A note from Space Access Society’s Henry Vanderbilt:

Space Access ’11, our next annual conference is coming up in two months. SA’11 will once again be a small, intensive, informal conference, focused closely on the business, technology, and politics of radically cheaper space transportation. We’ve been running these Space Access conferences since the early nineties, and the audience tends to contain a high proportion of people working in the field on the entrepreneurial startup company end of things.  (To a considerable extent, our conference has been an incubator of that entrepreneurial end of things.)

(more…)

Dragon being recovered in the Pacific. (Credit: SpaceX)

SPACEX PRESS RELEASE

WASHINGTON – Tomorrow, Thursday, February 10^th 2011, SpaceX is teaming up with electric car maker Tesla Motors to showcase their contributions to American innovation.

Media are invited to an exclusive SpaceX-Tesla Open House at the new Tesla Showroom in Washington, DC.

On display will be the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft, which became the first commercial spacecraft to successfully return from orbit on December 8^th, 2010.  Ken Bowersox, SpaceX Vice President of Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance and former NASA Shuttle and ISS Expedition Commander, will be available for interviews by request.

(more…)

GOVERNOR’S PRESS RELEASE

SANTA FE – Governor Susana Martinez announced today that she has made appointments to all positions on the Spaceport Authority Board of Directors. The appointments come as the Martinez administration continues to review all boards and commissions to make necessary adjustments and ensure that New Mexico’s taxpayers receive the best possible return on their investment. Each member has agreed not to conduct business with the Spaceport for two years after leaving their position on the board.

(more…)

NASA would absorb a $397 million cut under spending reductions proposed by House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers (R-KY). The cuts would be made as part of a continuing resolution that would fund the U.S. government from March 3 to the end of the fiscal year in September.

The cuts, based upon a $19 billion FY 2011 request by President Barack Obama, would leave NASA operating on a budget of just over $18.6 billion. Congress had reduced the President’s request slightly to $18.93 billion as part of an authorization bill that it passed last year.

However, Congress failed to pass an appropriations bill that would have allowed the space agency to spend that money, leaving the agency at its FY2010 funding level of $18.724 billion and preventing it from shutting down the canceled Constellation program and beginning new commercial efforts. Rogers’ proposed cuts would thus require NASA to spend about $103 million less than its current operating budget.

(more…)

ULA's Atlas V

Denver, Colo. (Feb. 8, 2011) – United Launch Alliance (ULA) completed the most significant portion of the final milestone for its Commercial Crew Development Emergency Detection System (EDS) project last month, demonstrating the EDS test bed in ULA’s Denver Launch Support Center using the high fidelity Systems Integration Laboratory (SIL).

During testing last year, several abort simulation runs were successfully generated that illustrate the EDS abort detection capability for a wide range of anomalous launch vehicle conditions, both slow and quick to evolve into a catastrophic event. As soon as EDS detected the anomalous condition, the launch vehicle issued a command to the spacecraft to separate and initiate the abort escape sequence. As part of the demonstration, launch vehicle and spacecraft were animated using a high fidelity simulation tool to provide a visualization of the abort sequence once it had been initiated. Various combinations of the launch vehicle and winged and capsule type spacecraft were used during the simulated abort sequence.

(more…)

David Morrison talks about the hazards — and opportunities — of asteroids during a recent talk at the SETI Institute.

NASA’s Ares I rocket was always an odd looking bird. While many rockets are large at the bottom and get progressively thinner as they near the top, this booster bucked that trend: a thin first stage with an enormous upper one. In that, I guess, it appeared somewhat more human — but not in a good way. More like Frankenstein human. Or Arestein, if you will.

The rocket’s development was a horror story, with massive cost overruns and years-long delays as engineers struggled to adapt legacy space shuttle hardware to a brand new mission. After billions were consumed, the Obama Administration canceled the program last year.

But, if you thought Ares I was gone for good, think again. It’s back for the sequel — and it’s badder than ever….

(more…)

Roscosmos Head Anatoly Perminov

ROSCOSMOS PRESS RELEASES

Mission to Mars shall be implemented under international cooperation, Roscosmos Head Anatoly Perminov stated, answering the questions from the Twitter in Echo-Moscow web.

“No country is able of performing Martian mission by its own in the nearest future. That’s an issue of propulsion. In our program, we have human flight to Mars no earlier than 2035. On the other hand, advanced nuclear propulsion can be developed in 8 years or so, provided necessary funding. With this system, you can get to Mars in about 90 days,” Roscosmos head said.

(more…)

PRESS RELEASE

As House leaders examine ways to cut spending and address the ever growing budget deficits that have plagued Washington for years, U.S. Representatives Bill Posey (R-FL), Sandy Adams (R-FL) and Rob Bishop (R-UT) were joined by several other of their colleagues in calling for a reprioritization of NASA so human space flight remains the primary focus of the nation’s space agency as budget cuts are considered.

(more…)

The Competitive Space Task Force, a coalition of fiscal conservatives and free-market leaders, unveiled today its strategy for creating a free and competitive market for spaceflight and space services enabling the country to recapture the imagination and innovation of America’s space program and foster a new entrepreneurial spirit in the emerging Space Economy. The Task Force unveiled its core strategy and principles today at a press conference in the hearing room of the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

“America cannot simply sit in the passenger seat and expect to lead. We need to pilot the ship. We need to lead the way.”

(more…)

International Space Station

NASA PROGRAM UPDATE

NASA participated today in a seminar to create awareness among United Nations member states on potential uses of the International Space Station. At the request of the U.N.’s Office for Outer Space Affairs, NASA and its international partner agencies attended the outreach seminar in Vienna.

Representatives from NASA; the Canadian Space Agency; the European Space Agency; the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency; and the Russian Federal Space Agency presented information on their respective capabilities available on the orbiting outpost. They discussed the station’s management structure, research facilities, research accomplishments, education outreach activities and mechanisms for cooperation.
(more…)