Archive for September, 2014

Update: Weather Permitting, SpaceX is (Still) Ready to Launch Dragon to ISS

Update: Weather Permitting, SpaceX is (Still) Ready to Launch Dragon to ISS

Update: If you happened to watch even a moment of the USF-UConn game Friday night, it was clear that an awful lot of rain was falling on Central Florida.  And in this case it stretched from the Gulf to the Atlantic coasts, including of of course, Cape Canaveral. When it became evident that a weather […]

Maintaining the International Space Station Through 2024 : NASA OIG Report

Maintaining the International Space Station Through 2024 : NASA OIG Report

NASA’s Office of Inspector General released a report yesterday outlining several issues facing NASA as it seeks to extent the operating life of the International Space Station from current threshold of 2020, until at least 2024. The good news is that there are no outstanding technical issues which seriously threaten the ability to keep the […]

Posted in: ISS, NASA
Blue Origin, ULA Announce New Engine Project

Blue Origin, ULA Announce New Engine Project

The Times They Are A Changin Blue Origin and United Launch Alliance held a news conference at the National Press Club today entitled “Igniting the Future.” The purpose was announce the joint development of a new main engine to replace the Russian built RD-180 which powers the Atlas V booster. Called the BE-4, the new […]

More Good News for SpaceX and a Billion Dollar “Subsidy” for ULA

More Good News for SpaceX and a Billion Dollar “Subsidy” for ULA

Image Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s really good Tuesday, which saw the company win a potential $2.6 billion dollar share of NASA’s Commercial Crew program was also highlighted by an advance in another of the company’s long sought goals. Amid all the publicity surrounding the NASA award,  Space News reported that the Air Force believes the company […]

Elon Musk Statement on Winning Commercial Crew and a Look Behind the Numbers

Elon Musk Statement on Winning Commercial Crew and a Look Behind the Numbers

Image Credit: SpaceX Based on questions asked at the NASA press conference announcing Boeing and SpaceX as winners of the Commercial Crew competition today, as well as those posed during an audio conference with the media which followed it, there is widespread confusion concerning the dollar differential between the two awards First though, a statement […]

Two for Tuesday: NASA Names SpaceX and Boeing as Commercial Crew Winners

Two for Tuesday: NASA Names SpaceX and Boeing as Commercial Crew Winners

It’s official. Making what it called a “A historic announcement about the future of America’s space program” SpaceX and Boeing were named as the two winners in NASA’s Commercial Crew competition at a press conference held at the Kennedy Space Center. The total amount of the award over the initial contract period is $6.8 billion. […]

Deep Impact: NASA OIG Report Demolishes Asteroid Detection Program

Deep Impact: NASA OIG Report Demolishes Asteroid Detection Program

Rarely, if ever, has a NASA OIG report been this direct: “We found that NASA has organized its NEO Program under a single Program Executive who manages a loosely structured conglomerate of research activities that are not well integrated and lack an overarching framework with Program oversight, objectives, and established milestones to track progress.” “NASA […]

Posted in: Asteroids, NASA
NASA “Major Announcement Today” on Commercial Crew: Update

NASA “Major Announcement Today” on Commercial Crew: Update

Update: NBC new is reporting via veteran space journalist Jay Barbree that Boeing and SpaceX will be named the two winners of NASA’s Commercial Crew Program later today, with a larger share going to Boeing. Given that Boeing received a larger share than SpaceX, $460 million v. $440 million in the current round, and clearly has […]

SpaceX Left Out of Commercial Crew? Don’t Bet on It

SpaceX Left Out of Commercial Crew? Don’t Bet on It

The Wall Street Journal set off a firestorm Monday evening with an article by Andy Pasztor suggesting that Boeing is about to be named the walk off winner in NASA’s next phase of the Commercial Crew Competition, CCtCap, with an award made in conjunction with Blue Origin. Anything could happen. As long time observers will […]

Commercial Crew Announcement Tuesday? Blue Origin Turns to the Dark Side?

Commercial Crew Announcement Tuesday? Blue Origin Turns to the Dark Side?

Make of this what you will. Two late breaking stories suggest major changes may be afoot. First: The Wall Street Journal’s Andy Pasztor reports that Blue Origin is scheduled to participate in an event at the National Press Club on Wednesday, where a major engine initiative involving Blue Origin, Boeing and Lockheed Martin will be […]

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