Florida Gov. Rick Scott
May 13, 2013
The Honorable Rick Scott
Governor of Florida
The Capitol Building, PL-05
300 South Monroe Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Dear Governor Scott:
The Florida Space Development Council (FSDC), a statewide membership organization affiliated with the National Space Society, was recently formed to provide grassroots advocacy for policies we believe will support the continued development and diversification of Florida’s aerospace industry.
Artist’s impression of the UK ESA facility. (Credit: ESA)
PARIS (ESA PR) — David Willetts, UK Minister for Universities and Science, and Jean-Jacques Dordain, ESA Director General, today unveiled the Agency’s first UK facility: ECSAT, the European Centre for Space Applications and Telecommunications, located at the Harwell Oxford campus.
ECSAT supports activities related to telecommunications, climate change, technology, science and ‘integrated applications’ – the combined use of different space and terrestrial technologies, data and infrastructures to create new everyday applications. The development of innovative public–private partnerships will be emphasised.
Credit: Twentieth Century Fox
I was awaken early this morning by a great disturbance in the Force. It was as if hundreds of voices suddenly cried out in terror, and were suddenly silenced by the sound of heads banging against walls.
If like me, you heard those blood-curdling sounds echoing across the Mojave Desert this morning, you probably knew instantly what had happened. Somewhere, somehow and for reasons known only to himself, Virgin Galactic Founder Richard Branson had made yet another very difficult to meet prediction for the start of SpaceShipTwo’s commercial flights.
Ah, just another day here in paradise.
Advanced discounted registration for the Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC-2013) ends on Wednesday, May 15. Register today at https://nsrc.swri.org.
This year’s NSRC-2013 will be from June 3-5 at the beautiful Interlocken Resort in Broomfield, Colorado, just outside Boulder. There will be a welcome reception and poster session the evening of Sunday, June 2. Registration and check-in will open at 5:30pm.
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).
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.
Aviation Week reports that the U.S. Air Force and SpaceX are within a week of agreeing on a plan for the certification of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets to compete to launch defense payloads. The plan includes launching Dscovr (Deep Space Climate Observatory) aboard a Falcon 9 in late 2014 to the Sun-Earth Lagrange point L1, which is located 930,000 miles from Earth. SpaceX will also launch the Air […]
SpaceShipTwo burning rubber — literally. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
While in Singapore for an environmental summit organized by the Carbon War Room charity he founded, Virgin Galactic Founder Richard Branson touted the environmental friendliness of his rubber burning SpaceShipTwo vehicle:
British billionaire Richard Branson today said that rocket-powered space tourism flights by his firm Virgin Galactic would have only a minor impact on climate change….
“We have reduced the (carbon emission) cost of somebody going into space from something like two weeks of New York’s electricity supply… To less than the cost of a economy round-trip from Singapore to London,” Branson told reporters in Singapore…..
“New technology can dramatically reduce the carbon output and that is the challenge we have set ourselves,” added Branson.
The SS2’s lightweight carbon-fibre body will also “reduce fuel burn dramatically”, he said.
Well, that’s interesting. Now, where to begin?
The ubiquitous Buzz Aldrin drops by The Space Show for a chat with David Livingston this evening. Three other shows follow later in the week. 1. Monday, May 13, 2013, 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): We welcome back BUZZ ALDRIN to discuss his new book, “Mission to Mars: My Vision for Space Exploration.”. 2. Tuesday, May 14, 2013 2013, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 […]
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.
