SPACEX MISSION UPDATE Before the successful launch, voyage, and recovery of SpaceX’s Dragon Spacecraft, the first time in history a commercial company has recovered a spacecraft from orbit, reporters were buzzing with news of a “secret†payload, stowed on board. It was a payload so secret, SpaceXers made it Top Secret (think Val Kilmer 1984, not official US Government). So what was inside the mystery package? Their tribute to Monty […]
AIA PRESS RELEASE
President Obama presented a series of initiatives at today’s meeting of the President’s Export Council chaired by W. James McNerney, Jr. of The Boeing Company to speed the progress of export control modernization. McNerney is the chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of the company.
The announcement included the launch of a process to revise the U.S. Munitions List (USML) and Commerce Control List (CCL), along with the results of a first attempt at revising export controls on military vehicles, proposals to eliminate Commerce licensing requirements for low sensitivity, dual-use exports to close partners and allies and establishment of a consolidated list of entities that require extra scrutiny by U.S. companies before exporting.
NASA PROGRAM UPDATE
NASA is negotiating contracts with 350 small businesses that had the best proposals to address critical research and technology needs for agency programs and projects. The proposals are part of NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research Program, known as SBIR, and the Small Business Technology Transfer program, known as STTR.
“The SBIR and STTR programs help facilitate innovative research and technology development among America’s most creative small businesses,” said Bobby Braun, NASA chief technologist at the agency’s Headquarters in Washington. “These Phase 1 awards will serve as seed funds for transformative research and technology projects that have the potential to mature new products and services of great benefit to NASA and the nation.”
JAXA's Akatsuki Venus spacecraft. (Image by Akihiro Ikeshita)
JAXA PRESS RELEASES
The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (ISAS/JAXA) performed Venus orbit insertion maneuver (VOI-1) for the Venus Climate Orbiter “Akatsuki†at 8:49 a.m. on December 7 (Japan Standard Time,) but, unfortunately, we have found that the orbiter was not injected into the planned orbit as a result of orbit estimation.
The “Akatsuki†was launched from the Tanegashima Space Center on May 21, 2010 (JST.)
I’ve blogged my notes from the post-flight press conference @spacecom on Twitter: https://twitter.com/spacecom Will aggregate and post here later.
Falcon 9's second stage fires away. (Credit: SpaceX)
SPACEX PRESS RELEASE
Today, SpaceX became the first commercial company in history to re-enter a spacecraft from low-Earth orbit.
SpaceX and NASA will have a post-mission press conference at 3:30 PM EST at the press site at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Participants include:
- Elon Musk, SpaceX CEO and CTO
- Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX President
- Alan Lindenmoyer, NASA Commercial Crew and Cargo Program Manager
Watch it live at www.nasa.gov/ntv
@SpaceXer reports that Dragon has successfully re-entered the atmosphere. Drogue chutes have deployed to slow the capsule down. @SpaceXer: “THREE MAIN PARACHUTES DEPLOYED!!!!” @SpaceXer: “SPLASHDOWN!!!” @SpaceXer: “Splashdown on target. Mission is a success!” @SpaceXer:Â “Recovery crew has put the floats on the Dragon already.” Looks like a highly successful mission. Wow! A MASSIVE step forward. Congratulations to SpaceX!! The first commercial company to re-enter a vehicle from space. And a […]
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket roared off its launch pad at Cape Canaveral on Wednesday morning, placing a Dragon freighter into low-Earth orbit for the first time. This is the second launch for the rocket and the first flight of the Dragon, which is designed to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. The freighter is set to land in the Pacific after a nearly 3.5 hour flight. The program is […]