EIAST and Bigelow Aerospace sign agreement to create next-generation commercial human spaceflight programme “The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) and Bigelow Aerospace LLC, an organisation dedicated to providing affordable options for spaceflight to national space agencies and corporate clients, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to drive joint efforts to usher in a new era in human spaceflight based on innovative technologies, affordability, commercial sustainability, and […]

Businesses Take Flight, With Help From NASA, NY Times “The Dream Chaser is one of several new spacecraft that companies are hoping to launch into space with help from the government. Last year, the Obama administration pushed through an ambitious transformation for NASA: canceling the Ares I rocket, which was to be the successor to the current generation of space shuttles, and turning to the commercial sector for astronaut transportation.”

Q&A: NASA Tech Chief on ‘Sputnik’ Moments and Innovation, space.com “SPACE.com: What is NASA doing today to move technology along in this country? Braun: We are currently holding meetings with the National Research Council that are open to the public to discuss innovative technological ideas and insights that could influence the future of space exploration. We need help with prioritizing which technology NASA should pursue on a limited budget. We […]

Interview with the Challenger Center’s Scott Parazynski, Space News “Some 4 million students have been through the program since 1986, and in recent years the annual average has been about 400,000. Scott Parazynski, a NASA astronaut and medical doctor who took over in November as chairman of the center’s board of directors, wants to increase that number to 4 million per year by 2015. … Parazynski: “One of the things […]

NASA’s Overbudget Mars Rover in Need of Another Cash Infusion “NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission needs an $82 million cash infusion to maintain its late November launch date after development of the $2.47 billion rover exhausted program funding reserves last year, according to agency officials. …. “Our problem right now is MSL,” Green told members of the NASA Advisory Council’s planetary sciences subcommittee during a public meeting here Jan. […]

Giffords husband to decide on space trip in mid-Feb, Reuters “The astronaut husband of a U.S. congresswoman seriously wounded when she was shot in head will decide by mid-February whether to join the last NASA shuttle launch as scheduled, the space agency said on Sunday.” Giffords’s Husband Faces Decision on Shuttle Flight “Mark is still the commander,” said Peggy A. Whitson, the chief astronaut, but she said that having a […]

NASA Research Announcement “Ground-Based Studies in Space Radiobiology” “This NRA solicits ground-based proposals for the Space Radiation Program Element (SRPE) component of the Human Research Program (HRP). Proposals are solicited by the SRPE in the area of Space Radiation Biology utilizing beams of high energy heavy ions simulating space radiation at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL), at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in Upton, New York.” Ground-Based Studies in Space […]

Blue Origin Patent Application: Sea Launch of Space Launch Vehicles and Associated Systems and Methods “Abstract: Launch vehicle systems and methods for landing and recovering a booster stage and/or other portions thereof on a platform at sea or on another body of water are disclosed. In one embodiment, a reusable space launch vehicle is launched from a coastal launch site in a trajectory over water. After booster engine cutoff and […]

NASA To Announce New Planetary Discoveries by Kepler “NASA will host a news briefing at 1 p.m. EST, Wednesday, Feb. 2, to announce the Kepler mission’s latest findings about planets outside our solar system. The briefing will be held in the NASA Headquarters auditorium at 300 E St S.W. in Washington and carried live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.”

International Space Station Could Get Private Inflatable Room, Space.com “The International Space Station could get a new inflatable module supplied by the private American company Bigelow Aerospace, sources say. NASA is apparently in discussions with Bigelow to acquire a Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, called BEAM for short, to enhance use of the International Space Station (ISS). Since 1999, the North Las Vegas, Nev., company has been working to create affordable […]