The history of human exploration, particularly in the age of sail, can be defined by one curious tendency. Often the strongest motivation for launching a new expedition, was to find out just what happened to the last expedition. And the one before that. Somehow, the appeal just never fades. Likewise, even the casual science fiction fan can attest […]
Although the official introduction of a proposed mission to capture an asteroid and bring it to the Earth Moon L-2 point captured most of the media attention surrounding the unveiling of NASA’s FY 2014 budget request yesterday, arguably the most important item on the agenda remains the future of the Commercial Crew program. In a press conference held after the budget was […]
The administration belatedly released its FY 2014 budget request, and while gales of laughter can be heard coming from the U.S. House of Representatives, the ultimate disposition regarding NASA will likely not be so amusing once both houses of Congress get done with their now annual ritual of hacking apart the request for Commercial Crew. Marcia Smith’s excellent […]
The GAO has released its annual Defense Acquisitions Assessment of Selected Weapons Programs report(PDF), and as usual, it portrays a defense establishment which seems to confirm President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s worst predictions. Among the gems where defense space programs are concerned, here are the winners, with the growth in current estimated total acquisition cost versus the original program estimates. […]
Orbital Sciences Press Release: (Dulles, VA 6 April 2013) Early this morning, Orbital Sciences Corporation (NYSE: ORB) rolled out the first fully integrated Antares rocket from its assembly building at NASAs Wallops Flight Facility (WFF) in eastern Virginia in preparation for its inaugural flight that is scheduled for April 17 at approximately 5:00 p.m. (EDT). […]
Inspiration Mars made a presentation to the Future In Space Working Group on Wednesday, and wasted little time in dispelling reports that NASA is applying heavy pressure to select the Space Launch System as the launch vehicle. The presentation, complete with audio, can be found here, and it is certainly worth a listen. What emerges is a refreshing […]
NASA yesterday hosted a teleconference to discuss the first published results to come from the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, an audacious and expensive research instrument located on the outside of the International Space Station. The goal of AMS, which was brought up on Endeavor’s final flight, is to use powerful magnetic fields to funnel incoming solar particles for analysis […]
While SpaceX has been getting the lion’s share of RLV publicity lately with an increasingly ambitious set of tests for the Grasshopper test vehicle, (and a posthumous nod from Johnny Cash) it is by no means the only company pushing the envelope of closed loop control. Working with NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center and Draper Labs, Masten Space System’s Xombie technology […]
Keith Cowing reported on March 28th, that the Inspiration Mars Foundation is being heavily pressured by elements at JSC and MSFC to base its plans for a 2018 circumnavigation of Mars on a single launch of the agency’s yet to be flown Space Launch System. Although Cowing did not reveal the source of his information, given NASAWatch’s role in bringing other […]
One of the challenges standing between SpaceX and the debut of the Falcon 9 V1.1 is completing testing of the enormous payload fairing which will protect commercial spacecraft on rides to orbit aboard the new booster. The 5.2 meter diameter fairing with a 13.9 meter usable length which will be among the largest in the world, is built by SpaceX and is […]
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