Happy Friday everyone and have a great weekend.
Friday, June 22, 2012
JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1. June NMA Luncheon RSVP Deadline Today
2. Men's Health Awareness Month
3. How to Be Happy Without Being Perfect
4. Last Call for Year-Round Intern Requests (CEP)
________________________________________ QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ No matter what age you are, or what your circumstances might be, you are special, and you still have something unique to offer. Your life, because of who you are, has meaning. ”
-- Barbara De Angelis
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1. June NMA Luncheon RSVP Deadline Today
If you haven't already, save your seat at this month's JSC National Management Association (NMA) chapter luncheon presentation, "Lessons Learned from Transformation at UH-Clear Lake." Our guest speaker is Dr. William A. Staples, president, University of Houston-Clear Lake.
Date: June 28
Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Location: Gilruth Alamo Ballroom
Please RSVP by close of business today at: http://www.jscnma.com/Events (Click on June 28 event.)
For RSVP technical assistance and membership information, please contact Lorraine Guerra at lorraine.guerra-1@nasa.gov or 281-483-4262.
Cassandra Miranda x38618
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2. Men's Health Awareness Month
Men's health is not just a men's issue, but a family issue as well. Phrases such as "Take it like a man," "Suck it up" and "Don't be such a wimp" are still used for how men "should" deal with life. However, following this approach can be dangerous -- and even fatal. Learn how to change attitudes and behaviors to take charge of your health. Join Takis Bogdanos, MA, LPC, today at 1 p.m. in the Building 30 Auditorium for a presentation on developing a realistic perspective on men's health.
Takis Bogdanos x36130
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3. How to Be Happy Without Being Perfect
We are a community of high achievers who strive to attain "realistic" standards that generally add to well-being and satisfaction. What happens when our self-expectations become perfectionistic? How do you manage when fears of failure and disappointing others take over? Join Gay Yarbrough, LCSW of the JSC Employee Assistance Program, for a presentation on "How to Be Happy Without Being Perfect" on Tuesday, June 26, at 12 noon in the Building 30 Auditorium.
Employee Assistance Program x36130
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4. Last Call for Year-Round Intern Requests (CEP)
The deadline to request a full-year student intern for the next program year (September 2012 to July 2013) is this Friday, June 22. The Career Exploration Program (CEP) offers local high school, college and university students part-time, full-year internships across all the organizations at JSC. The difference between a traditional intern and a CEP intern is that they are placed with you for a full year. There is no need to train someone new every semester and, best of all, the interns are provided at no cost to your organization. If you are currently a CEP mentor or would like to be, please go to our website and enter in a project for the prospective intern to work on. https://www.cep.usra.edu/connect/
If you have any questions, please contact Carolyn Snyder at x34719.
Carolyn Snyder x34719 https://www.cep.usra.edu/connect/
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JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. To see an archive of previous JSC Today announcements, go to http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/news/jsctoday/archives.
NASA TV:
2:30 pm Central (3:30 EDT) - Video of Exp 32/33 crew news conf. at Star City & Red Square visit
Human Spaceflight News
Friday, June 22, 2012
HEADLINES AND LEADS
New Space Station Crew Confirmed
RIA Novosti
Space officials confirmed on Friday the line-up of a new mission to the International Space Station (ISS) ahead of their launch next month. Three Expedition 32 crew members - NASA astronaut Suni Williams, cosmonaut Yury Malenchenko and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide - are scheduled to launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-05M from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on July 15, said a spokesman for the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, outside Moscow.
Second phase of U.S./Canadian ISS robot refueling demo under way
Mark Carreau - Aviation Week
NASA and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) ground control teams combined efforts June 19-20 to begin the second phase of a robotic refueling demonstration outside the International Space Station, a pioneering effort to establish engineering strategies for extending the operating lives of aging satellites. The three-day second phase of the two-year, $22.6 million Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) employs the 58-ft.-long Canadarm2; Canada’s Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (Dextre), a two-armed, 11.5-ft.-long robotic handyman; and the Goddard Space Flight Center’s satellite simulator, an engineering demonstrator delivered and installed on the station’s long solar power truss by the crew of NASA’s final shuttle mission, STS-135, in July 2011.
ATV evolution studies look at exploration, debris removal
Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com
Astrium announced Thursday it is working on two studies to evaluate follow-on missions for technologies derived from Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle, the International Space Station's largest cargo resupply freighter, following its retirement in 2014. The European Space Agency is considering options to fulfill a debt of about $600 million owed to NASA for Europe's share of the space station's operating costs between 2017 and 2020.
SLS core stage moves from concept to design
Mike Kelley - Huntsville Times
A successful major technical review of the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS), the rocket that will take astronauts farther into space than ever before, represents a major step forward in the development of NASA's new launch vehicle. The core stage is the heart of the heavy-lift launch vehicle. It will stand more than 200 feet (61 meters) tall with a diameter of 27.5 feet (8.4 meters). NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., hosted a comprehensive review. Engineers from NASA and The Boeing Co. of Huntsville presented a full set of system requirements, design concepts and production approaches to technical reviewers and the independent review board.
Boeing and NASA hit major milestones for super-heavy launch vehicle ?
Zach Rosenberg - FlightInternational.com
Boeing and NASA have completed the system requirements review (SRR) and system definition review (SDR) for the cryogenic stages of Space Launch System (SLS), the super-heavy launch vehicle designed to launch crewed flights into deep space. Completing the reviews allows designers to finalise blueprints for the launch vehicle's components, after which fabrication will begin.
SpaceX Success Gives Commercial Spaceflight A Boost
Frank Morring, Jr. - Aviation Week
Rep. Steven Palazzo wants to set the record straight, after Presidential Science Adviser John Holdren declared that the Obama administration made possible the successful flight of the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station and back. “The Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program was proposed by the Bush administration in 2005 and authorized by Congress,” says Palazzo, the Mississippi Republican freshman who chairs the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee. “The COTS contract that funded the SpaceX mission was awarded in 2006. The Commercial Resupply Services contract won by SpaceX and Orbital was announced at the end of 2008. Let the record be clear.” Palazzo is right, of course. But now that SpaceX has demonstrated it can fly to the space station with pressurized and unpressurized cargo, and bring pressurized cargo back to Earth, there is plenty of credit to go around.
SpaceX Achievement Leads the Way to a Brighter Future
Ben Evans - AmericaSpace.org
Less than a year ago, the wheels of the Space Shuttle kissed the runway at the Kennedy Space Center for the final time, amid scenes of pride and distress as an icon of humanity’s adventure in space came to a bittersweet end. The hand wringing began almost immediately. What would the end of the Shuttle era mean for the United States’ crew-carrying aspirations? How could large payloads be reliably transported to and from the International Space Station? Moreover, NASA’s own future – including its nebulous goal of reaching an asteroid in the mid-2020s and Mars orbit a decade or so thereafter – seemed equally uncertain. That uncertainty diminished last month with the spectacular success of SpaceX’s first Dragon test mission to the space station and it now appears that a corner has been turned and a brighter future lies ahead.
Why NASA Grows Space Sunflowers
Joe Pappalardo - Popular Mechanics
An unexpected passenger aboard the International Space Station is sick and could die. "I am afraid that if something is not done we are going to lose Sunflower," U.S. astronaut and ISS resident Don Pettit wrote on his blog on May 5. "Our spacecraft is designed for animals so life can be a struggle for plants." The sunflower in question, which Pettit has been trying to grow in the ISS, is afflicted with a fungal blight that has spotted its leaves.
Space Tourism Conference: Orbital tourism goes lunar
David Todd - FlightGlobal.com
While Ascend (now part of Flightglobal) made the headlines two years ago by noting that in our analysis the Isle of Man was fifth favourite 'nation' to put man back on the Moon, they may yet become the main favourite. For the Isle of Man-based Excalibur Almaz again set forth their proposal for a lunar flyby expedition for two space tourists at the 3rd Space Tourism Conference at the Royal Aeronautical Society, London. Having noted that the Isle of Man has become a space powerhouse with 30 out of 54 satellite operators based there, Art Dula, Chairman of Excalibur Almaz, itemised their plan which involves the use of the Apollo-shaped Almaz capsule to carry tourist astronauts around the Moon. The Almaz RRV (Reusable Re-entry Vehicle) capsule is small with a habitable volume of only 4.5 cubic meters (compared to 14.5 cubic meters for NASA's Orion) but it does have a back hatch allowing it to dock rearwards with a spacious Salyut space station module (of 90 cubic metres) that will use Hall electric propulsion thrusters to slowly get itself back and forwards from the moon and the L2 Lagrangian point. Tickets for the flights are set at $150 million.
Space shuttle trainer boxed up for flight to Seattle
Jake Whittenberg - KING TV (Seattle)
For Geoff Nunn, Exhibit Developer at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, achieving his dream comes in small chunks. Every week, new boxes arrive from NASA carrying pieces of the space shuttle trainer, the replica space shuttle that will soon be the newest exhibit at the museum. Every box includes small pieces of the trainer that will need to be assembled like a giant erector set. That’s Nunn’s job.
Encasing Enterprise: Shuttle shelter inflated on Intrepid museum deck
Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com
Two weeks after landing on top of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, the space shuttle Enterprise is now under an inflatable canopy that will house its public display. Hoisted by crane onto the Intrepid's flight deck on June 6, Enterprise was covered by the opaque-white fabric shelter on Tuesday to protect it from exposure to the elements and to meet NASA's display requirements for a climate-controlled facility. The shelter was fully inflated Thursday morning, a spokesman for the Intrepid confirmed.
Downey will relocate wooden space shuttle
Arnold Adler - Los Angeles Wave
A space shuttle designed and built at the former NASA site here will soon blast off, but it won’t be going very far. The City Council June 12 approved plans to move the space shuttle mock-up from its current storage place on the Downey Movie Studio site, 12214 Lakewood Blvd., to a temporary structure to be erected on the studio parking lot across from the Columbia Memorial Space Center, 12400 Columbia Way. City Manager Gil Livas said the city hopes to find funding for a permanent structure for the wooden shuttle at the Space Center. Estimated cost is $2 million.
Virgin Galactic moves closer to launching flights to space
KVUE TV (Austin)
Virgin Galactic is urging passengers to book their place in space. The company is moving forward with plans to offer the first commercial flights from Spaceport America in in Southern New Mexico. A sleek office in Las Cruces is the new home of Virgin Galactic. The names for its meeting rooms may come from science fiction films but this office supports the company’s very real effort to offer commercial flights into space.
Mesa engineer determined to put space in reach
David Rookhuyzen - Arizona Republic
He's chronically short of funds, but Morris Jarvis is bent on building a ship that will make trips beyond Earth affordable to all. Jarvis, 48, a project manager at Intel, is the head of Space Transport and Recovery, or STAR, Systems, a commercial space-travel company based out of his east Mesa home. STAR Systems originally incorporated in 1993 and has five core employees, with a support group of 75 specialists and volunteers, affectionately called "the pit crew." The company has built the Hermes, a prototype shuttle 27 feet long with a 21-foot wingspan. It is a proof-of-concept model, made of lightweight airplane fiberglass built for wind-tunnel and landing tests.
Astronaut: ‘Scout stuff is real stuff'
Jesse Mendoza - Valley Morning Star (Harlingen)
In a large dining hall filled with about 250 of his fellow Scouts, Demitri Garlic, a 14-year-old Life Scout, raised his hand and asked, “How do you become an astronaut?” With a flash of his vibrant smile, astronaut Michael E. Fossum, originally from McAllen, fielded questions Thursday from Scouts at Camp Perry. “I’d say right now all of you guys are in astronaut training,” Fossum said. “You are learning new skills; you are learning how to put them to the test.”
New tours go behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center
Dewayne Bevil - Orlando Sentinel
All my life, space travel has been mentally filed under "futuristic," but I'm learning to think of it in a historical context too. New tours at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex give glimpses of NASA's past by allowing access to areas that have not been open to the public in decades. Last week, the Launch Control Center Tour, which brings guests into one of the famed firing rooms, was added to the lineup. The LCC was a hub of activity for engineers for all 152 launches in the Apollo and space shuttle programs.
New app lets you follow the Space Station on your smartphone
Lee Roop - Huntsville Times
NASA is putting life and work on the International Space Station as close as your smartphone and laptop. A new free app -- ISSLive! -- will give science fans with smartphones and tablets the ability to see what station astronauts are doing minute by minute in orbit. A new Space Station Live! webpage will provide the same information to computer users. To use the station website, click here. To learn more about ISSLive! and other NASA apps, click here. Apps are also available through Google Play and iTunes app stores.
NASA app, website puts space station live data at public's fingertips
Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com
Ever wonder what the crew on board the International Space Station is doing right now? Or what is the temperature of each of the orbiting outpost's modules? Or how much power is being generated at this very instant by the space station's solar array wings? If so, NASA has an app for that. The agency's Space Station Live! website and companion ISSLive! mobile application offers the public a new inside look at what is happening aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
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COMPLETE STORIES
New Space Station Crew Confirmed
RIA Novosti
Space officials confirmed on Friday the line-up of a new mission to the International Space Station (ISS) ahead of their launch next month.
Three Expedition 32 crew members - NASA astronaut Suni Williams, cosmonaut Yury Malenchenko and Japanese astronaut Aki Hoshide - are scheduled to launch aboard the Soyuz TMA-05M from the Baikonur Space Center in Kazakhstan on July 15, said a spokesman for the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, outside Moscow.
The trio has been passing tests at the facility.
They will join Expedition 31's NASA astronaut Joe Acaba and cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin on board the orbiting outpost.
Meanwhile, fellow Expedition 31 members cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko and NASA's Don Pettit and Andre Kuipers are preparing for their July 1 return to Earth.
A back-up ISS crew was also confirmed on Friday. It includes Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn and cosmonaut Roman Romanenko.
Second phase of U.S./Canadian ISS robot refueling demo under way
Mark Carreau - Aviation Week
NASA and Canadian Space Agency (CSA) ground control teams combined efforts June 19-20 to begin the second phase of a robotic refueling demonstration outside the International Space Station, a pioneering effort to establish engineering strategies for extending the operating lives of aging satellites.
The three-day second phase of the two-year, $22.6 million Robotic Refueling Mission (RRM) employs the 58-ft.-long Canadarm2; Canada’s Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator (Dextre), a two-armed, 11.5-ft.-long robotic handyman; and the Goddard Space Flight Center’s satellite simulator, an engineering demonstrator delivered and installed on the station’s long solar power truss by the crew of NASA’s final shuttle mission, STS-135, in July 2011.
The washing machine-sized demonstrator serves as a 3-D task board and tool storage device. The development effort features refueling techniques for satellites not initially designed to be refueled in orbit.
Working without the station’s six-member crew, ground control teams at St. Hubert, Quebec, and NASA’s Mission Control in Houston placed Dextre in the grasp of the larger robot arm for the first of three overnight sessions.
During the first session, Dextre pulled a multifunction tool from the Goddard demonstrator to remove and store a two-way T-valve. In similar fashion, Dextre will wield adapter tools to remove a gas cap from the demonstrator and simulate the penetration of the fuel tank seal installed prior to most satellite launches.
The first phase of the RRM demo was successfully carried out in March, with Canadarm2 and Dextre again responding to joint NASA and CSA commands for the checkout and activation of the Goddard demonstrators’s safety cap removal, wire cutter and multifunction tools. The three-day exercise simulated the release of launch locks on tool adapters and the severing of lock wires of the type used to close out fuel and coolant valve fittings on many satellites.
The final phase of the refueling mission demonstration is currently scheduled for later this year. Ground controllers will use the Canadarm2 and Dextre to demonstrate the manipulation of the thermal blankets that jacket satellites, electrical cap extraction and actual refueling. The satellite simulator is equipped with a nozzle tool, a half-gallon of ethanol fuel and a test fuel reservoir for the transfer task that will mark the third phase of the engineering test.
ATV evolution studies look at exploration, debris removal
Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com
Astrium announced Thursday it is working on two studies to evaluate follow-on missions for technologies derived from Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle, the International Space Station's largest cargo resupply freighter, following its retirement in 2014.
The European Space Agency is considering options to fulfill a debt of about $600 million owed to NASA for Europe's share of the space station's operating costs between 2017 and 2020.
Five resupply missions of the ATV will meet Europe's obligation for the station's operating costs through 2017. Three ATVs have already launched, with two more vehicles due to blast off to the space station in 2013 and 2014.
ESA is responsible for 8 percent of the International Space Station's total operating costs, and the space agency chooses to pay its share in a barter arrangement with NASA instead of exchanging cash.
Astrium's two separate studies, collectively valued at about $16 million, will run through the end of 2012.
"Astrium will use its experience in designing and manufacturing the ATV supply vehicle and the Columbus laboratory to work on evolutions of the existing technologies for future use on a variety of missions," the company said in a press release.
One evolution study will look at using the ATV's service module section to provide propulsion for NASA's Orion spacecraft, which is designed to carry astronauts to deep space destinations such as asteroids, the moon and Mars.
The combination of the ATV's service module, which is currently built by Astrium Space Transportation in Germany, with the Orion capsule would meet ESA's obligation to the space station program and give Europe a major role in future space exploration.
The other alternative to be evaluated by Astrium will define a concept to develop a versatile spacecraft to support space stations, remove old satellites and space debris from orbit, and provide resources to orbital free flyers and habitats.
ESA officials have said any evolution of the ATV will require significant upgrades and a redesign of the avionics system to ensure parts are commercially available.
ESA's next meeting of government ministers in November will choose which ATV evolution path to pursue.
European officials decided to discontinue ATV resupply missions to the International Space Station after briefly considering a returnable version of the craft to replace the current throwaway freighter, which can haul up to 15,000 pounds cargo to the complex but burns up during re-entry.
SLS core stage moves from concept to design
Mike Kelley - Huntsville Times
A successful major technical review of the core stage of the Space Launch System (SLS), the rocket that will take astronauts farther into space than ever before, represents a major step forward in the development of NASA's new launch vehicle.
The core stage is the heart of the heavy-lift launch vehicle. It will stand more than 200 feet (61 meters) tall with a diameter of 27.5 feet (8.4 meters).
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., hosted a comprehensive review. Engineers from NASA and The Boeing Co. of Huntsville presented a full set of system requirements, design concepts and production approaches to technical reviewers and the independent review board.
"This meeting validates our design requirements for the core stage of the nation's heavy-lift rocket and is the first major checkpoint for our team," said Tony Lavoie, manager of the SLS Stages Element at Marshall. "Getting to this point took a lot of hard work, and I'm proud of the collaboration between NASA and our partners at Boeing. Now that we have completed this review, we go from requirements to real blueprints. We are right on track to deliver the core stage for the SLS program."
The core stage will store liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen to feed the rocket's four RS-25 engines, all of which will be former space shuttle main engines for the first few flights. The SLS Program has an inventory of 16 RS-25 flight engines that successfully operated for the life of the Space Shuttle Program. Like the space shuttle, SLS also will be powered initially by two solid rocket boosters on the sides of the launch vehicle.
The SLS will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft and other payloads, and provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Designed to be safe, affordable and flexible for crew and cargo missions, the SLS will continue America's journey of discovery and exploration to destinations including nearby asteroids, Lagrange points, the moon and ultimately, Mars.
"This is a very exciting time for the country and NASA as important achievements are made on the most advanced hardware ever designed for human spaceflight," said William Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the Human Exploration Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "The SLS will power a new generation of exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit and the moon, pushing the frontiers of discovery forward. The innovations being made now, and the hardware being delivered and tested, are all testaments to the ability of the U.S. aerospace workforce to make the dream of deeper solar system exploration by humans a reality in our lifetimes."
The first test flight of NASA's Space Launch System, which will feature a configuration for a 77-ton (70-metric-ton) lift capacity, is scheduled for 2017. As SLS evolves, a two-stage launch vehicle configuration will provide a lift capability of 143 tons (130 metric tons) to enable missions beyond low Earth orbit and support deep space exploration.
Boeing is the prime contractor for the SLS core stage, including its avionics. The core stage will be built at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans using state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment. Marshall manages the SLS Program for the agency.
Across the SLS Program, swift progress is being made on several elements. The J-2X upper-stage rocket engine, developed by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne for the future two-stage SLS, is being tested at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The prime contractor for the five-segment solid rocket boosters, ATK of Brigham City, Utah, has begun processing its first SLS hardware components in preparation for an initial qualification test in 2013.
Boeing and NASA hit major milestones for super-heavy launch vehicle
Zach Rosenberg - FlightInternational.com
Boeing and NASA have completed the system requirements review (SRR) and system definition review (SDR) for the cryogenic stages of Space Launch System (SLS), the super-heavy launch vehicle designed to launch crewed flights into deep space.
Completing the reviews allows designers to finalise blueprints for the launch vehicle's components, after which fabrication will begin.
"SRR locks in requirements and serves as the basis for our estimates and performance metrics," says Chuck Hanes, Boeing SLS business manager. "The understanding we reach at SRR and SDR is a firm commitment to the rocket's requirements, design and resources."
The cryogenic stages include both upper and lower stage of the rocket, but do not include the externally-mounted boosters necessary to put the rocket in orbit with large payloads. Cryogenic fuels such as liquid hydrogen are often used on launch vehicles for their energy density, despite requiring extremely low temperatures.
The first SLS flight is scheduled for 2017, with a second scheduled in 2021.
SpaceX Success Gives Commercial Spaceflight A Boost
Frank Morring, Jr. - Aviation Week
Rep. Steven Palazzo wants to set the record straight, after Presidential Science Adviser John Holdren declared that the Obama administration made possible the successful flight of the SpaceX Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station and back. “The Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program was proposed by the Bush administration in 2005 and authorized by Congress,” says Palazzo, the Mississippi Republican freshman who chairs the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee. “The COTS contract that funded the SpaceX mission was awarded in 2006. The Commercial Resupply Services contract won by SpaceX and Orbital was announced at the end of 2008. Let the record be clear.”
Palazzo is right, of course. But now that SpaceX has demonstrated it can fly to the space station with pressurized and unpressurized cargo, and bring pressurized cargo back to Earth, there is plenty of credit to go around. Even Michael Griffin, who headed NASA during the Bush administration and conceived and funded the COTS federal seed money program that got Dragon off the ground, acknowledges that President Barack Obama upped the ante to $500 million a year from $500 million total funding.
More important is what the SpaceX flight means for commercial spaceflight in the future, both the cargo missions COTS funded for SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. (which plans to fly its first Antares/Cygnus stack this year), and possible human missions under NASA's commercial crew development (CCDev) effort.
There was an immediate, practical impact on Capitol Hill, where the Republican-led House has adopted language “directing” NASA to pick a single CCDev vehicle to save development money. The same day that the Dragon splashed down in the Pacific, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.), who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that handles NASA funding, agreed to soften the House position in conference committee negotiations with the Senate.
In a deal negotiated with Administrator Charles Bolden, Wolf agreed to let the U.S. space agency pick “2.5 program partners”—two proposals for a full share of federal seed money to develop commercial crew vehicles, plus another company that will receive a “partial award.” Wolf also accepted the Senate funding level for commercial spaceflight in fiscal 2013—$525 million—but not the $836 million NASA requested.
The agreement also formalized NASA's plans to use a Federal Acquisition Regulation procurement for the integrated commercial crew systems the agency picks, instead of the less restrictive Space Act Agreements now in force.
For SpaceX itself, the successful flight meant some new business right off the bat. At one end of the spectrum, Intelsat contracted to be the first customer for the Falcon Heavy follow-on to the Falcon 9. And Spaceflight Inc., a Seattle-based startup founded by Andrews Space CEO Jason Andrews, signed up to use the Falcon for its planned secondary-payload business on missions with excess lift capacity.
“SpaceX is very proud to have the confidence of Intelsat, a leader in the satellite communication services industry,” says SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who has said he plans to take his company public this year. “The Falcon Heavy has more than twice the power of the next largest rocket in the world. With this new vehicle, SpaceX launch systems now cover the entire spectrum of the launch needs for commercial, civil and national security customers.”
Musk makes no secret of his desire to take over the market for launching cargo and crews to Earth orbit. The Dragon had been scarred from the beginning for commercial crew operations, and the successful rendezvous and grappling with the ISS probably gives it a leg up in the coming NASA downselect for the next round of commercial crew development support. One flight isn't going to win this space race, and Musk must be hearing the footsteps behind him as he circles the track.
Sierra Nevada Corp., which has received $100 million in CCDev funding to convert NASA's HL-20 lifting body into a hybrid-propellant commercial crew vehicle called Dream Chaser, has completed preliminary design review on the vertical-takeoff, horizontal-landing spaceplane. The review set the basic parameters of the design, architecture and performance of the integrated system, which includes its compatibility with the United Launch Alliance Atlas V that would take it to orbit. Sierra Nevada plans helicopter drop tests of the Dream Chaser, with autonomous approach and landing at Edwards AFB, this summer.
SpaceX Achievement Leads the Way to a Brighter Future
Ben Evans - AmericaSpace.org
Less than a year ago, the wheels of the Space Shuttle kissed the runway at the Kennedy Space Center for the final time, amid scenes of pride and distress as an icon of humanity’s adventure in space came to a bittersweet end. The hand wringing began almost immediately. What would the end of the Shuttle era mean for the United States’ crew-carrying aspirations? How could large payloads be reliably transported to and from the International Space Station?
Moreover, NASA’s own future – including its nebulous goal of reaching an asteroid in the mid-2020s and Mars orbit a decade or so thereafter – seemed equally uncertain.
That uncertainty diminished last month with the spectacular success of SpaceX’s first Dragon test mission to the space station and it now appears that a corner has been turned and a brighter future lies ahead.
The turning of that corner was recognised last week by NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and SpaceX Chief Designer and CEO Elon Musk when they toured the company’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, and its Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas, to thank hundreds of employees whose work has turned Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) from concept into reality.
The two men viewed the actual Dragon craft, which flew for nine adrenaline-charged days in May and became the first commercial vehicle ever to dock at the space station. It also brought more than 1,360 lb of cargo back to Earth. “The Dragon capsule is a tangible example of the new era of exploration unfolding right now,” Bolden told the assembled team. “Commercial space is becoming a reality as SpaceX and our other commercial partners look ahead to future missions to the space station and other destinations.”
Standing alongside the former Shuttle commander and veteran Marine Corps general, entrepreneur Elon Musk could hardly contain a broad and wry smile. For him, the occasion must have conjured memories of the sentiment which lay behind his decision to call the craft ‘Dragon’…apparently in honour of Peter, Paul and Mary’s 1963 song ‘Puff, the Magic Dragon’. The name was reportedly chosen by Musk in response to critics who claimed that his company’s outlandish space goals were both unattainable and impossible.
Yet ‘unattainable’ and ‘impossible’ can be applied to any endeavour, until it is attained or made possible, and the phenomenal vigour with which SpaceX has driven Dragon from the draughtsman’s board to low-Earth orbit to the waters of the Pacific Ocean is just as remarkable as last month’s mission itself.
Originally conceived almost a decade ago, Dragon was submitted to NASA as part of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) programme in March 2006. Later that year, SpaceX and Kistler Aerospace were chosen to conduct a trio of demonstration flights in 2008-2010. Although Kistler failed to meet its obligations and its contract was later terminated, SpaceX moved from strength to strength and in December 2008 received a $1.6 billion CRS contract from NASA.
Under the provisions of this contract – which will potentially expand in value to more than $3.1 billion – SpaceX will execute a dozen Dragon missions and transport a total of 44,000 lb of payload to the space station. Equipment in support of these missions, including the DragonEye proximity sensor, control panels and communications gear, arrived at the station aboard the Shuttle in 2009.
In the meantime, SpaceX pressed on with a successful test of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle in June 2010 and, six months later, with the maiden demo of the spacecraft itself, which performed two orbits of the Earth in a textbook three-hour flight.
Last December, NASA approved SpaceX’s request to combine the final two flights of its demonstration trio into one mission – dubbed ‘COTS-2+’ – which unfolded with near-perfection from 22-31 May. In the wake of Bolden and Musk’s visit, the pace shows no sign of slacking. SpaceX’s first ‘true’ resupply mission under the CRS contract is scheduled for launch on 28 September 2012, followed by a second in December. Each will remain docked to the International Space Station for about a month.
Nevertheless, the euphoria surrounding Dragon has prompted the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) to deliver a message of caution that successes should not detract from the proper process of pushing commercial entities through NASA’s strict certification requirements for subsequent crewed missions.
Retired Navy Vice Admiral Joseph Dyer, the chair of the ASAP, has warmly congratulated NASA and SpaceX on their accomplishment, but noted that the next stage – commercially delivering astronauts to the station – represents something markedly more complex and the exact procedures for certifying vehicles to carry human passengers remain to be worked out.
Others, including ASAP member John Frost, have added that growing success could create friction, particularly if commercial partners grow to consider the need for NASA oversight or certification as unnecessary. The space agency is due to lay out the plan for how it will conduct its certification process in September 2012.
In the meantime, the ASAP has been quick to stress that SpaceX has provided a much-needed shot in the arm for the ongoing effort to commercially deliver cargo and crew into orbit. “The International Space Station is the key to our human spaceflight efforts right now,” Administrator Bolden told the assembled workforce in Hawthorne, last week, “and SpaceX’s successful resupply demonstration mission helped ensure it can achieve its full potential.”
The ambitious nature of that potential dwarfs even Dragon itself, with expansive plans underway for the DragonRider crew-carrying vehicle, capable of performing a fully automated docking and remaining attached to the station for up to seven months.
In doing so, it will represent one of several commercial providers whose aim is to end the United States’ reliance upon Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft and bring a home grown human spaceflight capability to fully operational status. In doing so, it can be hoped that NASA’s own exploration goals, beyond Earth orbit, will stand a greater chance of reaching fruition.
Why NASA Grows Space Sunflowers
Joe Pappalardo - Popular Mechanics
An unexpected passenger aboard the International Space Station is sick and could die.
"I am afraid that if something is not done we are going to lose Sunflower," U.S. astronaut and ISS resident Don Pettit wrote on his blog on May 5. "Our spacecraft is designed for animals so life can be a struggle for plants."
The sunflower in question, which Pettit has been trying to grow in the ISS, is afflicted with a fungal blight that has spotted its leaves. This ailment has afflicted other sunflowers grown in space: In 1982 in preparation for a space experiment called HEFLEX (see below), space sunflowers suffered a similar blight. Back then NASA adopted sterilization techniques, and the fungus did not reappear when the experiment flew in 1983.
NASA spokesmen say, however, that Pettit brought sunflower seeds to grow on his own time. Because it is not part of any official experiment, the sunflower was seemingly not protected by the previously learned sterilization. Nor is the crew equipped to save it.
"The crew medical kit is designed for animals, not plants, so there are no medications for this disease," Pettit wrote. "Treating Sunflower with a disinfectant wipe that has an antibacterial agent called benzalkonium chloride. We do not know if this is going to work." The latest news from orbit is that the antibacterial wipes are helping.
Pettit’s outer-space botany isn’t just a weird experiment. Here are some of NASA’s pioneering projects that show its relationship to sunflowers is not a new phenomenon.
1. Moon material tests, Apollo 11 and 12
Hardware: Lunar Receiving Laboratory
Scientists were pretty sure the moon was sterile before astronauts went there. But it’s better to be safe than sorry when it comes to starting space plagues. So NASA set up a biosafety level 3 facility to test lunar materials’ effect on various life forms on Earth. In it, various plant and animal cells were exposed to lunar soil, called regolith, to see if anything harmful was present. Sunflower cells were one of the organisms tested. Rather than being harmed, the cells showed higher than normal concentrations of fatty acids after exposure to the regolith. After Apollo 12, it became clear that the moon was, indeed, sterile.
2. Helianthus Flight Experiment (HEFLEX)
Hardware: SpaceLab 1, Space Shuttle Columbia
In 1983 the space shuttle ferried sunflower seedings into space to study nutation, where a plant’s tip slowly rotates downward as it grows, anchoring the plant as it screws into the soil. Charles Darwin discovered this in 1880, but he could never explain how the plant established the correct direction to grow. No one else could figure that out either. Some said the plants react to gravity. So what better way to test this theory than to grow sunflowers in space?
What followed was HEFLEX. Scientists examined sunflower seedlings for perfection and chose the best ones 12 hours before launch. After the launch, the sunflowers’ growth was monitored via video cameras. The initial result: The seedlings rotated as they grew, despite the total absence of gravity. The research also recorded some microgravity experiments—the roots rotated in wider circles as gravity decreased. But gravity was not required to start the nutation, so Darwin’s mystery endures.
3. Zero-G Cellular Electrofusion
Hardware: Space Shuttle Columbia
Electrofusion—combining cells using electricity—is one way to create new plant hybrids. Take two cell types, zap them for 10 minutes or so, and the cytoplasmic contents will mingle. The combined cell can then be grown as any other cloned hybrid.
In 1993 scientists created sunflower hybrids in space using this method. Why? On Earth, the bridges between the fused cells are prone to collapse. The researchers figured that the absence of gravity would enable the hybrids to be more stable and give them a chance to grow. They were right, at least when it came to sunflowers: The fused protoplast pairs stabilized and grew normally in space and later on the ground. However, tobacco and digitalis plants subjected to the same experiment failed. No one knows why.
Space Tourism Conference: Orbital tourism goes lunar
David Todd - FlightGlobal.com
While Ascend (now part of Flightglobal) made the headlines two years ago by noting that in our analysis the Isle of Man was fifth favourite 'nation' to put man back on the Moon, they may yet become the main favourite. For the Isle of Man-based Excalibur Almaz again set forth their proposal for a lunar flyby expedition for two space tourists at the 3rd Space Tourism Conference at the Royal Aeronautical Society, London.
Having noted that the Isle of Man has become a space powerhouse with 30 out of 54 satellite operators based there, Art Dula, Chairman of Excalibur Almaz, itemised their plan which involves the use of the Apollo-shaped Almaz capsule to carry tourist astronauts around the Moon. The Almaz RRV (Reusable Re-entry Vehicle) capsule is small with a habitable volume of only 4.5 cubic meters (compared to 14.5 cubic meters for NASA's Orion) but it does have a back hatch allowing it to dock rearwards with a spacious Salyut space station module (of 90 cubic metres) that will use Hall electric propulsion thrusters to slowly get itself back and forwards from the moon and the L2 Langrangian point. Tickets for the flights are set at $150 million. Crew would be launched on a Soyuz FG launch vehicle while the Space Station/Space Liner would be launched by a Proton. As a key part of the mission the stations launched (they have two converted Salyut stations) will be fully insured.
Of course, cost was not the only thing worrying the audience at the conference. Art Dula admitted that the space station would need a shielded area for the crew to protect them from high energy particles emitted from the Sun. There were also concerns expressed that having a rear hatch in the main heat shield of the Almaz RRV crew return capsule may not keep its integrity during re-entry. Dula scotched that doubt by noting that earlier Soviet versions of the Almaz capsule had flown and returned to Earth successfully already.
It is not just Art Dula's outfit that is planning lunar tourism flights. The travel agent for space missions Space Adventures, which has already previously arranged several Soyuz space tourism trips to the International Space Station, noted that it a similar lunar orbit tourism plan using Soyuz capsules.
The Soyuz capsule is to carry two tourist astronauts and a pilot astronaut on this round the Moon trip before coming back to Earth for re-entry and landing. While the Soyuz capsule that was always designed for a skip re-entry return from lunar missions, it was pointed out that no Soyuz spacecraft the similar Zond configuration had never actually achieved this feat. "We have full confidence that they will be able to do the mission" said Tom Shelley, President of Space Adventures.
Lunar space travel is not the only planned capability that Space Adventures plans to exploit. It has a deal with Boeing to use its CST-100 capsule for low Earth orbit missions as well which they assume will fly even if Boeing loses out in the NASA commercial crew service competition.
Interestingly, both Excalibur Almaz and Space Adventures noted that they did not yet have plans to actually land on the Moon though the former admitted that had asked the design firm Yuzhnoye to examine using a Blok-E stage for a landing system. As such, it maybe only a matter of time before space tourists can walk on the Moon.
After all the lunar excitement, suborbital space tourism seemed 'run of the mill' and that is before it has even started. Officially Virgin Galactic plans to start making full powered flights of its SpaceShipTwo vehicle at the end of this year with commercial flights to follow about a year or so after that. Each passenger has to $200,000 for a ticket. For those fretful about getting the wing locked after its "feathered re-entry" there was no joy after it was admitted that there was only one way back and hence extra redundancy is being packed into this mission critical part of the mission.
As Virgin Galactic's competitors XCOR and its Space Exploration Corporation partners are finalising their launch plans as they plan to fly the Lynx 2 design to 103km. All passengers will now come under the Space Exploration banner as they pay their $95,000 fare. The firm was at pains to explain that their view from the co-pilots seat would be very good given the amount of glazing there. While Virgin's concept uses and airdrooped design using a hybrid rocket, the X-Core Lynx uses a LOx/Kerosene bipropellant rocket engine.
With respect to space ports, while Virgin Galactic's is nearly complete base at Space Port America in New Mexico, XCore noted its plans for its Curacuo (in the Caribbean) and Mojave space ports while Sweden pitched its Kiruna launch site emphasising its access to the Northern Lights. With respect to suborbital space passengers, insurance for them is likely to be a version of the dangerous sport insurance class already available. Meanwhile, the concept of passengers signing waivers of liability under informed concent was questioned by Rolf Olaffson of Whilte & Case LLP as he noted that ITAR information restrictions might prevent certain non-US passengers from being truly informed.
One interesting question from the audience is whether a market would grow for privately owned spacecraft is much the same way as the very rich own private jets.
One other interesting announcement - or rather a preliminary announcement, was that Virgin Galactic is likely to get involved in launching small orbitiing satellites using an expendable rocket in combination with its White Knight Two carrier aircraft acting as a "stage 0" for such missions. The firm had previously shelved a similar plan.
Space shuttle trainer boxed up for flight to Seattle
Jake Whittenberg - KING TV (Seattle)
For Geoff Nunn, Exhibit Developer at Seattle’s Museum of Flight, achieving his dream comes in small chunks.
Every week, new boxes arrive from NASA carrying pieces of the space shuttle trainer, the replica space shuttle that will soon be the newest exhibit at the museum.
Every box includes small pieces of the trainer that will need to be assembled like a giant erector set. That’s Nunn’s job.
“It’s a dream come true,” said Nunn. As a boy he remembers growing up in Texas and taking tours of the Johnson Space Center in Houston. “I got to see how the astronauts did it behind the scenes now I get to share my experiences with the public.”
Right now, NASA is boxing up the final pieces in Houston. For the past 30 years, the full replica shuttle has been used to train astronauts before flying into space.
“Everything is exact, all the way down to the table cloths,” says Nunn.
Thursday, the biggest piece of all will be boxed up -- the crew compartment. The largest piece of the shuttle will be shipped to Seattle in NASA’s Super Guppy Cargo Plane. The shuttle will be stored inside during it’s three-day journey to the Museum of Flight.
“It’s going to be one of those golden moments that you just don’t experience,” says Dan Hagedorn, Head Curator. “I anticipate people will be telling themselves 20 years from now, ‘Were you there when they delivered the crew compartment for the full fuselage trainer?’”
When the Super Guppy lands, it will be greeted by a public celebration at the Museum of Flight, then developers will get to work on final assembly.
Nunn will definitely be there.
“How many people get to say they worked on a space shuttle?” he said with a smile.
Encasing Enterprise: Shuttle shelter inflated on Intrepid museum deck
Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com
Two weeks after landing on top of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City, the space shuttle Enterprise is now under an inflatable canopy that will house its public display.
Hoisted by crane onto the Intrepid's flight deck on June 6, Enterprise was covered by the opaque-white fabric shelter on Tuesday to protect it from exposure to the elements and to meet NASA's display requirements for a climate-controlled facility.
The shelter was fully inflated Thursday morning, a spokesman for the Intrepid confirmed. Some final work configuring the canopy is still underway however, including the removal of scaffolding that supported the fabric being raised, which led to it being temporarily deflated again.
The Intrepid, which is docked on Manhattan's west side, is a retired World War II aircraft carrier used since 1982 to house aerospace and maritime exhibits.
The pressurized enclosure extends over Enterprise's tail, which tops out at 57 feet (17 meters) high, and beyond the shuttle's 78-foot (24-meter) wingspan. It occupies the rear of the Intrepid's flight deck with the shuttle's nose pointed out toward the Hudson River.
Enterprise's display is set to open to the public on July 19. The Intrepid's "Space Shuttle Pavilion" will give visitors the chance to closely view and circle around the prototype winged orbiter. Enterprise never flew in space, but instead was used for a series of approach and landing tests in the late 1970s.
Experience Enterprise
"View space shuttle Enterprise up-close and learn about the history of the shuttle program," promotes a sign on the Intrepid's flight deck near where the pavilion is positioned. "Surrounding exhibits will explain technical achievements and touch on the people behind the technology."
The billboard further promises "dynamic images and video presentations" during "this amazing experience."
Tickets to tour the pavilion, which are on sale now, add $6 to the general admission fee for adults.
A three-day "SpaceFest," planned for July 19 through July 22, will add to the shuttle pavilion's opening weekend with exhibits and demonstrations provided by NASA that serve to honor "aeronautics and space exploration past, present and future."
"Interactive demonstrations will engage visitors about current missions in space science, earth science, rockets to explore deep space, and improvements in aeronautics," the Intrepid writes on its website.
Temporarily topside
The Intrepid plans the pavilion to be a temporary display. In a few years, the museum intends to build a permanent home for Enterprise, separate from the aircraft carrier, as an extension to its overall visitor complex.
"[Its] new home at the Intrepid Museum will celebrate Enterprise's illustrious history and create a thriving center for science, technology, engineering and math education programs designed to inspire future scientists, engineers and researchers," reads a brochure promoting donations to the "Project Enterprise" building fund.
The location for the permanent Enterprise exhibit is still to be decided. Intrepid officials told collectSPACE that they are considering locations across the street from where the aircraft carrier is docked and also alongside the museum on the pier.
In the meantime, the excitement is growing at the Intrepid at the prospect of sharing Enterprise with visitors.
"It's an opportunity to get up-close to something that we've all seen as an icon," Chris Malanson, Intrepid's assistant vice president for exhibitions, said. "I mean everyone can identify the silhouette of the shuttle. It doesn't matter what country you're from."
Said Malanson, "To be able to get that close to an object with such significance in our history, I think is a draw unto itself."
Downey will relocate wooden space shuttle
Arnold Adler - Los Angeles Wave
A space shuttle designed and built at the former NASA site here will soon blast off, but it won’t be going very far.
The City Council June 12 approved plans to move the space shuttle mock-up from its current storage place on the Downey Movie Studio site, 12214 Lakewood Blvd., to a temporary structure to be erected on the studio parking lot across from the Columbia Memorial Space Center, 12400 Columbia Way.
City Manager Gil Livas said the city hopes to find funding for a permanent structure for the wooden shuttle at the Space Center. Estimated cost is $2 million.
Construction on the temporary structure is expected to start by the end of the month and relocation is required by July 1 when studio owners IRG plan to demolish the current storage building, said Brian Saeki, director of community development.
Assistant City Manager John Oskoui said the mock-up must be moved because it is in a building which will soon be demolished by studio owners IRG to make way for the 77-acre Tierra Luna Marketplace mixed development, northeast of Imperial Highway and Lakewood Boulevard on the Downey Movie Studio site.
Proposed there is $170 million project which would construct 1.5 million square feet of office, retail and restaurant space, a move theater and a 150-room hotel. The project is expected to provide about 3,000 jobs.
The City Council June 12 contracted with Allsite Structure Rentals of Las Vegas to construct and rent to the city a temporary building to house the 122-foot long and 35-foot high shuttle for one year on the southwest corner of the studio lot.
Allsite was the lowest of three bidders at $36,776 to erect structure and dismantle it at the end of the year.
Rental for the 12 months will be $70,036, Oskoui said.
The council also contracted with Dunkel Brothers of La Mirada, lowest of three bidders, to move the shuttle, at a cost of $25,300.
Oskoui said the total cost, including pavement repairs, a security fence and lighting would come to $156,612.
IRG has agreed to contribute $100,000 toward that cost, he noted.
Virgin Galactic moves closer to launching flights to space
KVUE TV (Austin)
Virgin Galactic is urging passengers to book their place in space. The company is moving forward with plans to offer the first commercial flights from Spaceport America in in Southern New Mexico.
A sleek office in Las Cruces is the new home of Virgin Galactic. The names for its meeting rooms may come from science fiction films but this office supports the company’s very real effort to offer commercial flights into space.
"This is the main office central area, and at the moment we’re only set up for maybe 12 staff to operate here , but you can see there’s a lot of space for us to set up for more," said Carolyn Wincer of Virgin Galactic.
The staff here and at Spaceport America is expected to grow as the company moves closer to a launch. Owner Richard Branson celebrates the progress.
"It certainly is a dream. And I dream all time and I like to make dreams come true," he said.
More than 500 people have put down a deposit to share in the dream of space travel. The majority have paid the full ticket price: $200,000 dollars. Virgin Galactic calls those passengers Pioneers.
For now, Virgin Galactic’s spaceships are on the ground but if everything goes as planned the company hopes one will lift off by the end of next year.
Mesa engineer determined to put space in reach
David Rookhuyzen - Arizona Republic
He's chronically short of funds, but Morris Jarvis is bent on building a ship that will make trips beyond Earth affordable to all.
Jarvis, 48, a project manager at Intel, is the head of Space Transport and Recovery, or STAR, Systems, a commercial space-travel company based out of his east Mesa home.
STAR Systems originally incorporated in 1993 and has five core employees, with a support group of 75 specialists and volunteers, affectionately called "the pit crew."
The company has built the Hermes, a prototype shuttle 27 feet long with a 21-foot wingspan. It is a proof-of-concept model, made of lightweight airplane fiberglass built for wind-tunnel and landing tests.
The final version will be built of space-worthy aluminum and steel and have a thermal protection shield for re-entry.
Jarvis compared the prototype to NASA's space shuttle Enterprise, which never made it to space and was used mainly for landing tests.
The Hermes is an important step for Jarvis, who began designing spacecraft in the 1970s. As a child of the moon-landing era, Jarvis said he gained a fascination for space that, unlike others, he never grew out of. He studied aerospace engineering in college and for years has tinkered with models and designs in his spare time before finally deciding to start STAR.
"My wife is well-versed in the smell of epoxy and paint," he said.
But design and engineering challenges pale in comparison to Jarvis' most pressing concern: funding.
If he received $8 million to $10 million today, described as the "bare bones amount," he could have the first test launch in a year, Jarvis estimates. With the current funding, he could not guess a timetable.
STAR employees have invested somewhere between $100,000 to $200,000 of their own money into the project, including a second mortgage Jarvis took out on his home. A recent campaign on Kickstarter, a fundraising website, collected nearly $21,000.
The project had several sponsors, including Intel, but most pulled out when the recession hit.
Jarvis said the company buys "off-the-shelf" parts and uses existing equipment, making the Hermes a "systems integration exercise." The company saves money by doing no research and development outside of creating a reusable rocket engine, he said.
Jarvis said this approach makes the Hermes slow and clunky by industry standards, because it's built for safety and cost, not efficiency.
"Turns out I should have learned to have been a billionaire and then played with rockets," he said.
Jarvis envisions two tour options for his completed Hermes. In the first, a high-altitude balloon will raise the Hermes to 100,000-plus feet, where customers can see the curvature of the Earth.
The second is a rocket-powered option that will put customers in a suborbital trajectory where they can experience weightlessness.
Jarvis predicts the balloon model will hold six passengers, each paying $75,000, while the rocket model will hold four passengers and cost twice as much.
While expensive, it's cheaper than the $200,000 ride offered by Virgin Galactic, owned by British billionaire Richard Branson, on its vessel, SpaceShipTwo.
Jarvis hopes his low-cost approach will eventually pull space-tourism prices down to where they are affordable for all.
"If you look at the aerospace industry, we're their worst nightmare," he said.
STAR is part of a growing trend of commercial spaceflight. Last month, Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, became the first commercial company to deliver a payload to the International Space Station.
The Federal Aviation Administration has an Office of Commercial Space Transportation that licenses companies for space travel and has designated eight U.S. "spaceports" for commercial launches. To date, there have been 207 commercial launches since the office was formed in 1984.
Michael Lopez-Alegria, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, an association of more than 40 companies, predicted there will be regular commercial flights into space by non-astronauts by the end of next year.
There is definitely a demand that exceeds supply, he said, adding that Virgin Galactic has 500 people on a waiting list, all of whom have made down payments on a seat.
Lopez-Alegria described Jarvis' efforts as "right in line with other companies," and that many commercial spaceflight companies are small startups.
These startups are good for the industry because they will increase the number of launches, which will spread out the cost, drive down prices and produce more demand, he said.
"That's the environment we are trying to create," Lopez-Alegria said.
Armadillo Aerospace, a seven-man commercial spaceflight company in Heath, Texas, is also striving to provide the astronaut experience without the hefty price tag.
To save money, Armadillo's approach is the same as Jarvis': focus on premade parts and create multiple prototypes, according to Neil Milburn, Armadillo's vice president of program management.
The goal is to learn as many lessons as possible before moving to the next level and spending more money, Milburn said.
"Gravity is unforgiving and so is aerodynamics," he said.
Armadillo has an advantage over STAR Systems because its founder is John D. Cormack, a millionaire software designer behind such popular video games as Quake and Doom.
Milburn said most companies are backed up by "a new breed of techno-philanthropist." However, every company will go through an expensive research and development period before tapping into a paying customer base, he said.
Astronaut: ‘Scout stuff is real stuff'
Jesse Mendoza - Valley Morning Star (Harlingen)
In a large dining hall filled with about 250 of his fellow Scouts, Demitri Garlic, a 14-year-old Life Scout, raised his hand and asked, “How do you become an astronaut?”
With a flash of his vibrant smile, astronaut Michael E. Fossum, originally from McAllen, fielded questions Thursday from Scouts at Camp Perry.
“I’d say right now all of you guys are in astronaut training,” Fossum said. “You are learning new skills; you are learning how to put them to the test.”
Fossum made two flights aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station. On a third trip to the space station, he joined two Russian cosmonauts.
He is currently a scoutmaster in Houston and remembered his time spent as a Boy Scout at Camp Perry, learning first-aid skills.
“Scout stuff is real stuff,” Fossum told the boys.
He said that about a month ago, he witnessed a car accident where he was able to use skills he learned as a Boy Scout to help treat the victims for shock after he dialed 911.
Ernesto Carballo Jr. of the Rio Grande Valley Council of the Boy Scouts of America said the Boy Scouts aim to push science, technology, engineering and mathematics. He believes by focusing on these fields, scouting helps the nation remain competitive with other countries.
“It’s important to dream big,” Carballo said. “We hope by having (Fossum) here kids could be pushed into the possibility of having a career in one of the STEM fields.”
“I want to try to remember most of this stuff,” Demitri said. “I have learned a lot about how to be a leader and how to make friends. It’s a great experience.”
New tours go behind the scenes at Kennedy Space Center
Dewayne Bevil - Orlando Sentinel
All my life, space travel has been mentally filed under "futuristic," but I'm learning to think of it in a historical context too.
New tours at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex give glimpses of NASA's past by allowing access to areas that have not been open to the public in decades. Last week, the Launch Control Center Tour, which brings guests into one of the famed firing rooms, was added to the lineup.
The LCC was a hub of activity for engineers for all 152 launches in the Apollo and space shuttle programs. The building is adjacent to the much larger, iconic Vehicle Assembly Building — the longtime shuttle home with a gargantuan American flag and NASA logo on its exterior walls.
Upstairs in Firing Room 4, the atmosphere is eerie. There's a time-capsule vibe to it, as if no one has been working there in decade. In fact, the room was full of NASA officials for the final shuttle mission last July.
This space now is populated with dozens of work stations and high-back office chairs, grouped into pods divided by high consoles. The décor is primarily gray and wood grain. The work stations have an array of monitors and keypads that look a little dated with a more modern-looking phone.
Large nameplates indicate responsibilities handled in each area: "Payloads," "Liquid Hydrogen," "Purge, Vent and Drain," "Flight Surgeon" and so forth. That signage was the same as in the room's shuttle phase. (The look throughout has been unchanged with the exception of a few "employees only" signs that had never been needed before.)
Firing Room 4 also feels a bit like a movie set. Everything is bright and in its proper place. Maybe that's the big-screen "Apollo 13" effect or maybe it's from years of seeing the high-stakes room on television.
A tour guide leads guests through the room and up into the "bubble room," a glass-enclosed perch in the corner. This is where the management team watched the workers below. There's a better view of the countdown clock here — it's only a pretend launch now — alongside indication of "Universal time," better known as Greenwich Mean Time.
Better still, officials could look outside from here and see Launch Pad 39A, where shuttles left Earth and created vibrations that rattled the windows of the LCC.
In the bubble room, guests watch a video of the countdown of Atlantis' final flight. At blastoff, I gave in to the urge to look out the window at the launch pad. It's silly, but the history-in-the-making feeling caught up with me. I wasn't alone.
"I've got goose bumps," said a woman near me.
Near the bubble room is the chair for the launch director, the person who made the go / no go call for each mission.
The LCC tour costs an additional $25 ($19 for ages 3-11) on top of regular admission. For now, this tour and the neighboring VAB tour are completely separate, and the schedules don't allow for both to be done on the same day. Reservations are recommended.
The tours are part of KSC's 50th anniversary celebration and set to continue through the end of 2012. The firing room will be used for the new space launch system, our guide said.
"The future is now," he said.
Launch Control Center Tour
· Where: Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, on State Road 405 in Brevard County.
· When: 9 a.m.-6 p.m. daily
· Cost: KSC admission is $45 general, $35 ages 3-11. The tour is additional $25 ($19 ages 3-11).
New app lets you follow the Space Station on your smartphone
Lee Roop - Huntsville Times
NASA is putting life and work on the International Space Station as close as your smartphone and laptop. A new free app -- ISSLive! -- will give science fans with smartphones and tablets the ability to see what station astronauts are doing minute by minute in orbit. A new Space Station Live! webpage will provide the same information to computer users.
The sites will likely be of interest in the Huntsville, Alabama, area, where NASA has its Payload Operations Center supporting science experiments on the station. Whenever astronauts are talking to the ground about science, they will be talking to controllers at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
NASA hopes teachers will use prepared lessons and data streamed from the station to teach science, technology, math and engineering. Viewers can also tour the station and mission control consoles through virtual 3-D models.
Special features of the webpage and app include:
· live streaming data from space station systems
· live streaming data on crew and science timelines with social media links
· descriptions and educational material that describe how the space station works
· educational lessons using the live content
· 3-D virtual mission control
· 3-D virtual space station using live streaming data to correctly position the sun, Earth, moon and the station's solar arrays
· 3-D model of the space station with labels and colored by the international partner contributions to its assembly
· links to NASA's five international partner space agencies' mission information.
To use the station website, click here. To learn more about ISSLive! and other NASA apps, click here. Apps are also available through Google Play and iTunes app stores.
NASA app, website puts space station live data at public's fingertips
Robert Pearlman - collectSPACE.com
Ever wonder what the crew on board the International Space Station is doing right now? Or what is the temperature of each of the orbiting outpost's modules? Or how much power is being generated at this very instant by the space station's solar array wings?
If so, NASA has an app for that.
The agency's Space Station Live! website and companion ISSLive! mobile application offers the public a new inside look at what is happening aboard the International Space Station (ISS) and in the Mission Control Center at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Space Station Live! enables its users to see what the six expedition astronauts and cosmonauts on the complex are doing minute by minute. Streaming data from the station through Houston Mission Control lets the public view the latest details on temperatures, communications and power generation.
In addition to accessing the same telemetry used by flight controllers, internet and smart phone users can use Space Station Live! to tour the space station and mission control operator consoles through virtual 3-D view models.
Space Station Live! is at spacestationlive.nasa.gov on the web and via the free ISSLive! app for smart phones and tablet computers linked from NASA's site. The app also is available through the Google Play and Apple iTunes app stores.
Virtual Mission Control
On the website and through the mobile apps, users can navigate through a realistic 3-D recreation of the station's flight control room in Houston. They can navigate through the rows of consoles, selecting workstations such as the Flight Director's or Capcom's (spacecraft communicator) to see the type of live data they work with.
For example, at the ETHOS console, which monitors the space station's life support systems, Space Station Live! users can view the current pressure, temperature and fan status in the U.S. Destiny laboratory and Tranquility node. For the Quest airlock, which astronauts exit through when performing spacewalks, live telemetry offers updates on the pressure and valve positions for the port's oxygen and nitrogen tanks.
Similarly, at the SPARTAN or Station Power, Articulation and Thermal Control console, users can see the flow rate for the two ammonia-filled loops that cool the station. A different screen at the same virtual workstation displays the position in degrees and how many volts and amps are being generated by the power-providing solar arrays.
Separate from the Mission Control views, Space Station Live! users can access the science and work timelines for each of the six crew members living on board, as well as see where the space station is in orbit, as relative to the real positions of the Earth, moon and Sun.
Live from Earth orbit
More than a year in development, Space Station Live! and ISSLive! grew out an effort to provide the space station's flight controllers working in Mission Control access to the data they monitor while away from their workstations.
NASA realized that sharing similar access to some of that same live data could help raise public awareness of the "groundbreaking research and technology development work... going on every day in the microgravity environment of space."
Further, says NASA, the data can be useful as a teaching tool in the classroom. "Students and teachers can use the data to solve classroom problems in science, technology, engineering and mathematics," NASA wrote in its release announcing Space Station Live! as now being available.
The Space Station Live! website first debuted last October as part of a public beta, or testing, period. The ISSLive! apps for Google Android and Apple iOS mobile devices were first released in March.
"ISSLive! is a 'one-stop shop' for ISS data, letting users in on the fascinating activities that happen daily on board the
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