A schlieren image of the Lynx supersonic wind tunnel model at mach 4.0, 10 degree angle of attack at the NASA MSFC supersonic wind tunnel in Huntsville, AL.

XCOR PRESS RELEASE

XCOR Aerospace, Inc. announced today they have completed the primary supersonic wind tunnel testing of the Lynx suborbital spacecraft. The tests were performed at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) using a precision scale model and demonstrated the integrity of the Lynx aerodynamic shape and provided data to make final refinements to the vehicle. These new data provide confidence that the Lynx aerodynamic shape will have stable and controllable flight throughout the range of Mach numbers and angles of attack needed for the Lynx mission.

(more…)

This week on The Space Show… Monday, September 20, 2010, 2-3:30 PM PDT: We welcome Don Nelson of Nelson Aerospace Consulting to the program. Don A. Nelson is an aerospace consultant and writer. Mr. Nelson has consulted with congressional and government offices on NASA issues since his retirement from NASA in January 1999 after 36 years with the Agency. Thursday, September 23, 2010, 7-9 PM PDT: The Classroom returns with […]

SpaceX's Falcon 9 on the pad at Cape Canaveral. (Credit: Chris Thompson/SpaceX)

The Washington Post has an excellent summary of NASA’s budget standoff that includes some interesting insights into the process. It mentioned how opponents of the President’s commercial space plan focused so much attention on Elon Musk and SpaceX, pointing to a lack of experience as a reason for continuing with NASA’s Constellation program.

Given the attacks on Musk and his company, the Senate compromise funding commercial space efforts passed only after Boeing gave congressional staffers a detailed presentation about its own space plans, participants in the negotiations said. The company announced an agreement last week to develop commercial space taxis for the space station.

(more…)

Kosmas hoping for House shift on NASA bill
Florida Today

Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas, whose district includes Kennedy Space Center, hopes the U.S. House will vote soon on a NASA authorization bill that looks more like the Senate’s.

(more…)

NASA's Orion spacecraft

Constellation Program Proceeds with Orion Capsule EVA Testing
NASASpaceFlight.com

With the fate of the Constellation Program at this juncture of time all but a certainty, Program officials are, nonetheless, pressing ahead with testing of the Orion crew capsule design. Specifically, current testing on Orion’s design is geared toward EVA egress/ingress procedures and mechanics for the four person capsule that was supposed to serve as a replacement, later this decade, for the retiring Shuttle fleet.
(more…)

United Launch Alliance seems to now making a major push to become one of the rocket transportation options of choice for NASA. The Dacatur Daily reports:

Among the tasks in which ULA believes it could play a valuable role:

• Building a heavy-lift rocket to lift the crew capsule.
• A rocket for taking crew to low-Earth orbit or the International Space Station.
• Use of the Delta IV to launch an Orion crew capsule in missions beyond low-earth orbit.
• Technological assistance on all aspects of a revised program of manned space flight.

(more…)

The Reaction Engines’ Skylon project — which aims to create a full reusable single-stage space plane — is set to undergo a two-day review by an international team of experts beginning on Monday, according to a memorandum the company submitted to the British Parliament.
(more…)

ESA's IXV re-entry test vehicle.

ESA PROGRAM UPDATE
15 September 2010

Today, ESA held the first IXV Industrial Workshop. Thales Alenia Space and its main industrial partners presented the detailed design of ESA’s Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle. The workshop was hosted by Dassault Aviation in Saint Cloud, France.

(more…)

ISTA PRESENTATION from Ista Space on Vimeo.

ISTA PRESS RELEASE

Today at the international conference ‘The regulation of suborbital flights in the European context’ – with members of EU, NASA and ESA present – trade organization ISTA has been launched. One of the main goals of the International Space Transport Association is to facilitate the development of new regulations for the commercial space industry, which will help establish a more precise responsibility and liability structure, in line with UN resolution 2222-XXI Art VI*.

(more…)

Photo caption: Flight hardware for the inaugural launch of Falcon 9 rocket undergoing final integration in the hangar at SpaceX’s Cape Canaveral launch site in Florida. Components include: Dragon spacecraft qualification unit (left), second stage with Merlin Vacuum engine (center), first stage with nine Merlin 1C engines (right). (Credit: SpaceX)

Second Falcon 9 rocket passes fueling test
Spaceflight Now

SpaceX rolled the second Falcon 9 rocket to its seaside Florida launch pad and pumped propellant into the booster’s fuel tanks Wednesday in a preflight countdown rehearsal.

(more…)

GOV. BILL RITTER PRESS RELEASE Gov. Bill Ritter today congratulated two Colorado aerospace companies for winning NASA contracts. Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver and United Launch Alliance of Littleton were two of four companies awarded contracts by NASA to be used for various NASA satellite launch projects. “Lockheed Martin and United Launch Alliance are two great companies at the forefront of one of Colorado’s largest and most innovative economic […]

International Space Station

New Biology Research to Run on Space Station
Space.com

The International Space Station is about to take one giant leap for biological science in orbit.

Three new biomedical experiments funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health will take advantage of the space station’s unique orbital facilities and weightless environment, NASA officials said. The experiments will use the station as a lab to study how bones and the immune system weaken in space.

(more…)