It’s time to pop the space balloon meme There’s been a growing number of efforts by amateurs to fly balloons high into the atmosphere and take “pictures of spaceâ€, or even claim to have flown in space. Jeff Foust examines how how this phenomenon, and especially the media coverage of it, could have a detrimental effect on actual spaceflight. An experiment in sustainability and spaceflight Future long-duration human spaceflight will […]
I caught up with my old ISU classmate Grant Anderson during the International Symposium on Personal and Commercial Spaceflight last month in Las Cruces. He discusses Paragon Space Development Corporation and the future of commercial spaceflight.
OSC PRESS RELEASE
Orbital Sciences Corporation announced that it held a formal dedication ceremony earlier today to mark the completion of a new facility that will serve as the Mission Operations Center (MOC) for the company’s cargo logistics missions to the International Space Station (ISS) for NASA that begin in 2011. The ribbon-cutting event was attended by NASA’s Administrator Charles F. Bolden, Jr. and several other senior representatives of the space agency.
Space, Inc. moving closer to launch Florida Today Special Report Florida Today traveled coast to coast, toured secretive facilities, saw first-hand highly proprietary work under way and interviewed dozens of key players trying to stimulate this new industry at altitudes hundreds of miles above Earth. Our four-month analysis found that U.S. private industry is more than capable of developing spacecraft to fly U.S. astronauts to and from low Earth orbit. […]
Wayne Hale has had a look at NASA’s requirements for commercial crew providers and he’s not liking what he sees: Now NASA has released a draft (dated Oct. 8, 2010) of its requirements CCT-REQ-1130 ISS Crew Transportation and Services Requirements. I’d like for you to read it but it is behind NASA’s IT firewall and you must have an ID and password to access it. I have read it and […]
This week on The Space Show… Monday, Nov. 15, 2010: 2-3:30 PM PST: We welcome Dr. Peter Smith, Phoenix Principal Investigator at the Lunar and Planetary Lab at the University of Arizona in Tucson. Tuesday, Nov. 16, 2010, 7-8:30 PM PST: OPEN LINES. Listener Andy in the UK has proposed we discuss air launch. I also suggest we discuss the Wayne Hale blog article, https://waynehale.wordpress.com/2010/11/14/the-coming-train-wreck-for-commercial-human-spaceflight/#comment-289. Check it out! Wednesday, Nov. […]
A compilation of my videos showing WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo (VSS Enterprise) flying over Spaceport America during the runway dedication ceremony last month.
A photo of a lunar crater from China's Chang'e II orbiter. (Credit: China National Space Administration)
CPC Central Committee and Central Military Commission of the State Council
Statement on Chang’e II Mission
November 8, 2010
On the occasion of lunar exploration missions Chang’e II achieved the success of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council special mission to participate in the engineering science and technology workers, cadres and workers, and PLA officers and expressed warm congratulations and cordial greetings!
I found an interesting article that looks at the delicate balance that the United States must keep as it attempts to expand cooperation in space with both China and India, whose fierce rivalry for dominance in Asia is spilling over into the building of geo-positioning systems, ballistic missile defense, and satellite-killing spacecraft.
China’s determination to hold the option of denying the use of space-based capabilities to other states was illuminated in its successful test of an anti-satellite weapon in January 2007, eliminating an old Chinese weather satellite. Building upon this experience, Beijing conducted its first ballistic missile defense (BMD) test on 11 January 2010.
United Launch Alliance's configurations for launch commercial crew vehicles on Delta IV and Atlas V vehicles. (Credit: United Launch Alliance)
Spacing out – Ex-NASA officials: Agency plans off-track
Armarillo Globe-News
The country’s political leaders have lost the direction of the space program.
Jim Lovell made that comment before he and Gene Kranz were slated to deliver the keynote address for West Texas A&M University’s centennial convocation Friday night. Also before the convocation, both men spoke to science and engineering students at WT…
Ariane 5
SNECMA PRESS RELEASE
Nov. 10, 2010
The Vinci® rocket engine, developed by Snecma (Safran group) as prime contractor, was successfully ground tested yesterday with its extendible nozzle deployed, under conditions representing an actual flight. Yesterday’s firing test marked a major milestone in the development of this rocket engine, which will power the new upper stage of the Ariane 5 launcher starting in 2016.
Spaceflight Now reports that the schedule has slipped for Orbital Sciences Corporation’s test flights of the Taurus II rocket and the Cygnus freighter designed to resupply the International Space Station. The current schedule is:
- Taurus II without Cygnus — July to September 2011
- Taurus II with Cygnus — Two or three months later
- Taurus II with Cygnus to ISS: Early 2012
OSC had been originally aiming to launch the first Taurus II in March 2011. However, that schedule had slipped several months already.