ISRO Chairman K Radhakrishnan says that the next test flight of the agency’s new cryogenic engine should take place in about a year.
“A flight testing of the Indigenous Cryogenic Engine Stage, in April, and as you know we had some snags there. We went through a very detailed analysis as to what happens and why it happens and we have come to a couple of scenarios in which such a snag would have occurred and our immediate task is to confirm that through testing on the ground and then prepare for the next flight testing. This should happen in year from now,” he added.
102 Huntsville Constellation workers laid off Tuesday; total nears 300 The Huntsville Times
A key NASA contractor laid off 102 aerospace workers in Huntsville Tuesday, sources said, bringing to nearly 300 the number reportedly sent home in the last week as the Constellation rocket program collapses toward a funding deadline today.
NASA budget: Lawmakers make no decision on Constellation, space shuttle future Orlando Sentinel
A key congressional committee sidestepped a potential vote on NASA’s future Tuesday, opting to take no position on White House plans to scrap NASA’s moon-rocket program and replace the space shuttle with commercial rockets.
A 40 cm ion thruster in operation at NASA Glenn Research Center. The NEXT program is a joint venture of NASA and Aerojet.
AEROJET PRESS RELEASE
Aerojet, a GenCorp company, announced today that its innovative ion propulsion engine – built in partnership between Aerojet and NASA’s Glenn Research Center – has completed a test series encompassing the requirements of a wide range of ambitious space missions, including the recently announced Flagship Technology Demonstrator first mission (FTD-1).
The thruster was developed under NASA’s Evolutionary Xenon Thruster (NEXT) program as the next generation beyond the ion engines now propelling the Dawn spacecraft to a pair of asteroids. The NEXT engine has been in operation for more than 30,000 hours at NASA’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio.
STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
ON THE NATIONAL SPACE PLAN
Over the past fifty years, America has led the world in space exploration, broadening humanity’s horizons and our understanding of the universe. And our achievements have in turn led to incredible technological advances that have improved our lives and transformed our economy. We can point to satellites orbiting hundreds of miles overhead that can identify our location within inches, or communications systems that allow information to flow around the world as never before. In part, what has made this progress possible was a commitment by our nation to scientific discovery and technological innovation, and an unyielding faith in the future – even during difficult times.
Today, President Obama announced the administration’s new National Space Policy. The National Space Policy expresses the President’s direction for the Nation’s space activities. The policy articulates the President’s commitment to reinvigorating U.S. leadership in space for the purposes of maintaining space as a stable and productive environment for the peaceful use of all nations.
Having no money to build a real lunar base, NASA has decided to create one virtually.
NASA PRESS RELEASE
Moonbase Alpha is a game with single and multiplayer options where players step into the role of an exploration team member in a futuristic 3-D lunar settlement. Their mission is to restore critical systems and oxygen flow after a nearby meteor strike cripples a solar array and life support equipment.
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation welcomes President Obama’s new National Space Policy, which underscores the importance of commercial spaceflight for American economic growth and leadership in space.
NASA has issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) seeking proposals and industry input on heavy-lift system concepts and propulsion technology.
NASA is seeking an innovative path for human space exploration that strengthens its capability to extend human and robotic presence throughout the solar system. The information also may help lay the groundwork for humans to safely reach multiple potential destinations, including asteroids, Lagrange points, the moon and Mars.
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