International Space Station
Commercial Human ISS Flight Funds Backed
Aviation Week
The Obama administration has cleared NASA to use $150 million of the $1 billion in economic stimulus package funding it will receive this year to advance possible commercial human spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS).
X-43A Hypersonic Experimental Vehicle -- Artist Concept in Flight. Credit: NASA Dryden Flight Research Center.
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY PRESS RELEASE
When a jet is flying faster than the speed of sound, one small mistake can tear it apart. And when the jet is so experimental that it must fly unmanned, only a computer control system can pilot it.
Ohio State University engineers have designed control system software that can do just that — by adapting to changing conditions during a flight.
Wilkins Ice Shelf
ESA PRESS RELEASE
Satellite images show that icebergs have begun to calve from the northern front of the Wilkins Ice Shelf – indicating that the huge shelf has become unstable. This follows the collapse three weeks ago of the ice bridge that had previously linked the Antarctic mainland to Charcot Island.
The ice bridge, which effectively formed a barrier pinning back the northern ice front of the central Wilkins Ice Shelf, collapsed on 5 April removing about 330 sq km of ice. As a consequence of the collapse, the rifts, which had already featured along the northern ice front, widened and new cracks formed as the ice adjusted in the days that followed.
Vega Engine Test
ESA PRESS RELEASE
On 28 April, the final qualification test firing of the third stage solid propellant motor for Europe’s new small launch vehicle Vega took place at the Salto di Quirra Interforce Test Range in Sardinia, Italy.
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More developments from Florida, courtesy of the Orlando Sentinel:
A man who filed an ethics complaint over Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp’s frequent use of state planes has lodged another one against the former staffer in Gov. Charlie Crist’s office who helped dole out $500,000 in state funds to a sports medicine clinic for a “space tourist” program, then left to take a $150,000 job running the program.
Martian moon Phobos
Space.com takes a look at missions being planned for the Martian moon Phobos. Most of the story is about Russia’s massive Phobos-Grunt spacecraft, which is designed to return soil samples to Earth. That mission was set for launch later this year, but it will likely be delayed for two years.
Private Moon Rover Aims for Apollo 11 Landing Site
Space.com
If there’s one name that’s on the lips of many Google Lunar X Prize competitors, it’s Astrobotic. The team boasts a name that readily conveys its ambitious aspirations for reaching the moon and beyond.
Lyles takes name out of running for NASA’s top job
Dayton Daily News
Retired Air Force Gen. Lester L. Lyles said Wednesday, April 29, that the White House indicated he was the top candidate to become the next NASA administrator, but that he has taken his name out of consideration.
Altair
NASA is still trying to determine whether it can return to the moon by 2020 and how to define what “return” means, Acting Administrator Chris Scolese told Congress on Wednesday:
X-51 Waverider
Hypersonic ‘WaveRider’ poised for test flight
MSNBC
Hoping to bridge the gap between airplanes and rocketships, the U.S. military is preparing to test an experimental aircraft that can fly more than six times faster than the speed of sound on ordinary jet fuel.
Space Florida
In a letter to Space Florida stakeholders, President Steve Kohler disputed an Orlando Sentinel story claiming that his agency is not making any progress on a commercial launch facility at Cape Canaveral. He also accused the newpaper of running a campaign to discredit his agency.
