Greetings from the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference in sunny La Jolla, Calif. I’m coming to you somewhat live from the upscale Hyatt Regency La Jolla.

Yes, I have made it out of the Mojave Desert for a few days — far away from the big bad winds that threaten to blow my house down, the dust storms that clog up my sinuses, and the suicidal rabbits that jump in front of my car. (I’m serious; it’s the most disturbing thing about that place. That…and all the meth labs.)

But, I digress.

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL., May 22, 2013 (CASIS PR) – The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization managing research on board the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, today issued a solicitation for proposals in non-embryonic stem cell research.

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Editor’s Note: AEB — the Brazilian Space Agency — has published a Q&A with Pedro Henrique Doria Nehme, an agency trainees who recently won a trip to space aboard XCOR’s Lynx suborbital vehicle. The interview is reproduced below, translated from Portuguese via Google Translate.

Pedro Henrique Doria Nehme, 21, will go down in history. He will be the first Brazilian civilian to go to space. The future space tourist won the World Space Flight promotion, undertaken by KLM, which awarded the winner with a spot on the ship Lynx, operated by Space Expedition Corporation (SXC) of the Netherlands.

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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.

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Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida has signed a new partnership agreement with United Paradyne Corporation of Santa Maria, Calif., for use of the Hypergolic Maintenance Facility, or HMF.

The HMF previously was used during NASA’s Apollo and Space Shuttle Programs. Because of NASA’s transition from the shuttle to future commercial and government mission activities, this agreement allows NASA to preserve the unique facility capabilities for future spaceflight projects.
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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.

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Via Clark Lindsey over at NewSpaceWatch, here’s the latest news from Hollywood: Cinipix, a vertically integrated production, acquisition and distribution company headed by CEO Todd Slater (Ray, Raze), announced today that it has joined forces with Patricia A Beninati and Michael K Anderson’s Centerboro Productions to produce the sci-fi action film “Newcomers” and will send XCOR Aerospace’s commercial spacecraft, the Lynx, into space to shoot exclusive footage for the film. […]

Looks like someone is flying an unmanned rocket through Mojave airspace on Tuesday. Here are the translated NOTAMs for the Mojave Air and Space Port and Edwards Air Force Base on the flight: !MHV 05/013 MHV AIRSPACE SEE EDW 05/005 UNMANNED ROCKET Effective from 1305211600-1305212359 !EDW 05/005 EDW AIRSPACE UNMANNED ROCKET .5 Nautical Mile Radius EDW268021/MHV 300 AGL/BLW Effective from 1305211600-1305212359. That translate to Tuesday from 9 a.m. to 4:59 […]

Video Caption: Jack Fischer was one of four NASA astronauts to fly approach and landing simulations of Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser spacecraft at the agency’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va. The three-day simulations evaluated the spacecraft’s subsonic handling in support of NASA Commercial Crew Program efforts.

Scaled Composites conducted a static fire of an engine on Friday that startled everyone who heard it at the Mojave Air and Space Port the other day. The nozzle and engine casing ended up separated from the test rig and was on the floor outside the small fence that surrounds the test site.

Scaled says that is exactly what they planned to do. The company is describing it as a “a non-flight experimental rocket motor in which flaws had been intentionally introduced to improve knowledge of different design components. Tested experimental grain to destruction. This unique test, which was necessary to perform during the test program, successfully collected data for several key safety systems.”

Meanwhile, Scaled says Sierra Nevada Corporation conducted an extended burn on a RocketMotorTwo engine the same day down in Powoy, Calif. The test log provides no idea how long the burn lasted; like every other entry in the log going back about seven months, no time is given. But, it doesn’t appeared to have blown up.

The test log entries follow after the break.

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