A new petition on the White House’s website was created today concerning space solar power. We petition the Obama Administration to: commission a study to determine if Space Solar Power is a viable middle- to long-term solution for energy independence. Space Solar Power would be extremely expensive to realize. That’s the down side. The up side is it scales indefinitely – once you have a single one Gigawatt SPS power […]
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
Florida Today reports on some good news for the hard hit Space Coast: NASA’s prime contractor for its Orion deep space crew capsule is aiming to launch an early flight test in late 2013 and plans to at least double its work force at Kennedy Space Center between now and then. In what amounts to a paradigm shift, Lockheed Martin will manufacture Orion spacecraft at the launch site rather than […]
This week on The Space Show with David Livingston… 1. Monday, Feb. 20, 2011 2-3:30 PM PST (5-6:30 PM EST, 4-5:30 PM CST): We welcome back DR. JEFF BELL for policy, news, & NASA budget perspectives. 2. Tuesday, Feb. 21 2012, 7-8:30 PM PST (10-11:30 PM EST, 9-10:30 PM CST): We welcome back DR. BOB ZUBRIN to discuss his new books, the proposed FY13 NASA budger and Mars program. Read […]
Gen. William L. Shelton, Commander of the U.S. Air Force Space Command, talks during the 15th FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference. There’s a nifty video at the beginning showing fictional space exploration along side vehicles now in development.
The full transcript is reproduced after the break.
Russian spy turned aerospace recruiter Anna Chapman.
The Observer has an update on Skolkovo, the Russian government’s attempt to replicate America’s Silicon Valley outside of Moscow:
“We have plans to further explore the moon and the planets,” said a pamphlet promoting Skolkovo’s space centre, one of five planned “clusters”, alongside IT, biomedical science, energy efficiency and nuclear technology.
Investors are being promised corporate and personal tax breaks – and the opportunity of meeting Anna Chapman, the former spy and underwear model, who has been given the task of attracting young talent to Skolkovo.
TEXAS GOVERNOR’S OFFICE — Gov. Rick Perry today praised the creation of a public-private partnership that will harness the Texas based talent, creativity and resources at Houston’s NASA Johnson Space Center into innovative technologies with groundbreaking implications for our daily lives. This partnership will play an integral role in keeping some of our nation’s brightest minds in Texas, and preserving jobs that might otherwise be lost as a result of the ending of the constellation program. Texas Secretary of State Hope Andrade announced the initiative at the Texas Governor’s Small Business Forum: Aerospace Collaboration Opportunities event held at the JSC.
A local takes a break during Plane Crazy Saturday at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California.
A retired United Airlines 747 in front of the Scaled Composites hangar in Mojave. (Credit: Stratolaunch Systems)
HUNTSVILLE, AL, February 15, 2012 (Stratolaunch PR) – Today Stratolaunch systems closed on purchase of the first of two Boeing 747-400 aircraft that are being purchased from United Airlines.
Stratolaunch contractor Scaled Composites of Mojave California with support from their subcontractor BAE Systems has developed a complete plan for how the engines, landing gear, hydraulics and other subsystem components of these aircraft will be disassembled and reintegrated into a custom composite aircraft to be built by Scaled Composites in Stratolaunch’s new integration facility being built at the Mojave Air and Space Port.
HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA, Astrium Space Transportation and NanoRacks LLC are teaming up to expand the research capability of the International Space Station through delivery of a small commercial centrifuge facility that will conduct molecular and cellular investigations on plant and animal tissue.
The centrifuge enhances NanoRacks’ existing suite of lab equipment aboard the space station, which includes microscopes and a plate reader used to detect biological, chemical or physical activity in samples.
Space Access ’12 Preliminary Agenda – Friday, 2/17/12
by Henry Vanderbilt
Eight weeks till the conference! Time to start thinking about booking those flights to Phoenix; they’ll cost more if you wait too long. And reserve your room at the Grace Inn at our $69 discount rate – call 800 843-6010 or 480 893-3000 for reservations and mention “space access”. This rate includes a hot breakfast buffet, and is good for three days before and after the conference if you want to catch a little extra springtime southwestern sun.