SpaceX test fires Falcon 9 engines in prelude to May 7 station flight
William Harwood - CBS News
Working by remote control, Space Exploration Technologies engineers briefly test fired the nine first stage engines powering the company's Falcon 9 rocket Monday, a key milestone before launch May 7 on the first commercial cargo flight to the International Space Station. The two-second test firing at launch complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station produced a jet of flame and a billowing cloud of exhaust as all nine SpaceX-designed Merlin engines were commanded to fire at 4:15 p.m. EDT (GMT-4). The engines generate up to 125,000 pounds of thrust each, or 1.1 million pounds of push working in concert.
Falcon 9 engine test delights SpaceX
Rocket set to send Dragon capsule on test run to ISS Monday
James Dean - Florida Today
With a brief burst of flame Monday, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket engines appeared to show they were ready for a much longer burn next Monday that could boost a Dragon capsule toward the International Space Station. “Woohoo, rocket hold down firing completed, and all looks good!!” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a Twitter message shortly after the 4:15 p.m. test firing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The two-second, full-power firing of nine first-stage Merlin engines occurred on a second attempt that won’t be available next week. The rocket must launch during a split-second window at 9:38 a.m., or wait at least several days for another try.
Falcon 9 engine hotfire test completed at Cape Canaveral
Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com
Nine kerosene-fueled engines mounted on the bottom of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket fired at full power for two seconds Monday, completing a key test on a Cape Canaveral launch pad before departing to the International Space Station as soon as May 7. The engines ignited at 4:15 p.m. EDT (2015 GMT), firing for about three-and-a-half seconds and reaching full thrust for about two seconds. Called a static fire, or hotfire, the test verifies the engines, rocket and ground systems are ready for launch.
SpaceX Conducts Falcon 9 Hot-Fire Test
Dan Leone - Space News
It took two tries, but Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) successfully test-fired all nine engines comprising the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket April 30 in preparation for a scheduled May 7 demonstration flight in which the vehicle will launch the company’s Dragon cargo capsule toward the international space station. “Engineers will now review data as we continue preparations for the upcoming launch,” SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Grantham said in a statement emailed to the press after the test was completed.
SpaceX Test Fires Private Rocket Bound for Space Station
Space.com
The private spaceflight company SpaceX successfully test fired the rocket that will launch the first-ever commercial space capsule to the International Space Station today (April 30), after a slight delay that was caused by an apparent computer glitch. SpaceX officials conducted the so-called "static fire test" of the firm's Falcon 9 rocket today on a second try at 4:15 p.m. EDT (2015 GMT) at Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Falcon 9 rocket is poised on the launch pad, ready to blast off toward the space station on May 7. SpaceX aired the engine test live via the company's website.
SpaceX test fires rocket ahead of ISS cargo launch
Agence France Presse
SpaceX on Monday successfully test-fired its Falcon 9 rocket in a dress rehearsal for the May 7 launch of its Dragon spacecraft on a cargo-bearing mission to the International Space Station. The test, known as a static fire of the rocket's nine main engines, lasted just two seconds, but allowed engineers to "run through all countdown processes as though it were launch day," SpaceX said on its website. The test-fire took place at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, after a brief delay due to a problem with one of the flight computers, which had set an improper limit for the rocket firing. The glitch was fixed within about an hour and the countdown resumed.
Norm Augustine, Former Chief Executive, Lockheed Martin
Warren Ferster - Space News
Given the discord, uncertainty and angst surrounding the U.S. human spaceflight program, one might think Norm Augustine feels some regret about having chaired a 2009 study that influenced the White House decision to abandon NASA’s Moon-bound Constellation program. The former Lockheed Martin chief executive, who in retirement is frequently tapped to help government policymakers resolve vexing questions, feels no regret, sticking to the report’s argument that Constellation was financially unsustainable. He also holds fast to the belief that the commercial space sector is ready to take on the task of transporting astronauts to and from low Earth orbit. But Augustine is nonetheless plenty worried about the future of the U.S. human spaceflight program, primarily because it is so expensive at a time when the U.S. government is under unprecedented pressure to reduce spending. Augustine, who in 1990 chaired another influential study on the future of the broader U.S. space program, spoke with Space News Editor Warren Ferster…
Orbital Sciences development costs increase
Zach Rosenberg - FlightInternational.com
Documents filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reveal that Orbital Sciences' development costs for the Antares rocket are estimated at $472 million. "Under the COTS agreement, as amended, as of March 31, 2012, NASA has agreed to pay us $288 million in cash milestone payments, partially funding our program costs which are currently estimated to be approximately $472 million," reads the 10-Q. "We expect to complete this program in the second half of 2012." The estimated cost is higher than the fourth quarter, 2011 filing, which stated that the estimated development costs totaled $458 million.
Space industry salutes JSC Director Mike Coats
Mary Alys Cherry - Houston Community Newspapers
Both the old and the new came together Friday night to honor Johnson Space Center Director Michael Coats on the space community’s grandest night of the year – the 26th annual RNASA Gala. The former astronaut and space shuttle commander was presented the Rotary National Award for Space Achievement for his many contributions to the industry by two long-time space luminaries – former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin and former Kennedy Space Center Director Bill Parsons.
Second round testing under way on rocket engine
Associated Press
NASA has kicked off the next round of testing on the J-2X rocket engine at the Stennis Space Center in Hancock County. A total of 16 tests are scheduled and are expected to conclude by the end of this year. The first test was this past week. The J-2X is being developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. It is the first liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket engine rated to carry humans into space to be developed in 40 years.
Orbitec completes tests for space vehicle developer
Kathleen Gallagher - Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
Orbital Technologies Corp. and a partner said they have successfully completed two important tests for environmental control and life support systems for the Dream Chaser space vehicle. The Dream Chaser, being developed by Sierra Nevada Corp., would be a vertical takeoff, horizontal landing spacecraft that could take from two to seven people to destinations like the International Space Station. Orbitec and Hamilton Sundstrand completed the tests in an environmental chamber at Orbitec's facilities in Madison. Orbitec said it is Sierra Nevada's prime contractor for the Dream Chaser's environmental control and life support systems.
Scientists discover enzyme that ages spacemen and could help slow ageing process on Earth
Leon Watson - London Daily Mail
Scientists have discovered a protein that could slow part of the aging process in astronauts and the elderly. A study by the University of Teramo in Italy found that the enzyme 5-lipoxygenase plays a key role in cell death in space. Inhibiting it, they believe, will prevent or lessen the severity of immune problems in astronauts caused by spaceflight. And, since space conditions initiate health problems similar to the aging process on Earth, this discovery may also lead to therapeutics that extend lives by bolstering the immune systems of the elderly, it is claimed.
Scientists find anti-aging enzyme in astronauts
Audrey Quinn - SmartPlanet.com
Spaceflight is tough on the human immune system. Astronauts often suffer from a decrease number of lymphocytes, which are immunity-promoting white blood cells. Scientists have theorized that this happens because of apoptosis, programmed cell death. Italian scientists report in the FASEB Journal that they have found the enzyme responsible for this outerspace apoptosis and that inhibiting this enzyme could reduce astronaut immunity problems.
LeMieux’s space stance, Space Bonds, Utah SLS meeting
SpacePolitics.com
In a conversation a few days ago with Florida Today, Florida Republican Senate candidate George LeMieux offered support for a mix of government and commercial space efforts. In Texas, another Republican congressional candidate has his own idea for supporting NASA. Chuck Meyer, a former business executive running in the new 36th district in southeastern Texas, is proposing special-purpose savings bonds, or “Space Bonds”, to fund NASA’s human spaceflight program. NASA administrator Charles Bolden met earlier this week with the Republican members of Utah’s congressional delegation and assured them that the Space Launch System (SLS) and its Utah-manufactured solid rocket motors were on track for a 2017 test flight. (The state’s sole Democrat in Congress, Rep. Jim Matheson, was unable to attend the meeting, according to the Salt Lake Tribune).
Astronaut joins effort to profit from harvesting raw materials in space
Brian Vastag - Washington Post
Planetary scientist and Northern Virginia resident Tom Jones is an astronaut who flew on the space shuttle four times. With a long-standing interest in asteroids, Jones recently signed on as scientific adviser for a new company, Planetary Resources, which has a big, science-fiction-esque goal: profiting from raw materials in space. The company is bankrolled by space business veterans and bigwigs from Silicon Valley and Hollywood, including Google guys Larry Page and Eric Schmidt and filmmaker James Cameron. Jones spoke in a recent interview about this new venture and the future of life in space.
NASA Simply Stopped Being a Priority
Howard Steven Friedman - Huffington Post (Commentary)
(Friedman is a Statistician/Economist for International Organization, Columbia University)
When you try to determine what is important to someone, it is useful to pay attention to how that person spends their time and their money. Someone who talks endlessly about how passionately they feel about getting involved in a certain cause, but never puts any time or money into it is just talking. Someone who dedicates a considerable amount of their time or money to a certain cause is investing in what they believe is important, whether or not they advertise that to the world or not. Governments are similar. The priorities of a government can be seen in its budgets, not in politician's visionary speeches. As the space shuttle Enterprise moved to New York for its retirement party, many people talked about the demise of the American space program. While there are some free enterprise endeavors set to take very wealthy people out to space, these efforts are miniscule compared to the project that brought humans to the moon.
Mr. Austin "Les" Gaver
Frederick News Post (MD)
Mr. Austin “Les” Gaver, 86, of Mt. Airy, Maryland, died peacefully in his sleep at the Frederick Memorial Hospital early Friday morning, April 27, 2012, after a brief struggle with pneumonia. He was the husband of the late Edna Mae Mercer Gaver. Mr. Gaver was born in Frederick on June 29, 1925. In 1960, Austin landed a job at NASA’s fledgling Audio/Visual department. As the space agency grew, he found himself with increasing responsibility as head of the department. Austin fought to get cameras on the Apollo 11 lunar module, and was the first person to view and edit mission film for public release. He loved his job at NASA and his co-workers in the agency, often saying that he couldn’t come up with a more enjoyable job if he tried.
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