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Space colony art: Don Davis


Space Tourism: A New Industry in the Making
London, England
June 30, 2009

NewSpace 2009
NASA Ames Research Center, CA
July 17-20, 2009

Mars Society Conference
University of MD, College Park
July 30-Aug. 2, 2009

Utah State Small Satellite Conference
Logan, UT (Utah State Univ)
August 10-13, 2009

SEDS SpaceVision 2009
Phoenix, AZ (Univ. of Arizona)
Nov. 13-15, 2009

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Briefs: Balloon burst at 99,340 feet; Reaction Rockets update; Ares 1 launch abort system

The latest JP Aerospace balloon flight did not succeed at launching two model rockets at the max altitude but a HD camera "did record some amazing footage of the balloon burst": Away 38 Balloon Burst
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Reaction Engines posts their latest update: June 2009 (via Rocketeers.co.uk).
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A discussion of the launch abort systems in study for the Ares I: Ares Launch Abort Systems Block I & II - ZZakk's Lab - July.3.09

Masten Space tests

Ben Brockert has posted new videos from this week's tethered flight tests:
/-- Masten Space Flight 9 2009.07.02 - brief up and down flight
/-- Masten Space Flight 10 2009.07.02 - test of autoland system

/-- XA-0.1B-750 flight 11, 2009.07.02 - another autoland test

There is also this video with a view from the top of the crane looking down for the 60 second flight in early June: 60 second rocket flight 2009.06.03 - flight 8

In a post on the aRocket forum, Ben said that in addition to the auto-landing tests:
/-- They are now using only helium in the gas system on board: "Previously we had one tank of nitrogen for RCS, purge, and IPA tank pressurization, and one tank of helium for LOX tank pressurization".
/-- The engine uses "our second aluminum chamber".

He also says they will be competing in both levels of the NG-LLC. (This was apparently mentioned during the ISDC but I missed it.) They will use the above vehicle for Level 1 and a new vehicle for Level II.

Briefs: JPA flights; Tower to near space; Space prize round-up

JP Aerospace posts a page describing recent high altitude balloon missions: Away 36-37.
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Another way to get to Near Space: Inflatable tower may offer easier access to space - Discovery.com/msnbc.com - July.2.09.
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More space prize news: Prize Roundup: July 2-3, 2009 - RegEx Comm Link, I2I, Win Ads, Masten Tests, Space Drink, SCAG Asteroid Deadline, Entrepreneur DEMOs, Nanotech Talk - Space Prizes

Briefs: Shelby shafts commercial launcher funding; Augustine panel sub-grouping

Sen. Shelby uses threat to hold up Bolden confirmation to hold up taxpayers:
/-- Powerful GOP senator diverts $100 million of NASA stimulus money to Ares program in Alabama: A powerful GOP senator from Alabama succeeds in having millions diverted to Constellation, the troubled rocket program intended to replace the space shuttle. - OrlandoSentinel.com
/-- Shelby wins battle on stimulus funding - Space Politics
/-- Down The Rathole - Transterrestrial Musings
/-- Senator Shelby extorts $400 million - Daily Kos
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I recently mentioned that the Augustine panel had posted a page giving a log of their activities. A reader points out that it also links to this diagram (pdf) showing how the panel has been split among sub-groups. Interesting the way the members have been distributed.

Spacevidcast 2.20

The latest Spacevidcast show is on line: Spacevidcast 2.20 - Guiness in space, JAXA Space Power, Ulysses is dead!.

Space Settlement Blog Day update

Space bloggers, don't forget to sign up for Space Settlement Blog Day.

Briefs: Masten tests; British rocket test facilities refurbished

Masten Space returned to tethered flight tests on Thursday. Don't see any videos posted yet but here are some Twitter postings about the tests.
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The entrepreneurial company Airborne Engineering in the UK is renovating some rocket engine test facilities used in the 1960s for the British Blue Streak rocket program: British Rocket Company Blazes a Trail to the Future - Airborne Engineering - July.2.09 ( via Rocketeers.co.uk).

Space policy review and ITAR reform

A couple of interesting items in the latest weekly Space News summaries (temporary links):
/-- President Orders Sweeping U.S. Space Policy Review
/-- Obama ITAR Reform Could Move Satellites Back To Commerce

Notes on RAeS Space Tourism conference

Representing HobbySpace, Andrew Janes attended the Royal Aeronautical Society's Space Tourism conference (pdf) held in London this week. I've now compiled his notes into this web page along with some of his photos.

Space Tourism: A New Industry in the Making

Briefs: Video about XCOR; SS2 rocket motor testing

An article and video about XCOR and Jeff Greason: Aero-TV: XCOR Aerospace -- An Innovative Route To Space (Part 1) - Aero-News Network - July.2.09
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Rob Coppinger reviews what is learned from the info in the Rocket Motor 2 testing log posted yesterday at Scaled: SpaceShip Two rocket motor testing revealed - Flight Global.

Briefs: Chartered Soyuz update; Tethered Armadillo

Rob Coppinger talks with Eric Anderson about the schedule for the dedicated Soyuz flight that Space Adventures would like to arrange for two private travelers to the ISS: Will the June 2011 deadline for a 2013 private Soyuz flight be met? - Hyperbola - July.1.09.
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I hope this is not because Russell did something bad to Mod or Pixel.

Briefs: NASA manager's alternative to Ares; HSF panel log

Nancy Atkinson discusses the Shuttle-derived side-mounted heavy cargo lifter design presented by NASA program manager John Shannon to the Augustine Commission: Faster, Cheaper (and Better?) Way to the Moon - Universe Today - July.1.09.

Includes a video animation of the system.
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The website for the Augustine panel includes a page with a log of their activities: See What The Committee Is Doing. There is also a Twitter account and one at Facebook.

SpaceShipTwo rocket motor tests log

In addition to the WhiteKnightTwo flight log, Scaled Composites is now posting updates on the Rocket Motor 2 Hot-Fire Test Summaries.

Space tourism meeting Q&A

Rob Coppinger has posted on his Hyperbola blog the following audio recordings made at the RAeS space tourism meeting yesterday :
/-- [XCOR] and Space Adventures Q&A
/-- Spaceports speak up Q&A
/-- Astrium and Galactic Q&A

Briefs: India/Russia space partnership; MOST update

Not clear what sort of reusable spacecraft they are referring to. Probably just a capsule : India plans to develop reusable spacecraft with Russia: Nair- TIMESNOW.tv (via spacetoday.net).
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The Canadian MOST (The Microvariability and Oscillation of Stars) micro-satellite reaches its sixth year of operation: MSCI-Microsat Systems MOST, Canada's Space Telescope, Celebrates Birthday Number Six - MSCI - June.30.09. See also MOST: Canada's First Space Telescope. I'll note that space info storehouse Henry Spencer was the Software Architect for the mission.

NewSpace 2009 speakers

Check out the speakers at the upcoming NewSpace 2009 Conference at NASA Ames, July 17-20: Speaker List Revealed for NewSpace 2009 Conference - SFF.

See also the meeting Agenda.

Briefs: Kourou report; HSF ini Alabama

Ken Davidian is posting lots of photos during his trip to Kourou to see the TerreStar-1 launch.
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The Augustine panel visited NASA Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville and the ULA facility in Decatur, Alabama last week. Human space flight review panel updates Web site with Huntsville information - al.com.

Some pictures from their trip: Site Visit Week of June 22-26, 2009 - a set on Flickr.

Briefs: UK space tourism; Guinness space tourism prize;

A report on Will Whitehorn's comments at the RAeS space tourism conference yesterday: UK 'yet to embrace space tourism' - BBC.
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Guinness includes a space tourism prize as part of its 250 year anniversary celebration: Guinness offers drinkers chance to win space flight: Guinness has launched a competition offering drinkers the chance to win a trip into space aboard Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic spacecraft - Telegraph (via Jeff Foust).

More info on the Guinness space tourism contest is available at 250 - Remarkable Experiences.

Briefs: SBSP in Japan; DIRECT v.3 video

This article says Japan is beginning a space based solar power program: Japan Shooting For Space-Based Solar Power -Nikkei - June.28.09.
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A video illustrating the latest iteration of the DIRECT Launcher design: Shuttle-to-DIRECTv3 - The Original Rocket Dungeon - June.30.09.
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