The End of the Apollo Era – Finally?, John Logsdon, Space News “I interpret the new space strategy set out by the White House Feb. 1 to be at its foundation a proposal to move from the 20th century, Apollo-era approach to human spaceflight to a new approach consistent with 21st century national and international realities and future exploration and other strategic space objectives. It is not surprising that those […]
NASA’s Last Two Space Shuttle External Tanks Are Being Built at Michoud, Ken Kremer “The last two Space Shuttle External Tanks (ET’s) likely to be produced in history are entering their final closeout assembly operations at the NASA-owned Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans as the shuttle program draws ever closer to its looming retirement date, now reset to early 2011. These two final tanks are destined for the […]
NASA Ames Research Center Helps Underserved School Receive Used Computers “Times are tough, but none more so than for schools and their students. To promote equal opportunity for all children, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., recently helped Park Avenue Elementary School in the Yuba City Unified District, receive 24 used computers and servers for data storage. It was a perfect match. NASA had surplus computers and equipment that […]
Keith’s note: It has been a week. Where is the NASA Wallops press release about the launch? Was the rocket recovered? Did students get their payloads back? What was the reaction of students to having this unique experience? There is nothing on the Wallops website except an old notice that is several weeks old. NASA Wallops PAO simply does not care. Nor does NASA’s Education Office – since there is […]
Briefing by Senior Administration Officials on the President’s National Space Policy Via Teleconference “SENIOR ADMINSTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: No, no. What it does is it sets up best practices for things like transparency, confidence building measures. I don’t know if my colleagues want to add anything more on that. SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: No, I don’t have anything to add. SENIOR ADMINSTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah, it is not an arms — […]
House spending panel punts on NASA policy, Orlando Sentinel “A key congressional committee today sidestepped a potential vote on NASA’s future, opting to take “no position” on White House plans to scrap NASA’s moon rocket program and replace the space shuttle with commercial rockets. The House subcommittee with oversight of NASA’s budget did, however, agree unanimously to withhold funding for the agency’s human exploration program until Congress authorizes a plan […]
Tesla Motors shares surge in 1st day of trading, Business Week “Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. surged in their first day of trading on Tuesday, gaining more than 20 percent after the company raised more than expected in its initial public offering of stock. Investors snapped up shares of the electric car maker even as the broader markets took a beating. Tesla shares were up $4.10, or 24 percent, to […]
Keith’s note: The Facebook Group Huntsville Space Professionals is tracking workforce issues, layoffs, etc. in the Huntsville area.
NASA MSFC Internal Email: Procurement Sensitivity for Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) NNM10ZDA001K “The BAA NNM10ZDA001K will be released to industry in the near future for the Heavy Lift and Propulsion Technology Systems Analysis and Trade Study acquisition at NASA/MSFC. Effective immediately, all MSFC employees will cease communications with industry concerning this procurement. This ‘blackout’ period of communication with industry will continue until proposals have been received and evaluated, the contract […]
NASA and International Space Agencies Meet to Discuss Human and Robotic Space Exploration “NASA senior managers met with their counterparts representing other space agencies at the National Harbor, Md., on June 23, to discuss globally-coordinated human and robotic space exploration. The meeting participants agreed that significant progress has been made since the joint release of The Global Exploration Strategy (GES) in May 2007. They agreed steps should be taken to […]