NASA Administrator Charles Bolden

Speaking a week before the final space shuttle mission is set to launch, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden gave a ringing defense of the Obama Administration’s space policy during remarks at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. today.

“So when I hear people say – or listen to media reports – that the final Shuttle flight marks the end of U.S. human spaceflight, I have to say . . . these folks must be living on another planet. We are not ending human space flight, we are recommitting ourselves to it and taking the necessary – and difficult – steps today to ensure America’s pre-eminence in human space exploration for years to come,” Bolden said in prepared remarks.

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DOD PR — United Launch Services, Littleton, Colo., is being awarded a $1,130,820,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee contract for launch capability, engineering support, program management, launch and range site activities, mission integration, and mission specific design and qualification effort for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle Program from July 1, 2011 through Sept. 30, 2012. Work will be performed at Littleton, Colo., and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. Funds in the amount of […]

WASHINGTON, July 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — NASA is inviting reporters and the public to join agency leaders, technologists and innovators from a variety of fields at TEDxNASA@SiliconValley 2011 on Aug. 17. The event will be held at the Marriott Marquis hotel in San Francisco from 2:30 to 8:30 p.m. PDT.

The event is in the spirit of the TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) conferences that bring together leading thinkers to create a dialogue about important global challenges. Speakers include an aeronautics researcher developing a silent, carbonless airplane; a tree geneticist cloning the world’s largest trees; a fish-loving researcher creating the next biofuel from a salt-loving succulent; a computer that beats Jeopardy! Champions; and a Tony-winning street theater company. Each presentation on the theme “Extreme Green” will last 18 minutes or less.

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Statement from the Families of Challenger (STS-51L) and Chairman of the Board of Challenger Center Regarding the Future of Human Spaceflight
Alexandria, VA, 01-Jul-11

Human spaceflight is one of the greatest enterprises America has ever undertaken—making discoveries, creating inventions, producing role models and educational motivations for our youth, and serving as a strong example of US world leadership.

Since the mid-20th century, NASA has led our Nation and the world in this great undertaking. Today, however, we no longer live in the 20th century—but instead the 21st century. This is a century with new challenges and also new opportunities.

If the United States wishes to continue its leadership in human spaceflight during these challenging economic times, setting an example for all the world to follow, we believe that it must vigorously support the development of new human spaceflight capabilities in the private sector.

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Source: NASA’s Challenges Certifying and Acquiring Commercial Transportation Services, NASA Office of the Inspector General, June 30, 2011

Ever wondered what it takes to build a spacecraft these days? NASA’s Certification Requirements for low Earth orbit missions include references to 93 (count ’em 93) documents that commercial crew providers must use to produce their vehicles. The documents are divided into three types:

• Type 1 – mandatory, must be implemented as written;
• Type 2 – alternatives allowed with NASA approval; and
• Type 3 – suggested best practices.

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Video Caption: A 60-second long test firing of the Falcon 9 Flight 3 second stage, conducted at the SpaceX Test Facility in McGregor. Texas. The Merlin Vacuum second stage engine generates 92,500 lb of force in vacuum, and operates with a vacuum specific impulse of 342 seconds — the highest efficiency ever for an American hydrocarbon rocket engine. In flight the engine ignites about 3 minutes after launch, delivering the […]

Silicon Valley, CA (June 30, 2011) – Moon Express, Inc. today announced a successful flight test of a prototype lunar lander system being developed in partnership with NASA.

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The NASA Inspector General’s Office issued a report today titled, “NASA’s Challenges Certifying and Acquiring Commercial Crew Transportation Services,” looking at what obstacles lie ahead as NASA pursues its CCDev program. The challenges include:

• modifying NASA’s existing safety and human-rating requirements for commercially developed systems
• selecting an acquisition strategy for commercial crew transportation services
• establishing the appropriate insight/oversight model for commercial partner vehicle development.
• relying on an emerging industry and uncertain market conditions to achieve cost savings
• managing the relationship among commercial partners, the FAA, and NASA.

I’ve reproduced the audit’s results and management action sections below. You can download the full report here.
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It just keeps going up up up up…. Source: NASA’s Challenges Certifying and Acquiring Commercial Crew Transportation Services, NASA Office of the Inspector General, June 30, 2011

This artistic representation shows Dextre (right) performing a robotic refueling task on RRM (center) task box, mounted to ELC4. (Image: NASA)

Satellites are designed to withstand a variety of challenges to ensure that the sensitive electronics on board can survive the effects of launch and perform for years in the harsh conditions of space. One of the major hurdles engineering teams face when designing a satellite is how much fuel it can carry to operate throughout its lifetime. Many satellites are left to die and then become space debris after they run out of fuel. But what if we were able to refuel them?

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ROSCOSMOS PR — On June 30, Roscosmos Head V. Popovkin and ESA DG J.J. Dordain met at ESA-ESTEC, the Netherlands, to discuss space cooperation issues. The parties have signed the protocol which defines establishment of two bilateral working groups. The first one will deal with space science. It will investigate feasibility of common missions to Jupiter moon Europe, asteroids, LEO objects, exploration of the other galaxies, etc. The other working […]

Mojave’s small aerospace community has been rocked by a scandal involving two of its prominent members. The Bakersfield Californian reports:

A Tehachapi couple who owns a flight school in Mojave pleaded guilty Monday to filing a false tax return related to more than $1 million hidden in foreign bank accounts.

Sean Roberts and Nadia Roberts pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Anthony W. Ishii of the Eastern District of California after they were caught maintaining numerous offshore bank accounts they failed to pay taxes on, according to a plea agreement filed in federal court Wednesday.

The Robertses own and operate the National Test Pilot School and Flight Research Inc. in Mojave. National Test Pilot School is a non-profit educational institute that trains test pilots from domestic and foreign aerospace industries and governments. Flight Research Inc. owns and maintains most of the aircraft used by the school.

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