Video caption: A test firing of Armadillo Aerospace engine #79, a liquid fueled film cooled rocket engine running on liquid oxygen and ethanol. Thrust is near 5000lb, for scale the nozzle exit is 7″ in diameter.
AUTHOR
Doug Messier
This week in The Space Review… Could commercial crew become less commercial? A proposed change in how NASA will contract for the next round of its commercial crew development program has generated considerable opposition from industry. Jeff Foust reports on the planned change and concerns it could be the first step to more significant changes in the program. High expectations: Utopianism and cornucopianism in the early modern era and the […]
Six months ago, I would have predicted that ULA would win this in a walk with the Atlas V over ATK’s Liberty rocket. Atlas V has a flawless flight history, can be human rated, and is relatively inexpensive as rockets go.
However, I’m not quite so sure now. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if Boeing chose Liberty.
That idea probably sounds crazy to many of my NewSpace friends. But, I think that ATK’s booster has been underrated since it was announced six months ago. The rocket has a number of strengths that have been largely overlooked, and it is being taken seriously by both NASA and Boeing.
TPIS PR — Washington DC — Tea Party in Space (TPIS), a non-partisan organization, today strongly condemned a letter being circulated in the US Senate that advocates a sole-source bailout for the Solid Rocket Motor industry.
The letter, addressed to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and OMB Director Jack Lew, demands that the Administration ignore recent bipartisan calls for competing major elements of the proposed Space Launch System and instead use existing Solid Rocket Boosters made by only one company, Alliant Techsystems (ATK), in Utah.
A video of Moon Express Co-founder Bob Richards recent talk at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif.
ULA PR — United Launch Alliance (ULA) completed Friday the first combined Atlas and Delta rocket shipment from its factory in Decatur, Ala., to the launch site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on the specially-designed ship called the Delta Mariner.
“ULA is focused on providing the best value to our customers. Utilizing the Mariner to ship both Atlas and Delta launch vehicles simultaneously offers up to $800,000 cost savings per trip and long-term cost savings for our customers,” said Mark Wilkins, vice president of Program Operations.
“ULA’s formation continues to garner a substantial return on investment and exceeds ULA’s consolidation savings commitment to the United States government.”
SpaceX has settled a defamation suit it filed against a prominent safety expert who had inquired about rumored problems that occurred during the most recent Falcon 9 flight. In a joint statement issued today, the parties involved said:
Since SpaceX filed its lawsuit (captioned Space Exploration Technologies Corp. v. Valador, Inc. and Joseph Fragola, Civil Action No. 2011-08756, Circuit Court of Fairfax County, Virginia), the Parties have been working collaboratively to resolve the matter. Regarding the underlying facts, Dr. Fragola investigated a rumor regarding the performance of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle during its most recent launch. Through email communications with both NASA and SpaceX on June 8, 2011, Dr. Fragola confirmed that the rumor was false in that no Falcon 9 engines failed and the first stage did not explode. There was independent NASA tracking and video of the flight, and subsequent debriefing with NASA, indicating no such failure, indicating no such failures or explosions.
NASA PR — NASA’s Dawn spacecraft obtained this image of the giant asteroid Vesta with its framing camera on July 24, 2011. It was taken from a distance of about 3,200 miles (5,200 kilometers). Dawn entered orbit around Vesta on July 15, and will spend a year orbiting the body. After that, the next stop on its itinerary will be an encounter with the dwarf planet Ceres. The Dawn mission […]
MADE IN SPACE PR – ELLINGTON FIELD, TX – MADE IN SPACE, a start-up dedicated to providing solutions for manufacturing in space, announced the successful completion of testing 3D printers in zero-gravity.
The test took place on multiple zero-gravity flights provided by NASA’s Flight Opportunities Program. Two modified off-the-shelf 3D printers were tested, including one provided by their partner 3D Systems, a leading provider of 3D printing solutions. The company also tested a custom-made printer that’s designed to manufacture structures in space.
NASA PR — WASHINGTON — NASA has selected the inaugural class of Space Technology Research Fellows. Eighty-one students will receive graduate student fellowships from NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist to pursue master’s or doctoral degrees in relevant space technology disciplines at their respective institutions.
This first class of Space Technology Fellows is part of NASA’s strategy to develop the technological foundation for its future science and exploration missions. The program’s goal is to provide the nation with a pipeline of highly skilled engineers and technologists to improve U.S. competitiveness.