The Lurio Report (See www.thelurioreport.com for Subscription Prices and Information) Virgin’s Space Terminal, Encouraging Space Business, Armadillo, Masten & ‘CRuSR’, the ‘unCCP’ Vol. 6, No. 16, November 14, 2011 ================================= Contents: Quick Updates: Armadillo, Masten and ‘CRuSR’ Becoming the “un-Commercial Crew” Program? Caught in a Dilemma on the Hill Work It, or Quit It? Hindering or Helping Commercial Within NASA Increasing Funding in The Worst Possible Way … And Ending […]
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
A Soyuz rocket launched American astronaut Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and Anatoly Ivanishin on Monday morning (Sunday @ 11:14 pm EST in the U.S.) on a flight to the International Space Station (ISS). The crew will replace the current three occupants aboard the orbiting outpost. The launch, which appeared to be flawless, took place in a snowstorm at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The crew will dock […]
During a meeting in Lima, Peru last week, defense ministers from 11 South American nations agreed to pursue the creation of a South American space agency, according to media reports.
The decision was made during a two-day meeting of the Defense Council of the Union of South American Nations (UNASUR). UNASUR Secretary General Maria Emma Mejia chaired the gathering, which included defense ministers from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay and Venezuela. Guyana is also a member of UNASUR, but it is not mentioned in press reports as having sent a representative to the defense meeting.
Soyuz Commander Anton Shkaplerov, Russian Flight Engineer Anatoly Ivanishin, and NASA Flight Engineer Dan Burbank will launch from Baikonur on Monday morning (Sunday @ 11:11 pm EST in the U.S.) on a flight to the International Space Station (ISS). This is the first human flight to the orbital outpost since the loss of a Soyuz-Progress flight in August. The Russians have successfully launched two unmanned Soyuz rockets with booster similar […]
OSC's Cygnus freighter approaches the International Space Station. (Credit: OSC)
Seattle, WA — Nov 08, 2011 — Andrews Space (Andrews) announced today that it has completed delivery of four Cargo Module Power Units (CMPUs) that will supply power to payloads aboard Orbital’s Cygnus spacecraft.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 12, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Burt Rutan, legendary aerospace designer and founder of Scaled Composites, was presented Flightglobal’s Lifetime Achievement Award for bringing to life some of the world’s most unique and innovative aircraft – leading to long-range flight breakthroughs and the beginning of commercial space travel.
Flightglobal, part of Flight International magazine, and owned by Reed Business Information Ltd., a subsidiary of Reed Elsevier, presented Rutan the award Nov. 12 at a ceremony they hosted at the Dubai Air Show in which individuals, teams and innovations in the aviation and aerospace industries were recognized.
“Burt’s vision and leadership in aerospace design is embedded in many cutting-edge technologies today,” said Paul Meyer, vice president and general manager of advanced programs and technology for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. “His revolutionary ideas and systems have brought humanity closer to a time when mass transportation access to space is a reality.”
Huntsville, Ala. (Nov. 10, 2011) – Tim Pickens, team leader of the Rocket City Space Pioneers, gets a chance to prove his “real world” technical aptitude in an upcoming episode of the National Geographic Channel’s new show, “Mad Scientists.” Pickens, who is also chief propulsion engineer and commercial space advisor for Dynetics, is scheduled to be featured in a 30-minute episode of the show on Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 10 p.m. ET. The show’s “reveal” was filmed at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Aviation Challenge Lake in Huntsville.
“Mad Scientists” is a show that challenges hand-picked scientists, inventors and tinkerers from all over the country to accomplish seemingly impossible technical feats in 48 hours. This is not the first time Pickens has been the subject of a national television show. It is the first time he has been challenged on national TV to build and design rocket-powered machines in two days that a person can safely operate.
These feats were designed to propel the host of the show, John Bowler, at high speeds down the road and fly him in the air using Pickens’ innovations.
A Message From the CSA President
I am pleased to take this opportunity to present the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) annual report, The State of the Canadian Space Sector 2010. Data gathered for this report measures change in the space sector on a number of indicators, such as sector and category of business activity, regional differences, the relative value of export revenues and the strength of our manufacturing base. I am happy to report that the findings for 2010 point to a robust 14% increase in total revenues over 2009 results, reaching $3.439B. Furthermore, an additional 692 positions were created across the country to employ the highly qualified men and women of the Canadian space sector workforce.
Win a rocket ride to the edge of space! Following the maiden flight of NOVA 2 we will be fitting the Starchaser 4 rocket booster with our Mk3 NOVA capsule before flying over 100,000 feet to the very edge of space. The new capsule will be capable of carrying two people; one seat will be reserved for our Starchaser qualified pilot, the other seat together with the role of rocketship […]
A Russian poster for Phobos-Grunt. (Credit: Roscosmos)
The latest news about Phobos-Grunt is not encouraging. Russian controllers have had no success in communicating with the Mars-bound lander, which is stuck in low Earth orbit due to a failure of its propulsion system. If they cannot communicate with the spacecraft soon and command the engines to fire it to Mars, the vehicle will make an uncontrolled re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere with 10 tons of toxic fuel on board by early December, reports indicate.
Meanwhile, evidence is emerging that the communications failures are likely a result of poor spacecraft design and contingency planning.