Florida Senator Bill Nelson

A roundup of what key members of Congress are saying about SpaceX’s successful Falcon 9 launch on Friday:

Florida Sen. Bill Nelson (D)

The Democratic Senator make a congratulatory call to SpaceX Founder Elon Musk. Politico.com quotes him as saying that the successful flight gives him hope that Falcon 9 will be in “full operation delivering cargo to the International Space Station a year from now” with Dragon capsules.

Editor’s Note: Alan Boyle over at Cosmic Log seems rather surprised by the senator’s reaction, noting, “It’s unusual for Nelson, who has seemed a bit doubtful about NASA’s moves toward commercialization, to be so positive about SpaceX’s prospects.”

I think not…

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Video shows the Falcon 9 taking off and reaching orbit on its very first flight.

The following is a statement by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden regarding Friday’s launch of Space Exploration Technologies’ Falcon 9 rocket. “Congratulations to Space X on today’s launch of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Space X’s accomplishment is an important milestone in the commercial transportation effort and puts the company a step closer to providing cargo services to the International Space Station. “Preparations are proceeding for the first NASA-sponsored test launch […]

The first Falcon 9 vehicle roared off the paid this afternoon at Cape Canaveral in what was apparently a successful test flight. Video showed that the first and second stages appeared to burn cleanly. Video was lost just prior to the burnout of the second stage. Twitter reports indicate that the second stage has shut down and that the dummy Dragon capsule it was carrying is now in orbit. SpaceX […]

SpaceX’s first test launch of the Falcon 9 rocket is set for Friday, June 4, at 11:00 AM Eastern/8:00 AM Pacific/1500 UTC.

The Italian experimental space plane Pollux. (Credit: Italian Center for Aerospace Research - CIRA)

High-Tech Space Planes Taking Shape in Italy, Russia
Space.com

The U.S. Air Force’s secretive X-37B space plane may eventually get some company in low-Earth orbit as other countries such as Italy and Russia push forward with plans for their own reusable winged spaceships.

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With the launch of a new UK government comes a change at the top for the UK space effort. Science Minister Lord Drayson, who drove the creation of the UK Space Agency, is gone. He has been replaced by David Willetts, who has promised to pick up where his predecessor left off.

Good luck with that….

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A Russian Soyuz spacecraft in orbit

Russia Needs Long-Term Space Strategy To Remain Cosmic Superpower
RIA Novosti

Russia needs a long-term space strategy, otherwise it may lose its leadership in the space exploration sphere, Russian cosmonaut and former politician Yury Baturin has said.

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ESA MISSION UPDATE

Mars500, the first full-length simulated mission to Mars, started today in Moscow at 13:49 local time (11:49 CET), when the six-man crew entered their ‘spacecraft’ and the hatch was closed. The experiment will run until November next year.

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Mars500 European crewmember Romain Charles listeling music in his cabin. Credits: ESA

ESA MISSION UPDATE

This is the first entry of the Mars500 mission diary by European crew members Diego Urbina and Romain Charles.

Hello,

If you are reading these lines, I guess that you already know most of the technical characteristics of the Mars500 project. For our first diary, I would like to write some lines about our training and how it is from the inside.

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A news report on the recent X-51A hypersonic test flight.

Launch complexes on Wallops Island, Virginia

New Va. Commercial Space Flight Authority operations director named
Delmarvanow.com

Retired U.S. Navy Cdr. Zigmond V. Leszczynski has been appointed director of operations for the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority.

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