Florida’s Space Coast is anticipating a busy 2015. Numerous rocket launches and other projects are scheduled throughout the year. SpaceX plans to kick off the year on Tuesday with an early morning cargo launch to the International Space Station. Last spring, the company won a 20-year lease of a mothballed NASA launch pad. The company plans to finish outfitting the pad by midyear so that it can support launches of its Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
Also planned for 2015, the renovation of two former shuttle hangars at Kennedy Space Center to house a secrete Air force space plane program relocating from California. The Air force is expected to conduct a fourth launch of its unmanned X-37V Orbital Test Vehicle this from Cape Canaveral this year. As many as 24 rocket launches are scheduled this year from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Air Force said. Sixteen rockets were launched from the station in 2014.
Also planned for 2015, United Launch Alliance will start building a crew access tower near a launch pad, where Atlas V rockets will launch Boeing’s CST-100 capsule. Space Florida recently announced plans for an unnamed commercial space company to take up residence at one of two state-run pads. Combined state and company investment at the site is expected to total $34 million over five years and add 100 jobs. After nearly 18 months of negotiation, NASA and Space Florida are nearing a deal for the state to take over control of Kennedy Space Center’s three-mile shuttle runway. (1/4)
2014 Was a Good Year for Space. 2015 Will Be Even Better. (Source: Space Foundation)
2014 was a very good year for space. Not great. Not perfect. Not without a stumble here and there. But, overall, a very good year -- one that we can build upon. I know this because at the end of each calendar year, right before the holiday break, the Space Foundation works through the process of short-listing worthy candidates for the awards that we present at the annual Space Symposium.
Sometimes the exercise is difficult, and we find ourselves beating the bushes for ideas. At other times, the pickings are so slim, that we aren't able to present an award in one category or another. But, then, there are years like 2014, where there are multiple potential award winners all across the global space enterprise -- for space achievement, public outreach, space exploration and STEM education. Click here. (1/3)
Simonyi On What To Pack For Space Travel (Source: Forbes)
Looking for a vacation that costs up to $50 million, has no showers and is likely to make you sick? It’s no luxury resort, but traveling to outer space can be the ultimate adventure for thrill-seekers with lots of disposable income. It’s as exclusive as it gets — fewer than 550 people have ever been, only eight of them paying tourists. But the journey will get more accessible in the next few years, as a handful of companies compete to launch the first commercial space flights.
Until now, the only way to buy a trip to the stars has been through Space Adventures, a Virginia-based company that has facilitated trips to the International Space Station on Russian Soyuz rockets since 2001. Clients have included billionaire Cirque du Soleil cofounder Guy Laliberte, British-American game designer Richard Garriott and South-African software millionaire Mark Shuttleworth. Click here. (1/4)
India Plans Winged Reusable Rocket Demo (Source: Live Mint)
India is working on developing the technology for a winged rocket that can be used repeatedly, a senior official said. ISRO will carry out the technology demonstration of the reusable launch vehicle in March. “The structure that makes a rocket has to be such that it should have 98% propellant and 2% structure. Only then reusability is possible. Today’s technology does not allow you to go to that level as 5% to 10% will be the mass of the structure and around 90% will be the propellant,” said S. Somanath.
“But then, new ideas are coming up, SpaceX is working on a reusable launch vehicle, but nobody is sure if in the next 10 years, reusable vehicles will be a reality,” Somanth added. ISRO is trying to develop a Winged Reusable Launch Vehicle Technology Demonstrator (RLV-TD) which will act as a flying tester to assess hypersonic flight, autonomous landing, powered cruise flight and hypersonic flight using air-breathing propulsion.
ISRO is currently integrating the flight model. In the technology demonstrator, Isro will test if the 12-tonne vehicle can reach five times the speed of sound, whether it can re-enter the atmosphere and land on the sea using its computer system. (1/5)
The Year Ahead in Space: What’s Next? (Source: Newsweek)
In 2014, the world looked on eagerly as a probe landed on a comet for the first time, as a test flight brought humans one step closer to Mars, and as astronauts tweeted home striking images from space, giving those left behind on Earth the sense that they were along for the ride. And the coming year has plenty more in store.
“2015 is going to be a very exciting year particularly for the public and space exploration,” says Bruce Betts, director of science and technology for The Planetary Society. Here are some of the highlights—by no means a comprehensive list—to look forward to in 2015. Click here. (1/5)
Don't Forget Space is Dangerous (Source: CNN)
The march into space appears to be gathering speed. The not-for-profit Mars One says it plans to establish a human settlement on Mars by 2025, a goal that has attracted more than 200,000 applicants for the one-way trip (a number that has so far been winnowed down to 705 candidates). And before Virgin Galactic's SpaceShip2 crashed in October, nearly a thousand would-be space tourists spent as much as a quarter of a million dollars for the promise of a few minutes of suborbital weightlessness. But, future astronauts, think very carefully: Space is a very dangerous and unpredictable place. Click here. (1/5)
Chinese Spacecraft to Return to Moon's Orbit (Source: Xinhua)
The service module of China's unmanned lunar orbiter is scheduled to return to the moon's orbit in mid-January for more tests to prepare for the country's next lunar probe mission, Chang'e-5. On Sunday, the service module left the Earth-Moon second Lagrange Point (L2) after circling the point while performing additional tests, the State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) said Monday. (1/5)
In an Eerie Scene, Chinese Villagers Visit Rocket Crash Site (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
The expended first stage of a Long March rocket tumbled into a forested region of southwestern China a few minutes after successfully blasting off Dec. 31 with a Chinese weather satellite, and photographers were there to capture the booster’s fall back to Earth. The images released on the website of the state-owned China News Service show the rocket’s descent and crumpled debris along a rural roadside near Fuquan, a small city in southwestern China’s Guizhou province. Click here. (1/5)
Reborn Space Weather Satellite Prepared for Launch (Source: SEN)
With a new name, a new mission and—after almost a decade in storage—a launch date, the Earth-monitoring satellite once known as Triana will soon be put to work providing early warnings of potentially dangerous solar storms. From its vantage point 1.5 million km (930,000 miles) from Earth, the Deep Space Climate Observatory, or DSCOVR as the spacecraft is now known, will keep constant watch on the Sun and the daylight side of Earth.
At that distance, DSCOVR can provide about an hour’s advance notice of solar particle tsunamis and geomagnetic storms that can disrupt power grids, black out radio communications and disrupt signals from GPS and other satellites. (1/5)
KSC Delves Into Wearable Tech (Source: Florida Today)
On his "smart" watch, David Miranda checks e-mail and appointments, dictates text messages and performs Google searches, among other tasks. The accessory makes the Kennedy Space Center engineer an early adopter of "wearable technology" that one leading consumer electronics company predicts will emerge as a hot workplace trend this year .
But in "wearables" like the LG watch or Google Glass eye wear, Miranda and a group of colleagues see the potential for something more visionary: helping KSC workers do their jobs more safely and efficiently, and maybe someday also astronaut explorers. Miranda leads an eight-person team of young engineers who this month are beginning a two-year project to develop a prototype headset that works something like a Google Glass for space operations. (1/5)
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