Don’t have $200,000 to pluck down for five minutes of suborbital weightless bliss? No worries. You might be able to get there for mere $25. If you’re very, very, very lucky.
An Isle of Man-based Space Miles (IOM) Ltd. has announced what appears to be the first space lottery. The Space Shuffle will allow contestants to win suborbital tourist flights, zero gravity trips, and other prizes.
“The Space Shuffle Lottery will be offering an ongoing continuous series of Space Flight Excursion Tickets as prizes at the affordable entry price of $25.00,” according to the company’s press release. “We hope a whole series of Lucky Winners will earn their Astronaut Wings and personally contribute to mankind’s greatest adventure.”
The lottery will not begin operation for several months. It is not affiliated with Vrigin Galactic or any other company offering space tourism flights.
The Times of India reports that engineers are making good progress in preparing that nation’s first lunar orbiter, Chandrayaan-1, for launch later this year.
The spacecraft is being assembled at the Indian Space Research Organisation’s facility in Bangalore. Officials report that five instruments from the United States and Europe have been successfully tested.
The launch has slipped a couple of months. ISRO officials have said they expect to send the orbiter off on its mission sometime in the third quarter of the year.
South Korean astronaut Yi So-yeon is out of the hospital after treatment for injuries she received during the rough landing of her Soyuz vehicle last month. The Korean Times reports that she still has a sore back.
“I’m still wearing a brace, and my doctor said that I must not run, yet. That’s really hard because I love running,” Yi said at a press conference on Friday. She will leave South Korea on Sunday for a mission debriefing in Moscow.
Meanwhile, the man she replaced on the flight, Ko San, denied an earlier report that he was booted from the International Space Station mission for attempting to send classified documents about the Russian space program home to Korea.
“I’m not that stupid to try to steal important documents that way. There were really subtle incidents and Russian officials later agreed they did not matter,” Ko told The Korea Times. “The replacement of astronauts was a very complicated matter because intelligence agencies were involved in it.”
Ko said he was trying to understand how Soyuz’s systems worked so he could participate in the mission safely.
Continue reading ‘South Korea: Yi on the Mend, Ko Says He Didn’t Steal Documents’
Gregg Easterbrook takes issue with NASA’s “Who, us?” attitude toward protecting the Earth against errant asteroids in a piece titled, “The Sky is Falling,” in The Atlantic. “The odds that a potentially devastating space rock will hit Earth this century may be as high as one in 10. So why isn’t NASA trying harder to prevent catastrophe?” Easterbook’s answer? NASA is obsessed with putting humans on the moon.
A Russian Progress vehicle was launched from Kazakhstan on Wednesday with fresh supplies for astronauts aboard the International Space Station. And what will the fastest men alive be receiving in additional to their regular shipment of clothes, oxygen and fuel? Snails. Ninety of them. (No, they’re not going to eat them; it’s all part of a biology experiment. Really.)
In other news, SpaceX’s Elon Musk is saying that he could launch astronauts to ISS aboard his Dragon spacecraft by 2011 if NASA gives the OK to develop a human-rated version of the vehicle this summer. This date is at least two years (or four or five) before NASA would be able to launch its Orion vehicle.
This is an ambitious goal given that SpaceX has yet to successfully launch anything into space. It failed in both attempts to launch its small Falcon I rocket; a third attempt is scheduled for next month. Dragon will be launched atop the company’s larger Falcon 9 rocket, which has yet to fly.
The Russian space agency Roskosmos said on Wednesday that it will be teaming with the European Space Agency to build a new spacecraft capable of carrying up to six astronauts to low Earth orbit and the moon. Reuters reports that test flights of the winged vehicle would begin in 2015, with the first human mission three years later.
European officials confirmed that such a plan was being considered, but said that nothing had been decided yet. ESA’s space ministers will meet late this year at The Hague to map out the agency’s future direction.
“This is factually correct in the sense that indeed this is the outline of the system,” ESA spokesman Franco Bonacina told Reuters. “But we haven’t decided upon anything yet. … It’s too premature. It’s still at the level of studies. In November, at a ministerial meeting, it’s not taken for granted this option will be the one that finally takes shape.”
There are several plans being considered in Europe, including building a human-rated capsule for use on ESA’s Automated Transfer Vehicle, which currently is used to ferry supplies to the International Space Station.
EADS Astrium and the German Space Agency (DLR) have proposed modifying Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle to carry three astronauts into orbit, the BBC reports.
“The ATV, which ferried just under five tonnes of supplies to the orbiting platform in April, is packed with sophisticated navigation, rendezvous and docking technologies. It also has a pressurised section that is ‘human rated’ in the sense that, once docked to the 340km-high station, astronauts can move around inside it safely in just T-shirts.
“But the ATV was not built with the intention of transporting humans across space, and a fit-for-purpose capsule would have to be developed to take the place of the current cargo section.”
If the project is approved, EADS and DLR officials believe they could conduct test flight beginning in 2013, with human flights coming four or five years later. The project will likely be considered by European space ministers at a meeting in November.
MICROSOFT PRESS RELEASE
REDMOND, Wash. — May 12, 2008 — The final frontier got a bit closer today as Microsoft Corp. officially launched the public beta of its WorldWide Telescope, which is now available at http://www.worldwidetelescope.org.
WorldWide Telescope is a rich Web application that brings together imagery from the best ground- and space-based observatories across the world to allow people to easily explore the night sky through their computers. WorldWide Telescope has been eagerly anticipated by the astronomical and educational communities as a compelling astronomical resource for students and lifelong learners, and as a way to make science fun for children.
“The WorldWide Telescope is a powerful tool for science and education that makes it possible for everyone to explore the universe,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “By combining terabytes of incredible imagery and data with easy-to-use software for viewing and moving through all that information, the WorldWide Telescope opens the door to new ways to see and experience the wonders of space. Our hope is that it will inspire young people to explore astronomy and science, and help researchers in their quest to better understand the universe.”
Continue reading ‘Microsoft Launches WorldWide Telescope’
Florida Today has a roundup of what the Florida Legislature has done during its current term to attract and keep aerospace companies. These measures include:
- $14.5 million to upgrade a launch complex for commercial flights;
- $1.25 million for space workforce retention and training programs;
- tax refunds for companies that retain workers; and,
- a measure limiting the liability of space tourism companies.
Ironically, the Legislature passed a budget that severely cuts funding for Space Florida, the organization that develops and promotes the state’s aerospace industry. Space Florida will receive $4 million this year, a reduction from its current $7 million budget. Gov. Charlie Crist had requested an increase to $8.5 million.
The cutback was apparently part of a general belt tightening effort in the midst of an economic downturn. A spokeswoman said Space Florida would cut back on trade shows and other promotional activities but does not anticipate any staff cutbacks.
Florida Today also reports that Space Florida is in negotiations with the U.S. Air Force over the use of Launch Complex 36, a deactivated Atlas rocket launch facility at the Cape Canaveral Air Station. The story does not indicate how the state would use the complex, but it could be related to efforts by Florida to lure Orbital Sciences Corporation to the state. The company is expected to make a decision soon on whether it will launch its new NASA-funded rocket from Virginia or Florida.
BIGELOW AEROSPACE PRESS RELEASE
Las Vegas, NV - Genesis I, the first test module launched by commercial space habitat developer Bigelow Aerospace, has completed its 10,000th orbit around the Earth. The unmanned module is about to start its third year in space since it ushered in a new era of private space development following its July 12, 2006 launch.
Since it was lifted into orbit, Genesis I has continued to perform its main mission to test and verify systems to be used in future manned space habitats. A one-third scale model of the future BA 330 space complex modules, Genesis I performed the first successful test of expandable space habitat technology in orbit.
In its 660 days in orbit, Genesis I has traveled the equivalent of more than 270 million miles, which would take it to the Moon and back 1,154 times.
Continue reading ‘Genesis I Turns 10,000 (Orbits)’
Jeff Foust has published a new edition of The Space Review. Highlights include:
- Part II of Taylor Dinerman’s look at the reusable launch vehicle industry (if you missed it, here’s Part I);
- Eric R. Hedman says space advocates need to stress long-term benefits in selling NASA’s lunar plans to reluctant politicians in “Why the Moon?“;
- Jeff Brooks explains why Congressional Democrats from Massachusetts don’t follow in the footsteps of John F. Kennedy when it comes to space;
- Jeff Foust looks at orbiting propellant depots, whose time he believes is not too far off.