Model of NASA's Orion spacecraft
PRESS RELEASE
Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, successfully completed the first series of vibration and altitude hot fire tests on NASA’s Orion crew module’s 160 lb. thrust mono-propellant rocket engine. The objective of the test program was to verify engine performance after the thruster was subjected to Orion vibration loads which produced energy levels that were two times higher than those previously qualified.
Space Florida
The Miami Herald reports that a key legislative committee, upset by a no-bid contract with an out-of-state lobbying firm, has slashed Space Florida’s budget by almost half. Meanwhile, Florida Democrats slammed Gov. Charlie Crist over the contract and his handling of a recent scandal involving a space tourism deal.
Artists conception of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in orbit
COTS D – Commercial Human Spaceflight to get at least $80m
Orlando Sentinel
Under an agreement hammered out with the White House, NASA announced today on Capitol Hill that it will provide the COTS program with $150 million of the $400 million for human exploration given to NASA under President Barack Obama’s stimulus plan.
Over 400 NASA employees have been offered buyouts worth up to $25,000 in exchange for leaving their jobs.
Computer generated image showing the debris cloud around Earth.
There was some interesting information released about the space debris problem during a hearing on Capitol Hill this week by the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. The report below is a mashup of press releases issued by the subcommittee and its Republican caucus.
Russia mulls rocket power ‘first’
BBC News
Engineers are considering a rocket-powered landing system for the successor to Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft.
General Dynamics Press Release
General Dynamics (NYSE: GD – News) today reported first-quarter 2009 earnings from continuing operations of $593 million, or $1.54 per share on a fully diluted basis, compared with 2008 first-quarter earnings from continuing operations of $573 million, or $1.42 per share fully diluted. Revenues grew to $8.3 billion in the quarter, an 18 percent increase over first-quarter 2008 revenues of $7 billion. Net earnings for the first quarter of 2009 were $590 million, compared to $572 million in the first quarter of 2008.
Space Shuttle
NASA Shuttle Retirement Postponed … Maybe
The Washington Post
NASA’s Congressional supporters appear to have bought some time in their efforts to ease the Space Shuttle program’s hard retirement date, as the House and Senate conference agreement on the budget resolution reached this week would fund Shuttle missions beyond September 2010….
Part 2: Space Florida finds way to fly lobbying deal ‘under radar’
Orlando Sentinel
Space Florida
Brevard-based Space Florida has spent big in one regard: Records obtained by the Orlando Sentinel show the agency paid nearly $300,000 last year for lobbyists in Tallahassee and Washington.
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Pentagon may reach satellite analysis goal early
Reuters
The U.S. military may reach its goal of doing collision analysis on 800 maneuverable satellites before October, and is examining the possibility of tracking 500 more satellites that cannot be maneuvered, a top Air Force general said on Tuesday.
USAF’s Rapid Reaction Spaceworks (or Chili Works) can build a deployable small satellite in only two days.
Asteroid Ida
Asteroid Threat? Call the Space Lawyers
Space.com
There are currently no known space rocks on a collision course with Earth, but with ample evidence for past impacts, researchers say it’s only a matter of time before one is found to be heading our way.
A swarm of political and legal issues bedevil any national or international response, whether it’s responsibility for collateral damage from deflected asteroids or the possible outcry if one country decides to unilaterally nuke the space threat.
