Space News Roundup January 10, 2011

• The Las Cruces Sun-News things Virigin Galatic, Spaceport America, and private space in New Mexico in general is a good thing for everyone.
• Three travel agencies in Florida have been authorized to sell seats on Virigin Galatic. WSFL has the story with cool shots of VSS Enterprise.
• NASA Administrator Charles Bolden is a moron. He says that in order to survive political wrangling, they must be affordable, sustainable and realistic. In other words they must be things we have done. To survive politics space travel must be new and exciting and commercial.
• Rick Homans, former director of Spaceport America, says that the new Governor, Susana Martinez, must declare her support or the project may slow or stop in its tracks.
  
• It only took 40 years, but NASA proved the Moon has a core using data from Apollo.
• NASA is currently stuck in bureaucratic hell, waiting on the congress and the president to figure out the budget. They have found $40 million more for the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program since the beginning of the fiscal year (October).
• It is an odd felling, but I am proud that commercial space tourism has become mainstream enough to be actively attacked my environmentalists.

Space News Roundup January 5, 2011

• NASA researchers have found that they can cut the weight of some components by 20% and still achieve safety goals.
• New Mexico's new governor, Rep Susana Martinez, is auditing Spaceport America to make sure tax dollars are spent the right way.
• Long term space flight may impact your ability to have children.
• India is building their own GPS type system, the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
• The James Webb Telescope may be pushed back 8 years due to cost over runs. The current launch date is now 2022.

Top Space News of 2010

Clark Lindsey has his list of the top space related news of 2010.

This is my top three. It is completely based on my own (rational) self-interest. In other words, things that I believe help get my wife and I into space.

3. Bigelow Aerospace signed a deal with Boeing (of all people) to launch space stations into orbit. Apparently, six countries are interested in leasing their very own space station.

2. Scaled Composites/Virgin Galactic had a successful glide test of VSS Enterprise and Eve.

1. It is hard to argue that SpaceX had the best year of any new-space company. They closed it out with a successful launch and re-entry of the Dragon capsule carrying a wheel of cheese on December 8. They also signed the largest commercial launch contract in history with Iridium.

Virgin Galactic wants to Branch Out

Virgin Galactic President Will Whitehorn says that space tourism is just the beginning. He sees Virgin Galactic moving into space science, servicing space server farms and replacing long-haul flights.

Hybrid Rockets May Never be Cheap

Virgin Galactic President, Will Whitehorn, says that while SpaceShip2 prices may get down to $100,000 a person, they will likely never reach $10,000.

RLV and Space Transport News argues that liquid reusable transports are the way to get to space on the cheap.

ITAR May Prevent Non-US Space Tourist

According to Aviation Week, current ITAR rules currently prevent non-us passengers from flying to space with US companies. Apparently just riding on a space vehicle is enough to learn dangerous secrets about rockets.

I am not sure how this affects Virgin Galactic, which is a British company flying US built space ships. ITAR really needs an overhaul.

White Knight 2 Video

Wire has a video of the White Knight 2 in Flight.

Virgin Galatic in "Advanced Discussions" with UAE on Spaceport

Virgin Galactic, the space tourism wing of Virgin Group, is in what the company describes as "advanced discussions" with the United Arab Emirates to build a spaceport in Dubai. While the company is also in talks with Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, they discussions with the UAE is the farthest along. Virgin Galactic wants a port in the middle east to support people with the means and desire to go into space, but who want a local supplier. UAE is also interested in using the port for scientific research.

Twitter Interview with Sir Richard Branson

The LA times travel section are conducting an interview with Sir Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Group, at 8:20 PST (10:20 CST). You can view it at live on @latimestravel and @virginamerica.

Australians Ready for Space

Apparently Australians are ready to leave the Earth. Reports say residents of the "land down under" purchased 10% of Virgin Galactic's tickets to space.

SpaceShipOne Talk

The American Aviation Historical Society will play host to Dan Linehan of Monterey, Calif. and author of "SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 11, in the DLC Auditorium on the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University campus.

The presentation will cover the reasons and methods of design, construction, testing and operation of SpaceShipOne and the development of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo with the aid of photos, video and animation.

For information, call 777-6985 or e-mail mandern@erau.edu.

Space Adventures Carries On

Space Adventures the firm that has sold more than a few space tourist seats to the ISS, are continuing on despite the news from Russia that there will be no more flights for tourists to the ISS. Space Adventures plans to buy their own Soyuz flights rather than taking a seat on a scheduled flight.

There may be no were to park, however.

Russia Says No to Space Tourists

Russia Agency chief Anatoly Perminov said that after 2009, no more space tourists will be carried to the ISS on Russian rockets. Software giant Charles Simonyi will be the last tourist going up. Russians say this move comes because the ISS crew has increased from 3 to 6. My guess would be they are feeling pressure from NASA who never really supported the practice.

Spaceport T-Shirts

The Las Cruces Sun News has an overview on the "branding" of Spaceport America including a store where you can buy T-Shirts (or sweat shirts in the current weather).

Spaceport America Rolls Out New Website

New Mexico's Spaceport America has a new website. The launch-pad for private spaceflights is scheduled to be completed in 2010.

Web 2.0 Meet Space 2.0

introNetworks is launching (sorry for the pun) a social network for Virgin Galactic and their customers.

It All Comes Full Circle

Irony of ironies, with Russia backing away from space tourism, wealthy Russians are buying tickets on Virgin Galactic.

Russia Dropped the Ball with Space Tourism

Russian commentator, Andrei Kislyakov, thinks that Russia should have done more with space tourism when it was the only game in town. Now with the ISS crew going to six and Virgin Galactic booking thousands of people for (relatively) cheap sub-orbital flights, space tourism is moving towards the western world.

"Much to our regret, mass space tourism is leaving Russia. We could have kept it if Roskosmos had supported a project of the Myasishchev design bureau to develop a tourist spaceship on the basis of the high-altitude M-55 aircraft. But it remained on paper."

SpaceShipOne Turns Four

It is hard to believe it has been four years since SpaceShipOne's first trip to space. June 21, 2004, Burt Rutan sent Mike Melvill rocketing into space and history. Congratulations to everyone involved and we hope you continue to amaze us in the next four years.

Sneek Peak at SpaceShipTwo

Flight Global has, what appears to be, the cockpit section of SpaceShipTwo at Scaled Composites in Mojave, California.