Suits in space? A North Las Vegas company is working with NASA to recruit executives for space missions, Vegas Inc. “Just months after reaching a deal with NASA to build an inflatable space room, local entrepreneur Robert Bigelow is working with agency officials to find ways for business executives to take part in human space missions. His company, Bigelow Aerospace, signed a deal with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration […]
Letter from Rep. Lamar Smith, Chairmain, House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology to NSF Director Cora Marrett “During the course of the hearing, I asked Dr. Holdren about taxpayer funding for social, behavioral and political science studies at the National Science Foundation (NSF), and how we can better prioritize research spending. During that discussion, Dr. Holdren said that there is “room for improvement” in how NSF prioritizes research initiatives […]
Charles Bolden: Launching American Astronauts from U.S. Soil “Three years ago, the Administration put forward a public-private partnership plan, the Commercial Crew Program (CCP), to ensure that American companies would be launching our astronauts from U.S. soil by 2015. It’s a plan that supports the U.S. human spaceflight program, boosts our economy, and helps create good-paying American jobs. If NASA had received the President’s requested funding for this plan, we […]
Virgin Galactic Breaks Speed of Sound in First Rocket-powered Flight of SpaceShipTwo (with video) “Today, Virgin Galactic, the world’s first commercial spaceline owned by Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group and Abu Dhabi’s aabar Investments PJC, completed the first rocket-powered flight of its space vehicle, SpaceShipTwo (SS2). The test, conducted by teams from Scaled Composites (Scaled) and Virgin Galactic, officially marks Virgin Galactic’s entrance into the final phase of vehicle testing […]
Keith’s note: NASA Deputy Associate Administrator for Communications – Public Outreach Alan Ladwig will be retiring from NASA on 31 May 2013.
Message from the NASA Administrator: Preparing Our Workforce for the Future “Instead of resting on past achievements, NASA has always been about reaching for the future. As I look ahead, I see a NASA that is a model organization operating even more effectively than today – a seamless organization that applies resources and talents across our agency as needed. I see an agency that is not constrained by stovepipes or […]
Progress 51 Cargo Craft Docks to Space Station “The ISS Progress 51 cargo craft completed a two-day journey to the International Space Station when it was captured at the Zvezda service module on Friday at 8:25 a.m. EDT, the cargo craft completed a hard mate when the docking hooks were deployed at 8:34 a.m.” Umanned Russian spaceship suffers mishap on way to ISS, AFP “An unmanned Progress spaceship racing to […]
Message From The NASA Administrator: New Policies in Response to Sequestration “In addition, as I have previously stated, at this time, we do not plan to resort to furloughs for NASA employees to meet our spending reductions under sequestration, and there is currently no change to the Agency’s existing hiring policy. Centers may continue to transact hires in all categories as planned in their submitted phased hiring plans up to […]
Keith’snote:The following statement was read by NASA Advisory Council member Lars Perkins, as an individual, at today’s NAC meeting. Perkins’ term is expiring and new nominees/renominations have not been announced – yet. “The administration’s proposed FY ’14 budget contains drastic and unprecedented cuts to NASA’s education funding. NASA has been uniquely effective in engaging the public in science and exploration, and to cut these important programs at a time when […]
Senate Appropriations Committee Hearing on NASA’s FY2014 budget – 9:30 a.m. Live webcast NASA Advisory Council Meeting (Webex/Dial-in)