Letter to Rep. Gordon Regarding House Science Committee Authorization Bill As It Relates to NASA “President Obama’s new strategy revitalizes and expands our investments in technology, commercial spaceflight, student research, and robotic exploration precursors. These are the key elements of the President’s new plan for NASA that must be retained in any consensus solution reached by Congress and the White House. These investments will benefit all parts of our space […]
NASA KSC Solicitation: LIFE-LIKE ROBOT “NASA/KSC has a requirement for a 5’9″ Life-Like Robot, brand-name Engineered Arts Limited, RoboThespian, or equal. The solicitation (14 pages) is attached and includes: terms and conditions of order, salient characteristics for life-like robot, and questions/answers to inquiries about the Request for Information (RFI) that was previously posted.” Keith’s 12 July note: I will be the last person to say that NASA does not need […]
More viewing options here. NASA and ATK Successfully Test Five-Segment Solid Rocket Motor (with Video) “With a loud roar and mighty column of flame, NASA and ATK Aerospace Systems successfully completed a two-minute, full-scale test of the largest and most powerful solid rocket motor designed for flight. The motor is potentially transferable to future heavy-lift launch vehicle designs. The stationary firing of the first-stage development solid rocket motor, dubbed DM-2, […]
STA Event: An Engineering Assessment of the Way Forward in Human Spaceflight “STA will be hosting a roundtable discussion focused on the topic, “An Engineering Assessment of the Way Forward in Human Spaceflight”. Panelists will include: Mike Griffin, former NASA Administrator and Professor, University of Alabama in Huntsville; Bob Dickman, Executive Director, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics; Gary Payton, Former Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Space and Scott […]
Summoning the Future By Remembering the Past, Dennis Wingo “Almost exactly 100 years and nine weeks before the famous speech by President Kennedy at Rice University calling for what would be known as the Apollo program, the U.S. Congress, in the middle of a war for the life of the nation, passed the Pacific Railway Act of 1862. The “national” railroad as it was called was chartered by the government […]
William Lenoir, astronaut who flew on first operational space shuttle mission, dies, Collectspace “Former NASA astronaut William “Bill” Lenoir, who flew aboard the first operational mission of the space shuttle in November 1982, died Saturday at age 71. According to sources close to his family, Lenoir died after suffering head injuries during a bicycle accident Thursday. Lenoir, who was selected by NASA for its sixth astronaut group and second class […]
NASTAR Center and Special Aerospace Services Commence Research Study on Emergency Detection and Human Response of Atlas V Profile “The NASTAR(R) Center, the premier commercial space training and research center in the world, has completed the initial phase of a research effort focused on commercial human spaceflight and systems development related to emergency detection and response using an Atlas V flight profile, under a contract with Special Aerospace Service (SAS) […]
NASA TV Airs Interview Excerpts About Assistance to Trapped Miners in Chile “NASA has been asked by the Chilean government through the U.S. Department of State to provide technical advice that might assist the trapped miners at the San Jose gold and copper mine near Copiapo, Chile.” NASA to treat trapped Chilean miners, PressTV “It’s an opportunity to us to bring the space-flight experience back down to the ground,” said […]
NASA MSFC RFI: Electrodynamic Tether Propulsion Demonstration Mission “NASA MSFC is seeking a partner capable of providing a spacecraft bus as a part of a technology development proposal team. Responses to this RFI will provide information necessary for the selection of spacecraft providing partners for the proposal team in late Summer/early Fall 2010. This RFI seeks input from vendors with experience and facilities for designing, fabricating, and integrating Low Earth […]
Frank Sietzen, Jr.: Consider how many space initiatives the United States didn’t pursue in the past half century. A fully reusable launch vehicle. A 20-person expendable space station. New heavy lift boosters. A permanent lunar colony. The Orbital Space Plane. NERVA and Prometheus. An outpost on Mars. In fact, there have been more false starts and failed approaches than those that worked. By setting budget limits, the hand of the […]