GPIM

BOULDER, Colo., Oct. 29, 2013 (BATC PR) — NASA’s Green Propellant Infusion Mission (GPIM) has been selected to test an advanced form of thermal insulation, called integrated multi-layer insulation (IMLI) that could become standard on future satellites and cryogenic subsystems.

Validating this new insulation in space will help NASA build the technology required for long human spaceflight missions.  Under a subcontract from Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Quest Thermal Group LLC will manufacture the new insulation that will fly aboard the 2015 GPIM mission.

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Ed Mango

NASA Watch is reporting that NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Ed Mango has stepped down for personal reasons and is being replaced by his deputy, Kathyrn Lueders, on an acting basis.

This comment is no reflection on Lueders in any way, but it does concern me deeply that over the last three months, NASA has seen the departures of Deputy Administrator Lori Garver — the agency’s top promoter of commercial programs — and now the program manager commercial crew.

All this is coming at a time when the NASA budget — and its commercial crew program — are under severe pressure from the budget stalemate in Washington and continued sequestration. Congress is deeply dysfunctional, and it would rather fund a mega-booster and send money over to Russia for crew services than properly fund the program.

It’s all very depressing, and I’m hoping Mango’s departure is not a sign of deep problems with the program. If he has really left due to personal issues, I wish him all the luck with them. He’s really worked very hard on the commercial crew program and helped to get it where it is now.

UPDATE: Mango has been assigned to the deputy center director’s office at KSC.

To Lueders, I say the best of luck in overseeing commercial crew. Her biography is reproduced after the break for those who wish to know more about her.

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Pop superstar Rihanna is reported to be the latest celebritynaut to sign up for a spaceflight aboard Sir Richard Branson’s SpaceShipTwo, according to a story published today. The 25-year-old singer will reportedly plop down $750,000 for three tickets aboard Virgin Galactic’s suborbital space plane. She will be accompanied by her brother Rorrey, 23, and a bodyguard. Meanwhile, the pop group New Direction will reportedly be the main attraction at a […]

Lexington, KY (Space Tango PR) — Space Tango, the nation’s first business accelerator specifically for space enterprises and entrepreneurs, has set 5:00PM ET, Monday, December 16, 2013 as the deadline for applications for its spring 2014 program.

“New opportunities (including adjacent applications) lie in developing entrepreneurial ideas, companies and products that enable the further exploitation of space,” said Kris Kimel, founder of Space Tango. “These involve small high-value satellites and space platforms, the International Space Station (ISS) and opportunities in biotechnology, exomedicine, novel materials, energy, education, game design and development as well as areas and applications not yet imagined.”

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The video cuts off just before landing. Apparently the vehicle ended up on its side after the left landing gear failed to deploy properly at touchdown.

Technicians work inside the Orion crew module being built at Kennedy Space Center to prepare it for its first power on. Turning the avionics system inside the capsule on for the first time marks a major milestone in Orion’s final year of preparations before its first mission, Exploration Flight Test. (Credit:
Lockheed Martin)

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA’s first-ever deep space craft, Orion, has been powered on for the first time, marking a major milestone in the final year of preparations for flight.

Orion’s avionics system was installed on the crew module and powered up for a series of systems tests at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida last week. Preliminary data indicate Orion’s vehicle management computer, as well as its innovative power and data distribution system — which use state-of-the-art networking capabilities — performed as expected.

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ATK employees at the company’s Promontory, Utah facility prepare a segment of a qualification motor for NASA’s Space Launch System for transport. (Credit: ATK)

Arlington, Va., October 24, 2012 (ATK PR) – ATK (NYSE: ATK) has achieved a significant milestone in its NASA Research Announcement (NRA) Advanced Booster risk-reduction program for the Space Launch System (SLS) by successfully completing filament winding of a pathfinder Advanced Booster composite case. Ultimately, this Advanced Booster NRA effort will enable NASA and ATK to optimize a case design that will be stronger, yet more affordable than traditional steel cases. In turn, this will provide increased payload performance due to reduced weight inherent in composite materials.

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ATLANTA, GA, October 28, 2013 (TVA PR) – Terminal Velocity Aerospace, LLC (TVA) has signed a Space Act Agreement with NASA Ames Research Center to collaborate on evaluation, testing, and technology transfer of newly-developed thermal protection system (TPS) materials.

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Tye Brady, principal investigator for Draper Lab’s GENIE flight control system, makes final adjustments to the system on Masten Space Systems’ Xombie technology demonstration rocket before liftoff. (Credit: NASA/Tom Tschida)

FLIGHT OPPORTUNITIES CAMPAIGN

Vehicle:  Xombie
Company: Masten Space Systems
Dates: Nov. 11-22, 2013
Location: Mojave Air and Space Port
Number of Flights: 4
Experiments: Precision Landing Exploration Technology (PLANET); Vision Navigation System Technology Demonstration
PI: Douglas Zimpfer, Draper Laboratory

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This week on The Space Show with David Livingston: 1. Monday, Oct. 28, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PDT (5-6:30 PM EDT, 4-5:30 PM CDT): No show as final day of setting up after moving the studio location. 2. Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2013, 7-8:30 PM PDT (10-11:30 PM EDT, 9-10:30 PM CDT): We welcome back to the program DR. MIKE GRIFFIN, former NASA Administrator. 3. Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, 9:30-11 AM PDT […]