NASA has announced a schedule of events to commemorate the achievements of the Apollo program and the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing. Among the activities is a news conference with astronauts from several Apollo missions scheduled for 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. EDT, July 20, in the James Webb Auditorium at NASA Headquarters in Washington. NASA Headquarters is located at 300 E St., S.W.
SPACE FOUNDATION PRESS UPDATE
The Space Foundation and the Secure World Foundation co-hosted a standing-room-only policy briefing on space weapons earlier this week in Washington, D.C.
The audience comprised primarily congressional staff, representing the House and the Senate at both an office and a committee level. Other attendees included representatives from a number of major aerospace companies.
Moon rocket test is on shaky ground
Orlando Sentinel
The violent shaking that threatens to destroy the Ares I rocket that NASA hopes will one day return astronauts to the moon is also threatening to delay — or even cancel — the first flight of its test version, the Ares I-X.
Air Force officials who have safety jurisdiction over all launches from Kennedy Space Center are worried that the rocket’s vibrations could knock out the self-destruct mechanism required in case the launch goes awry.
An informal organization called the Fast Forward Group has recently been formed to examine issues related to hypersonic travel, according to Derek Webber of Spaceport Associates. The group includes major U.S. government agencies (NOAA, FAA), large aerospace behemouths (Lockheed Martin, Boeing), and the leading companies in the emerging space tourism market (Virgin Galactic, XCOR). There is also one anonymous major cargo carrier.
Google Tech Talk May 21, 2009: Space Tourism Markets What We Know And What We Don’t Know (And how soon will we be able to fly to Australia by hypersonic transport?) Presented by Derek Webber.
Regular hypersonic passenger service at speeds of Mach 5 or greater will require materials that have not been invented yet.
Ex-ISRO chairman terms Rs 23 crore fund for space research ‘ridiculous’
Indian Express.com
Professor U R Rao, the former chairman of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the incumbent chairman of the Governing Council of Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad, has called the Rs 23 crore fund allocation for space research in India, as “ridiculousâ€.
He said given the amount of possibilities and the pace at which space research has evolved in the country, “we must provide enough support and allow scientists to work at their pace.â€
Spot the Space Station: Twitter Tells You When Space.com Dutch science reporter Govert Schilling and journalist/web developer Jaap Meijers created @twisst, a Twitter service that will tell you when the space station will fly over your location. The new service is in a test phase, according to a statement from Schilling. Twitter users can follow it at @twisst (twitter.com/twisst). Others can learn about it at a regular web site. Read […]
Artists conception of WhiteKnightTwo and the SpaceShipTwo space tourism vehicle. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
Business leader wades into row over space event
The Press and Journal
The row over Moray Council’s decision to pull out of an upcoming space tourism conference took another twist last night as a business leader offered to pay for representatives to attend the event.
Backup Space Tourist Begins Training
Space.com
A former U.S. ambassador to Finland has begun training to fly aboard a Russian spaceship as the backup for a Canadian space tourist set to blast off in September.
American attorney Barbara Barrett is training as a backup crew member for a Russian Soyuz flight slated to deliver Cirque de Soleil founder Guy Laliberte to the International Space Station for a 12-day stay this fall, according to Space Adventures Ltd., the Vienna, Va.-based firm that organized the training and flight.
Artists conception of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in orbit
After shuttle’s retirement, could commercial space flights deliver?
McClatchy Newspapers
“We believe we can eliminate the gap,” Elon Musk , chief executive of Space Exploration Technologies — SpaceX for short — of Hawthorne, Calif. , told the Augustine committee. “We can provide housekeeping and logistical services,” he said. “We’ll let NASA concentrate on the Moon and beyond.”
