This is not a NASA Website. You might learn something. It's YOUR space agency. Get involved. Take it back. Make it work - for YOU.
ARCHIVE
Month: August 2011
DARPA's 100 Year Starship

DARPA 100 Year Starship Solicitation Announcement “The 100 Year StarshipTM (100YSSTM) is a project seeded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), with NASA Ames Research Center as executing agent, to develop a viable and sustainable non-governmental organization for persistent, long-term, private-sector investment into the myriad of disciplines needed to make long-distance space travel viable. The goal is to develop an investment vehicle–with the patronage and guidance of entrepreneurs, […]

  • NASA Watch
  • August 31, 2011
Apollo 18: NASA PAO Will Be Busy

NASA reaches its outer limit, LA Times “But after initially touting “Apollo 18” as one of its upcoming fiction film collaborations, NASA — which, for the record, says the last manned mission to the moon was Apollo 17 in 1972 — has begun to back away from the movie. “Apollo 18 is not a documentary,” said Bert Ulrich, NASA’s liaison for multimedia, film and television collaborations. “The film is a […]

  • NASA Watch
  • August 31, 2011
NRC Report on the Future of NASA Astronauts

Keith’s note: A new report titled “Preparing for the High Frontier: The Role and Training of NASA Astronauts in the Post-Space Shuttle Era” has been completed by the National Research Council. The report examines staffing plans for the U.S. astronaut corps following retirement of the space shuttle and completion of the International Space Station. The report will be released on 7 September 2011 at 11 am EDT.

  • NASA Watch
  • August 31, 2011
Confusion About Russian Space Policy

Russia may curtail permanently inhabited orbital stations program – Roscosmos deputy chief (Part 2), Interfax “The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) could phase out its program of building orbiting stations permanently inhabited by crews in favor of unmanned stations regularly visited by crews, Roscosmos Deputy Chief Vitaly Davydov told journalists.” Human flight to Mars could be accomplished beyond 2040 – Roscosmos “A flight to Mars is the strategic goal of […]

  • NASA Watch
  • August 31, 2011
Orbital GETS COTS Demo OK from FAA

Orbital Receives FAA Commercial Space Transportation License For Taurus II COTS Demonstration Mission “Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB), one of the world’s leading space technology companies, today announced that it received a Commercial Space Transportation Launch License from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program demonstration mission in early 2012. An expanded license covering the test flight of the company’s Taurus(R) II rocket […]

  • NASA Watch
  • August 31, 2011
Another Earth?

Is There A Habitable Planet Circling HD 85512? “Aims: In this study we assess the habitability of HD85512b, a 3.6M_Earth planet orbiting a K5V star. The radial velocity data and orbital parameters for HD 85512 b have just been published, based on data from the dedicated HARPS-upgrade GTO program. Methods: This paper outlines a simple approach to evaluate habitability of rocky planets from radial velocity (RV) searches by using atmospheric […]

  • NASA Watch
  • August 31, 2011
Mike Griffin's Hypocrisy And Selective History On Display Once Again

Let the Games Begin, opinion, Mike Griffin, SpaceNews “The administration’s actions go beyond simple mismanagement of the program. They amount to a smear campaign, with convenient leaking of derogatory and misleading information to the press, to undermine public support for the program. On Aug. 5, the Orlando Sentinel cited internal NASA documents detailing a $38 billion estimate for a “new NASA moon rocket.” This estimate is entirely out of line […]

  • NASA Watch
  • August 30, 2011
Space Quarterly Magazine First Issue Content

Space Quarterly Magazine Volume 1, Number 1 Content, SpaceRef The first issue of Space Quarterly is scheduled to be released on September 1. Here is what will be in the first ever issue: U.S. Edition – Editorial – An Interview with Jeff Greason CEO of XCOR Aerospace – The Philosophy of Lunar Commercialization and Economic Development – SpaceX – Vision vs the Market – CCDev2 Update – Program Status – […]

  • NASA Watch
  • August 30, 2011
Stunning View of an Algal Bloom In The Barents Sea

Photo: Algal Bloom In The Barents Sea As Seen From Space “The phytoplankton bloom pictured in this Envisat image stretches across the Barents Sea off the coast of mainland Europe’s most northern point, Cape Nordkinn. The southern area of this deep shelf sea – with an average depth of 230 m – remains mostly ice-free due to the warm North Atlantic Drift. This contributes to its high biological production compared […]

  • NASA Watch
  • August 30, 2011
SwRI To Integrate NASA Suborbital Payloads

SwRI Selected as Payload Integrator for Three NASA Suborbital Flight Opportunities Research Providers “Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has been selected to provide payload flight integration services as part of three suborbital flight provider contracts recently announced by NASA to Virgin Galactic, XCOR and Masten Space Systems. These contracts are an important step forward for the NASA Flight Opportunities Program, funded by NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist and managed by […]

  • NASA Watch
  • August 30, 2011