ATK PRESS RELEASE

NASA announced yesterday that the Lockheed Martin Corporation (NYSE:LMT) and Alliant Techsystems (NYSE:ATK) Athena Launch Vehicle Family has been selected to become part of the agency’s Launch Services II contract.

Vehicles selected fulfill NASA’s requirements for domestic launch services with a minimum performance capability of placing a 250-kilogram (550 pound) spacecraft in a 200-kilometer low Earth orbit (LEO) at an inclination of 28.5 degrees. Athena can carry payloads up to 1800 kilograms (3968 pounds) to LEO. Utilizing a large volume 92-inch diameter payload fairing, the vehicle accommodates a wide range of satellites and missions as well as lunar missions.

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SpacX Founder Elon Musk

POTOMAC INSTITUTE PRESS RELEASE

The Potomac Institute for Policy Studies (www.potomacinstitute.org) is pleased to announce that Elon Musk, CEO and Product Architect of Tesla Motors and CEO/CTO of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), will be a Potomac Institute for Policy Studies Navigator Award winner for 2010. Mr. Musk and fellow awardees will be presented with the award at a banquet at the Willard Hotel, Washington, DC, on October 21.

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MARS500 DIARY

Thanks to Oliver and Cyrille!
15 September 2010

The recent letter from the Mars500 facility was written on 13 September, when the mission logged 105 days. This marks the duration of the precursor experiment in 2009, and therefore a good moment for Diego and Romain to take stock and think about the months to come.

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SRI INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE

SRI International was awarded a contract to evaluate “Astronaut: Moon, Mars, and Beyond,” a NASA-themed, multi-player, online game designed to attract student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers. The game will visualize a dynamic future in space exploration, scientific discovery, and aeronautics research.
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TEACHERS IN SPACE PRESS RELEASE

Dallas, TX – The nonprofit Teachers in Space program has been selected by NASA to create an innovative professional-development program for science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) teachers.

“The NASA Education Office has selected Teachers in Space for funding under NASA’s K-12 Cooperative Agreement Notice,” Teachers in Space project manager Edward Wright said today. “Under this cooperative agreement, Teachers in Space will receive approximately $400,000 in funding and work with NASA to take STEM education to a new level.”

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NASA PRESS RELEASE

NASA has announced the awards for the NASA Launch Services (NLS) II Contract. The award will provide a broad range of launch services for NASA’s planetary, Earth-observing, exploration and scientific satellites.

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XCOR's Lynx suborbital vehicle

The San Fernando Valley Business Journal has a lengthy Q&A with XCOR CEO Jeff Greason. He discusses the status of Lynx test flights, marketing his company’s technology to others, and the difference between being a wholesaler and retailer in the space business. Key excerpts after the break. (more…)

Starchaser hybrid rocket engine test

Starchaser Eco-Rocket Progress Report
Starchaser Industries
Sept. 15, 2010

Overview

A successful launch of the Eco-Rocket is important to Starchaser’s future manned space flight programme as it will test fly the major components of the Launch Escape System (LES) that could be used to save the lives of Starchaser astronauts aboard the Thunderstar space tourism vehicle.

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First free flight of the Super Mod configuration with fairing and deployable legs. Apogee was 2247ft.

Whole Mars500 crew in portrait, September 2010: (clockwise from top left) Sukhrob Kamolov, Romain Charles, Diego Urbina, Yue Wang, Alexandr Smoleevskiy and Alexey Sitev. Credit: ESA

ESA PROGRAM UPDATE

Sailing now in interplanetary space on their simulated mission towards the ‘Red Planet’, the Mars500 crew has entered in a new phase of their isolation. The previous mission endured 105 days in 2009 and from now on, everything in this experiment is new.

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CCAGW PRESS RELEASE

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today called on Congress to resist the temptation to resurrect the failed Ares 1 rocket element of the National Aeronautic and Space Administration’s (NASA) unaffordable and unsustainable Constellation program. The House is slated to consider NASA authorization legislation this week.

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Ares I-X lifts off from the Cape.

A couple of reports on deliberations on NASA’s budget, which The Huntsville Times says has hit “crunch time”:

U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville, confirms there has been pressure for the House to simply adopt the Senate plan.

“There is behind-the-scenes lobbying by special interest groups to force a vote on the Senate NASA authorization bill in the House, with no chance to offer or vote on amendments,” Aderholt said Wednesday in a statement. “While I appreciate some aspects of the Senate authorization bill, the House of Representatives deserves a vote on its own committee bill, and I hope Democrat House leadership schedules that soon.”

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