https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=LtI1V624vWM SpaceX has released this video of a fairing separation test being conducted at NASA’s Plum Brook Station, part of the Glenn Research Center. In designing the composite fairing, SpaceX kept with its overall philosophy of both in-house production as well as a preference for pneumatic separation systems which can be tested before flight. Market leader Arianespace […]
At 5:38 PM Wednesday evening, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket launched the latest Global Positioning Satellite into orbit, augmenting the space based system which has become almost inextricably entwined in daily life. Following check out in orbit, the GPS IIF-4 will become the 31st operational spacecraft currently in the system. With most GPS satellites significantly exceeding their […]
If you think about it, the common expression “you can’t make this stuff up” is more often than not a wholly inaccurate and long-winded way of saying “wow.” The universe of things we can’t make up is presumably pretty confined, but then again, not really knowable is it? Human beings in fact regularly “make up” all sorts of things, much of which […]
Aviation Week is reporting that SpaceX and the U.S. Air Force are “days away” from finalizing details for a certification plan which would allow the company to compete for national security launches aboard its Falcon 9 V1.1 and Falcon Heavy launch vehicles. Having already won two launch orders under the Air Force’s separate Orbital/Suborbital-3 (OPS-3) program, which […]
Following a path taken in 1977 by the Space Shuttle Enterprise which saw the orbiter’s first ever free fly flight over NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, Ca. Sierra Nevada Corporation is preparing to embark on a series of tests of its own Dream Chaser space plane as a part of […]
Canadian astronaut and Commander of Expedition 35 Chris Hadfield, is preparing to return to Earth this evening, along with fellow travelers American Tom Marshburn and Russian cosmonaut Roman Romanenko. Undocking is scheduled at 7:08 p.m. EDT, with de-orbit burn occurring at 9:37 and landing in Kazakhstan at 10:31 p.m. (8:31 a.m. local) This “expedition” may be one for the record books. Chris Hadfield has […]
NASA Commercial Crew Program Update: Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC) Space Systems of Louisville, Colo., has completed its first major, comprehensive safety review of its Dream Chaser Space System. This is the company’s latest paid-for-performance milestone with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program (CCP), which is working with commercial space partners to develop capabilities to launch U.S. astronauts […]
Northrop Grumman News Release Photo Release — Northrop Grumman Completes Lunar Lander Study for Golden Spike Company Study Identifies a New Minimalist Ascent Pod Lunar Lander Concept REDONDO BEACH, Calif. — May 8, 2013 — Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) has completed a feasibility study for a new commercial lunar lander for the Golden Spike […]
The Humans2Mars Summit in Washington D.C. wrapped up today, and almost all of the proceedings recorded on Livestream, either already are, or will be, posted on the ExploreMars.Org website, and are certainly worth a look. A couple of points stand out. One: Dr. John Logdson noted a distinction in the current program of record which was introduced as NASA’s […]
Good news for both the state of New Mexico, and that of SpaceX’s Grasshopper RLV program. Apparently, if you build it, sometimes they really do come. Spaceport America Press Release Governor Susana Martinez today announced that Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or SpaceX, has signed a three-year agreement to lease land and facilities at Spaceport America to […]
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