Dream Chaser cockpit simulator. (Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation)

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (NASA PR) – NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., successfully completed wind tunnel testing for Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) Space Systems of Louisville, Colo. The test will provide aerodynamic data that will aid in the design of the new Dream Chaser® Space System.

During tests at Marshall’s wind tunnel facility, a scale model of SNC’s Dream Chaser orbital crew vehicle was mounted on a scale model of the United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V launch vehicle. Over 400 data runs were performed at subsonic, transonic and supersonic speeds to study the effects of how air moves past the model. Nine full-stack configurations were tested over a Mach range of .4, or 304 miles per hour at sea level, to Mach 5, or 3,800 miles per hour at sea level, at various launch vehicle roll angles.

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Florida Today reports that Sen. Bill Nelson is opposing a House plan that would require NASA to immediately down select to a single commercial crew provider: Nelson called the plan, which instructs NASA to immediately choose a company for the Commercial Crew Program, “silliness” and “anti-competitive.” Currently, NASA is providing subsidies to four companies vying to develop a rocket to replace the space shuttle, a competition the agency and supporters […]

Photo Credit: Sam Coniglio

Scaled Composites is due to resume drop tests of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo this summer after at least a 9-month gap, Flight Global reports:

“We’ll have some drop tests over the summer, I think in July, maybe June. We’ll have to see how it goes, but basically over [the third quarter] we’ll have a lot of drop tests,” says Virgin Galactic. “[Those tests] will have some of the new equipment but mostly that will just be continuing through the aerodynamic, subsonic flight test regime.”

Installation of engine components has begun on the suborbital spacecraft. The vehicle uses a Sierra Nevada-built hybrid rocket, RocketMotorTwo, fueled by nitrous oxide and hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB, a form of rubber).

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The Orion Ground Test Vehicle shows the Orion "skeleton" used for pathfinding operations in preparation for the Orion spaceflight test vehicle slated for NASA's Exploration Flight Test, or EFT-1, in 2014. (Credit: NASA)

Huntsville, Ala. (NASA PR) — Engineers at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center are testing parts of the Orion service module to ensure the spacecraft can withstand the harsh realities of deep space missions.

To date, Marshall has completed two structural loads tests, and another is under way. Structural loads tests prove the structural performance or material behavior of a design as weight is applied to it. Most of the time, the allowable weight is exceeded to test the material at extreme conditions to verify the tolerance of the material or design.

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MOJAVE, Calif. (Mojave Makers PR) — Mojave Makers is happy to announce that we are now accepting members! We are running our Mojave Makers Months from the 15th to the 15th of each month for the purposes of billing and memberships, so we are currently accepting payments for the Month from May 15th to June 15th. We currently have two levels of membership available: Associate Membership – $40/month – access […]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (NASA PR) — NASA has announced a modification of its NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract with Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., to add an additional configuration of the Falcon 9 rocket to its fleet. The SpaceX Falcon 9 v1.1 launch service will be available to the agency’s Launch Services Program to use for future missions in accordance with the on-ramp provision of NLS II.

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden

“The key to achieving our goal of facilitating a strong commercial space industry is adequate funding and good old-fashioned American competition. We are working hard to maintain both. NASA’s 2013 request for commercial crew development is $830 million. Despite a bi-partisan agreement to ensure American astronauts are traveling into space on U.S. built spacecraft as soon as possible, some want to short-change this job-creating initiative and limit competition in the commercial space arena.

“I think we all agree: competition is a basic tenet of American democracy and the very cornerstone of America’s technological excellence. Competition promotes innovation. Competition enhances our ability to identify the absolute best commercial partners. Ending competition by down-selecting to a sole commercial space company could double the cost of developing a privately built human spaceflight system and it will leave us in the same position we find ourselves today – having only one option for getting our astronauts to the space station. We are hopeful we can work to resolve these issues and keep this important initiative on track.

We are on the brink of a milestone moment in NASA space history, all part of a long-term strategy that will create well paying, high quality jobs here in America. With your help, we are making progress, and we intend to stay on track.”

— Charles Bolden
Remarks to the FAA Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC)
May 10, 2012

You can read his full remarks after the break.

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WASHINGTON (NSS PR) — The National Space Society (NSS) calls on Congress to ease export control regulations on spacecraft and related items, as urged by the Departments of Defense and State in their recent, joint “Section 1248” report, “Risk Assessment of the United States Space Export Control Policy”, available here.

This report concluded that spacecraft and their components, designated as dual-use items, can safely be removed from the U.S. Munitions List (USML), which is controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) by the Department of State.

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This week on The Space Show…. SPECIAL TIME: 1. Monday, May 14, 2012 SPECIAL TIME: 4-5 PM PDT (7-8 PM EDT, 6-7 PM CDT): We welcome DR. HAROLD ROSEN to the program. Dr. Rosen is widely recognition for his pioneering work in the field of communication satellites and is widely recognized as the “father of the geostationary satellite.” 2. Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 7-8:30 PM PDT (10-11:30 PM EDT, 9-10:30 […]

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (NASA PR) — The second SpaceX demonstration launch for NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) has been rescheduled for a liftoff on Saturday, May 19. The launch of the Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon capsule will occur from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

There is a single instantaneous launch opportunity at 4:55 a.m. EDT.

NASA Television launch commentary from Cape Canaveral begins at 3:30 a.m.

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