This is the archive for May 2007
Briefs: Masten test video; Can you lend this guy a strob?
Check out the latest engine test video at Masten Space:
More multiple engine tests - Masten Space Systems - May.30.07
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Jon Goff would like to borrow a superfast stroboscope for a test for his thesis research:
Another Thesis Bleg: Short Pulse Duration Stroboscope - Selenian Boondocks - May.31.07.
05/31/07 07:04 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Transport Companies
2 comments | Permalink |
"Radio" wins suborbital space ride [Update]
The BBC says that a British data analyst named Ian Anderson has won this
Audi/NewScientist contest for a suborbital ride that will be arranged by Space Adventures:
Man wins ride in space as a prize - BBC - May.31.07 (via
Space Pragmatism). He won with a choice of radio as the best invention of all time. There is also
this report, which gets suborbital and orbital mixed up. Oddly the
contest site doesn't yet say anything about a winner.
Though the
contest rules specify that Space Adventures will decide later which RLV builder it will employ for the flight, the articles indicate that it will be the
XCOR Xerus.
[Update: I'm told by XCOR that there are some mistakes in the articles. XCOR is "working on a suborbital vehicle for passenger flights. However, Space Adventures hasn't booked any flights. If they choose to buy one from us we'll be glad to sell them one. Also, we have no public schedule."]
05/31/07 06:55 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Prizes
1 comment | Permalink |
Briefs: New Space Carnival; Better space food; A rare event
Henry Cate has posted a new
Carnival of Space for your space blog reading enjoyment.
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Taylor Dinerman writes about a special meal shared by Charles Simonyi with the ISS residents and about the prospects for improving space cuisine:
Noshed in Space: Food worth writing home to Earth about - Opinion Journal (WSJ) - May.30.07.
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It will be an uncommon night tonight
"Once in a Blue Moon" Tonight - Spaceports
05/31/07 06:26 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
No comments | Permalink |
Jim Benson on suborbital and orbital plans
Jim Benson posted comments in two postings here in response to questions about the new suborbital vehicle and the HL-20 design. See
*
Briefs: ISDC news; Dropping HL-20; Lifting body model; Spacedev expands
*
Briefs: New Dream Chaser [update]; Commercial space review;
Thanks Jim!
05/29/07 09:59 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Transport Companies
2 comments | Permalink |
ISDC notes; Video sources [Update]
I wasn't there but from all I've heard, the
ISDC 2007 event was a big success. Congrats to all the people who helped to make it happen.
One of the leaders in the effort was Ken Murphy and he has posted some comments here:
Notes from the 2007 ISDC - Selenian Boondocks.
[Update: Additional comments from Ken:
More ISDC Notes - Selenian Boondocks]
He also has assembled a big set of links to various articles, blog postings, etc related to the meeting:
ISDC News Wrap-up - Out of the Cradle.
I don't remember if it was in a comment or in an email, which I must have mistakenly deleted, but someone asked me if there would be video and DVDs available for the ISDC. I asked Ken and he said there are some videos on YouTube - e.g. see
VFTT-ISDC Exhibit Hall- - and there was some live video streaming from
Helloworld.com that might now be in their archive. The company
www.mediaarchives.com will eventually be selling DVDs for the conference.
05/29/07 09:50 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Events
No comments | Permalink |
The Space Review this week
The latest issue of
The Space Review has several space transport related articles:
*
The importance of Plan B (and Plan C, and Plan D...) - In light of presentations at the ISDC meeting, Jeff Foust reviews the history and status of
Benson Space,
Rocketplane Kistler and
Armadillo Aerospace.
*
Bratwurst and cheeseheads and… rocket ships? - Eric Hedman reports from Sheboygan about the prospects for the city's
spaceport.
There's also a
review of the book:
Rocketdyne: Powering Humans Into Space.
Dwyne Day looks at how much the CIA really knew about the Soviet's lunar program during the 1960s:
Inconstant Moon: CIA monitoring of the Soviet manned lunar program
05/29/07 07:27 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
No comments | Permalink |
Briefs: UP Aerospace profile; Flight School [Update]; Space beer
UP Aerospace has big plans for its rocket business:
Getting Business Off The Ground - Space News/Space.com - May.28.07
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Esther Dyson's
Flight School workshop has an interesting set of
speakers. The
program ranges from Very Light Jets to space tourism to Mars terraforming.
[Update: Esther was on the
Space Show on Sunday. ]
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Microgravity Enterprises plans the “first true space beer” in addition to spaceflight enriched power drink and water:
Beam me down a beer, Scotty - Flightglobal.com
05/28/07 01:15 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Business
2 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: Squyres at ISDC; RpK at Woomera; DS4G tests; Moon monitoring earth
Alan Boyle reports on the ISDC talk by Steven Squyres, who received this year's Von Braun Award, and also provides some other news nuggets from the meeting:
Mars drama takes new turns - Cosmic Log - May.27.07
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A reader sent a link to this brief item regarding the
Rocketplane Kistler launch facility at Womera, Australia:
Woomera rocket site decision soon - AdelaideNow... - May.28.07
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Another reader pointed me to this set of interesting reports about experiments with the
Dual-stage Gridded Ion Thruster (DS4G), an ion propulsion design that offers both high thrust and high efficiency:
DS4G - Test Campaign - May 2007
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Shaopeng Huang, a geophysicist at the University or Michigan, makes a pretty good case for placing monitoring stations on the moon to study the earth's climate over long periods:
Shine On, Shine On, Climate Monitoring Station: Moon-based Observatories Proposed - ScienceDaily - May.26.07
05/27/07 11:30 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
No comments | Permalink |
Virtual passengers vs real regulations
Jesse Londin reports that the FAA will apparently not let a rocket company sell video from a vehicle that is operating with an experimental flight permit. Need a full license.
Friday Flybys - Space Law Probe - May.25.07 (see item just past the middle of the post).
05/26/07 08:16 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Law and Regs
No comments | Permalink |
Briefs: ISDC news; Dropping HL-20; Lifting body model; Spacedev expands
Some reports from
ISDC 2007:
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Liveblogging the ISDC - Space Liberates Us!
*
Virgin Galactic: "Safety is Our Guiding Star" - LiveScience.com
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Mr. X hates to see
Benson Space drop the HL-20:
Running Down a Dream - Chair Force Engineer.
To ease his unhappiness, Mr. X could get his own
NASA built big lifting body R/C model via eBay (via
Dick Stafford').
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Speaking of Jim Benson businesses, Dan Schrimpsher reports that
Spacedev is opening new facilities in the South:
SpaceDev Expanding in North Carolina - Space Pragmatism
05/25/07 01:23 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
10 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: Microlauncher video; Unreasonable permit app; AST 2nd quarter report
Charles Pooley of
Microlaunchers has posted the first in a series of videos that explain his vision of exploring space with small, low cost launchers and spacecraft:
YouTube - Microlaunchers introduction
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In the spirit of open source rocket development, Paul Breed has posted the
complete application just submitted to the FAA for an experimental flight permit for his Lunar Lander Challenge entry:
FAA Permit Application - Unreasonable Rocket
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Speaking of the FAA/AST office, they have posted the
2nd
Quarter 2007 Quarterly Report.
05/25/07 01:05 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
No comments | Permalink |
Briefs: Orbital Express redock; BensonSpace update; Big Shuttle Sim
The Orbital Express duo are back together again:
Orbital Express Spacecraft Redocks - Aviation Week - May.24.07
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The official PR from
Benson Space on the redesign of their suborbital vehicle:
Benson Space Improves Design of Its Spaceship - PRNewswire/BensonSpace - May.25.07 (via
spacetoday.net).
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The new
Space Shuttle ride opens today at the
KSC visitors center in time for Memorial Day and the summer vacation season:
New Attraction Simulates Shuttle Launch at 17,500 MPH - Wired.
05/25/07 06:28 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
No comments | Permalink |
Spaceflight obstacles
Via the latest
Carnival of Space comes a link that leads to a set of lengthy posts from
James Watt about the challenges to overcome before long duration spaceflight becomes practical:
*
Keeping Fit in Zero-G
*
Air
*
The Return
*
The Original Article
I assume he will eventually discuss radiation shielding. One note with respect to artificial gravity: you don't necessarily need a large bicycle wheel design (e.g. as in 2001) or a cylindrical structure to rotate. You could attach a tether between a habitat and and a counterbalance mass and rotate them around their CM. For example,
here is a graphic showing such a system in orbit that would keep the lower habitat always looking down on the earth's surface. (Docking maneuvers look complicated.) I've seen proposals to do something like this for a Mars mission.
05/25/07 06:22 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space habitats
3 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: ISS tourists in line; Sci-Fi titans; Space Elevator teams
The queue for a ride to the ISS seems to be getting longer:
Russian space tourism update - Personal Spaceflight
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Two regulars at the Space Access Society's annual meeting were in town recently:
The Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle Show - Achenblog - May.24.07
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The space elevator Challenges are more popular than ever:
Twenty-three teams now registered for the 2007 Space Elevator Games - The Space Elevator Blog. Sure hope Ken gets to write a check or two at this year's event.
05/25/07 05:55 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
1 comment | Permalink |
Spaceflight cachet
UP Aerospace flew some other commercial payloads besides that of MEI and Space Services on its April 28th flight. See the
Flight Manifest.
Check out, for example,
RocketFoto, which lets you send photos into space and get them back. Not sure what
RealDream Association is doing since their site is mostly in Italian.
05/25/07 05:35 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Business
1 comment | Permalink |
Spaceflight drink enhancements
Microgravity Enterprises, Inc. uses spaceflight to add that special extra ingredient to its power drink (
Antimatter) and
purfied water (
Space2O), which contains "exclusive space-flown electrolytes that provide Space2O™ with an out-of-this world, refreshing taste" :
Microgravity Enterprises, Inc. Launches Commercial Payload from the New Mexico Spaceport - BusinessWire/MEI - May.24.07 (via
spacetoday.net).
05/25/07 05:18 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Business
2 comments | Permalink |
Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award
This PR just arrived:
Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award to Engage Students in Space, Science & Technology
The X PRIZE Foundation creates a new competition in honor of famed Astronaut for High-school-aged teams that develop an original concept to benefit personal spaceflight
SANTA MONICA, Calif., May 24, 2007 – The X PRIZE Foundation announced today a new education competition designed to cultivate interest and excitement in the fields of space, science and technology. The Pete Conrad Spirit of Innovation Award, named in honor of the celebrated American astronaut, will be presented for the first time at this year’s Wirefly X PRIZE Cup in October. The award will be presented to the high school team that develops the most creative, new space concept to benefit the emerging personal spaceflight industry.
Teams of three students will be required to submit graphical representations, technical documents and business plans of concepts that can accelerate the personal spaceflight industry. Examples of concepts could include new space suit designs and accessories, advanced food items, zero-gravity games, or vehicle cabin design for a better passenger experience. The first place team will receive a $5,000 grant, followed by $2,500 for second place and $1,500 for third.
“Today’s students are tomorrow’s science and technology leaders,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. “This award was created to both honor the legacy of a treasured American hero and inspire a new generation of young people to dream, risk and achieve breakthroughs in new and innovative areas.”
05/24/07 05:39 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Prizes
1 comment | Permalink |
Briefs: Space Carnival 4; Rand sighs; Nanotube material
Gee, has another week passed already? There is a new
Carnival of Space (#4) up at
Universe Today. One of these weeks I may remember to submit a post of my own.
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Rand Simberg gives Gregg Easterbrook's
Wired article a well deserved thrashing:
Sigh - Transterrestrial Musings - May.24.07
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This sounds promising :
Nanotube textile could make super-light armour - New Scientist - May.24.07. Didn't know nanotubes were so close to practical applications.
05/24/07 05:25 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
1 comment | Permalink |
Beyond-Earth virtual rocket passengers
Joe Latrell of
Beyond-Space Enterprises saw my posting about virtual rocket riders and sent this note:
We have been working on a design for this to complement the personal items packages we sell. The idea is that people who buy a kit from us get to experience the flight via an Internet video feed. We have been working out the details for the on board cameras. We have everything else such as ground equipment and feed systems to the user figured out.
05/24/07 05:13 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Business
No comments | Permalink |
Briefs: New Dream Chaser [update]; Commercial space review;
Leonard David previews an announcement of a new
Benson Space Dream Chaser design:
New Public Spaceship Design to be Unveiled - LiveScience.com
[Update: As noted in the comments, Leonard posted an article with graphics and a some additional details about the new design:
Benson Space Unveils New Dream Chaser Design - SPACE.com]
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A survey of commercial spaceflight projects:
Space: The Final Frontier, Part 2: From Planetary Cargo to Space Hotels - technewsworld.com
05/24/07 06:17 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NewSpace
11 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: A scope to far?; Regs & VTOLs; Starchaser ESA study
Mr. X offers some interesting observations on the proposed docking capability for the Webb Telescope (he deserves some sort of prize for the clever post title.) :
What's Up, Dock? - Chair Force Engineer - May.23.07
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Paul Breed reports on some of his interaction with FAA/AST:
Unreasonable Rocket: AST News.
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Starchaser gives a brief update with graphics on the status of their
ESA funded study started back in January:
ESA Project Technical Update - May 2007
05/24/07 05:49 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
No comments | Permalink |
ISDC 2007 in action in Dallas
The
International Space Development Conference is starting today in Dallas:
National Space Society Conference Kicks Off in Dallas - SPACE.com. The
Finance Symposium will be Thursday's main event.
The conference offers an impressive
list of speakers and there is the usual huge array of
session themes and topics.
Looks like it will be another great conference but unfortunately I couldn't make it this year. Too much traveling already this month.
Jeff Foust will be blogging from the meeting:
Space tourism at ISDC - Personal Spaceflight. I'll keep a look out for other blogs reporting from Dallas.
05/24/07 05:28 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Events
No comments | Permalink |
Briefs: Suborbital review; Cecil Field licensing; NASA sounding rockets
Alan Boyle provides a lengthy review on the status of four of the suborbital spaceflight vehicle developers:
Dude, where's my spaceship? - Cosmic Log - May.23.07
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Jacksonville's
Cecil Field is moving ahead towards getting a spaceport license:
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Spaceport closer to lifting off for Cecil: Aviation Authority going over FAA's environmental review of Westside facility - Jacksonville.com - May.21.07
*
Former Navy base may become spaceport: Florida Space Authority to consider Jacksonville’s Cecil Commerce Center - MSNBC - May.22.07
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Good news, bad news for NASA sounding rocket program. The good news is that the agency is taking a "step in reinvigorating the agency's sounding rocket science program" The bad news is that it involves a grand total of "$4.2 million in grants" :
NASA Funds Universities' New Experiments for Suborbital Flights - NASA - May.22.07.
Remote space tourists
OK, here's the scenario:
A few minutes before the scheduled flight of the SuperStar suborbital space tourist vehicle owned and operated by Acme Spacelines, I direct my browser to their website where I open the Virtual Passenger Interface page. An interactive display appears that shows an instrument panel with gauges for altitude, speed, tracking, fuel, etc. and two viewing windows at the top with a choice of hi-def cameras for each.
I can select external views looking forward and backward, a view of the vehicle from the ground, and a view of the interior where I see the pilot and some excited looking passengers. I have an audio channel that allows me to hear either the communications between ground control and the pilot or the chatter going on in the cabin.
I paid $XX for the password that will allow me to participate in Y number of flights vicariously. Each flight has several thousand virtual participants from all over the world. We don't experience the thrill of the takeoff acceleration or the wonderment of the period of weightlessness but we do get a strong sense of "being there" that is fun and well worth the admission price.
Such a scenario shouldn't be too expensive to implement. Probably the vehicles will have
Ecliptic Enterprises cameras installed anyway (or operator owned cameras as with SpaceX) and it should be straight-forward to stream the flight data as well. In fact, Ecliptic or some other firm could offer a software package to the vehicle companies so they don't have to create such a system at the same time they are developing their rockets.
If a vehicle company had such a service available during the test flight phase, they could staring making money from the start. (No insurance problems to worry about!) If they got, say, five to ten thousand people to pay $40 for a flight, that would be $200k-$400k. Comparable to that from a real passenger or two. (I suppose there may be regulatory problems with regard to whether experimental flight permits during the test phase allow them to make money even with only virtual passengers.)
This sort of service could also be offered to museums and science centers where they could have theater rooms with the flight views projected onto a large screen.
Just a suggestion. Haven't heard of any company saying they will offer anything like it but I'd be surprised if at least one or two don't have it in development. I would definitely participate in such a service occasionally.
Blog mods...
I finally upgraded my blogging software last night and installed a plug-in for the comments that requires the commenter to recognized a text pattern in an image. The upgrade and the plug-in seem to be working OK so far but let me know if you notice any problems. Comment spamming was becoming intolerable.
05/23/07 04:08 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
2 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: Launch forcasts; Business news; Film cooled engines
Lots of interesting info in
2007 Commercial Space Transportation Forecasts - FAA/COMSTAC - May 2007 (pdf)
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Jesse Londin rounds up some New Space related business links:
Space Bucks - Space Law Probe
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Another report on the engine development program at
Rocket Propulsion Engineering in Mojave:
Fuel film to cool rocket motors - Flight International - May.22.07
05/22/07 07:28 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
3 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: Trusting NASA; Ares/Orion; Asteroid analysis
Reassurances from NASA would be taken more seriously if management would make an effort to consult with the industry that will be heavily affected by its policies prior to making them:
Alleviating COTS concerns - Space Politics
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Some misc. NASA Ares/Orion stuff:
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1,000 pounds cut from Orion CEV - Aviation Week
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No Rescue Plan For CEV, NASA Says - Launchspace.com
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Stumping for Griffin - Space Politics
*
ESAS And Sustainability - Transterrestrial Musings - comment on the Space Politics item.
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A NASA spokesman finally uses the "s" word:
NASA analysis of asteroid risk deeply flawed, critics say - New Scientist - May.21.07
05/22/07 07:09 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NASA
No comments | Permalink |
62 Mile Club debut
The
62 Mile Club makes it debut today. Below is the announcement. Their website offers New Space related
resources, a
Who's Who, and an
Events calendar.
To all Adventure Travelers, Space Enthusiasts, and Entrepreneurs,
We are pleased to announce the debut of the 62 Mile Club website. 62 Mile Club provides its members with insider access that will take them behind the velvet rope to the hottest and most exclusive new ticket of the millennium - the leading edge of space exploration and opportunities both on the ground and beyond the atmosphere.
Go to 62MileClub.com and take a look. Our Events Calendar feature is the place to find out what's going on in and around the commercial space industry and where you should be to get the insider access.
Or do you want to know who is connected to the industry and who could influence the industry? Check out Faces of Space.
Whether you are an adventure traveler looking to find out more information on space travel, an entrepreneur looking to invest in this exciting industry, or are hosting an innovative, forward thinking event 62 Mile Club will connect you.
62 Mile Club is developing and highlighting exclusive events to take you behind the velvet rope of this burgeoning industry. 62 Mile Club also points you to other innovative industries and events which inevitably will be connected to the commercial space business.
Join us as a member, participant and enthusiast and tell your friends about the 62 Mile Club.
Space...It's Closer Than You Think TM
Sincerely,
62 Mile Club
http://www.62mileclub.com
05/22/07 06:44 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NewSpace
No comments | Permalink |
Spaceshow programming
From his newsletter I see that David has a show coming up in a few minutes with Michael Laine:
For Monday, May 21, the program from 2-3:30PM PDT welcomes Michael Laine, CEO of LiftPort. As many of you know, LiftPort is having its financial and business problems. Michael would like to discuss these problems in depth with Space Show listeners and wants to assure everyone that LiftPort is not DOA (dead on arrival) despite press reports saying so.
And tomorrow:
The Tuesday Space Show program from 7-8:30PM PDT is a replay of the program from this past Saturday morning featuring Dr. Burton Lee. Dr. Lee provides us with an in-depth discussion of the upcoming Financial Symposium before ISDC starts on May 24, 2007. There is still room for your attendance at this important symposium and that is why this show is being repeated.
On Sunday he talked with
Charles Lurio about various New Space topics. And last Friday he had a
show with Dr. Haym Benaroya of Rutgers about the upcoming
Rutgers Symposium on Lunar Settlement, June 3-8, New Brunswick, NJ.
05/21/07 01:57 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Activism
No comments | Permalink |
Sympathies to a space advocate...
My deepest sympathies to David Livingston on the
death of his Mom last week.
05/21/07 01:47 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Activism
No comments | Permalink |
Briefs: New Space Review; Simple docking; Giant Moon eyes
Check out the latest
Space Review, which has articles about space activism and Nikolai Federov and a review of a new book by Neil deGrasse Tyson
---
Mark Wade suggests simplicity has its advantages when it comes to space docking.
USAF Rendezvous Failure - Pausanias - May.18.07. However, if he is implying that Orbital Express is a disaster, I think that would be a premature conclusion:
Computer problem interrupts satellite servicing demo - Spaceflight Now
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Thinking big when it comes to lunar telescopes:
A Plan to Build a Giant Liquid Telescope on the Moon (via
Transterrestrial Musings).
05/21/07 08:03 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
1 comment | Permalink |
Briefs: Masten test; TGV TPS; Unreasonable Rocket in DC
A reader points to a video at Masten showing a hold down engine test of their first prototype vehicle:
A video worth watching - more to follow - Masten Space Systems
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I see that
TGV Rockets! has posted info about their
Bolt-On Thermal Protection System.
Hope soon to see picts of their latest designs of Michelle-B and Thunderbird.
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Mr. Breed goes to Washington:
A trip to DC - Unreasonable Rocket
05/20/07 11:37 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NewSpace
No comments | Permalink |
Briefs: New Orleans is fun; Wired Rocket Boom; UP-A finds payload [Update]
Back home from good old New Orleans. First time I've been there and was quite impressed. Even though they are still clearly in the recovery stage from Katrina (and will be for years to come), there are lots of things to see, do and hear. We had several excellent meals and heard great music all over the place. Beautiful old architecture can be found throughout the city and the area around Tulane is especially charming. There is a lot more to the city than Bourbon Street, which is great fun but a lot raunchier than I expected.
Go visit if you can. You'll enjoy it and the city can sure use the business.
[Update May.22.07: The articles are now available on line:
*
Elon Musk Is Betting His Fortune on a Mission Beyond Earth's Orbit - Wired - June.07 issue
*
How NASA Screwed Up (And Four Ways to Fix It) - Gregg Easterbrook
]
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Thought I'd be away from New Space for awhile but when I checked the magazine rack at the airport gift shop on Friday, I spotted the the June issue of Wired Magazine. The cover said "Rocket Boom: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson and the dawn of the private space age". The main article is primarily about SpaceX and Elon and follows the events leading up to the two Falcon 1 launches. There are sidebars about Rutan and other commercial rocket efforts. There's also a short article by Gregg Easterbrook with his usual exasperating mix of reasonable criticisms of NASA's "cost-is-no-object" policies and his uninformed claims about the reasons behind the high cost of spaceflight, (e.g. NASA needs "to figure out a way to replace today's chemical rockets...")
BTW: the June issue isn't
on line yet so you will have to find the print version.
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This is old news now but it's nice to see that
UP Aerospace found the Spaceloft XL payload:
*
Scotty's ashes recovered - Cosmic Log
*
Private Rocket's Cargo Found: Ashes of Star Trek's 'Scotty,' Others Recovered - SPACE.com
05/20/07 11:32 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
3 comments | Permalink |
Long weekend break...
Going to New Orleans to attend the graduation of a relative from Tulane on Saturday. No posts for sure because I'm not even taking the laptop on this trip. (My mouse hand is started to shake a bit already...) See ya Monday.
05/17/07 10:26 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
1 comment | Permalink |
Briefs: Space Carnival; Regolith Excavation vids; Genesis 1 vids
Check out the latest
Carnival of Space #3, which this week is hosted at
Universe Today.
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Space Prizes links to several videos from the Regolith Excavation Challenge posted on YouTube by Ken Davidian.
---
Check out this
video taken from Genesis 1 as it passes over Florida, Cuba and the Caribbean. Here is
another one showing northern Russia.
05/17/07 10:14 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
2 comments | Permalink |
Space magazine offers prizes to subscribers
To promote a free
on line quarterly magazine on space that it will begin publishing this summer, the
New Forks media company is offering
space age lounge music CD prizes to those who become the 10,000th, 20,000th and 30,000th subscribers.
The 60,000th subscriber will get a ride on a
ZERO-G flight.
More info in this press release:
ZERO-G Ride, Cash, Music For Online Space Magazine Subscribers - New Forks - May.17.07
05/17/07 10:05 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Prizes
No comments | Permalink |
Tim Pickens in Air & Space
Here's an interesting profile of Time Pickens and his involvement with
Project HALO, SpaceShipOne,
Orion Propulsion and other ventures and adventures:
In Thrust We Trust: To Tim Pickens, rockets are the only way to go. - Air & Space Magazine - June/July 2007
05/17/07 09:46 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Propulsion
No comments | Permalink |
Genesis II Launch Moved to Late June
A news release from
Bigelow Aerospace:
Genesis II Launch Moved to Late June
Statement from Robert T. Bigelow on the Second Bigelow Aerospace Pathfinder Mission
Las Vegas, NV 05/17/07 – Bigelow Aerospace has been informed by its launch provider ISC Kosmotras (“Kosmotras”) that additional testing of the Dnepr rocket and its ground equipment is being required by Russian authorities.
Due to last year’s Dnepr failure, these new and additional tests have been requested to identify any remaining issues with the system and enhance the overall chances of achieving our primary objective of mission success. Unfortunately, these procedures will create an additional four week delay. We now expect the launch of Genesis II to occur in late June.
Again, no one likes launch delays and we wish the situation were otherwise. However, we experienced similar delays on the Genesis I campaign and, of course, were quite pleased with the end result. Moreover, since Genesis II contains a variety of important mementos, photos, and other personal items as part of our pilot “Fly Your Stuff” program, both Kosmotras and Bigelow Aerospace are proceeding with great caution in order to safely and successfully deliver the spacecraft to orbit.
The path to space has never been and will never be simple or easy. However, whether it’s Genesis II or the ongoing work with our future spacecraft Galaxy and Sundancer, we at Bigelow Aerospace are dedicating ourselves to building the foundation for a brighter future, and we hope that all of you will continue to share in the adventure.
— Robert T. Bigelow
05/17/07 11:41 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space habitats
No comments | Permalink |
COMSTAC meeting
The
COMSTAC (Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee) spring meeting is this Friday. The
agenda looks quite interesting. I hope someone (e.g. Jeff Foust) will report on the talks. The Powerpoint presentations should eventually be posted on the AST website.
05/16/07 11:54 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Law and Regs
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Briefs: SS2 composites; Rocketry finals; Inside Orion
A brief article on the composite materials that will be used for SpaceShipTwo:
Space tourism vehicle build to rely on out-of-autoclave prepreg - CompositesWorld.com - May 2007
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The final round of the
Team America Rocketry Challenge will be held this Saturday at Great Meadow, Virginia, which lies about 45 miles west of Washington, D.C.:
Students Vie for World's Largest Rocket Contest Title - AIA/PRNewswire - May.16.07
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T. L. James, who is working on the Orion project, responds to
this recent article at NASASpaceflight.com on the "evolution" of the Orion design:
Inside Looking Out - MarsBlog.
05/16/07 11:41 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
4 comments | Permalink |
Generating random numbers and a new business
Jeffrey Manber, who was involved with MirCorp, is founder of an unusual company called
YUZOZ, whose product is a "Space Random Number Generator". That is, they use various real-time space related data to create random numbers in place of the typical pseudo-random numbers commonly used in various applications. I reprint their news release below.
See also Alan Boyle's report:
Random access to the stars - Cosmic Log - May.16.07
“Live Random!” With Yuzoz, The First Ever Live Connection To The Randomness Of Outer Space
New company taps solar flares, other space-based phenomena to power Website dedicated to random decision making; letting the stars decide
BRIGHTON, United Kingdom (May 16, 2007) – Live Random! For the first time in history, individuals can tap into the randomness of outer space to help make decisions, pick lucky numbers, and more with the introduction of the Yuzoz outer space random number generator (RNG). Users can access the “Yuzoz Generator-1” at
www.yuzoz.com.
Yuzoz employs proprietary software to capture data from live astronomical events such as solar flares, northern lights, the winds of space, and the movements of clouds on Venus to turn it into randomly generated numbers. These numbers, in turn, can be used to do almost anything: pick from a list of excuses for being late to work or school; select the notes for a cosmically-generated cell phone ring tone; pick a vacation spot or restaurant; even name a new pet.
05/16/07 11:30 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Business
No comments | Permalink |
Regolith excavating
Via a reader comes a
link to this post with a couple of videos showing one of the
Regolith Excavators in action. Looks very simple but that's probably the best approach.
05/16/07 08:02 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Prizes
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Briefs: Rocketplane on NPR; Spaceflight medical; Shuttle ride
An NPR report on Rocketplane:
Companies Drop Cash on Dream to Fly Into Space - NPR - May.16.07 (via
Ferris Valyn).
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The Mayo Clinic in Arizona, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston , and Wyle Laboratories of El Segundo, CA will work together on space medicine related to the commercial spaceflight industry:
*
Wyle Laboratories teaming on space medicine problem - Los Angeles Business - May.15.07
*
Mayo Clinic health tests offered for space tourists - azcentral.com - May.16.07 (The item at the end about "no buyers have purchased a ticket" for Virgin Galactic flights is wrong. About 200 people have either bought a ticket outright or paid a deposit.)
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One way that NASA supports space tourism:
Space center launches marketing campaign for new ride - Orlando Business Journal - May.14.07
Mulling budgets and payoffs...
I recently read in Space News that total ESA funding for science,
not including earth observation, is about $540M. There are separate national programs as well but I doubt they add up to more than this. So total European space science funding is probably in the $1B range.
That compares to about
$4B that NASA spends on sciences excluding earth observation. The total European GDP is similar to that of the US at around $13T (though per capita GDP is considerably less).
Europe also spends about $1B on high energy physics. The famous CERN laboratory alone gets around $800M (see
CERN - Large Hadron Collider - Particle Physics - A Giant Takes On Physics' Biggest Questions - New York Times - May.15.07).
This compares to about
$750M for high energy physics from the US Department of Energy, which also funds most of the US plasma fusion research (~
$400M). The NSF budget is around $6.5B. NSF funds much of the other non-medical related basic research in the US.
So space sciences in the US do pretty well compared to high energy physics and other basic sciences. As has been pointed out by people like Carl Sagan, this is largely a result of the historical 1960s anomaly of the Apollo manned program that led to a huge civilian space budget in which a large science budget looked comparatively reasonable.
05/16/07 07:06 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
9 comments | Permalink |
NASA microgravity flight procurement
It will be very interesting to see if
ZERO-G gets a contract for NASA micro-gravity flights. Mr. Geveden certainly says some good things about NASA needing to encourage development of commercial spaceflight related industries:
Microgravity Flight Procurement: Remarks by Rex Geveden - Launchspace.com - May.15.07.
05/16/07 04:52 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Parabolic Flights
No comments | Permalink |
Briefs: Orbital Express problems; Ares/Orion; Tether scooper
The Orbital Express dance partners are having a spat:
*
Paired satellites drift dangerously apart New Scientist - May.15.07
*
Is Orbital Express Having Problems Again? | NASA Watch
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Mark Wade finds problems with the Orion/Ares project:
Orion's Slippery Slope - Pausanias - May.15.07
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Jon Goff discusses a crazy but intriguing idea:
Random Thoughts: Atmospheric Scooper? - Selenian Boondocks
05/15/07 02:54 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
4 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: Space Review; Space (Daily) Show; Webb servicing
The latest
Space Review is posted. Several interesting articles as usual but none directly related to space transport.
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The
Space Show this week has
six(!) programs starting today at 2:00 pm (Pacific) with John Jurist. Several deal with space venture investment. Soon David will be broadcasting every day.
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Servicing deep space installations sounds interesting:
Orion Repair Visits to Webb? - NASA Watch - May.13.07
05/14/07 07:01 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
1 comment | Permalink |
Briefs: UP payload status; Homans interview; Latrell interview
They are closing in on the
Spaceloft XL payload location:
UP payload found, but inaccessible - Dick's Rocket Dungeon
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Rick Homans, head of the New Mexico Spaceport where the rocket was launched, was
interviewed on the Space Show last Friday.
--
Beyond-Earth Enterprises is pursuing a similar education / science / consumer small payload market for its suborbital rockets. The company hasn't reached space yet but they have had customers for their high-altitude flights. Joe Latrell, chief of Beyond-Earth, was
interviewed on the Space Show back in January.
---
Note: When they start flying their powered-landing vehicle for the same market,
Masten Space will hold an obvious advantage over the sounding rocket type of vehicles flown by UP Aerospace and Beyond Earth.
Long Pixel hover...
John Carmack reports on the aRocket forum that they flew Pixel today for 192 second hover followed by a 90+ second flight. These were with "a full gold box arrangement and over a 25kg payload". The current engine has had over 10 minutes flight time in 5 flights and "is still good as new". He says they will post a video tomorrow. Discovery Channel Canada was also there filming.
05/13/07 06:19 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Transport Companies
1 comment | Permalink |
Briefs: Mojave and space tourism; SpaceX update soon
Mojave will host the first SpaceShipTwo tourist rides:
Book now for out-of-this-world thrill ride - Antelope Valley Press - May.12.07
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SpaceX getting final clearance from DARPA to post Falcon 1 launch review info:
Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - Updates
05/12/07 09:18 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NewSpace
No comments | Permalink |
Briefs:Kliper/Lunar dreams; Ares development; Bacteria in space
The KGB guys now running Russia, and trying to regain the swagger the country had during the Soviet days, may want to use some of that oil and gas money flooding their treasury for big space spectaculars just like the good old daysd:
Russia's Energiya Requests State Approval for 2015 Human Trek to the Moon Using Soyuz/Kliper - Spaceports.
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Couple of Ares hardware development items:
*
Raytheon to Pursue Avionics Contract for NASA Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle - Raytheon - May.11.07
*
NASA fires Ares V rocket engine injector successfully - Flightglobal.com- May.10.07
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Biospheres contain many types of life:
Preventing Sick Spaceships - Science@NASA - May.11.07
05/12/07 09:05 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
2 comments | Permalink |
ISDC update; Finance Symposium
Heading back to Rockville in the morning. Will post a couple of items tonight.
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The official agenda for the
(May 25-28, Dallas, Texas) is now on line:
* ISDC 2007: Programming
*
ISDC 2007: Speakers
On Thursday May 24th there will also be a special all day meeting on space finance issues:
*
Finance Symposium
* Agenda
05/12/07 08:55 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Events
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Link dump...
Made a scan of the space-o-sphere before bed and found some links of interest:
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The
Regolith Excavation Challenge event is happening in California this weekend:
Regolith Rumble: Stage Set for Moon Dirt Digging Contest - Space.com - May.11.07.
Check
Space Prizes for updates on the event.
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Some pictures of ground tests at Masten Space:
Eye Candy - Masten Space Systems blog - May.11.07
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Update on the
MAST tether experiment:
Experimental space tether fails to deploy - New Scientist - May.11.07
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Via Charles Lurio comes links to:
*
From The Ground Up - April_2007 - Near Earth LLC (pdf) - this newsletter includes a brief review of the recent Space Investment Summit held in April in New York.
*
Flight School - Schedule gives the agenda for Esther Dyson's next meeting about new aviation and space ventures
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There is a revised
Direct Launcher scheme and here are some comments:
*
DIRECT v2.0 - Selenian Boondocks
*
Return-to-Flight - Chair Force Engineer
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More NASA stuff:
*
Orion evolution - new version shows large-scale changes - NASA SpaceFlight.com - May.11.07
*
NASA Mulls Alternate Stage Separation Scheme - Aviation Week - May.10.07
05/11/07 10:38 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
3 comments | Permalink |
Short break...
Heading to Knoxville for a long weekend. So few or no postings till Sunday night. See ya.
05/10/07 02:49 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
No comments | Permalink |
Elon Musk at AIAA Houston dinner meeting
Got this announcement from the AIAA Houston section about a dinner talk to be given by Elon Musk this month in which he will discuss the recent Falcon 1 launch. If you live in the Houston area you might be interested in attending. You don't have to be a AIAA member. See also page 12 in the
Horizons Newsletter - AIAA Houston - Spring 2007 for more info.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Houston Section
Dinner Meeting
May 23, 2007
Topic: "March 2007 Test launch and a Vision for Commercial Space.”
Speaker: Elon Musk, CEO of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (SpaceX)
Date: Wednesday, May 23, 2007.
05/10/07 04:22 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Events
2 comments | Permalink |
New Carnival of Space
Henry Cate has posted the
Carnival of Space - Week 2. Lots of interesting links.
05/09/07 11:03 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
| Permalink |
Space insurance conference
Jesse Londin discusses this
summary of the The 14th International Space Insurance Conference held in March in Milan:
The I Word - Space Law Probe
05/09/07 10:58 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Law and Regs
| Permalink |
Rocket Racing League news
This news release came out today:
Rocket Racing League Names Pilot Sponsored By Velocity Aircraft And Thunderhawk Racing
New York, NY – May 8, 2007
As another major step towards the augural race schedule beginning in 2008, the
Rocket Racing League™ (RRL) has assembled its first of two League-owned and operated race teams. The first team, “Thunderhawk Racing” will fly the colors of the RRL, and will be piloted by Nick Mowery, a seasoned pilot from Scottsdale Arizona.
As stated by Granger Whitelaw, President and CEO of the Rocket Racing League, “Our emphasis at this time is readying the Mark-1 X-Racers™ for our first year race schedule, yet we continue to take advantage of great opportunities. Previously we announced the naming of our first team vehicle, “Thunderhawk”, and now the naming of the Team’s pilot Nick Mowery. Nick is a very talented pilot and represents one of those great opportunities you don’t want to pass up.”
05/09/07 10:37 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Rocket Racing
4 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: An alternative plan; SS2 celebs;
Someone at NASA tells "fellow rocket scientists and space enthusiasts, the time has come let go of last century's space dreams and start working toward a more contemporary future" :
Plan B for Outer Space - SpaceRef - May.7.07
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Profiles of some of the people who have signed up to fly on SpaceShipTwo:
Who's paying $200,000 for a few minutes in space? - USATODAY.com
05/08/07 12:48 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NewSpace
9 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: Orbital Express update; MAST udpate; Solar wind rider
ASTRO and NextSat are continuing their orbital interactions:
Orbital Express duo split apart, rejoin autonomously - Spaceflight Now
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There is a new update on Gadget and Ted on the
MAST Blog.
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Riding the solar wind:
Riding the Solar Wind on a 30-Mile Sail - Wired - May.8.07
05/08/07 12:35 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Technology
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Briefs: K-1 users guide; High alt Armadillo; Rocket racing wrangle
I mentioned the new Falcon 1 payload users guide
the other day. I see that Rocketplane Kistler has also updated their guide for the K-1 with the latest revision given as March 30, 2007:
K-1 Vehicle Payload User's Guide
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John Carmack outlines plans for high altitude flights at
The Space Fellowship :: Official Armadillo Q&A thread
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Auto racing teams are often in conflict with race organizers. I hope this news about rocket racing isn't any more significant than that:
Rocket Racing Team Withdraws from League - Space.com - May.7.07
05/08/07 12:25 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NewSpace
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RP Engineering tests 4500 lb-thrust engine
Here's a press release that just came in the email:
RP Tests Prototype Small Launch Vehicle Upper Stage Engine
3.7 second test firing of RP Engineering’s liquid oxygen/kerosene rocket engine. Thrust 4,430 lb. The engine is under development as the prototype upper stage engine for RP’s C-50 400 lb payload small launch vehicle. Clearly visible is the core propellant flow surrounded by a superficial cone of fuel-film coolant. Coolant flowrate was intentionally set high for this developmental test.
Rocket Propulsion Engineering Corporation (RP) (
www.rocketprop.com) conducted the third successful hot-fire test of its 4500 lb-thrust fuel-film cooled developmental liquid oxygen/kerosene rocket engine. Tests were conducted at RP’s Mojave, CA, Spaceport Rocket Test Facility on April 3. The test firing was designed to determine engine performance after procedural improvements were made following the second test, and to continue to gather data on the thermal properties of the engine.
“It exceeded our expectations for the third test of a new engine,” RP President and spokesman, James Grote said. “The engine was very stable. Thrust was within 100 lb of nominal and Isp was higher and the engine met our thermal goals. In particular, we are now confident we can predict and better adjust coolant flowrate. We did not expect to achieve all of these results for another three or four tests. They will let us move up the schedule for the flight-weight engine tests.”
The test was run with coolant flowrate intentionally set high to protect the engine. Long duration tests of a flight-weight version of the engine will be conducted later in the summer. These tests were supported in part under a $1M contract from DARPA and the Air Force.
05/07/07 07:26 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Transport Companies
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Briefs: New Space Review; Space polls; 3-D fabs in space
The latest issue of the
Space Review is now available. Usual assortment of interesting articles, though no space transport related ones.
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Jeff Foust points out the wide dispersion of results in polls on space issues depending on the wording of the questions:
Mixed messages - Space Politics.
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A hobbyhorse of mine is promotion of the idea that practical space settlement will require extensive use of 3-D fabrication, also called 3-D printing and rapid prototyping, for making spare parts as well as personal items (or at least components of such things). NASA doesn't seem in any rush to test it on the ISS but maybe it will be something for residents of Bigelow habitats to use. The price of the technology is coming down rapidly:
Beam It Down From the Web, Scotty - New York Times.
Perhaps one of the modules on one of the three multi-modular stations in place by 2015 could become a dedicated manufacturing and machine shop to support the community. Note that there are also 3-D fabrication systems for making molds to cast metallic pieces.
05/07/07 05:16 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
11 comments | Permalink |
Armadillo Update
Check out the latest news from John Carmack on progress at Armadillo:
Space Access, Improvements, Module Work - Armadillo Aerospace - May.6.07.
Note also that you can now shop at their
CafePress store.
05/06/07 10:41 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Transport Companies
3 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: Irene Klotz weblog; Russian video archive; Sea Launch update
Journalist Irene Klotz, who has often written about NewSpace topics, is working with the
Science Channel and has a weblog on their site called the
Space Exploration Blog. (As I mentioned the other day,
Space Week is currently happening on the Science Channel.)
---
Ivan Safronov tells me of his
Space Video Archive, which includes videos both for free and for pay. See, for example, these
launch videos and these
documentaries.
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Latest on Sea Launch's recovery from the
launch disaster back in January:
Sea Launch's Odyssey heading to Vancouver - failure update - NASA SpaceFlight.com
05/06/07 08:21 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
No comments | Permalink |
Falcon 9 info too...
I see that the Falcon 9 page also has an updated
Price and Performance section. See the
Falcon 9 Heavy page as well.
The F9 will place 9,900kg in LEO for $35M, or about $3500/kg. The F9 heavy will place 27,500 kg in LEO for $90M, or about $3300/kg.
The "
Falcon 9/Falcon 9 Heavy Data Sheet includes more detailed performance charts and information on environments".
05/06/07 07:12 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Transport Companies
2 comments | Permalink |
SpaceX Falcon 1 pricing info + Payload Users Guide
I just noticed that the Falcon 1 page has updated the
Price and Performance section.
A standard Falcon 1 mission is $7M.
A mission on an upgraded Falcon 1, Falcon 1e, is $8.5M.
There are also "[m]odest discounts [...] available for contractually committed, multi-launch purchases." The Falcon 1e version will be available in 2009 and will provide "enhanced performance capabilities and payload capacities due to weight saving and propulsion improvements".
Also,
The Falcon 1 Payload User's Guide, rev. 6, April 2007 (pdf) is now available. Only scanned through it but it looks packed with lots of interesting info for the general reader who doesn't have a payload ready to launch.
05/06/07 06:56 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Transport Companies
2 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: OK spaceport license [Update]; Andrews Space info
I think these reports misinterpret what is going on with respect to the Oklahoma Spaceport licensing:
*
A gateway to space in Oklahoma - KSWO, Lawton, OK - May 5.07 (via
spacetoday.net).
*
Oklahoma Spaceport Now An Official Launch Site - KOTV.com - May.5.07
The
Oklahoma Spaceport at Burns Flat actually got its license last summer:
*
Regulators OK Oklahoma spaceport: Suborbital test flights could begin in 2007, setting stage for tourists - MSNBC- June.13.06
*
Oklahoma Spaceport Gets AST Nod To Operate a Luanch site - Space News - June.29.06
*
Active Launch Site Operator Licenses at AST/FAA.
What I think happened on Friday was the official "licensing celebration" with Patti Grace Smith, head of AST/FAA, attending. See the headlines on this
OSIDA News page.
[Update May.6.07: The
article pointed to in the comment by Robin indicates that my interpretation of what happened on Friday was correct.]
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Andrews Space opens an office in Huntsville:
*
Andrews Space Launches Satellite Office In Huntsville - Andrews Space - May.2.07
*
Aerospace company launches local office - AL.com
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Here are various
brochures and marketing materials that Andrews gave out at the recent Space Symposium in Colorado.
05/05/07 11:13 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NewSpace
1 comment | Permalink |
Briefs: Moon remains; Looking for Spaceloft; Weightless fun
A reader points to this photo archive at PopSci listing every project that put something on the lunar surface:
Junkyard on the Moon - Popular Science - May.07
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The latest from Leonard David about the search for the UP Aerospace payload:
LiveScience.com Blogs »Blog Archive » Lowdown on UP Aerospace Payload Recovery - Update
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A reporter rides on NASA's parabolic aircraft and had a great time:
Personal report: Weightlessness is unnatural - and fun - Houston Chronicle - May.4.07. Includes a video.
In the old days, one-third of fliers got sick, one-third violently sick, and one-third got lucky during this tumultuous transition.
Now NASA has a motion-sickness medicine regimen that cuts the sickness way back. The agency frowns upon the plane's more familiar name, the Vomit Comet.
I didn't get sick then, or at any time during the next 30 parabolas. And I had a blast tagging along with Rice University's student engineers, doing everything from "flying" through the air to curling into a ball and being spun, end over end, half a dozen times. Yes, it's as cool as it sounds.
I'm ready to go again.
05/05/07 08:39 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
No comments | Permalink |
NASA promotes LOX/Methane propulsion
Here is NASA feature article about the
XCOR/ATK methane engine development program:
Methane Blast - NASA - May.4.07. Includes a
movie of a test firing with beautiful Mach diamonds.
05/05/07 08:25 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Propulsion
1 comment | Permalink |
More glove contest info; Many potential Challenges
More about the astronaut glove Challenge:
*
NASA's Space Glove Wars: Maine Man Has Winning Design - courant.com - May.4.07
*
New spacesuit glove beats NASA's, hands down - New Scientist Space - May.4.07
Rand Simberg proposed an improved astronaut glove as a Challenge when the program was first getting organized:
I Love It When A Plan Comes Together - Transterrestrial Musings.
Over the years Ken Davidian (and also Brant Sponberg before he left NASA) invited submissions of ideas for possible Challenges and even led sessions at various conferences where people in the audience could make suggestions. (I attended one of those sessions and it was impressive how enthusiastic people became and how many good ideas were offered.) They now have a big database of potential competitions. Unfortunately, unless the CC program gets some additional funding, they will not be able to expand the number of Challenges beyond the current set.
05/05/07 08:01 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Prizes
No comments | Permalink |
Briefs: ISDC 2007; ISDC 2008; NewSpace 2007
Ken Murphy gives a sneak preview of the agenda for the
National Space Society's 2007 International Space Development Conference happening on May 25-28 in Dallas, Texas:
ISDC Tracks - Selenian Boondocks - May.3.07
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The 2008 ISDC meeting will be held during May 29 - June 1, 2008 at the Capital Hilton, Washington, DC.
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Also, don't forget the Space Frontier Foundation's
NewSpace 2007 conference that will take place July 18-21 at the Doubletree Hotel in Crystal City, Virginia. The first day (Wednesday, July 18th, 2007) will be dedicated to the
Overview Effect.
05/04/07 04:30 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Events
1 comment | Permalink |
Regolith Excavation Challenge - May 12th
Maybe Ken will soon get to use his check writing pen again. The
Regolith Excavation Challenge will hold its first competition event on May 12th at Santa Maria Fairpark Convention Center, 937 S. Thornberg, Santa Maria, CA. It is free and open to the public.
NASA - NASA's Centennial Challenge to Excavate Moon Dirt Set for May 12
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More about the space glove contest:
Homemade Space Glove Wins NASA Contest - SPACE.com - May.4.07
05/04/07 03:55 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Prizes
2 comments | Permalink |
Space ads, NASA , and competing with small companies
John Powell of
JP Aerospace suggests that NASA stays out of the space advertising business. (Note, this issue relates to ads visible from and near the space platform, not from the ground.) Here is a statement released by JPA:
NASA to Compete with Small Businesses
A bill to be introduced by California Congressman Ken Calvert will have NASA enter the advertising business. Congressman Calvert recently announced that he wants to make “NASA space assets available for commercial advertising and marketing opportunities.” Currently, NASA is not allowed to provide advertising space.
This announcement has triggered alarm bells with several small space companies. By offering such taxpayer-supported services, they will be unfairly undercutting the competition.
Advertising using the Earth as a background is a growing business. The small California company JP Aerospace, along with a handful of other companies, is in the business of selling high altitude ads. The new NASA initiative threatens to stomp out these small companies.
“What would Chevrolet and Ford say if NASA started selling cars?” says John Powell, President of JP Aerospace.
05/03/07 12:13 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Business
2 comments | Permalink |
Briefs: Closure in space; Finding SpaceLoft; Falcon 9 factory
Elaine Walker provides a personal perspective on the UP Aerospace launch:
UP Aerospace Launch: A Giant Candle for Closure - SPACE.com - May.3.07
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The recovery teams know the general locations of the booster and payload sections, but haven't been able to reach them yet:
Weather, terrain hamper rocket recovery efforts - Las Cruces Sun-News - May.3.07 (via
spacetoday.net).
---
A picture of a Falcon 9 in construction :
Greetings from SpaceX
05/03/07 11:54 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
No comments | Permalink |
Tethers, NIAC, and missing R&D at NASA
Here is another update on the
MAST tether experiment:
'Space Tether' Put to Test - Discovery Channel - May.3.07
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A good deal of
Tether Unlimited's funding came via the
NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC), which unfortunately has been canceled by the agency. Ted Semon reports on some efforts to reverse this decision:
NIAC not dead yet? - The Space Elevator Blog - May.2.07.
At
Space Access ' 07, Jeff Greason of
XCOR pointed out that NASA is now essentially out of the space R&D business. This would be a surprise to may Americans and even to most Congress persons but it is true. Projects like the
LOX/Methane engine that XCOR is working on survive only if they are very close to the critical path for the Orion/Ares 1 and lunar transport development programs. These are incredibly expensive and to fund them NASA has cut back on anything not directly supporting them. If you have a great idea, for example, on how to provide
radiation shielding in space, you had better have a deep pocket of your own. The small NIAC program was one of the last sources of funding at NASA for outside researchers who want to investigate ideas that could have big payoffs for space development in the long term.
05/03/07 11:45 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Technology
2 comments | Permalink |
Audio and video space...
A reader points to a program on
BBC Radio 4 today at 20:30-21:00 BST about commercial space:
Over the Moon
Journeys into space are catching the attention of a new generation of private entrepreneurs. They have big ambitions but they insist that commercial space travel can be economically viable. Peter Day investigates.
It will be repeated on Sunday at 21:30-22:00 BST. And it should be available later via
BBC Radio podcasts.
---
Speaking of space media, I recently posted an
item on Space-for-All about
Space Week starting this Sunday on
The Science Channel.
---
Another reader notes that the 1991 made-for-TV movie
Plymouth is now available at YouTube in a series of clips. It was an unsold pilot for a series about a Moonbase. Here is
Part 1.
05/03/07 11:00 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
1 comment | Permalink |
Briefs: RL-10 tests; AvWeek Blog; Orion/Stick issues
Aviation Week reports on efforts by PWR to teach the
RL-10 new tricks:
Testing Under Way On RL-10 - Aviation Week - May.2.07
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Speaking of Aviation Week, I see that they now have
On Space, a space blog with occasional entries from different staff writers and outside contributers. Craig Covault this week offers some thoughts concerning Stephen Hawking and his ZERO-G flight last week:
Big Bang Diplomacy
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Mr. X ponders challenges posed for NASA by Orion and The Stick:
Scotty Doesn't Know - Chair Force Engineer - May.2.07
05/02/07 11:24 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
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Briefs: Second Life rockets; NewSpace update; Rocket meet
Alan Boyle gives an update on rocket development in the
Second Life on line universe:
Be a virtual rocket scientist - Cosmic Log - May.1.07
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Check out the latest issue of
NewSpace News from the
Space Frontier Foundation.
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Two amateur rocket groups held a joint launch event last Saturday in Mojave:
MDARS and the RRS get together for a joint launch - Space for All
05/02/07 06:27 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category General
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Rocketeers excerpt...
Michael Belfiore has posted an
excerpt from Rocketeers, his new book about NewSpace developers, which will be available in August. More about the book can be found on his revamped
website.
05/01/07 11:39 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category NewSpace
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MAST update...
The
MAST tether experiment controllers have good contact with the Gadget spacecraft but no contact at all with Ted, which was to unroll the tether. However, they think that the tether has probably partially deployed anyway but they are still trying to confirm that. See the latest update on the
MAST blog.
05/01/07 11:34 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Technology
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GWU report on Space Planes and Space Tourism
The site
www.spaceSpace.org offers this impressive 228 page report:
Space Planes and Space Tourism: The Industry and the Regulation of its Safety - A Research Study by Dr. Joseph N. Pelton Director, Space & Advanced Communications Research Institute. George Washington University. (I'm impressed that he references my site several times!) I came across it via an op-ed by Dr. Pelton in this week's Space News in which he discusses various safety and regulatory issues facing commercial spaceflight.
I've just scanned the report so far but it looks like a very extensive survey of not just safety topics but of entrepreneurial spaceflight projects in general.
05/01/07 02:06 PM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Space Law and Regs
2 comments | Permalink |
X PRIZE Cup and Symposium in 2007
Jeff Foust discusses the
announcement that the
X PRIZE Cup in 2007 will be in partnership with an air show at Holloman Air Force Base:
Space show or air show? - Personal Spaceflight - May.1.07
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Here's info about the
Third International Symposium for Personal Spaceflight (ISPS 2007) that will precede the Cup event.
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Driving to the XP Cup you may see this
billboard.
05/01/07 09:13 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Events
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Briefs: Virgin Galactic update; VG bets; Old and weightless
Alan Boyle gives a brief update on Virgin Galactic and what Hawking's ZERO-G flight means with respect to the possibility that he will take a SpaceShipTwo ride:
'Good news' at Virgin Galactic - Cosmic Log - Apr.30.07
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Jeff Foust reports that you can place a bet on when the SS2 will take its first paying passenger to space:
Betting on Virgin Galactic - Personal Spaceflight - May.1.07
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Advanced age also doesn't seem to be a barrier to parabolic rides:
Italy's SPACELAND Teams Up With Zero Gravity Corporation to Fly Oldest Man Ever on Weightless Research Flight: SPACELAND Breaks Its Own World Record With 93-Year-Old Microgravity Test Subject for ICT and Biomedical Technology - SPACELAND/Marketwire - Apr.30.07.
Spaceland is a non-governmental research organization based in Italy that focuses on microgravity, especially with regard to the life sciences.
Armadillo's grant
Rob Coppinger provides some info about the AF award to
Armadillo Aerospace of $100k for LOX/ethanol engine development:
Armadillo awarded research contract - Flight International - May.1.07
05/01/07 08:27 AM |
Posted by TopSpacer | Category Transport Companies
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