NASA Gets Big Boost in Final FY2016 Appropriations Bill, Space Policy Online “The Orion spacecraft will receive $1.270 billion, $174 million more than the request and $76 million more than FY2014. Within Advanced Exploration Systems funding, Congress also directs NASA to spend no less than $55 million on a habitation module, which will be needed to augment living space for astronauts on lengthy trips beyond low Earth orbit. Congress wants […]
Vladimir Putin dissolved Roscosmos, Russia’s federal space agency, Engadget “With the flourish of a pen earlier today, Russian president Vladimir Putin officially put an end to Roscosmos, the country’s federal space agency. That decree capped off over a year’s worth of organizational despair as the agency saw its ten-year budget cut (again), the loss of a handful of spacecraft and the misuse of over 92 billion rubles (or $1.8 billion) […]
Washington’s ‘Star Wars’, Politico “A Washington brawl has broken out over the future of the U.S. military’s ability to reach orbit, with the powerhouse combo of Boeing and Lockheed Martin jostling with the scrappy yet well-funded upstart of entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX for multibillion-dollar contracts for launching satellites. The competition is upending the norms of the defense contractor heavyweights, who are not used to dealing with relatively fresh rivals, and […]
Fred Durant, George Mueller, and Bob Farquhar Honored at The Smithsonian “There are three displays presently located in the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, DC honoring Fred Durant, George Mueller, and Bob Farquhar who left our planet in 2015. Ad Astra.”
Making the cut: CRISPR genome-editing technology shows its power, Science “[CRISPR] was conceived after a yogurt company in 2007 identified an unexpected defense mechanism that its bacteria use to fight off viruses. A birth announcement came in 2012, followed by crucial first steps in 2013 and a massive growth spurt last year. Now, it has matured into a molecular marvel, and much of the worldnot just biologistsis taking notice of […]
Aliens, bunny-killing rovers, and a Moon base: What all is NASA “hiding”?, Ars Technica “Spend any time around NASA public affairs specialists, as I do, and you’ll eventually get the eye roll. It comes when someone inquires about aliens or faked moon landings or all manner of other nonsense. One of the more recent eye-rollers originated in Russia, where officials said sea plankton was growing on the exterior of the […]
Why Google’s new quantum computer could launch an artificial intelligence arms race, Washington Post “Ever since the 1980s, researchers have been working on the development of a quantum computer that would be exponentially more powerful than any of the digital computers that exist today. And now Google, in collaboration with NASA, says it has a quantum computer the D-Wave 2X that actually works. Google claims the D-Wave 2X is 100 […]
ULA Orders RD-180 Engines to Serve Civil, Commercial Contracts, ULA “ULA has ordered additional Atlas engines to serve our existing and potential civil and commercial launch customers until a new American-made engine can be developed and certified. While ULA strongly believes now is the right time to move to an American engine solution for the future, it is also critical to ensure a smooth transition to that engine and to […]
Keith’s 10:15 am note: NASA sources report that NASA SMD has decided to cancel the launch of Mars InSight in 2016 due to problems with the French seismometer. There is a design flaw in the instrument – one that prevents it from being able to maintain the vacuum needed to operate on the surface of Mars – or for that capability to be adequately tested prior to launch so as […]
FAA Finding of No Significant Impact: SpaceX Falcon Launch Vehicle Landings at Landing Complex-1 “… the FAA is announcing the availability of a FONSI, based on the analysis and findings of the U.S. Air Force’s (USAF’s) December 2014 Environmental Assessment for the Space Exploration Technologies Vertical Landing of the Falcon Vehicle and Construction at Launch Complex 13 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Florida (EA). Subsequent to the USAF issuing […]
