There were three newsworthy developments regarding reusable engines this week. First, SpaceX announced something close to firm pricing regarding what flights aboard a Falcon 9-R might cost in the near future. For the record, the reduction, enabled by 9 reusable Merlin 1-d engines that power the vehicle’s first stage, is 30% off the already low […]
President Obama at the Kennedy Space Center / April 15th 2010. Image Credit : NASA The following is Part I in a multi-part series looking back at changes in American space policy put forward by President fiove years ago. Wednesday, April 15th was perhaps not the best of days for many Americans. While for those […]
April 15th, 2015 will mark the fifth anniversary of one of the most significant, and controversial policy changes in the history of the U.S. space program, the decision to cancel Project Constellation and NASA’s planned return to the Moon. Now, according to a story by veteran reporter Eric Berger in the Houston Chronicle, with less […]
On Wednesday, March 25, NASA announced that it had reached a decision regarding which option the agency is to pursue as part of its Asteroid Redirect Mission, or ARM. In what came as no great surprise to those who have been following the space agency’s painful struggle to come up with an achievable mission plausibly […]
Visions of Future Past / Image Credit NASA Following a one day delay due to weather and balky liquid hydrogen fill/drain valves, a ULA Delta Heavy launch vehicle bearing the first space capable Orion capsule lifted off from Cape Canaveral’s SLC-37. Launch, which took place right on time 7:05 AM ET, was flawless, although viewers […]
Image Credit : SpaceX On Monday, Innerspace reported on a story in Space News about an excerpt from a letter sent by U.S. Representatives Lamar Smith (Tx) and Steven Palazzo, (Ms) to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden regarding the possible use of Orion as a backup to Commercial Crew. Significantly, the letter also questioned whether or […]
Note: New results from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter indicates just how asinine the notion was that the Moon is no longer a worthy destination for human exploration simply because “we’ve been there before.” But then again, India’s Chandrayaan 1 orbiter had already confirmed that point by discovering the presence of water molecules on the Moon […]
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