Some news on the ISS space tourism front, which has been largely silent since Guy Laliberte visited th station back in 2009: British singer Sarah Brightman may be the next paying passenger to ride a Russian rocket to the International Space Station, sources familiar with the negotiations said Wednesday. If the trip happens, Brightman, 52, would make the journey in 2015, the Interfax news agency reported, citing an unidentified official […]
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
Vladimir Putin (Credit: www.kremlin.ru)
Previously on Planet Putin…. Yet another rocket launch went awry, plunging the Russian space program back into a crisis from which it failed to emerge last year. The two Dmitrys sprang into action, promising to name and shame those responsible and to turn around the floundering space program once and for all. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev gave Roscomos a month to come up with a plan to fix things. Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin vowed to personally oversee the establishment of a new quality control system. Heads began to roll as a high-level official resigned. Meanwhile, Ruler for Life Vladimir Putin maintained a steely silence.
And yet despite this frenzy of activity, matters have somehow become even murkier…
Executor rocket. (Credit: ARCA)
Valcea, Romania (ARCA PR) — ARCA has completed the work on the first Executor rocket engine. The engine is designed to equip the Haas orbital rocket series and IAR-111 Excelsior supersonic plane. The second engine is 50% completed. The team will construct 4 gas generators, 4 turbopumps and 12 combustion chambers.
The Executor engine uses liquid oxygen as oxidizer and and kerosene as fuel. The engine has a thrust of 23 tons force in vacuum and has a maximum operating time of 190 seconds. By using composite materials and aluminum alloys on a large scale, Executor engine weights only 210 kg, and has a thrust to weight ratio of 110, the best ever achieved by a European rocket engine. ARCA estimates achieving an even better ratio after the tests are completed.
“Executor is the most important ARCA program until now. After the tests are completed we will have high technology product, a great European and world achievement. We take great pride in being a private program in Romania. Executor will allow us to undertake orbital flights.
Rep. Paul Ryan
In an interview with WPTV in Florida, Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan was asked about defense and the space program. His answer was more focused on the former (spend more!) than the latter (“robust”), providing few clues about what he and presidential candidate Mitt Romney would do with NASA if elected. Ryan refused to answer a question about NASA’s commercial space efforts.
Excerpts below.
Countering critics who perceived him and Romney as weak on national security and foreign policy, Ryan said Romney would propose to strengthen defense spending if elected.
Ryan, who voted against the 2008 and 2010 NASA Authorization Acts, said he believed in a “robust space program.”
KSLV-1 first stage booster. (Credit: Khrunichev)
Moscow, August 22, 2012 (Khrunichev PR) — The Khrunichev Space Center have completed fabrication and tests of Stage 1 for KSLV-1 (Korea Space Launch Vehicle #1), and processed the flight article for shipment to South Korea.
Earlier today, the manufacturer has started transfer of the shipping container with Stage 1 onto a rail convoy to ship this stage to the City of Ulyanovsk within the next few days. From Ulyanovsk, the cargo will be flown by the Polyot air carrier to the South Korean city/port of Pusan to be then re-directed to the Naro Space Center.
A petition has been launched to remove controversial Rep. Todd Akin from the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology after the Missouri Republican set off a firestorm with comments about “legitimate rape.”Akin serves on the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. The petition reads, in part: It is outrageous that someone with Rep. Akin’s views and appalling ignorance is on a committee devoted to overseeing science policy. This is something […]
PITTSBURGH, PA, Aug 21, 2012 (Astrobotic PR) — Astrobotic today announced a NASA contract to develop technologies for exploring caves on the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Astrobotic was one of ten teams to be selected for Phase II awards from NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program.
XCOR Aerospace Announces Operations and Manufacturing Base in Florida Thursday, August 23, 2012 WHO: Florida Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll XCOR CEO Jeff Greason Space Florida President Frank DiBello NASA-KSC Director Robert Cabana NASA Chief of Staff David Radzanowski U.S. Senator Bill Nelson EDC of Florida’s Space Coast President Lynda Weatherman Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex COO Bill Moore Jacksonville Aviation Authority Sr. Manager of Aviation Planning & Spaceport Development […]
Burt Rutan has just launched a new website called….wait for it….BurtRutan.com . The site includes everything you need to know about Burt — and much more. There’s his biography, awards, lectures, articles FAQ, and hobbies. The retired founder of Scaled Composites has six hobbies ranging from golf to global warming. Check it out!
Announcement of Opportunity-1
Building a NanoLab Community for Space Station Users
NanoRacks, the leading company in low-earth orbit research and educational utilization, seeks to further stimulate the market for International Space Station usage by offering to designate and promote up to five (5) companies that can offer for retail sale NanoLabs for use in NanoRacks hardware now on the space station and on suborbital platforms.
The purpose of this AO is to help create a robust, standardized ecosystem that makes use of the NanoRacks research platforms now permanently onboard the U.S. National Lab on International Space Station as well as for possible use in other environments, such as onboard the Virgin Galactic suborbital SpaceShipTwo research racks.