CSF PRESS RELEASE

Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, testified this morning before the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee of the House Science Committee on the topic of commercial spaceflight safety. Alexander, who also chairs the Commercial Space Committee of the NASA Advisory Council, said in his opening statement that, “Safety is paramount to everyone in this industry. … We firmly believe that NASA and commercial industry can and must work together to develop safer human spaceflight capabilities.”

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X-51 Waverider

Air Force’s X-51 WaveRider close to first flight
AviationDayton

The first “captive carry” flight of the Air Force’s revolutionary X-51 WaveRider is scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 9, in California, a spokesman said today.

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SPACE FOUNDATION PRESS RELEASE

To the delight of generations of Star Trek fans, the Space Foundation has chosen Leonard Nimoy to inspire the audience at the 2010 Space Technology Hall of Fame Dinner April 15. The dinner is the capstone event of the 26th National Space Symposium, which runs April12-15 at The Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colo.

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EADS eyes tie-up with ISRO on hypersonic plane technologies
The Economic Times

EADS, a global leader in aerospace, defence and related services, is keen to forge partnership with ISRO on supersonic and hypersonic aeroplane technologies, a top company official said.

“We are looking very much into the future,” Chief Technical Officer of EADS, Jean Botti, said here today on possible collaboration between the Indian Space Research Organisation and EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) going forward.

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CSF PRESS RELEASE

Jeff Greason, Vice Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation and CEO of XCOR Aerospace, testified before the Aviation Subcommittee of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Wednesday, December 2.

In his opening statement, Greason said the current regulatory regime for commercial spaceflight, as framed by the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act of 2004, “has boosted the confidence of investors, entrepreneurs, and customers,” and “has encouraged development of several suborbital vehicles to address scientific research and education markets as well as spaceflight participants, and investments in commercial spacecraft for carriage of cargo and humans to and from Earth orbit.”

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NASA Astronauts Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Douglas Wheelock, Megan McArthur and Shannon Walker with SpaceX's CEO and CTO, Elon Musk

SPACEX PRESS RELEASE

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) recently conducted its first Dragon spacecraft operations training for a group of NASA astronauts and personnel at its corporate headquarters in Hawthorne, CA.  The October training focused on how the crew will interface with the Dragon spacecraft while it is approaching and berthed to the International Space Station (ISS).

Three of the participating astronauts—Tracy Caldwell Dyson, Shannon Walker and Douglas Wheelock—will be on board the ISS when Dragon makes its first visit under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program.

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By Emil Venere
Purdue University News Service

Purdue University researchers are designing and building an experiment that will operate during a test flight of a new type of reusable rocket to be launched by aerospace company Blue Origin LLC.

The experiment will be used to study how fluids behave in low gravity, providing information that could help engineers design better components for a variety of technologies used both on the Earth and in space, said Steven Collicott, a professor in Purdue’s School of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

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The test firing of a SpaceX Merlin engine at the company's test facility in McGregor, Texas. (Credit: SpaceX)

Local Rocket Company Booms During Economically Lean Times
KWTX-TV

During a time when most businesses are cutting hours, cutting corners and cutting jobs in an attempt to slash the bottom line, a company in Central Texas has been growing, albeit not so silently.

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LIBERAL PARTY OF CANADA PRESS RELEASE

Liberal Industry and Science Critic Marc Garneau made the following statement today congratulating Canadian Astronaut Robert Thirsk on a successful mission in space:

“It gives me great pleasure to welcome my friend and colleague Robert Thirsk back to Earth, following a record breaking 189-day mission in space.

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Kazakh authorities give a warm welcome to the Expedition 21 crew members following their return to Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft. Pictured, left to right, are Canadian Space Agency astronaut Robert Thirsk, flight engineer; Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, flight engineer; and European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne. Photo credit: ESA/Stephane Corvaja

NASA MISSION UPDATE

Expedition 21 Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Roman Romanenko, European Space Agency Flight Engineer Frank De Winne and Canadian Space Agency Flight Engineer Robert Thirsk have returned to Earth, landing on the steppes of Kazakhstan in their Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft. Landing occurred at 2:15 a.m. EST Tuesday, 1:15 p.m. Kazakhstan time.

All three crew members were reported to be in good condition. Due to icy conditions at the landing site, the landing support team recalled its helicopters to their bases in Kustanai and Arkalyk, Kazakhstan. Instead the team arrived in all-terrain vehicles from nearby Arkalyk to extract the Expedition 21 crew members from the Soyuz crew module.
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SPACE FOUNDATION PRESS RELEASE

Do you have what it takes to become a Space Foundation Teacher Liaison?

Apply now to become one of the select educators from across the nation chosen to be a part of this prestigious, nationally recognized program that provides an elite group of educators with numerous benefits and privileges to help them grow their teaching skills, strengthen their résumés, and influence space and science education at a national level.

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Piece of rocket found off Coromandel
TVNZ

Part of New Zealand’s first space rocket has been found bobbing in the ocean off the Coromandel Peninsula coast.

A fisherman called researchers just after 10am to say he had seen the booster floating off Great Mercury Island.

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