Posted on May 10, 2013, at 5:29 pm .
SpaceShipTwo in its first powered flight over Mojave.
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
Last week, I got to see close-up views of the power of the emerging suborbital space industry in two very different locations some 300 miles apart.
Monday was all about SpaceShipTwo, which lit its engine for the first time over the dusty Mojave Desert and provided viewers on the ground with a 16-second display of flames and black smoke. The little space plane soared skyward above its WhiteKnightTwo carrier plane before gliding to a perfect landing on the center line of Runway 30 at the Mojave Air and Space Port.
Continue reading ‘The Power of the Suborbital Experiments Market is Growing’
Posted on April 30, 2013, at 12:42 pm .
There is still time to sign up for the first Space Hacker Workshop for Suborbital Experiments this weekend in Mountain View, Calif. Come see how you can design a space experiment for – and even fly aboard – XCOR’s Lynx suborbital space plane. The workshop runs Saturday and Sunday.
The discounted $125 registration rate expires tonight at midnight PDT. If you show up at the door, it will cost you $150. Sign up at spacehacker.eventbrite.com.
A press release with a full description of the workshop follows after the break.
Continue reading ‘Space Hacker Workshop This Weekend in Silicon Valley’
Posted on April 29, 2013, at 10:14 pm .
This week on The Space Show with David Livingston….
1. Monday, April 29, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): ED WRIGHT joins us for Citizens in Space updates and info about the upcoming Space Hacker Workshop in Silicon Valley: http://spacehacker.eventbrite.com/#.
2. Tuesday, April 30, 2013 2013, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 PM CST): Retired astronaut JERRY ROSS is with us to discuss his new book, “Spacewalker.”
3. Friday, May 3: , 2013, 9:30-11 AM PST (11:30- 1 PM CST, 12:30PM-2:00 PM EST): As of press time, our guest for this program is yet to be determined but will either be DR. SARAH CRUDDAS of the UK or FRANK STRATFORD from Australia. We are awaiting final scheduling requirements. Please check the website newsletter for guest details and any program time changes for this Friday program. You can find the website newsletter at www.thespaceshow.com/newsletterfinal.htm.
4. Sunday, May 5, 2013, 12-1:30 PM PST (3-4:30 PM EST, 2-3:30 PM CST). We welcome HU DAVIS AND BILL KETCHUM to the show to discuss space policy, SSP, and much more, all from two highly regarded and well respected space veterans.
Posted on April 18, 2013, at 10:01 am .
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF. (Citizens in Space PR) – Are you a hardware hacker? Do you have the Right Stuff to become a citizen scientist or citizen astronaut? Here’s your chance to find out.
Citizen scientists and hardware hackers will learn how to do “space on the cheap” at the first Space Hacker Workshop for Suborbital Experiments. Participants at the two-day workshop will learn how they can build and fly experiments in space, and even fly in space as citizen astronauts, through the Citizens in Space program.
The Space Hacker Workshop takes place May 4-5 at the Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, California, across the street (literally) from NASA Ames Research Center. The workshop is sponsored by Citizens in Space, a project of the United States Rocket Academy, and the Silicon Valley Space Center.
Continue reading ‘First Space Hacker Workshop Set for May 4-5 in Silicon Valley’
Posted on March 27, 2013, at 6:15 am .
Artist’s conception of Lynx Cub Payload Carrier internal view. (Credit: United States Rocket Academy)
College Station, Texas, March 28, 2013 (USRA PR) – A new payload carrier promises to dramatically reduce the cost of access to space for small scientific and education payloads.
The Lynx Cub Payload Carrier was announced today by the United States Rocket Academy. The Lynx Cub Carrier will fly on the XCOR Lynx spacecraft, now under construction at the Mojave Air and Space Port, and carry up to 12 experiments on each flight.
Continue reading ‘Lynx Cub Payload Carrier Being Developed at Texas A&M’
Posted on March 20, 2013, at 8:20 pm .
Mountain View, California, March 22, 2013 (SVSC PR) – The Silicon Valley Space Center will develop four scientific payloads to fly on the XCOR Lynx spacecraft, which is currently under construction in Mojave, California.
The payloads will fly on missions sponsored by the United States Rocket Academy’s Citizens in Space program. The payloads are part of a cooperative agreement between the Silicon Valley Space Center and Citizens in Space, which was announced today.
Continue reading ‘Silicon Valley Space Center to Develop Suborbital Payloads for Lynx’
Posted on February 9, 2013, at 12:12 pm .
Michael Johnson and Ed Wright. (Credit: Citizens in Space)
Houston, Feb. 8, 2010 (Citizens in Space PR) – Citizens in Space, a project of the United States Rocket Academy, announced two astronaut candidates at the Space Exploration Educators Conference, which took place here today.
Citizen-astronaut candidate Maureen Adams, who has been in training for three years, announced the new additions.
“As a citizen of Texas, I take special pride in making this announcement,” Adams said. “Today we are expanding our astronaut corps to four, as Michael Johnson and Edward Wright, both from Texas, join our training program.”
Continue reading ‘New Citizen Astronaut Candidates Announced’
Posted on September 14, 2012, at 5:32 am .
Maureen Adams (Credit: Citizens in Space)
Killeen, TX (Citizens in Space PR) -– Astronauts have lived and trained in Texas for 50 years, but no astronaut has ever flown into space from Texas. That will change in the next few years when XCOR Aerospace begins flights from a new spaceport in Midland, Texas.
Maureen Adams, a teacher and principal at West Ward Elementary School in Killeen, Texas hopes to be among the first Lone Star astronauts.
Continue reading ‘Texas Teacher Aims for the Stars’
Posted on August 18, 2012, at 1:51 pm .
Ed Wright
Citizens in Space
- program used to be called Teachers in Space
- changed the focus recently to broaden it (also, a split with Space Frontier Foundation, which retains Teachers in Space program)
- Decades ago, Business Week has story on Cray 1 – “The machine that will change the world”
- At same time, Popular Electronics wrote about Altair 8800 – “the computer you can build”
- The Altair 8800 actually changed the world
- The experiments to fly on reusable vehicles and the vehicles themselves have a similar potential to change the world
- “There’s a revolution coming in spaceflight. New vehicles which are low cost, reusable and highly reliable.”
- Sputnik and Gagarin was a false dawn of human spaceflight
- An expensive government monopoly
- “Innovation always begins at the low end.” – Burt Rutan
- XCOR flights – 10 flights, 10 citizen astronauts and 100 experiments
- Any experiments selected becomes open source
- Create a community that can pick up and run with it
- Hope that the professional scientific community will be able to pick it up
- Experiments need to be reproducible on a citizen-science budget
- Through repeated flights, can bring down the cost
- 8-16 payloads per flight (1U or 2U CubeSats) behind pilot’s seat
- Probably carry 10-12 experiments per flight
- 2 aft cowling ports where experiments are exposed to space
- Current call for experiments on the website (www.citizensinspace.org)
- High Altitude Astrobiology Challenge
- $10,000 cash prize
- Microbes living above 10,000 feet
- Experiment placed in aft coiling port
- Launch experiment on all 10 flights
- Examine organism’s life span, genetics, reproduction rates, limits of where life can exist, comparative biology for looking at life on Mars, affects on weather
- Requires actual prototype hardware, not PowerPoint presentations
- Hardware submission in late winter/early spring 2013
- www.citizensinspace.org/astrobiology-challenge
- “We’re looking to fly hardware, not paper”
- First flights late 2013, early 2014
- Have selected 3 citizen astronauts for training, will select 7 other ones
Posted on May 19, 2012, at 1:00 pm .
SAN MATEO, Calif. (Citizens in Space PR) – A NASA-inspired competition is challenging citizen scientists to build hardware for collecting microorganisms at the edge of space.
Citizen scientists can win cash prizes up to $10,000 in the High Altitude Astrobiology Challenge, announced Saturday by Citizens in Space, a project of the United States Rocket Academy. If successful, their work may help stop a future epidemic.
Continue reading ‘Citizen Scientists Seek Microbes at the Edge of Space’
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