SpaceX launch date in doubt
William Harwood – CBS News
The long-awaited launch of a commercial cargo ship bound for the International Space Station almost certainly will be delayed from May 7 to at least May 10 and possibly longer, sources said late Tuesday, to give company engineers additional time to complete pre-flight tests and checkout. SpaceX founder and chief designer Elon Musk discussed the results of an engine test firing Monday and the overall status of launch processing with senior NASA managers in a Tuesday afternoon teleconference that included Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's director of space operations, and Mike Suffredini, the NASA space station program manager at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Multiple NASA sources said the current May 7 target had been ruled out, although there was confusion in some quarters as to whether there might be a slim chance of keeping on schedule if additional analyses could be completed in time.
SpaceX Dragon capsule launch to station puts NASA strategy on display
Marc Kaufman & Brian Vastag – Washington Post
In a refurbished Air Force hangar at Cape Canaveral, engineers from NASA and commercial space company SpaceX on Tuesday pored over data from a launchpad test of a gleaming white rocket poised to be the next step in U.S. space strategy. The review may be the final hurdle before a much-delayed and highly anticipated launch — the first attempt to send a privately designed and built unmanned spacecraft to the international space station. What SpaceX and NASA hope to do is part of a plan begun under President George W. Bush and enhanced by President Obama to turn travel to and from the space station into a largely private and less costly venture, freeing up NASA to plan for deep-space journeys to asteroids, the moon and ultimately Mars.
Orbiter Autopsies
What NASA will learn from dissecting Atlantis, Discovery, and Endeavour
Greg Freiherr - Air & Space magazine
Technicians had worn them for decades as they prepared the space shuttles for their move from Kennedy Space Center’s three Orbiter Processing Facilities to the towering Vehicle Assembly Building, and eventually the launch pad. “Bunnysuits,” those white coveralls with floppy hoods and rubber-banded booties, were designed to keep dirt and debris from contaminating the orbiter interiors. But on this summer day in one Orbiter Processing Facility, technicians working inside Discovery’s crew module wore street clothes. No need to worry about contamination: Discovery would not be returning to space. After flying 148 million miles and orbiting Earth 5,830 times, Discovery, first flown in August 1984, was being decommissioned and readied for its trip to the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia, where it arrived in mid-April. The three main engines had been removed from the shuttle’s aft end, which was now covered by a tightly fitted mask with three white discs the size of the engine bells. Clear plastic stretched across the crater in the orbiter’s nose, where the forward reaction control system—small thrusters that maneuvered the spacecraft in orbit—had been removed. And this harvesting of the orbiter’s components was only the beginning.
NASA Administrator Discusses Future of Space Flight
WHNT TV (Huntsville)
We talked with NASA Administrator Charles Bolden about the first commercial cargo mission to the International Space Station, which is scheduled for Monday, May 7. Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, will launch its Falcon Rocket from the pad at Cape Canaveral, Florida. A successful mission would mean less dependence on the Russians to supply the station. It would also mean NASA’s move to use more commercial ventures is working. “This is American industry that’s going to give us the capability of taking cargo to the International Space Station,” said Bolden. “We’ve been reliant on our partners, the Russians, the Europeans, and the Japanese for the last couple of years, but we’re going to go back to American capability. It’s very, very important. (NO FURTHER TEXT)
NASA Officials Excited For SpaceX Launch
Launch Scheduled For Next Monday
WESH TV (Orlando)
NASA officials said they are anxiously awaiting the historic launch of a new spacecraft next week. NASA administrator Charles Bolden said SpaceX tested the engines of the Falcon 9 rocket Monday in preparation to carry the Dragon spacecraft into orbit next week. "They will launch from Cape Canaveral, rendezvous with and fly some maneuvers around the International Space Station, then back off for awhile as we evaluate data," he said.
SpaceX's 1st Private Capsule Launch to Space Station: How It Will Work
Clara Moskowitz - Space.com
On May 7, if all goes well, the private spaceflight company SpaceX will launch the first commercial spaceship ever to visit the International Space Station. But the mission will be like no other U.S. flight to the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule is due to deliver food, supplies and science experiments to the outpost as a test mission for NASA. The space agency awarded the company a $1.6 billion contract for eight robotic resupply flights to fill the delivery needs left over by the space shuttle fleet's retirement last year.
Orion spacecraft lands at Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton
Craft used to test future flights
Robert Brauchle - Hampton Roads Daily Press
A vehicle used to test a NASA launch abort system arrived Tuesday morning at the Virginia Air & Space Center, where it will be used this summer as an exhibit focusing on the future of space exploration. "We are thrilled to be able to display the full-scale test version of NASA's Orion spacecraft this summer," Brian DeProfio, interim director of the Virginia Air & Space Center, said in a release. "We are excited to share the NASA story with our members and visitors and showcase the latest in NASA technology." The 18,000-pound test craft was built at the NASA Langley Research Center.
France sees integration of ESA into EU
Amy Svitak - Aviation Week
With French presidential elections underway, France's recently unveiled new space strategy is calling for a gradual integration of the European Space Agency (ESA) into the European Union as well as changes to ESA rules that could work to France's benefit. As the largest contributor to ESA, with €770 million in 2012, France reinforced its leadership in space with €540 million in public bond money devoted to studies of launch vehicles and satellite projects in recent years. But it is seeking a more federal approach through the EU to give European space the political legitimacy it has lacked in the global arena. France's 20-page strategy document says folding ESA into the EU is something that “will only occur in stages” and that in the near term, the EU must be allowed to delegate to ESA “the oversight of EU space programs and the definition of ad hoc rules for the management of those programs.” Notably absent from the strategy document is mention of the International Space Station and Europe's continued support for it, namely a discussion of what type of platform France would like to build as an in-kind contribution to ISS prime contractor NASA. One possibility is a robotic vehicle that could operate in low Earth orbit, performing tasks such as removing dead satellites from orbit.
Chilton, Chang Diaz, Precourt headed to Astronaut Hall of Fame
Orlando Sentinel's The Write Stuff
Three more astronaut veterans — Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, Dr. Franklin Chang Diaz and Air Force Col. Charlie Precourt — will be joining the Astronaut Hall of Fame Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center.
Reusable Space Plane Idea Intrigues Europeans
Rob Coppinger - Space.com contributor
A unique space plane concept has the potential to evolve into a vital space science laboratory for European Space Agency microgravity research at the edge of space, SPACE.com has learned. The new Vinci space plane is detailed in an ESA report obtained exclusively by SPACE.com. The report, titled "A Cryogenic Sub-orbital Spacecraft," says the plane would be a piloted vehicle with the appearance of a business jet and would be propelled by the Vinci rocket engine currently being developed for the upper stage of the European Ariane 5 rocket. The spacecraft would be reusable, unlike the rockets currently used by the ESA for suborbital experiments. It would also be designed to carry eight people — six passengers and a two-person crew — into suborbital space and back.
As NASA faces cash-crunch Britons boldly head for the stars
Sue Nelson - London Daily Telegraph
After watching the Moon landings as a child, my future was clear: I was going to be an astronaut. Since Britain didn't have a Space Agency, I wrote to NASA. They not only replied, they sent technical plans for a new spaceplane - the Space Shuttle. But despite my getting the required science degree, there was one small problem: I wasn't American. The Space Shuttle has now retired, I reported on astronauts instead of becoming one, and NASA is facing big budget cuts. But something rather unexpected has happened. Decades after throwing its rocketry prowess on the scrapheap, allowing the French to produce Ariane launchers and dominate European space activities, the UK not only has its own space agency, but it is a thriving one.
Rick Scott Vetoes Shift of Visitor-Tax Dollars from KSC to FIT
Jim Turner - Sunshine State News
A wide-ranging bill that included shifting tax dollars generated by visitors to Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to Florida Institute of Technology was vetoed by Gov. Rick Scott on Friday. Scott wrote that while he supported the majority of the bill, House Bill 7099, he disagreed with the Legislature's decision to send $5 million a year in sales tax revenue from the space center visitors to the Melbourne-based FIT.
Spaceship Co., Virgin Galactic Seek Top Talent
Bianca Cervantes - KTSM TV (El Paso, Las Cruces, Juarez)
Officials with Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company today announced both companies are seeking to fill a combined 18 key positions with qualified engineers, systems designers and more. Virgin Galactic is currently accepting applications for the following six positions: operations engineer, seat mechanism designer, design engineer, IT manager, regulatory compliance manager and embedded systems software developer. In addition, the company’s space systems development division seeks a mechanical designer, mechanical lead, guidance/navigation/control (GNC) lead and chief engineer. The majority of these positions are based in Pasadena and Mojave, Calif. A few others are located in Las Cruces, N.M., at Spaceport America, Virgin Galactic’s future headquarters.
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