THALES PR — Turin, May 30, 2011 – Thales Alenia Space announced that it has delivered to Orbital Sciences Corporation its first Pressurized Cargo Module (PCM) developed to transport cargo to the International Space Station. This first PCM will be used for the CygnusTM demonstration mission, under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) research and development initiative with Orbital.
Kazcosmos Chairman Talgat Musabayev outlined his nation’s international outreach during the 54th session of the UN Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS), in Vienna on Wednesday. His speech came one day before the Baikonur Cosmodrome celebrated its 56th anniversary. Kazinform reports (via Google Translate):
“In the space sector are dynamically developing partnership between Kazakhstan and Russia, Ukraine, France, Israel, Germany, Japan, India, China and South Korea. Prepared to sign an agreement with Saudi Arabia, UAE and many other states. Actively expand cooperation of Kazakhstan with international organizations, primarily with the Committee of the UN Space Agency Forum Asia-Pacific region and international institutions to implement programs and projects of a global monitoring from space,” said T. Musabayev.
In a letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer have urged that the space agency open up the heavy-lift Space Launch System to competitive bidding instead of continuing with existing contracts.
In this time of constrained budgets, it would be inexcusable to funnel billions of taxpayer dollars into a non-competitive sole-source contract for the new Space Launch System. By allowing a competitive process, NASA could realize hundreds of millions of dollars in annual savings, and billions in savings over the life of the program. Furthermore, a competitive process will build capacity and enhance the critical skills and capabilities at a wide range of aerospace technology companies.
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A new space tourism contest (thanks to Clark Lindsey over at HobbySpace for finding this one)
CarrotPay PR — CarrotPay is running an ‘Out of this World’ auction to help raise money for the Measles Initiative….and, yes, you heard it right…the winner will be bought a seat on one of Virgin Galactic’s first commercial flights into space!
The Auction:
CarrotPay has launched a very special ‘lowest unique bid auction’ via their new CarrotBid Facebook app in order to raise money for Lions Clubs International’s Measles Initiative.
It costs just US$1 to register a bid, 25¢ to insure that bid and 10¢ to buy statistics with 100% of the proceeds (after costs), being used to help immunise children across the globe. (more…)
BOEING PR — TITUSVILLE, Fla., June 1, 2011 — Boeing has established an Exploration Launch Systems Engineering and Integration office in Titusville to support the operational readiness of NASA’s next launch system, currently under study.
“This new Boeing office near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center expands our capability to execute our current Upper Stage Production and Instrument Unit Avionics contracts, as well as continue our support of NASA as it lays the groundwork for development of heavy-lift launch vehicle concepts,” said Jim Chilton, Exploration Launch Systems vice president for Boeing. “We plan to ensure critical skills and capabilities are retained to provide a smooth workforce transition from the Space Shuttle program that builds on accomplishments and investments made to date.”
The above slide, taken from a PowerPoint presentation given by NASA official Maria Collura, provides a few additional details about Blue Origin’s orbital commercial spacecraft, which is being funded under the space agency’s CCDev 2 program. The graphics showing the fully reusable booster system and the suborbital hardware are new here.
When NASA released its CCDev 2 agreement with SpaceX, the space agency redacted the names of the company’s partners on human-rating the Dragon spacecraft. A recent PowerPoint presentation given by NASA official Maria Collura reveals them publicly. And the partners are…
Ahhhh, you didn’t think I’d tell you before the break, did you?
C’mon, click to continue reading. You’re dying to know…. 🙂
Rocket scientists at Johnson Space Center conducted a successful test of Morpheus yesterday. Unfortunately, it had a bad side effect…. We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since….No, wait. We did. No one was injured in the grass fire.
If their burritos don’t get you, their zero g flights will… 🙂
DALLAS, June 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — In June, 7-Eleven, Inc. will award one of its most unusual prizes ever – a trip to space – as part of its super month-long promotion with Paramount Pictures’ film Super 8, released in theaters June 10. Super prizes, super prices, special movie-themed cups and online rewards are part of the 7-Eleven® stores’ sweepstakes built around what promises to be one of the summer’s hottest movies.
The following prizes will be awarded when the corresponding number is reached:
- Every 88th person wins a free movie ticket
- Every 88,888th person to check in wins a ticket for Zero Gravity Corporation’s ZERO-G Experience — the only commercial opportunity on Earth for individuals to experience true “weightlessness” without going to space
- The 888,888th check-in unlocks the grand-prize spaceflight — see the Black Sky and the curvature of the Earth as you float in space
The once-in-a-lifetime flight is offered through the premier, private space-exploration company, Space Adventures, Ltd., with an estimated value of more than $100,000.
Tampa, Florida – Astronauts4Hire is pleased to announce its sponsorship by TargetProcess, Inc., an agile project management software provider. As part of the sponsorship, Astronauts4Hire is receiving complimentary licenses for TargetProcess’s online project management system. Astronauts4Hire uses TargetProcess to track tasks and concentrate on applying members’ volunteered time in the most productive way.
“We are an organization spread across the United States, Canada and Europe, so communication and structured collaboration are essential to our daily business,” said Astronauts4Hire Chief Technology Officer Amnon Govrin. “The customizability of TargetProcess’s On-Demand service have allowed us to adapt it to our unique needs.”
XCOR CEO Jeff Greason lays out a space settlement for NASA during the National Space Society’s International Space Development Conference in Huntsville, Ala.
OSC's Cygnus freighter approaches the International Space Station. (Credit: OSC)
Orbital Sciences Corporation (OSC) is running months behind schedule on its Taurus II rocket and Cygnus freighter programs, and it is likely to experience additional delays in its “aggressive” schedule for delivering supplies to the International Space Station (ISS), according to a new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The key findings of the GAO report, which was presented to a House committee last week, include:
- OSC has completed 15 of 19 original milestones as well as five of 10 “risk reduction” milestones that were recently added to the program;
- NASA has paid OSC $226.5 out of $288 million allocated for meeting the original and risk reduction milestones;
- The space agency has added $118 million to Orbital’s original $170 million in COTS funding to pay for an inaugural flight of the Taurus II booster in October;
- Both OSC and SpaceX, which is developing a similar cargo system, are likely to see further schedule slippages in delivering commercial cargo to ISS;
- NASA has been taking appropriate steps to reduce the impact of delays on ISS operations.