NASA Chief Technologist Bobby Braun gets up close and personal with the EBF3 system. Credit: NASA/Sean Smith

NASA PR — Imagine a machine that can build a part or a tool as the need arises, whether on Earth, Mars or the International Space Station.

Almost 10 years ago, engineers at NASA’s Langley Research Center imagined just that. They developed the Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication, or EBF3, a process that uses an electron beam gun, a dual wire feed and computer controls to manufacture metallic structures for building parts or tools in hours, rather than days or weeks.

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Test Stand Fire Threatens Taurus 2 Launch Schedule Space News The fuel line that failed was part of the engine, not the test stand, the source said….The source, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, said the AJ-26  team investigating the mishap suspects a flaw in the metal used for that particular fuel line. “If this looks like it’s a […]

SNC Dream Chaser docks with the International Space Station. (Credit: Sierra Nevada Corporation)

SNC – PR Louisville, CO – June 24, 2011 – Sierra Nevada Space Systems (SNC) has announced completion of two significant milestones as part of the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) Program.  SNC is building the Dream Chaser, a Space Shuttle-like human spacecraft for NASA to provide astronaut transport to the International Space Station (ISS).

“The first milestone completed under the CCDev2 program was a major step in the development of the spacecraft – a Systems Requirement Review (SRR), where SNC validated their requirements based on NASA’s draft Commercial Crew Program Requirements,” SNC Space Systems head Mark Sirangelo said. “The SRR was successfully completed on June 1, 2011 with participation by NASA and SNC industry partners.  All the requirements were approved and will be used to guide the design of the Dream Chaser to ensure that it meets the pending NASA certification requirements.

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Zero-gravity experience lifts off at Le Bourget AFP Once available only to astronauts and scientists, the weightless experience is about to become a bit more accessible, provided you’ve got the cash. Novespace managing director and ex-astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy announced Tuesday that he plans to offer commercial flights, including one before the end of this year. Final approval from France’s civil aviation authority is pending, and the price tag — provisionally […]

TPIS PR — Washington, DC, June 23, 2011 — TEA Party in Space (TPIS), a non-partisan organization, today publicly released the TEA Party Space Platform (link to platform).

“This is our response to the vacuum of leadership in Washington, D.C., for America’s national space enterprise,” said Andrew Gasser, President of TPIS. “Whether it’s timidity from the White House or Congress’ earmark-laden ‘compromises’, our space dreams will be stuck on this planet unless someone articulates a vision based on economic and technical reality, so that’s what we’ve done.”

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NASA PR — The story began on June 3, 1982, when a camera in an Australian P-3 patrol plane captured images of a Soviet ship recovering a space craft from the Indian Ocean.

It continued Wednesday, when Sierra Nevada Corp. honored the employees — many now retired — at NASA’s Langley Research Center who used those photos to carve a cherry wood model of the Soviet craft, a BOR-4, then used that model as the jumping-off point to the HL-20 (for horizontal lander) personnel space vehicle.

A proper ending, says Sierra Nevada chairman, Mark Sirangelo, would be for its version of the HL-20, the “Dream Chaser,” to ferry crews from Earth to the International Space Station and back.

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Roscosmos Head Vladimir Popovkin held a press conference during the Paris Air Show earlier this week. The Russian space agency’s new leader provided updates on a number of key programs, including Soyuz, Angara, Rockot and GLONASS. A summary of his remarks via Roscosmos PAO follows.

The maiden launch of Soyuz-ST from Guiana Space Center was slated for Oct. 20, pending readiness of payload Galileo satellites. The Russian rocket is totally ready for the mission.

The first test launch of Soyuz-1 rocket is to occur from Plesetsk, Northern Russia, in early 2012. This launch is pending completion of the rocket’s firing tests, as well as readiness of the payload Lomovosov satellite to be provided by Moscow State University by 2012.

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ESA, NASA Discuss Joint Manned Missions Aviation Week The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA are discussing plans to build a joint U.S.-European spacecraft based on existing designs that could ferry astronauts to the International Space Station and one day carry humans beyond low Earth orbit. Speaking at the Paris air show June 20, ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain said the space agencies are hashing out a plan that would […]

JAXA PR — The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) plans the demonstration of small satellites deployment from the Japanese Experiment Module “Kibo” of the International Space Station (ISS) in order to enhance the capability of Kibo’s utilization and to offer more launch oppotunities to small satellites.

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AEB PR — The International Space University (ISU) has chosen the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) to host the most important and comprehensive training program in the world. The SSP13 (Space Studies Program) will bring the Sao Jose dos Campos (SP), about 120 students from several countries to lessons about engineering and satellite applications, policy, management and space legislation, among other topics.Will be nine weeks of multidisciplinary studies of 17 June to 17 August 2013.

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DLR PR — On 15 June 2011, Professor Johan-Dietrich Wörner was appointed Chairman of the Executive Board for the next five years by the Senate of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). “For me personally, the decision made by the DLR Senate is a demonstration of confidence and a confirmation of the effective work carried out by the DLR Executive Board under my leadership in […]

ESA PR — 21 June 2011 — ESA and Thales Alenia Space Italia announced an agreement today at the Paris Air & Space Show to begin building the IXV Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle for its mission into space in 2013.

Europe’s ambition for a spacecraft to return autonomously from low orbit is a cornerstone for a wide range of space applications, including space transportation, exploration and robotic servicing of space infrastructure.

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