KySat

Big hopes, big goals for Space-X and Falcon 1

Carrying the hopes for the future of low-cost access to orbit, Space-X's Falcon 1 is scheduled for lift off sometime after July 29, according to Smithsonian's Air&Space.

Unlike the previous tries, which were billed as demonstrations, this is not a test. Flight 003, as SpaceX calls it, carries cargo belonging to paying customers: an Air Force satellite called Jumpstart that’s meant to show that small satellites can be built and launched quickly; a test ring adapter for the Malaysian space agency ATSB (a future SpaceX client); and two breadbox-size NASA experiments, one of which aims to be the first solar sail deployed in space.

Fourteen such launches are scheduled through 2011 if all goes well. But Musk has much bigger goals in mind for Space-X and the nascent commercial space transportation sector - sending humans to Mars.

In a speech delivered earlier this month to the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, he said, 'For the first time in the four-billion-year history of Earth, there exists the possibility of extending life beyond Earth to other planets…. It is difficult to predict how long that window will remain open.

'Commercial space transport companies, including possibly SpaceX, are needed to make this happen, as the commercial sector is best suited to optimizing both the cost and reliability of access to space, just as the commercial air and ground transport companies did in their sectors. I believe we will need at least an order (perhaps two orders) of magnitude reduction in present-day space launch costs and flight failures to achieve the goal of becoming a multi-planetary species.'

Rob Coppinger has the ten minute speech here.

Wayne

A Great Flick: Apollo's Orphans

Editor's note: Jeffrey Manber is an adviser to Kentucky Space.

I had the pleasure of attending on Friday evening the premier of Apollo's Orphans at the New Space 2008 conference in Washington, DC. Apollo's Orphans finally brings to life the dramatic story  of how a group of dedicated Americans and Russian space officials came together to save the Russian space station Mir.

Watching the flick in the packed house was strange, as I'm interviewed in the documentary as well. The audience was clearly into the story, though they responded at times differently then me, and that was the strange part. Some incidents shown were more important to me than to them and some things the audience found funny I still just cringe. Riding in Walt Anderson's Gulfstream jet to Moscow to lease the space station while playing the board game Risk; just thinking about that makes me cringe.  But none the less, producer Michael Potter has created a solid piece of journalism. Some really good guys are not in the story, such as Gert Weyers, who held together the office, and James Dunstan, our legal guru who pulled together the lease language in just a few weeks. But other than that, Michael has all the players who were MirCorp. Check his site.

There was also a question and answer session afterward hosted by Roger Lanius, the former historian for NASA. It was all taped, though I'm not sure who has control and when we will be able to watch. Maybe someone from New Space and The Space Frontier can let us know.

What happened with MirCorp has been overlooked by many. Few realize we signed Dennis Tito to his launch contract; few realize we sent two humans into space to inspect the station, the only time in history a private company has launched a space expedition.

MirCorp was a critical signpost in the journey to outer space. The venture was proof positive that commercial entrepreneurs could create a sustainable model for building a commercial outpost.

Reporters laughed at the thought that people would pay millions to visit the Mir space station, until we signed Dennis Tito. And then we signed Mark Burnett of Survivor and NBC to do a game show on the Mir, and we were working with  others, including movie director James Cameron, when the Mir was de-orbited.

MirCorp showed, and the film reminds us, that there was an alternative to the space status quo. And funny enough that alternative is now becoming the heart and soul of our program, when entrepreneurs like Bigelow and Musk and Bezos are building both launch vehicles and manned stations.

Documentaries about failed efforts are sometimes not that relevant. Apollo's Orphans is different. It is the timely story of how close we came to bringing about a revolution in space activities almost a decade ago. For me, it was a great chance to see old friends, and not look back but forward to an even more exciting future for space exploration.

Jeffrey

Top ten near-term space technologies

Next Big Future lists the top ten near-term technologies that will significantly boost existing space capabilities. The technological list includes dramatically lowered access to space, faster travel to Mars, inflatable structures and electric solar sails. It's an interesting collection of technologies that are close to reality. Check it out.

Wayne

NASA: Outside organizations can teach it something about innovation

Wired: NASA is betting that employees who spend a year working outside the agency will bring innovation back to the agency when they return.

NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program gets a tip of the hat for doing something new. This could also be a way to help solve some of the next generation workforce issues at NASA. Sending young employees out could appeal to their need for stimulation and new challenges and coming back they might gain other leadership opportunities as a result of their new found experience. Older employees could get exposed to open source, Silicon Valley ways of thinking and latest and most up-to-date technology and practices being used out in industry and beyond. Plus the opportunity to work in fields where the workforce is younger will provide exposure to the talents, abilities and unique contributions next generation workers have to offer, a potential unexpected return on this investment

Organizations interested in hosting a NASA employee for up to a year should see this page.

Wayne

Google X-Prize on YouTube

Space Prizes provides a list of Google X-Prize videos on YouTube that haven't shown up on the official X-Prize Foundation web site.

Wayne

Space business plan competition announced

According to the Space 2.0 blog, a space business plan competition for university students will be held in 2009.

The 8th Continent Project Business Plan Competition challenges students in business, engineering and science to collaborate in creating business ventures related to space, but with immediate application on Earth. Teams should consist primarily of graduate students, although undergraduate participation is welcome. Prizes for the winner include up to $50,000 in cash and in-kind services.

The competition is a project of the Colorado School of Mines 8th Continent Project, the "world’s most comprehensive effort to integrate space technology and resources into the global economy."

Here is the video pitch:

Wayne

Nanosatellite communications fleet planned

According to Information Week, working with a partner NASA is planning a fleet of nanosatellites, each weighing between 5 and 45 kilograms, in an effort to build a 5G communications platform in space.

NASA will lend its expertise in nanosensors, wireless networks, and nanosatellite technologies, while M2mi [a systems intelligence company] will apply its abilities in software technology, sensors, global system awareness, adaptive control, and commercialization.

Wayne

Spaceport funding approved

This may be the first and last time you read about a local tax issue in KySat, but the people of Sierra County, New Mexico have approved an increase in local gross receipts tax to support the construction of Spaceport America, the first built-from-scratch commercial spaceport in the United States.

Wayne

Academic "competitive launch program" envisioned

According to SpaceRef.com, The New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) is working on a new venture that would "create a competitive educational launch program for students in public schools and universities."

The effort would unite NMSA, the Air Force Research Lab Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland Air Force Base (AFRL), the X-Prize Foundation, the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium at New Mexico State University (NMSG), UP Aerospace and Microgravity Enterprises, Inc. (MEI).

The first "launch competition" is scheduled for the 2008 - 2009 academic year.

Wayne

Space Access '08 a wrap

Just wanted to point out that Space Access '08 conference has just wrapped. Bloggers on the scene included Henry Cate, who began the Carnival of Space, veteran space reporter Jeff Foust, who also blogs Personal Spaceflight, and Rand Simberg at Transterrestrial Musings. Thanks, Henry, for the note.

Wayne

Lynx: New suborbital rocketplane

Personal Spaceflight highlights a new entrant into the suborbital passenger business: Lynx. See this Lynx post as well.

A look at the XCOR Aerospace web site turned up this YouTube animation of the rocketplane, which will apparently feature a runway takeoff.

Wayne

Choosing a moon lander motor

What kinds of design decisions must be made when choosing a motor for a moon lander? The Southern California Selene Group, which is competing for the Google Lunar X Prize, has posted its take on some engineering and propulsion issues it's currently facing. The latest on the teams and news may be found here.

Wayne

Moon 'bot prototype

One of the teams participating in the Google Lunar X Prize challenge has posted this video of a robotic sphere, which as the team's blog entry also points out, has been the subject of a New York Times article.

Wayne

Odyssey Moon offering delivery

The very first official entrant in the Google Lunar X Prize, now one of ten, has announced a "Payload Flight Opportunity," the first of what it anticipates will be several such opportunities.

Odyssey Moon is making 15 to 25 kg of payload is available on the initial flight, planned for July 2011.

Wayne

New Mexico Spaceport "open for business"

The New Mexico Spaceport is open for business, according to Space.com.

Wayne

Falcon flights set to resume

Having finished some marathon testing on its Merlin engines, Space X will resume Falcon flights this spring.

Wayne

Google Lunar X Prize news on YouTube

News about the major expansion of teams competing for the Google Lunar X Prize has been posted to YouTube. Judging by the sheer number of hits it has received in so short a time, this business of private missions to the Moon excites a lot of people.

Wayne

How does space exploration affect you?

NASA has introduced a nice interactive graphic describing how space exploration affects each of us. Click on "NASA Home and City" for an interactive tour through the everyday items found in a typical home that have roots in the space program. The graphics and execution of the newly redesigned NASA web home is simply outstanding.

Wayne

Blogging the Space Exploration Conference

At Hyperbola Rob Coppinger is live blogging the 3rd Space Exploration Conference in Denver.

Wayne

Armadillo space update + cool pic

Jeff Foust points out that Armadillo Aerospace, which has come close to wining the Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge on a couple of occasions, has updated its blog with some extensive information on recent motor testing. Also included is an image of a proposed single person sub-orbit vehicle, reproduced here. While Armadillo cautions against reading too much into a concept image, it certainly is fun to look at. Image is courtesy of Armadillo Aerospace.

Wayne

Google Lunar X Prize bonus for Florida launch

The winner of the Google Lunar X Prize can collect an additional $2 million just for launching from Florida.

Wayne

Stratofox: Tracking rockets

Stratofox, the high altitude tracking and recovery team for rocketry and balloon flights, has posted some slides (PDF) from a recent west coast Ham radio conference explaining what the group does. The group has provided tracking services for a variety of NewSpace initiatives and says "Our goal is to get invitations to 'all the cool launches' for our members and help the civilian entrepreneurial aerospace industry get off the ground." Now that sounds fun.

Wayne

Rocketry, Stratofox

Interorbital's "academic launch pricing"

From The Space Fellowship: Interorbital Systems has made public the design of its manned orbital launch vehicle, Neptune. It has also passed a major milestone by completing the propellant tank construction of its Sea Star MSLV (microsatellite launch vehicle). Here is the interesting part:

As Interorbital nears the completion of the Sea Star MSLV flight demonstrator construction, public and customer interest continues to rise. IOS is in discussion with three microsat producers who want to take advantage of the special academic launch pricing (under $500,000 for a 12-CubeSat, 50-lb payload to LEO) now in force for initial Sea Star launches, which translates to satellite launch for as little as $35,000 per single CubeSat. Interorbital Systems’ CEO Milliron stated, “We’re offering an open invitation to academic institutions who’ve, due to launch cost restraints, never thought it possible to consider building a satellite or conducting space-based science. We’re announcing that a new opportunity for affordable launch has emerged—and it’s called Sea Star.”

Wayne

Interorbital Systems

Latest Carnival of Space out

This must be the largest Carnival of Space yet. From the use of the Wii remote to teach physics, to plant extremophiles, to an explanation of redshift, there's a lot of space news and science in this edition. Check it out.

Wayne

London to Australia: half an hour?

Richard Branson discusses his vision for Virgin Galactic in this brief video interview from the London Telegraph. London to Australia in half an hour? Space hotels?

If you haven't already seen pictures of the craft from the media event yesterday, Hyperbola displays a number of high quality images of SpaceShipTwo and White Knight II on its site.

Hat tip: Universe Today.

Wayne

Funding available for space-related research in Kentucky

April 1 is the deadline for proposals focusing on space-related and aerospace-related projects from Kentucky Space Grant Consortium member institutions in the commonwealth.

Details can be found at http://www.wku.edu/ksgc/. Click on KSGC funding opportunities.

Eligible subjects encompass all fields and areas of interest to NASA, including physical, biological, and behavioral sciences, engineering, mathematics, computer science, and physiological/biomedical sciences and engineering. Women and underrepresented minorities are strongly encouraged to propose. For more information, contact:

Karen Hackney, Director
Kentucky Space Grant Consortium
Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, TCCW 246
Western Kentucky University
1906 College Heights Blvd, #11077
Bowling Green, KY 42101-1077
E-mail: NASA@wku.edu
Phone: 270-791-4506
FAX: 270-745-4255

Wayne

SpaceX progress report

While writing a post on Elon Musk I had briefly mentioned news that Falcon9, the heavy lift vehicle being developed by his company, SpaceX, had undergone hold-down firings. In addition to that news, SpaceX also provides a very comprehensive update on its entire program on the same page, which includes many, many high quality images of the motors, rockets, SpaceX facilities and Dragon, the capsule for human travelers. Check it out.

Wayne

New Google Lunar X Prize teams to debut soon?

Space Prizes links to a Will Pomerantz post at the X Prize Foundation, who covers a lot of ground related to the work of the X Prize Foundation. But he also drops this bit of news about the Google Lunar X Prize that I wanted to pass along.

With the new year, the Google Lunar X PRIZE is getting some new teams. We've received and gone over several applications already, and we've got some really exciting teams that will debut soon. I can't give away too much right now, but stay tuned.

The second moon race will award $35 million to the first team to put a privately funded craft on the moon,  travel at least 500 yards and return a "mooncast" of the mission from the lunar surface.

Wayne

Moon racer to be interviewed today

According to the International Space Fellowship, tonight at 10 ET, Dr. Robert Richards, who is the Founder and CEO of Odyssey Moon Limited, will appear on The Space Show. Odyssey Moon is a commercial lunar enterprise and the first official registrant in the $30M Google Lunar X PRIZE competition. It ought to be an interesting interview.

Much more information about Richards can be found using the first link above. Archived audio from the interview should be available in the next few days on The Space Show pages.

Wayne

New space elevator video

As the Space Elevator Blog points out, Spaceminer, an entrant in the 2005 and 2006 space elevator games, has posted four videos of its efforts. I'm embedding the first one below.

Wayne

 

Space technologies, Earth benefit

Citing 39 examples of space technology in categories such as health, transportation and computer technology that provide tangible benefits to society, NASA has released Spinoff 2007, its annual list of NASA technology with big benefits on Earth.

Wayne

New Mexico Spaceport groundbreaking delayed

The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that the groundbreaking ceremony for the New Mexico Spaceport has been delayed until 2008, but that the spaceport is still on track for a 2010 opening, about the time Virgin Galactic is expected to fly. Virgin Galactic will be the anchor tenant. The article also points out that UP Aerospace, which bills itself as "the world's premier supplier of low-cost space access," has recently conducted test launches from the site for an unnamed business customer.

Wayne

Space stories to watch in 2008

What are the space stories to watch in 2008? From Virgin Galactic to SpaceX's Falcon launch vehicle to the future of the COTS, Constellation and Shuttle programs, the next year could be momentous, according to Ron Coppinger, who also lists the issues in the remaining days of 2007 here.

Wayne