AIAA PR — October 31, 2011 – Reston, Va. – The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is pleased to announce that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese Society of Aeronautics and Astronautics (CSAA). The signing ceremony took place on Tuesday, October 25, at the headquarters of the CSAA in Beijing, China.

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The six-member Mars500 crew will open the hatch to its habitat on Friday, Nov. 4 after completing a 520-day simulated mission to the Red Planet.  ESA will stream the mission’s end in Moscow beginning at 10:50 CET, with hatch opening at 11.00 CET. You can view the ceremony here.

Mike Wall over at Space.com reports: A pair of robotic Chinese spacecraft docked in orbit for the first time ever Wednesday (Nov. 2), marking a key step toward China’s goal of building a space station and establishing a permanent manned presence in space by the end of the decade. After a two-day orbital chase, the Shenzhou 8 spacecraft latched onto a prototype space lab module called Tiangong 1 at 1:30 […]

Aviation Weekhas a report on how the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) is implementing a new agreement designed to bring more competition to the government launch market. The effort, jointly agreed to by the Air Force, NASA and the National Reconnaissance Office last month, will affect multiple launch segments:

Large- and Medium-class Air Force Launches: United Launch Alliance currently has a monopoly on these missions with its Atlas V and Delta IV rockets. The Boeing-Lockheed Martin consortium will face competition from SpaceX (Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy), Orbital Sciences Corporation (Taurus II), and ATK/EADS Astrium (Liberty).

Smaller Satellites: The military has been using Orbital Sciences’ Minotaur rockets for smaller satellites, but the contracting arrangements for that program are expiring. ATK and Lockheed Martin have teamed up to bring back the Athena 1c and 2c rockets next year to compete in this market segment. These boosters are upgraded versions of earlier Athena rockets that had been mothballed due to lack of market demand. SpaceX might also compete for these launches with its Falcon 1e, a program that is currently on hold but might be revived in the future.

Orbital-Suborbital Small and Medium Spacelift Program (OSP-3):  SMC is working on requests for proposals for this contract, which will include boosters of all sizes to support projects undertaken by the Space Development and Test Wing at Kirtland AFB, N.M.

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One month into the 2012 fiscal year, the Senate passed spending plans for NASA and the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST). The bill includes $17.9 billion for NASA, including: $3 billion for the Space Launch System (SLS) and the Multipurpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) $600 million for commercial crew $530 million for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). It must now be reconciled with the House spending plan that […]

Bigelow Aerospace CEO Robert Bigelow talked to reporters after giving a speech warning about Chinese plans to claim the moon during the International Symposium on Personal and Commercial Spaceflight in Las Cruces, NM last month.

NASA PR — WASHINGTON — NASA has signed an agreement with the Space Florida Small Satellite Research Center of Cape Canaveral, Florida, to manage the Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge, one of the agency’s new Centennial Challenges prize competitions.

The Nano-Satellite Launch Challenge is to launch satellites with a mass of at least 2.2 pounds (1 kg) into Earth orbit, twice within the span of one week. The new challenge has a NASA-provided prize purse of $2 million.
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Diego Urbina looking out from the hatch inside Mars500 facility. Credits: ESA

ESA PR — The 520 days of isolation for the Mars500 crew will end on 4 November, when the hatch of their ‘spacecraft’ is opened for the first time since June last year. Scientists eagerly await the final samples as the crew count the hours to liberty.

During the 17-month simulated Mars mission, the six men have run seemingly countless experiments. They have monitored their brains, scanned their bodies, given all sorts of samples and maintained their habitat.

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TPS PR — On November 3, 2011, the Planetary Society and the Mars Society are co-sponsoring a Capitol Hill forum titled “NASA at a Turning Point: Vibrant Future or Close Up Shop?” to cast light on decisions being made today that may well darken the future of space exploration.

The planetary exploration program is in grave danger; in its FY 2012 budget, the Office of Management and Budget has effectively terminated support for future missions. The space astronomy program may see the Kepler telescope turned off in mid-mission, and the James Webb Space Telescope has been targeted for cancellation by the House of Representatives.

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This week in The Space Review…. Fear of a Chinese Moon In a speech earlier this month, space entrepreneur robert Bigelow suggested that China was on a path to effectively claim the Moon as Chinese territory within 15 years. Jeff Foust reports on Bigelow’s comments and a critical analysis of them by Chinese space experts. A new policy typology to better understand the goals of China’s space program Western space […]