Posted on February 27, 2009, at 3:42 pm .
NASA PRESS RELEASE
NASA has awarded an interim letter contract to Oceaneering International Inc. of Houston to begin work on the design, development and production of a new spacesuit system for the Constellation Program. The system will protect astronauts during voyages to the International Space Station and exploration of the moon’s surface.
The letter contract requires Oceaneering International to begin work on the basic period of performance while NASA and the company negotiate the contract’s final terms. The current award amount for the performance of the letter contract is limited to $9.6 million. It will become effective March 2 and be in effect until the full contract is defined, no later than Aug. 29, 2009.
Continue reading ‘NASA Awards Contract for Lunar Spacesuit’
Posted on February 27, 2009, at 3:37 pm .

Out of this world!
eTurboNews
Porto-born entrepreneur Mário Ferreira has already booked his ticket and is raring to go, but doesn’t the idea of boldly going where fewer than five hundred people have been before worry him at all?
Continue reading ‘Space Tourist Confident of SpaceShipTwo Safety’
Posted on February 27, 2009, at 3:21 pm .
PRESS RELEASE
InterPlanetary Ventures, the Human Synergy Project, and Interorbital Systems have joined forces to become Synergy Moon, the newest team to enter the Google Lunar X PRIZE race to the Moon.
Continue reading ‘Synergy Moon Joins Google Lunar X Prize’
Posted on February 27, 2009, at 11:21 am .
NASA INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT
ON STANDING REVIEW BOARDS
We found 21 SRB members—close to one-third of all non-Federal CxP SRB members— with conflicts of interest and determined that each of the SRBs for CxP and its constituent Projects included at least one non-Federal Government employee who was conflicted.
Continue reading ‘IG: NASA Boards Riddled With Conflicts of Interest’
Posted on February 27, 2009, at 11:10 am .

NASA PRESS RELEASE
NASA has presented its premier honor for quality and performance, the George M. Low Award, to three companies that share a commitment to teamwork, technical and managerial excellence, safety, and customer service.
Continue reading ‘NASA Announces Winners of 2008 George M. Low Award for Quality’
Posted on February 27, 2009, at 11:04 am .

Space.com has an interesting video of millionaut Richard Garriott giving a tour of the International Space Station during his recent space tourism flight.
Posted on February 27, 2009, at 10:59 am .
Extra Ares Flight-Test Possible
Aviation Week
Managers at NASA are pulling together options for spending the roughly $400 million in extra funds that have become available for human exploration under the economic stimulus package, and have not ruled out an extra flight-test to hasten development of the Ares I crew launch vehicle.
Continue reading ‘NASA May Use Budget Boost for Extra Ares Flight Test’
Posted on February 27, 2009, at 10:52 am .

Florida Today has a couple of reports about President Barack Obama’s proposed budget, which provides more than $1 billion in extra funding while seeming to maintain most of the features of the last administration’s space policy, including human voyages to the moon:
Continue reading ‘Shuttle Retirement Set for 2010 as Local Economy Prepares to Take Hit’
Posted on February 27, 2009, at 10:39 am .

Delia insists that staging a wedding in space isn’t pie in sky!
Portadown Times
The bride and groom-to-be have made tentative enquiries about exchanging their wedding vows in space – when Sir Richard Branson’s latest venture, the Virgin Galactic spaceship, goes into orbit in 2010.
Continue reading ‘Space Tourism’s New Frontier: Weddings’
Posted on February 26, 2009, at 6:28 pm .

Jonathan Goff has a lengthy post in which he analyzes the good and bad points of NASA’s COTS program, which is funding the development of commercial orbital space vehicles.
Continue reading ‘What’s Working – and Not Working – in NASA’s COTS Program’