Space
Access '10 Review
A report on the annual Space
Access Society's annual conference in
Phoenix, Arizona. The latest updates on low
cost approaches to getting to space were presented.
New
Space Log 2010
This new section holds pointers to blog postings,
articles, pictures, etc. concerning particular
events and developments of interest during
the year in New
Space.
SpaceShipTwo
Rollout
Links to articles, blog postings, photos and
videos about the unveiling of the SpaceShipTwo
vehicle on Dec. 7, 2009 at the Mojave Spaceport
by Virgin Galactic.
NGLLC
2009 Resources
Links to blog reports, articles, videos, photos,
etc. for each round of flights by the teams
in the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge
competition.
Many programs at NASA and other organizations
now allow students and members of the general
public to participate directly in various
types of scientific studies. A recent example
of this gained a lot of publicity. A group
of 7th grade students in California discovered
a cave on Mars while examining images from
the Mars Odyssey spacecraft currently in
orbit around the Red Planet. The 16 students
were participating in the Mars
Student Imaging Program run by Arizona
State University.
The small black spot in this image from
the THEMIS
instrument on
the Mars Odyssey orbiter is probably a hole
into a cave or lava tube.
(Larger
image)
The following video provides more information
about the discovery and the students:
NASA
Television "California middle school students
using the camera on NASA's Mars
Odyssey orbiter recently
discovered a cave on Mars. The discovery
by the seventh-grade class at Evergreen
Middle
School in Cottonwood, Calif., was made possible
by NASA's Mars
Student Imaging Program
-- a program that invites classrooms nationwide
to conduct planetary exploration and science
using NASA instruments. The program is run
by Arizona State University, Tempe, and
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
Calif."
On June 4th the SpaceX
company launched its Falcon
9 rocket for the first time and the
effort was a complete success. The commercially
developed rocket, funded by a combination
of private and NASA sources, is a large
world class vehicle that is powered by a
first stage booster with 9 Merlin
liquid-fueled engines and and a second stage
with one liquid-fueled engine. The engines,
as well as all of the major components,
are built in-house by SpaceX, which was
found in 2002 by Elon Musk, who continues
to lead the firm.
SpaceX released this high definition video
showing highlights of the Falcon 9 Flight
1 Mission.
You can find lots of images and videos,
as well as reports leading up the launch,
on the Falcon
9 Flight 1 - SpaceX page. Tons of links
to articles, blog postings, videos, etc
for the event can be found here in the 2010
NewSpace Log.
The next Falcon 9 launch, expected in August
or September, will test the Dragon
capsule. The goal for the program is to
begin routine deliveries of cargo to the
International Space Station in 2011.
The Falcon 9 and Dragon were designed from
the start for safe transport of human passengers.
President Obama's new plan for NASA includes
a competition among commercial companies
for the opportunity to transport crews to
the ISS. SpaceX plans to participate in
this program, which would provide the funding
(about $300M) needed to complete the launch
escape system, which is the only major
component remaining for the system before
it can be used for passenger travel.
The funding for the Falcon 9, as well as
for the smaller Falcon
1 rocket and the Dragon capsule, so
far totals only about $500M; about the same
as NASA spent just for the suborbital Ares
I-X test vehicle. The Falcon 9/Dragon not
only cost much less to develop than similar
vehicles, it will also operate at much lower
cost.
Attaining much lower cost access to orbit
is absolutely required if human spaceflight
is to become a practical activity with broad
participation. The SpaceX Falcon 9 launch
is a big step in that direction.