We (still) don’t have no stinkin’ badges!

Greetings from La Jolla!

The International Space Development Conference is now at the lunch break of Day 2. Most people are currently at the overpriced luncheon waiting for author/scientific thinker/former Prince & Bruce Springsteen publicist Howard Bloom to speak. I skipped the lunch and had a turkey sandwich I made at my sister’s house.

If the short preview Bloom gave earlier today is any indication, they’re in for quite a treat. Bloom spoke about a baby burned over 95 percent of its body American napalm. Or Vietnamese napalm. Or maybe it was Chinese or Russian napalm. Nobody really knew whose napalm it was, or whether it was napalm at all. Which made the entire tangent rather mysterious.

His point — as near as I could tell — was that it was impossible to know from just the photo of the baby what had actually happened to it or why. And that somehow related to the picture of Earth rise taken by the Apollo astronauts from the moon because the caption on that was all wrong because it pointed out how fragile the Earth was and how it needed protecting (presumably from napalm, among other things) and not that humanity was expanding into the cosmos.

Or something. He was a little hard to follow.

And that was just one of several zany thing to happen over the last two days.

At the dinner last night, Rick Tumlinson did his typical Rev. Rick sermon from the mount in he discussed why we’re going to explore space. One of the reasons was for the next generation, which is well represented at the conference. That was true enough, but they weren’t really well represented at the dinner, presumably due to the high cost of it. Organizers had set up rows of seats at the back for the young folks who couldn’t afford dinner so they could listen to Rev. Rick preach to the choir, but apparently nobody had sent them the invitations. So, the seats were largely empty.

Logistics has been a pretty big challenge here. As I write this at the mid-point of Day 2, I am still waiting for them to print my conference badge. And I am not alone.

The other highlight from last night’s dinner was Art Dula’s pitch for Buzz Aldrin’s new book, “Mission to Mars.” Dula said he was going to buy 10 of the books himself for Buzz to sign on Saturday and urged others to buy the book because we might not ever get a chance to have him sign a book again. As the audience contemplated the Apollo 11 moon walker’s advanced age and the relative values of a famous signatures give the status of the signer, Dula quickly added that he hoped that Buzz would be signing books for centuries to come.

Dula got it right the first time. Although I don’t think he should have said it out loud with Buzz sitting at one of the front tables.

More later.

“I want to be a bit daring,” Klyukin told Reuters. “I will have to give up smoking now for sure!”

Klyukin won the trip at the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS charity dinner during the Cannes Film Festival. Two more seats on the same flight were auctioned off for an additional $2.3 million.

Seats on Virgin Galactic flights now cost $250,000 apiece.

“SIA is pleased that the Administration has moved quickly to right-size the rules that govern exports of satellites and their parts and components, just a few months after Congress restored their authority to do so,” said Patricia Cooper, President of the Satellite Industry Association. “SIA and our member companies will be prominent participants in the public comment process. We view sensible and effective export controls as a vital tool to enhance our nation’s space industrial base and encourage the satellite sector’s ongoing leadership in innovation and investment.”

The two draft regulations, titled “International Traffic in Arms: Revision of U.S. Munitions List Category XV and Definition of Defense Service” and “Export Administration Regulations (EAR): Control of Spacecraft Systems and Related Items the President Determines No Longer Warrant Control Under the United States Munitions List (USML)” are available for download at:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-05-24/pdf/2013-11985.pdf;

and

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-05-24/pdf/2013-11986.pdf.

About The Satellite Industry Association

SIA is a U.S.-based trade association providing worldwide representation of the leading satellite operators, service providers, manufacturers, launch services providers, and ground equipment suppliers. Since its creation more than eighteen years ago, SIA has advocated for the unified voice of the U.S. satellite industry on policy, regulatory, and legislative issues affecting the satellite business. For more information, visit www.sia.org.

WHAT:

Planetary Resources’ team of engineers who have designed, built and operated spacecraft throughout the Solar System, including all of the recent U.S. Mars landers and rovers, are now developing the most advanced space technology ever and will make it publicly accessible.

A diverse group of supporters, including Virgin’s Sir Richard Branson, actor Seth Green, Star Trek’s Brent Spiner (Data) and Rob Picardo (The Doctor), Bill Nye the Science Guy, futurist Jason Silva, and MIT astrophysicist Dr. Sara Seager, have joined forces with Planetary Resources to make access to space widely available for exploration and research.

On May 29 at 10:00 a.m. PDT in Seattle, and also streaming live, please join Planetary Resources’ Peter Diamandis, Eric Anderson and Chris Lewicki, as they, along with vlogger Hank Green, announce an unprecedented project that will change the way humanity explores the cosmos.

Program Highlights:

Gives students, teachers and the public access to the most innovative space observation technology ever built  – This technology would have cost US$100M+ to build and launch less than a decade ago; and today, it will be controlled by students around the world to explore the cosmos.

Offers the opportunity for the public to directly participate in cutting-edge citizen science and discovery – Delivers a resource to thousands of institutions and researchers in need of greater access to space to further their work and rate of scientific discovery.

Invites the public to participate in Planetary Resources’ asteroid mining mission – Anyone with an interest in space can play a role in opening up the Solar System for human activity.

WHEN:

Wed., May 29, 2013

10:00 a.m. PDT

WHO:

Peter H. Diamandis, M.D., Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.

Eric Anderson, Co-Founder & Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources, Inc.

Chris Lewicki, President & Chief Engineer, Planetary Resources, Inc.

Hank Green, Internet personality, VlogBrothers

WHERE:

Great Gallery at The Museum of Flight

9404 East Marginal Way South

Seattle, WA 98108

About Planetary Resources:

Planetary Resources, Inc. was founded in 2009 by Eric Anderson and Dr. Peter H. Diamandis. Their vision is to establish a new paradigm for resource utilization that will bring the Solar System within humanity’s economic sphere of influence. The company will conduct low-cost robotic space exploration beginning with the Arkyd Series of space missions that will identify the most commercially viable near-Earth asteroids. These initial missions will assist the company in enabling the retrieval of raw materials from these select asteroids, including water, precious metals and more.

Planetary Resources is financed by industry-launching visionaries, three of whom include Google’s CEO Larry Page & Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt; and Ross Perot, Jr., Chairman of Hillwood and The Perot Group; who are committed to expanding the world’s resource base so humanity can continue to grow and prosper for centuries to come. Some of the company’s partners and advisors include the Bechtel Corporation; film maker and explorer James Cameron; former Chief of Staff, United States Air Force General T. Michael Moseley (Ret.); and Sara Seager, Ph.D., Professor of Planetary Science and Physics at MIT. For more information, please visit www.planetaryresources.com.

The NSS Roadmap to Space Settlement discusses milestones to be reached for the settlement of four destinations: the Moon, Mars, asteroids, and orbital space settlements. The Roadmap takes no stand on which may or should come first but supports all four destinations.

As originally announced in Ad Astra magazine, this Roadmap was adopted by the NSS Board of Directors in 2012, updating the original NSS Roadmap published in 2000.

The availability is extremely limited, so book your ticket today via Spaceport Sweden – and get ready for space!

Spaceport Sweden is a proud reseller of the sensational flights of airZeroG. This is not only the single opportunity to fly in Europe, it is also the largest aircraft in the world license to perform this advanced flying.

During a full day you will be prepared and learn about simulating weightlessness in an Airbus A300, highlight it with the 2.5 hours experience of 12 parabolas in no gravity.

First public flight ever was performed in March 2013, next will be in June 2013 and 25th of October is still on sale!

Location is in France, Paris or Bordeaux-Merginác.

For more details, visit http://www.spaceportsweden.com/booking/ or contact us  – booking@spaceportsweden.com

“I’m king of space!”

The intermittently reliable New York Post has this space tourism item out of France:

One lucky Cannes Film Festival-goer will get to go into outer space with Leonardo DiCaprio. Page Six has exclusively learned one of the auction prizes at tonight’s amfAR gala at Cannes will be a trip on Virgin Galactic’s space flight with “The Great Gatsby” star. Seats on the world’s first commercial space flight cost $200,000, but sources say this auction item was “priceless” because the highest bidder will be personally escorted by DiCaprio.

This will likely be a really good deal for DiCaprio. The bidder will send many times the cost of the ticket to ride with the star of “Titanic” (in which he died) and “The Great Gatsby” (ditto, I think).  Mmmmm….I wonder if that’s really such a good idea…

The proceeds will be more than enough to cover Leo’s ticket to space, meaning that in all likelihood the flight won’t cost him a penny. It’s not that he couldn’t easily afford a ticket, but what’s the point of being a celebrity if you can’t take advantage of these deals. And it’s for a good cause, I guess.

Peter Diamandis achieved the same thing a few years back during X Prize Foundation’s “Radical Benefit for Humanity” gala. In that case, he was the celebrity that someone bid a lot of money to fly into space with aboard SpaceShipTwo. The proceeds were enough to cover his ticket.

Yes, I have made it out of the Mojave Desert for a few days — far away from the big bad winds that threaten to blow my house down, the dust storms that clog up my sinuses, and the suicidal rabbits that jump in front of my car. (I’m serious; it’s the most disturbing thing about that place. That…and all the meth labs.)

But, I digress.

I will attempt to cover this conference as best I can, but it’s not going to be that easy. The session rooms lack Internet wireless, work tables and electrical power strips for one’s laptops and electronic gadgets. I can barely Tweet because my wireless phone gets almost no signal.  It’s mind boggling. I’ve stood in the middle of the Mojave Desert — surrounded by nothing by sagebrush and snakes and God knows what else — and gotten better signals than I have here.

They had the same problems four years ago at ISDC in Orlando. At the time, I was told the luxury hotel there was charging too much for Internet service. So, I would cover a talk and then walk over to another part of the hotel to file a story.  It’s just surreal to listen to folks talk about sending people to Mars and we can’t get wireless in the session rooms.

It’s a major annoyance to me, but it’s a bigger loss for NSS and broader space community. Organizers go through years of preparations to hold this conference, then the coverage of it is diminished by a lack of basic services one would expect in 2013. Not just by me and other media folks, but by anyone who wants to use social media to let others follow what’s going on here. These media outlets are a great magnifier for any conference.

This is something that needs to be corrected for future conferences.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL., May 22, 2013 (CASIS PR)

The Request for Proposals (RFP) seeks to identify projects studying the effects of microgravity on non‑embryonic mammalian stem cells for one of two research emphasis areas: (1) rapid turn-around spaceflight experiments to be performed on the National Lab or (2) ground-based research that will pave the way for improved spaceflight experiments in the future. CASIS will support selected projects through grant funding, facilitation of service provider partnerships and flight coordination to and from the ISS.

Stem cells are cells that have not yet completed differentiation, the change that occurs when cells and tissues become more specialized in their functions. They display remarkable plasticity in their ability to give rise to a spectrum of cell types and ensure life-long tissue rejuvenation and regeneration. A breadth of experiments on the ground utilizing simulated microgravity, and a smaller number of experiments in space, have shown that microgravity induces changes in the way stem cells grow, divide and differentiate. Exploiting these changes may allow acceleration of traditional ground-based research studies. Stem cell biology in microgravity is thus poised to transform broad fields from discovery science to tissue engineering to regenerative medicine.

“CASIS is excited to support research in an area with such broad implications,” said CASIS Interim Executive Director Jim Royston. “Awarded projects will help demonstrate the utility of the National Lab for stem cell research and ultimately enable improvements in drug screening techniques and regenerative medicine.”

For additional information about this RFP, including instructions and information regarding stem cell research, CASIS and the ISS please visit:

http://www.iss-casis.org/Opportunities/Solicitations/RFPStemCellsResearch.aspx

Proposals must be submitted electronically by 5pm EDT on July 25, 2013 via the CASIS solicitations website page.

Editor’s Note: AEB — the Brazilian Space Agency — has published a Q&A with Pedro Henrique Doria Nehme, an agency trainees who recently won a trip to space aboard XCOR’s Lynx suborbital vehicle. The interview is reproduced below, translated from Portuguese via Google Translate.

Pedro Henrique Doria Nehme, 21, will go down in history. He will be the first Brazilian civilian to go to space. The future space tourist won the World Space Flight promotion, undertaken by KLM, which awarded the winner with a spot on the ship Lynx, operated by Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) of the Netherlands.

The student demonstrates he has not realized the significance of the prize he won. A trainee of the Brazilian Space Agency (AEB) and eighth semester student of electrical engineering at the University of Brasilia (UNB), Pedro says he is very interested in the space, “as a child, I liked airplanes.” He worked at Goddard Space Flight Center , the American Space Agency (NASA), and studied at the Catholic University of America in Washington , D.C.

In addition to his aerospace work, Pedro plays bass and guitar. The student likes Brazilian music and composers such as Caetano Veloso, Chico Buarque, Nando Reis, and Gilberto Gil.

AEB – Why did you decide to study electrical engineering?

Pedro - My father started studying electrical engineering, but did not finished. He always encouraged me to take interest in engineering. In my house, we were encouraged to open things up and see how they worked. For these reasons, I decided to take the course.

AEB – How did you become interested in space?

Pedro -  As a child, I liked airplanes. My mother gave us LEGO to play around with, and I always preferred aircraft. Before college, there is plenty to do in the area. In high school, we see something about it, but nothing too palpable. When I entered college, I was really interested in the topic. In mid 2011, I was doing a winter course at the National Institute for Space Research (INPE), for a month. It was on aerospace research, and the classes had as their theme space missions. The last week of the course was a short stage. I made ​​the Integration and Tests Laboratory (LIT), in the area of interference and electromagnetic compatibility. From there, I really became interested in the area.

AEB – How was your experience in the INPE course?

Pedro - The course was phenomenal. Some speakers took part in Brazilian missions and others had practical experience with systems. After attending the course, I realized that society does not know much this sector. Before the course, I had no idea what was the LIT. The laboratory is sensational.

AEB – At the College of Engineering at the University of Brasilia (UNB), did you participate in any lab or research group?

Pedro – When I started engineering course, I know the labs and enjoyed the automation and robotics, which is perhaps one of the few laboratories in Brazil that develops such technology. The laboratory operates on several fronts: medical robotics, robotic air, mobile robotics, rehabilitation, among others. It’s a large space, which has partnerships with companies and where many people work. At the time (first half of the course), there was a vacancy in aerial robotics project. Since then, I have participated in the research group.

AEB – How did you get the internship at NASA?

Pedro - I already knew how to speak English and always wanted to go to the United States (U.S.). In late 2011, there was the launch of the Science Without Borders Program, which had exchanges to the U.S. and I always wanted to do the exchange. So, I decided to sign up. In the meantime, the teacher Duília de Mello, who is Catholic University of America in Washington and researcher at NASA, some selected students of the program through the curriculum for an internship at NASA. I was one of them. In total, seven Brazilians were chosen, three from the University of Brasilia, one from the University of São Paulo (USP), one of Southern Cross University and two of the Aeronautics Technological Institute (ITA).

AEB – How was your experience at NASA?

Pedro - The experience was very good, I learned a lot. I spent a year in the United States. I had no notion of both things happening at NASA. Many projects. At the center where I interning, which was the largest of all, were being made ​​more than 200 aerospace projects, with all its complications and specificities. In that time, I learned things that we may never learn to be in Brazil. Well worth you going out, learn and then bring that knowledge to Brazil. I consider myself privileged to have interned at NASA.

AEB – You developed some projects at NASA?

Pedro - At NASA, I  worked at Goddard Space Flight Center , where I was part of the project BETTI ( Balloon Experimental Twin Telescope for Infrared Interferometry ) – developed by a team of astronomers and engineers from NASA, the University of Maryland, and the Institute for Johns Hopkins University. It is a projection and building an observatory balloon to study the cosmos in infrared sharper detail. I and four interns developed a camera. At the time, I was thinking about how researchers had the courage to put materials worth $30,000 in the hands five trainees. Over time, I realized that they have confidence in students.

AEB – How did you end up in AEB?

Pedro - In October, I watched a video on YouTube of the Programme Manager AEB School, Eduardo Quintanilla, giving a lecture at Campus Party . He spoke about the Brazilian Space Program, and in the end, talked about the Olympiad Cansat, which would be launched. I found the lecture interesting and I sent an email to him, telling a bit of my story and asking if they had stage in AEB. When I returned to Brazil, he interviewed me and started the stage.

AEB – As you work with the Agency?

Pedro - Work on the development of the Olympics and Cansat, developing software and hardware for Cansat.

AEB – How did you learn the tender KLM?

Pedro - From a video on YouTube. Before the videos, go shopping and promotional ads. Then I saw the campaign for KLM. It was a very well done video. The entire campaign to publicize the contest was well developed, especially the graphical interface. I often say that I decided to participate because of this.

AEB – Do you watch many videos? Do you think YouTube disseminates knowledge?

Pedro - I am a person who learns a lot by watching, watching videos and lessons. I learn more watching than reading. YouTube is full of lessons, mainly from universities outside. With Youtube , there are literally no boundaries. A person can be anywhere from Brazil and attend classes at the best American universities.

AEB – What did you do to guess where the balloon would fall?

Pedro - It was a kick. I had no information balloon. But that kick was different because all my experience helped me hit him. It’s like a stay-at-home making food. It has revenues of things, but it is all very well, because cooking for several years. So the food “comes out good.” How long worked in the area, I have more sense than a layman.

AEB – How did you know the outcome?

Pedro - On Sunday, KLM e-mailed to all participants of the contest, stating that the result would leave the next day (Monday). In the next morning, I completely forgot the contest. I went to the defense of a master’s degree from a friend about the spatial area. Then for the lab work. It was when I opened my email and saw a message from KLM announcing that I had won the contest.

AEB – What was your reaction?

Pedro - At first I thought it was SPAM, default email because my email filters messages of the day and that had ended up in my inbox the priority inbox. When I started reading, I remembered the contest. So, I thought, is not it possible that I got this deal . For me, it was extremely unlikely that I won. I read the e-mail ten times. It was crazy. I answered the email asking if it was true. They replied: “you won. We will contact you as soon as possible, pass me your contact. ” The next day, they called congratulating me. The staff of KLM São Paulo was very surprised because it was a Brazilian and they told me that they had made ​​the disclosure to some media and I give some interviews. It’s kind of shocking, because today, this type of travel is not something common. I believe the future will be like buying a ticket to São Paulo. But today, it’s weird, it’s different.

AEB – What is the prize you won?

Pedro - I was awarded a place on the ship Lynx, the company Space Expedition Corporation (SXC). Space travel will start in Curacao in the Caribbean. The flight will be suborbital (does not go into orbit around the Earth) and will reach a height of 103 km, crossing the call Kármán line. The trip will take one hour – from takeoff to landing. I’ll be about five minutes in microgravity. Besides the trip to space, won two airline tickets to Curacao in the Caribbean, where the ship will leave, and lodging for two in a luxury hotel.

AEB – When is the trip?

Pedro - There is still no definite date, because the spacecraft is still in the process of certification and go through a testing period. Depends on the response of the spacecraft to these tests. It is expected to be in early 2014.

AEB – You have no idea how the flight will be?

Pedro - I know there is a workout which involves a spacecraft and flight simulator this game. I guess I’ll have to do physical tests and medical examinations. From here to the trip, there is still a little time and lots of things to happen. The time of flight – one hour – it will be extremely intense. The spacecraft will rise and fall very fast. Will exceed three times the speed of sound and will stand approximately five minutes in microgravity (sensation of zero gravity).

AEB – What you plan to do after graduating?

Pedro - My future is still somewhat uncertain. I intend to do a master’s degree in space. Do not know where, in Brazil, the United States or anywhere else. I want to work in the area. Like embedded systems – that is making and designing circuits for aerospace systems.

AEB – Regarding the space issue, where do you see Brazil in a few years?

Pedro - I can see the positive and negative sides of being here and being outside. One of the things I think is key is that the Brazilian bureaucracy hinders the project immensely and engineer. There are people who are dealing with difficult projects that are trying to make things work and, at the same, I need to play the role of administrator, signing paperwork, get involved with the political part. The engineer has to devote himself exclusively to the development of your project. Another negative factor is the investment in the area. When we compare Brazil with the U.S., the difference is absurd. The resources of the American projects are immense, despite the spending cuts in recent years. I think that if Brazil wants to do something important in the area and have ambitious projects, more investment is needed and the support of society.

AEB – What is the positive side of Brazil in this topic?

Pedro - The good thing here is that Brazil is a very good country to live. In the United States, in winter, at 16h hours it’s already dark. People get discouraged, which ends up hindering performance on projects. Brazil has many intelligent and competent wanting to develop the sector. Here, there are many opportunities for that. The competition out there is great. There are countries that are already well developed in the area. The United States is an example. When I returned to the U.S. I felt much, because Brazil is still a country very “raw” in this area. I’m talking about basic things like using the Internet for shopping. The Brazilian still uses very little pen and paper and the computer. This has to change ASAP. Things need to be less bureaucratic. In the United States, there are a lot of government bureaucracy, but it is amazing how everything works on the internet, because people need to devote to work. It is with this thought of dedication that goes into question the functioning of American universities. There are no desks for doctoral students and master’s degrees, free food. Everything is done for the student to have an environment conducive to work and study.

Bothell, WA, 22 May 2013 (TUI PR) -

The “Trusselator” effort will develop a system for on-orbit fabrication and integration of solar arrays using a combination of 3D printing and automated composite layup techniques. The Trusselator™ system will leverage the patent-pending “SpiderFab™” additive manufacturing technologies for on-orbit fabrication that TUI has invented under funding from DARPA and NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program. The Trusselator system will enable affordable deployment of large solar arrays providing many tens or hundreds of kilowatts of power to support solar-electric propulsion missions and space solar power systems.

The “Sensing and Positioning on Inclines and Deep Environments with Retrieval” (SPIDER) effort will develop technologies to enable robotic exploration systems to use launchable, anchored tethers to traverse craters, ravines, and other difficult terrain on asteroids and planetary bodies.

The “SWIFT-NanoLV” effort will develop a suite of economic, lightweight, compact, and reliable avionics to enable nano- and micro- launch vehicles to deliver small spacecraft into orbit with affordable costs.

The “SWIFT-HPX” effort will develop a high-speed Ka-band transceiver for CubeSats and nanosats to enable these small, low-cost spacecraft platforms to perform missions requiring high-speed cross-links and downlinks. The SWIFT-HPX communications system will combine TUI’s high-performance SWIFT™ software-defined radio with an innovative conformal antenna to enable 100 Megabit-per-second data transmissions between smallsats as well as to ground stations.

Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (NASA PR) – NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida has signed a new partnership agreement with United Paradyne Corporation of Santa Maria, Calif., for use of the Hypergolic Maintenance Facility, or HMF.

The HMF previously was used during NASA’s Apollo and Space Shuttle Programs. Because of NASA’s transition from the shuttle to future commercial and government mission activities, this agreement allows NASA to preserve the unique facility capabilities for future spaceflight projects.
United Paradyne will utilize the HMF to provide offline processing support services in the storage, delivery, handling and maintenance of hypergolic and green propellant commodities and satellite fueling operations. The company also will provide services to refurbish, manufacture and assemble test ground support equipment.

“Kennedy continues to work with the commercial community to find innovative ways to use and preserve our unique capabilities,” said Kennedy Director Bob Cabana. “With the support of organizations such as the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast, Kennedy Space Center is well on its way to becoming a world-class multiuser launch complex. We look forward to our partnership with United Paradyne and its contributions to America’s space program.”

Under a 15-year lease agreement, United Paradyne will operate and maintain the facility at its own expense. The company, which will access the facility in June, will employ approximately 12 aerospace workers within the first year and has a goal of achieving 50 new jobs over the next four years.

Kennedy’s center planning and development team and the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast worked with the company to establish the agreement.

United Paradyne Corporation is a privately held business specializing in hypergolic storage facility operations and satellite fueling services.

Kennedy is positioning itself for the next era of space exploration, transitioning to a 21st century launch facility with multiple users, both private and government. A dynamic infrastructure is taking shape, designed to host many kinds of spacecraft and rockets sending people on America’s next adventures in space.

For more information about United Paradyne Corporation, visit:

Artist’s conception of a Bigelow lunar habitat. (Credit: Bigelow Aerospace)

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) – NASA and Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas are holding a media availability at 1:30 p.m. EDT, Thursday, May 23, to discuss the agency’s Space Act Agreement with the company for its insight on collaborating with commercial industry on exploration beyond Earth orbit. Journalists can participate in-person or by teleconference.

The media availability participants are:

• William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator, human exploration and operations, NASA
• Robert Bigelow, founder and president, Bigelow Aerospace

Under the agreement, Bigelow will work with a variety of commercial space companies to assess and develop options for innovative and dynamic private and public investments to create infrastructure to support domestic and international governmental exploration activities alongside revenue generating private sector enterprises. Bigelow will deliver its analysis by the end of this year.

The agreement includes a two-phased approach that will help NASA assess potential opportunities for collaboration. During the first phase, Bigelow will leverage its existing relationships with other private companies and its expertise from continuing operations in space to form common objectives between the private sector and NASA. In the second phase, Bigelow will create a series of options for public-private collaboration that lower costs and takes advantage of rapid implementation.

For more information on Bigelow Aerospace, visit:

http://www.bigelowaerospace.com

For more information on NASA’s exploration goals, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/exploration

Texas Gov. Rick Perry and XCOR Chief Pilot Rick Searfoss examine a mockup of the Lynx. (Credit: XCOR)

Via Clark Lindsey over at NewSpaceWatch, here’s the latest news from Hollywood:

Cinipix, a vertically integrated production, acquisition and distribution company headed by CEO Todd Slater (Ray, Raze), announced today that it has joined forces with Patricia A Beninati and Michael K Anderson’s Centerboro Productions to produce the sci-fi action film “Newcomers” and will send XCOR Aerospace’s commercial spacecraft, the Lynx, into space to shoot exclusive footage for the film.

The Lynx will be piloted by former NASA Astronaut Col. Richard A. Searfoss on an expedition marking the first Hollywood involvement for a privately owned space company, as well as first-of-its kind brand integration.

Specific plot details are being kept under wraps, however “Newcomers” will tell the story of a former NASA Astronaut who saves the Earth from an alien invasion with help from the commercial space industry (XCOR Aerospace).

Read the full story.

Here are the translated NOTAMs for the Mojave Air and Space Port and Edwards Air Force Base on the flight:

!MHV 05/013 MHV AIRSPACE SEE EDW 05/005 UNMANNED ROCKET Effective from 1305211600-1305212359

!EDW 05/005 EDW AIRSPACE UNMANNED ROCKET .5 Nautical Mile Radius EDW268021/MHV 300 AGL/BLW Effective from 1305211600-1305212359.

That translate to Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 4:59 p.m. PDT.

My guess is that it’s a Masten flight, but I can’t say that for sure.