ANDREWS PR — December 6, 2011, Seattle, WA – Andrews Space (Andrews) has been awarded a $250 million-ceiling, eight year contract by the United States Air Force (USAF) for ground and flight experiments and demonstrations in support of the Air Force’s proposed Reusable Booster System.

Under the Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, Andrews will initially complete work consisting of requirements refinement and initial design of the RBS Pathfinder system. Following that, Andrews will compete with other awardees for additional tasks including work to conduct flight and ground experiments and demonstrations to address key technologies, processes and system attributes (TPSAs) associated with the RBS concept. Areas of study include: aeromechanics, configuration, flight performance, structures and materials, flight controls and health management, flight systems, propulsion, grounds system and operations.

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Largely lost in Moon Express’s announcement last week of a partnership with Auto Desk was the announcement of a new space prize:

Moon Express also announced “The Moon is ME” Lunar Mining Design Competition as a global challenge to design lunar mining tools that the MERLIN rovers can utilize to acquire and transport lunar samples containing valuable metals and minerals. The competition is global and open to students as well as professional designers using Autodesk software. The top designs will be prototyped and demonstrated in a field test competition at Moon Express facilities at the NASA Research Park in Silicon Valley. The winning prize design will be funded by the company for potential test and demonstration on the Moon.

In essence, Moon Express is going to crowd source these valuable tools instead of hiring people to internally design them.

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Texus 48 launch on 27 November 2011. (Credits: Thilo Kranz/DLR)

ESA PR — ESA and the DLR German Space Center fired a Texus rocket 263 km into space on 27 November to test a new way of handling propellants on Europe’s future rockets.

Texus 48 lifted off at 10:10 GMT (11:10 CET) from the Esrange Space Centre near Kiruna in northern Sweden on its 13-minute flight.
During the six minutes of weightlessness – mimicking the different stages of a full spaceflight – two new devices were tested for handling super-cold liquid hydrogen and oxygen propellants and then recovered for analysis.

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There’s been a bit of news over the last week on Spaceport America:

• New Mexico Legislature is moving forward with a bill designed to shield spacecraft manufacturers and supplies from lawsuits
• New Mexico Spaceport Authority has approved a scaled down plan for Spaceport America’s vertical launch area

Want to know more? Read on. If not, click away. Your call.

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This artist's conception illustrates Kepler-22b, a planet known to comfortably circle in the habitable zone of a sun-like star. Scientists do not yet know if the planet has a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid composition. It's possible that the world would have clouds in its atmosphere, as depicted here in the artist's interpretation. Image credit: NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech

NASA PR — NASA’s Kepler mission has confirmed its first planet in the “habitable zone,” the region where liquid water could exist on a planet’s surface. Kepler also has discovered more than 1,000 new planet candidates, nearly doubling its previously known count. Ten of these candidates are near-Earth-size and orbit in the habitable zone of their host star. Candidates require follow-up observations to verify they are actual planets.

The newly confirmed planet, Kepler-22b, is the smallest yet found to orbit in the middle of the habitable zone of a star similar to our sun. The planet is about 2.4 times the radius of Earth. Scientists don’t yet know if Kepler-22b has a predominantly rocky, gaseous or liquid composition, but its discovery is a step closer to finding Earth-like planets.

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This week on The Space Show with David Livingston… 1. Monday, Dec. 5, 2-3:30 PM PST: We welcome back Nicholas Johnson, NASA JSC and specialist in space debris issues, including reentering space hardware. 2. Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, 7- 9 PM PST: This is a Open Lines. Due to my unusual December schedule, this may be the only Open Lines program this month. 3. Friday, Dec. 9: This is the […]

Never out of the public eye for very long, former New Mexico Gov.  and Spaceport America champion Bill Richardson is once again making headlines — and for all the wrong reasons. The Wall Street Journal reports:

A federal grand jury is investigating former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson over possible campaign-finance violations stemming from his 2008 presidential run, including allegations that he arranged for supporters to pay off a woman who planned to say they had engaged in an extramarital affair, according to people familiar with the inquiry.

Several of Mr. Richardson’s close associates have been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for their testimony before the panel in Albuquerque, the people said. The panel is one of several grand juries in recent years to examine aspects of Mr. Richardson’s administration and campaigns….

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In a guest opinion for the Albuquerque Journal, New Mexico Spaceport Authority Executive Director Christine Anderson says that Virgin Galactic’s space tourism operations will be worth $150 to $250 million in lease and user fees to the state over 20 years and that the spaceport will be “operationally self-sufficient within one year of Virgin Galactic’s start of operations.”

When Virgin Galactic will begin commercial operations is uncertain. For those of you who are just joining us, let’s review what Virgin officials have been saying about that over the last couple months:

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Artist's conception of Orbital Sciences Corporation's Cygnus freighter approaching the International Space Station.

ATK PR — ATK (NYSE: ATK) was awarded a $20 million contract by Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) to provide its UltraFlex™ solar arrays to power Orbital’s enhanced Cygnus™ cargo logistics space vehicle, which is being utilized under NASA’s Commercial Resupply System contract.

The disk-shaped UltraFlex solar arrays measure more than 11 feet in diameter and are made of ultra-lightweight materials that provide high strength and stiffness as well as compact stowage volume. With the same power but at a significantly reduced mass from the original arrays, the UltraFlex solar arrays will contribute to an overall increased payload capability of the enhanced Cygnus vehicle to provide resupply services to the International Space Station.

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ROSCOSMOS PR — The State Corporation “Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs (Vnesheconombank)” and the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) signed a cooperation agreement. On the part of Vnesheconombank Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev has signed, by the Russian Space Agency – Head of the Agency Vladimir Popovkin. In line with the sectoral priorities Vnesheconombank’s investment activities, as reflected in the Memorandum on financial policies of the Bank, the Agreement provides for […]