CAPE CANAVERAL, FL. (October 15, 2012) – This week, Space Florida – the State of Florida’s spaceport authority and aerospace development agency – received the 13th Annual H. Bruce Russell Global Innovator’s Award by CoreNet Global for recent work with NASA/Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and The Boeing Company in establishing Boeing’s Commercial Crew Program Headquarters and Manufacturing Site for the Crew Space Transportation (CST)-100 spacecraft in Florida.
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
An interview with Google Lunar X PRIZE team Astrobotic, from the USA. President John Thorton describes their Ice Breaker mission to find water on the poles of the Moon.
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
Wednesday’s announcement that international recording superstar Sarah Brightman will be flying to the International Space Station marked at major milestone for the Virginia-based Space Adventures: the company had finally booked a genuine celebritynaut for one of its orbital trips.
It was a far cry from 11 years ago, when a largely unknown former NASA engineer turned investment manager named Dennis Tito climbed aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for an eight-day trip to the International Space Station.
And the announcement comes at time when the excitement over the prospects of an extremely wealthy person paying an increasingly absurd amount of money to float around in space like any other regular astronaut has largely faded.
BALTIMORE, MD, Oct 9, 2012 (Juxtopia/Sol-X PR) — Inside Baltimore’s JUICE Lab, Solar System Express (Sol-X) and Juxtopia LLC are collaborating to transition sci-fi gadgets as seen in Star Trek (2009) and Iron Man (2008) into reality. Technology transfer between the companies will result in a high-tech system to control the fall of skydivers from altitudes above 120,000 feet, near the edge of space, and provide a visual Augmented Reality display during the journey. Product code name – RL Mark VI.
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP) partner Blue Origin has successfully fired the thrust chamber assembly for its new 100,000 pound thrust BE-3 liquid oxygen, liquid hydrogen rocket engine. As part of Blue’s Reusable Booster System (RBS), the engines are designed eventually to launch the biconic-shaped Space Vehicle the company is developing.
The test was part of Blue Origin’s work supporting its funded Space Act Agreement with NASA during Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2). CCDev2 continues to bring spacecraft and launch vehicle designs forward to develop a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability that ultimately could become available for the government and other customers.
To boldly go…. (Credit: Douglas Messier)
The Mojave Air & Space Port has been getting a bit of press lately.
- Los Angeles Times’ overview: https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mojave-rocketeers-20121011,0,5185481.story.
- A BBC story: https://www.bbc.com/future/story/20121012-the-silicon-valley-of-space
- Make Magazine’s profile of the Mojave Makers: https://www.make-digital.com/make/vol32/?pg=74#pg74
If you want to see what all the excitement is about, drop by this Saturday for the spaceport’s monthly open house.
Plane Crazy Saturday
“October Skies” in Mojave!
OCTOBER 20, 2012
10 A.M. – 2 P.M.
This Plane Crazy Saturday event features:
- Displays by XCOR Aerospace, Masten Space Systems & Firestar Technologies
- Tours of Orbital Sciences Corporation’s L-1011 “Stargazer”
- Special Presentation in EKAD Board Room by ‘STARGAZER PILOT’ Bill Weaver at 11 a.m.
Weaver has flight-tested all models of the Mach-2 F-104 Starfighter and the entire family of Mach 3+ Blackbirds-the A-12, YF-12 and SR-71. During one harrowing flight, his SR-71 broke apart at 78,800-feet when the aircraft was doing Mach 3.18. Come hear how he survived.
Weaver will also talk about his flights on Orbital Sciences Corporation’s L-1011, which has been modified to carry the Pegasus satellite-launch vehicle.
The California Pilots Association is having its annual meeting in Mojave this week. So, there will be a lot of planes to see.
And the Mojave Makers will be having an open house at their Maker Space.
WASHINGTON (NASA PR) — NASA partner United Launch Alliance (ULA) has completed the fifth and final milestone for its Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) agreement with the agency’s Commercial Crew Program.
The Hazard, System Safety and Probabilistic Risk Assessment detailed how ULA’s Atlas V rocket launch system hardware would ensure crew safety during launch and ascent.
This week on The Space Show with David Livingston…. Monday, October 13, 2012, 2-3:30 PM PDT (5-6:30 PM EDT, 4-5:30 PM CDT): We welcome back WAYNE WHITE, space attorney. Wayne will be discussing new approaches to space property right, debris mitigation, and more. 2. Tuesday, October 16 , 2012, 7-8:30 PM PDT (10-11:30 PM EDT, 9-10:30 PM CDT): We welcome you to the first ever Space Show audition/try-out program for […]
Debris from the rupture of a Falcon 9 engine fairing during the Oct. 7 launch.
By Douglas Messier
Parabolic Arc Managing Editor
On Sept. 3, 2009, upstart rocket company SpaceX announced a major deal for its new launch vehicle. The company would launch 18 ORBCOMM satellites — several at a time — aboard its Falcon 1e rocket, an upgraded version of the Falcon 1 booster that had just notched its second successful flight.
ORBCOMM would get launches for its Generation 2 (OG2) machine-to-machine communication satellites at a bargain rate of $11 million per flight. The first flight would occur “as early as the fourth quarter of 2010” with the final one in 2014, allowing the company to gradually upgrade its existing satellite constellation. Each OG2 spacecraft promised to increase subscriber capacity by up to 12 times over the first-generation satellites then in orbit.
It all sounded great. But, things didn’t go quite according to plan…
CAPE CANAVERAL, FL., October 11, 2012 (Space Florida PR) – Space Florida received a Silver Excellence in Economic Development Award for the Igniting Innovation (I2) Capital Acceleration Showcase in the category of “Special Event for Communities with Populations of 500,000+” from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC).