Media outlets in Costa Rica are reporting on a possible investment by Astrium North America in Dr. Franklin Chang-Diaz’s Ad Astra Rocket Company, which is developing the VASIMR rocket. The capital participation in Ad Astra will be in exchange for the construction of the Aurora platform to carry the VASIMR rocket on its initial trials in space. (A model of such a platform was constructed by a consortium of small […]
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
The Lurio Report FOR PRICING & SUBSCRIPTIONS: <https://www.thelurioreport.com/subscribe.html> Uwingu – Name an ExoPlanet to Fund Research/ “L2” Plan & Exploration Require End to SLS Vol. 7, No. 13, November 16, 2012 Contents: Reminder Quick Updates XCOR Announces Lynx Wing/Control Surfaces Contract to ATK Lunar X Prize Value to Decrease? Orbcomm Implies Primary Payloads Only Dear Acquaintances, – Uwingu Unveils First Product to Aid Research – Name an Exoplanet! – The […]
The moon rising over Half Moon Bay, California on Halloween 2009. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
A new private effort focused on getting humans back to the moon by 2020 appears to be led by a Colorado start-up called Golden Spike Company, according to published reports.
S. Alan Stern, the former NASA science chief who now works for the Southwest Research Institute, is the registered agent for the company, which is identified as a foreign corporation in Colorado state records.
NASASpaceflight.com, which first broke the news earlier this week, reports that “the effort is led by a group of high profile individuals from the aerospace industry and backed by some big money and foreign investors”. The company plans to make a formal announcement in December.
It looks as if sopranonaut Sarah Brightman might have another millionaut sitting beside her on her upcoming Soyuz spaceflight: The Russian Federal Space Agency has not yet decided whether it will allow a second space tourist to visit the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015, Roscosmos manned space flight program director Alexei Krasnov told journalists on Thursday. “The mission commander must be a professional. There can be no compromise on […]
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FL. (November 16, 2012) – The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), the nonprofit organization promoting and managing research on board the International Space Station (ISS) U.S. National Laboratory, last night inducted its first seven members to the organization’s permanent Board of Directors.
Authorities in Georgia are proceeding with efforts to develop a spaceport: The Camden County Joint Development Authority is exploring building an “aero-spaceport’’ facility in the county to bring in new jobs and to move the troublesome St. Marys Airport away from a Navy sub base. The authority board authorized its chairman, John McDill, to enter into an agreement with Union Carbide, owner of 4,000 acres of former industrial property, and […]
Johan Johansson, MP for Norrbotten, Karin Nilsdotter, CEO Spaceport Sweden, and Betty Malmberg, Chair of the Parliamentary Space Network. (Credit: Spaceport Sweden)
KIRUNA, Sweden (Spaceport Sweden PR) — On October 24, Spaceport Sweden together the Parliamentary Space Network were invited to the Swedish Parliament to discuss commercial human spaceflight. MPs from the whole of Sweden got an opportunity to listen to and discuss how space tourism is being developed and how Sweden can continue to be at the forefront of this industry by putting in place a supportive regulatory regime and capitalising on the opportunties for innovation and cross-industry cooperation.
Spaceport Sweden has been working proactively and strategically to establish space tourism as an important part of both business and academia in northern Sweden with international reach, says Karin Nilsdotter, CEO of Spaceport Sweden.
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo., Nov. 15, 2012 (Space Foundation PR) – Paragon Space Development Corporation® is now a Space Foundation Space Certification Program Partner and has been authorized to carry the Certified Space TechnologyTM seal. It is being recognized for its Modular Air Revitalization System (MARS).
Designed to be used by astronauts in the hazardous environment of space, the system’s technology has found a lifesaving use in another dangerous occupation – this time on Earth or, rather, under it – coal mining.
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
Spaceport America in New Mexico is still unfinished and has yet to see a single commercial spaceflight, but it is apparently already in need of saving.
Or so says the Save our Spaceport Coalition, which held a press conference this morning in Albuquerque. The event was held to “announce the formation of a group dedicated to pass a new law limiting the liability for space accidents in order to ensure the future of Spaceport America and save thousands of jobs in aerospace, tourism, and construction,” according to a press release from the coalition.
Four NASA projects, an electric car produced by Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors, and the pressure suit worn by Felix Baumgartner during his record skydiving jump have all made Popular Science‘s Best of What’s New 2012 list.
The following project were recognized in the Aerospace category:
- Mars Curiosity Sky Crane » Read
- NASA Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) » Read
- NASA PhoneSat » Read
- NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory Asteroid Anchors » Read
- Red Bull Stratos Pressure Suit » Read
The Tesla Model S sedan won the Grand Prize in the Auto category. The magazine described the electric vehicle in a press release:
The Tesla Model S sets the standard by which all future electronic vehicles will be measured. It is faster than any other street-legal electric vehicle, with a motor that generates a peak 416 horsepower. The family-size sedan can dart from 0 to 60 in 4.4 seconds and has a top speed of 130 mph. The Tesla Model S can also drive farther on a charge than any other electric car—up to 300 miles on the optional 85-kilowatt-hour battery.
Tesla’s sedan also captured Motor Trend’s Car of the Year honors this week.
A NASA press release about PhoneSat, in which a smart phone was used to power a satellite, follows after the break.