Posted on February 26, 2015, at 8:14 am .
Pete Worden
NASA Ames Center Director Pete Worden has announced he is leaving the space agency at the end of March to pursue opportunities in the private sector. He was appointed Ames center director in May 2006 after retiring from a 29-year career in the U.S. Air Force.
Worden has been seen as a maverick within a relatively conservative space agency, pursuing innovative initiatives such as phonesats and synthetic biology while forging close ties with Silicon Valley companies such as Google. NASA Ames hosted an International Space University summer session; its research park is home to the Singularity University and Made in Space.
Continue reading ‘Pete Worden to Retire From NASA’
Posted on January 12, 2015, at 2:11 pm .
Dream Chaser shuttle. (Credit: NASA)
Second of 2 Stories
It was a busy year for a number of commercial space companies. While most of them made considerable progress, the news wasn’t all good.
A Dream Deferred
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) had a pretty rough year, losing out on two major contracts and laying off more than 100 employees.
On a Friday in May, just as everyone was preparing for the long Memorial Day weekend, Virgin Galactic announced it was dumping the hybrid rubber motor SNC developed for SpaceShipTwo in favor of a hybrid nylon one produced by Scaled Composites.
Continue reading ‘The Year in Commercial Space 2014 (Part II)’
Posted on December 17, 2014, at 5:57 pm .
SpaceX Dragon freighter at ISS. (Credit: NASA)
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. — NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, will launch four life science experiments to the International Space Station aboard NASA’s next commercial cargo resupply flight of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The research missions include validation of a new capability for model organism study in space, an infection process investigation in the unique conditions of space, the first step in a multi-part study to track microbes on the space station, and an examination of immune system changes that curiously happen in both elderly people and people exposed to spaceflight.
Continue reading ‘NASA Ames to Launch Four Experiments to ISS Aboard Dragon’
Posted on November 11, 2014, at 5:03 pm .
SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Consumer Watchdog PR) – NASA’s just announced lease agreement with a Google subsidiary to manage Moffett Federal Airfield wrongly rewards the Internet giant’s executives for longstanding abuses at Ames Research Center, Consumer Watchdog said.
NASA claimed the lease would save the agency approximately $6.3 million annually in maintenance and operation costs and provide $1.16 billion in rent over the initial 60-year lease term.
“In fact the lease gives Google unprecedented control of a federal facility to use as its own playground,” said John M. Simpson, director of Consumer Watchdog’s Privacy Project.
Continue reading ‘Consumer Watchdog Attacks Google Lease of Moffett Field’
Posted on November 10, 2014, at 5:58 pm .
Deal Part of Agency Effort to Reduce Costs, Surplus Property
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (NASA PR) — In an effort to reduce costs and shed surplus property, NASA today signed a lease with Planetary Ventures, LLC to manage Moffett Federal Airfield (MFA), an agency facility located in Moffett Field, California, and rehabilitate its historic Hangar One. NASA estimates the lease will save the agency approximately $6.3 million annually in maintenance and operation costs and provide $1.16 billion in rent over the initial 60-year lease term.
MFA, currently maintained by NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, includes approximately 1,000 acres of land located on South San Francisco Bay. The land includes Hangars One, Two and Three, an airfield flight operations building, two runways and a private golf course.
Continue reading ‘Google Subsidiary Signs 60-Year Lease on Moffett Field’
Posted on October 13, 2014, at 8:22 am .
This week on The Space Show with David Livingston:
1. Monday, Oct. 13, , 2014: 2-3:30 PM PDT (5-6:30 PM EDT, 4-5:30 PM CDT): We welcome back BRUCE PITTMAN, Chief System Engineer, NASA Space Portal/SETI, & NASA Ames Research Center.
2. Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2014:,7-8:30 PM PDT (10-11:30 PM EDT, 9-10:30 PM CDT): This is our Space Show Audition Program. For those of you wanting to be a guest on TSS, this program is for you. Call us & tell us what you are doing regarding space & why you want to be a guest on the show. We will also take Open Lines calls but our focus is on auditions for The Space Show.
3. Friday, Oct. 107 2014, 9:30 -11 AM PDT (12:30-2 PM EDT; 11:30-1 PM CDT):TBD. We welcome JEREMY STRAUB & JOE VACEK to discuss the impact of regulations on education, research & small business (with a small satellite perspective). .
4. Sunday, Oct. 12, 2014, 12-1:30 PM PDT (3-4:30 PM EDT, 2-3:30 PM CDT). Welcome MIKE SNYDER, the Director of R& D for Made in Space, to the program. They recent placed a 3D printer on the ISS.
Posted on October 13, 2014, at 5:17 am .
Over at Pando Daily, Dan Raile asks that musical question that’s been on everybody’s mind, “What ever happened to Google’s lease for a huge government airfield in Mountain View?”
In February, the General Services Administration announced that Planetary Ventures, a Google-backed company, had submitted the winning bid for a 20-year lease on Moffett Field, which is currently managed by NASA Ames. Negotiations were to be complete by July 1, but Raile reports discussions appear to be in limbo.
Continue reading ‘So What’s Going on With Google’s Effort to Lease Moffett Field?’
Posted on September 21, 2014, at 7:48 am .
Dragon berthed at ISS. (Credit: NASA)
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Ames Research Center has launched four life science experiments to the International Space Station aboard NASA’s commercial cargo resupply flight of the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft. The research missions include a microbiology study of yeast, a fruit fly study designed and built by students, a plant biology investigation and the maiden voyage of NASA’s new rodent research system.
Continue reading ‘NASA Ames Research Heads for Space Station’
Posted on August 21, 2014, at 7:00 am .
MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (DSI PR) – Deep Space last month opened a lab and office at the NASA Ames Research Park at Moffett Field in Silicon Valley, and expanded its staff. The new facility provides space to begin assembly of the company’s initial spacecraft for an exciting project to be announced next month, with room to expand. The new location enhances the visibility of Deep Space with the NASA-Ames leadership for partnering and contracting. Ames is NASA’s lead center for small spacecraft and hosts a number of agency experts in commercial space. The new facility is in close proximity to technology-savvy investors, partners and a skilled technology workforce.
Deep Space also is growing its team with several new hires and research collaborators. Colorado-based Rhonda Stevenson is now Chief Sales and Promotions Officer, starting with the revamp of the Deep Space By Design retail web site and also covering games, apps, and retail product licensing.
Continue reading ‘DSI Opens Lab in Silicon Valley’
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