ORBITAL SCIENCES PRESS RELEASE
Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB – News) announced today that its Vice Chairman and Chief Financial Officer Garrett E. Pierce, will make a presentation to investors and analysts at Wachovia’s 19th Annual Mid-Year Equity Conference to be held in Boston on June 23, 2009. Mr. Pierce’s presentation is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. (EDT).
‘Space travel an integral part of ISRO’s future programmes’
Zeenews.com
Space travel would be an integral part of the Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO)’s future mission programmes, including sending man to the Moon, the agency’s Chairman G Madhavan Nair on Friday said.
WhiteKnightTwo
A ‘Flying Launch Pad’ Cruises New Mexico Skies
Space.com
The flying launch pad, WhiteKnightTwo, made three low level flyovers here today at the Las Cruces International Airport – a continuation of celebrations for the groundbreaking of nearby Spaceport America.
Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo with Burt Rutan and Richard Branson
Flight Global is reporting that the WhiteKnightTwo was MIA during the Spaceport America groundbreaking ceremony because of an actuator alarm.
Sex, Drugs and Cirque du Soleil
Asylum.com
The latest such scandal comes from our neighbors to the north, as Cirque du Soleil creator (and billionaire) Guy Laliberté is suing to try to stop the distribution of an unauthorized biography that details his decadent, celeb-studded parties featuring drugs, wild sex and “busloads of prostitutes.”
New Mexico breaks ground on commercial spaceport
Reuters
New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson broke ground on Friday on construction of Spaceport America, the world’s first facility built specifically for space-bound commercial customers and fee-paying passengers.
JAXA MISSION UPDATE
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK) would like to release the final still images taken by the onboard High Definition Television (HDTV) of the lunar explorer “KAGUYA” just prior to its maneuvered falling to the Moon.
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Spaceport groundbreaking events begin Thursday
Las Cruces Sun News
If there’s a proper New Mexican way to mark the start of a $200 million construction project that eventually will help launch tourists to space, it’s with mariachis.
Live music from a mariachi band Thursday night in Las Cruces is part of the first of four events this week to mark the groundbreaking of Spaceport America, touted as the first-ever purpose-built spaceport in the world.
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LAUNCH!!
An Atlas Centaur rocket carrying the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and LCROSS spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 5:32 EDT in a perfect launch.
NASA UPDATE:
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has separated from the Centaur upper stage and LCROSS spacecraft. LRO is on its way to the Moon. The trip will take about four days.
Meanwhile the LCROSS spacecraft will stay connected to the Centaur upper stage and enter into a long orbit around the moon and Earth that will terminate in their planned impact into the lunar south pole.
OFFICIAL PROJECT SITES
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
LCROSS
Backgrounders after the jump.
ASTRIUM PRESS RELEASE
Astrium and JSC National Company “Kazakhstan Gharysh Sapary†today announced the signing of a first contract to build a major satellite integration centre that will be part of the future Kazakhstan national space centre in Astana.
Today at the Paris Air Show being held at Le Bourget, ESA signed a €20 million contract rider with the Joint Propulsion Team consortium composed of Avio SpA (I), Astrium GmbH (D) and Snecma (Groupe SAFRAN) (F), for the development of the future liquid engine demonstrator for the European Next Generation Launcher first stage, the High Thrust Engine Demonstrator.
The Augustine panel had its first public hearing today. I didn’t catch any of it (been running around all day), but Clark Lindsey has an excellent play by play over at Hobby Space.
