Fwd: Russia's new rocket will be named Fenix

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: April 27, 2015 at 10:02:01 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Russia's new rocket will be named Fenix

 

Russia's new rocket will be named Fenix — source

April 27, 14:35 UTC+3
The new medium-class carrier rocket is planned to replace the Soyuz rocket family

 

© Mikhail Japaridze/TASS

MOSCOW, April 27. /TASS/. Russia's space agency (Roscosmos) plans to begin in 2018 the development of a medium-class carrier rocket to replace the Soyuz rocket family the creation of which had started during the USSR times when Sergey Korolev was the country's chief rocket engineer, a rocket and space industry source told TASS on Monday.

"Roscosmos is to prepare the technical design specification for the medium-class carrier rocket during 2016-2017. In 2018, it is planned to begin the experimental development work on this rocket named Fenix," he said.

According to the source, in the period from 2015 to 2018 Roscosmos plans to spend more than 30 billion rubles (almost $600 million) on the project.

Another source in the industry told TASS that the initiative of the new rocket development belongs to the Samara-based Progress rocket space center. According to preliminary data, it will be a one-piece carrier rocket with the capacity of carrying at least 9 tons of payload to a low-Earth orbit, that is, it will take a niche between the existing Soyuz and Zenit rockets. The Samara enterprise proposes to use liquefied natural gas as fuel, but also considers the standard kerosene and hydrogen option. In the future, Fenix is planned to be used as a module for creating carrier rockets of larger capacity. The groundwork of the Frigate upper stage manufactured by the NPO Lavochkin Research and Production Association may be used for the new rocket's booster.

Infographics Russia's Angara A5 heavy-load space carrier rocket

The new Russian Angara A5 heavy-load rocket was successfully test-launched on December 23, 2014. Infographics by TASS

According to the source, the creation of a new medium capacity rocket was necessitated by the fact that in the future the national space program will use the Angara modular rocket. However, if a contingency occurs during the launch of a light-class version of Angara, the launches of the entire family of the carrier rockets will have to be suspended until the investigation is over, the source said. It is necessary to develop a new rocket as a reserve to ensure orbiting of small and medium payloads, he added.

Roscosmos chief Igor Komarov said previously that a new draft of the Federal Space Programme for 2016-2025 included the works for the creation of a new-generation medium-class carrier rocket.

 

© 2015 TASS

 

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Commentary | The Safe Decision, but Wise? - SpaceNews.com

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Fwd: Russia to Continue Development of Nuclear Engine for Deep Space Flights

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: April 27, 2015 at 10:07:52 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Russia to Continue Development of Nuclear Engine for Deep Space Flights

 

 

Russia to Continue Development of Nuclear Engine for Deep Space Flights

11:22 24.04.2015(updated 12:39 24.04.2015)

92800

Russia plans to ceate a nuclear engine for deep space flights in 2029-2030.

 

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia will continue its plans to create a nuclear engine for deep space flights, according to the country's 2016-2025 Federal Space Program.

A number of news agencies earlier said that Roscosmos was apparently planning on closing down its work on creating a megawatt-class nuclear engine meant for deep space flights.

According to the Federal Space Program, the creation of the nuclear engine is scheduled for 2029-2030.

The Russian Federal Space Program will include a number of other ambitious projects such as a moon exploration program, which will send a manned mission to the Earth's natural satellite, and the construction of a super-heavy rocket needed to send spacecraft beyond Earth's orbit.

It is expected to be submitted to the government by June 10, 2015.

According to Roscosmos, the budgetary requirements for the Space Program through 2025 will be approximately $37 billion.

 

© 2015 Sputnik All rights reserved. 

 

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Fwd: Air Force Outlines First Steps in RD-180 Replacement Effort

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: April 30, 2015 at 7:59:59 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Air Force Outlines First Steps in RD-180 Replacement Effort

 

 

U.S. Air Force Outlines First Steps in RD-180 Replacement Effort

by Mike Gruss — April 29, 2015

The U.S. Air Force is looking to replace the Russian-built RD-180 engine, the main powerplant on United Launch Alliance's workhorse Atlas 5 rocket, above. Credit: ULA/Pat Corkery

WASHINGTON – Facing congressional pressure to begin work on an American replacement for the Russian-built main rocket engine used today to launch most U.S. national security payloads, the U.S. Air Force quietly unveiled the initial steps in a procurement strategy that has been complicated by a key industry player's own plans.

The announcements, released late April 24, detail what Gen. John Hyten, commander of Air Force Space Command, acknowledged April 28 is a "complicated" and "difficult" acquisition strategy, one that may produce an American-made rocket engine by 2019, as Congress has directed. But speaking with reporters at a breakfast here, Hyten said it likely would take at least two more years to integrate the engine into a rocket.

Hyten is among the Air Force leaders scheduled to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee April 29 in a hearing in which lawmakers are expected to grill witnesses about plans to replace the Russian-built RD-180 engine, the main powerplant on United Launch Alliance's workhorse Atlas 5 rocket.

Gen. John Hyten, the head of U.S. Air Force Space Command. Credit: SpaceNews/Tom Kimmell

Congress mandated last year that the Defense Department develop a kerosene-fueled main rocket engine to replace the RD-180, also kerosene fueled, by 2019. While Air Force officials have raised doubts they can meet that deadline — Hyten called it an "enormous" technological challenge — service leaders have nonetheless been working for months on an acquisition strategy.

Part of the reason for taking so long, Hyten said, is that the Air Force had to shift gears last fall after Denver-based ULA announced it would work with Blue Origin on a new engine fueled by liquid-natural-gas rather than kerosene. Following that announcement, the Air Force decided to broaden the scope of its search to include engines that, like Blue Origin's BE-4, are not necessarily designed to plug into the first stage of the Atlas 5.

One of the service's first steps under the new strategy is to award six to eight contracts with a combined value of $31 million for companies to work on booster propulsion technologies, according to a draft broad agency announcement released April 24. The individual contract awards will range between $500,000 and $8 million, the notice said. Companies will be eligible for multiple awards so long at the total value does not exceed $16 million.

The money for these contracts will be drawn from the $40 million Congress reprogrammed in 2014 and the $220 million lawmakers appropriated in 2015 for the engine development effort, Hyten said. The Air Force has spent $50 million of that money so far, Hyten said, although how that money was used is unclear.

Also unclear is how the Air Force would spend the remaining two thirds of the money, at least over the next year or so.

The Air Force is looking at two specific areas: reducing the cost of booster propulsion components and subsystems through the use of new materials and additive manufacturing; and advanced technologies such as alternative propellants and architectures. All of the technologies the Air Force will consider are expected to be within two years of maturity, the posting said.

The service is asking for white papers on the subject before May 8. After an Air Force review of those papers, selected respondents will be invited in June to bid for development contracts.

A second, but overlapping, step is to develop a design for a complete new engine, according to another draft solicitation released late April 24. The idea, is to "take us to [preliminary design review] with a prototype plan," Hyten said.

The design could be a main- or upper-stage engine, the solicitation said. The document did not detail how much the government intends to spend on this part of the effort, but did say that industry co-funding will be expected.

A formal request for proposals for the second phase is expected by the end of May, Hyten said, and the service hopes to have proposals back from industry by the end of June.

Interestingly, Kent, Washington-based Blue Origin has told the Air Force it has no interest in taking government money for its BE-4 development effort, Hyten said. SpaceX, the Hawthorne, California, company challenging ULA for a share of the national security launch market, has expressed a similar sentiment, he said.

In a third step, to take place at what was described only as "a later time," but likely before 2018, the Air Force will invest in development and "secure launch service commitments" from those companies selected during the second phase, the solicitation said.

 © 2015 SpaceNews, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

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Fwd: Russia Snaps Photos of Top Secret US Spysats

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: April 30, 2015 at 8:02:04 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Russia Snaps Photos of Top Secret US Spysats

 

 

 

Say Cheese! Russia Snaps Photos of Top Secret US Spysats

13:50 30.04.2015(updated 13:54 30.04.2015) Get short URL

42940

 

Washington has become extremely paranoid about a series of rare images of its Lacrosse spy satellites (# 2,3,4 and 5), which were recently released by Russia.

The US is trying to find a reason why Russia has disclosed its images of secret Lacrosse US spy satellites.

It is busy guessing what the actual reason behind the disclosure is; while it continues to think it might be a way for Russia to challenge what the US sees as its "space advantage", a more likely answer comes from Germany: it's simply a way "to show that Moscow is aware".

© Photo: npk-spp.ru

Altai optical-laser center

Former CIA analyst Allen Thomson has compiled and analyzed the shots captured by Russia's Altay Optical Laser center somewhat between 2005 and 2010.

The existence of the Lacrosse terrestrial radar imaging reconnaissance satellites, operated by the US National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), was not officially confirmed for a long time, its existence was declassified only in 2008.

Lacrosse satellites use synthetic aperture radar as their prime imaging instrument. It is able to see through cloud cover and its gaze also has some ability to penetrate soil.

The name Lacrosse is used to refer to all of these orbital spycraft, while there is another name, Onyx, which is sometimes used to refer to the three newer units.

Five Lacrosse spacecraft have been launched, and three are currently in orbit.

© fas.org

US spy satellite

"The [released] images contain enough information (range, angular scale) to perform a bit of technical intelligence (i.e., sophomore high school trigonometry) on the radar antenna size, which is a significant parameter affecting capability," Thomson said, as quoted by the US media.

"Why did the Russians release the images?  The US is highly paranoid about releasing resolved images of spysats, ours or others. The Russian paranoia is at least as great, so how did these images get out? What was the purpose?" Thomson questions.

"The images themselves seem to be mostly just a curiosity," he supposed. "But perhaps they underscore the growing visibility and the corresponding vulnerability of US space-based assets."

Then Thomson however supposed that it might be a way "to respond to our [their] space advantage", citing Gil Klinger, a defense intelligence official, who testified at a 2014 House Armed Services Committee hearing on US national security space activities.

Klinger then said that the US asymmetrical advantage in space "also creates asymmetrical vulnerabilities".

The answer came from the German news site Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten, which supposed that it is a way to show that "Moscow always knows what the US is up to".

 

© 2015 Sputnik All rights reserved. 

 

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Keep the shuttle flying

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S/b conducting ops now!

Fwd: Quantum particles at play; Creating artificial blood vessels; Next-gen Engineering Facilities

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Begin forwarded message:

From: Kent Castle <kent.d.castle@hotmail.com>
Date: April 28, 2015 at 3:58:18 PM CDT
To: Choban Peter <peter.s.choban@aero.org>, Madsen Ron <ronstar@pdq.net>, Astrology Valkyrie <astrogoddess@valkyrieastrology.com>, Martin Bobby <bobbygmartin1938@gmail.com>, Bentz Jerry <bentz@sbcglobal.net>, Patterson James <w8ljz@aol.com>
Subject: FW: Quantum particles at play; Creating artificial blood vessels; Next-gen Engineering Facilities

 

---

From: reply@mail.rdmag.com
To: KENT.D.CASTLE@HOTMAIL.COM
Subject: Quantum particles at play; Creating artificial blood vessels; Next-gen Engineering Facilities
Date: Tue, 28 Apr 2015 13:31:47 -0600

Bosons form multiple groups...

View this email in your browser. APRIL 28, 2015   IN THIS ISSUE   NEWS     New material for creating artificial blood vessels     NEWS     Quantum particles at play: Game theory elucidates the collective behavior of bosons     NEWS     Detecting effects of 3-D shapes in nanoscale chip features     NEWS     Electric solar wind sail could make bidirectional manned Mars flights economically feasible     NEWS     Heat makes electrons spin in magnetic superconductors   Take Your Place among 53 Years of R&D Excellence For more than a half century, R&D magazine has identified and honored the top 100 products introduced each year. With the considerable time and resources invested in your new product, make sure it is considered with the breakthrough technologies vying for the Award known as "the Oscars of Invention." 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It is often necessary to replace a blood vessel-either by another vessel taken from the body or even by artificial vascular prostheses. Tesearchers have developed artificial blood vessels made from a special elastomer material, which has excellent mechanical properties. Over time, these artificial blood vessels are replaced by endogenous material. FULL STORY     NEWS Heat makes electrons spin in magnetic superconductors Physicists have shown how heat can be used to control the magnetic properties of matter. The finding helps in the development of more efficient mass memories. In the study, the researchers showed how heat is converted into a spin current in magnetic superconductors. Magnetic superconductors can be fabricated by placing a superconducting film on top of a magnetic insulator. FULL STORY     NEWS Quantum particles at play: Game theory elucidates the collective behavior of bosons Quantum particles behave in strange ways and are often difficult to study experimentally. Using mathematical methods drawn from game theory, LMU physicists have shown how bosons, which like to enter the same state, can form multiple groups. FULL STORY     NEWS Mathematics reveals how fluid flow affects bacteria Researchers from the University of Liverpool have used mathematical equations to shed new light on how flowing fluid hinders the movement of bacteria in their search for food.  Mathematicians developed a new set of equations to study how flowing fluid affected the movement of bacteria and how the swimming behavior of the bacteria themselves affected their travel. FULL STORY     NEWS Detecting effects of 3-D shapes in nanoscale chip features As microchip feature dimensions approach atomic scale, it becomes formidably difficult to measure their size and shape. According to the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors, within the next couple of years the typical length of a transistor's "gate"-its on-off switch-will be less than 20 nanometers (nm, billionths of a meter). FULL STORY     NEWS Electric solar wind sail could make bidirectional manned Mars flights economically feasible By opening up the possibility of economical asteroid water mining, the electric solar wind sail (E-sail) enables frequent and affordable manned Mars flights. The E-sail is a novel propellantless technology that was invented in Finland in 2006. The E-sail utilizes long, charged tethers to convert natural solar wind momentum flux into spacecraft thrust. FULL STORY     NEWS Unique microscopic images provide new insights into ionic liquids To directly observe chemical processes in unusual, new materials is a scientific dream, made possible by modern microscopy methods: researchers at Kiel University have, for the first time, captured video images of the attachment of molecules in an ionic liquid onto a submerged electrode. The images from the nanoscale world provide detailed information on the way in which chemical components reorganize when a voltage is applied. FULL STORY   SUBSCRIBE • UNSUBSCRIBE • ADVERTISE • ABOUT US RD MAGAZINE • RD 100 AWARDS • INDUSTRY GUIDE • LAB DESIGN NEWS This email was sent by: R&D Magazine 100 Enterprise Drive - Suite 600 - Rockaway, NJ 07866-2129 We respect your right to privacy - click here to view our policy. ©2015 R&D Magazine. All rights reserved.