Voice of America: Japan's Space Exploration Plan Takes Off
An expert advisory panel is urging the Japanese government to move forward with its $2-billion moon exploration program.
The plan includes sending wheeled robots to the moon within the next five years and creating an unmanned space station on the moon by 2020.
The robots would have solar panels, an observation device and be able to gather geological samples. The materials would then be sent back to Earth by rocket.
The robots would work from the lunar base, which will be located at the moon's south pole.
The expert panel approved the recommendations Thursday after a one-year study. They say the program is needed, despite government budget cuts, in order for Japan to be a leader in the space race.
Japan has already made strides in space exploration with a satellite that has successfully returned high-definition images of the entire moon. It also sent out an unmanned probe that recently returned to Earth from a seven-year journey to an asteroid.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
USA Clips Space Shuttle Workforce
From Aviation Week: USA Clips Space Shuttle Workforce
CAPE CANAVERAL — While Congress mulls conflicting blueprints for NASA’s human space program, 1,394 space shuttle workers in Florida, Texas and Alabama got notice this week of what their future looks like — no job.
Following through on an initiative announced earlier this month, prime shuttle contractor United Space Alliance (USA) notified 902 employees in Florida, 478 workers in Texas and 14 in Alabama that Sept. 30 will be their last day of work.
The layoff notification marked the third and largest wave of workforce cutbacks enacted by USA in less than a year, with more employees expected to get pink slips next year as the final shuttle missions are completed.
NASA plans to fly two more flights – shuttle Discovery’s STS-133 mission in November and Endeavour’s STS-134 flight in February. Draft legislation pending in both the House and Senate proposes adding an extra shuttle flight to the International Space Station in the second half of 2011 using Atlantis, the Launch-On-Need vehicle configured to support Endeavour’s final flight.
The company, which is jointly owned by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, currently employs about 8,100 people under its shuttle processing contract with NASA.
USA is looking for new work in human space ventures, said spokesperson Kari Fluegel, adding that “a number of contracts we’re pursuing are still in the competition phase.”
The company remains a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin on the Orion capsule project, one element of the Constellation Moon program that seems likely to survive in some form in the new space exploration initiatives under discussion.
USA also holds the three-year, $207 million Integrated Mission Operations Contract with NASA’s Johnson Space Center and is a major subcontractor to Lockheed on JSC’s $667-million Facilities Development and Operations Contract.
“Certainly as we win new work and staff back up, even though we don’t expect that to happen overnight, we certainly will give consideration to our previous employees,” Fluegel said.
CAPE CANAVERAL — While Congress mulls conflicting blueprints for NASA’s human space program, 1,394 space shuttle workers in Florida, Texas and Alabama got notice this week of what their future looks like — no job.
Following through on an initiative announced earlier this month, prime shuttle contractor United Space Alliance (USA) notified 902 employees in Florida, 478 workers in Texas and 14 in Alabama that Sept. 30 will be their last day of work.
The layoff notification marked the third and largest wave of workforce cutbacks enacted by USA in less than a year, with more employees expected to get pink slips next year as the final shuttle missions are completed.
NASA plans to fly two more flights – shuttle Discovery’s STS-133 mission in November and Endeavour’s STS-134 flight in February. Draft legislation pending in both the House and Senate proposes adding an extra shuttle flight to the International Space Station in the second half of 2011 using Atlantis, the Launch-On-Need vehicle configured to support Endeavour’s final flight.
The company, which is jointly owned by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, currently employs about 8,100 people under its shuttle processing contract with NASA.
USA is looking for new work in human space ventures, said spokesperson Kari Fluegel, adding that “a number of contracts we’re pursuing are still in the competition phase.”
The company remains a subcontractor to Lockheed Martin on the Orion capsule project, one element of the Constellation Moon program that seems likely to survive in some form in the new space exploration initiatives under discussion.
USA also holds the three-year, $207 million Integrated Mission Operations Contract with NASA’s Johnson Space Center and is a major subcontractor to Lockheed on JSC’s $667-million Facilities Development and Operations Contract.
“Certainly as we win new work and staff back up, even though we don’t expect that to happen overnight, we certainly will give consideration to our previous employees,” Fluegel said.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Amelia Earhart's watch brought to International Space Station
Amelia Earhat's watch, which the famed aviator wore on two trans-Atlantic flights was brought aboard the International Space Station 82 years to the day after her first flight.
By Robert Z. Pearlman, CollectSPACE.com / June 18, 2010
The watch that aviatrix Amelia Earhart wore while making history on two trans-Atlantic flights was brought onboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, 82 years to the day after its historic first flight. The timepiece was among a few mementos — including a medal of honor — that flew to orbit with the outpost's three newest crewmembers.
Amelia Earhart's watch is now orbiting the Earth aboard the International Space Station. It was brought there 82 years to the day after her first historic trans-Atlantic flight.
Earhart's watch arrived at the station onboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft, which docked at the aft port of the Zvezda service module at 5:21 p.m. CDT as the two vehicles were, coincidentally, flying over the Atlantic.
The hatches between the two spacecraft were then opened at 7:52 p.m., allowing NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, who was entrusted with the watch, and her fellow crewmates U.S. astronaut Doug Wheelock and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin to join their three counterparts onboard the ISS to form the six-person Expedition 24 crew.
Walker's own arrival on the station made a bit of women's flight history of her own. Launched 47 years after the first woman entered space and joining the station's crew one day shy of the 27th anniversary of the first U.S. woman in space, Walker — who is the world's 55th female spaceflier — became part of the largest contingent of women serving on a long duration mission with Tracy Caldwell Dyson.
Time and time again
"Amelia crossed the Atlantic twice, once as a passenger and once as the pilot in command, flying solo, and she wore this watch both times," said Joan Kerwin, director of The Ninety-Nines, an international organization for women pilots.
Earhart became the first female trans-Atlantic passenger on June 17, 1928, departing Newfoundland and landing in Wales in the United Kingdom almost 21 hours later. Her historic solo flight began May 20, 1932 and touched down 15 hours later in Northern Ireland.
Before her disappearance in-flight on July 2, 1937, Earhart gifted the watch she wore on both trans-Atlantic trips to H. Gordon Selfridge Jr., who later gave it to Fay Gillis Wells, a charter member of The Ninety-Nines.
Kerwin, who acquired the timepiece from Wells at auction, presented it in October 2009 to Walker, a member of The Ninety-Nines, to fly to space.
"Amelia is such an icon with women in aviation and now with women in space. We are thrilled that Shannon is a Ninety-Nine and will be taking Amelia into space with her," Kerwin said last year.
Although the watch still runs, Walker won't use it to keep time but will keep it with her during the flight.
"I am very honored to take this watch," Walker said after accepting it from Kerwin, "because to me it represents the continuation of women in aviation and the field of aviation and how we continue to push boundaries and farther than ever before."
In addition to Earhart's watch, Walker selected a few other mementos to bring to the station, which relate to her being the first native Houstonian to fly in space. Houston, Texas hosts Johnson Space Center, where Mission Control and NASA's astronaut training facilities are based.
By Robert Z. Pearlman, CollectSPACE.com / June 18, 2010
The watch that aviatrix Amelia Earhart wore while making history on two trans-Atlantic flights was brought onboard the International Space Station (ISS) on Thursday, 82 years to the day after its historic first flight. The timepiece was among a few mementos — including a medal of honor — that flew to orbit with the outpost's three newest crewmembers.
Amelia Earhart's watch is now orbiting the Earth aboard the International Space Station. It was brought there 82 years to the day after her first historic trans-Atlantic flight.
Earhart's watch arrived at the station onboard the Russian Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft, which docked at the aft port of the Zvezda service module at 5:21 p.m. CDT as the two vehicles were, coincidentally, flying over the Atlantic.
The hatches between the two spacecraft were then opened at 7:52 p.m., allowing NASA astronaut Shannon Walker, who was entrusted with the watch, and her fellow crewmates U.S. astronaut Doug Wheelock and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin to join their three counterparts onboard the ISS to form the six-person Expedition 24 crew.
Walker's own arrival on the station made a bit of women's flight history of her own. Launched 47 years after the first woman entered space and joining the station's crew one day shy of the 27th anniversary of the first U.S. woman in space, Walker — who is the world's 55th female spaceflier — became part of the largest contingent of women serving on a long duration mission with Tracy Caldwell Dyson.
Time and time again
"Amelia crossed the Atlantic twice, once as a passenger and once as the pilot in command, flying solo, and she wore this watch both times," said Joan Kerwin, director of The Ninety-Nines, an international organization for women pilots.
Earhart became the first female trans-Atlantic passenger on June 17, 1928, departing Newfoundland and landing in Wales in the United Kingdom almost 21 hours later. Her historic solo flight began May 20, 1932 and touched down 15 hours later in Northern Ireland.
Before her disappearance in-flight on July 2, 1937, Earhart gifted the watch she wore on both trans-Atlantic trips to H. Gordon Selfridge Jr., who later gave it to Fay Gillis Wells, a charter member of The Ninety-Nines.
Kerwin, who acquired the timepiece from Wells at auction, presented it in October 2009 to Walker, a member of The Ninety-Nines, to fly to space.
"Amelia is such an icon with women in aviation and now with women in space. We are thrilled that Shannon is a Ninety-Nine and will be taking Amelia into space with her," Kerwin said last year.
Although the watch still runs, Walker won't use it to keep time but will keep it with her during the flight.
"I am very honored to take this watch," Walker said after accepting it from Kerwin, "because to me it represents the continuation of women in aviation and the field of aviation and how we continue to push boundaries and farther than ever before."
In addition to Earhart's watch, Walker selected a few other mementos to bring to the station, which relate to her being the first native Houstonian to fly in space. Houston, Texas hosts Johnson Space Center, where Mission Control and NASA's astronaut training facilities are based.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Laser system tracks growing threat of space junk
Laser system tracks growing threat of space junk
Australian researchers say they have developed a laser tracking system that will stop chunks of space debris from colliding with spacecraft and satellites in the earth's orbit.
Electro Optic Systems, an aerospace company based in Canberra, has received a $3.5 million grant from the Australian government to develop the world's first automated, high-precision, laser tracking technology, Voice of America reported on its website Saturday. It would replace existing radar networks that currently monitor debris floating in space.
An estimated 500,000 pieces of debris litter the Earth's orbit as a result of space exploration. The space junk ranges from old rocket parts the size of a bus to paint chips the size of a finger nail. Another 200,000 pieces of junk measuring less than a centimetre across — and thus not a serious threat or even possible to track — add to the space junk pile.
Most of the debris is in LEO — low earth orbit — within 2,000 km of the earth's surface.
Some satellites have been hit by pieces of man-made space junk, some hurtling at speeds over 35,000 km/h. Several space shuttle missions have also been endangered by the fast-moving veil of debris.
Dr. Craig Smith, CEO of Electro Optic Systems, said the goal of the new system is to track small objects with great accuracy, Voice of America reported.
"They are all hurtling around in space at 36,000 kilometres per hour and so even a 1mm piece of space junk can destroy or damage a satellite because it all comes from either dead satellites, satellites which have broken up, satellites which had fuel left in them and exploded," Smith told VOA. "It is really pollution from our own use of space. Over the last 50 years we have been a bit careless, just as we have been careless with our oceans and rivers over centuries and polluted them. Now we have done it to space as well and created our own problem because all this stuff is man-made."
The laser tracking system would work by giving spacecraft and satellites, which are able to be maneuvered, time to move out of the way of an incoming chunk of debris.
The project is one aspect of aerospace work by a larger international consortium, VOA said. Other members of the consortium include the Australian National University and scientific institutions in Germany and the United States. The tracking system can work from one laser base in Australia but the group's ultimate aim is to build a series of laser tracking stations around the world to provide an interconnecting defensive shield for activity in space.
Australian researchers say they have developed a laser tracking system that will stop chunks of space debris from colliding with spacecraft and satellites in the earth's orbit.
Electro Optic Systems, an aerospace company based in Canberra, has received a $3.5 million grant from the Australian government to develop the world's first automated, high-precision, laser tracking technology, Voice of America reported on its website Saturday. It would replace existing radar networks that currently monitor debris floating in space.
An estimated 500,000 pieces of debris litter the Earth's orbit as a result of space exploration. The space junk ranges from old rocket parts the size of a bus to paint chips the size of a finger nail. Another 200,000 pieces of junk measuring less than a centimetre across — and thus not a serious threat or even possible to track — add to the space junk pile.
Most of the debris is in LEO — low earth orbit — within 2,000 km of the earth's surface.
Some satellites have been hit by pieces of man-made space junk, some hurtling at speeds over 35,000 km/h. Several space shuttle missions have also been endangered by the fast-moving veil of debris.
Dr. Craig Smith, CEO of Electro Optic Systems, said the goal of the new system is to track small objects with great accuracy, Voice of America reported.
"They are all hurtling around in space at 36,000 kilometres per hour and so even a 1mm piece of space junk can destroy or damage a satellite because it all comes from either dead satellites, satellites which have broken up, satellites which had fuel left in them and exploded," Smith told VOA. "It is really pollution from our own use of space. Over the last 50 years we have been a bit careless, just as we have been careless with our oceans and rivers over centuries and polluted them. Now we have done it to space as well and created our own problem because all this stuff is man-made."
The laser tracking system would work by giving spacecraft and satellites, which are able to be maneuvered, time to move out of the way of an incoming chunk of debris.
The project is one aspect of aerospace work by a larger international consortium, VOA said. Other members of the consortium include the Australian National University and scientific institutions in Germany and the United States. The tracking system can work from one laser base in Australia but the group's ultimate aim is to build a series of laser tracking stations around the world to provide an interconnecting defensive shield for activity in space.
60 Years of Rocket Launches: The Rise of America's Spaceport
60 Years of Rocket Launches: The Rise of America's Spaceport
By Robert Z. Pearlman
Published July 23, 2010| Space.com
Sixty years ago Saturday morning, a rocket stood ready to launch from the east coast of Florida, destined to make history – not so much for where it was going, but for where it was departing.
Bumper 8, a two-stage vehicle built from a U.S.-modified, World War II-captured German V-2 missile and a sounding rocket upper-stage, became the first to liftoff from what is now known as Cape Canaveral.
A ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of Bumper 8's historic flight will take place today at the Florida launching pad. [Photo: Florida's first rocket launch.]
Florida's first rocket
The launch, which took place on July 24, 1950 at 9:28 a.m. EDT (1428 GMT), established the Florida spaceport long before space was the objective.
"It was only about missile research," Michael Neufeld, chair of the National Air and Space Museum's Space History Division, told SPACE.com. "The Cape as a launch site emerged in the late '40s when the armed services were looking at developing missiles longer than the White Sands [New Mexico] range could accommodate."
"There was an inter-service examination where an appropriate long-range proving ground – that was what it was called, the first iteration [of Cape Canaveral] was called the Long Range Proving Ground – where it could be," Neufeld said.
Bumper 8, the seventh in a test series of launches that was named after the way the two stages separated – or bumped apart – at altitude, picked up at the Cape where the earlier tests in New Mexico had left off.
"What the 1950 tests were about, which is something that very few people know, is that these Bumper launches were not altitude-launches, like the Bumper that went to 250 miles after multiple failures," described Neufeld. "These Bumper launches were designed to go on a much flatter trajectory and gather some data about hypersonic flight more in the upper atmosphere. And that was explicitly connected to trying to develop long-range cruise missiles."
60 years of rocket history
As rocket launches go – or went in the six decades that followed – Bumper 8's two-minute flight was not a total success. [NASA's Most Memorable Missions]
"Bumper 8 did not meet all its objectives," explained veteran space journalist Jim Banke, who will address an invited audience of Cape Canaveral personnel at a 60th anniversary ceremony this morning at the launch site.
"By and large, it was a successful mission in that it launched, it staged – which was the whole point of the flight to prove that staging could work and that the benefits of staging were real – but then after they staged they lost almost immediate contact and track with the WAC Corporal upper stage and they think that it basically broke apart," he added.
"Because of that – the mission did not meet all of its objective – so a lot of people used to call it a failure," said Banke. "But now it seems like we want to call it a success only it didn't meet all of its objectives."
Though it was impossible for the Bumper 8 team to know then, their 'successful failure' entered the history books for something other than own test objectives.
"I think that Bumper 8's real significance is that it was simply the first launch [from Cape Canveral]. I don't think the Bumper launches were even successful at the Cape. But that launch certainly places that significant marking point when the Cape began," Neufeld said.
"Bumper 8 was the first launch from Cape. It was the beginning of a 60-year now long tradition of excellence, of teamwork, or people doing miraculous things for the good of all. That's why it was important and that's why it is important here. It's usually a local legacy, a heritage thing, something we are proud of in own our backyard," said Banke.
Since Bumper 8, more than 3,000 rockets, missiles and manned spacecraft have followed its path skyward from the Florida launch-site. It was the latter though, that captured the public's imagination and really put Cape Canaveral on the map.
"In the '60s of course, it became the human spaceflight center and that is what everybody thought about, knew about. The fact that military activity continued there was increasingly obscured by the overwhelming focus on the human spaceflight program," Neufeld said. "I don't think most of the people are aware that most of the territory is in the Air Force side and that's where most of the launches are because [NASA's] Kennedy Space Center has all the visibility."
Out of space shuttles, out of sight?
"I think if you look to the non-space buff crowd, nobody knows about what is going on [at Cape Canaveral] except that the space shuttle is launched. They may have the vaguest knowledge that other rockets are launched there, but the overwhelming public image is that of the shuttle and that's where the shuttles are launched. So I wonder what people think is going to happen to the place," said Neufeld.
"The impression that I get is that if the public thinks of it all, it is when the shuttle launches and those are technically not even at Cape Canaveral," said Joel Powell, author of the 2006 book, "Go For Launch: An Illustrated History of Cape Canaveral." "The public doesn't really take a lot of notice [of rocket launches] – even when the Mars Exploration Rovers were launched to Mars or even the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – they really don't notice them anymore."
"The shuttle is still capturing their attention but of course the shuttle is going away," he remarked.
As for the site itself, Powell said that Cape Canaveral is also losing much of its landscape to the passage of time. "The impression that I get when I visit recently is that it is slowly reverting back to its natural state, except for the active launch pads."
"I am a little bit saddened that most of the older launch pads have really been demolished and obliterated so that slowly, all the historical facilities are being literally plowed into the ground," said Powell, who added that Pad 3, where Bumper 8 lifted off, is now little more than a slab of concrete.
Launch site markers
Although Banke agreed that many of the historic sites are now shells of their former selves – 'ruins of Canaveral,' as Powell phrased it in his book – he feels the Cape is still adapting to fit the needs of those seeking to reach space.
"As the old stuff kind of fades away and almost disappears into the soil, new stuff is coming up, new pads, new prospects, new offices are being built to replace them as the Cape continues to meet the needs of the launch community," said Banke.
"We continue to be a launch site, we continue to be a gateway to Earth orbit and whatever happens at Kennedy Space Center in the near future in terms of NASA's space exploration agenda, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is going to continue to be the major site in the United States for launching large cargo and satellites into orbit."
By Robert Z. Pearlman
Published July 23, 2010| Space.com
Sixty years ago Saturday morning, a rocket stood ready to launch from the east coast of Florida, destined to make history – not so much for where it was going, but for where it was departing.
Bumper 8, a two-stage vehicle built from a U.S.-modified, World War II-captured German V-2 missile and a sounding rocket upper-stage, became the first to liftoff from what is now known as Cape Canaveral.
A ceremony to mark the 60th anniversary of Bumper 8's historic flight will take place today at the Florida launching pad. [Photo: Florida's first rocket launch.]
Florida's first rocket
The launch, which took place on July 24, 1950 at 9:28 a.m. EDT (1428 GMT), established the Florida spaceport long before space was the objective.
"It was only about missile research," Michael Neufeld, chair of the National Air and Space Museum's Space History Division, told SPACE.com. "The Cape as a launch site emerged in the late '40s when the armed services were looking at developing missiles longer than the White Sands [New Mexico] range could accommodate."
"There was an inter-service examination where an appropriate long-range proving ground – that was what it was called, the first iteration [of Cape Canaveral] was called the Long Range Proving Ground – where it could be," Neufeld said.
Bumper 8, the seventh in a test series of launches that was named after the way the two stages separated – or bumped apart – at altitude, picked up at the Cape where the earlier tests in New Mexico had left off.
"What the 1950 tests were about, which is something that very few people know, is that these Bumper launches were not altitude-launches, like the Bumper that went to 250 miles after multiple failures," described Neufeld. "These Bumper launches were designed to go on a much flatter trajectory and gather some data about hypersonic flight more in the upper atmosphere. And that was explicitly connected to trying to develop long-range cruise missiles."
60 years of rocket history
As rocket launches go – or went in the six decades that followed – Bumper 8's two-minute flight was not a total success. [NASA's Most Memorable Missions]
"Bumper 8 did not meet all its objectives," explained veteran space journalist Jim Banke, who will address an invited audience of Cape Canaveral personnel at a 60th anniversary ceremony this morning at the launch site.
"By and large, it was a successful mission in that it launched, it staged – which was the whole point of the flight to prove that staging could work and that the benefits of staging were real – but then after they staged they lost almost immediate contact and track with the WAC Corporal upper stage and they think that it basically broke apart," he added.
"Because of that – the mission did not meet all of its objective – so a lot of people used to call it a failure," said Banke. "But now it seems like we want to call it a success only it didn't meet all of its objectives."
Though it was impossible for the Bumper 8 team to know then, their 'successful failure' entered the history books for something other than own test objectives.
"I think that Bumper 8's real significance is that it was simply the first launch [from Cape Canveral]. I don't think the Bumper launches were even successful at the Cape. But that launch certainly places that significant marking point when the Cape began," Neufeld said.
"Bumper 8 was the first launch from Cape. It was the beginning of a 60-year now long tradition of excellence, of teamwork, or people doing miraculous things for the good of all. That's why it was important and that's why it is important here. It's usually a local legacy, a heritage thing, something we are proud of in own our backyard," said Banke.
Since Bumper 8, more than 3,000 rockets, missiles and manned spacecraft have followed its path skyward from the Florida launch-site. It was the latter though, that captured the public's imagination and really put Cape Canaveral on the map.
"In the '60s of course, it became the human spaceflight center and that is what everybody thought about, knew about. The fact that military activity continued there was increasingly obscured by the overwhelming focus on the human spaceflight program," Neufeld said. "I don't think most of the people are aware that most of the territory is in the Air Force side and that's where most of the launches are because [NASA's] Kennedy Space Center has all the visibility."
Out of space shuttles, out of sight?
"I think if you look to the non-space buff crowd, nobody knows about what is going on [at Cape Canaveral] except that the space shuttle is launched. They may have the vaguest knowledge that other rockets are launched there, but the overwhelming public image is that of the shuttle and that's where the shuttles are launched. So I wonder what people think is going to happen to the place," said Neufeld.
"The impression that I get is that if the public thinks of it all, it is when the shuttle launches and those are technically not even at Cape Canaveral," said Joel Powell, author of the 2006 book, "Go For Launch: An Illustrated History of Cape Canaveral." "The public doesn't really take a lot of notice [of rocket launches] – even when the Mars Exploration Rovers were launched to Mars or even the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter – they really don't notice them anymore."
"The shuttle is still capturing their attention but of course the shuttle is going away," he remarked.
As for the site itself, Powell said that Cape Canaveral is also losing much of its landscape to the passage of time. "The impression that I get when I visit recently is that it is slowly reverting back to its natural state, except for the active launch pads."
"I am a little bit saddened that most of the older launch pads have really been demolished and obliterated so that slowly, all the historical facilities are being literally plowed into the ground," said Powell, who added that Pad 3, where Bumper 8 lifted off, is now little more than a slab of concrete.
Launch site markers
Although Banke agreed that many of the historic sites are now shells of their former selves – 'ruins of Canaveral,' as Powell phrased it in his book – he feels the Cape is still adapting to fit the needs of those seeking to reach space.
"As the old stuff kind of fades away and almost disappears into the soil, new stuff is coming up, new pads, new prospects, new offices are being built to replace them as the Cape continues to meet the needs of the launch community," said Banke.
"We continue to be a launch site, we continue to be a gateway to Earth orbit and whatever happens at Kennedy Space Center in the near future in terms of NASA's space exploration agenda, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is going to continue to be the major site in the United States for launching large cargo and satellites into orbit."
What will inspire tomorrow's rocket scientists?
What will inspire tomorrow's rocket scientists?
By Lauren Russell, CNN
July 23, 2010 8:42 a.m. EDT
CNN) -- Chris Ferguson remembers being 9 years old, watching astronaut Neil Armstrong take man's first steps on the moon on July 20, 1969.
Like thousands in his American generation, Ferguson dreamed in his childhood of becoming an astronaut.
"I was very interested in the space program," Ferguson. "It was something that gripped the world, something that all of the world was talking about."
And unlike all but a very, very few in his generation, he realized his childhood goal.
iReport: What did you want to be when you grew up
As an American astronaut, he has logged a total of 28 days in space to date. After receiving his master's degree in aeronautical engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School, Ferguson flew for the U.S. Navy as a pilot, officer and instructor.
But his ambitions stretched far beyond the clouds.
Ferguson said he tried not to get his hopes too high, and he persistently turned in his forms when NASA accepted astronaut applications.
The first three times Ferguson applied, he didn't make the cut. On the fourth try, he was selected as a member of the NASA Astronaut Class of 1999, and he now holds the title of deputy chief of NASA's Astronaut Office.
But with no set plans of launching astronauts into orbit from U.S. soil after the final trip to the International Space Station slated for February 2011, Ferguson and others in the space world are anxious.
Video: Astronauts talk to CNN from space
Video: Behind the scenes: Shuttle launch
Video: NASA vet frustrated about future In addition to fretting about funding and jobs, they wonder if the government is losing an initiative that engages the next generation of engineers and mathematicians.
"If we aren't doing things that inspire them, we'll suffer from the creative standpoint," he said.
Teresa Gomez, assistant manager for NASA's Astronaut Selection Office, said that most applicants who make it to the interview rounds have been grooming themselves their entire lives for the job.
In past years, candidates said it was the first lunar landing that sparked their interest in space. More recently, astronaut hopefuls said it was the first shuttle landing they saw that hooked them on aeronautics, Gomez said.
Many number-crunchers and rocket builders in the space exploration field also say they were space junkies in their younger years.
"It appeared as pure magic to see something so massive lift off the Earth," said Brad Toellner, an aerospace engineer major who has been working at NASA as a part of its Cooperative Education Program for the past four years. "It seemed so different from everyday life."
NASA and the commercial space community are waiting to hear the hard federal funding numbers to determine if, when and how American astronauts can go back into space.
President Barack Obama's NASA proposal currently being scrutinized by Congress focuses on researching propulsion for deep space and asteroid landings. It scraps the Constellation Project, which was launched six years ago with the aim of sending humans to Mars and back to the moon.
The proposal would also halt NASA shuttle launches to the International Space Station. Instead, federal funds would be used to help send U.S. commercial shuttles to the station.
Clark Moody, who remembers watching NASA videos with his dad in the 1980s, is a graduate student in aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University. He worries that NASA's other feats could be lost on the general public without the highly visible human spaceflight endeavors.
"When most people think of NASA, they think of NASA spaceflight and don't know 99 percent of what (else) it does," Moody said. "That's what gets people really excited when they're younger."
Others think there are cheaper ways to inspire young scientists than with NASA manned space missions.
"What are we trying to do here?" asked Roger Launius, the senior curator of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. "If we're trying to inspire kids, is this the way to do it, at $20 billion a year?" he questioned, referring to the cost of sending humans to the moon.
He said NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers -- active twin robots that were launched in 2003 to research the planet's water history -- should also grab young people's interest.
Robert Cort, the acting deputy manager of White Sands Test Facility in southern New Mexico, said he and others reach out to elementary and middle school children in the area to tell them that with hard work, they can be a part of the local space program efforts. The facility conducts safety tests for NASA, but most children say they want to be flying, not testing.
He's also worried that the manned spaceflight hiatus could damper children's interest in NASA. Cort said many students tell him they'll be astronauts when they grow up.
In return, he said, he tells them, "Hey, that's great, and if you do, we'll work to protect you," so as not to give them false hope.
The odds have historically been against those whose ambitions are out of this world. Since 1978, only .6 percent of astronaut applicants have been hired, according to NASA statistics.
Launius said there's potential for humans to travel farther with NASA's new vision, including turning shuttles over to commercial organizations.
"I'm not anxious," he said, "I'm curious as to where it'll go."
He said he's hopeful that commercial space entities will be successful and progress human space travel more efficiently than NASA's past vision.
Many others involved in aerospace, while holding their breath as Congress holds the American space program in limbo, are excited about the prospects of more people having the chance to travel into space -- including NASA's chief deputy astronaut.
If we're trying to inspire kids, is this the way to do it?
--Roger Launius, National Air and Space Museum curator
RELATED TOPICS
NASA
Manned Space Flight
Ferguson and most other astronauts paid for their shuttle tickets with post-graduate degrees and years in the military.
But, if commercial organizations take over NASA's suborbital shuttle missions, the next generation's astronauts might purchase their ticket as they would a bus or plane ticket.
For his entire life, Ferguson said, he had imagined watching a sunrise from space. He finally had the chance as pilot of the STS-115 shuttle mission to the International Space Station in 2006.
Watching the sun light up the underside of Earth, staining the ocean blue and the land green, was what he called a "gee-whiz moment."
"Space shouldn't just be reserved for those who've taken 10 years learning how to work a rocket," Ferguson said.
Instead, as the space program evolves, it could be reserved for those willing to put a couple hundred thousand dollars down as soon as the next decade, according to John Gedmark, executive director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.
By Lauren Russell, CNN
July 23, 2010 8:42 a.m. EDT
CNN) -- Chris Ferguson remembers being 9 years old, watching astronaut Neil Armstrong take man's first steps on the moon on July 20, 1969.
Like thousands in his American generation, Ferguson dreamed in his childhood of becoming an astronaut.
"I was very interested in the space program," Ferguson. "It was something that gripped the world, something that all of the world was talking about."
And unlike all but a very, very few in his generation, he realized his childhood goal.
iReport: What did you want to be when you grew up
As an American astronaut, he has logged a total of 28 days in space to date. After receiving his master's degree in aeronautical engineering at the Naval Postgraduate School, Ferguson flew for the U.S. Navy as a pilot, officer and instructor.
But his ambitions stretched far beyond the clouds.
Ferguson said he tried not to get his hopes too high, and he persistently turned in his forms when NASA accepted astronaut applications.
The first three times Ferguson applied, he didn't make the cut. On the fourth try, he was selected as a member of the NASA Astronaut Class of 1999, and he now holds the title of deputy chief of NASA's Astronaut Office.
But with no set plans of launching astronauts into orbit from U.S. soil after the final trip to the International Space Station slated for February 2011, Ferguson and others in the space world are anxious.
Video: Astronauts talk to CNN from space
Video: Behind the scenes: Shuttle launch
Video: NASA vet frustrated about future In addition to fretting about funding and jobs, they wonder if the government is losing an initiative that engages the next generation of engineers and mathematicians.
"If we aren't doing things that inspire them, we'll suffer from the creative standpoint," he said.
Teresa Gomez, assistant manager for NASA's Astronaut Selection Office, said that most applicants who make it to the interview rounds have been grooming themselves their entire lives for the job.
In past years, candidates said it was the first lunar landing that sparked their interest in space. More recently, astronaut hopefuls said it was the first shuttle landing they saw that hooked them on aeronautics, Gomez said.
Many number-crunchers and rocket builders in the space exploration field also say they were space junkies in their younger years.
"It appeared as pure magic to see something so massive lift off the Earth," said Brad Toellner, an aerospace engineer major who has been working at NASA as a part of its Cooperative Education Program for the past four years. "It seemed so different from everyday life."
NASA and the commercial space community are waiting to hear the hard federal funding numbers to determine if, when and how American astronauts can go back into space.
President Barack Obama's NASA proposal currently being scrutinized by Congress focuses on researching propulsion for deep space and asteroid landings. It scraps the Constellation Project, which was launched six years ago with the aim of sending humans to Mars and back to the moon.
The proposal would also halt NASA shuttle launches to the International Space Station. Instead, federal funds would be used to help send U.S. commercial shuttles to the station.
Clark Moody, who remembers watching NASA videos with his dad in the 1980s, is a graduate student in aerospace engineering at Texas A&M University. He worries that NASA's other feats could be lost on the general public without the highly visible human spaceflight endeavors.
"When most people think of NASA, they think of NASA spaceflight and don't know 99 percent of what (else) it does," Moody said. "That's what gets people really excited when they're younger."
Others think there are cheaper ways to inspire young scientists than with NASA manned space missions.
"What are we trying to do here?" asked Roger Launius, the senior curator of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. "If we're trying to inspire kids, is this the way to do it, at $20 billion a year?" he questioned, referring to the cost of sending humans to the moon.
He said NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers -- active twin robots that were launched in 2003 to research the planet's water history -- should also grab young people's interest.
Robert Cort, the acting deputy manager of White Sands Test Facility in southern New Mexico, said he and others reach out to elementary and middle school children in the area to tell them that with hard work, they can be a part of the local space program efforts. The facility conducts safety tests for NASA, but most children say they want to be flying, not testing.
He's also worried that the manned spaceflight hiatus could damper children's interest in NASA. Cort said many students tell him they'll be astronauts when they grow up.
In return, he said, he tells them, "Hey, that's great, and if you do, we'll work to protect you," so as not to give them false hope.
The odds have historically been against those whose ambitions are out of this world. Since 1978, only .6 percent of astronaut applicants have been hired, according to NASA statistics.
Launius said there's potential for humans to travel farther with NASA's new vision, including turning shuttles over to commercial organizations.
"I'm not anxious," he said, "I'm curious as to where it'll go."
He said he's hopeful that commercial space entities will be successful and progress human space travel more efficiently than NASA's past vision.
Many others involved in aerospace, while holding their breath as Congress holds the American space program in limbo, are excited about the prospects of more people having the chance to travel into space -- including NASA's chief deputy astronaut.
If we're trying to inspire kids, is this the way to do it?
--Roger Launius, National Air and Space Museum curator
RELATED TOPICS
NASA
Manned Space Flight
Ferguson and most other astronauts paid for their shuttle tickets with post-graduate degrees and years in the military.
But, if commercial organizations take over NASA's suborbital shuttle missions, the next generation's astronauts might purchase their ticket as they would a bus or plane ticket.
For his entire life, Ferguson said, he had imagined watching a sunrise from space. He finally had the chance as pilot of the STS-115 shuttle mission to the International Space Station in 2006.
Watching the sun light up the underside of Earth, staining the ocean blue and the land green, was what he called a "gee-whiz moment."
"Space shouldn't just be reserved for those who've taken 10 years learning how to work a rocket," Ferguson said.
Instead, as the space program evolves, it could be reserved for those willing to put a couple hundred thousand dollars down as soon as the next decade, according to John Gedmark, executive director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.
Friday, July 23, 2010
House committee supports additional shuttle flight
CNet News: House committee supports additional shuttle flight
A House committee on Thursday approved an amendment to a bill that would clear NASA to launch an additional shuttle flight next summer to deliver critical supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.
The move came as the House Committee on Science and Technology was reviewing its version of NASA's $19 billion 2011 funding package. The Senate version of the appropriations legislation already included the additional flight. But major differences remain in other key areas, including how much money goes to support development of a new private-sector manned launch industry, the timetable for development of a NASA heavy-lift rocket for deep space exploration, and plans for a new government-designed manned spacecraft.
Even so, Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) said in a statement that the House legislation "sets a clear, sustainable, and executable path for NASA, especially in the area of human space flight."
An engine is removed from the shuttle Atlantis earlier this month as part of normal post-flight processing. NASA hopes to launch Atlantis on one final mission to the International Space Station next June.
(Credit: NASA) The Obama administration earlier this year proposed canceling NASA's Constellation moon program, including the Ares I and Ares V rockets the agency had planned to build to replace the shuttle. The Orion crew capsule that would have been launched atop the Ares I rocket would be converted into a space station crew lifeboat.
At the same time, the president called for a transition to private-sector rockets and capsules to ferry astronauts to and from the space station, allowing NASA to focus on development of new heavy-lift rockets and capsules for eventual flights to nearby asteroids and, eventually, to Mars.
But the president's plan would defer work on a heavy lifter until 2015, delaying deep space missions beyond low-Earth orbit until the middle of the 2020s in favor of near-term development of advanced technologies.
Supporters of the administration's space policy applauded the shift to private-sector launch services, arguing that increased efficiencies and innovation would open up the high frontier to more extensive--and routine--use. Under the administration's proposed budget, NASA would spend $6 billion over the next five years to spur development of private-sector launch services.
But critics decried the proposed write-off of some $9 billion already spent on the Constellation program, the long development cycle proposed for eventual deep space missions, and the reliance on as-yet-unproven commercial launchers and capsules.
The House and Senate versions of NASA's appropriations package both cut out the moon as NASA's next major goal and both extend space station operations through 2020 as requested by the president. But both reduce funding for commercial manned space initiatives. The Senate version provides $1.3 billion over the next three years while the president's initial proposal called for $3.3 billion. The House version would provide just $450 million over the next three years.
The Senate version also would accelerate development of a heavy lift rocket, using components of the Constellation program where possible, for initial flights as early as 2016. The House version would stretch out development to around 2020. Both versions also call for development of a government-sponsored crew capsule, based on the Orion design, for deep space exploration and possible space station support.
"I have the sense that the rest of the policy community thinks the Senate bill is a reasonable compromise we can live with," said a space policy analyst who asked not to be named.
In 2004, the Bush administration directed NASA to finish the space station and retire the shuttle fleet by the end of fiscal 2010. An additional $600 million later was promised to pay for shuttle operations through the end of calendar 2010 and shuttle program managers came up with additional savings to cover costs through early 2011.
NASA currently has just two flights on its shuttle manifest. First up is a mission by the shuttle Discovery, scheduled for launch November 1, to deliver spare parts and equipment to the station in a logistics module that will be permanently attached to the lab complex.
In keeping with NASA's post-Columbia safety policies, the shuttle Endeavour will be available for possible rescue duty if any major problems develop that might prevent a safe re-entry for Discovery's crew.
Assuming a rescue flight isn't needed, Endeavour will be launched February 26 to deliver the $1.5 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer physics experiment to the space station along with additional supplies and spare parts.
The shuttle Atlantis is being processed to serve as the rescue vehicle for Endeavour's crew. NASA managers have been lobbying for months to win approval to actually launch Atlantis on a final flight next June to deliver one last load of equipment.
By launching Atlantis with a reduced crew of four, a second shuttle would not be required for rescue duty. If a problem prevented a safe re-entry, the yet-to-be-named Atlantis astronauts could seek safe haven aboard the space station and rotate home aboard Russian Soyuz capsules.
It would not be easy and it would take months to cycle all four crew members back to Earth aboard already planned Soyuz flights. But supporters believe the benefits of a final resupply mission outweigh the risks and justify the $1.6 billion needed to extend the shuttle program through mid-2011.
"This mission will help minimize the spaceflight gap by stretching out the human spaceflight capabilities into mid 2011," Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, a Florida Democrat, said Thursday, introducing an amendment for "contingent authorization." "This additional launch provides the most risk-free logistical support in the next year...I urge you to support my amendment and to authorize this critical shuttle mission in order to preserve our workforce and maximize the investments we've made in the International Space Station."
The amendment, which passed on a voice vote, would pay for the flight by transferring funds from NASA's space station and exploration budgets.
"I think the White House is on board with it," the policy analyst said.
A House committee on Thursday approved an amendment to a bill that would clear NASA to launch an additional shuttle flight next summer to deliver critical supplies and equipment to the International Space Station.
The move came as the House Committee on Science and Technology was reviewing its version of NASA's $19 billion 2011 funding package. The Senate version of the appropriations legislation already included the additional flight. But major differences remain in other key areas, including how much money goes to support development of a new private-sector manned launch industry, the timetable for development of a NASA heavy-lift rocket for deep space exploration, and plans for a new government-designed manned spacecraft.
Even so, Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) said in a statement that the House legislation "sets a clear, sustainable, and executable path for NASA, especially in the area of human space flight."
An engine is removed from the shuttle Atlantis earlier this month as part of normal post-flight processing. NASA hopes to launch Atlantis on one final mission to the International Space Station next June.
(Credit: NASA) The Obama administration earlier this year proposed canceling NASA's Constellation moon program, including the Ares I and Ares V rockets the agency had planned to build to replace the shuttle. The Orion crew capsule that would have been launched atop the Ares I rocket would be converted into a space station crew lifeboat.
At the same time, the president called for a transition to private-sector rockets and capsules to ferry astronauts to and from the space station, allowing NASA to focus on development of new heavy-lift rockets and capsules for eventual flights to nearby asteroids and, eventually, to Mars.
But the president's plan would defer work on a heavy lifter until 2015, delaying deep space missions beyond low-Earth orbit until the middle of the 2020s in favor of near-term development of advanced technologies.
Supporters of the administration's space policy applauded the shift to private-sector launch services, arguing that increased efficiencies and innovation would open up the high frontier to more extensive--and routine--use. Under the administration's proposed budget, NASA would spend $6 billion over the next five years to spur development of private-sector launch services.
But critics decried the proposed write-off of some $9 billion already spent on the Constellation program, the long development cycle proposed for eventual deep space missions, and the reliance on as-yet-unproven commercial launchers and capsules.
The House and Senate versions of NASA's appropriations package both cut out the moon as NASA's next major goal and both extend space station operations through 2020 as requested by the president. But both reduce funding for commercial manned space initiatives. The Senate version provides $1.3 billion over the next three years while the president's initial proposal called for $3.3 billion. The House version would provide just $450 million over the next three years.
The Senate version also would accelerate development of a heavy lift rocket, using components of the Constellation program where possible, for initial flights as early as 2016. The House version would stretch out development to around 2020. Both versions also call for development of a government-sponsored crew capsule, based on the Orion design, for deep space exploration and possible space station support.
"I have the sense that the rest of the policy community thinks the Senate bill is a reasonable compromise we can live with," said a space policy analyst who asked not to be named.
In 2004, the Bush administration directed NASA to finish the space station and retire the shuttle fleet by the end of fiscal 2010. An additional $600 million later was promised to pay for shuttle operations through the end of calendar 2010 and shuttle program managers came up with additional savings to cover costs through early 2011.
NASA currently has just two flights on its shuttle manifest. First up is a mission by the shuttle Discovery, scheduled for launch November 1, to deliver spare parts and equipment to the station in a logistics module that will be permanently attached to the lab complex.
In keeping with NASA's post-Columbia safety policies, the shuttle Endeavour will be available for possible rescue duty if any major problems develop that might prevent a safe re-entry for Discovery's crew.
Assuming a rescue flight isn't needed, Endeavour will be launched February 26 to deliver the $1.5 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer physics experiment to the space station along with additional supplies and spare parts.
The shuttle Atlantis is being processed to serve as the rescue vehicle for Endeavour's crew. NASA managers have been lobbying for months to win approval to actually launch Atlantis on a final flight next June to deliver one last load of equipment.
By launching Atlantis with a reduced crew of four, a second shuttle would not be required for rescue duty. If a problem prevented a safe re-entry, the yet-to-be-named Atlantis astronauts could seek safe haven aboard the space station and rotate home aboard Russian Soyuz capsules.
It would not be easy and it would take months to cycle all four crew members back to Earth aboard already planned Soyuz flights. But supporters believe the benefits of a final resupply mission outweigh the risks and justify the $1.6 billion needed to extend the shuttle program through mid-2011.
"This mission will help minimize the spaceflight gap by stretching out the human spaceflight capabilities into mid 2011," Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, a Florida Democrat, said Thursday, introducing an amendment for "contingent authorization." "This additional launch provides the most risk-free logistical support in the next year...I urge you to support my amendment and to authorize this critical shuttle mission in order to preserve our workforce and maximize the investments we've made in the International Space Station."
The amendment, which passed on a voice vote, would pay for the flight by transferring funds from NASA's space station and exploration budgets.
"I think the White House is on board with it," the policy analyst said.
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