A new aircraft is set to make its first flight on Friday at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Spaceport CEO Stu Witt mentioned the new flying craft on Tuesday during a meeting of the East Kern Airport District Board of Directors. He said he could not go into details on the aircraft, but he did say that the airport’s support crews would be on standby on both […]
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
WhiteKnightTwo Flight Test Summaries Via Scaled Composites Flight: 102 Date: 05 Nov 12 Flight Time: 2.2 hr WK2 Pilot: Mackay WK2 CoPilot: Stucky WK2 FTE: Knupp Objectives: Virgin Galactic WK2 pilot proficiency Results: Objective complete. Editor’s Note: This was the first flight since Oct. 4. If we see a cluster of these flights in the days ahead, I would guess they’re gearing up for some flights of SpaceShipTwo with its […]
Precision Landing Exploration Technology (PLANET) Demonstration
Flight Campaign Dates: November 5-15, 2012
Location: Mojave Air and Spaceport, Mojave CA
Flight Profiles: Simulated Martian and Lunar landing trajectories
Vehicle: XA-0.1B “Xombie” — Masten Space Systems
Flight Hardware: Guidance Embedded Navigator Integration Environment (GENIE) — Charles Stark Draper Laboratory
HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA has released a Request for Information (RFI) to explore the potential interest and use of its unique facilities, labs and technical expertise for structural testing at the agency’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The facilities and capabilities could support commercial, government and academic activities, and possibly lead to new technology developments.
The RFI is seeking responses from prospective partners interested in using Johnson’s extensive testing facilities to provide high-performance solutions for a variety of structural testing in diverse industries, including aerospace. These solutions can help businesses meet their challenges by helping engineers develop deeper insight in their materials and building processes.
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There’s a conspicuous absence of “NewSpace” representatives on the National Research Council’s new space committee, which has been charged by those geniuses in Congress* with examining how to develop a sustainable human spaceflight program in the decades ahead. Fortunately, the membership list that was published the other day is provision. And the NRC will be taking comments from the public over the next 16 days before finalizing the committee’s roster. […]
Michael Oliveri, who suffers from a very rare, unidentified form of Muscular Dystrophy, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $500,000 to fly into space on Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo and to make a documentary film about it. You can contribute to the campaign here.
Wallops Island, VA (MARS PR) — Mr. Sean Mulligan has been selected to fill the position of Director, Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport (or MARS Director) for the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority (VCSFA). Sean will report directly to Executive Director of VCSFA, Dale Nash. He will begin in his new position Monday, November 5, 2012.
All MARS functions (whether direct or subcontractor) including the Operations, Engineering, Planning, Maintenance, Facilities, and Security, will report directly to this position. This position during MARS launch operations is the primary interface with the NASA Range and Mission Management Office for day-to-day MARS direct launch mission support functions. This position will also be the primary interface for spaceport activities for launch customers. The Director of MARS will also serve as the primary liaison with NASA Wallops Flight Facility organizations.
WALLOPS ISLAND, VA (NASA PR) – NASA will support the test flight of a commercial suborbital rocket between 6 and 9 a.m. EST, November 7, from the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The backup launch days are November 8 – 14. Ventions VR-1 is a 10.6 feet tall, 6-inch diameter liquid-fueled rocket from Ventions LLC. It is projected to fly to about 3 miles altitude during its nearly 3.5 minute […]
This week on The Space Show with Dr. David Livingston… 1. Monday, November 5, 2012, 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): We welcome JASON ANDREWS back to the program to discuss new updates with Spaceflight Services & Andrews Space. 2. Tuesday, November 6 , 2012, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 PM CST): No program tonight due to election return monitoring. 3. Friday, November 9, 2012, […]
The National Research Council (NRC) has appointed an ad hoc committee “to undertake a study to review the long-term goals, core capabilities, and direction of the U.S. human spaceflight program and make recommendations to enable a sustainable U.S. human spaceflight program.”
The 17-member committee is co-chaired by Dr. Jonathan Lunine, a professor of physical sciences at Cornell University, and William Perry, a Stanford University professor who served as defense secretary under President Bill Clinton. Other members of the committee include former NASA astronaut Bryan D. O’Connor, Houston-based consultant Mary Lynne Dittmar, and Spacehack.org Founder Ariel Waldman.
The list seems rather short on representatives from the “NewSpace” community. A full list of committee members with biographies is reproduced after the break.