The Feb. 14 edition of Spacevidcast reviews recent launches….and more.
Miles O’Brien reviews the latest in space: Mike Griffin evokes Richard Nixon in his description of President Obama’s human space flight plan; Eric Anderson of Space Adventures – who says the Obama plan is “brilliant…a masterstroke of US Space policy”; Space station astronauts unveil the new cupola – a window on the world.
Artists conception of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in orbit
NASA Raises Bet on Commercial Cargo
Space News
NASA is proposing to add $300 million to its commercial cargo program in 2011 in part to keep Orbital Sciences Corp. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) on track to begin delivering cargo to the international space station next year.
Sierra Nevada Building On NASA Design
Aviation Week
The Colorado-based company is modeling Dream Chaser on the HL-20 lifting-body vehicle that NASA started as a potential International Space Station (ISS) crew rescue vehicle, which would have been able to transport a full station crew fleeing an emergency to a horizontal landing on runways anywhere in the world.
XCOR's Lynx suborbital vehicle
By Zenaida Gonzalez Kotala
University of Central Florida
The nation’s third-largest university, the University of Central Florida, will host the Second Annual Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference in 2011.
SWRI PRESS RELEASE
The Next-Generation Suborbital Researchers Conference (NSRC) has brought the research and education communities together with suborbital vehicle providers and government funding agencies for the first time.
“When we conceived the idea for NSRC last summer, many people were skeptical that such a meeting would generate much interest. Honestly, some thought the research and education communities were simply not interested in suborbital science,†says meeting organizer Dr. Alan Stern of Southwest Research Institute. “But people voted with their feet and came to NSRC, over 250 of them, and we heard an amazing variety of proposals to exploit the capabilities of next-gen suborbital spaceflight.â€
NASA PRESS RELEASE
NASA will honor the achievements of the 2009 Centennial Challenges prize winners and competition hosts with a technical symposium Feb. 25 and a recognition ceremony Feb. 26. Centennial Challenges is NASA’s program of technology prizes for the citizen-inventor. Nine prizes totaling $3.65 million were awarded in 2009. Both events will be held at the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E Street, SW, Washington.
ORBITAL PRESS RELEASE
Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB – News) today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2009. Fourth quarter 2009 revenues were $282.3 million, compared to $305.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2008. Fourth quarter 2009 operating income was $14.7 million, compared to $16.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Net income was $9.3 million, or $0.16 diluted earnings per share, in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to net income of $9.0 million, or $0.15 diluted earnings per share, in the fourth quarter of 2008. Orbital generated $8.3 million of free cash flow* in the fourth quarter of 2009 compared to free cash flow of $14.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Technicians at NASA Dryden install the “goalpost†fixture to the Orion crew module integration stand during conversion of the stand into a transportation fixture for airlift of the module to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The crew module will be used in the first Orion Launch Abort System pad abort flight test, expected in early 2010. (NASA Photo / Jim Ross)
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says the space agency wants to salvage technologies from the $9 billion Constellation program to use in the commercial rockets that would send astronauts into space.
One of those elements could be the Launch Abort System that Orbital Sciences Corporation is building for the Orion spacecraft, Spaceflight Now reports:
Gary Lai of Blue Origin gave the company’s first public presentation at the Next Generation Space Researchers Conference in Boulder yesterday. The secretive Kent, Wash.-based company – founded by Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos – is developing its New Shepard vehicle for suborbital missions. Jeff Foust posted notes on the presentation via Twitter. The key points include: Crew of 3 or more for flights of 325,000 feet with rapid turnaround; Propulsion module […]
The FAA will hold a public meeting on its proposed Center of Excellence for Commercial Space Transportation on Feb. 25 for anyone unable to attend the Feb. 9 meeting due to the blizzard.
The UK Space Conference 2010 will be held at Charterhouse School in Goldaming, Surrey from March 24-28.
UKSC brings together members of the UK space community including: students, young professionals, academics, institutions, organisations and commercial ventures. They are able to take part in lectures, panel discussions, networking opportunities, a careers fair and other events.