The New York Times

On a sultry desert evening, as bats fluttered about this town’s riverfront park, a man emerged from a reedy marsh carrying a bundle of grass tied with twine.

Setting it down to brush himself off, he explained that he was keeping a calf in the courtyard of an apartment building across town, where he had settled in recently after the previous occupants, engineers with the Russian space program, moved out.

Baikonur, in remote western Kazakhstan, was once the pride of the Soviet Union, the home of the Baikonur Cosmodrome, the launching site of Sputnik, the dog Laika and the first man in space, Yuri Gagarin. But today, nomadic herders from the nearby steppe are moving into abandoned buildings.

That is just one of the signs of the city’s long fade into the sunset of post-Soviet social and economic problems, which are all the more remarkable given that much of the world, including the United States, still relies on Baikonur for manned space launchings. The only other site for such liftoffs is in Jiuquan, in the Gobi Desert in China…

Along with the squatting herders, day laborers and market traders stroll the streets, with only the occasional aging Russian engineer visible.

Writer Andrew E. Kramer nailed it. Baikonur is emblematic of a space program still trying to recover from the collapse of the Soviet Union more than 20 years ago. With Russian focused on building the new Vostochny spaceport, conditions at Baikonur will likely continue to deteriorate.

And yet, the entire future of America’s $100 billion investment in the International Space Station is dependent upon on a program with worn out physical facilities, poor quality control and an aging workforce with few replacement workers in sight.

Meanwhile, Congress hates the commercial crew program so much that it under funds the effort year after year while extending our reliance on the Russians at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Congress needs to stop f***ing around. It needs to get serious about restoring our ability to launch astronauts into space. The stupidity of Congress’s approach to this issue defies belief.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) – After an extensive year-and-a-half search, NASA has a new group of potential astronauts who will help the agency push the boundaries of exploration and travel to new destinations in the solar system, including an asteroid and Mars. Eight candidates have been selected to be NASA’s newest astronaut trainees, hoping to be among those who are the first to launch from U.S. soil on commercial American spacecraft since the retirement of the space shuttle.

The 2013 astronaut candidate class comes from the second largest number of applications NASA has received — more than 6,000. Half of the selectees are women, making this the highest percentage of female astronaut candidates ever selected for a class. The group will receive a wide array of technical training at space centers and remote locations around the globe to prepare for missions to low-Earth orbit, an asteroid and Mars.

“These new space explorers asked to join NASA because they know we’re doing big, bold things here — developing missions to go farther into space than ever before,” said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. “They’re excited about the science we’re doing on the International Space Station and our plan to launch from U.S. soil to there on spacecraft built by American companies. And they’re ready to help lead the first human mission to an asteroid and then on to Mars.”

NASA will discuss the selections at 3 p.m. CDT Monday, June 17, via a Google+ Hangout.

The astronaut candidates are:

Josh A. Cassada, Ph.D., 39, is originally from White Bear Lake, Minn. Cassada is a former naval aviator who holds an undergraduate degree from Albion College, and advanced degrees from the University of Rochester, N.Y. Cassada is a physicist by training and currently is serving as co-founder and Chief Technology Officer for Quantum Opus.

Victor J. Glover, 37, Lt. Commander, U.S. Navy, hails from Pomona, Calif., and Prosper, Texas. He is an F/A-18 pilot and graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards, Calif. Glover holds degrees from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Calif.; Air University and the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. He currently is serving as a Navy Legislative Fellow in the U.S. Congress.

Tyler N. (Nick) Hague, 37, Lt. Colonel, U.S. Air Force, calls Hoxie, Kan., home. He is a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., and the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards, Calif. Hague currently is supporting the Department of Defense as Deputy Chief of the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization.

Christina M. Hammock, 34, calls Jacksonville, N.C., home. Hammock holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C. She currently is serving as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Station Chief in American Samoa.

Nicole Aunapu Mann, 35, Major, U.S. Marine Corps, originally is from Penngrove, Calif. She is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Stanford University and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, Md. Mann is an F/A 18 pilot, currently serving as an Integrated Product Team Lead at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Patuxent River.

Anne C. McClain, 34, Major, U.S. Army, lists her hometown as Spokane, Wash. She is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.; the University of Bath and the University of Bristol, both in the United Kingdom. McClain is an OH-58 helicopter pilot, and a recent graduate of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station, Patuxent River.

Jessica U. Meir, Ph.D., 35, is from Caribou, Maine. She is a graduate of Brown University, has an advanced degree from the International Space University, and earned her doctorate from Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Meir currently is an Assistant Professor of Anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.

Andrew R. Morgan, M.D., 37, Major, U.S. Army, considers New Castle, Pa., home. Morgan is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, and earned a doctorate of medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, Md. He has experience as an emergency physician and flight surgeon for the Army special operations community, and currently is completing a sports medicine fellowship.

The new astronaut candidates will begin training at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in August.

“This year we have selected eight highly qualified individuals who have demonstrated impressive strengths academically, operationally and physically,” said Janet Kavandi, director of Flight Crew Operations at Johnson. “They have diverse backgrounds and skill sets that will contribute greatly to the existing astronaut corps. Based on their incredible experiences to date, I have every confidence that they will apply their combined expertise and talents to achieve great things for NASA and this country in the pursuit of human exploration.”

By design, NASA’s calls for astronauts are staggered so the agency can maintain continuity of experience and leadership in the astronaut corps. Since the initial astronaut class of 1959, NASA has selected and trained 330 astronauts. Most recently in 2009, NASA selected nine candidates. The 2013 group is the agency’s 21st astronaut class.

NASA is engaging in a parallel path for human spaceflight exploration with U.S. commercial companies providing access to low-Earth Orbit for cargo to the space station. NASA’s Commercial Crew Program also is working with commercial space partners to develop capabilities to launch U.S. astronauts from American soil in the next few years.

At the same time, NASA is developing the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket designed to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration, including a mission to study an asteroid and Mars.

For more information about the astronaut candidates, their photos and details on the astronaut selection process, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/2013astroclass

For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

Virgin Galactic Founder Richard Branson with Marsha Waters, the 600th ticketholder on SpaceShipTwo. (Credit: The Virgin Group)

LONDON (VIRGIN GALACTIC PR) – Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group and Virgin Galactic, announced Monday, June 17, that the company’s 600th Future Astronaut is Marsha Waters, the owner of an accounting services company based in Blackpool, United Kingdom. Waters, 42, embodies the next generation of women in space: private individuals who are passionate about experiencing space travel for themselves.

Waters first took an interest in Virgin Galactic in 2010 and has been following its progress ever since.

“I’ve always been fascinated with space and often wondered whether space travel would ever be a possibility for people like me, especially in my lifetime,” Waters said. “After watching Virgin Galactic’s supersonic test flight at the end of April, I thought, ‘this is it,’ and made the decision to purchase my ticket to space while I still had the chance. It’s a big step and a major financial commitment for me, but I know it will be the most exciting, worthwhile adventure I will ever embark upon.”

This milestone coincides with two significant anniversaries relating to women who have made a substantial impact on the world through space travel. Valentina Tereshkova, a retired Soviet cosmonaut, made history on June 16, 1963 when she entered into low Earth orbit, giving her the title of “first woman to have flown in space.” Sally Ride followed her lead on June 18, 1983 and became the first American woman to enter space.

About Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic, owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and aabar Investments PJS, is on track to be the world’s first commercial spaceline. To date, the company has accepted more than $70 million in deposits from approximately 580 individuals, which is approximately 10% more than the total number of people who have ever gone to space. The new spaceship (SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise) and carrier craft (WhiteKnightTwo, VMS Eve) have both been developed for Virgin Galactic’s vehicle fleet by Mojave-based Scaled Composites. Founded by Burt Rutan, Scaled developed SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 claimed the $10 million Ansari X Prize as the world’s first privately developed manned spacecraft. Virgin Galactic’s new vehicles, which will be manufactured by Virgin Galactic in Mojave, Calif., share much of the same basic design, but are being built to carry six customers, or the equivalent scientific research payload, on suborbital space flights. The vehicles will allow an out-of-the-seat, zero-gravity experience with astounding views of the planet from the black sky of space for tourist astronauts and a unique microgravity platform for researchers. The VSS Enterprise and VMS Eve test flight program is well under way, leading to Virgin Galactic commercial operations, which will be based at Spaceport America in New Mexico.

SOAR spaceplane atop an A-300. (Credit: S3)

Le Bourget, 17 June 2013. Swiss Space Systems – S3, the fledgling Swiss aerospace company, was officially launched on 13 March this year. Its goal is to develop, manufacture, certify and operate unmanned suborbital shuttles to launch small satellites up to 250 kg by 2018.

With the development phase well under way, the firm is announcing today a new partnership – with Thales Alenia Space, a leading developer and manufacturer of pressurised modules, notably for the international space station. These partnerships will enable S3 to move ahead with the plan to launch small satellites and enter the next stage of developing a manned version of its suborbital shuttle. The latter will enable the company to offer a very high speed mode of passenger transportation.

Work is progressing to schedule

Following the official launch of the company in March, the development work is going smoothly and S3′s 40 or so employees are making rapid progress with the help of their partners and technical advisers, whose specifications have been defined and complied with. The technical data relating to the shape of the shuttle, its trajectory and the physical and thermal constraints are being validated prior to the first wind tunnel tests which will take place at the Von Karman Institute in Belgium in July. The certification process has also been initiated with participation in working sessions organised by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the body responsible for the drafting of and compliance with European aviation safety regulations.

A stronger international network of partners and advisers

To reach its goal of launching small lower-cost satellites so as to broaden access to space for companies, universities and countries that could not afford it hitherto, S3 already benefits from the valuable support of prestigious partners. The French Dassault Aviation, consultant aircraft maker for the shuttle’s systems architecture, is one of them, as are the Belgian Sonaca for the external structure, Space Application Services for the flight software and the Von Karman Institute for the wind tunnel. Other partners are the Spanish Elecnor Deimos for the navigation, the Swiss Meggitt for the sensors and Spaceport Malaysia for the ground infrastructure. The technical advisers are the European Space Agency (ESA), the Swiss Space Center to which the EPFL belongs, and Louvain (Belgium) and Stanford (USA) universities. The main sponsor is Breitling, the Swiss watchmaker.

Today Swiss Space Systems is pleased to announce the creation of another powerful partnership with Thales Alenia Space, a global aerospace major specialising in particular in the development and manufacture of pressurised modules, including the Columbus module on board the International Space Station (ISS). The latter is one of the many achievements of this company that enable humans to stay alive in space.
[SOAR01]

Passenger transportation the goal of a new stage in the S3 project

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Thales Alenia Space and Swiss Space Systems will enable the project to move ahead, so that academic clients can be offered micro-gravity and biological research applications. The collaboration that will then be initiated with the ESA Astronaut Centre will enable S3 to move on to the next stage in its development, i.e. very high speed passenger transportation, which will open the way to the transportation of the future. The satellite flight certification process will in fact enable a substantial body of knowledge to be established with respect to the development of a manned version of the SOAR suborbital shuttle. Thanks to this, and to the new skills that will have been learned from the best, S3 intends to write a new page in the history of aviation by making supersonic intercontinental travel possible. This new mode of transport will link continents at Mach 3 speed, or three times the speed of sound.

Pascal Jaussi, founder and CEO of Swiss Space Systems says : “Far from wishing to launch into the space tourism market, we want rather to establish a new mode of air travel based on our satellite launch model that will allow spaceports on different continents to be reached in an hour. Apart from Malaysia, discussions are well advanced with numerous other countries such as Morocco, Ecuador and Canada, all of which want to build the sort of infrastructure from which we will be able to operate satellite launches and later passenger transportation. The priority remains the launching of small satellites, with the development phase at the moment and then the construction of the life-size model, the goal being to carry out the first commercial launches in 2018.” Manned flights on the other hand will be offered at a later stage.

Editor’s Note: This is pretty much what I figured back in March when they announced they were going to build a system to launch smallsats. I wrote:

The budget is enormous. They’re going to spend $263 million to build a system that launches 250-kg smallsats at $10 million per flight? Does that make sense economically?

The second stage seems over designed for smallsat launches. I would think it could be a prototype for a larger system that would either fly suborbital with crew or even launch itself into orbit. You’d probably need a larger carrier aircraft.

So is SXC! This month we will be opening two new offices in New York and Hong Kong. That way we will be able to fulfill the specific needs for our customers from Asia and the Americas.

With the expansion of our organisation, I felt SXC could really benefit from a CEO that is a star in organising and optimizing a rapidly growing corporation like ours. We are all so proud our #1 candidate Georgette Schlick accepted our offer and joined our team. Together with her we will be working towards the end of our countdown: the first rocket powered test flights before the end of the year. Glad to have you all aboard!

May the force be with you.

– Michiel Mol//CEO

Three New Shooting Stars Discovered

Within our core SXC team anyway. May we proudly introduce them to you.

Georgette Schlick is the SXC Group’s newly appointed CEO.Georgette comes with impressive international management experience at corporations like Sanoma/SBS Broadcasting and Brunel. Georgette: “The idea of leading a commercial space agency was quite a new idea to me, but after my first talk with Michiel my mind was made up. The company holds so much energy, so much passion. Realizing we are in the process of making history, both us and our customers, makes this the best job in the world.”	Georgette Schlick
Rogier Kroymans is SXC’s new Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). As of the 1st of July 2013, he will be responsible for the overall sales strategy. Besides that, he will be in charge of all sales activities besides US/Canada and Greater China. Rogier: “I spent a great deal of my career marketing either high-end luxury goods and sustainable innovations; now I am excited that I can do both at the same time! SXC’s customers are frontrunners, a reason why it will be a joy to be able to work with them.”	Rogier Kroymans
Alex Tang will be leading the Asian commercial department as CEO SXC Asia. Alex: ”Russia and the USA competed with each other in the conquest of space in the late sixties. At that time, Asia was not an economic superpower, but things have changed. Nowadays, Asia is packed with highly educated and motivated people that have the means for Asia to play an important role in this exciting new phase in astronautics.”	Alex Tang

Opening SXC in the USA

It has been a very exciting two years since we launched commercially in Amsterdam, The Netherlands in April 2011. Two years onwards it is time to spread our wings and fly over to the USA, to stay there permanently. We have noticed that we were able to serve a lot of space fanatics from our office in The Netherlands. However, due to the time difference between Europe and the USA we were not able to provide our very best service to our US fans at all times. This why we have opened up our office in the USA this month, June 2013.

Nathalie Streng,who has been with us from the very beginning, will take on this adventure and will lead the US Operations. Our space office is located in New York City and from there we will be visiting numerous states on a monthly basis. Space Expedition Corporation is looking for very well connected space agents, commercial partners and new US Astronauts, that will follow the path where so few have gone before.

For enquires please contact our Director of US Operations – Nathalie Streng: email nathalie@spacexc.com or call +1 646 508 6594

SXC Asia Launch Set

The launch of SXC Asia will take place Monday, July 8, in Hong Kong.

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WASHINGTON  (NASA PR) –

The event will be webcast live at: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nasa-hq

Officials will also outline engagement opportunities for industry, international partners and the general public at the event, which will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EDT in the James Webb Auditorium of NASA Headquarters at 300 E St. SW in Washington.

In addition to Garver and Lightfoot, mission directorate associate administrators William Gerstenmaier, John Grunsfeld, and Michael Gazarik will give an overview of the work being done on NASA’s asteroid mission. Jason Kessler, representing the agency’s chief technologist, will talk about how NASA plans to increase partnerships and citizen science participation in NASA’s effort to find and plan for all asteroid threats.

For more information about NASA’s asteroid initiative, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/asteroidinitiative

Workers moved the Orion ground test vehicle (GTA) from the Operations and Checkout Building to the Launch Equipment Test Facility on May 13. Lockheed Martin workers uncovered the GTA to prepare it for the second series of pyrotechnic bolt tests at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Credit: Jim Grossman)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. (NASA PR) — Lockheed Martin engineers and technicians completed a series of pyrotechnic bolt tests on the Orion ground test vehicle (GTA) in the Launch Equipment Test Facility (LETF) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida May 13-17.

Earlier in the month, the GTA was transported from the Operations and Checkout (O&C) Building to the LETF. During the week, technicians individually tested five frangible, or breakable, nut detonations between the GTA and a launch abort system (LAS) retention and release mechanism. Each test took about four hours to set up and about 30 minutes to test.

The purpose of the LAS is to ignite its solid-fueled engines and lift Orion and its crew away from disaster in the unlikely event that the booster fails during the first part of launch.

“The purpose of the test was to reduce the shock levels on Orion when the launch abort system is jettisoned,” said John Blair, the Lockheed Martin Orion Manufacturing Engineering manager. “Several different materials and detonation device designs were tested on the GTA, providing data that will be evaluated to choose the best design for Exploration Flight Test-1.”

Image above: In October 2012, Lockheed Martin workers prepared the Orion ground test vehicle for the first series of pyrotechnic bolt tests inside the Launch Equipment Test Facility at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. (Credit: Kim Shiflett)

Orion is the exploration spacecraft designed to carry crews to space beyond low-Earth orbit. It will provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel and provide safe re-entry from deep space return velocities. Orion’s first unpiloted test flight, EFT-1, is scheduled to launch in 2014 atop a Delta IV rocket.

The tests involved a LAS and measured how the explosive separation mechanism affected the GTA and its tiles as it separated the spacecraft from the LAS. The data collected from the tests will be used to assess how the shock levels, generated by the separation, affect the capsule’s tiles and surrounding components.

“Shock discovery tests like this one anchor the analytical models and record the shock levels the spacecraft will experience during separation events,” said Ryne Waggoner, the Lockheed Martin Orion Mechanisms test engineer. “Correctly predicting the EFT-1 shock environment is critical to protecting sensitive electronic components.”

The first series of pyrotechnic tests was performed in the LETF in October 2012. Waggoner said the tests were successful, and the thermal protection system tiles showed no damage due to the shock, and all of the accelerometers collected consistent, accurate data.

The GTA is being used for pathfinding operations, including simulated manufacturing and assembly procedures in the O&C.

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Selected crew members for the one-year mission aboard the International Space Station, U.S. Astronaut Scott Kelly (pictured left) and Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko (pictured right). (Credit: NASA)

NASA PR — Scientists, engineers, educators, physicians and space explorers from around the world convened in May at Rice University in Houston at the annual International Space Medicine Summit. This summit provided an opportunity for space professionals in the international community to identify space medicine research goals and national policies that foster collaboration, communication and cooperation between spacefaring nations. This year’s summit occurred at an ideal time, as the International Space Station partnership moves forward with its plan to put an American astronaut and Russian cosmonaut in space for an entire year.

Between 1987 and 1995, four Russian cosmonauts spent a year or more consecutively in space. Now, for the first time, an American astronaut, Scott Kelly, will be joining that exclusive club, as he and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko inhabit the space station for an entire year beginning in 2015. These two explorers will live on the space station for twice as long as a typical space station crew member. Researchers expect the one-year mission to yield beneficial knowledge on the medical, psychological and biomedical challenges explorers may face as they venture to an asteroid, Mars and beyond. This mission will also provide an additional opportunity for cooperation between research teams around the world.

To gain knowledge about how humans live and work in space from a one-year mission, NASA and the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) are evaluating a long list of potential investigations. Their goal is to determine which studies provide the most value in the joint effort to reduce the human risks of space exploration. Other international space agencies have the opportunity to weigh in as well, including participation in implementation and joint working groups where mutual strategy sharing contributes toward a more robust expedition. Collectively, these bilateral and multilateral efforts are expected to create a collaborative template for future exploration and lead to strengthened international partnerships.

Fluid shifts in the brain are just one of several spaceflight-induced changes researchers are interested in better understanding via the one-year increment planned for 2015 aboard the International Space Station. (Credit: NASA)

“The International Space Station is the most advanced and well-equipped research laboratory ever put into orbit,” says Dr. John Charles, chief of the International Science Office of NASA’s Human Research Program at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “But its full utilization requires the combined efforts of [its entire] member partners. No single partner nation has all of the resources needed, but through their combined efforts, they can assure that enough crew members can participate in the most appropriate investigations with the minimum amount of effort and without duplicating instrumentation.”

Charles explains, “Only in this way can the International Space Station be successful in reducing the risks to human space exploration beyond low-Earth orbit by the end of its useful lifetime.”

Between the U.S. and Russia, there are three approaches for bilateral collaboration: joint investigations with co-principal investigators from both nations, where the crew members perform the same investigations; cross-participation, where the crew members participate in the other nation’s investigations; and data sharing, where crew members participate in their own national investigation, but the data are shared with the other nation. The chosen investigations, in this case, had to include a focus on exploration—a criterion that all U.S. human research investigations on the space station currently meet. Additionally, NASA sought studies that were modifiable and easily ready for flight. Consideration was also given to previously flown investigations, preferably conducted by Kelly, who has already logged more than 180 days in space.

The evaluation of candidate investigations for the one-year mission began in 2012, when NASA’s Human Research Program (HRP) and its Russian counterpart in Moscow, the Institute of Biomedical Problems (IBMP), began exchanging lists of potential research opportunities. Charles reported that, starting with a pool of 33 U.S. and Russian studies, approximately half had been flown before and approximately one-third had been previously performed by Kelly, thus permitting a direct comparison of the effects of six months in space versus one year.

Final selections from Russia will include up to 24 investigations and NASA HRP will select up to 18 investigations. For comparison, a typical U.S. Operating Segment crew member has 9 to 10 HRP studies that are planned for a six-month mission on the space station. Other possible partner investigations are being assessed.

The specific investigations are still under evaluation for flight-readiness and mutual compatibility, but each investigation selected will be in one or more of these categories:

• Risks not yet resolved, such as changes in the eye during spaceflight—a phenomenon reported by more than 30 percent of American astronauts. Recent findings indicate there are structural changes to the eyes of some long-duration astronauts (those in space for six consecutive months or longer). This is possibly related to an increase in intracranial pressure, or increased fluid pressure in the head and spine, which may be due to changes in body fluid volume and distribution.

• Research into the physiological cost of spaceflight adaptation, including changes in body chemistry and metabolism, immune function, cardiovascular capacity, bone architecture and integrated balance and movement by the nervous system. Long-term exposure to weightlessness causes a physiological, multi-system adaptation in crew members. Changes in sensory-motor, muscle, cardiovascular, locomotor and postural functions affect the ability of crew members to move and function upon immediate return to a gravitational environment. Scientists would like to assess functional abilities, physical performance and the state of the physiological systems in crew members shortly after their return to Earth. The intent is to develop methods for rapid evaluation of these functions, create a time course for recovery, and develop field technologies that allow crew members to assess their own physiological changes. Autonomous medical testing is crucial for crew members in successfully carrying out tasks upon terrestrial landings, as well as recovering and adapting to their environment.

• Evaluation of countermeasures, such as improved exercise protocols to maximize the benefit (reducing the negative physiological effects of spaceflight, such as bone loss and muscle atrophy) while minimizing the crew members’ time required.

• Behavior and performance, especially sleep and wake cycles, cognitive performance, and team efficiency, including brain imaging pre-and post-flight. This research also looks at behavioral issues associated with isolation and confinement. Assessing how confinement affects individual and group performance will be crucial for long duration missions and lunar and planetary expeditions.

The investigations performed on this one-year space station mission will provide results that further our knowledge of human health and performance in space and on Earth. The opportunity to share those findings with research teams from around the world and at conferences, such as the annual International Space Medicine Summit, will demonstrate the achievement of the one-year mission and strengthen international partnerships through continued innovative collaboration.

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Marie-Francoise Le Cornec

Marie-Francoise Le Cornec
Age: 74
Occupation: Pilot
“I am a flight addict!”

1. You have recently purchased a space ticket with SXC, what did this moment mean to you?

It was a very important moment for me.

I have flown so many times in a different aircraft and I was looking for the ultimate flight experience. That’s when my chief pilot told me that I should embark on a space flight and that it was now possible. I always thought I would not be able to undertake such a journey in this lifetime, and now look at me, I will be doing it! It’s great!

2. What triggered you to choose SXC?

Choosing to undertake a space flight is the ultimate challenge for me.

I see it as a step further in regards of all the achievements in aviation I’ve accomplished so far.
Everything that flies is great to step on board for me.

As long as I am in the sky I feel great. So the longer I can stay the better it is! Flying is my religion.

3. Which part of the flight do you expect to be the most challenging?

I think that the take-off will be very impressive. Furthermore, reaching the altitude apex also will be something. The way back as well. To be honest the whole trip will be impressive!

I have lots of experience with G forces. Once I’ve pulled 7Gs and I’m constantly roaming around 4.5Gs in the mirage. I’m sure I can cope with it the whole flight. When I fly I cope with anything!

4. Would you like to have your spaceflight experience to be remembered as a historical moment and to share it publicly?

Absolutely! Like I said earlier, it is essential for some of us to open the gates to space to everyone. Humanity needs to know that anyone can do it and that such an adventure is something anyone will be able to undergo.

Don’t miss out, there are still tickets left for our Founder program

If you want to go to outer space (above 103 km altitude, real astronaut) there is still some place left in our FOUNDER program (first 100 to above 100); and for the others we have our FUTURE ASTRONAUT program (101st and up to above 100 km). Join today please contact our Astronaut Relations Manager

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Orion crew module stressed for success

The EFT-1 The Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1) Orion crew module was really put to the test throughout May as the team conducted strenuous simulations on the spacecraft to verify its structural integrity for the EFT-1 in 2014. These tests placed extreme loads on the spacecraft to verify its response to the stresses of a powerful Delta IV heavy liftoff, as well as the forceful pyrotechnics and mechanisms that will jettison hardware and release Orion’s parachutes during descent and landing.

The team successfully completed eight loads tests on the crew module, with favorable initial results showing no critical anomalies. Some of the tests used hydraulic actuators to simulate “bend” or “straight” loads, depending on how the test was set up, to put pressure on critical points of the spacecraft.

One of the tests conducted was a follow-on proof pressure test that verifies the redesign and fix put into place after the initial proof test generated superficial cracks in the spacecraft’s bulkhead during pressurization last November. Orion engineers were able to design a fix to ensure structural soundness of the crew module, which was validated during these recent tests.

In addition to the loads testing, the engineers and technicians completed a series of pyrotechnic bolt tests on the Orion ground test vehicle in the Launch Equipment Test Facility at Kennedy Space Center, May 13-17.

These tests involved a launch abort system mockup and measured how the explosive separation mechanism affected the crew module and its tiles as it separated the spacecraft from the abort system. The data collected from the tests will be used to assess how shock levels generated by separation events will affect the capsule’s tiles and surrounding components. Predicting the EFT-1 shock environment is critical to protecting sensitive electronic components, which helps reduce risk for flight.

Orion heat shield team brings out the big guns

Textron Defense Systems of Wilmington, Mass., completed the first round of gunning cycles on the shoulder sections of the Orion EFT-1 heat shield, filling approximately 25 percent of the 320,000 cells on a
honeycomb overlay.

Following each gunning cycle, the heat shield undergoes a heating cycle to cure the Avcoat ablative material that is injected into honeycomb cells during gunning. The team is now priming the honeycomb in preparation for the second round of the four gunning cycles scheduled throughout the summer months.

The honeycomb provides structural reinforcement for the ablative Avcoat material which is bonded to the heat shield’s carrier substructure to protect Orion during re-entry into the atmosphere.

Orion service module comes together…Right now

To date, more than 66,000 parts have been delivered to various Lockheed Martin and NASA facilities to create the Orion spacecraft elements: crew module, service module and launch abort system.

At Kennedy Space Center many of these parts are now coming together during Orion’s assembly, integration and testing phase forEFT-1. On May 28, the last of the 49 EFT-1 service module composite panels were delivered to the Operations & Checkout (O&C) Building at Kennedy Space Center for spacecraft assembly. In addition, drilling is complete on the spacecraft’s Micro-meteoroid Orbital Debris panels.

Also at the O&C, the Orion team began tube welding on the service module and completed eight of the 40 welds. Bolts on the forward bulkhead and Environmental Control & Life Support System brackets were also installed.

The fairing separation tests remain on schedule to begin at the Lockheed Martin Sunnyvale, Calif., facility beginning June 10. They will test the jettison mechanisms that will shed the service module
fairings once the spacecraft is in orbit.

Crew module functional testing completed at Integrated Test Lab

As of June 5, all five avionics functional tests have been completed in the Integrated Test Lab (ITL) in Denver. These tests evaluate the procedures and make sure that everything is ready for power-on, scheduled for Oct. 2, and crew module functional testing in the O&C Building starting Oct. 18.

The 9.0 software formal release was delivered on June 4. This release supports the first flight software verification on the 9.0 baseline. It will also be used to support the Crew/Service Module (CSM) functional and performance testing in the ITL beginning July 17.

Success continues as NASA’s Orion parachute tests get more difficult

The Orion Capsule Parachute Assembly System team successfully conducted the Parachute Test Vehicle-4 airdrop test in Yuma, Ariz., on May 1. There were 15 parachutes deployed during this test; eight were
test technique related, and seven were Orion system parachutes.

To test the Orion parachute system, engineers rigged one of the test capsule’s three main parachutes – the middle parachute in this view – to skip one stage of its inflation, putting additional stress on the
vehicle as it opened. Testing irregularities allows engineers to verify the parachutes are reliable even when something goes wrong. The information gathered during the test can help refine models used to build the system and Orion. The next air drop test is currently scheduled for July 24

Exploration Design Challenge sets goal to reach 1 million mind

NASA’s Exploration Design Challenge, which was launched in March from Johnson Space Center with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Lockheed Martin CEO and President Marillyn Hewson, is reaching for the lofty goal of registering 1 million students by Orion’s 2014 flight.

To date, the challenge has nearly 70,000 students from around the world registered to help NASA tackle the ongoing challenges of space radiation effects on astronauts during long-duration, deep-space missions. All students who complete the challenge by March 2014 will have their names flown in space in the Orion crew module during Exploration Flight Test-1.

To learn more about the challenge, click on the link below. K-12 teachers, parents and informal educators are all invited to register student-aged participants online at www.nasa.gov/education/

Orion team visits California suppliers, schools and museums

The NASA/Lockheed Martin Orion management and outreach team conducted supplier visits and STEM outreach events in the Northern California area May 13-16, reaching more than 500 students, 300 employees and thousands more through media outlets at 10 events in five cities.

The team met with employees and presented recognition awards at Lockheed Martin, Sunnyvale; Aerojet, Sacramento; Tavis Corp., Mariposa; and NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field.

The team also gave presentations at the Aerospace Museum of California, McClellan; Fremont High School, Sunnyvale; Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland; and spoke with engineering students at Santa Clara and Stanford universities and the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey.

NASA footage shown before Star Trek movie

A promo video, using footage from a recent NASA video that included Orion, is appearing in more than 400 movie theaters in 50 cities across the U.S. prior to Star Trek Into Darkness. The 30 second trailer, called Support Exploration: We Must Go, was produced by Aerospace Industries Association in partnership with Challenger Center for Space Science Education to energize people about space exploration.

To view the trailer online visit: http://youtu.be/gqUQYs0HNes

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Upcoming SXC Events

June

Air Force Days in Volkel, Netherlands
Friday 14th and Saturday 15th of June 2013.
Our SP-1 ( 1:1 scale model of the SXC Lynx) will be present here.
For more information : http://www.defensie.nl/luchtmachtdagen

NASA: A Human Adventure The Exhibition in Utrecht, Netherlands
13th of June 2013 until January 2014
Our 1:6 scale model will be present here.
http://www.ahumanadventure.nl/

July

SXC Asia Launch
Monday the 8th of July 2013 in Hong Kong.

August

Desdemona Training Day on the 26th of August 2013
L-39 Training Day on the 27th of August 2013

Join today! Please contact our Astronaut Relations Manager

The Orion service module fairing panels fall into the Fairing Catch Systems after being jettisoned via Separation Strut/Ordnance actuations. (Credit: NASA)

SUNNYVALE, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA is carrying out a series of tests to ensure the agency’s Orion spacecraft can successfully jettison its protective fairings, or covers, during its ride to space. During the first of these tests, two of the three fairing panels separated as planned, but a third didn’t.

The fairings are panels that will protect Orion’s service module from the environment around it, whether it’s heat, wind or acoustics. The testing is designed to demonstrate the fairing system’s separation sequence before Orion launches on its first mission, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), which remains on track for September 2014. During the flight test, Orion will travel 3,600 miles into space and return to Earth for a landing in the Pacific Ocean. It will allow engineers on the ground to evaluate Orion’s design before humans take their first flight on it.

During the test, all pyrotechnic mechanisms and bolts separated as planned but the third fairing panel did not completely detach. Initial observations point to a potential contact interference. Engineers continue to evaluate the test data which will be compared with engineering models of the jettison to validate engineers’ expectations and, if necessary, improve the fairings’ design before the flight test.

The Orion service module fairing panels fall into the Fairing Catch Systems after being jettisoned via Separation Strut/Ordnance actuations. (Credit: NASA)

“Developing a spacecraft capable of carrying humans to destinations in deep space is no easy task,” said Dan Dumbacher, deputy associate administrator for exploration systems development. “We are testing Orion in a variety of ways so we can improve our understanding of how the spacecraft will perform in space. Even though this test was not flawless, the data we obtained will be tremendously helpful going forward.”

Lockheed Martin, the primary contractor for Orion, conducted the test Monday at the company’s Sunnyvale, Calif., facility.

“This was a challenging system to design and test,” said Mark Geyer, Orion Program manager. “Completing this test helps us evaluate our design and assure mission safety and success.”

The three fairing panels, each 14 feet high and 13 feet wide, will surround and protect the service module during the ascent. Unlike conventional rocket fairings, Orion’s are designed to support half of the weight of the crew module and launch abort system during launch and ascent, which will maximize the size and capability of the spacecraft that can be delivered to orbit.

When the rocket carrying Orion has reached an altitude about 560,000 feet above Earth’s surface, the three fairing panels will jettison, or separate, leaving Orion attached to the rocket and exposed to space. Six frangible, or breakable, joints and six separation bolts are used to connect the fairing panels to the rocket and each other. In a carefully timed sequence, the joints will be fired apart, followed shortly by the bolts. Once all of the pyrotechnics have detonated, six spring assemblies will push the three panels away leaving the service and crew module to travel onward.

This first test focused on the normal mechanical loads expected to affect the fairing system during EFT-1. A test stand was built to simulate Orion’s service module, and three model panels were attached to it with 30,000 pounds added to mimic the weight of the spacecraft and the stress launch will put on it.

A second test is set to take place later this summer and will add the expected thermal loads to the mix by heating one panel to 200 degrees Fahrenheit. This will cause it to expand and could change its performance. The final test will be performed next year.

CENTENNIAL, Colo., June 12, 2013 (ULA PR) –

Under Independent Research and Development (IRAD) funding, ULA is re-establishing the Dual Engine Centaur (DEC) configuration for performance and human space flight safety. Atlas V is capable of flying both a single and dual engine on the Centaur second stage, but most satellite missions require only a single engine due to the powerful capability of the Atlas V booster to loft the payload into orbit.

“DEC provides a performance improvement over Single Engine Centaur (SEC) that is extremely beneficial for Low Earth Orbit missions,” said George Sowers, ULA’s vice president of Human Launch Services. “For human spaceflight, the increased thrust of the DEC allows the trajectory to be ‘flattened’ to provide, a safer re-entry environment for the crew in the unlikely event of a crew abort situation.”

The PDR was attended by ULA’s Commercial Crew Customers, Boeing, Sierra Nevada and NASA as well as other government customers. The participants reviewed the detailed design required to implement the DEC on the current configuration of Centaur. The dual configuration has flown on Atlas more than 160 times. However, with the increased performance of the Atlas V booster, it has not been required since 2003. The current configuration of Atlas V uses a single RL10 engine.

The development testing was conducted at Innovative Engineering Solutions of Murrietta, Calif., and included liquid oxygen duct gimbal waterflow testing to validate flow characteristics, and loads testing at liquid nitrogen temperatures to determine loads and stresses, and the ability of the duct to survive the flight-like environment.

“The testing was successful and met all of the criteria,” said Sowers. “The next major milestone for the DEC design is the Critical Design Review scheduled for next spring.”

The Boeing Company, with its CST-100, and Sierra Nevada Corporation, with its Dream Chaser®, both plan to use the flight-proven, reliable Atlas V as the launch vehicle.

With 38 successful missions spanning a decade of operational service, the commercially developed Atlas V is uniquely qualified to provide launch services for the Crew Transportation System. Because Atlas V is already certified by NASA to fly the nation’s most complex exploration missions, as well as critical Air Force and National Reconnaissance Office national security missions, ULA is able to provide a wealth of flight data, design implementation, detailed system and sub-system analysis, qualification and certification..

ULA program management, engineering, test and mission support functions are headquartered in Denver, Colo. Manufacturing, assembly and integration operations are located at Decatur, Ala., and Harlingen, Texas. Launch operations are located at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

For more information on ULA, visit the ULA Web site at www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321 (852-4321). Join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch and twitter.com/ulalaunch.

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Michiel Mol, SXC founder: “A rapidly growing corporation like SXC needs an internationally experienced CEO that knows how to manage and optimize business. We are extremely pleased to have an organizational talent like Georgette join our team.”

Schlick brings impressive international management experience at corporations such as SBS Broadcasting and Brunel to the table. She is as pleased as Mol to become part of the SXC team: “To lead a commercial space agency never occurred to me, but when we got to talk, I made up my mind immediately. To be able to be part of history, together with our customers, makes this the best job in the world.”

Rogier Kroymans will be responsible for the overall sales strategy and he will be in charge of all global sales activities. Having spent a great part of his career marketing either high-end luxury goods or sustainable innovations, Kroymans is pleased to finally be able to combine both at SXC.

“What appeals to me most is the fact that SXC’s customers are pioneers, I look forward to working with them!”

Mol on the appointment of Kroymans: “We are looking forward to working together towards the end of our countdown: the first rocket powered test flights before the end of the year.”

About Space Expedition Corporation (SXC)

From 2014 on, Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) will perform daily commercial flights into space. SXC offers passengers a life-changing experience in viewing our planet Earth from 100 kilometers high. Plus, having been at that altitude, they can rightly be called astronauts. XCOR Aerospace in Mojave, California, USA, designed and built the Lynx spacecraft, which will perform the space flights. SXC is proud to be the launching customer of the Lynx, which comfortably takes off and lands like a normal airplane, from regular airports. The flexibility of the Lynx spacecraft enables operation from almost any commercial airport. Most likely, the Curacao airport in the Caribbean will be the first location – and Spaceport – outside the USA. The spaceflight costs $100,000 per flight. XCOR and SXC have sold over 200 tickets so far.

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A long CCTV report on China’s space program, including interviews with the Shenzhou 10 crew, an overview of the nation’s space station plans, a report on life at the nation’s main spaceport, and a Q&A with American lunar expert John Lewis.

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