Space Tourism … and Much More
Bothell, WA, 22 May 2013 (TUI PR) -- Tethers Unlimited, Inc. (TUI) has signed four NASA Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contracts to develop novel space technologies that could dramatically lower the cost of space exploration and development missions.
Continue reading ‘Tethers Unlimited Signs 4 NASA SBIR Phase I Contracts’
Artist’s conception of a Bigelow lunar habitat. (Credit: Bigelow Aerospace)
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) – NASA and Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas are holding a media availability at 1:30 p.m. EDT, Thursday, May 23, to discuss the agency’s Space Act Agreement with the company for its insight on collaborating with commercial industry on exploration beyond Earth orbit. Journalists can participate in-person or by teleconference.
Continue reading ‘NASA, Bigelow to Discuss Private Sector Space Exploration Effort’
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’
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.
Continue reading ‘KSC Director Supports Shiloh Launch Site as Environmental Battle Looms’
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’
SNC’s Dream Chaser test flight craft is hauled across the bed of Rogers Dry Lake at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center on May 15. (Credit: NASA/Tom Tschida)
By Candrea Thomas
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center
Sierra Nevada Corporation’s (SNC) Space Systems Dream Chaser flight vehicle arrived at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, Calif., Wednesday to begin tests of its flight and runway landing systems.
The tests are part of pre-negotiated, paid-for-performance milestones with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which is facilitating U.S.-led companies’ development of spacecraft and rockets that can launch from American soil. The overall goal of CCP is to achieve safe, reliable and cost-effective U.S. human access to and from the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit.
Continue reading ‘Dream Chaser Arrives in California for Testing’
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’
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’
SAINT PAUL/MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (PaR Systems PR) – PaR Systems, Inc., a world leader in material handling, automation, and robotic solutions since 1961, has signed a partnership agreement with NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for use of the Hangar N facility and its unique Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) equipment.
The NASA facility is located on the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Under a 15-year lease agreement, PaR Systems will access the facility immediately to begin work performing non-destructive testing, and other related aerospace, marine, and industrial product services.
The Morpheus vehicle. (Credit: Kris Kehea)
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER, TX (NASA PR) — The roar of a 5,000 pound rocket engine has returned to the Johnson Space Center. The Morpheus team has completed the build-up of our “Bravo” vehicle, conducted numerous integrated tests, and has now stepped into our flight test program. We are picking up where we left off – in fact we never stopped working.
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