveil cheaper, faster and sexier ships. Last July, Branson
proudly introduced his new craft, which he called "one of the most
beautiful and extraordinary aviation vehicles ever developed." (7/19)
Private Space Pioneers: We're Inheritors of Apollo Legacy (Source:
CNN)
Richard Garriott had more reason than most to dream the Apollo moon landings
would rapidly expand space travel. His father was a NASA astronaut, as were
many of his neighbors near Texas' Johnson Space Center. With nearly all of
humanity still on Earth nearly four decades later, the computer game
developer paid $35 million for a ride aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to
the space station. Garriott believes the United States hasn't fulfilled the promise
of the Apollo program yet.
"It was an assumed future that we'd all go to space [by now]," he
said. "That hasn't come to pass, and it's created this interesting
evolution of spaceflight right now." That evolution involves the
privatization of space, and although the prospect of a spacecraft in every
garage isn't near, a few private firms are getting close to manned,
commercial spaceflight. (7/16)
Private Companies Eye Growth in Space (Source: AIA)
From cargo to science to tourism, private companies see space as the next
great frontier. Following the success of Apollo, "It was an assumed
future that we'd all go to space [by now]," says entrepreneur Richard
Garriott, who paid $35 million to hitch a ride to the International Space
Station. "That hasn't come to pass, and it's created this interesting
evolution of spaceflight right now." The private space industry is
growing and hiring at a time when many others are cutting back, and executives
are hopeful for even more growth if NASA can be convinced to contract out
portions of its work to the private sector. (7/18)
Editorial: Commercial Industry Role Critical to Future U.S. Space Progress
(Source: Roll Call)
Since the 1960s, the legislative branch has been an equal partner with the
executive in providing funding, oversight and direction to America’s bold
space missions. Forty years ago when the lunar module Eagle landed on the Sea
of Tranquility, only the U.S. and Soviet governments had the ability to send
humans into space. Today, there are several other nations involved in human
space flight. And now, there is a burgeoning commercial space flight
industry. Entrepreneurial private corporations can provide launch and cargo
services, equipment and infrastructure for exploration, and economic activity
throughout the inner solar system.
Soon we will be in a post-space shuttle period when NASA no longer has the
capability to launch humans in space. Congress should set policies to
leverage the commercial space flight industry to help us through those years.
Indeed, the involvement of the private sector is vital. is being asked to
make a limited budget go far in exploration, scientific research and
aeronautics activities. NASA faces a hiatus of several years in launching
human crews. Commercial crew flights and cargo transportation to low Earth
orbit must be encouraged so that we can productively utilize the ISS for
scientific research. Commercial firms can provide alternatives to our
dependence on Russia for transporting Americans to space after the space
shuttle is retired. (7/18)
NewSpace Companies Team to Promote Human Spaceflight (Source:
SPACErePORT)
Commercial space companies can provide a domestic alternative to servicing
Low Earth Orbit, allowing NASA to invest in other priorities. That's the
message that a group of "New Space" companies and other
stakeholders are sending with a collaborative campaign to increase public and
government awareness of their expanding capabilities. Embry-Riddle Aeronautical
University and the University of Central Florida are supporting the
initiative. Visit www.NextStepInSpace.com
for information. (7/19)
Study
Predicts $1.5 Billion Market for Commercial Lunar Services (Source: X Prize
Foundation)
A study performed by the Futron Corporation, an aerospace consultancy based
in Bethesda, MD, predicts that companies such as those competing for the
Google Lunar X PRIZE will be able to address a market in excess of $1 billion
over the course of the next decade. The results of the study resonate with
the expectations of the X PRIZE Foundation, which conducts the $30 million
competition that challenges space professionals and engineers from across the
globe to build and launch privately funded spacecraft capable of exploring
the lunar surface. The market projection demonstrates the breadth of
commercial opportunities that companies are likely to pursue either during or
after the conclusion of their Google Lunar X PRIZE missions.
The study, which involved a detailed examination of the 19 teams already
registered in the competition, as well as a robust analysis of potential
lines of business, identified six key market areas: hardware sales to the
worldwide government sector, services provided to the government sector,
products provided to the commercial sector, entertainment, sponsorship, and
technology sales and licensing. Taken together, the study projects the value
of these markets to be between $1 - $1.56 billion within the next decade.
Additionally, some Google Lunar X PRIZE competitors have set their sights on
additional market sectors that fell outside of the scope of the Futron
report, which could result in an even higher total market size. (7/17)
Grand Plans for Moon and Mars, Budget Permitting (Source: New York
Times)
NASA’s program to send astronauts back to the Moon by 2020 is often called
“Apollo on steroids.” To detractors, this is a description of disparagement —
treading the same path as 40 years ago, only with bigger, costlier rockets.
But NASA officials say the new missions will be much grander — astronauts
living on the Moon for months at a time, driving hundreds of miles across the
lunar surface and, for the first time, building an outpost on ground that is
not Earth. “It’s not just flags and footsteps,” said John Olson, director of
the office within NASA’s exploration systems mission directorate that
integrates the disparate parts of a lunar program. “It’s substantially
important work.”
The technologies and skills, the NASA officials say, are essential before
pushing on to Mars, the next major destination. Scientists see several
exciting research possibilities on the Moon, like building a radio telescope
on the far side, shielded from the noise from Earth, and looking for layers
of frost in shadowed craters near the poles, which may preserve hints of the
solar system’s past. But with trillion-dollar federal budget deficits and a
blue ribbon panel now re-evaluating the United States’ human space flight
program, there is some question whether the lunar designs that NASA has drawn
up over the past five years will be built. The agency could be told to focus
on robotic missions, to undertake cheaper alternatives for getting to the
Moon or to shift its target to something else, like an asteroid. (7/14)
To Boldly Go... Where Others Have Gone Before (Source: Space Review)
The current committee reviewing NASA's human spaceflight efforts is hardly
the first such effort to study the agency and its future. Edward Ellegood
looks at what lessons those past efforts have to offer to the Augustine
committee. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1415/1
to view the article. (7/14)
Augustine Panel Considers Ares Alternatives (Source: Orlando
Sentinel)
Members of the Augustine Panel have asked NASA to design a new way to send
astronauts back to the moon. The request could result in NASA ditching the
controversial Ares I rocket design that the agency has spent the past four
years and more than $3 billion creating and defending. And any redesign would
almost certainly delay NASA's first-launch deadline of 2015, though most
critics no longer consider that deadline realistic. Panel members have told
NASA they want to see the effects of both minor tweaks and
"wholesale" changes to its Constellation Program that is intended
to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 on a new generation of two Ares
rockets and a crew capsule called Orion.
NASA's critics have said there's no way the Constellation program can meet
its 2015 launch schedule — let alone return astronauts to the moon by 2020 —
given the technical problems and multibillion-dollar cost overruns on its
Ares I rocket. "One of the [panel's] subcommittees has asked the [Constellation]
program to present both the baseline ... program and one of the variants that
they have studied as well," said one committee official. The request
coincides with NASA scrambling some of its top engineers to study an
"architecture" that would use a single rocket to launch both humans
and cargo to the moon. Constellation's current approach calls for two rockets
— the Ares I that would carry humans into space, and the enormous Ares V to
lift heavy cargo.
NASA confirms that it is looking at different versions of the Ares V, though
a spokeswoman played down the significance of the review. "They are
looking at a whole new launch architecture," said one NASA contractor
familiar with the study. "Although it's still too early to pronounce Ares
I dead, it is safe to assume that members of the committees have doubts about
it." Editor's Note: The architecture being considered seems consistent
with the Jupiter-130 "in-line" (as opposed to
"side-mount" design offered to the panel. A variant of this design
also is said to have been offered by Boeing. (7/14)
Augustine Panel Drops Site Visits (Source: Aviation Week)
Members of the White House panel reviewing options for future U.S. human
spaceflight have dropped site visits in the interest of efficiency as they
work to meet an end-of-August deadline. The 10-member panel, headed by
retired Lockheed Martin CEO Norm Augustine, has visited Marshall Space Flight
Center in Alabama, where NASA is developing the Ares I crew launch vehicle;
the Delta IV production facility in Decatur, Ala., the Michoud Assembly
Facility in New Orleans, and the SpaceX plant in Hawthorne, Calif., to gather
data. But instead of continuing the practice, its members have opted for
back-to-back public hearings July 28-30 in Houston, Huntsville, Ala., and
Cocoa Beach, Fla., where NASA's human-spaceflight centers are located, and a
final public meeting Aug. 5 in Washington. The panel also is soliciting
public input on its Web page at www.nasa.gov,
and plans a series of "fact-finding meetings" July 21-23. (7/14)
A Change in Plans After $3 Billion? (Source: Huntsville Times)
NASA is developing alternative designs to the Ares I rocket at the request of
a White House-appointed panel that's reviewing the future of manned
spaceflight. That has some space experts worried that the Ares I project
might be dead, although NASA has spent $3 billion and four years developing
the rocket. The Augustine Commission - so nicknamed for its chairman, former
Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine - has asked NASA to submit a plan that
would scrap the Ares I crew rocket and instead modify the powerful Ares V -
designed as a cargo ship - to carry both crew and cargo. Another alternative
already suggested to the Augustine panel would use a version of the current
space shuttle's boosters and fuel tank as a moon rocket. (7/15)
'Wrong to Say Ares Dead in the Water' (Source: Huntsville Times)
Contrary to some reports, don't write off the Ares rocket program yet, the
chairman of an independent NASA review panel said Friday. Aerospace veteran
Norman Augustine told reporters during a phone conference Friday that his
panel - chartered by the White House to review NASA's future human
spaceflight plans - is in place to look at options and alternatives,
including Ares, which is managed by Marshall Space Flight Center. "It
would be completely wrong to say Ares is dead in the water," Augustine
said. "We've looked at derivatives of Ares and alternatives to Ares. We
are looking at a whole bunch of possibilities." (7/18)
Report: Escape System Can't Save Astronauts
if Ares I Explodes
(Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The crew of NASA's newest spacecraft "will not survive" an
explosion of the Ares I rocket within the first minute of launch because
blazing chunks of solid-rocket fuel would melt the parachutes on the
crew-escape system, according to a new Air Force report. The report by the
45th Space Wing used data from an unmanned Titan IV that was blown up by
safety officers when its guidance system malfunctioned soon after leaving the
pad at Cape Canaveral in 1998. Like Ares I, the Titan used solid-fuel motors.
But Jeff Hanley, who manages NASA's Constellation program that includes the
Ares I, questioned the validity of the Air Force study because it relied on
only one example. He said NASA had done its own study, using supercomputers
to replicate the behavior of Ares I, that predicted a safe outcome. (7/17)
Ares I-X Launch Delayed; Ares I Thrust Oscillation Problems Continue
(Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Last month, Sentinel Space Editor Robert Block reported on the likelihood
that the first test flight of the Ares I-X -- a mockup of the Ares I intended
to test performance of the solid-fuel first stage -- would be delayed past
its scheduled date of Aug. 30. Officially, he reported, NASA was holding to
the August date for liftoff at Kennedy Space Center but that September was
"more likely." Now comes the officially revised date, courtesy of a
memo from Johnson Space Center's Robert Ess, the Ares I-X mission manager:
Oct. 31.
"This is still a very aggressive schedule and requires a lot of tasks to
complete on or before their planned dates," Ess wrote in a memo obtained
by the Orlando Sentinel. And there's word from Marshall Space Flight Center,
where Ares I is being designed, that engineers there are continuing to
wrestle with the issue of "thrust oscillation." (7/17)
Astronauts Add Porch to Space Station (Source: Space.com)
Spacewalkers and robotic arm operators attached the final piece of the
International Space Station's Japanese Kibo laboratory - an exposed platform
for science experiments. The addition completes the $1 billion Kibo complex,
the station's largest lab, and allows researchers to test how different
materials react to the harsh space environment. (7/19)
Space Station Is Near Completion, Maybe the
End
(Source: Washington Post)
After more than a decade of construction, it is nearing completion and
finally has a full crew of six astronauts. The last components should be
installed by the end of next year. And then? "In the first quarter of
2016, we'll prep and de-orbit the spacecraft," says NASA's space station
program manager, Michael T. Suffredini. That's a polite way of saying that
NASA will make the space station fall back into the atmosphere, where it will
turn into a fireball and then crash into the Pacific Ocean. It'll be a
controlled reentry, to ensure that it doesn't take out a major city. But
it'll be destroyed as surely as a Lego palace obliterated by the sweeping arm
of a suddenly bored kid. (7/13)
Station Toilet Not Working (Source: Florida Today)
The toilet in the U.S. Destiny module, one of two toilet systems aboard the
space station, is malfunctioning from a flooded a liquid separator.
International Space Station flight controllers and crew members are
troubleshooting the the Waste and Hygiene Compartment, a $6 million
compartment that was delivered to the station on STS-126 and installed later
by the station crew. NASA officials state that this is a inconvenience,
"not a serious issue." Until it is fixed, the six station crew
members will use the toilet in the Russian Zvezda module and the seven space
shuttle Endeavour astronauts will use the shuttle facilities. (7/19)
Cargo Shortfall is Real Risk to Space Station (Source: Florida Today)
The International Space Station has cost American taxpayers at least $31
billion so far, and that's a conservative estimate that doesn't include
billions more in indirect costs. Let's hope the United States is not going to
toss that investment away now that the orbiting laboratory is almost
complete. There are finally enough people living on board to actually do
science experiments. After all, that was the stated purpose of a space
station. A major threat to the space station's viability is cargo delivery.
The space shuttle hauls a lot of stuff to the space station each time it goes
there. The space shuttle hauls a lot of stuff to the space station each time
it goes there. Think of it as a space "big rig."
Russians haul up food, water and supplies in their Progress cargo tug. Think
of that as a U-haul trailer. After 2010, however, the U.S. doesn't plan to be
flying space shuttles or buying Progress cargo tugs. Instead, NASA's plan is
to send cargo to the space station aboard a pair of private spacecraft that
are yet to fly and are both behind schedule. While NASA's formal plans call
for SpaceX and Orbital Sciences spacecraft to make deliveries as early as
2011, neither is on track to hit that mark.
If there are delays in 2010, NASA would have to significantly scale back
science aboard the space station, according to the Government Accountability
Office. If there are further delays in 2011, the GAO says, "NASA could
no longer maintain a space station crew of six astronauts and its ability to
conduct scientific research would be compromised." The backup plan?
There isn't one. (7/14)
Endeavour Docks at ISS Amid Heat Shield Questions (Source: AFP)
Endeavour successfully docked at the International Space Station on Friday
amid questions about the integrity of the shuttle's heat shield. The entry of
Endeavour's crew aboard the ISS will bring the number of astronauts inside
the orbiting space station to a record 13. As the shuttle approached the ISS,
Polansky photographed the underside of the Endeavour to discover whether
Wednesday's takeoff caused any damage to the shuttle's heat shield. During
the launch, debris could be seen peeling away from the shuttle and then
striking it.
NASA officials have said there is not yet any cause for concern and that an
early review showed only "a few minor dings" in some tiles due to
the loss of small foam pieces from the external fuel tank. (7/18)
5 Shuttle Launch Scrubs Cost Millions (Source: Space.com)
The repeated launch delays for the space shuttle Endeavour were not just
frustrating, but expensive. NASA estimates every launch canceled after fuel
tanking has begun can cost as much as $1.2 million dollars. Endeavour endured
five liftoff scrubs before successfully launching Wednesday at 6:03 p.m.
(2203 GMT), though some of these cancellations occurred before ground crews
started loading propellant into the shuttle's external tank. The total price
tag for this mission's postponements, which began in mid-June and ended with
last week's liftoff, was less than $5 million. (7/16)
Editorial: Can NASA Maintain Florida Orbit? (Source: Palm Beach Post)
NASA got a new administrator last week, and Florida's unemployment rate
increased to 10.6 percent in June. The two stories are related. Apollo's
boost for the nation meant a boost for the Florida economy. Beginning in the
late 1950s, engineers flocked to Cape Canaveral on what came to be known as
the Space Coast. The jobs paid well, and still do. But even as NASA sent up
another shuttle mission last week, the future of the space program remains
unclear, and so does a key part of the state's economy.
Fifty years ago, Florida was a tourism and farming state. The space program
created the first high-tech segment of the economy. It drew related defense
contractors, all of which provided a cushion as Florida grew more and more
dependent on construction and development. NASA's economic impact on Florida
is estimated at about $2 billion.
Sen. Nelson has guarded NASA's presence in Florida, but with the budget
deficit in the stratosphere, it will be hard to convince his colleagues that
the next stimulus should be a Mars mission. But Maj. Bolden surely doesn't
want to lead NASA into irrelevance. Twenty-three years later, he and Sen.
Nelson again are on the same mission. (7/19)
Editorial: Lost at Space Florida (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
With the imminent retirement of shuttles and the uncertainty surrounding
NASA's next manned program, the future of space in Florida will increasingly
depend on private companies. There is some commercial activity on Florida's
Space Coast. United Launch Alliance sends up NASA, military and commercial
satellites at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and one company, SpaceX,
plans to use a pad leased from the Air Force to help supply the international
space station after shuttles are grounded.
But lately, the state's effort to grab a bigger share of this global industry
-- worth tens of billions of dollars a year and growing -- is looking like a
dud. Lawmakers in 2006 combined three space-related government agencies into
one, Space Florida, and assigned it the mission of building a
"world-leading aerospace industry in the state." Last year, they
gave Space Florida $14.5 million to begin outfitting a military launch pad at
Cape Canaveral for private rocket launches, a project expected eventually to
cost more than $50 million. So far, however, the agency has not lined up any
commitments from any companies to use it.
Meanwhile, other states, including Virginia and New Mexico, are aggressively
pursuing commercial space ventures. Virginia has beaten out Florida for test
flights from another company planning to launch rockets to supply the
international space station. Other countries also are going after, and
getting, space business. If Florida wants to hold on to its title as the
nation's leading spaceport -- and all the jobs and investments that come with
it -- lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Crist need to make sure Space Florida has
the right leadership so it can rise to the challenges. (7/19)
Florida Space Firm Wins Virginia Spaceport Work (Source: CCT)
Titusville-based Command and Control Technologies Corporation (CCT) has been
awarded a follow on task order from the Virginia Commercial Space Flight
Authority (VCSFA) for the design and development of a Universal Ground Fluid
Control System (UGFCS). The UGFCS will be located at new space launch
facilities being jointly developed by VCSFA and Orbital Sciences Corporation
(NYSE:ORB) at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, Wallops Island, Virginia.
(7/16)
Hawaii May Apply for Spaceport License to Alleviate Tourism Slump
(Source: Honolulu Advertiser)
A prolonged slump in visitor arrivals has state officials looking to the
heavens for help. What they see is a nascent industry that could provide a
jolt to the state's tourism business. Hawai'i's current terrestrial-based
tourism sector is in severe decline, and is a key factor behind a major
budget deficit and plans to cut pay for state workers. During these tough
times, the state is considering spending $500,000 applying to become a
federally licensed spaceport. (7/14)
Space Flights: A New Frontier for Hawaii Tourism (Source KGMB)
Imagine seeing the Hawaiian islands and a third of the Earth while traveling
interisland. Or flying from Hawaii to Japan in less than an hour. It may be
an idea that sounds out of this world. Space experts are hoping to make
commercial space transportation a reality here in Hawaii. But will our
financial troubles keep this futuristic plan on the ground? Hawaii is one of
11 states looking into this type of technology. If the project is approved,
these types of flights wouldn't start until at least 2012 first at the
Kalaeloa and Kona airports. "Hawaii has the strategic advantage of
having runways proximal to the ocean and that enhances the safety of this
operation tremendously and also reduces cost for commercial space port
transportation," said Jim Crisafulli, state director of aerospace
development. (7/13)
Spaceport America Installs Lunar Lander Launch Pads (Source: Spaceport
America)
Spaceport America, the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport, has
installed three launch pads for NASA’s 2009 Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander
Centennial Challenge, which is administered by the X PRIZE Foundation to spur
innovation and technology development. Called 'Tranquility Base' to
commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, the trio of
lunar lander launch pads was constructed the week of June 22 in preparation
for this year's competition, which begins as early as July 20 and continues
through October 31, 2009. (7/16)
Colorado Space Business Incubator Selects Initial Companies (Source:
Daily Camera)
A new Boulder nonprofit on Tuesday selected three Colorado companies for its
business incubator designed to further entrepreneurship and job creation in
the space industry. Boulder firms Zybek Advanced Products Inc., Net-Centric
Design Professionals (NDP) and Colorado Springs-based Space Awareness
Services were the first companies selected to participate in eSpace: The
Center for Space Entrepreneurship. The University of Colorado and SpaceDev
Inc. launched eSpace earlier this year to help aerospace businesses with
resources such as funding, building relationships and gaining access to
federal grants and contracts. (7/15)
NASA Glenn Visitors Center Will Close (Source: Cleveland Plain Dealer)
The NASA Glenn Visitors Center will close and its exhibits have been offered
to the Great Lakes Science Center, NASA Glenn's director says. A tightening
budget and the need to lift NASA Glenn's profile are reasons the
6,000-square-foot center must shut its doors, said Woodrow Whitlow, director
of the NASA Glenn Research Center in Brook Park. (7/16)
United Space Alliance to Lay Off 400 Employees in Texas, Florida
(Source: Houston Business Journal)
United Space Alliance is planning to lay off about 400 employees later this
year, including about 160 in Houston, according to a company spokeswoman.
Jessica Pieczonka said the Houston space operations company will shed about 4
percent of its workforce to align itself with NASA’s workload and budget
going into the next fiscal year, which begins in October. Of the 400
employees to be laid off, 60 percent will be in USA’s Florida office, while
40 percent will be in Houston, Pieczonka said. The company has 9,300
employees companywide, according to Pieczonka, with about 3,700 in the Houston
area. The layoffs will bring the employee count down to about 8,900, she
said. (7/14)
Contract Action Slows NASA Suborbital Rocket Program (Source: Space
News)
The loss of key engineering personnel from NASA's sounding rocket program is
expected to delay the launch of at least one suborbital rocket this summer at
White Sands Missile Range, N.M., according to NASA officials. The work force
reduction stems from a July 1 decision by Northrop Grumman Corp., prime
contractor on the program, to terminate a subcontract with Dulles, Va.-based
Orbital Sciences Corp.
NASA uses facilities at Wallops Island, Va., and White Sands Missile Range,
N.M., to launch suborbital sounding rockets for various science and
engineering objectives. Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman, which oversees
NASA's Sounding Rocket Operations Contract (NSROC) at both facilities, is
planning five missions over the next three months at White Sands. (7/19)
NASA and Air Force to Collaborate on Rapid Response Space Works
(Source: NASA Watch)
NASA Ames Research Center (ARC) is partnering with the Air Force's
Operationally Responsive Space Office (ORS) in New Mexico to establish the
Rapid Response Space Works. NASA ARC will serve as lead executing agent with
overall contracting, programmatic and systems engineering responsibilities...
The Rapid Response Space Works (RRSW) and Space Vehicle procurement has two
primary objectives. The first objective is to standup initial operations of
the RRSW. This objective creates the ability for the ORS Office to meet its
"Deploy" mission capability of rapidly deploying capabilities to
the warfighter within days to weeks. The second objective is to procure,
outside of the RRSW, modular multi-mission space vehicles and/or buses and
payloads for the RRSW. (7/19)
Devon Island Mars Explorers Test Florida Hardware (Source: FMARS)
The crew of the 2009 Flashline Arctic Mars Research Station, (FMARS) is
halfway through their month-long mission and have accomplished many of the
goals that they set out at the beginning of the mission. The crew has had the
chance to smooth out some of the rough edges and test out both Omega Envoy's
Lunar Rover Prototype and Prioria Robotics Unmanned Aerial Vehicle the
Maveric. Both robotic tools are from Florida-based companies as are two of
the expedition members. Outside of snow flurries, sub-zero temperatures and
the occasional spacesuit problem, the crew of six has been doing very well
and will be conducting a Skype interview session with Kennedy Space Center
interns on Jul. 20. (7/19)
Mars Simulation Begins On Devon Island (Source: Space Daily)
The FMARS Xll 2009 crew has arrived on "Mars" and is now entering
their formal simulated Mars mission. They are on Devon Island, north of the
Arctic Circle, peering out the portholes of the Mars habitat located at the
edge of the Haughton Crater. The stark beauty of the arctic desert scenery
adds to the realism of this epic endeavor, with human explorers restricted by
operational constraints similar to those to be faced by future human
explorers on Mars. They are living in the habitat, conducting daily EVAs
while wearing full analog Mars spacesuits, and limiting their communications
with Mission Support and their families back on "Earth." (7/17)
Venus had a Wet, Volcanic Past (Source: Astronomy Now)
Covered in oceans, continents and flowing lava, Venus may have once been more
like Earth's twin than its evil step-sister, say planetary scientists. Venus
is sometimes nicknamed Earth's twin because the two planets share a similar
size, gravity and bulk composition. But with a thick cloak of sulphuric acid
clouds and a surface pressure nearly one hundred times that of Earth, it is
far from hospitable. Planetary scientists believe that a young Venus once
possessed Earth-like oceans, which evaporated into space to leave a barren
landscape. Thanks to ESA's Venus Express satellite, the first map charting
the planet's southern hemisphere at infrared wavelengths, and comprising over
one thousand individual images, gives scientists another tool in the quest to
understand how the two planets evolved so differently. The new Venus Express
map is the first to hint at the chemical composition of the rocks. The data
suggest that the highland plateaus are ancient continents created by volcanic
activity and were once surrounded by oceans. (7/15)
Hardware Problem Blamed on NASA Satellite Crash, Taurus Launch From
California (Source: AP)
A piece of rocket hardware failed to separate during the launch of a NASA
climate satellite earlier this year, causing it crash back to Earth,
according to an accident summary released Friday. The Orbiting Carbon
Observatory splashed into the ocean near Antarctica on Feb. 24, minutes after
lifting off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California aboard a Taurus
rocket. A team of space experts appointed by NASA to investigate the mishap
said the nose cone that protects the satellite did not come off as planned.
Although the investigators could not pinpoint the exact cause for the failed
separation, they said four potential problems with the rocket's hardware may
be to blame. (7/18)
Launch of SpaceX Falcon 1 Rocket with
Malaysian Satellite a Success (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
A Malaysian satellite rode a Falcon 1 rocket into orbit Monday night, marking
the first time the privately-developed booster has successfully launched an
operational spacecraft. The 70-foot-tall rocket was making its fifth flight.
Three of its four previous launches failed, dooming two small military
satellites. But SpaceX, the California-based company that developed the
launcher, scored its second straight success Monday, almost nine months after
the Falcon 1 first reached orbit last year. (7/14)
South Korea to Launch its Own Space Rocket This Month (Source:
SpaceDaily.com)
South Korea will this month launch a satellite using its own rocket as part
of a drive to join Asia's space race. An experimental satellite weighing 100
kilograms (220 pounds) will be launched into a low earth orbit on July 30
from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, 300 miles south of Seoul. Only nine other
countries have their own launch vehicles. The launch will come around four
months after Seoul's rival North Korea in April fired a long-range rocket for
what it called a satellite launch. (7/14)
South Korea Postpones First Rocket Launch (Source: Space Daily)
South Korea has again postponed the launch of its first space rocket due to
technical reasons, a spokesman for the Korea Aerospace Research Institute
said Friday. Russian counterparts building the first stage of the Korea Space
Launch Vehicle-1 had called for more time for testing, said spokesman Kim
Hong-Gab. The launch date was previously set for on or around July 30,
depending on the weather. It was the third time that South Korea has
postponed the much-touted launch. (7/17)
India Admits Spacecraft Glitch After 8 Weeks (Source: The Telegraph)
A malfunction aboard Chandrayaan-1 has crippled an electronic eye used to
maintain the spacecraft’s orientation in its lunar orbit, forcing engineers
to activate the only backup available. An on-board sensor that tracked stars
and helped ensure the spacecraft’s antenna and its cameras pointed in the
right directions began to malfunction on April 26, the Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO) said. Although ISRO took steps to overcome the hurdle,
the space agency remained silent about the glitch for over eight weeks.
(7/18)
China Tools Up for Asian Space Race (Source: Space Daily)
Forty years after the United States landed a man on the moon, China's
fledgling space program is racing to get to the lunar surface before an
American return and ahead of its Asian rivals. The United States -- the only
country to have sent men to the moon -- is hoping to touch down on the lunar
surface again by 2020, almost a generation after it first completed six
historic manned lunar trips between 1969 and 1972. Meanwhile, after putting
its first man into space in 2003 -- the third nation to do so -- China is
aiming to launch an unmanned rover on the moon's surface by 2012 and a manned
mission to the moon by around 2020. (7/13)
Espionage Conviction for Former Boeing Engineer Spying for China
(Source: Space News)
Dongfan "Greg" Chung, a 72-year-old former Boeing engineer living
in Orange County, Calif., was convicted July 16 by a federal judge of charges
that he stole restricted technology and trade secrets, including information
related to the space shuttle program and Delta 4 rocket, and gave them to his
native China. (7/19)
UK Deserves More Bang for its Buck as Minister Hints at a British NASA
(Source: Scotsman)
The government is considering setting up a British version of NASA, the
American space agency which is currently celebrating the 40th anniversary of
the Moon landing. After decades in which successive British governments have
considered human spaceflight an expensive distraction, the science minister,
Lord Drayson yesterday refused to rule out the creation a British NASA. The
government is now looking at reorganizing its space policy, which, according
to Lord Drayson, required a "much higher profile". The 40th
anniversary of the Moon landing in 1969 has sparked new interest in space
travel among a new generation, he said. (7/13)
It’s Blast-Off Britain as Ban on Space Flight Ends (Source: Times
Online)
Britain is finally – and officially – to put men and women into space. A
government policy against sending Britons into orbit is to be reversed after
almost a quarter of a century. Until now, British-born astronauts have had to
“hitch” rides on American or Russian space missions. However, Lord Drayson,
the science minister, has confirmed that the decision not to fund human
space-flight training programs, made by Margaret Thatcher in 1986, is to be
rescinded. (7/19)
Russian Import Duties on GPS Navigators to be Raised at Least 25%
(Source: Itar-Tass)
Import duties on GPS navigators may be raised by at least 25%, Deputy Prime
Minister Sergei Ivanov said. The government is considering a proposal of the
Industry and Trade Ministry and the Federal Tariff Service to reduce to zero
the import duties on GPS components and to raise the import duties on
finished GPS products. "That will allow Russia to import equipment for
Glonass and GPS,” Ivanov said, adding that other countries, among them the
United States, applied similar rules. (7/17)
Boeing Wins Four-Satellite Contract (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Boeing, which has not been a major player in the commercial satellite market
in recent years, announced this week a contract for four satellites of a new
design to communications satellite operator Intelsat. The contract for
Intelsat 21, 22, and two satellites yet to be named will be the first to use
the Boeing 702B satellite, a smaller version of its existing large Boeing 702
communications satellite platform. Terms of the contract, or when the
satellites would be delivered for launch, were not disclosed. Boeing has won
very few commercial satellite contracts in the last several years, focusing
more on government sales. (7/18)
Loral To Build Telstar 14R Satellite for 2011 Launch (Source: Space
News)
Satellite fleet operator Telesat's Telstar 14R telecommunications satellite
will be built by Space Systems/Loral and launched in mid-2011 aboard an
International Launch Services Proton rocket under contracts Telesat announced
July 16. (7/19)
Northrop Gets $30M Contract for 'Space Fence' Development (Source: LA
Business Journal)
Northrop Grumman Corp. has been awarded a $30 million contract from the U.S.
Air Force for development of the "Space Fence" global space
surveillance ground radar system. The new Space Fence is part of the U.S.
Department of Defense's effort to continually track and detect objects such
as space debris and satellites in low and medium earth orbit. The Space Fence
will replace the current VHF Air Force Space Surveillance System built in
1961. (7/14)
The Numbers Game (Source: Space Review)
It's a simple question that's difficult to answer: how many objects are
orbiting the Earth? Brian Weeden explains the challenges in identifying and
tracking satellites and debris, and how the US military and others can
improve this effort. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1417/1
to view the article. (7/14)
The First Space Cadets (Source: Space Review)
Getting the Air Force's first satellite program going was both a technical
and organizational challenge. Dwayne Day describes how a few officers -- the
"Space Cadets" -- helped push the program forward. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1416/1
to view the article. (7/14)
Former 'N Sync Member Lance Bass Still
Hopes to go into Space (Source: NY Daily News)
Lance Bass wants to do the moonwalk - and he's got the goods to pull it off.
"I'm a trained astronaut, and it's my time to go," the former 'N
Syncer told us at the Louis Vuitton Celebrates the 40th Anniversary of the
Lunar Landing event on Monday night. Bass attended space camp as a kid and
actually tried to launch into orbit on a Russian rocket in 2002. (7/15)
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