Everyone is Looking for Astronauts

Astronaut openings.

Space Adventures is looking for people to train alongside their space tourist, Richard Garriott, for $3,000,000. You get to do all the same stuff. You just don't get to fly.

NASA is also accepting applications for the 2009 class of astronauts.

Of course, Virgin Galactic is always looking for more private astronauts, if you can only afford $200,000.

SpaceX Completes Merlin 1C Engine

HAWTHORNE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

New, More Powerful Engine to Launch Both Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 Rockets
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) announced today that it has completed development of its Merlin 1C next generation liquid fueled rocket booster engine. It is among the highest performing gas generator cycle kerosene engines ever built, exceeding the Boeing Delta II main engine, the Lockheed Atlas II main engine, and on par with the Saturn V F-1 engine.

The Merlin 1C is an improved version of the Merlin 1A ablatively cooled engine, which lofted the Falcon 1 on its first flight in March 2006 and second flight in March 2007. The regeneratively cooled Merlin 1C uses rocket propellant grade kerosene (RP-1), a refined form of jet fuel, to first cool the combustion chamber and nozzle before being combined with the liquid oxygen to create thrust. This cooling allows for higher performance without significantly increasing engine mass.
“We performed the final test in the development series, a 170 second long mission duty firing,” said Tom Mueller, Vice President of Propulsion for SpaceX, from their Texas Test Facility in McGregor, Texas. “This series of runs has verified the final design features. Total run time on this engine exceeded 3,000 seconds across 125 hot fire tests.”

“The SpaceX Texas test facility was critical to the rapid and efficient development of Merlin,” said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. “In August alone, we ran twenty-one major Merlin test firings, nearly one per working day, a rate we could not equal anywhere else. The success of Merlin is really due to the joint function of a great propulsion and test team.”

Merlin 1C in its Falcon 9 first stage configuration has a thrust at sea level of 95,000 lbs, a vacuum thrust of over 108,000 pounds, vacuum specific impulse of 304 seconds and sea level thrust to weight ratio of 92. In generating this thrust, Merlin consumes 350 lbs/second of propellant and the chamber and nozzle, cooled by 100 lbs/sec of kerosene, are capable of absorbing 10 MW of heat energy. A planned turbopump upgrade in 2009 will improve the thrust by over 20% and the thrust to weight ratio by approximately 25%.

The Merlin 1C will power SpaceX’s next Falcon 1 mission, scheduled to lift off in early 2008 from the SpaceX launch complex in the Central Pacific atoll of Kwajalein. SpaceX’s far larger Falcon 9 rocket, now in development, will employ nine Merlin engines on its first stage, and one on the second stage. The Falcon 9 will have over a million pounds of thrust – four times the maximum thrust of a Boeing 747.

The Merlin engine is the first new American booster engine in ten years and only the second in over a quarter century. The prior two American engines were the RS-68 developed in the late nineties by Pratt & Whitney’s RocketDyne division, used in the Boeing Delta IV launch vehicle, and the Space Shuttle Main Engine developed in the late seventies, also by RocketDyne.
SpaceX is preparing to produce more rocket engines than the rest of US production combined. In 2008, SpaceX targets the manufacture of approximately 50 booster engines, a number that exceeds the output of any country except Russia.

About SpaceX

SpaceX is developing a family of launch vehicles intended to reduce the cost and increase the reliability of both manned and unmanned space transportation ultimately by a factor of ten. With its Falcon line of launch vehicles, powered by Merlin engines, SpaceX is able to offer light, medium and heavy lift capabilities to deliver spacecraft into any inclination and altitude, from low Earth orbit to geosynchronous orbit to planetary missions.
As winner of the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services competition, SpaceX will conduct three flights of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and Dragon spacecraft for NASA. This will culminate in Dragon berthing with the International Space Station and returning safely to Earth. When the Shuttle retires in 2010, Falcon 9 / Dragon will have the opportunity to replace the Shuttle in servicing the Space Station.

SpaceDev Gets Two New Board Members and One new VP

SpaceDev has announced that Mr. G. Scott Hubbard, former NASA Ames Research Center Director and Mr. Hans J. Steininger Chief Executive Officer of MT Aerospace AG, have joined the SpaceDev Board of Directors.

They have also announced that former Auburn Associate Dean of Engineering, James S. Voss, will be the new VP of Engineering.

NASA has Started Launch Pad Construction

NASA has began construction on a launch pad to test the Orion's escape system.

China's ASAT Weapon Pushes Space Entrepreneurs

According to the NY Times, the Chinese ASAT weapons test in January has had an effect on private space, since the military needs faster cheaper launchers to combat the threat of space weapons.

Would You Spend $200,000 on a Space Flight

The SettlePI blog asks readers if they had an extra $200,000 would they by a flight on a spaceship. Of course, loyal readers, you know my answer.

D.J. McLeod says, as much as she would love to, she would rather spend $200,000 on a Community Resource Exchange where they can talk about homelessness and give homeless people government services. Well whatever works for you.

Will would rather pay off his house and max his retirement. In my opinion, it wouldn't be a spare $200,000 unless you had already done both.

Anonymous wants the price to drop (as do the rest of us).

Onyotaka Lukwe is milking goats to space apparently...

Just a cross section of what Seattle thinks of private space flight.

Feel free to comment on their comments (or answer the question for yourself).

Virgin Galactic's Sales Pitch

Andrea James has the pitch Bothell travel agent Angie Lepley has been using as one of 45 agents licensed to sale seats on SpaceShip2.

It sounds like fun to me.

Space Vision 2007

Dave Brooks seems to have had his mind changed (somewhat) about private space by Elon Musk and his Falcon Rockets.

Andrews Space Sponsors Laser Motive in 2007 Space Elevator Competition

Press Release: Seattle, WA - November 7, 2007 – Andrews Space, Inc. is pleased to announce its sponsorship of Seattle-based LaserMotive in the Elevator 2010 Power Beaming competition. The competition took place from October 19 – 21, near Salt Lake City, Utah.

Andrews contributed the use of their Rapid Prototyping Laboratory (ARPL) for LaserMotive to conduct laser testing and other system assembly requirements. Located near Seattle's Boeing field, the ARPL provides fabrication and assembly facility space. It houses Andrews' avionics integration and cryogenic test facilities, fabrication machine shop, and hardware integration and test facilities.

The NASA-sponsored 2007 Space Elevator Games had 30 teams competing in various categories, including the Climber Power Beaming competition. Teams entering the Power Beaming Challenge had to power a vehicle straight up a ribbon using only energy beamed to the vehicle from a ground-based laser, at a minimum of 2.5 m/sec. The 2007 prize purse, provided by NASA, was $500,000. No teams won the 2007 competition.

LaserMotive was recognized as having an innovative and potentially powerful technology. The LaserMotive system uses a high-power laser array to shine ultra-intense infrared light onto high-efficiency solar cells, converting the light into electric power, which then drives a motor. The system automatically tracks the vehicle as it climbs, compensating for motion due to wind, twisting of the ribbon, and other changes.

Andrews Chief Technology Officer Dana Andrews said, "LaserMotive had a promising start in this years' competition, and we expect them to come back strong next year in the 2008 competition. We believe their concept is the right approach to powering a planetary scale elevator."

About LaserMotive

LaserMotive is a Seattle-based team that competed in the 2007 NASA-sponsored Power Beaming competition. They are comprised of world-class laser power beaming experts, experienced machinists, systems engineers, and experts from industry partners. Visit their Web site at www.lasermotive.com for more information.

About Andrews Space

Andrews Space, Inc. was founded in 1999 to be a catalyst in the commercialization and development of space. The company is an affordable integrator of aerospace systems and developer of advanced space technologies. To learn more, please visit: www.andrews-space.com.

Carnival of Space #28 is Up

Emily Lakwdawalla is hosting this Week's Carnival of Space at


http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00001222/

Chinese Probe Enters Moons Orbit

China's probe, Chang'e 1, has entered lunar orbit.

"All of the subsystems of the Chang'e 1 are in normal operation so far," said Pei Zhaoyu, spokesman for the China National Space Administration.

It is expected to send photos back later this month.

SpaceX Breaks Ground in Florida

SpaceX has broken ground on their launch facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Space Walk Shows Need for COTS

According to John Borland, at Wired.com, the risky spacewalk to fix a broken solar panel shows the need for NASA to fund private launch companies through COTS, with the shuttle being retired in 2010.

With the shuttle being retired in a few years, it clearly can't serve that
purpose. But perhaps the new commercial spaceflight companies will be able to
fill that role, at least as well as the Soyuz missions launched by Russia. NASA
should make this a priority when it is funding and helping to guide development
of companies like SpaceX.

ISS Brings up Space Law Again

With the new European module Columbus launching on the Columbia shuttle in December, space law has been brought to the forefront again. The issues are: who's law will be enforced on Columbus and what if two astronauts got in a fight?

This was all a problem with the Russian modules, but I guess they didn't get it worked out sufficiently then.

SpaceDev Completes First Milestone under NASA Space Act Agreement for Development of Commercial Access to Space (Press Release)

SpaceDev Dream ChaserTM Space Plane Development Would Provide Cargo and Crew Transport

POWAY, CA – November 5, 2007 – SpaceDev, Inc. (OTCBB: SPDV) recently completed its first milestone under the Space Act Agreement that it signed with NASA in June 2007. This significant first milestone is to define the outer mold line (OML) of the SpaceDev Dream ChaserTM space vehicle. The SpaceDev team generated a surface model that will be used for future analysis, subscale flight test modeling, and full scale tooling of the Dream ChaserTM flight vehicle. The Dream Chaser™ OML surface model was derived from digitized scans of the original NASA Langley wind-tunnel tested models, which are currently on loan to SpaceDev.

SpaceDev entered into the Space Act Agreement with NASA’s Johnson Space Center to facilitate its development of reliable, safe and affordable transportation of passengers and cargo to and from Earth orbit. As part of the agreement, NASA is providing support regarding commercial vehicle requirements for rendezvous and docking with the ISS as well as ongoing regularly scheduled technical exchange.

SpaceDev Gets Air Force Contract for New Thermal Radiator Technology

SpaceDev has won a $100,000 contract with the Air Force to develop a new radar system to help with thermal control on satellites.

Risky Spacewalk to Fix Solar Panels

NASA is planning a risky spacewalk to fix a damaged solar panel to restore the ISS to full power in anticipation of a European science module scheduled to launch in December.

Carnival of Space #27 is Up

Fraser Cain is hosting this Week's Carnivalof Space at

http://www.universetoday.com/2007/11/01/carnival-of-space-27-and-an-announcement/

SpaceDev Gets DARPA Propulsion Contract

SpaceDev has won a propulsion contract from DARPA worth $3.75 million.

SpaceDev to Release Earnings Nov 13

SpaceDev is holding a conference call to release their earnings report for the 3rd quarter 2007 on November 13, 2007.

Florida Conference to Atrract Commercial Space

Florida is holding a conference to attract commercial space companies.

China's Long March 5 Rocket

According to the Guardian, China is building a much more powerful rocket:

China laid out plans yesterday to build a rocket with enough power to put a
space station into orbit, raising fresh questions about whether it aims to
compete or collaborate with the US in space. The Long March 5 rocket will have
almost three times as much thrust as the existing launch vehicle, putting it on
a par with developed countries in its ability to carry heavy satellites, state
media said. The announcement came as the Chang'e 1 lunar probe pushed further
into space than any previous Chinese spacecraft. China plans to put a robot on
the moon in 2012 and an astronaut by about 2020.

Bigelow is Offering $760 Million for a Rocket

Bigelow Aerospace is offering a $760 million contract that can met their criteria for getting passengers to their inflatable orbital habitats.

Commentary on Private Space

Michael Belfiore has a commentary in the Financial Times about private spaceflight.

Discovery Lifts Off

It you didn't know Discovery lifted off for the ISS on Tuesday.

Visit to Bigelow Aerospace

Vince Beiser visited Bigelow Aerospace's headquarters in Vegas and the has a write up in Wired.

The also have a photos and a the launch plan.

New COTS Competition for Rp/K's Funding

Since Rocketplane/Kistler hasn't met NASA's milestones, they have started the competition for their replacement. I would imagine SpaceDev and t/Space are the favorites.

Space Business Plan Competition

Space 2.0 is have a Space Business Plan Competition for university students. There is a $100,000 prize, so get business you little budding entrepreneurs.

SpaceX Completes CDR for COTS

SpaceX has completed the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Critical Design Review (CDR) for its first Falcon 9 / Dragon mission as required by NASA.

SpaceX is one of my favorite new space companies. They don't talk a lot, but they just keep rolling along with rockets and cargo and passing whatever milestones are thrown at them.

Just for your information, this CDR required "480 design documents to NASA for detailed review by its experts. At the review, twenty six speakers gave thirty two presentations on over two dozen different topics including aerodynamics, propulsion, communication, ground processing, flight operations, recovery and more."

Good job to Mr. Musk and his team.

Carnival of Space #25 is Up

Carnival of Space #25, which has a link to our article on space based solar power.

Space Review 10/15/2007

It's out:

Back to the future: The Outer Space Treaty turns 40

The problem with Freedom

Letter: the weaponization of space

Review: The Star Wars Enigma

Review: Endless Universe

How Private Space is Getting Past Tragedy

Here is an article on how private space (or new space) is getting past the tragedy the Scaled Composites has with their new SpaceShipTwo earlier this year.

History of Rocket Work in McGregor, Texas

Here is a history of some the rocket work done in McGregor, TX where SpaceX has been test firing engines since 2003.

NASA is Leaning toward Oct 23 Launch

After a safety group has looked at Discovery's wings, NASA is leaning towards a simple fix and continuing with the planned launch on October 23.

Carnival of Space #24 is Up

This week's Carnival of Space is up atSpace for Commerce, by Brian Dunbar:

http://space4commerce.blogspot.com/2007/10/carnival-of-space-for-thursday-october.html

Space Based Solar Power Study Paper

If you haven't yet read the NSSO paper on space based solar power, you should. It is really really interesting. I think it could open some eyes.

[update 10/15/2007] The link I has been broken. Here is the (currently) correct link. I fixed the orginal one as well, so it should work now.

NASA to get Wi-Fi

This is just funny.

$220 Billion in Space Spending in 2006

According to the Space Foundation, space spending topped $220 billion in 2006. This represents a %16 increase in space spending. While the greatest growth was in GPS related products, $30 million was spent on commercial space transportation. $20 million was for Anousheh Ansari's trip to the ISS and $10 million in Virgin Galactic deposits.

Self-sufficient Space Habitat

An Australian group has created a habitat design they claim is "90 to 95 percent self-sufficient." Luna Gaia, as it is called, uses microbes, called Micro-Ecological Life Support System Alternative (or MELIiSSA), to recycle waste products, water, and carbon dioxide.

I wonder if Bigelow could use this?

Discovery may be Delayed due to Wing Problem

NASA is studying a problem with the thermal shielding on Discovery's wings that may delay the shuttle's launch. The original launch date was October 23.

Low Cost Missions to Near Earth Objects Workshop

NASA is hosting a workshop on missions to Near Earth Objects (NEOs) and how to keep the cost to a minimum.

Lunar Photos

Japan's lunar orbiter, Kaguya, has returned its first pictures.

SpaceShipTwo on Hold

SpaceShipTwo is on hold until a California Occupational Safety and Health report is out. It is expected by 26 January. While Knight Two continues however.

Lunar Science Institue

NASA is forming a new Lunar Science Institute to be managed by Ames.

Space Solar Power Study

Here is the formal press release:


New Space Solar Power Organization Announced

The Space Solar Alliance for Future Energy
Will Pursue Recommendations of New NSSO-Led Study


Study Concludes Space Solar Power Could Deliver Clean, Renewable Energy for Planet,
But Requires a Coordinated National Program of Investment


Wednesday, October 10, 2007: The Space Solar Alliance for Future Energy (SSAFE), a new organization advocating investment in space-based solar power technologies to address the planet's future energy needs, was announced today at the National Press Club.

The coalition of thirteen leading research organizations and space advocacy groups focused their inaugural event on the announcement of a new study of space-based solar power led by the National Security Space Office (NSSO).

The study concludes that space-based solar power deserves substantial national investment as a path towards addressing America's future energy needs via a renewable energy source with no carbon emissions or hazardous waste. In the Space Solar Power concept, developed in the late nineteen-sixties by Dr. Peter Glaser, energy from sunlight is collected in space and transmitted wirelessly for use on Earth.

Mark Hopkins, Senior Vice President of the National Space Society, stated, "As the United States makes decisions now to answer the energy challenges of the next 50 years, space-based solar power must be a part of the answer. While the technical challenges are real, significant investment now can build Space Solar Power into the ultimate energy source: clean, green, renewable, and capable of providing the vast amounts of power that the world will need. Congress, federal agencies and the business community should begin that investment immediately."

The new Space Solar Alliance for Future Energy (SSAFE) will promote the findings of the NSSO-led study, and seek to communicate the benefits of the technology to business, government and the general public.

According to Air Force Colonel-Select M.V. 'Coyote' Smith, the leader of the study, "When we started this work I had my doubts about the technology. But as the facts poured in, it became obvious that my initial assessment was wrong. Not only is this possible, but space-based solar power is probably the greatest opportunity to develop a safe, clean source of energy that can readily be shared with all of humanity."


The founding members of SSAFE are the National Space Society, Space Frontier Foundation, Space Power Association, Aerospace Technology Working Group, Marshall Institute, Moon Society, ShareSpace Foundation, Space Studies Institute, Spaceward Foundation, AIAA Space Colonization Technical Committee, ProSpace, Space Enterprise Council, and Space Generation Foundation.


###

Editors:

Still images of a space solar power system created for today's announcement are available at:

http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/mafic.htm


Video animations in NTSC and HD are available upon request. Email: katherine.brick@nss.org


The NSSO-led study will be made available at:


http://ssp.space-frontier.org


New National Space Society white paper on Space Solar Power:

http://www.nss.org/legislative/positions/NSS-SSP-PositionPaper.pdf


The website of the new Space Solar Alliance for Future Energy is:

http://ssafe.org/



SSAFE Founding Organizations and Contacts:



National Space Society
http://nss.org
Mark Hopkins, Senior Vice President
loby4space@aol.com
310-775-3546

Space Studies Institute
http://ssi.org
Lee Valentine, Executive Vice President
lee@ssi.org
412-418-0177

Space Enterprise Council
http://www.uschamber.com/space
David Logsdon, Executive Director
dlogsdon@uschamber.com
202-463-5332

Aerospace Technology Working Group
http://www.atwg.org/
Ken Cox
kcox12@houston.rr.com
281-728-3072


Space Frontier Foundation
http://space-frontier.org
Margo Deckard, Space Solar Power Project Manager
mardeckard@aol.com
937-367-8737

Marshall Institute
http://marshall.org/
Jeff Kueter, President
kueter@marshall.org
202.296.9655

Moon Society
http://www.moonsociety.org/
Peter Kokh, President
KokhMMM@aol.com
414-342-0705

ProSpace
http://prospace.org
Frank Johnson, President
fjohnson3@gmail.com
240-460-8578


Space Generation Foundation
http://www.spacegeneration.org/
Loretta Hidalgo Whitesides, President
loretta@spacegen.org
626-429-6603

Space Power Association
http://www.spacepowerassociation.org
John Mankins, President
sunsat@spacepowerassociation.org
703-858-1574

Spaceward Foundation
http://spaceward.org
Ben Shelef, Co-founder ben@spaceward.org
650-969-2010

ShareSpace Foundation
http://sharespace.org
Lisa Cannon
lcannon@buzzaldrin.com
310-458-4717

AIAA Space Colonization Technical Committee
http://www.aiaa.org/portal/index.cfm?GetComm=195&tc=tc
Klaus Heiss, Chairman
klaus.Heiss@verizon.net
703-535-8774

Interview with Burt Rutan

Dicover Magazine has an interview with creator of SpaceShipOne, Burt Rutan.

Here is a summary of his views on NASA:

No, no. NASA does hundreds of wonderful things. They send robots all over the solar system. They have scientists doing all kinds of stuff. Some of it is good work. The stuff that JPL [the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California] does is fabulous work.

People think I’m a NASA critic. That’s not true. I’m just saying what they are doing on [the manned space program] is not looking for the breakthroughs that are needed. The breakthroughs are likely to come from folks who go out and try some new stuff.

But I have a tremendous amount of respect for what JPL does. NASA did some phenomenal research during the 1960s in response to [Yuri] Gagarin [the first cosmonaut], and very quickly we were driving cars and playing golf on the moon. That is something that made me very proud to be an American who sent taxpayer funds to that NASA.

Movie on Private Race to the Moon

Dreamworks is doing a movie on a private flight to the Moon.

(hat tip to Curmudgeons Corner)

New Space Review is Out

Our potential in space

Weaponization of space: who’s to blame?

Rebutting the regulatory myth

Galileo: is the symbol stumbling?

Review: Red Moon Rising

Profile on Space Adventures CEO

Eric Anderson's, CEO of the worlds first and currently only space tourism company, is profiled in USA Today's Executive Suite.

Rocketplane/Kistler President Resigns

William Byrd has resigned as Rp/K's President. They have seen some trouble lately with getting enough investment to stay in NASA's COTS program to provide orbital services.

[Update 8:32 PM CST] I can't ready. Randy Brinkley has resigned and William Byrd is the new president. Those of you who read English, already knew that :)

Space Age Products

CNN has a list of tools we use everyday that were help along by NASA.

Serenity 2?

Good God there may be a sequel to the best movie this Eon, Serenity. Keep your fingers crossed and keep buying the DVD (I may go buy another one just to keep up the fight :)

(thanks to Curmudgeons Corner)

NASTAR To Train Space Tourists

National Aerospace Training and Research (NASTAR) will be training space tourist astronauts for Virgin Galactic in Philadelphia.

Pharmacy in Space

Thomas Pickens III, Chairman of SpaceHAB, wants to use the ISS for the drug industry.

NASA Gets More Money

Congress has given NASA $1 Billion extra dollars for 2008 to make up for money spent analysing the Columbia accident. This brings NASA's budget for 2008 to $18.5 billion.

New Astronauts

NASA is looking for 10-15 new astronauts to begin in 2009 and eventually go to the Moon. While I agree it is hard to go in knowing you won't fly for a long time (if ever), who among you would turn it down if NASA gave you a slot.

Separating Space & Science

Roger Pielke thinks space science should be moved to other agency's and NASA should focused on a vision of colonizing space. While I agree with him in principle, I don't think it solves the money problem for NASA, as the science money would go with the science. Certainly NASA would be more focused and that would gain some efficiency, I think the best plan is to have NASA support the efforts of private groups in colonizing space.

These types of efforts begin with small steps, such as space tourism and Bigelow's private space "hotels."

The Next Space Age

Alan Boyle views into the future of the Next Space Age.

X-Prize Cup

Leonard David has a preview of the X-Prize Cup October 27-28 which will feature such things as The SpaceX Dragon capsule on display. You don't want to miss this one at Alamogordo, New Mexico.

Carnival of Space #23

This week's Carnival of Space is up:

http://advancednano.blogspot.com/2007/10/carnival-of-space-week-22.html

I think this is the first time we've had an
entry about pigs. The entry is related to space, it
is about pigs on Mars.

Bigelow Aerospace Update

Leonard David at Space.com has an overview of where Bigelow Aerospace is headed. Remember that Bigelow launched the space module Genesis 1 & 2 to test out the inflatable structure they plan to build private orbiting stations in a few years.

QUID, the First Space Currency

The Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination, or QUID, has been developed by the Travelex to be the first currency in space.

The QUID has been designed to withstand the stresses of space travel and the extreme environment found in orbit around the Earth. It has also been created so that it can be purchased on earth in any one of the 176 currencies used around the globe.

Different colors and sizes are used to denote different values. They are valued from one to ten and by looking at today’s rates one QUID would cost you $12.50, 6.25 Pounds, or 8.68 Euros.

Simberg Vs. Hickam

Rand Simberg and Homer Hickam have a running debate on the roll of NASA.

The 50th Anniversary of the Space Age

Today is the 50th anniversary of the space age when the world heard the beep beep of Sputnik.

Rocketplane/Kistler Hasn't Given Up

With the timeline to meet investment benchmarks approaching, Rp/K has not given up.

China May Beat us back to the Moon

Mike Griffin says that China may go to the Moon first.

Private Space Rundown

CNET has a current state of private space at Sputnik's 50th anniversary.

They also ask if we even need NASA anymore.

SpaceDev Receives Contract for Solar Thermal Propulsion

DARPA has given SpaceDev a $3.75 million contract to develop solar thermal propulsion and bus design for the High Delta-V satellite program.

Space TV

RLV and Space Transport News has links to the Celestial Mechanics channel at the Brightcove.tv video site has a big selection of NewSpace related videos.

Next Space Tourist

Richard Garriott, game designer and multimillionaire, is set to go to the ISS in October 2008. His father is former astronaut and Vice President of Space Programs at Teledyne Brown Engineering (where yours truly used to work) Owen Garriott.

Discovery Ready for October 23 Launch

Discovery is on the launch pad and ready for its October 23 launch to the ISS.

Michael Belfiore on Bloomberg

Bloomberg has an interview with Michael Belfiore on commercial space.

Space Review is Out

Check out today's Space Review:

Space myths

Miscalculations of Galileo: Europe’s answer to GPS is floundering

Beyond the Outer Space Treaty

Titan of the world

Review: A Ball, A Dog, and A Monkey

Four Views on Space

USA Today has four different views on space from Konrad Dannenberg, Mike, Griffin, Elon Musk, & Thomas Stafford.

Carnival of Space #22 is Up

This week's Carnival of Space is up:

http://wanderingspace.net/?p=517

Mars Rover Gets First Victoria Crater View

Opportunity has made its first stop in the Victoria Crater on Mars.

Dawn is on its Way to the Asteroid Belt

NASA launched the Dawn probe to the Asteroid Belt today.

SpaceX Update

Elon Musk Q&A - Updates SpaceX status on Falcon and Dragon on NASASpaceflight.com

Google Lunar X-Prize Web Site Gets Updated

The Google Lunar X-Prize web site has some new features.

Discovery Moves Out

Discovery has left the hanger to get ready for it's launch next month.

Upate on NASA's Lunar Archtiecture

From last weeks Space 2007 conference.

Popular Science Space Plane

The October issue of Popular Science is out with Michael Belfiore's piece on EADS Astrium's new tourist spaceship design.

Mike Griffin talks about the Space Economy

And other articles in today's The Space Review.

Space economies and economics

Heinlein in Hollywood

Still crazy after four decades: The case for withdrawing from the 1967 Outer Space Treaty

Please, Mr. Bezos

Review: Two Shadows on the Moon

Carnival of Space #21 is Up

This week's Carnival of Space is up:

http://whyhomeschool.blogspot.com/2007/09/carnival-of-space-week-21-xprize.html

Many of the posts were about the recent announcement by Google for the Lunar contest.

Scientific American October Issue on The Future of Space Exploration

I The following are some of the stories that are now available online and they are as follows:


"Racing Past the Moon"
Today competition matters less than conquering space.


“To the Moon and Beyond”

By Charles Dingell, William A. Johns and Julie Kramer White

Humans are returning to the moon. This time the plan is to stay a while.


“Five Essential Things to Do in Space”

By George Musser

Planetary scientists have a quintet of goals for exploring the solar system.


Also, this article includes an interesting multimedia presentation that summarizes the 5 goals for exploring the solar system. This can be found here:

More on the ESA SpaceX Falcon 9 Contract

Elon Musk says that while the European satellite contract SpaceX received is not on the launch manifest, it is the seventh [whoops] launch contract for the Falcon 9 (including three COTS). It will be their first geostationary launch.

Note: I was incorrect, it wasn't ESA per se, but Avanti Communications Group using ESA money.

New X-Prize Annoucement Today

After 1:00 CST we should know what all the hype is about. Spaceref has some interesting stuff:

[NASA] Deputy Administrator Dale will participate in an announcement regarding the X PRIZE Foundation at the X PRIZE stage at 10:30 a.m., Sept. 13. She will unveil the NASA 50th anniversary logo at 12:30 p.m. at the mini stage in the
Exploration Pavilion. Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin also will speak.

I think I know what it is, but I will wait for the announcement. It is really cool.

[update 11:27 am] You can watch the video teaser at The X-Prize web site.

[update 2:13 pm CST] Welcome to the Google Lunar X-Prize.

Here are the rules:

COMPETITION GUIDELINES: To win the Google Lunar X PRIZE, a team must successfully land a privately funded craft on the lunar surface and survive long enough to complete the mission goals of roaming about the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and sending a defined data package, called a “Mooncast”, back to Earth.

PRIZES: The total purse of the Google Lunar X PRIZE is $30 million (USD).

• GRAND PRIZE: A $20 million Grand Prize will be awarded to the team that can soft land a craft on the Moon that roams for at least 500 meters and transmits a Mooncast back to Earth. The Grand Prize is $20M until December 31st 2012; thereafter it will drop to $15M until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation

• SECOND PRIZE: A $5 million Second Prize will be offered as well, providing an extra incentive for teams to continue to compete, and increasing the possibility that multiple teams will succeed. Second place will be available until December 31st 2014 at which point the competition will be terminated unless extended by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation

• BONUSES: An additional $5 million in bonus prizes can be won by successfully completing additional mission tasks such as roving longer distances (> 5,000 meters), imaging man made artifacts (e.g. Apollo hardware), discovering water ice, and/or surviving through a frigid lunar night (approximately 14.5 Earth days). The competing lunar spacecraft will be equipped with high-definition video and still cameras, and will send images and data to Earth, which the public will be able to view on the Google Lunar X PRIZE website.


Links for More Info:

• Cosmic Log
• RLV and Space Transport News
• Curmudgeons Corner
• Google Offers $20 Million X Prize to Put Robot on Moon Wired News
• Your Face on the Moon, Thanks to X Prize Foundation Wired News
• Google to put $30 million behind lunar robot CNET News.com
• MSNBC
• Space News (subscription)

Carnival of Space #20 is Up

This week's Carnival of Space is up:

http://flyingsinger.blogspot.com/2007/09/step-right-up-carnival-of-space-20.html

Thank you for your interest in the carnival.

Best wishes.

NASA COTS to Recompete

NASA has decided to recompete the $175 million left on RocketPlane/Kistler's COTS agreement. NASA removed Rp/K recently for failing to meet funding milestones.

ESA Selects SpaceX

The European Space Agency has selected SpaceX's Falcon 9 to launch the HYLAS communications satellite technology demonstrator.

Japan to Launch Lunar Orbiter on Friday

Japan is set to launch an orbiter called SELENE to the Moon on Friday.

The Sea is Burning

A "Garage" Scientist, John Kanzius , has found a way to burn sea water (yes sea water) by shooting radio waves at it. A Penn State researcher, Dr. Rustum Roy, has recreated the experiment.

Rocketplane/Kistler Looses COTS

NASA has terminated their COTS agreement with Rocketplane/Kistler for not meeting the funding milestones. Hopefully the money meant for them will go to SpaceDev or T/Space.

Aviation Week has the full story.

Military Space Study to Continue

Col. M.V. “Coyote” Smith, leader of the National Security Space Office study on feasibility of space-based solar power has been so impressed with the idea during the study, he has extended it passed its original September 15 end date. He is set to give an interim report of their findings on October 11.

Phoenix Passes In-Flight Test

The Phoenix Mars lander has passed its in-flight tests. It will reach the red planet on May 25, 2008.

Russian Space Tourist

Vladimir Gruzdev, a grocery store owner and politician has charted with Space Adventures to be the first Russian to visit the International Space Station (ISS) as a tourist.

Carnival of Space #19 is Up

Fraser Cain is hosting this week's Carnival
of Space at:

http://www.universetoday.com/2007/09/06/carnival-of-space-19/

Space Lifestyle Magazine

SPACE LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE LAUNCHED ONLINE BY NEW FORKS, LLC


GRAND FORKS, ND / Sept. 2 / -- Space Lifestyle Magazine, an digital edition publication on the people and happenings in space and the space sector launched today from their site, www.spacelifestylemagazine.com. New Forks, LLC (www.newforks.net) is a virtual media company based in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Subscribers to the free online magazine will be notified of the launch of the magazine through an email blast.


Subscribers and anyone who goes to the site www.spacelifestylemagazine.com can view the magazine online with any standard Internet browser. By using a Published Web Format (PWF), from the magazine’s publisher Texterity, Inc., readers will have the fastest loading time and the sharpest text to read their digital edition. The premier issue of Space Lifestyle Magazine not only has pictures and text, much like a traditional magazine, but readers can also watch video.


To attract subscribers to Space Lifestyle Magazine, New Forks has held a contest, where the 10,000th, 20,000th, 30,000th and 60,000th subscriber will each win a prize. The 60,000th subscriber will win a parabolic flight ticket from the Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G). SmoothLounge.com, the top-ranked Internet radio station, has provided all other prizes. All winners of the contest will be announced together at a future date.


“Everyone involved has worked really hard to put forth this first issue,” said New Forks, company President and Editor-in-Chief of Space Lifestyle Magazine, David Bullock, “Being a virtual company, and both in media and within the space sector and work, advice and help has come from all over.”


Virtual contributors to the magazine include writers Nancy Atkinson, Lois Elfman, Michael Ricciardi and Robert Yeiser. Michael Delia has created layout and art remotely.


New Forks, LLC (www.newforks.net) is an independent, start-up media company based in Grand Forks, North Dakota.


Contact: David Bullock, President of New Forks, LLC. Tel. 347-404-5431 E-mail: press@newforks.net

Spaceport America Design

Spaceport America has released their design.

Elon Musk Named Innovator of the Year

Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, has been named Innovator of the Year by R&D Magazine.