24 September 2012
NASA Selects Space Launch System Advanced Development Proposals
NASA has selected 26 proposals from academia and industry for advanced development activities for the nation's next heavy lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). Proposals selected under this NASA Research Announcement (NRA) seek innovative and affordable solutions to evolve the launch vehicle from its initial configuration to its full lift capacity capable of sending humans farther into deep space than ever before.
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21 September 2012
California welcomes shuttle Endeavour back to birth state
Completing the final leg of the final space shuttle ferryflight, the decommissioned Endeavour toured iconic landmarks around California before her 747 carrier jet made a tire-smoking touchdown at the Los Angeles International Airport on Friday.
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21 September 2012
Lawmakers Propose Restructuring NASA Management
A coalition of Republican lawmakers on Sept. 20 introduced legislation that would revamp NASA’s leadership structure, creating an 11-member board empowered to recommend candidates for NASA administrator, who would serve a 10-year term. "We have filed this bill today to make NASA less political and more professional by modeling their internal leadership after the FBI and the National Science Foundation,” Culberson said in prepared remarks.
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21 September 2012
ESA Chief Urges Immediate Investment in Next-gen Ariane Rocket
Do we have to decide on a new-generation launcher now?” Dordain asked, referring to the biggest debate about European space policy in 20 years. “I say yes. I strongly believe we have to decide, as quickly as possible, to develop a new-generation launcher to be competitive in the market as it is forecast, and with the competitors.”
Dordain made his comments Sept. 11 at a press briefing in Berlin during Germany’s ILA air show.
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21 September 2012
SpaceX, NASA Target Oct. 7 Launch For Resupply Mission To Space Station
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21 September 2012
Now it's official: Astronomical Unit endorsed by world body
The world's top astronomical body has endorsed the definition of the "Astronomical Unit" (AU), a measurement used to calculate the distance between stars and planets. The AU -- based on the distance between Earth and the Sun -- has long been in use by astronomers, and the decision by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) simply removes a tiny three-metre (10-feet) margin of error.
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19 September 2012
Charlie Bolden Doesn't Want Anyone to Criticize NASA
"NASA Administrator Charles Bolden dismissed rumors that the future of U.S. space exploration is in jeopardy and rejected speculation that his agency has no plans for future human spaceflight. "Those who perpetuate that myth only hurt the space program," Bolden told businessmen, academics and journalists Tuesday afternoon at the National Press Club. "Such talk undermines our nation's goals at a very critical time," he said. "The truth is we have an ambitious series of deep space destinations we plan to explore and we are hard at work exploring the hardware and the technologies to get us there."
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19 September 2012
Indian Think Tank: Space Conduct Code Seen by Some as Western Ploy
The proposed International Code of Conduct for Outer Space Activities is viewed by many nations as cover for a Western attempt to corral developing countries’ space ambitions, an Indian think tank has concluded.
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19 September 2012
Failure Review Oversight Board Establishes Proton Return to Flight Schedule
The FROB agreed with the Russian State Commission that the root cause of the failure was due to a component of the pressurization system that was not manufactured to specifications.
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18 September 2012
Protection for Moon, Mars astronauts eyed
German scientists working with the European Space Agency have tested how well stone slabs can protect against radiation, a release from the GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research said Monday.
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17 September 2012
Woman takes command of ISS after crew return
A woman took command of the International Space Station for only the second time Monday as three of her US and Russian colleagues made a safe return from the orbiting space lab to the Kazakh steppe.
The US Naval Academy-trained pilot Sunita Williams will celebrate her 47th birthday in space on Wednesday, having accomplished an honour first bestowed on fellow NASA space pioneer Peggy Whitson in 2007.
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17 September 2012
Sequestration and Frustration at NASA
Thanks to sequestration, automatic federal spending cuts will to take effect January 2nd unless Congress acts to stall or change the law. This means NASA would sustain a budget cut of roughly $1.5 billion out of its $17.8 billion budget. This data was extracted from a 392-page, September 14, OMB report, and represents a cut of 8.4%.
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17 September 2012
Squyres Warns Congress of Threats to Mars Program
Prof. Steve Squyres '78 Ph.D. '81, astronomy, told a Senate committee on Wednesday that U.S. space exploration programs risk significant delays and setbacks because they are severely underfunded. Despite the importance of the issue, only two senators attended the hearing.
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17 September 2012
NASA Offers Opportunity to Use Communications Testbed on Space Station
NASA is announcing opportunities for academia, industry and government agencies to develop and carry out research and technology demonstrations on the International Space Station using the newly installed Space Communications and Navigation (SCAN) testbed.
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14 September 2012
Remains of astronaut legend Neil Armstrong buried at sea
The cremated remains of legendary American astronaut Neil Armstrong were scattered at sea Friday, in a ceremony aboard a US aircraft carrier paying final tribute to the first man to set foot on the moon, NASA said.
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14 September 2012
Russia's space industry needs quality control - Medvedev
"Quality control is needed at all stages of development, production and exploitation of space equipment", he told the conference that focused on raising the reliability and quality of space manufacturing. Medvedev finds it necessary to set up centres for testing, certifying and checking flight assignments.
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14 September 2012
Japanese resupply ship ends mission with fiery re-entry
The HTV resupply freighter fell back into Earth's atmosphere at about 0527 GMT (1:27 a.m. EDT). The spacecraft was expected to break apart and burn up from the heat of re-entry, and any leftover debris fell into a predetermined zone in the southern Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and Chile.
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13 September 2012
In Her Final Space Hearing, Sen. Hutchison Suggests Splitting Up NASA
In her last scheduled space hearing with the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Sept. 13, retiring U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) asked whether NASA might be better off paring back its diverse portfolio of programs and focusing exclusively on human exploration and science missions.
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11 September 2012
Russia's Deputy PM says country must shoot for Moon base
Russia should set itself the "super goal" of building a large base on the Moon it could use to achieve "leaps" in science and to give a new sense of purpose to its troubled space programme, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Tuesday.
Calling the task "big, prestigious and political", Rogozin said the country's space industry - which has suffered a string of costly and embarrassing failures - urgently needed a tangible stimulus to force it to focus.
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10 September 2012
ScienceMedvedev Pledges $21 Bln for Space Industry
Russia will spend 670 billion rubles ($21 billion) to develop its space industry in the coming years, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.
"This is big money, you must not let a significant part of it be blown away," Medvedev told a government meeting in his Moscow region residence. He did not give the exact timeframe for the expenditure.
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For Further Reading
17 September 2012
Keeping focused on commercial crew
Even as NASA’s commercial crew effort enters its latest phase, attention, both positive and negative, remains focused on the program. Jeff Foust reports on the latest developments with both the companies that won the latest commercial crew awards and the company that didn’t, as well as continuing Congressional concerns about the program.
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17 September 2012
India aborts a human Moon mission
A few years ago India announced some very ambitious human spaceflight plans, including a goal of human lunar mission. Ajey Lele examines what happened to those plans and whether it’s worth it for India to pursue them again.
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17 September 2012
Review: About Time
A simple, yet mind bending, question in cosmology is to ask what took place before the Big Bang. Jeff Foust reviews a book that examines the concept of time, both in a cosmological context as well as how humanity’s perception and measurement of time has altered over the millennia.
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10 September 2012
CubeSats get big
While interest in smallsats has been growing in general, perhaps the fastest-growing part of that sector has been very small CubeSats. Jeff Foust reports on the reasons these satellites are attracting interest, from increasing technical capabilities to improved access to space.
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10 September 2012
Perspectives on NASA’s strategic direction
As an independent group examines options for NASA’s long-term future, what does industry think? Frank Slazer offers the views of one industry organization on NASA’s goals as well as its fiscal threats.
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10 September 2012
Iran saves Earth, details at 11
Iran’s space program could benefit from some good publicity, but they appear to be taking an odd approach to getting it. Dwayne Day describes a unusual children’s book created by the country’s space agency.
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10 September 2012
Making Mars a nicer place
While Mars is not a particularly hospitable world today, some have advocated terraforming the planet to allows humans to more easily live there. Eric Choi examines how the concept of terraforming Mars has evolved in science fiction over the years.
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10 September 2012
Review: The Laws of Spaceflight
Space law is becoming increasingly important as more countries and more companies get involved in spaceflight, seeking to establish new markets and applications. Jeff Foust reviews a practical guidebook for lawyers, or those who deal with legal issues, on the various applications of space law, from launch licenses to export control.
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