Journey to the Dream — Part I, Dylan Taylor “As I wrap up Part 1 of this blog series, I want to announce a set of gifts that I would ask all other commercial astronauts to consider. I call it buy one, give one, a term I first heard coined by my friends Ami Dror and Navyn Salem. It is simple, donate to worthy causes here on Earth the equivalent […]

Do you want to fly into space? Do you know someone who does? If so then this book is worth reading. “See You In Orbit? Our Dream of Spaceflight” by Alan Ladwig presents a comprehensive look by a space insider into the history of what space travel means to people. It details how individuals, space agencies, and companies have sought to give more people a chance to visit space. In […]

Keith’s note: A lot of people in the private space sector are annoyed (some are angry) with the Trump folks since they directed NASA to look into the government side (crew on SLS EM-1 flight) of a proposed government/commercial return to the Moon. Then the “Commercial” Spaceflight Federation sold its soul and jumped on board to support SLS. There was a handshake sort of deal in place between the Alabama […]

Congressional Hearings this Week to Focus on Commercial Space, SpaceRef “There will be two important congressional hearings this week on Commercial Space. First up on Tuesday, February 24th is the U.S. Human Exploration Goals and Commercial Space Competitiveness Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness hearing chaired by U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). Next up on Friday, February 27th is the House Subcommittee on Space Hearing; The Commercial Crew Program: […]

Registration still open for the 18th Annual FAA Commercial Space Transportation Conference, set to take place this week (Feb. 4-5) at the National Housing Center in Washington, D.C. The conference will address the latest in U.S. commercial launch activities, human spaceflight, crew, and spaceports and includes the opportunity to meet and network with key federal officials from DOT, NASA, and DOD, industry leaders, space entrepreneurs, international space partners, legislators, astronauts, […]

Congressman Kevin McCarthy Introduces Bill to Streamline Commercial Spaceflight Regulations, SpaceRef Business “Congressman Kevin McCarthy (R) has introduced H.R. 3038, the Suborbital and Orbital Advancement and Regulatory Streamlining (SOARS) Act, intended to streamline the regulatory process associated with commercial spaceflight. The bill was referred to the House Science, Space and Technology Committee where it may get full support from the Republicans on the committee but likely no support from the […]

Keith’s 25 Feb note: Looks like NASA has adopted the adventure movie promo production approach – loud music that tells you to pay attention, quick edits, all for the new video Commercial Crew Program video “Taking America To New Heights”. This video only appears on the official NASA KSC YouTube channel. No mention is made anywhere else at NASA. Who is the intended audience for this? The public? Congress? Media? […]

Remarks by the President in Twitter Town Hall, The White House “Question: So a slight deviation from the economy — we have a lot of questions, and this will be our last before we start reading some responses to your question — about the space program. And this one from Ron: “Now that the space shuttle is gone, where does America stand in space exploration?” THE PRESIDENT: We are still […]

New vision for NASA – Obama plan resets human spaceflight button, Roger Lanius/Mike Green, Florida Today “In the 1968 film, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” astronauts shuttled from the Earth to an orbiting space station aboard a commercial space plane and private firms carried out many other functions in low-Earth orbit, including the Hilton hotel on the station. Flash forward to 2018, and imagine NASA astronauts boarding a commercial space launcher […]

Cernan: Pres. Unwilling to Invest in U.S. Future, Fox 26 TV Houston “I’m angry. It’s very short sighted on the part of this administration,” said Cernan. “He is somehow unwilling to invest in the future of this country and the future of this country is important to me. I won’t be here 20, 30, 40 years from now, but my grandkids will. I want them to have the country I […]