Posted on May 19, 2013, at 2:13 pm .
In prepared testimony last week before the Senate Subcommittee on Science and Space, former space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale urged lawmakers to boost spending for the commercial crew program:
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.
Continue reading ‘Hale: Approach to Funding Commercial Crew is Penny Wise, Pound Foolish’
Posted on May 16, 2013, at 10:16 am .
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…
Continue reading ‘A Q&A with Golden Spike’s Alan Stern’
Posted on May 16, 2013, at 5:53 am .
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.
Continue reading ‘Astronauts to Test Dream Chaser Flight Simulator at NASA Langley’
Posted on May 15, 2013, at 4:47 pm .
Credit: Paramount Pictures
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) – The director, a writer and some actors in the film “Star Trek Into Darkness” will join NASA as it hosts a Google+ Hangout from noon to 12:45 p.m. EDT, May 16, about how work aboard the International Space Station is turning science fiction into reality.
Google+ Hangouts allow as many as 10 people or groups to chat face-to-face, while thousands more can tune in to watch the conversation live on Google+ or YouTube.
Continue reading ‘NASA’s Google+ Hangout Connects Space Station, “Star Trek Into Darkness” Crews’
Posted on May 13, 2013, at 1:11 pm .
Dream Chaser flight vehicle prepares for
shipment to NASA Dryden.(Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation)
Sparks, NV, May 13, 2013 (SNC PR) – Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems has completed assembly and testing of the Dream Chaser® spacecraft in preparation for shipping the flight vehicle from SNC’s Space Systems headquarters in Louisville, Colo., to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.
Upon arrival at NASA Dryden, the Dream Chaser will continue a series of tests, including runway tow, ground resonance, and a captive carry flight. These tests will be completed before the Dream Chaser flight vehicle’s first autonomous free flight Approach and Landing Test (ALT).
Continue reading ‘Dream Chaser Ready to be Shipped to NASA Dryden’
Posted on May 12, 2013, at 8:18 am .
The Orion crew module is secured on the static load test fixture in preparation for a series of tests that will simulate the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission. (Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett)
by Linda Herridge
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center
Completely surrounded by a massive 20-foot-high structure called the crew module static load test fixture, the Orion crew module is being put through a series of tests that simulate the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission.
Orion is NASA’s new exploration spacecraft, designed to carry humans farther into space than ever before. During its first flight test next year, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), it will travel 3,600 miles into space and return to Earth. This will allow NASA to evaluate Orion’s performance in preparation for future deep space journeys.
Continue reading ‘Orion Crew Module Undergoes Static Load Tests’
Posted on May 10, 2013, at 5:09 am .
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser shuttle. (Credit: Sierra Nevada)
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) – Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) Space Systems of Louisville, Colo., has completed its first major, comprehensive safety review of its Dream Chaser Space System. This is the company’s latest paid-for-performance milestone with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which is working with commercial space partners to develop capabilities to launch U.S. astronauts from American soil in the next few years.
Continue reading ‘Sierra Nevada Completes Dream Chaser Safety Review’
Posted on May 9, 2013, at 11:56 am .
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) – NASA has awarded a contract to J.P. Donovan Construction Inc. of Rockledge, Fla., to modify the mobile launcher that will enable the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket to send humans to an asteroid, Mars and other new destinations in the solar system.
The work under this firm fixed-price $20.7 million contract will begin in June and be completed in 18 months.
Continue reading ‘NASA Awards Contract to Modify Mobile Launcher for SLS’
Posted on May 8, 2013, at 5:32 am .
A technician works on a reaction control system pod at the Aerojet facility in Redmond, Wash. The pod is one of eight that will be installed on the Orion crew module for Exploration Flight Test-1 and provide the critical maneuvers necessary for re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.(Credit: Aerojet)
By Linda Herridge
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center
The last of eight reaction control system (RCS) pods for NASA’s Orion Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) arrived this week at Kennedy Space Center’s Operations and Checkout Building (O&C) from the manufacturer, Aerojet, in Redmond, Wash.
“Arrival of the final reaction control system pod marks a significant milestone as we prepare NASA’s Orion crew module for its first flight test,” said Glenn Chinn, the deputy manager of the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Program in Kennedy’s Orion Production Operations Office.
“The pods will provide the critical maneuvers necessary for Orion’s re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere.”
Continue reading ‘Final Reaction Control System Pod Arrives for Orion EFT-1′
Posted on May 7, 2013, at 10:01 am .
Amersfoort, Netherlands, 7th May 2013 (Mars One PR) – Just two weeks into the nineteen week application period, more than seventy-eight thousand people have applied to the Mars One astronaut selection program in the hope of becoming a Mars settler in 2023.
Mars One has received applications from over 120 countries. Most applications come from USA (17324), followed by China (10241), United Kingdom (3581), Russia, Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Argentina and India.
Continue reading ‘More Than 78,000 Apply for One-Way Trip to Mars’
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