ESA PR 19-2011. ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain met EDA Chief Executive Claude-France Arnould at the Paris Air & Space Show today to sign an Administrative Arrangement on cooperation between ESA and the European Defence Agency.
NASA PR — NASA and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are offering high school students the opportunity to design experiments that will be tested in space.
The 2011 Zero Robotics challenge is a continuation and expansion of a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education program using bowling ball-sized spherical satellites aboard the International Space Station.
On June 21, 2004, pilot Mike Melvill lit the engine of SpaceShipOne and rocket to 100 kilometers above Mojave, making the first private suborbital spaceflight in history. After landing, the newly minted astronaut climbed atop his tiny space plane with a sign that read, “SpaceShipOne GovernmentZero.” The ship would fly into space only twice more, the last time on Oct. 4, 2004 to claim the $10 million Ansari X Prize. […]
This week’s schedule for The Space Show…. Monday, June 20, 2011, 2-3:30 PM PDT. We welcome Dr. Pete Roma and Dr. Robert D. Hienz to discuss Neurobehavioral and Psychosocial Factors for space travel as part of their work with the National Space Biomedical Research Institute. Tuesday, June 21, 2011, 7-8:30 PM PDT. We welcome Dr. Bruce Cordell. He is the co-founder of 21stCenturyWaves.com, which monitors global trends in the economy, […]
Gov. Rick Scott
Gov. Rick Scott’s effort to consolidate the Sunshine State’s economic development bodies has won praise from Space Florida President Frank DiBello, who said in a statement:
“Space Florida congratulates Governor Rick Scott on the economic development reorganization he signed into law today (SB 2156). We are fully supportive of his efforts to streamline the State’s abilities to attract and expand technology-related businesses. Space Florida believes this reorganization will help to ensure that Florida maintains a business-friendly environment, which will ultimately help the state’s space industry as it prepares for next generation commercial, civil and defense space initiatives.”
Elon Musk of SpaceX and Art Dula of The Heinlein Prize Trust
For the man who has everything, including his own rocketship, even more….
HEINLEIN PRIZE TRUST PR — Trustees of the Robert A. and Virginia Heinlein Prize Trust announced today that the second-ever Heinlein Prize will go to Elon Musk, founder, CEO and CTO of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX).
The Heinlein Prize honors the memory of Robert A. Heinlein, a renowned American science fiction author. The purpose of the prize is to encourage and reward individuals for making practical contributions to the commercialization of space. Mr. Musk will be honored at a luncheon and award ceremony on June 29, 2011 at the Hyatt in Washington, DC and will receive $250,000, a gold Heinlein Medallion, the Lady Vivamus Sword (as described in Heinlein’s book Glory Road), and a Laureate’s Diploma.
NanoRacks PR — NanoRacks LLC, the privately-held leading commercial provider of goods and services for low-earth orbit and beyond, announces the completion of its first external round of equity capital welcoming ten new angel and venture investors from both the U.S. and Europe.
Since its formation in 2009, NanoRacks has developed, launched and now operates a commercial space research facility as part of the U.S. National Lab onboard the International Space Station. The company provides a historically low-cost, commercial path to both the ISS and beyond and today enjoys a backlog of over 50 commercial payloads representing both domestic and international organizations and companies.
International Space Station
Space Florida is among a number of bidders that are awaiting a decision from NASA on who will take over management of the U.S. National Laboratory on the International Space Station.
In a Florida Today op-ed last week, Space Florida President Frank DiBello wrote:
In relation to the International Space Station, Florida has submitted a bold proposal to manage the National Laboratory portion of the orbiting research lab.
Based on its rich history of preparing research cargo for flight, integrating international elements and leveraging our rapidly growing, university-based research and development programs, Florida’s proposal is well-suited to effectively managing the ISS national lab.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Credit: Agencia Brasil
Beset by allegations of corruption, cronyism and unaccountability, beleaguered Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has ordered a second investigation into the controversial Antrix-Devas Multimedia spectrum deal that has convulsed Indian politics. The goal of this inquiry: to find someone to blame for this whole mess. Who? Anyone but the prime minister.
Press Trust of India reports:
[The] new inquiry by former Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha….has been set up in pursuance to the recommendations of the BK Chaturvedi committee that went into the technical, commercial, procedural and financial aspects of the agreement between ISRO’s commercial arm Antrix and Devas. The Sinha Committee has been asked to look into matters of individual culpability and fix responsibility, if any and submit a report by July end, the sources said.
NASA PR — NASA issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) seeking proposals for mission concept studies of a solar electric propulsion system demonstration to test and validate key capabilities and technologies for future exploration missions.
Multiple studies have shown the advantages of using solar electric propulsion to efficiently transport heavy payloads from low Earth orbit to higher orbits. This concept enables the delivery of payloads to low Earth orbit via conventional chemical rockets. The use of solar electric propulsion could then spiral payloads out to higher energy orbits, including Lagrange point one, a potential assembly point in space between Earth and the moon. This approach could facilitate missions to near Earth asteroids and other destinations in deep space.
APL PR — Devising ways to explore space in tight fiscal times tops the agenda of the 9th International Conference on Low-Cost Planetary Missions, set for June 21-23, 2011, at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.
SpaceX mission operations engineer Ralph Ewig says that they booted up the Dragon 2 capsule for the first time on Saturday: Everything worked flawlessly, and while to some this may seem like not that big a deal, to the people doing the work this moment of watching it light up the telemetry screens for the first time meant to wake a spacecraft that holds the blood, sweat, and tears of […]