Space Tourism … and Much More
I’m giving the blog a weekend off while I enjoy the nice weather we’re having here in Northern California. Barring anything newsworthy, posts will resume on Monday.
In the meantime, I thought I would leave you with a pictorial essay of a trip I took up to the Golden Gate last weekend….
Continue reading ‘A Late Winter Break…’
Guy Laliberte (first row, far right) aboard the International Space Station.
Pop those champagne corks, all you would-be space tourists. It looks like you’ll get to vacation in orbit after all.
A pair of Russian media outlets say that the country’s space program will begin taking tourists to the International Space Station beginning in 2012. Seven tourist flights were flown between 2001-09, ending with Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte’s holiday last September.
Continue reading ‘Billionauts Back in Business By 2012′
Masten Space Systems Xombie rocket on a test flight on March 18, 2010. P>
It looks as if SpaceShipTwo will fly soon.
The latest log entry on the Scaled Composites website shows a nearly 4-hour flight of the WhiteKnightTwo mother ship on March 4 that tested the launch pylon for the space plane:
Continue reading ‘Virgin Galactic Gearing Up for First SpaceShipTwo Captive Flight’
President Barack Obama’s new space policy puts a lot of emphasis on the development of “game changing” technology that will allow us to explore and settle the cosmos.
The approach will get an early test run next month during the 2010 Rice Business Plan Competition in House. NASA’s Johnson Space Center recently announced the addition of a $50,000 “Game Changer” Commercial Space Innovation Prize to the contest.
Continue reading ‘NASA Offers $50,000 for ‘Game Changing’ Space Innovation’
Experience weightlessness through ZERO-G in Washington DC on April 3. (PRNewsFoto/Zero Gravity Corporation, Al Powers)
Ah, springtime in Washington.
The sun is shining. Cherry blossoms are blooming. And the Nats are losing.
Now we can add one more thing to spring in the big D.C.: rich people floating.
Continue reading ‘ZERO-G Brings Microgravity to the Nation’s Capital’
The Florida House of Representatives unanimously passed a measure today that unfreezes $10 million needed for the completion of a new commercial launch complex at Cape Canaveral.
Space Florida will use the fund for work on Launch Complex 36, which is being designed for use by commercial launch providers. The Legislature had appropriated $14.5 million for the work in 2008; however, it froze the funding last year after $4.5 million had been spent because Space Florida did not have a master plan.
Continue reading ‘Florida Legislature Moves to Unfreeze Funds for Commercial Launch Complex’
International Space Station
AVIATION WEEK PRESS RELEASE
Today at an awards dinner in Washington, DC, AVIATION WEEK named the winners of the 53rd Annual Laureate Awards, which honor those who have shown heroism and exceptional leadership in the aviation, aerospace and defense industries. The following Laureate Award winners have advanced their organizations, integrated new technologies, and transformed aviation history.
Space: International Space Station Program Managers Pierre Jean, Canadian Space Agency; Bernardo Patti, European Space Agency; Yoshiyuki Hasegawa, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; Alexey Krasnov, Roscosmos; and Michael Suffredini, NASA, completed the 25-year project in 2009 with the addition of the last major modules and the expansion of the crew to six. The ISS is arguably the signature engineering achievement of the last 60 years. By working together, partner agencies demonstrated that the station is as much an achievement in foreign relations as it is in aerospace engineering.
Continue reading ‘Aviation Week Honors ISS Program Managers With Laureate Award’
AEROSPACE INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION PRESS RELEASE
March 11, 2010
President Obama’s remarks today on the National Export Initiative and the agenda for export control modernization together signal his commitment to protect our national security while strengthening U.S. exports. In today’s intensely competitive global economy, American economic leadership is increasingly at risk.
Continue reading ‘AIA Praises Obama’s Export Reform Efforts’
Assessing Commercial Space Capabilities
U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Science and Space Subcommittee
Mar 18 2010 2:30 PM
Russell Senate Office Building – 253
Witnesses
Lieutenant General Thomas P. Stafford
United States Air Force, (Ret.)
Astronaut (Ret.)
Mr. Bryan D. O’Connor
Chief, Safety and Mission Assurance
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Dr. George C. Nield
Associate Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation
Federal Aviation Administration
Mr. Malcolm L. Peterson
Former NASA Comptroller
Mr. Michael C. Gass
President and Chief Executive Officer
United Launch Alliance
Mr. Frank L. Culbertson Jr.
Senior Vice President and Deputy General Manager, Advanced Programs Group
Orbital Sciences Corporation
Ms. Gwynne Shotwell
President
SpaceX
Blue Origin has received NASA funding for a crew launch abort system although it does not currently have an active permit for experimental flights.
Swedish Woman Books Trip to Space, Needs Sponsors
Four Swedish tourists have booked tickets to space aboard Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo. One of them needs sponsors to make the dream come true.