6/27/12 news

 
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
 
JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1.            Commercial Crew Program on the Move: Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne completes thruster tests at White Sands for Boeing CST-100
2.            Updates to JSC Mail Services International Package Mailings
3.            'Summer of Curiosity' Mission To Mars - Rocket Science
4.            JSC Feds Feed Family Fever
5.            Correction - Blood Drive Thank You
6.            Parent's Night Out - Today is the Last Day to Register at the Discounted Price
7.            Train-The-Trainer for Crane Operations and Riggings Safety Lift Certifying
8.            Train-The-Trainer for Forklift Certifying Officials
9.            Train-The-Trainer Aerial Platform-Certifying Officials
10.          Relief Valve Set Testing and Hydrostatic Testing for Designated Verifiers
11.          Signs of the Times: Stay Sharp, Stay Safe
________________________________________     QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ It seems to me we can never give up longing and wishing while we are alive. There are certain things we feel to be beautiful and good, and we must hunger for them. ”
 
-- George Eliot
________________________________________
1.            Commercial Crew Program on the Move: Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne completes thruster tests at White Sands for Boeing CST-100
Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne last week completed a series of tests at NASA's White Sands Test Facility on a thruster destined for Boeing's CST-100 spacecraft under development in collaboration with NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
 
Twenty-four OMAC system thrusters, short for Orbital Maneuvering and Attitude Control, provide the on-orbit and entry maneuvering capability to the CST-100. The thrusters also would allow the spacecraft and crew to separate from its launch vehicle quickly if an emergency were to occur during the launch or ascent phases of flight.
 
To read more and to see a photo of the OMAC testing, which took place June 18 to 21 at the White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, NM, visit http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/commercial/crew/pwr_omac.html
 
Boeing is one of several companies working to develop crew transportation capabilities to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station. Earlier this year, Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne also demonstrated the launch abort engine that will be used for the CST-100 spacecraft.
 
JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
 
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2.            Updates to JSC Mail Services International Package Mailings
Effective immediately all packages leaving JSC as an International mailing (s) must be accompanied by the following:
1. Request for Mailing form (JF208): In section 5 of JF208, if "Will" is checked, enter the EST tracking number or the NF1676 (JSC) number.
2. Export Control Composite Report
3. US Customs Declaration Forms (PS2796 or PS2796A)
 
If the appropriate forms are not attached to the International Mailings:
1. The package will NOT be retrieved from the pickup onsite or offsite mail location.
2. A Mail Services memo will be attached to the mailing with an explanation of why the mailing was not retrieved.
 
For questions or additional information for the Request for Mailing form (JF208), or US Customs Declaration forms (PS2796 or PS2796A), contact Mail Services at x30291.
 
For questions on Export Control and the Export Control Composite Report, go to: https://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/exportdb/erdb/index.cfm?event=Reports:home
 
JSC IRD Outreach x34009 http://ird/DocumentManagement/jscmailservices/default.aspx
 
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3.            'Summer of Curiosity' Mission To Mars - Rocket Science
Explosions, thrust and forces, oh my! Welcome to the third week of the Summer of Curiosity Mission to Mars Challenge. This week is all about rocket science.
 
Launching a rocket from Earth to Mars is not an easy task. This week's objectives include watching a series of short videos, understanding Newton's Laws of Motion and applying those principals as you build your rocket of choice. Don't forget to use the Mission to Mars Planning Journal to organize your mission plans!
 
Please visit http://www.nasa.gov/offices/education/centers/johnson/student-activities/summ... for more information
 
External Relations Office x40331
 
Tiffany Treat x40331
 
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4.            JSC Feds Feed Family Fever
The fever is spreading from WSTF to Sonny Carter to many other on and off-site JSC locations! Catch the fever and join us in reaching the 50,000 goal in honor of our 50th birthday as a center.
 
Great time to cycle those (in-date) hurricane supplies and help the community. Food bags also available at Starport Gift Shops for your convenience.
 
All proceeds go to JSC area food banks (WSTF and Houston areas). Contact Bridget at x32335 or Karen at x47931 to sign up your organization!
 
Karen Schmalz x47931 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/
 
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5.            Correction - Blood Drive Thank You
Our next blood drive is Aug. 15 to 16.
 
http://jscpeople.jsc.nasa.gov/blooddrv/blooddrv.htm
 
 
Teresa Gomez x39588 http://jscpeople.jsc.nasa.gov/blooddrv/blooddrv.htm
 
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6.            Parent's Night Out - Today is the Last Day to Register at the Discounted Price
Enjoy a night out on the town while your kids enjoy a night with Starport! We will entertain your children at the Gilruth Center with a night of games, crafts, a bounce house, pizza, movie and dessert.
 
When: June 29, from 6 to 10 p.m.
Where: Gilruth Center
Ages: 5 to 12
Cost: $20/first child, and $10/each additional sibling, if registered by June 27. If registered after the June 27, the fee is $25/ first child, and $15/ additional sibling.
 
Register at the Gilruth Center front desk. Visit http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Youth/PNO.cfm for more information.
 
Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/
 
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7.            Train-The-Trainer for Crane Operations and Riggings Safety Lift Certifying
In order to assist with the transition of responsibility for certifying lift operators to line organizations, the Safety Learning Center is offering training for lift-certifying officials.
Date/Time: Aug. 6, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Location: Safety Learning Center, Building 226N, Room 174
This class is a train-the-trainer class for those certifying operators for crane operation and rigging safety. JSC line organizations and contractors are now responsible for ensuring their lift equipment operators are certified in accordance with the NASA Standard for Lifting Devices and Equipment 8919.9. The operators will need to be certified by individuals who are qualified and approved as lift-certifying officials. Qualifications for both operators and lift-certifying officials are listed at: http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/safety/LIFT_Certification
Certifying officials need only to be approved for the lift types for which they certifying operators.
Register via SATERN Required:
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
 
Aundrail Hill x36369
 
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8.            Train-The-Trainer for Forklift Certifying Officials
In order to assist with the transition of responsibility for certifying lift operators to line organizations, the Safety Learning Center is offering training for Forklift certifying officials.
Date/Time: August 6, from 8 to 11 a.m.
Location: Safety Learning Center, Building 226N, Room 174
Register via SATERN Required:
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
 
 
This class is a train-the-trainer class for those certifying operators for forklifts. JSC line organizations and contractors are now responsible for ensuring their lift equipment operators are certified in accordance with the NASA Standard for Lifting Devices and Equipment 8919.9. The operators will need to be certified by individuals who are qualified and approved as lift-certifying officials. Qualifications for both operators and lift-certifying officials are listed at: http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/safety/LIFT_Certification
 
Certifying officials need only to be approved for the lift types for which they certifying operators.
 
Aundrail Hill x36369
 
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9.            Train-The-Trainer Aerial Platform-Certifying Officials
In order to assist with the transition of responsibility for certifying lift operators to line organizations, the Safety Learning Center is offering training for Aerial Platform-certifying officials.
 
Date/Time: August 20, from 1 to 4 p.m.
Location: Safety Learning Center, Building 226N, Room 174
 
In this class is a train-the-trainer class for those certifying operators for aerial lifts. JSC line organizations and contractors are now responsible for ensuring their lift equipment operators are certified in accordance with the NASA Standard for Lifting Devices and Equipment 8919.9. The operators will need to be certified by individuals who are qualified and approved as lift-certifying officials.
Qualifications for both operators and lift-certifying officials are listed at: http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/safety/LIFT_Certification
 
Certifying officials need only to be approved for the lift types for which they certifying operators.
 
Register via SATERN required:
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
 
Aundrail Hill x36369
 
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10.          Relief Valve Set Testing and Hydrostatic Testing for Designated Verifiers
This course covers the fundamentals and requirements regarding hydrostatic testing of pressure vessels and pressure systems and pressure relief valve set-testing.
 
Course objectives include:
- Define Designated Verifier (DV):
- Test Area Guidelines
- References: JPR 1710.13, NS-PRS-009, NT-QAS-024
- Safety Guidelines
- Procedures
 
Re-certification required every two years.
 
Date/Time: Aug. 1 - from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
 
Where: Safety Learning Center, Building 226N, Room 174
 
Register via SATERN required:
 
https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_...
 
Aundrail Hill x36396
 
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11.          Signs of the Times: Stay Sharp, Stay Safe
Summer is here! It's the season of fun, trips to the beach, boating, water skiing and multiple other activities that answer the pursuit of happiness. But, it is also a time when drinking is often a part of the social scene. Maybe too much of a part.
 
Given the unsettling statistics associated with drinking and driving and even boating, JSC and Jacobs Engineering is launching a month-long Stay Sharp, Stay Safe campaign to increase awareness of the dangers of operating various vehicles when under the influence.
 
During the next few weeks, you will learn useful information and tips that you can share with family and friends. What's more, you can put your knowledge to good use by entering a contest drawing for a great prize!
 
More details are coming, so watch for them. In the meantime, have a terrific summer. Stay sharp, and stay safe!
 
Stacey Menard x45660
 
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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:
·         6 am Central THURSDAY (7 EDT) – Interviews with Astronaut Rex Walheim to discuss Orion
·         7 pm Central (8 EDT) - Annual John Glenn Lecture Series with Administrator Charlie Bolden
 
Human Spaceflight News
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
 
HEADLINES AND LEADS
 
Space-bound Orion capsule to arrive in Florida next week
 
Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com
 

 
Lockheed Martin Corp. is preparing to ship the pressure shell for the first space-bound Orion capsule from a Louisiana factory to the Kennedy Space Center, where it will be readied for liftoff on an orbital test flight in 2014. Technicians at Lockheed Martin's Michoud plant in New Orleans completed the final weld on the Orion spacecraft's core structure Thursday. Arrival at the Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for July 2. Officials do not expect any impact to the shipment plans from Tropical Storm Debby, which is swamping Florida with flooding rains this week. Forecasters expect the system to move over the Atlantic Ocean by the end of the week.
 
Boeing says its space taxi engines have passed a testing hurdle
 
Lee Roop - Huntsville Times
 
Boeing and its partner Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne say they have completed a series of tests on a thruster designed to power Boeing's entry in the American space taxi sweepstakes. Boeing is competing with several other companies for NASA contracts to supply the International Space Station with a new spacecraft of its design. Boeing's planned craft -- dubbed the CST-100 -- will have 24 thrusters to control its maneuvers in space and during re-entry.
 
Boeing's CST-100 Thruster Roars to Life
 
Jason Rhian - AmericaSpace.org
 
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne recently conducted a series of tests on a thruster that will one day be used on Boeing’s Commercial Space Transportation System-100 or CST-100 space taxi. The tests were successful and are one more step toward the addition of the CST-100 to NASA’s growing fleet of commercial spacecraft. There are some 24 thrusters that will be used on Boeing’s spacecraft. They are used for orbital maneuvering and attitude control system (OMAC) – essentially theses thrusters allow the spacecraft to move in space. More importantly for the crew these small engines would separate the spacecraft from the launch vehicle if an abort is required during launch or ascent. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne tested the Launch Abort System (LAS) for the CST-100 this past March. By all estimates, the spacecraft’s development is moving forward as scheduled.
 
Mock Mars 'Astronauts' to Help Cook Up a Mission Menu
 
Clara Moskowitz - Space.com
 
Among the many difficulties of sending people to Mars, the question of what they will eat is not the least of them. Scientists are preparing to send six people on a mock mission to the Red Planet to study how best to feed astronauts en route and once they arrive. The six crewmembers will live inside an ersatz space habitat in Hawaii for four months, eating a mix of instant foods and self-cooked meals made from shelf-stable ingredients. The "astronauts" will fill out detailed food surveys to track their enjoyment of the foods, as well as their health and emotional states.
 
Area students quiz Space Station astronauts via video
 
Dara McBride - Philadelphia Inquirer
 
For 250 of Philadelphia's young people, 20 questions wasn't a guessing game but the number of chances to hear firsthand from astronauts on the International Space Station. NASA astronauts Joe Acaba and Don Pettit and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers spoke via a satellite video to 250 Philadelphia Destination Imagination participants visiting the Philadelphia University campus Tuesday morning. The questions may have sounded mundane to many on Earth, but the answers from space elicited laughs and cheers from the audience. "How do you do laundry in space?" You don't. "Do you get to keep pets?" Only if you count lab specimens. "What do you sleep on?" In a sleeping bag, and sometimes you wake up floating on the ceiling.
 
Hampton, we've got a problem…
 
Tamara Dietrich - Hampton Roads Daily Press
 
Thirteen silent teenagers lined a wall of the Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton Tuesday afternoon, a gaggle of shushed youngsters cross-legged on the carpet nearby. This was their rare chance to talk to an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, rocketing 240 miles overhead at 18,000 mph. The window of opportunity was slight — only a few minutes while the space station was within range. "N-A-1-S-S, N-A-1-S-S, this is KE42XW, over." He tried again. And again. He tried, in fact, 33 times till realization hit that the astro-chat a year in the making wasn't happening. The space station hurtled out of range, leaving the children to squirm, chatter and flail their arms as ham radio operators looked at each other, stunned at the missed opportunity. Operator Dave Taylor picked up a microphone to address the crowd: "Unfortunately, this is one of those rare ones that didn't work out. We're very sorry. We will see what we can do about getting this rescheduled." Taylor is a mentor with ARISS — Amateur Radio on the International Space Station — which has been putting Earthlings in touch with astronauts since 2000. Of about four dozen such chats he's work on, this is the first that failed.
 
Atlantis fitted with engine replicas for museum
 
SpaceflightNow.com
 
Already having been powered off for the final time, the shells of rocket pods installed on her tail and nose and key components removed for future use, technicians Tuesday finished inserting replica main engines on space shuttle orbiter Atlantis for permanent display at Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex. Using old-generation nozzles to give a realistic-looking appearance, the replica engines do not include the internal turbopumps, controllers or other parts that an actual shuttle powerplant featured. NASA is keeping its allotment of current-generation engines in protective storage to power the future Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket.
 
China says it has spent $6 billion on human spaceflight
 
Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com
 
China has spent about $6 billion on its manned space program since 1992, and about half that figure went toward developing advanced capabilities for rendezvous and docking, according to an official quoted by state media. The declaration was a rare public disclosure of the cost of China's human space program, which is run by a division of the People's Liberation Army. China's crewed space effort, codenamed Project 21, formally began in 1992. The country's first human space mission launched in 2003.
 
Chinese President talks with astronauts aboard Tiangong-1
 
Xinhua
 
Chinese President Hu Jintao came to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Tuesday and spoke with astronauts currently implementing the space mission aboard the conjoint Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and Tiangong-1 orbiter. The President was accompanied by senior leaders Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang. Hu extended his sincere greetings to the three astronauts, Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut.
 
Shenzhou 9 Aims To Prove Station Technology
 
Bradley Perrett - Aviation Week
 
By last year, China's manned space program had launched its Shenzhou spacecraft eight times, three of them with astronauts aboard. Yet only now, with 13 years of cautiously accumulated experience behind the program, has a Shenzhou crew been given responsibility for controlling the movement of their spacecraft. So while Shenzhou 8 last year showed that the Chinese manned space program had the technology for automatically bringing one spacecraft up to another and linking them, Shenzhou 9 has set out to prove that if the autonomous system were unavailable, then the crew could do the job manually. If they succeed, planned missions to assemble a space station around the end of the decade will not be hostage to the reliability of the automatic rendezvous and docking equipment.
 
Virgin Galactic to Launch New Cargo Plan, Spaceship Design
 
Rob Coppinger - Space.com
 
A new initiative could be on the horizon for suborbital spaceship company Virgin Galactic, founded by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson. Branson is expected to announce Virgin Galactic Cargo, a renewed effort to launch small satellites commercially, and reveal design changes to his tourism spacecraft SpaceShipTwo (SS2) at the U.K.'s Farnborough International Airshow next month.
 
Astronaut Ron Garan to speak on Social Business Day
 
Daily Star (Bangladesh)
 
The third annual Social Business Day will be observed in Bangladesh on Thursday at Gonoshasthaya Kendra in Savar with a focus on social business as a way to transform society. The event coincides with the birthday of the man who pioneered the concept: Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus. The highlight of this year's event is the participation of NASA astronaut Ron Garan, who carried Prof Yunus's book “Creating a World Without Poverty” to his five-month spaceflight in 2011.
 
Elon Musk's spacecraft soared; can his Tesla car do same?
 
Chris Woodyard - USA Today
 
Elon Musk just proved that his commercial rocket venture could reach the International Space Station. Now, he wants to show well-heeled motorists on Earth how to navigate without gasoline. The California entrepreneur who heads companies at opposite ends of the state is hardly a household name. But he's emerging with a higher profile with the success of his cutting-edge, high-risk ventures. The back-to-back successes began last month when SpaceX — the Southern California rocket company where Musk is founder, CEO and "chief designer" — made its Dragon the first commercial spacecraft to dock at the International Space Station. Then last Friday, Tesla Motors— the electric car company where Musk is co-founder and CEO — held a splashy ceremony at its cavernous factory here southeast of San Francisco to deliver the first of its new Model S electric luxury sedans. The four-door is rated by the government at up to 265 miles per charge for the costliest model, about three times more than mainstream electric cars.
 
SpaceX Dragon: a worthy successor to space shuttles?
Shouldn't we expect more from the next generation?
 
Donald Gilleland - Treasure Coast Palm (Opinion)
 
(Gilleland is a veteran and former corporate director of public affairs for General Dynamics Corp)
 
Everyone seems excited over the success of SpaceX's Dragon capsule. Looks like we may once more have a way to get our supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station. Given time we may even be able to develop a new age commercial shuttle to take our astronauts to more distant planets. But, before we get all giddy about the first success of the SpaceX Dragon, let's look at the regressive history Dragon represents. Our first manned spaceflight was Freedom 7, which carried American astronaut Alan Shepard to an altitude of just more than 116 miles in 1961. Twenty years later, in 1981, we entered the era of the Space Shuttle. It was the only winged manned spacecraft to have achieved orbit and then returned to land like an airplane. These space vehicles were a source of great national pride. They still are. Unfortunately, their premature retirement left us with no way to resupply the International Space Station without piggybacking on the Russian Soyuz capsules. NASA has had to rent space on the Russian vehicles, at nearly $63 million per seat, to get our astronauts to the space station. There was no other way to get there. Which raises the question: Shouldn't we have developed an alternative way to get to the space station before we retired our space shuttles? Why couldn't we have continued using these magnificent machines until we developed suitable 21st century replacements — and saved a lot of jobs in the process.
 
How the Moon Landings Are Used as a Symbol for National Greatness
 
Mark Whittington - The Examiner
 
The moon landings, past and possibly future, are being used as symbols of national achievement and as a somewhat unsubtle warning of America falling behind and perhaps going in decline in science and other areas of achievement. Exxon-Mobile is using the moon landings in a public service announcement that urges the United States to increase efforts to educate children in math and science. The PSA has the arresting image of the Apollo moon landing finding the flags of many nationals already on the lunar surface, with the message, “What if we were not first?”
__________
 
COMPLETE STORIES
 
Space-bound Orion capsule to arrive in Florida next week
 
Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com
 

 
Lockheed Martin Corp. is preparing to ship the pressure shell for the first space-bound Orion capsule from a Louisiana factory to the Kennedy Space Center, where it will be readied for liftoff on an orbital test flight in 2014.
 
Technicians at Lockheed Martin's Michoud plant in New Orleans completed the final weld on the Orion spacecraft's core structure Thursday. Arrival at the Kennedy Space Center is scheduled for July 2.
 
Officials do not expect any impact to the shipment plans from Tropical Storm Debby, which is swamping Florida with flooding rains this week. Forecasters expect the system to move over the Atlantic Ocean by the end of the week.
 
The Orion capsule's first voyage in space - called Exploration Flight Test 1 - will verify the spacecraft's heat shield during re-entry at speeds mimicking what the capsule will experience on subsequent missions to the moon, asteroids, or other deep space destinations.
 
Speeds during the craft's re-entry will reach more than 20,000 mph as it plunges back to Earth from a peak altitude of 3,000 miles. NASA officials say the Orion spacecraft will experience temperatures up to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit during re-entry.
 
The EFT-1 mission will blast off on a United Launch Alliance Delta 4-Heavy rocket in 2014.
 
ULA is modifying the Delta 4 rocket's launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for the Orion test flight. The company is changing the configuration of the pad's work platforms and adding a new swing arm to reach the Orion spacecraft on top of the powerful booster.
 
Lockheed Martin and United Space Alliance employees will work on the Orion spacecraft inside the Operations and Checkout Building at the space center in the same high bay used to prepare Apollo missions for launch to the moon.
 
Technicians will install avionics, structural panels and a heat shield on the 16.5-foot-diameter capsule. Engineers will fabricate a mock-up of the Orion service module, the section which would house gas tanks and an engine on crewed flights.
 
An inert launch abort system will be attached atop the Orion spacecraft, but it will be inactive during liftoff, with only its jettison motors armed to separate the needle-shaped tower from the Delta 4 rocket during ascent.
 
Lockheed Martin is conducting the EFT-1 mission under contract to NASA.
 
The Orion spacecraft - also called the multipurpose crew vehicle - is NASA's next human-rated spacecraft designed for astronaut voyages beyond low Earth orbit.
 
Piloted Orion flights will blast off on the Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, which is scheduled for its first test flight in 2017. NASA's schedule calls for the first crewed Orion mission in 2021.
 
Boeing says its space taxi engines have passed a testing hurdle
 
Lee Roop - Huntsville Times
 
Boeing and its partner Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne say they have completed a series of tests on a thruster designed to power Boeing's entry in the American space taxi sweepstakes. Boeing is competing with several other companies for NASA contracts to supply the International Space Station with a new spacecraft of its design.
 
Boeing's planned craft -- dubbed the CST-100 -- will have 24 thrusters to control its maneuvers in space and during re-entry. During tests conducted at the White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M., Boeing said a thruster was fired in a vacuum chamber that simulated a space-like environment of 100,000 feet. The tests "verified the durability of the thrusters in extreme heat," Boeing said, as well as checking its valves and overall performance.
 
"Boeing and Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne know what it takes to develop safe systems and subsystems," said NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Ed Mango. "They're building on the successes of their past, while pushing the envelope with next-generation ideas to create a spacecraft for low Earth orbit transportation."
 
NASA has several companies, including Boeing, chasing contracts to supply the station. All are being graded on how well they meet development milestones.
 
Boeing's CST-100 Thruster Roars to Life
 
Jason Rhian - AmericaSpace.org
 
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne recently conducted a series of tests on a thruster that will one day be used on Boeing’s Commercial Space Transportation System-100 or CST-100 space taxi. The tests were successful and are one more step toward the addition of the CST-100 to NASA’s growing fleet of commercial spacecraft.
 
There are some 24 thrusters that will be used on Boeing’s spacecraft. They are used for orbital maneuvering and attitude control system (OMAC) – essentially theses thrusters allow the spacecraft to move in space. More importantly for the crew these small engines would separate the spacecraft from the launch vehicle if an abort is required during launch or ascent. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne tested the Launch Abort System (LAS) for the CST-100 this past March. By all estimates, the spacecraft’s development is moving forward as scheduled.
 
“Boeing and Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne know what it takes to develop safe systems and subsystems,” said NASA Commercial Crew Program Manager Ed Mango. “They’re building on the successes of their past, while pushing the envelope with next-generation ideas to create a spacecraft for low Earth orbit transportation.”
 
The tests were conducted at White Sands Space Harbor in Las Cruces, N.M. One of the OMAC thrusters was fired in a vacuum chamber. This allows engineers to see how the engine will perform in space. By all accounts the thrusters handled what ever was thrown at them. They were opened and closed and fired for an extended period of time. According to a NASA news release they handled high temperatures very well.
 
“We’re excited about the performance of the engine during the testing and confident the OMAC thrusters will affordably meet operational needs for safe, reliable human spaceflight,” said Terry Lorier, Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne’s Commercial Crew Development program manager.
 
The NASA-issued release states that all of NASA’s industry partners, including Boeing, continue to meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew transportation capabilities.
 
While NASA concentrates its focus on both the Orion spacecraft (produced by Lockheed Martin) and the Space Launch System, or SLS as it is more commonly known, a group of commercial space firms works to provide access to low-Earth-orbit or LEO. These groups include Boeing, SpaceX, ATK, Sierra Nevada Corporation and Orbital Sciences Corporation.
 
Although the Atlas V is one launch vehicle that might launch Boeing’s offering – it is not the only one. United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V and Delta IV, ATK’s Liberty Launcher and SpaceX’s Falcon 9 – all all been depicted with the CST-100 perched atop.
 
The Orion spacecraft, Boeing’s CST-100 and Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser all have something in common – the use of United Launch Alliance rockets in some capacity. Orion’s Exploration Flight Test-1 ( EFT-1) will utilize a ULA Delta IV Heavy, both CST-100 and Dream Chaser are planned to be launched on ULA’s Atlas V launch vehicle.
 
The various spacecraft these companies produce would be used to ferry astronauts and cargo to orbit while Orion and SLS would push out further to destinations such as the Moon, asteroids and one day – Mars.
 
“Boeing’s unique integrated service module propulsion system combines nominal on-orbit propulsion with ascent abort capability into a single system, allowing the OMAC engine and the majority of the propellant feed and pressurization hardware to perform dual roles,” said John Mulholland, vice president and program manager, Commercial Programs.  This dual-role feature reduces the number of parts and provides additional operational flexibility, increasing overall system reliability and improving crew safety.”
 
Mock Mars 'Astronauts' to Help Cook Up a Mission Menu
 
Clara Moskowitz - Space.com
 
Among the many difficulties of sending people to Mars, the question of what they will eat is not the least of them.
 
Scientists are preparing to send six people on a mock mission to the Red Planet to study how best to feed astronauts en route and once they arrive. The six crewmembers will live inside an ersatz space habitat in Hawaii for four months, eating a mix of instant foods and self-cooked meals made from shelf-stable ingredients.
 
The "astronauts" will fill out detailed food surveys to track their enjoyment of the foods, as well as their health and emotional states.
 
"What they’ve found is that astronauts tend to come back from space underfed — they lose weight; they're just not eating enough," said one of the study's leaders, Kim Binsted of the University of Hawaii at Manoa. "Part of it is they're not finding the food appetizing enough."
 
The researchers hope to identify foods and cooking methods that could keep astronauts well-fed for an extended mission. They've already selected eight finalists, and must narrow it down to six prime and two backup crewmembers before they begin their stint on "Mars" in early 2013.
 
Getting to know each other
 
The finalists met last week here at Cornell University, home of another of the study's leaders, Jean Hunter, a professor of biological and environmental engineering. The would-be astronauts spent a few days getting to know each other, taking cooking lessons from a Cornell hotel school chef, and going through checkouts like a test of their "nasal patency," or smell. [Photos: Mock Astronauts Take Cooking Lessons for 'Mars']
 
"I love space exploration and I love food. I just found it very appealing, becoming a space chef," said one of the finalists, nanomaterials scientist Yajaira Sierra-Sastre, who originally hails from Puerto Rico.
 
The researchers put out a call for applicants in February 2012, and were overwhelmed by the response, receiving 700 submissions for the project, called the Hawaii Space Exploration Analogue & Simulation (HI-SEAS). Of those 700 applicants, about 150 had all the qualifications, which included a science background and other skills that generally make them "astronaut-like," the better to simulate the lifestyles and diets of real astronauts.
 
In fact, the mock mission may have to be pushed back a few weeks to allow three of the finalists, who also applied to be NASA astronauts, attend interviews if selected.
 
"Frankly I think they have a good chance, at least of making it to the interview stage," Binstead told SPACE.com.
 
The finalists have a range of backgrounds: Some are studying for Ph.D.s in space-related fields, some are science communicators and educators, and one is a stay-at-home mom and former Navy helicopter pilot.
 
"I live on a sailboat, so when they said 'confined spaces,' I said 'no problem,'" said Crystal Haney, the former pilot and current mom, who also runs her own personal training business.
 
Crew morale
 
In addition to studying how food affects astronauts' health and productivity, the researchers will also be looking into its affect on morale.
 
"I'm curious about how important meal time will be and how that can really help the morale of the crew," said another finalist, science journalist Kate Greene. "When you look at how space travel plays out, it's about the people as much as about the technology, and food is about people."
 
The scientists will be comparing the effects of instant meals versus those the crew cook by hand.  [Space Food Photos: What Astronauts Eat]
 
"There's a huge social aspect of preparing food together, preparing for special occasions," Binstead said. "It's very stress-relieving as well. We have the hypothesis that cooking is going to be more satisfying in a lot of ways."
 
However, whether cooked foods are sufficiently preferable to pre-prepared foods to overcome the greater cost and effort that goes into them is one of the team's open questions.
 
Space studies
 
While on their mission, the crew will be posting lists of ingredients for their meals and soliciting recipe suggestions from the public. The setup will simulate the Mars base they may find themselves on, and not the spaceship used to transport them there. Thus, they will have a small oven, microwave and other kitchen basics. However, they will be using no foods that require refrigeration.
 
During the mission, each of the crewmembers will also be carrying out research of their own on topics ranging from the best exercise equipment to take to space, to designing antimicrobial socks for space travel, to improving the efficiency of space mission design.
 
Angelo Vermeulen, a Belgian biologist and artist, will be studying space habitat design.
 
"People are not robots," he said. "A habitat has to be more than a mechanical environment that keeps people alive. It's one of the big challenges of a mission to Mars."
 
If all this sounds appealing to you, take heart. The researchers are planning several more iterations of the study in the future, so more chances to take a mock trip to Mars await.
 
Area students quiz Space Station astronauts via video
 
Dara McBride - Philadelphia Inquirer
 
For 250 of Philadelphia's young people, 20 questions wasn't a guessing game but the number of chances to hear firsthand from astronauts on the International Space Station.
 
NASA astronauts Joe Acaba and Don Pettit and European Space Agency astronaut Andre Kuipers spoke via a satellite video to 250 Philadelphia Destination Imagination participants visiting the Philadelphia University campus Tuesday morning. The questions may have sounded mundane to many on Earth, but the answers from space elicited laughs and cheers from the audience.
 
"How do you do laundry in space?" You don't.
 
"Do you get to keep pets?" Only if you count lab specimens.
 
"What do you sleep on?" In a sleeping bag, and sometimes you wake up floating on the ceiling.
 
Destination Imagination, a Cherry Hill-based nonprofit educational program, received one of six invitations to communicate with astronauts on the space station about eight months ago, said Chuck Cadle, the group's chief executive. Twenty of the Destination Imagination participants, a group made up of local residents, area Boys and Girls Club members, and day campers, were given questions to read collected from Destination Imagination students in Knoxville, Tenn., that had been screened by NASA. The students from Tennessee also listened to the astronauts.
 
Cadle, who wanted to join NASA's mission control as a child, said it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Before the group heard from the astronauts, Cadle asked how many wanted to join NASA. About five raised their hands. After the 20-minute session, he asked again and saw about 40 hands shoot up.
 
"Events like this introduce students to science," Cadle said. "We want to teach them about the mystery behind it."
 
The one-day event also featured an appearance by U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, senior member of the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA. Throughout the day there were hands-on challenges for the students, such as working in a team to create from household materials a container that would keep an egg safe when dropped.
 
"No matter how much you find out, there's always going to be more," said Tracey Riley, 16, who attended the event with the Wissahickon Boys and Girls Club. She asked the astronauts if they experienced the same thoughts and feelings in space as on Earth. Riley was told astronauts have the same feelings, but have to think differently about performing basic actions, such as setting a glass down and its not staying there.
 
The young participants were not the only ones whose interest in space was piqued by the experience. Britt Dyer, the Destination Imagination special projects and events director who ran the question session, admitted that on a whim, she had looked up the application form to become a NASA astronaut while preparing for the event. She said that speaking with the astronauts was "surreal," and that she hoped the young participants would be inspired to think about the space frontier.
 
"Kids think about being basketball players or football players. They don't know that there are all these opportunities," Dyer said.
 
Ka'alea Rennie, 10, who asked how astronauts sleep in space, said she did not want to become an astronaut, but after talking to those aboard the International Space Station would consider a brief excursion into space.
 
"Maybe once in my life," Ka'alea said, "but not for a very long time."
 
Hampton, we've got a problem…
 
Tamara Dietrich - Hampton Roads Daily Press
 
Thirteen silent teenagers lined a wall of the Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton Tuesday afternoon, a gaggle of shushed youngsters cross-legged on the carpet nearby.
 
This was their rare chance to talk to an astronaut aboard the International Space Station, rocketing 240 miles overhead at 18,000 mph. The window of opportunity was slight — only a few minutes while the space station was within range.
 
At 2:22 p.m., a ham radio operator picked up the microphone:
 
"N-A-1-S-S, N-A-1-S-S, this is KE42XW, over."
 
Response? Static over the loudspeaker.
 
He tried again:
 
"N-A-1-S-S, N-A-1-S-S, this is KE42XW, over."
 
More static.
 
He tried again. And again. He tried, in fact, 33 times till realization hit that the astro-chat a year in the making wasn't happening. The space station hurtled out of range, leaving the children to squirm, chatter and flail their arms as ham radio operators looked at each other, stunned at the missed opportunity.
 
Operator Dave Taylor picked up a microphone to address the crowd: "Unfortunately, this is one of those rare ones that didn't work out. We're very sorry. We will see what we can do about getting this rescheduled."
 
Taylor is a mentor with ARISS — Amateur Radio on the International Space Station — which has been putting Earthlings in touch with astronauts since 2000. Of about four dozen such chats he's work on, this is the first that failed.
 
According to ARISS coordinator Kenneth G. Ransom at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the glitch was apparently a "hardware issue on the ground in Hampton," but more testing should pin it down.
 
Meanwhile, disappointment abounded at the Air & Space Center, from 13-year-old Iyana Council of Hampton who "really wanted to talk to an astronaut," to Deborah Rice, the museum educator who wrote the proposal to land the chat and rated her disappointment as "massive."
 
In Houston, space center spokesman Kelly Humphries commiserated.
 
"I'm real sorry it didn't happen," said Humphries. "I know they'll try to reschedule for them."
 
Astro-chats
 
The purpose of astro-chats is to "inspire students to be more interested in the STEM programs, and talking to astronauts via ham radio is an exceptional way to show them that technology," Ransom said.
 
STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. ARISS has arranged more than 700 contacts, averaging one a week. This is the second one the Air & Space Center landed; the first was in 2001.
 
Kids tend to want to know what the food is like, or what it's like to float, Ransom said. Grownups ask more technical questions, like how hard it is to lift something in outer space. (It isn't the lifting that's the problem, but how to stop it in zero gravity.)
 
About half the astronauts aboard the space station have been licensed ham radio operators, or Hams, said Ransom. Some used their free time between scientific pursuits to engage with startled operators on the ground.
 
If ham radio seems like a low-tech option in a high-tech age, Ransom says it's cheap and functional and not as simplistic as one might think.
 
"A lot of Hams joke, 'We were the first internet — we were chatting on the airwaves for decades to people we didn't know," Ransom said. "And still doing it."
 
'Thanks for the contact'
 
Ham radio has been around since World War I, when returning servicemen fascinated by newfangled radio technology used their expertise and surplus military parts to build their own systems. Its popularity grew after World War II.
 
The heyday of ham radio was the '70s and early '80s, said Ransom. With the rise of the internet, interest waned, although in many ways the new technology is built upon the old.
 
"It's ironic that a lot of the technology going into iPhones and such things go over to ham radio," said Ransom. Hams were text messaging each other in the early '70s, long before cell phones were a twinkle in the eye of tech geniuses like Steve Jobs.
 
"We're the playground for ideas," said Ransom.
 
They're also a backup for emergency responders when natural disasters disrupt the normal infrastructure for communications.
 
Hampton native and longtime Ham Wally Carter, 81, has had impromptu chats with astronauts twice, although he can't recall their names.
 
Hams stand their best shot of linking with an astronaut late at night or on holidays, Carter said. His own first astro-chat was on a Memorial Day when a voice suddenly broke through from outer space: "This is ARISS…"
 
Carter ran to his radio and signaled back.
 
"We talked for a moment," Carter said, then signed off: "See ya later. Thanks for the contact."
 
Atlantis fitted with engine replicas for museum
 
SpaceflightNow.com
 
Already having been powered off for the final time, the shells of rocket pods installed on her tail and nose and key components removed for future use, technicians Tuesday finished inserting replica main engines on space shuttle orbiter Atlantis for permanent display at Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex.
 
Using old-generation nozzles to give a realistic-looking appearance, the replica engines do not include the internal turbopumps, controllers or other parts that an actual shuttle powerplant featured. NASA is keeping its allotment of current-generation engines in protective storage to power the future Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket.
 
Installation began Monday when the first engine was mounted to Atlantis' center-engine position. The lower-left engine was installed early Tuesday, then after a break for a passing rain shower, the third engine was hauled from the prep shop over to Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 for the shuttle's lower-right position.
 
Atlantis will be rolled out of the hangar Friday morning, weather permitting, and moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for storage.
 
The orbiter is scheduled for delivery to KSC's museum this fall where a new display exhibit is being constructed to give the public an up-close look at the retired spaceplane with her payload bay doors open as if orbiting the planet. The facility opens next July, around the second anniversary of the final space shuttle mission.
 
China says it has spent $6 billion on human spaceflight
 
Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com
 
China has spent about $6 billion on its manned space program since 1992, and about half that figure went toward developing advanced capabilities for rendezvous and docking, according to an official quoted by state media.
 
The declaration was a rare public disclosure of the cost of China's human space program, which is run by a division of the People's Liberation Army.
 
China's crewed space effort, codenamed Project 21, formally began in 1992. The country's first human space mission launched in 2003.
 
The state-run Xinhua news agency published the funding numbers, citing a spokesperson for China's manned space program.
 
Since 1992, China has spent about 39 billion yuan, or about $6.1 billion, on the human space program, according to Wu Ping, a spokesperson for the China Manned Space Engineering Office, an agency within the Chinese military.
 
China has invested about 19 billion yuan, or $3 billion, in the budget for rendezvous and docking missions, according to Wu.
 
The $3 billion budget covers the ongoing Shenzhou 9 mission, which is due to end Friday with the landing of three astronauts after a 13-day flight. It also includes the Shenzhou 7 and Shenzhou 8 missions, plus the Shenzhou 10 flight scheduled to launch next year.
 
China has accomplished four crewed space expeditions since 2003. The country completed its first spacewalk on the Shenzhou 7 mission in 2008.
 
Wu did not specify whether the cost of the Tiangong 1 space lab, which is now docked with Shenzhou 9 to form a mini-space station, is included in the budget figures.
 
Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Shenzhou 9's mission control center Tuesday and chatted with astronauts inside the Tiangong 1 space lab.
 
President Hu asked Jing Haipeng, the mission commander, how the crew was doing after 10 days in space. Jing replied the astronauts were in good condition.
 
"Chinese astronauts now have a home in space, and we feel very proud of our great country," Jing said.
 
The Shenzhou 9 and Tiangong 1 complex extends more than 60 feet long and is bigger than a double-decker bus. It is a testbed for technologies leading to a larger Chinese space station the size of Russia's Mir outpost for launch in about 2020.
 
"Seeing you there in good condition, I feel very happy," President Hu said. "How is your work carrying on?"
 
"President Hu, everything is going very well here in space," Jing said. "The manual docking has been completed, and all experiments and tests are carried out according to the plan."
 
The manual docking Sunday was the first piloted link-up between two spacecraft in the history of China's space program.
 
"You have performed this job very nicely, and you've done your great contribution to China's space program, and our country and our people thank you," President Hu said. "We hope that you will work there, support each other and fulfill all the tasks. All of us, and your families, are looking forward to your return."
 
Chinese President talks with astronauts aboard Tiangong-1
 
Xinhua
 
Chinese President Hu Jintao came to the Beijing Aerospace Control Center on Tuesday and spoke with astronauts currently implementing the space mission aboard the conjoint Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and Tiangong-1 orbiter.
 
The President was accompanied by senior leaders Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping and Li Keqiang.
 
Hu extended his sincere greetings to the three astronauts, Jing Haipeng, Liu Wang and Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut.
 
"You have spent nearly 10 days in space, we care about you. How are you feeling?" asked the president.
 
Mission commander Jing said they were in good condition and told the president, "Chinese astronauts have their own home in space now. We are proud of our country!"
 
Hu also asked whether their assignments were going well.
 
Jing said that all work was going smoothly, the manual docking had been completed successfully and the crew members were doing scientific experiments as planned.
 
Hu praised the astronauts for their excellent performance in China's first manual rendezvous and docking mission, which showcased the country's full command of space docking technologies.
 
The president thanked the astronauts for their contributions to the country's manned space program, adding, "We and your families are looking forward to your successful and safe return."
 
The three astronauts saluted the president at the end of their talk.
 
On June 24, the three Chinese astronauts successfully completed a manual docking between the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft and the orbiting Tiangong-1 lab module, the first such attempt in China's history of space exploration.
 
The success of the procedure shows that China has completely grasped space rendezvous and docking technologies and the country is fully capable of transporting humans and cargo to an orbiter in space, which is essential for the country's plans to build a space station around 2020.
 
The spacecraft and the space lab were previously joined in an automated docking on June 18, after the three astronauts were sent into space aboard the Shenzhou-9 on June 16 from a launch center in northwest China's Gobi desert.
 
The three astronauts, 343 km away from Earth, and the Chinese oceanauts from the Mariana Trench, 7,020 meters beneath the Pacific Ocean, where they just broke the country's dive record in a manned submersible, also exchanged greetings on June 24.
 
China also succeeded in automated space dockings between the unmanned spaceship Shenzhou-8 and Tiangong-1 late last year.
 
Shenzhou 9 Aims To Prove Station Technology
 
Bradley Perrett - Aviation Week
 
By last year, China's manned space program had launched its Shenzhou spacecraft eight times, three of them with astronauts aboard. Yet only now, with 13 years of cautiously accumulated experience behind the program, has a Shenzhou crew been given responsibility for controlling the movement of their spacecraft.
 
So while Shenzhou 8 last year showed that the Chinese manned space program had the technology for automatically bringing one spacecraft up to another and linking them, Shenzhou 9 has set out to prove that if the autonomous system were unavailable, then the crew could do the job manually. If they succeed, planned missions to assemble a space station around the end of the decade will not be hostage to the reliability of the automatic rendezvous and docking equipment.
 
Shenzhou 9, with three astronauts, has proved that equipment a third time, adding to the two docking maneuvers that the unmanned Shenzhou 8 executed. On June 18, the latest spacecraft brought itself toward the Tiangong 1 orbital laboratory, then stopped at a range of 5,000 meters (16,400 ft.) while controllers on the ground assessed its progress. A few minutes later, it began moving on its target again until it stopped once more at a range of 400 meters. With a microwave radar and laser rangefinder supplying data, the spacecraft repeated its procedure down to 140 meters, then 30 meters before finally moving right up to Tiangong 1 and docking with it.
 
In pushing ahead with their military-led program, the Chinese have had to reinvent such technologies because Western nations have been largely unwilling to cooperate (see p. 18).
 
All Shenzhou craft have been fitted with manual flight controls, but until Shenzhou 9 the commands to fire maneuvering thrusters were all issued from the ground. Astronauts on previous Chinese missions “just sat in the cabin,” says government spacecraft and rocket builder CAST. “They did not control the spacecraft.”
 
Another major task of Shenzhou 9 is to prove that Tiangong 1 can support life. The three astronauts are due to spend 10 days of the 13-day mission in the quarters provided by the linked craft. When they left the Jiuquan space base on June 16, they had supplies for 15 days. (Shenzhou, pronounced shen-jo, means “divine craft” and is a homonym of an old name for China. Tiangong, pronounced tian-gong, means “palace of the heavens.”)
 
Engineers are progressively improving the Shenzhou craft with physical changes and new procedures and failure modes. The current mission's most obvious differences from Shenzhou 8 are the addition of procedures for manual control and equipment for carrying three people, including China's first female astronaut. Beyond that, its test of the automatic rendezvous and docking system was more severe, because it executed the maneuver entirely in sunlight. Shenzhou 8 shielded its systems from some light interference by completing the process in shadow. “The rendezvous and docking equipment must accept a severe and unusual test,” CAST said in a report carried by the Xinhua news agency before the maneuver.
 
Last year, Shenzhou 8 approached Tiangong 1 from the rear each time it docked. It withdrew 140 meters from the laboratory to make the second attempt. Shenzhou 9 has been tasked with approaching from ahead, with a plan to return to the 400-meter stopping point before the crew takes over for the second, manual maneuver.
 
“Shenzhou 8 and Tiangong 1 just created a rigid assembly,” says CAST. “They brought their doors together but didn't open them. So far as the internal environment was concerned, in no real sense did they form a single unit.” This time the astronauts, for the first time in the history of Chinese spacefaring, have moved from one spacecraft to another. Also in preparation for the planned space station, they are shifting stores into the laboratory, while conducting experiments and, above all, just living in it, to prove that they can.
 
For safety, developers devised more than 300 new fault modes and procedures for the Shenzhou 9 mission, while another 100, relevant to manual control, were improved. Chinese media also report that the spacecraft was modified for greater reliability and fault tolerance.
 
Experience with Shenzhou 8 suggested improvements to the navigation, guidance and control systems for the current mission. Shenzhou 9 also features a manual backup for what CAST describes as the main recovery switch, presumably meaning the apparatus for initiating and executing the return-to-Earth order normally issued from the ground. The Beijing Aerospace Control Center oversees the missions.
 
A Long March 2F hurled Shenzhou 9 to orbit. While it is designed to be safe for manned missions, it was also used for Shenzhou 8, showing the importance of keeping the program on the rails.
 
Virgin Galactic to Launch New Cargo Plan, Spaceship Design
 
Rob Coppinger - Space.com
 
A new initiative could be on the horizon for suborbital spaceship company Virgin Galactic, founded by British billionaire Sir Richard Branson.
 
Branson is expected to announce Virgin Galactic Cargo, a renewed effort to launch small satellites commercially, and reveal design changes to his tourism spacecraft SpaceShipTwo (SS2) at the U.K.'s Farnborough International Airshow next month.
 
Virgin Galactic Cargo could see an unmanned rocket, air launched by SS2's carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), carry satellites weighing up to 440 pounds (200 kilograms) into low-Earth orbit for a price tag of $1 million to $2 million.
 
This was Virgin Galactic's plan when it announced in July 2009 a small satellite launcher project along with a $280 million investment in the spaceline by Abu Dhabi investment company Aabar.
 
Aabar agreed to invest $110 million in the small satellite launcher project if it was found to be feasible.
 
However, in October 2010, the project, then named LauncherOne, went into a hiatus after Virgin Galactic's one U.K.-based staffer working on it full-time left.
 
Astronaut Ron Garan to speak on Social Business Day
 
Daily Star (Bangladesh)
 
The third annual Social Business Day will be observed in Bangladesh on Thursday at Gonoshasthaya Kendra in Savar with a focus on social business as a way to transform society.
 
The event coincides with the birthday of the man who pioneered the concept: Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.
 
The highlight of this year's event is the participation of NASA astronaut Ron Garan, who carried Prof Yunus's book “Creating a World Without Poverty” to his five-month spaceflight in 2011.
 
He will conduct a special session on "Planet and Life in Space: An Orbital Perspective”.
 
About 700 local and 125 foreign participants from Italy, Germany, France, the USA, Japan, Bahrain, Turkey, Malaysia, Haiti, Colombia, India, Albania and Monaco are due in for the event.
 
The day is packed with talks, panel discussions and workshops, which the organisers hope will present a wonderful platform for networking and sharing of ideas on social business, Yunus Centre said in a statement.
 
Speakers from all over the world will explore many ground-breaking ideas in the field of social business, the organisers said.
 
The different panel sessions will highlight issues such as youth, technology, environment, renewable energy, employment, the disabled and the disadvantaged, healthcare, nutrition and microfinance, in context of social business.
 
The day was first celebrated on June 28, 2010 in Dhaka, with parallel programmes in Germany, the USA, Japan, the UK, France and Italy.
 
Elon Musk's spacecraft soared; can his Tesla car do same?
 
Chris Woodyard - USA Today
 
Elon Musk just proved that his commercial rocket venture could reach the International Space Station. Now, he wants to show well-heeled motorists on Earth how to navigate without gasoline.
 
The California entrepreneur who heads companies at opposite ends of the state is hardly a household name. But he's emerging with a higher profile with the success of his cutting-edge, high-risk ventures.
 
The back-to-back successes began last month when SpaceX — the Southern California rocket company where Musk is founder, CEO and "chief designer" — made its Dragon the first commercial spacecraft to dock at the International Space Station.
 
Then last Friday, Tesla Motors— the electric car company where Musk is co-founder and CEO — held a splashy ceremony at its cavernous factory here southeast of San Francisco to deliver the first of its new Model S electric luxury sedans. The four-door is rated by the government at up to 265 miles per charge for the costliest model, about three times more than mainstream electric cars.
 
Running either SpaceX or Tesla would be enough high-wire excitement for most CEOs. "There are a lot of easier ways to make money," Musk conceded in an interview at the Model S event. But Musk says he feels driven to have a personal hand in both. After years of development for both the rocket and the car, Musk is savoring the success. Yes, he acknowledges, he's on "a bit of a roll." But he's quick to add, "I don't want to sound complacent."
 
That's an unlikely accusation. Musk made a fortune as co-founder of online payment service PayPal, which was sold to eBay. At that point, he could have followed other Silicon Valley tycoons into early retirement and raised his five young sons.
 
Instead, Musk, who turns 41 Thursday and recently split from his second wife, British actress Talulah Riley, plowed his money and his talent into not one but two costly, high-risk ventures.
 
One paid off with the flight of the Dragon spacecraft, lifted aloft by a Falcon 9 rocket, both products of Musk's Space Exploration Technologies — or SpaceX, for short. SpaceX is on track to carry out its government contract to ferry supplies to the station, taking over where the recently retired NASA space shuttles left off.
 
Now, naysayers are voicing doubts about whether Musk can make a success of Tesla. The company was founded in 2003 by Silicon Valley engineers bent on shedding electric cars' wimpy image.
 
Tesla sold more than 2,300 of its first effort — a high-performance, $109,000 electric roadster based on a heavily modified Lotus sports car — from the start of production in 2008 through the end of last year. Though it says the roadster was a moneymaker, Tesla never has made an annual profit. It survives on investor funds, Musk's included, and on taxpayer loans, having drawn $360.5 million of a $465 million federal energy loan as of March 31.
 
Musk insists he never intended to be CEO of Tesla, planning instead to spend only about 20% of his time on it. But in 2008, with the company struggling and the economy sinking, he says he had to make the transition from investor to boss. "I had a very tough choice," Musk says. "Either I apply a lot more time and be willing to absorb an enormous amount of pain, or Tesla would die."
 
We can make it better
 
During development of the roadster, Musk became notorious for the costly design changes in his quest for perfection. Now, however, he and other executives talk about the roadster as fun but unrefined — a decent first effort.
 
"We learned a lot of lessons," Musk says. Chief among them was not to depend too much on suppliers or outsourcing the car, which had a body made in England by Lotus that was fitted with Tesla's California-made battery pack.
 
The Model S sedan "is an electric that's better in every way," he says.
 
But it's still pricey. The car will start at $57,400 plus $990 for "personal delivery" for a base version that Tesla says has a range of 160 miles at a constant 55 miles per hour. The price goes up to $105,400 for the fully loaded version with a battery that gets the top-rated range, which Tesla says is 300 miles under the same continuous speed conditions and which the EPA rates at 265 miles in routine driving.
 
The market for such extravagant wheels is limited, not just in the U.S. but around the world. Musk says Tesla needs to sell about 8,000 a year to break even; the company's goal is sustained annual sales of 20,000 for Model S sedans worldwide.
 
Analysts have doubts, noting that the market for pure electric cars — those without gasoline-powered range extension, as the Chevrolet Volt has — is about 1% of the new-car market. Of pure electrics on the market, most are a fraction of the cost of the Model S. The best-known in the U.S. is the Nissan Leaf compact sedan, which starts at $35,200 plus $850 in delivery fees.
 
As for the Tesla, "I think they can sell some, but they will have a hard time with the 20,000 figure" — at least at the higher price points, says Rebecca Lindland, research director for IHS Automotive.
 
But Musk is quick to point out that he has 10,000 reservations, enough to keep the production line busy for months at the former General Motors and Toyota joint-venture factory. The car's power pack and electronics also are robust enough that Tesla is producing a drivetrain for Toyota, too, for the recently unveiled electric version of the RAV4.
 
Anyone who plunks down a $5,000 deposit today on a Model S will have to wait until May for delivery, says the company's sales chief, George Blankenship.
 
As robust as its electronics may be, that's not what will sell the Model S, Musk insists. "Our goal is not to make a long-range sedan," he says, "but the best car in the world."
 
For sure, the car has lots of features that break new ground in both the luxury and electric car worlds. For instance, the charging unit is built into the car, so owners don't have to have one installed in their garages (although they will want a 240-volt outlet, because the 265-mile version can take up to eight hours to recharge even on that.)
 
The interior is dominated by a center-console touch-screen that measures 17 inches diagonally, larger than the combined screen area of two Apple iPads and bigger than most laptops. The touch-screen controls nearly every function.
 
Information on the screen can be configured in multiple ways, such as navigation on the top and radio settings or cabin temperature on the bottom. The screen also allows full Internet access, even while the car is moving.
 
The car's door handles are flush against the athletically styled body and extend only when a hand brushes against them.
 
Tesla says the performance version of the car whips from zero to 60 miles an hour in 4.4 seconds — quicker than a Porsche 911 Carrera sports car.
 
That personal touch
 
Tesla officials say they sweated the details to achieve both the performance and styling touches throughout the car. Musk took a personal hand.
 
Having a CEO who is a control freak when it comes to product details isn't always pretty.
 
Three weeks ago, he says, he told the powertrain team that he felt the acceleration from 70 mph to 90 mph was inadequate. When they protested that it couldn't be improved, Musk amped up the gentle persuasion: "Imagine," he told them, that "there was a gun to your head" and the trigger was about to be pulled. "Would you find a way to make it better?"
 
Musk got what he wanted: Acceleration in that speed band was improved 20%.
 
The South African-born Musk, who has physics and business degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, is "an amazingly strong engineer," says JB Straubel, the chief technology officer. "We are always trying to do things on the edge of impossible."
 
Having designed the car, Musk now has to make and sell it profitably, which again could put him on the edge of impossibility. Tesla has about 1,800 employees and plans to ramp up the plant this year to about 80 cars a day.
 
Compared with hundreds of dealers for its luxury competitors, Tesla has 22 dealers worldwide, including 12 in the U.S. Another 10 are planned by the end of the year.
 
And tiny Tesla remains vulnerable to catch-up luxury rivals such as BMW or Mercedes-Benz, which could emulate Tesla's technical advances and throw a lot more marketing muscle behind the effort, says Jim Hall of 2953 Analytics.
 
But to do so would mean crossing Musk, a perfectionist who may be able to think ahead of competitors. Whether it's space or cars, few doubt his ability as a visionary who actually can bring his ideas to fruition.
 
"What makes him special," says sales chief Blankenship, "is, what he is thinking about now is what others will be thinking about in 20 years."
 
SpaceX Dragon: a worthy successor to space shuttles?
Shouldn't we expect more from the next generation?
 
Donald Gilleland - Treasure Coast Palm (Opinion)
 
(Gilleland is a veteran and former corporate director of public affairs for General Dynamics Corp)
 
Everyone seems excited over the success of SpaceX's Dragon capsule. Looks like we may once more have a way to get our supplies and astronauts to the International Space Station. Given time we may even be able to develop a new age commercial shuttle to take our astronauts to more distant planets.
 
But, before we get all giddy about the first success of the SpaceX Dragon, let's look at the regressive history Dragon represents. Our first manned spaceflight was Freedom 7, which carried American astronaut Alan Shepard to an altitude of just more than 116 miles in 1961.
 
That was followed by five more manned space flights using spacecraft, all of which looked like a bullet and all of which had to land by parachute in the Pacific Ocean.
 
Twenty years later, in 1981, we entered the era of the Space Shuttle. It was the only winged manned spacecraft to have achieved orbit and then returned to land like an airplane. These space vehicles were a source of great national pride. They still are.
 
Space Shuttle Atlantis ended a remarkable chapter in space exploration and communities across the United States will proudly display these shuttles until they become relics.
 
Unfortunately, their premature retirement left us with no way to resupply the International Space Station without piggybacking on the Russian Soyuz capsules. NASA has had to rent space on the Russian vehicles, at nearly $63 million per seat, to get our astronauts to the space station. There was no other way to get there.
 
Which raises the question: Shouldn't we have developed an alternative way to get to the space station before we retired our space shuttles? Why couldn't we have continued using these magnificent machines until we developed suitable 21st century replacements — and saved a lot of jobs in the process.
 
Just as relevant, why didn't we start building replacement vehicles 10 years ago? What happened to our national pride in the space program? Where were the scientists with a vision for the future? Regrettably these are now moot questions.
 
Retirement of the space shuttles opened a market for commercial development of space vehicles. SpaceX's Dragon capsule is the result. Its successful resupply mission to the International Space Station opens the door to further development of a system to deliver astronauts into the space environment.
 
But, take a close look at the Dragon capsule. Doesn't it bear a close resemblance to our early 1960s-era prototype space capsules that had to land in the Pacific Ocean?
 
Sure, the Dragon capsule undoubtedly has 21st century technology throughout, but doesn't it bear a strange resemblance to the 50-year-old look of the Mercury and Apollo capsules? And in the 21st century shouldn't we be able to do better than to drop our astronauts into the ocean?
 
A "Dragon 2.0" spacecraft is expected to do propulsive soft landings, but that is a distant dream. I'm as thrilled as the next person about regaining our national dominance in space, but I was expecting something a bit grander than a large bullet shot into space and parachuted into the Pacific Ocean again.
 
I was hoping to see something that resembled the sleek look of the British Concorde.
 
How the Moon Landings Are Used as a Symbol for National Greatness
 
Mark Whittington - The Examiner
 
The moon landings, past and possibly future, are being used as symbols of national achievement and as a somewhat unsubtle warning of America falling behind and perhaps going in decline in science and other areas of achievement.
 
Exxon-Mobile is using the moon landings in a public service announcement that urges the United States to increase efforts to educate children in math and science. The PSA has the arresting image of the Apollo moon landing finding the flags of many nationals already on the lunar surface, with the message, “What if we were not first?”
 
In a presentation made for NASA by Andrew Thomas, an astronaut, on deep space exploration, and even more arresting image is included of a pair of Chinese astronauts raising their own flag on the lunar surface while trampling underfoot the American flag that had been left there decades before. The caption is, “We must make this event inconsequential.”
 
The meme of space exploration in general and the moon landings in particular as metaphors for national greatness is a powerful one. National pride powered the Apollo moon landings as much as did rocket fuel. While enthusiasm for lunar adventures cooled, thus cutting the Apollo program short, belated pride in what America accomplished still exists. A poll taken by CBS News on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landing showed that 71 percent of respondents agreed that the expense of the Apollo program was worth it. That was up from just 47 percent who agreed with that proposition in 1979, ten years after the event.
 
Unfortunately the connection between the moon landings and national pride is not universally shared. In a now notorious speech delivered at the Kennedy Space Center to justify his abrupt cancellation of the Constellation space exploration program, which would have returned American astronauts to the moon, President Obama had scant use for lunar exploration. “Now, I understand that some believe that we should attempt a return to the surface of the Moon first, as previously planned. But I just have to say pretty bluntly here: We’ve been there before. Buzz has been there.”
 
The disdain for the moon landing seems to be bipartisan. Presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney excoriated Newt Gingrich’s idea of a lunar base during the primary campaign, at one point promising to fire anyone who proposed it to him.
 
On the other hand, Romney had a number of lunar base advocates among his aerospace advisers, including former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin. Romney has said nothing about space policy since the primaries. But it should be noted that he has not fired Griffin for openly endorsing a return to the moon. So there is hope that Romney will recognize the moon as a symbol of America’s greatness and flip flop on the question.
 
END
 


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