Thyroid cancer cell line FTC-133 after four hours of exposure to simulated microgravity. Nuclei are stained blue, components of the cytoskeleton stained green and red. (Credit: Team Daniela Grimm)

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — In space, things don’t always behave the way we expect them to. In the case of cancer, researchers have found that this is a good thing: some tumors seem to be much less aggressive in the microgravity environment of space compared to their behavior on Earth. This observation, reported in research published in February by the Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Journal, could help scientists understand the mechanism involved and develop drugs targeting tumors that don’t respond to current treatments. This work is the latest in a large body of evidence on how space exploration benefits those of us on Earth.

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Mojave Air and Space Port. (Credit: Douglas Messier)

By Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

For the past two weeks, officials at the Mojave Air and Space Port have been investigating a mystery: Why did long-time Chief Financial Officer Erika Westawski suddenly resign on the morning that a financial audit was to begin?

Westawski’s sudden departure caught everyone at the airport by complete surprise, CEO and General Manager Stu Witt said. Airport staff and an outside financial team have been working on an emergency audit to determine if anything is amiss with the airport district’s finances.

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For the past several decades, residents in the town of Mojave have had a very odd political status. They can democratically elect for the directors of the Mojave Air and Space Port. However, no one (officially) lives on the airport, and the directors have no authority beyond the facility’s property line. However, Mojave residents have no government of their own because they live in an unincorporated, census-designated community whose upkeep […]

One of the Delta IV Heavy boosters that will be used in Orion’s launch this fall is turned around for loading onto the Mariner cargo barge. (Credit: NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given)

Orion will launch on top of a Delta IV rocket this fall, and two of the rocket’s three boosters were rolled out of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) facility in Decatur, Ala., and loaded onto a Mariner cargo barge Feb 21.

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The International Space Station, backdropped by the blackness of space and the thin line of Earth’s atmosphere. (Credit: NASA)

UPDATE: Added Aerospace Industries Association statement in support of the budget.

The Commercial Spaceflight Federation and the Space Foundation have both offered support for President Barack Obama’s proposed $17.46 billion fiscal year 2015 budget for NASA. Meanwhile, the Congressman who represents NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California says spending on planetary exploration missions is too low.

The proposed budget is slightly below the $17.64 billion appropriated for Fiscal Year 2014.  The Obama Administration has proposed supplementing the base budget with an additional $885.5 million from the Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative, which would bring NASA spending to $18.4 billion in the upcoming fiscal year.

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The Winkelvoss twins with RIchard Branson. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)

Remember those twin brothers from “The Social Network” who accused Mark Zuckerberg of ripping off their idea for Facebook and cutting them out of billions in profits? And then hilariously went to Harvard President Larry Summers and asked him to intervene?

Well, they’re heading to space. And are they enthused about it. Very enthused.

Virgin Galactic announced today that Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are the 700th and 701st people to sign up for a ride to space aboard SpaceShipTwo. The two brothers run Winklevoss Capital, which is an investment firm.

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Video Caption: Former astronaut Chris Ferguson of The Boeing Company demonstrated that the CST-100 spacecraft simulator and software allows a human pilot to take over control of the spacecraft from the computer during various phases of a mission following separation from the launch vehicle. The pilot-in-the-loop demonstration at the Houston Product Support Center on Jan. 16, 2014 was a milestone under Boeing’s Commercial Crew Integrated Capability agreement with the agency and its Commercial Crew Program.

Editor’s Note: This demonstration is Milestone 17 and is worth $13.9 million. An updated status report on Boeing’s commercial crew milestones follows after the break.

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ATLANTA, GA, March 4, 2014 (VTA PR) – Terminal Velocity Aerospace, LLC (TVA) has been awarded a contract by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) for development of a prototype small payload return capsule. Designed as a high-altitude drop test article, the prototype will demonstrate mission-enabling communications technologies and verify integrated performance, including functionality of its parachute recovery system. This effort is directly in alignment with TVA’s plan to develop a small reentry device (RED), called RED-4U, capable of returning the payload mass and volume equivalent of four CubeSats, commonly referred to in units of “U.”

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The International Space Station, backdropped by the blackness of space and the thin line of Earth’s atmosphere. (Credit: NASA)

TOTAL BUDGET PROPOSAL: $17.5 BILLION (+885.5 MILLION)

The $17.5 base budget would be supplemented by $885 million from the proposed Opportunity, Growth and Security Initiative. Additional funding from the initiative by funding area is noted in parentheses.

HUMAN EXPLORATION OPERATIONS
$7.88 Billion (+451 Million)

The FY 2015 budget requests $7,881 million for the Human Exploration Operations Mission Directorate ($3,976 million for Exploration and $3,905 million for Space Operations).

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NASA BUDGET PROPOSAL OVERVIEW

The President’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget supports investments that will ensure continued U.S. leadership in space, while helping to create new industries and capabilities.

NASA’s budget supports our new Strategic Plan to drive advances in science, technology, aeronautics and space exploration to enhance knowledge, education, innovation, economic vitality and stewardship of Earth. To send humans to an asteroid by 2025, NASA is formulating the first-ever mission to identify and redirect an asteroid. The budget also supports the extension of the International Space Station (ISS) to at least 2024, which is essential to sending humans to deep space destinations and returning benefits to humanity through research and development. The budget proposes an additional $886 million for NASA as part of the Opportunity, Growth, and Security Initiative, including additional funding for Science, Space Launch System/Orion, Technology, ISS, and Commercial Crew.

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