Gov. Martin O’Malley released the Unmanned Aerial & Space Systems & Launch Industry Feasibility Study, which identifies opportunities for investment and growth in aerospace and space on Maryland’s Lower Eastern Shore. “Space is more than just ‘the final frontier’ for scientific exploration – it is a promising economic frontier for our nation, for our state, and, as this study attests, for our Lower Eastern Shore,” said Governor O’Malley.
“With Maryland residents comprising nearly 50 percent of its workforce, NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility has had a significant impact on the economy of the Lower Shore for more than six decades. This feasibility study outlines the potential for further development of the industry around Wallops" Located on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, just five miles from the Maryland border, Wallops has an economic impact of more than $188 million and generates 2,341 jobs for the Lower Eastern Shore region.
Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) launches and Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) test and development have driven much of the recent growth at NASA Wallops Space Flight Center. Commercial space flight and the emerging UAS industry continue to provide Wallops with future growth opportunities. Unmanned Aerial & Space Systems & Launch Industry Feasibility Study identifies specific areas of potential investment to spur additional growth in these industries at WFF. Click here. (2/21)
Orbital, Virginia Settle Lawsuit Over Launch Pad Costs (Source: Space News)
Virginia has agreed to take ownership of the vehicle that hauls Antares rockets out to its Wallops Island launchpad under a settlement to a lawsuit the company filed against the state in September. Orbital sued Virginia seeking money it paid to cover cost overruns during construction of the state-owned Pad 0A at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. Orbital was seeking $16.5 million, plus interest, from the state, which runs the spaceport through the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority.
The transporter was one of several assets Orbital bought from the state back in 2010 to provide a $42 million cash infusion for the overbudget Pad 0A, which gave Wallops the ability to launch liquid-fueled rockets. The state, in accordance with its 2012 memorandum of understanding with Orbital, was supposed to buy these assets back from the company, which under the same agreement agreed to launch 10 Antares missions from Pad 0A and pay Virginia $1.5 million per launch. Orbital has so far launched three of these missions.
Virginia, which is trying to attract other launch services providers to Pad 0-A, repurchased most of the assets but balked at taking back the transporter. Virginia officials said the vehicle could not be used with other rockets without substantial, and expensive, modifications. Orbital disagreed, and the mediator brought in to settle the argument, the U.S. government-funded think tank the Aerospace Corp., took the company’s side. Still, Virginia refused to pay up, leading Orbital to seek redress from the courts. (2/21)
Cecil Stakes a Claim to Space (Source: Jacksonville Business Journal)
In 2005, City of Jacksonville officials embarked on plans to make Cecil Airport — the former Navy base turned airport/commerce center — into a locus of aerospace activity. Late last year, a first tenant signed up to launch operations at Cecil Spaceport. Later this year, that firm — Generation Orbit Launch Services Inc., an Atlanta-based commercial space launch provider — plans to send aloft from Cecil a horizontally launched vehicle as part of a plan to convey a miniature satellite into space.
Advocates hope the company’s announcement will be the first of many for the Westside site, one that boasts a runway long enough to handle the (late, lamented) space shuttle. If more announcements follow, it could signify the beginnings of a new industry sector in Jacksonville: More launches at Cecil could attract a plethora of related companies, from fabricators to technologists — and if space tourism becomes a reality, the spinoff effects could reach as far as the hospitality industry. (2/21)
Editorial: Don't Plop Spaceport Into a Florida Wildlife Refuge (Source: Florida Times-Union)
Plans are being made for private companies to blast rockets into space from the middle of Yellowstone National Park. Unfortunately, the beloved park will have to be closed to visitors for a good part of the year to accomplish that. Sorry. And the park’s unique environment will likely be damaged. Sorry about that, too, but there’s money to be made.
OK. The above is fiction, but the harsh reality is Space Florida, which is leading the state’s efforts to boost the space industry, is pushing to build a private launch site in the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Each year more than a million people visit the refuge, only about a two-hour drive from Jacksonville on Interstate 95. They are drawn there by the refuge’s beauty and the more than 500 species of fish, birds and wildlife that inhabit it. Those visitors pump more than $60 million into the local economy annually.
In the quest to create jobs, likely at the expense of others, Space Florida is planning for 24 launches a year from a 200-acre site within the refuge. That would require shutting down access to parts of the refuge in advance of each launch and would impact Mosquito Lagoon and Canaveral National Seashore, which generates another $67 million in local economic impact. There’s no question the surrounding area has been hit hard by the loss of space-related jobs that came with the end of the space shuttle program. The jobs that would come with the commercial launches are needed, but that can be accomplished without degrading the wildlife refuge. (2/21)
How to Protect Earth From Asteroid Destruction (Source: Network World)
There has been much discussion about how NASA and others could protect Earth from the threat of asteroids catastrophically striking the planet. This month NASA issued a report on the conclusions reached by a group of experts on the best ways to find, track and possibly deflect asteroids headed for Earth. Here we take a look at some of the key findings as well as other asteroid detection projects. Click here. (2/19)
Russia to Map Out Next Ten-Year Space Program (Source: Voice of Russia)
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has approved the proposal to draw up a new federal program for the development of Russian space centers in 2016-2026, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin told reporters. "The prime minister has supported the idea to draw up a new federal target program for the development of space centers in the decade which starts in 2016. The current ten-year program expires in 2015," Rogozin said. (2/21)
Does Space Weather Impact Earth? Professor Wins NASA Grant to Find Out (Source: Culture Map)
It seems everyone has a theory about who to blame for weird weather. But not everyone has half a million dollars from NASA to back it up. University of Texas at Arlington physics professor Yue Deng won a $534,000 grant to study how space weather events affect Earth. Deng's research will explore how solar flares impact electrodynamics in the Earth's atmosphere.
"Almost all the influence of space weather on our society is affected by dynamics in the upper atmosphere. Neutral wind in the upper atmosphere is very difficult to model and measure, but it is still one of the most important parameters to consider," Deng said in a statement announcing the grant. Scientists in Alaska and Illinois will assist Deng in her research, which will draw data from satellites and other machinery in Alaska, Brazil and Germany. (2/21)
Krysten Ritter to Star in NBC's Astronaut Comedy (Source: Hollywood Report)
Krysten Ritter is ready to go to the moon for NBC. She is near a deal to play the starring role in the network's period space comedy Mission Contro. The workplace ensemble comedy, from executive producer Will Ferrell, is set in 1962 and in the tone of Anchorman. The single-camera comedy examines what happens when a strong woman butts heads with a macho astronaut in the race to land on the moon. (2/21)
TV's Soledad O'Brien to Host National Geographic's 'Live from Space' (Source: Space.com)
Journalist, producer and television host Soledad O'Brien will host the National Geographic Channel's television event "Live from Space," Nat Geo representatives announced Wednesday (Feb. 19). O'Brien will broadcast live from NASA's Mission Control in Houston to give viewers a glimpse of astronaut life and work aboard the International Space Station.
"Live from Space" is set to air live on Friday, Mar. 14 at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT) on the National Geographic Channel, as well as in 170 other countries. The two-hour show will follow NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata on the space station. The astronauts will take viewers on a guided tour of the space lab, demonstrating how they sleep upside down, stay fit, maintain personal hygiene and use the toilet in zero gravity. (2/21)
Masten Accomplishes Successful Free Flight in Mojave (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Mojave Air and Space Port Stu Witt announced that Masten Space Systems successfully flew a vehicle this morning. He said the vehicle went to an altitude of 300 meters, translated over and touched down safely on another landing pad. Witt did not say which vehicle it was, but I’m guessing it was a Xombie.
Masten has been working this week with Astrobotic Technology to for test the company’s landing sensor package and software system for its Griffin lander, which it plans to send to the moon in October 2015. Astrobotic is a competitor in the Google Lunar X Prize, which has prizes for the first private company to land a rover on the moon. (2/21)
How We Will Retrieve Dead Satellites In The Future? (Source: Universe Today)
Space agencies such as NASA and the European Space Agency have been working hard on reducing debris during launches, but there’s still stuff from decades before. And when a satellite goes dead, if it’s in the wrong orbit it could be circling up there for decades before burning up. How do you fix that?
Robotics has come a long way in 30 years, so space agencies are looking to use those instead to pick up derelict satellites since that would pose far less danger to astronauts. One example is the e.DeOrbit mission recently talked about by ESA, which would pick up debris in polar orbits of altitudes between 800 and 1,000 kilometers (about 500 to 620 miles).
The mission would use autonomous control and image sensors to get up close to the drifting satellite, and then capture it in some way. Several ideas are being considered, ESA added. A big enough net could easily nab the satellite, or perhaps one could clamp on using tentacles or grab it with a harpoon or robotic arm. (2/21)
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