Scaled Composites conducted a static fire of an engine on Friday that startled everyone who heard it at the Mojave Air and Space Port the other day. The nozzle and engine casing ended up separated from the test rig and was on the floor outside the small fence that surrounds the test site.

Scaled says that is exactly what they planned to do. The company is describing it as a “a non-flight experimental rocket motor in which flaws had been intentionally introduced to improve knowledge of different design components. Tested experimental grain to destruction. This unique test, which was necessary to perform during the test program, successfully collected data for several key safety systems.”

Meanwhile, Scaled says Sierra Nevada Corporation conducted an extended burn on a RocketMotorTwo engine the same day down in Powoy, Calif. The test log provides no idea how long the burn lasted; like every other entry in the log going back about seven months, no time is given. But, it doesn’t appeared to have blown up.

The test log entries follow after the break.

RocketMotorTwo Hot Fire Summaries
Via Scaled Composites

Fire: 28
Date: 17 May 13

Objectives:
Perform hot-fire of off-nominal, non-flight configuration motor at Scaled’s test facility.
- Safety systems evaluation
- Test stand evaluation
- Data Acquisition system evaluation
- Rocket Motor Controller performance
- Pressurization System Controller performance
- Rocket system performance
- Valve / Injector / Igniter evaluation
- Fuel formulation evaluation
- CTN structural evaluation

Results:
Firing at Mojave test site by Scaled Composites of a non-flight experimental rocket motor in which flaws had been intentionally introduced to improve knowledge of different design components. Tested experimental grain to destruction. This unique test, which was necessary to perform during the test program, successfully collected data for several key safety systems.

Fire: 29
Date: 17 May 13

Objectives:
Twenty-ninth full scale hot-fire. Test of flight-design RM2. Continued evaluation of all systems and components:
- Extended burn duration in flight configuration
- Pressurization
- Valve/Injector
- Fuel formulation and geometry
- Nozzle
- Structure
- Performance

Results:
SNC successfully fired the flight motor for SpaceShipTwo at its test facility in Poway, testing an extended burn and further advancing the program towards full spaceflight later this year. This test built upon excellent results achieved in SpaceShipTwo’s first supersonic, rocket-powered flight with motor of the same design. All objectives completed.

1. Monday, May 20, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): We welcome KIMBERLY ARCAND & MEGAN WATZKE regarding their book, “Your Ticket To The Universe: A Guide to Exploring The Cosmos.” Find out more about this exceptional book and our authors at www.amazon.com/Your-Ticket-Universe-Exploring-Cosmos/dp/1588343758/ref=onegiantlea20.

2. Tuesday, May 21, 2013 2013, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 PM CST): OPEN LINES discussion. All space, science, STEM calls welcome. First time callers are welcome and encouraged to call in.

3. Friday, May 24: , 2013, 9:30-11 AM PST (11:30- 1 PM CST, 12:30PM-2:00 PM EST): We welcome DR. JEROME KLINGAMAN to discuss and focus on astrophotography.

4. Sunday, May 26, 2013, 12-1:30 PM PST (3-4:30 PM EST, 2-3:30 PM CST). We honor the 20th anniversary of the DC-X with guests BILL GAUBATZ, CATHY HARPER, CHRIS ORWOLL, AND NINO POLIZZI.

Poised on the cusp of these new systems, we run the risk of being penny wise and pound foolish as we make the same mistake that doomed the space shuttle to much higher cost operations: starving a spacecraft development program in the name of saving a few pennies for today’s budget bottom line resulting in the compromised systems that, if they fly at all, will not be cheap enough to enable business in space….

Currently, the commercial space effort stands uncomfortably close to the brink of financial starvation. Deep space transportation development is being stretched out by similar restrictions. Business is looking to see if the government is serious about providing the critical support or whether this effort will be wasted as so many earlier government programs which withered away on the very cusp of success: National Launch System, Orbital Space Plane, and others.

Hale’s full testimony is reproduced after the break.

Testimony of N. Wayne Hale, Jr.
before the United States Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
May 16, 2013

I thank the committee for inviting me to testify concerning the growth of the space industry including the private sector space transportation.

In the interest of full disclosure, I am hardly a disinterested party in this topic. I am and have always been a passionate believer that space exploration and the industries that may derive from it will benefit humanity in ways beyond our imagining. I have spent most of my professional life working in the large government space programs of the Space Shuttle and the International Space Station. During those years I have seen NASA at its very best and at its worst. The hard working dedication of my colleagues at NASA personnel is nothing short of phenomenal, and their talent and creativity is second to none. However, their endeavors have frequently been stymied due to the inherent bureaucratic inefficiencies of government work and the frequent shifts in priorities and funding that whipsaw most space initiatives. This has led me to believe there must be a better way to develop and operate space systems.

In my last assignment before retirement from government service, I worked with Frank Bauer, the Chief Engineer of the Exploration Systems Directorate, to define the management philosophy, protocols, and processes for the then new Commercial Crew Program within NASA. After my retirement, my work has continued as a consultant. My company, Special Aerospace Services,and I are paid advisors to a number of entities involved in the commercial crew and commercial space cargo enterprises. And I have volunteered my time to work with the Commercial Spaceflight Federation to establish safety, management, and engineering standards for all the members of this fledgling industry. So the committee can see that I am hardly a disinterested party and should weigh my testimony as such.

Establishing good, effective safety, engineering, and management standards in a voluntary industry association is the hallmark of any reputable and mature industry. I am pleased to report that the CSF is making good progress in setting up voluntary processes which will ensure public safety and promote general success in this difficult business. Industry group standards can alleviate the need for government regulations by allowing the members of a trade association to tailor best practices specifically for their industry. Evolution of these industry standards inevitably proceeds more rapidly than the development of government regulations and can therefore take rapid advantage of best practices as they emerge.

The most singularly vexing problem with space flight is the high cost of getting to low earth orbit. As the noted science fiction writer Robert Heinlein once observed, ‘when you are in earth orbit you are half way to anywhere in the universe’ which accurately reflects the physics of the
situation.

The lack of low cost transportation to that point located just above the earth’s atmosphere and moving at 17,500 mph forward velocity has prevented potential space entrepreneurs more than any other factor. Hundreds of potential business opportunities in the limitless resources of the solar system have floundered on the high cost of transportation to low earth orbit. Asteroid mining, energy production, zero gravity manufacturing are all within our grasp technologically but will not be profitable until reliable and reasonably affordable transportation systems are in place.

New systems for transportation to low earth orbit have enormously high development costs. Private investors, with a few exceptions, are loath to provide the capital needed to develop low earth orbit transportation without clear and immediate business ready to purchase tickets.

So we are in a ‘chicken or the egg’ paradox. Space business needs low cost transportation to become profitable, while potential private transportation
services need established business to justify the cost of construction. This is not the first time that America has been in this situation. Both the early railroads and fledgling air transportation industries found themselves becalmed in similar straits. In both these cases, and others, the federal taxpayers stepped in to provide critical resources to help new industries develop. Those investments have been paid back myriad-fold in tax revenues when the new industries caught fire and provided transportation systems that were the envy of the world.

NASA and its predecessor agency the NACA provided needed aeronautical research to make air transportation as inexpensive and safe as we find it today. The federal investment in aeronautics development has paid off handsomely in the development of a multi-billion dollar industry. Indeed, one of the largest sectors of net exports in the American economy is aerospace with billion dollar sales a common occurrence.

The history of space flight – after the first early steps to demonstrate that space flight was even possible – has been marked with the goal of decreasing the cost of transportation to low earth orbit. In my home I have an entire shelf of books populated by volumes of studies and proposals from a multitude of thinkers spread over decades on that subject: how to provide reliable safe space transportation on the cheap.

The space system that consumed much of my professional career, the space shuttle, was established to achieve just such a low cost goal. But the technologies of the 1970s, harnessed to a risk adverse government apparatus resulted in a system that was only slightly less expensive than those which went before.

In the last decade, the United States embarked on a bold new experiment to turn over the creative reins of spacecraft development to entrepreneurial, nimble, flexible, creative private commercial teams. Bolstered with a modicum of taxpayer resources, these businesses have leveraged private investment to create the critical mass to develop new, much cheaper transportation systems. We see the first fruits of success today with cargo carrying craft: the SpaceX Falcon and Dragon, and the Orbital Antares and Cygnus. These cargo carrying privately developed vehicles are starting to supply our government outpost, the International Space Station. In future years others, the Boeing CST-100 and the Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser will be added to the fleet to carry human beings as well as cargo.

Poised on the cusp of these new systems, we run the risk of being penny wise and pound foolish as we make the same mistake that doomed the space shuttle to much higher cost operations: starving a spacecraft development program in the name of saving a few pennies for today’s budget bottom line resulting in the compromised systems that, if they fly at all, will not be cheap enough to enable business in space.

This is not to devalue the development of truly deep space exploration systems by the government. Those high risk, high cost systems payback over such are long term that they would never be funded by private investment. But, like the expenses incurred by Lewis and Clark, Captain Zebulon Pike, and a host of other government expeditions in our history, the payback from exploration will be enormous for both the country and for all of humanity. Just at a more distant point in the future than business spreadsheets normally run. The SLS and the MPCV should be developed in conjunction with the commercial low earth orbit transportation systems. Flying to cis-lunar space to inspect a captured asteroid is an engineering and operations test worthy of a first deep space mission. But that mission can only be a first step. More should follow.

The commercial systems will enable the deep space exploration initiative in substantial ways. First of all because the ISS is our space test laboratory for the technologies and systems that deep space exploration will need. Operation in space, aboard the ISS, is the most effective means to wring out life support, communications, propulsion, and other technologies. Commercial transportation of cargo and crews to the ISS directly support deep space systems development. As deep space exploration proceeds, commercial cargo and crew vehicles will likely be called upon to aid with assembly and fuel delivery to low earth orbit where we will finalize preparations to head into the vast deep. Cost effective commercial transportation to low earth orbit can make a vital difference in equipping the deep space fleet.

So the two efforts go hand in hand. Funding equity between the two programs is necessary to ensure the timely success of both. Currently, the commercial space effort stands uncomfortably close to the brink of financial starvation. Deep space transportation development is being stretched out by similar restrictions. Business is looking to see if the government is serious about providing the critical support or whether this effort will be wasted as so many earlier government programs which withered away on the very cusp of success: National Launch System, Orbital Space Plane, and others.

I urge the Congress to fully fund these vital activities, both the commercial crew program and the exploration systems. They will allow America and American industry to lead in the exploration and development of human activity in our solar system. When the historians of the future look back on our era, they will recognize the movement of humanity from planet earth into the solar system as the pivotal event of our times. There is no project that is so important for the long term success of humankind. I would hope that those historians record that at this crossroad of history that a creative, enterprising, farsighted nation called America led the way.

The prizes both economic and historic are too great to bypass. If America does not lead in these enterprises, somebody else will. And the leader will reap the greatest rewards both in the near term and in the longer term.

For all our limitations, America is a very rich country. There are many things which America needs to do for the present moment: provide for a strong military to protect us in a dangerous world, educate our children, care for our elderly and infirm, revitalize our transportation infrastructure of roads, bridges, airports, and more. All of these activities are of vital importance today. Space exploration is about the future. Space exploration is possibly the only line item in the federal budget that is all about the future. Currently we spend one half of one percent of our nation’s treasure on the future. Isn’t the future worth that investment?

Above, Eric Dahlstrom (in hat) watches two children control lunar rovers at the X Prize booth.

There were many forms of getting around the Maker Faire, including this pedal powered cupcake.

Run, Dr. Who! Run!

Greetings from Maker Faire Bay Area 2013, coming to you LIVE from San Mateo, Calif. It’s the biggest maker faire in the world here. Lots of cool things going on here…inventions and things you can make and remake and unmake. So much to see. It’s also sunny outside with a cool breeze and everything’s green…grass and trees and everything. I sometimes forget what that’s like.

Anyway, here are a few pictures. R2D2 Many are very popular with kids of all ages.

They are right across from Wall-E, the popular robot that led humanity back to its planet.

For all you Dr. Who fans, there are Dalleks roaming around outside doing whatever they do (probably up to no good). I’ll try to post a picture of those later.

There’s also a railroad built from LEGOs….

…and remotely controlled vehicles that go underwater.

More later!

Video Caption: If you’ve ever dreamed of soaring to the stars, liftoff may be coming sooner than you think. Just ask XCOR’s Chief Test Engineer Doug Jones, who has designed a commercial suborbital spaceship that can fly up to four times a day, six days a week – sort of like an airplane. And for the low, low price of $95,000, you too can have a ticket to ride.

Reason Magazine’s Brian Doherty interviewed Jones live from Reason’s LA Studios.

Mojave Air and Space Port. (Credit: Douglas Messier)

The Mojave Air and Space Port will celebrate Armed Forces Day tomorrow as part of the monthly Plane Crazy Saturday event.

The monthly open house, which runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., is a free family event that will feature aircraft on display on the tarmac, airplane and space collectibles and artwork, a ceremony at noon featuring a color guard, and presentations by three military officers.

A ceremony will be held at noon featuring the O’Callahan Division Sea Cadets from Bakersfield. The division’s  namesake is Joseph T. O’Callahan, Commander (Chaplain Corps) U.S. Naval Reserve, USS Franklin, CV-13 (known as the Franklin’s Hero Priest). President Harry Truman presented the Congressional Medal of Honor to Fr. O’Callahan on January 23, 1946, making him the first chaplain ever to receive such a high honor.

The ceremony will also feature briefings by U.S. military officers:

• Air Force Colonel (select) Kathryn Hughes, Commander of the 412th Aerospace Medicine Squadron at Edwards Air Force Base;
• Navy Cmdr. Michael ‘Mick’ Williams, a Navy Exchange Instructor at the US Air Force Test Pilot School and Director of the Technical Support Division; and
• Capt. Todd Quelet, U.S. Army, Economic Analyst at United States Department of Defense; Captain – Civil Affairs Team Leader at 450th Civil Affairs – US Army.

Admission is free to all.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., MAY 17, 2013 (Space Florida PR) –

Bionetics, headquartered in Yorktown, Va., enhances spaceflight systems through the development of unique LED lighting and enables microgravity-based life sciences research. The newest SLSL location is the sixth of its Florida sites.

Space Florida coordinated the two-year lease agreement with Bionetics to occupy lab and administrative space at the SLSL, which will create eight new jobs. At the SLSL location, Bionetics will design, test and manufacture Solid State Lighting Assemblies (SSLAs), the first LED-driven lighting systems designed and built to meet the rigorous requirements of the International Space Station (ISS). These SSLAs provide a controllable light spectrum designed to assist flight crews with circadian alignment, resulting in improved crew health and long-duration spaceflight adaptation.

“Bionetics is one more tenant leveraging the unique capabilities of the SLSL to benefit the ISS program,” said Space Florida President Frank DiBello. “We are thrilled that Bionetics will be able to benefit from the facility.”

“The SLSL not only provides space that is ideal for the development and test of these unique lighting fixtures, but it also provides us with the opportunity to collaborate more closely with others involved in the development of similar technologies for spaceflight,” said Bill Wells, Bionetics SSLA Project Manager.

Other high-tech companies that are currently utilizing the SLSL include Innovative Health Applications, LLC (IHA), Molecular Power Systems, and Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS).

State Sen. Steve Knight

U.S. Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, and State Sen. Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, have penned an op-ed for the Sacramento Bee promoting an effort to expand liability protections to spacecraft manufacturers and equipment suppliers:

Last year, the California Legislature passed the Space Flight Liability and Immunity Act, and Gov. Jerry Brown signed it into law, assisting space tourism firms by providing limited indemnification. The California Senate is now considering Senate Bill 415 to extend the liability limitation to manufacturers and suppliers, which is critical to ensure that California stays competitive with states such as New Mexico and Texas.

If we are truly committed to economic prosperity, we need to continue to reduce over-regulation and over-litigation. As Californians, rather than allowing California’s unfriendly business climate to restrict opportunity and increase costs that stifle future innovation, we must instead champion solutions that create a new business climate that preserves the California Dream, where an individual can still dream big, take risks and make the impossible a reality.

A legislative committee held a public hearing last week and took testimony on the issue. Legislators have delayed consideration of the bill until January 2014.

Read the full essay.

Video Caption: Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, is the world’s leading space entrepreneur. Hear how Musk plans to send millions of people to colonize Mars, as Michelle Fields talks to the tech innovator about the future of space exploration, scientific innovation and doing business in California during a recession.

In November 2012, CASIS announced grant awards totaling $1.2 million for three initial projects advancing protein crystallization in microgravity. The original winning experiments were chosen from an impressive group of submissions in response to a CASIS Request for Proposals (RFP) in June 2012. In March 2013, two additional projects were awarded funding from this RFP submittal, totaling approximately $600,000, and now a sixth project will join this group of pioneering CASIS-awarded projects.

Protein crystallization is the process used to grow proteins in order to determine their three-dimensional structures. Proteins grown in space may produce larger, better-organized crystals that allow determination of more detailed structures and better targets for drug development. The RFP was issued after a panel of life science experts reviewed 136 publications from experiments flown in space over the last decade and identified protein crystallization as one of several promising areas of microgravity research.

Dr. Constance Schall, from the University of Toledo, is the newest investigator to have a protein crystal growth proposal funded by CASIS. Dr. Schall seeks to use the space environment to grow crystals of sufficient size for neutron diffraction (a type of crystal analysis)—examining the effects of various experimental conditions on three proteins to optimize growth of quality crystals. Potential Earth benefits from the investigation may include a better understanding of protein function and improved structure-based drug design.

“CASIS has placed a major emphasis on the further understanding of protein crystallization in the unique microgravity environment of the ISS,” said CASIS Interim Executive Director Jim Royston. “With today’s announcement, CASIS will now fund six projects within the field of protein crystallization, which will lead to a better understanding of protein makeup and potential drug treatments.”

Final award of the grant money is contingent upon acceptance of legal terms and conditions between recipient and CASIS.

For additional information about CASIS opportunities, including instructions on submitting a proposal, continue to check the CASIS solicitations site at: www.iss-casis.org/solicitations

# # #

About CASIS: The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) was selected by NASA in July 2011 to maximize use of the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory through 2020. CASIS is dedicated to supporting and accelerating innovations and new discoveries that will enhance the health and wellbeing of people and our planet. The CASIS goal is to bring the magic of space down to earth. For more information, visit www.iss-casis.org.

About the ISS National Laboratory: In 2005, Congress designated the U.S. portion of the International Space Station as the nation’s newest national laboratory to maximize its use for improving life on Earth, promoting collaboration among diverse users and advancing STEM education. This unique laboratory environment is available for use by other U.S. government agencies and by academic and private institutions, providing access to the permanent microgravity setting, vantage point in low earth orbit and varied environments of space. The ISS National Laboratory Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center currently facilitates research initiatives on board the station’s National Lab, but management of America’s only in-orbit laboratory is transitioning to CASIS.

Some interesting activity today in Mojave:

• WhiteKnightTwo was out flying around solo this morning without SpaceShipTwo.

• Scaled Composites has a RocketMotorTwo engine out on the test stand along with the mobile nitrous oxide tanker. No word yet on whether they tested earlier today or are still setting up for a hot fire later on.

I’ll update this page if hear anything more.

Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center

Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana gave a spirited defense of NASA’s turn toward commercial space operations earlier this week, saying the space agency would not block a proposed commercial launch complex on land it controls at the Shiloh site:

“If it works out that that’s the right thing to do, we’ll make sure that the land is available for them to do that,” he said.

Asked if NASA was an advocate for the proposed Shiloh launch complex, Cabana said it was a state initiative.

“Space Florida feels that they need that site for a launch pad,” he said. “And if they can prove that that’s what is required and it’s supported, I support it.”

Meanwhile, NASA is also trying to interest companies in its two pads at Launch Complex 39, one of which is mothballed and the other being readied for NASA’s heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket.

“The goal here is to bring commercial companies to the Cape in the best way possible,” Cabana said. “And I will do whatever is required to get those companies utilizing assets, what we have here, to make commercial operations a reality at the Cape.”

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has began an environmental assessment of the site, which includes the former citrus community of Shiloh.The commercial launch complex would be used by SpaceX to launch Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets. Blue Origin also has expressed an interest in using the site for its reusable launch vehicles.

SpaceX also is considering locations in Texas, Georgia and Puerto Rico. The Texas site, located near Brownsville, is generally considered to be the front runner. The FAA has completed a preliminary environmental impact statement on site that recommends approving the land for use as a launch site. The Texas Legislature also has approved a bill allowing for the closing of a local beach on launch day.

The location of 150-acre Shiloh site could pose a significant obstacle to building a launch complex there:

Shiloh is surrounded by the healthiest part of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, a nationally celebrated mosaic of heavy industry and delicate environment that contains Kennedy Space Center in its southern half and some of the country’s richest bird life in the northern extent that includes Shiloh….

With a federal assessment of the launch-complex proposal now unfolding, some of the state’s most-active environmental groups have made it a priority to defeat Space Florida’s plans by ensuring that future rocket launches continue to take place at KSC or neighboring Cape Canaveral Air Force Station….

Clay Henderson, an Audubon activist and founder of the Friends of Canaveral, a seashore-conservation group, said local opinion about Shiloh may be swayed by recent job losses. But nationwide opinion about a national treasure is what matters most, he said.

He is pushing for the U.S. Interior Department, overseer of federal refuges and parks, to take a formal role in the Shiloh assessment and not leave that task to the FAA only.

“We have no confidence FAA will address any environmental concerns,” Henderson said. “They never met a bird they didn’t want to kill.”

The Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station are under the jurisdiction of the Air Force’s Eastern Test Range, which is viewed as slow and bureaucratic. Commercial launches from these facilities are also subject to being bumped by national security flights.

SpaceX likes the Shiloh site because it would be outside the Eastern Test Range’s jurisdiction. The company would launch commercial payloads from there but continue to launch government missions from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Alan Stern

Editor’s Note: The Space Tech Expo, which runs from May 21-23 in Long Beach, Calif., has published the following Q&A with Golden Spike President and CEO Alan Stern.

Dr Alan Stern, planetary scientist, space program executive, aerospace consultant and author, was elected to be the President and CEO of The Golden Spike Company in 2010. Golden Spike, consisting of former NASA engineers, program managers, Agency executives, and others, is a commercial space corporation planning human lunar expeditions. It made news in December 2012 with its proposal to begin launching passenger flights by 2020, costing $1.5 billion each. In this interview with Space Tech Expo, Dr Stern reveals more details about Golden Spike’s ambitions, why it chose to give crowd funding a chance, and why he believes the entertainment industry is key to the development of future space exploration…

Space Tech Expo (STE): The public announcement of the Golden Spike Company sparked much interest in the industry, with the Scientific American writing that, “Golden Spike’s plans rank among the most audacious privately funded space exploration missions ever proposed.’ How would you respond to such a comment?

Alan Stern (AS): We agree! It’s very humbling to hear that said about Golden Spike.

STE: Golden Spike boasts an impressive team of ex-NASA employees, venture capitalists, scientists, engineers and even movie industry professionals! How important do you think the varied skills and experiences of the team are to the Golden Spike proposition? What kind of influence does this have on the company’s vision and day-to-day strategies?

AS: Our vision is to provide turnkey lunar expeditions for nations, corporations and individuals. The average cost of a mission is around $1.5 billion. It’s very important to have the right team to make this happen, including the commercial and entertainment folks you mention; it can’t be just a bunch of rocket guys driving this! We specifically brought these people in to be able to relate and see a way forward for the industry. We also have a former UN Ambassador and former Speaker of the House on our advisory board – these are strategic moves designed to flesh the company out in the exact expertise required to execute our business model.

STE: Apollo carried both lunar orbiting and landing vehicles together on one giant rocket. Golden Spike plans to launch the orbiter and lander on separate rockets. Why did you opt for this approach?

AS: In a nutshell, because it meets the needs of our business model. We have reliable flight systems and architecture that fits our requirements and keeps costs low.

STE: What more can you tell us about your design and your technological approach to lunar landing and lift off?

AS: That’s still under development. Please stay tuned.

STE: Golden Spike’s crowd-funding effort is an interesting way not only to get the mission funded, but also in publicizing it. Where did the idea come from, and how important do you think public funding will be to space missions in the future?

AS: Conducting the Indiegogo campaign is more of an experiment designed to see how the public will react to the concept. It’s an interesting experiment, but certainly not vital to the business model. The idea came about when people – the public – starting asking how they can get involved.

STE: Golden Spike has been clear in its objectives to paving the path to commercial lunar business. What can you tell us about the different business models, products and services you plan to deliver? Which of the monetization channels you have outlined do you think will emerge as the majority revenue source?

AS: We conducted extensive market studies which indicated that the largest revenue would be generated from sales of scientific expeditions to the lunar surface. Within this, the largest market segment will be sales to government space and science agencies around the world. The primary revenue stream of sales of lunar surface expeditions to foreign nations will likely outperform sales to commercial organizations and individuals.

STE: As one of the key business models, and in an effort to keep costs down, Golden Spike plans to sell branding opportunities and advertising time during live broadcasts of missions. What impact and influence do you think such close associations with major corporates might have on the space industry?

AS: We think this will be very attractive to both countries and corporations. It’s a very positive business model that has already been proven in other industries; and by the way, the more space looks like the entertainment industry, the more it will engage the public. The more watching a lunar expedition feels like watching a sports game or drama, the more it will attract hearts and minds.

STE: We’re eager to hear your insights into Golden Spike’s forward plans, but what are you looking forward to about your trip to the Space Tech Conference and Expo?

AS: Meeting with people at the event of course!

STE: Thanks Alan! See you in Long Beach!

For more details about Golden Spike’s crowd-funding initiative, just go to:

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/golden-spike-is-sending-nations-and-people-to-the-moon-join-in/x/2114811

Find out more about Golden Spike’s business model, lunar architecture and future plans during Dr Stern’s keynote address opening Day 2 of the Space Tech Conference. An industry highlight of 2013, Space Tech Conference offers three days of interactive discussions, expert-led case studies and networking opportunities to benefit all professionals in and related to the space technology business. Limited numbers of conference passes are still available – but booking in advance is essential. Make sure you take part in this indispensable opportunity: secure your conference pass now!

Dream Chaser cockpit simulator. (Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation)

HAMPTON, Va. (NASA PR) – A group of NASA astronauts will be at NASA’s Langley Research Center this week to fly in a simulator that is being used to help evaluate the subsonic handling characteristics of Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) Space Systems’ Dream Chaser spacecraft.
The simulation is of an approach to — and landing at — Edwards Air Force Base in California — the final 10,000 feet (3,048 meters) and 60 seconds of a future Dream Chaser flight. The astronauts will evaluate how well the spacecraft would handle in a number of different atmospheric conditions as well as assess its guidance and navigation performance.

NASA Langley developed the flight control laws that are being used in its motion-based Research Flight Deck simulator, while Draper Laboratory engineers in Houston, Texas, and Cambridge, Mass., developed the guidance and navigation system software.

Reporters are invited to observe a simulation on Thursday, May 16, at 2 p.m.

The Dream Chaser is based on Langley’s Horizontal Lander (HL-20) lifting body vehicle design. HL-20 was a successor to the earlier HL-10 lifting body reentry vehicle concept developed by Langley during the 1960s, but was influenced by a Soviet era space plane design. Langley engineers had devised a development plan for the HL-20 in the 1980s and 90s, creating pilot landing scenarios in simulators, testing designs in wind tunnels and even building a full-scale model — with the help of universities — to study crew challenges.

The control laws being used in the current simulation were refined for the HL-20, but Langley engineers say they date back to research done during the development of the Space Shuttle in the 1970s.

SNC is developing its Dream Chaser Space System under NASA’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, which is intended to lead to the availability of commercial human spaceflight services for government and commercial customers.

NASA Langley has collaborated with SNC in the design and development of the Dream Chaser Space System for six years.

For more information about NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, visit:

www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

For more information about NASA’s Langley Research Center, go to:

http://www.nasa.gov/langley