A video of Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides appearance on the John Batchelor Show on Wednesday. David Livingston of The Space Show co-hosts.
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Doug Messier
UPDATE #2: Launch was scrubbed due to pressure problems in the second stage. Possible new launch attempt on Saturday. UPDATE: Launch has been delayed until 7:01 p.m. EDT due to need to look at leak check data. SpaceX Launch Update SpaceX is targeted to launch the ORBCOMM OG2 Mission today, Friday, June 20, 2014 at 6:08pm ET. The launch will be broadcast live at www.spacex.com/webcast beginning at 5:35 pm ET. […]
Rep. Kevin McCarthy
Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), a supporter of commercial space legislation, has moved up in the leadership of House of Representatives. Meanwhile, another commercial space supporter, California State Sen. Steve Knight (R-Palmdale), will be competing to represent California in the Congressional district that adjoins McCarthy’s district.
McCarthy’s elevation to the position of House Majority Leader followed the defeat of Eric Cantor (R-VA), who lost a primary challenge earlier this month. The loss meant Cantor would not be able to stand for re-election as the Republican Party’s candidate in Virginia’s 7th District.
The Majority Leader is the second-ranked position in the House, with the responsibility of scheduling the legislative calendar and managing House committees.
McCarthy — who represents the 23rd Congressional district that includes Mojave, Rosamond, California City and Edwards Air Force Base — had previously served as House Majority Whip. In that position, he kept track of legislation and rounded up legislators for important votes.
UPDATE: Space News reports that partisan squabbling has postponed a showdown over the commercial crew requirements: The Senate was poised to begin voting June 19 on a so-called minibus spending package that combined the House-passed 2015 Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill (H.R. 4660) with the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development and Agriculture spending bills. But a fight over how amendments would be handled prompted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) […]
A Dnepr rocket launched a record 37 satellites into space today from the Yasny Launch Base in Russia, including 11 Dove 1c remote sensing spacecraft for the American start up company Planet Labs. Company officials reported via Twitter that they had established contact with all 11 spacecraft on the first pass over the control center. ISC Kosmotras, the company that launches Denprs, said in a press release that all satellites […]
Dream Chaser (Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation)
SPARKS, Nev., June 19, 2014 (SNR PR) – Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC), headquartered in Sparks, Nevada, announces that it has signed a definitive purchase agreement to acquire the Orbital Technologies Corporation (ORBITEC) as a wholly-owned subsidiary of SNC. ORBITEC is a leading subsystems integrator and high technology development company based in Madison, Wisconsin. ORBITEC’s strong liquid rocket propulsion, life science and support, and fire suppression technology portfolio will enhance both SNC Space Systems’ Propulsion and Spacecraft Systems’ product lines.
SNC has been working with ORBITEC for over three years. ORBITEC is the lead for the Environmental Control and Life Support Systems (ECLSS) and Thermal Control Systems (TCS) for SNC, providing reliable living conditions including temperature and humidity control to support the astronauts during their journeys on SNC’s Dream Chaser® spacecraft. Recently, SNC selected ORBITEC to provide the RCS engines for Dream Chaser using green, nontoxic propellants. The flexibility of fuel and oxidizer options along with the ability to quickly scale engine size makes ORBITEC’s Vortex technology the growing industry preferred choice for Reaction Control Systems (RCS), Upper Stage engines and potentially boost class engines.
In this concept image, the robotic vehicle deploys an inflatable bag to envelop a free-flying small asteroid before redirecting it to a distant retrograde lunar orbit. (Credit: NASA)
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has selected 18 proposals for studies under the Asteroid Redirect Mission Broad Agency Announcement (BAA). These six-month studies will mature system concepts and key technologies and assess the feasibility of potential commercial partnerships to support the agency’s Asteroid Redirect Mission, a key part of the agency’s stepping stone path to send humans to Mars.
The agency is working on two concepts for the mission. The first concept would fully capture a very small asteroid in free space and the other would retrieve a boulder off of a much larger asteroid. Both concepts would redirect an asteroid mass less than 10 meters in size to orbit the moon. Astronauts aboard the Orion spacecraft launched on the Space Launch System (SLS) would rendezvous with the captured asteroid mass in lunar orbit and collect samples for return to Earth.
Virgin Galactic CEO George Whitesides was on the Hotel Mars segment of the John Batchelor Show last night, which was co-hosted by David Livingston of “The Space Show.” The segment is now archived for your listening pleasure: https://www.thespaceshow.com/detail.asp?q=2265 George’s answers speak for themselves. Feel free to debate them below. The appearance came a week after I had appeared on the Batchelor Show to express concerns over SpaceShipTwo’s upcoming flight test […]
Launch of Atlas V with NROL-33 satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on May 22, 2014. (Credit: ULA)
ULA has begun to hit back SpaceX and its founder Elon Musk after weeks of criticism. The Washington Post reports:
In a meeting with reporters Wednesday, Michael Gass, the head of United Launch Alliance, met critics’ questions about its reliance on Russian-made engines head on, saying it would begin to develop its own engine in conjunction with several other firms. And he targeted Musk’s SpaceX, saying it was trying to “cut corners” and taking a “dangerous approach” to entering the national security launch business.
The 3D printer that will be launched to the space station in fall 2014 is tested at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. (Credit: NASA)
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — America has always been a nation of tinkerers, inventors, and entrepreneurs. In recent years, a growing number of Americans have gained access to technologies such as 3D printers, laser cutters, easy-to-use design software, and desktop machinery. These tools are enabling more Americans to design and Make almost anything, and the applications to space exploration will help our astronauts to be less reliant on materials from Earth as they explore farther out into the solar system. (more…)