INTERORBITAL PRESS RELEASE
Interorbital Systems (IOS) announced today that it is developing a two-person orbital crew module as an addition to its orbital tourism operations. The company’s modular NEPTUNE 1000 rocket will loft the spacecraft to orbit.
Sex in space could be the key to the survival of humans
The Japan Times
Several research projects are already underway to work out just how we will be able to reproduce in the special, unnatural conditions of space — and some of the projects are based in Japan.
Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center
Aerospace Expert Says Job Loss Will Damage NASA
CFNews13
The projected 8-year gap as the shuttle program retires and the Constellation program begins could be a strategic nightmare for NASA’s manned spaceflight program.
Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island, Virginia
NASA strategy could benefit Wallops
Daily Press
Perhaps the most eye-opening recommendation is that NASA use private companies to launch people into low-Earth orbit so the agency can focus on developing long-range plans to explore the moon and beyond.
Altair on the moon
Potential uphill battle for NASA
Houston Chronicle
NASA supporters are bracing for an uphill battle to get the extra funding needed to take on missions more ambitious than visits to the international space station.
This sad news from the Associated Press:
The son of an Israeli astronaut who died in the space shuttle Columbia disaster six years ago was killed Sunday when his F-16 warplane crashed on a routine training flight, the Israeli military said.
The military identified the dead pilot as Capt. Asaf Ramon, son of Ilan Ramon, Israel‘s first and only astronaut. One of seven crew members killed when the Columbia exploded as it re-entered the atmosphere in 2003, Ilan Ramon is seen as a national hero in Israel, and radio and TV stations broke into their broadcasts Sunday to report the news of his son’s death.
Rob Coppinger of Hyperbola has a couple of good stories about Excalibur Almaz, a company that will use leftover Soviet-era military space station hardware to built a space tourism business:
The company expects to have a test flight in 2013 and then slowly build the frequency of service of its Almaz spacecraft.
The Orlando Sentinel has an update on the search for a new president of Space Florida, the government agency charged with promoting the Sunshine State’s space industry.
Robert Block reports that the list has been narrowed to the well liked and respected interim President Frank DiBello and four other candidates: (more…)
The Canadian Space Agency and NASA have signed a new framework agreement that will make cooperation easier by negating the need for a separate treaty to be signed each time a joint project is undertaken.
Christian Frei’s documentary, Space Tourists, will be screened during the Zurich Film Festival, which runs Sept. 24-Oct. 4. The film’s synopsis on YouTube reads:
