Tag: SLS

The Cubesat Revolution Heads for Deeper Space

The Cubesat Revolution Heads for Deeper Space

NASA held a press conference at the Marshall Space Flight Center today to announce the selection of a seven cubesats which will catch a ride to deep space on the maiden flight of the Space Launch system in 2018. Altogether the space agency plans on filling 13 slots out of a total possible number of […]

Posted in: CubeSats
Catching a Dream: NASA’s CRS-2 Awards

Catching a Dream: NASA’s CRS-2 Awards

Perhaps it is time to change the plucky little spacecraft’s name. In a press conference held Thursday afternoon at NASA’s Johnson Space Center to announce the CRS-2 contract awards, Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser space plane finally caught up with its ambitions, becoming for a day at least, Dream Catcher. In fact, the second Commercial Resupply […]

On Board the Omnibus: NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is Finally, Fully, Funded

On Board the Omnibus: NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is Finally, Fully, Funded

For the first time in its often turbulent history, NASA’s Commercial Crew Program is set to receive the full level of funding. $1.243 billion,  requested by the Obama Administration. The news comes as one small part of an Omnibus Spending Bill passed by House and Senate appropriators early this morning. While the agreement, as well […]

NASA Considering Year Long “Lunar Shakedown Cruise” As Advisory Council Questions Mars Plans

NASA Considering Year Long “Lunar Shakedown Cruise” As Advisory Council Questions Mars Plans

There is a distinct difference between the rosy image of the future NASA is drawing daily with its “Journey to Mars” campaign and the  hard realities it must address when facing audiences somewhat more skeptical than the twitterverse. One of those is the NASA Advisory Council, an outside committee of experts which traces its origins […]

Posted in: NASA, SLS / Orion
Russia’s Lunar Ambitions Following an American Path Not Taken

Russia’s Lunar Ambitions Following an American Path Not Taken

Is Russia following a path the American space program could have taken? A story in the Russian news agency TASS outlines a lunar exploration program which seems to draw on many of the lessons recently learned, but not applied by NASA for its own “Journey to Mars.” The program, which has yet to be funded, […]

Posted in: Moon, Russian Space
Blue Origin, SpaceX and Embracing the RLV Revolution

Blue Origin, SpaceX and Embracing the RLV Revolution

Opinion “On the Plains of Hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions, who, at the Dawn of Victory, sat down to wait, and waiting–died.”  -George W. Cecil On November 23rd, Blue Origin joined SpaceX as the second American company to demonstrate vertical landing capability for a human scaled launch vehicle.  Flying out of its West Texas […]

Posted in: Blue Origin
NASA’s Boeing Bounce Lifts Dream Chaser, Sets the Stage for ISS Budget Battles

NASA’s Boeing Bounce Lifts Dream Chaser, Sets the Stage for ISS Budget Battles

After media speculation that an announcement could have been forthcoming on Thursday, NASA’s oft delayed Commercial Resupply Services-2 (CRS-2) contract has been pushed back once again. The new deadline, according to the story in Space News, is now no later than January 30th, 2016, and comes because the space agency needed “to allow additional time […]

NASA Outlines Plan For Its “Journey to Mars”

NASA Outlines Plan For Its “Journey to Mars”

NASA Press Release: Oct. 8, 2015 15-206 NASA Releases Plan Outlining Next Steps in the Journey to Mars NASA is leading our nation and the world on a journey to Mars, and Thursday the agency released a detailed outline of that plan in its report, “NASA’s Journey to Mars: Pioneering Next Steps in Space Exploration.” […]

Posted in: Mars, NASA
Orion First Crewed Mission Slips to 2023

Orion First Crewed Mission Slips to 2023

NASA held a media teleconference on Wednesday to announce the results of a critical review of the space agency’s Orion spacecraft, which had been tentatively scheduled for a first crewed launch in August of 2021. Based on the findings from the review, labelled Key Decision Point C, that launch is now not expected to take […]

Posted in: Congress, SLS / Orion
The Buzz Aldrin Space Institute at FIT: Aiming For Mars

The Buzz Aldrin Space Institute at FIT: Aiming For Mars

Since leaving the moon in 1969, Buzz Aldrin has never been far from space advocacy, lending his name to a number of projects,  and showing up at conferences long after other legendary astronauts have retired to a quieter life.  That simply wasn’t in the cards for the second man on the Moon, in part because […]

Posted in: Mars, SLS / Orion
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