Suborbital rocket launch. (Credit: Bob Martin)

Strasburg, PA (Photos to Space PR) — Surrounded by tranquil fields, the idyllic town of Strasburg, PA seems an unlikely place for a Space company. Tucked into a tiny corner just off the downtown square sits the headquarters for a company that wants to make Space ‘available’ to anyone.

“Currently our primary products are digital photo packages,” says Joe Latrell, the company’s CEO. “We send images, videos and an assortment of small items both to near-space and on suborbital flights. We want 2013 to be the year of personal space.”

“This is a great way to get students and teachers involved in space travel,” continues Latrell. “What better way to start a child exploring real world math and science than to participate in a real space mission? What a great introduction to STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) courses.”

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The Orion crew module is secured on the static load test fixture in preparation for a series of tests that will simulate the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission. (Credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett)

by Linda Herridge
NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center

Completely surrounded by a massive 20-foot-high structure called the crew module static load test fixture, the Orion crew module is being put through a series of tests that simulate the massive loads the spacecraft would experience during its mission.

Orion is NASA’s new exploration spacecraft, designed to carry humans farther into space than ever before. During its first flight test next year, Exploration Flight Test-1 (EFT-1), it will travel 3,600 miles into space and return to Earth. This will allow NASA to evaluate Orion’s performance in preparation for future deep space journeys.

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SpaceShipTwo in its first powered flight over Mojave.

By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor

Last week, I got to see close-up views of the power of the emerging suborbital space industry in two very different locations some 300 miles apart.

Monday was all about SpaceShipTwo, which lit its engine for the first time over the dusty Mojave Desert and provided viewers on the ground with a 16-second display of flames and black smoke. The little space plane soared skyward above its WhiteKnightTwo carrier plane before gliding to a perfect landing on the center line of Runway 30 at the Mojave Air and Space Port.

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Long Beach, Calif. (Space Tech PR) — Space Tech Conference (https://www.spacetechexpo.com) the West Coast’s premier space event, to be held on May 21-23, 2013 in Long Beach, California, will bring together high-profile market players and industry specialists to discuss the pressing business issues facing the space industry. Under “The Business Case for Space” theme, the 2013 conference will address core challenges and opportunities in space commercialization, commercial crew and cargo, space tourism, space launch systems, space funding, technology transfer, International Space Station utilization, military requirements, and supply chain and acquisition considerations.

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In addition to a bill that would allow for the closing of Boca Chica Beach for SpaceX launches, three other pieces of space-related legislation are making their way through the Texas Legislature. The bills, all sponsored by State Rep. John Davis (R-Houston), include: HB 545, which would enable municipalities to establish their own spaceport development corporations; HB 1791, which would align space flight activities in Texas with federal regulations; HB […]

Sierra Nevada Corporation’s Dream Chaser shuttle. (Credit: Sierra Nevada)

WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) Space Systems of Louisville, Colo., has completed its first major, comprehensive safety review of its Dream Chaser Space System. This is the company’s latest paid-for-performance milestone with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which is working with commercial space partners to develop capabilities to launch U.S. astronauts from American soil in the next few years.

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KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL., May 9, 2013 (CASIS PR) – The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization managing research onboard the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, today announced the funding of an unsolicited proposal in the field of nanofluidics.

Drs. Alessandro Grattoni and Mauro Ferrari at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute will receive approximately $200,000 in CASIS funding for their project, which seeks to determine the physical phenomena involved in nanofluidics.

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A measure that would authorize the creation of an Alabama Space Authority charged with promoting the state’s space industry and developing a spaceport has been advancing through the Legislature.

The legislation has passed the Senate and was approved by the House Technology and Research Committee on Wednesday, according to media reports. The committee’s approval paved the way for a vote by the full House.

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WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA has awarded a contract to J.P. Donovan Construction Inc. of Rockledge, Fla., to modify the mobile launcher that will enable the agency’s Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket to send humans to an asteroid, Mars and other new destinations in the solar system.

The work under this firm fixed-price $20.7 million contract will begin in June and be completed in 18 months.

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UPDATE: Yup, the report was accurate, all right. And Virgin Galactic has released a photo. I received a reliable report of WhiteKnightTwo performing touch and gos on the  runway at the Mojave Air and Space Port this morning. It was flying solo without SpaceShipTwo.