A 12 year old North Bay boy got the surprise of his young life Wednesday evening, and it turns out to be a wonderful story. Austin Wasylkiw, a student at F.J. Fricker, has a very keen interest in space. His dad Alex confirms that his son has been reading books about space since he was four. So Austin was very interested to read a story in BayToday about a space company, new to North Bay, called Swiss Space Systems or S3.
"Our CEO was very touched ... and wanted to do something very special," said Robert Feierbach, the head of S3 USA. "He felt it was important to motivate someone very, very young who is obviously very interested in space." So when the S3 executives were in the city Wednesday, they planned a surprise visit, bringing gifts and a special video from the S3 CEO to their youngest fan. (11/5)
By Outsourcing ISS Cargo Flights, Orbital Will Likely Bring Cygnus to Florida (Source: SPACErePORT)
With Orbital Sciences Corp.'s decision to halt its use of the Russian rocket engines suspected to have failed on Antares, the company has advised NASA it will outsource two launches to other rockets capable of carrying its Cygnus cargo modules to the Space Station. That means flying Cygnus atop the SpaceX Falcon-9 and/or the ULA Atlas-5 or Delta-4, from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. (11/6)
America Can't Afford to be Lost in Space (Source: Washington Examiner)
NASA has all but handed over the field of spaceflight to the private sector. Indeed, coming on the heels of President Obama’s termination of the space shuttle program in 2011, both events had people wondering if the end of America’s decades-old dominance of space flight is really finally here.
What the pessimists missed, however, was the successful launch last Friday of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V booster, carrying a GPS satellite into orbit — the fiftieth such successful launch — and powered by the same kind of seventies-era RD-180 engine that blew up on the Orbital Science platform. All of which proves we’re far from down and out in the space race, and that even old technologies work when we’re committed to their success.
But commercial companies, no matter how skilled or innovative, can’t conquer space alone. It may be hard for some conservatives to admit, but there are still things government does best, because it can muster more critical resources — technological, scientific, and monetary — than the market can readily supply. Defense is one such area; space is another. And the two are closely related. (11/5)
A Good Night for Mojave as Steve Knight Heads to Congress (Source: Parabolic Arc)
In Mojave election news, State Sen. Steve Knight — a big commercial space supporter — is heading for Congress. In a much watched race, Knight defeated fellow Republican Tony Strickland to represent the 25th Congressional District, which includes the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster. Knight will replace Buck McKeon, who is retiring. Knight has been a prominent supporter of aerospace and commercial space measures. He is the son of the late X-15 pilot William “Pete” Knight. (11/5)
NASA Rocket Experiment Finds the Universe Brighter Than We Thought (Source: NASA)
A NASA sounding rocket experiment has detected a surprising surplus of infrared light in the dark space between galaxies, a diffuse cosmic glow as bright as all known galaxies combined. The glow is thought to be from orphaned stars flung out of galaxies. The findings redefine what scientists think of as galaxies. Galaxies may not have a set boundary of stars, but instead stretch out to great distances, forming a vast, interconnected sea of stars.
Observations from the Cosmic Infrared Background Experiment, or CIBER, are helping settle a debate on whether this background infrared light in the universe, previously detected by NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, comes from these streams of stripped stars too distant to be seen individually, or alternatively from the first galaxies to form in the universe. (11/6)
CASIS and Boeing Partner on MassChallenge Awards (Source: CASIS)
The Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) and Boeing awarded three entrepreneurial researchers financial support through the MassChallenge Startup Accelerator. In April, both entities announced their intention to collaborate on the “Technology in Space” sidecar prize through MassChallenge. Click here. (11/6)
Bigelow Hiring Again (Sources: SPACErePORT, Bigelow Aerospace)
After cutting its workforce in half in 2011, Bigelow Aerospace executives said they were retaining a "core group" to preserve key capabilities during a slowing-down period. That core group included just over 50 people. Now Bigelow is hiring again, with about 100 positions advertised on their website, presumably for work at their North Las Vegas facility. Click here. (11/6)
Astronauts Submerge GoPro Inside a Floating Ball of Water On ISS (Source: IFL Science)
Curious about the behavior of water surface tension in microgravity, three astronauts aboard the International Space Station decided to stick a GoPro camera inside a floating ball of water. They also filmed the event using a 3D camera. The men—Steve Swanson, Reid Wiseman, and Alexander Gerst—captured the videos sometime during summer 2014 as part of Expedition 40. Click here. (11/6)
How Can Commercial Space Flights be Regulated? (Source: Washington Post)
In 2014, with a rocket exploding near one coast and a futuristic spaceship crashing near the other, there’s another new frontier: regulating corporate America’s rush to capitalize on the vacuum created when NASA retired from hands-on space flight. Into that void, Congress thrust the FAA, charging it with setting the guidelines for a fledgling industry that has drawn more than a half dozen companies with a variety of goals.
“It’s a little bit different than the rest of the aviation oversight that we do,” said an FAA official, “because the industry is kind of where the Wright brothers were in aviation.” The fact that Antares and SS2 flew under two different FAA guidelines underscores the nascent nature of space flight regulation. It also reflects the challenge federal regulators face in governing emerging technologies: Step in too soon with a heavy hand and it may stifle creative thinking.
The future regulatory challenge will require dealing with a variety of designs and intentions. Virgin's SS2 accident will be the first time the NTSB has led an investigation into a space launch with passengers on board. Part of the NTSB investigation, said its chairman, Christopher Hart, will be “to see whether the oversight was adequate, to the extent that there is oversight in this industry.” Click here. (11/5)
Editorial: Private Firms Not the Problem in Rocket Crash (Source: Pasadena Star-News)
The place where civilian space flight needs more scrutiny from the public sector is in safety oversight, the kind that NASA provided for astronauts, if imperfectly. Though pilot error may turn out to be the cause of last week’s crash, experimental fuels that were used — including a form of nylon and highly volatile nitrous oxide — are controversial among spaceflight engineers. The LA Times reports that last year Virgin Galactic’s safety chief resigned and has not been replaced. The FAA and NTSB, which is investigating the crash, need to insist on a commitment to safe flying. (11/6)
Wax Fuel Gives Hybrid Rockets More Oomph (Source: IEEE Spectrum)
Solid-propellant rockets have the fuel and oxidizer already mixed and held together in a polymer binder. That reduces complexity, but it doesn’t eliminate the dangers: Cracks or imperfections in the solid fuel or its packaging can cause uncontrolled combustion and explosion.
Hybrid rocket motors store the oxidizer as a liquid and the fuel as a solid, a configuration that is mechanically simple and reduces the opportunity for chemical explosion, both in flight and during ground operations. That makes hybrids safer than solid-fueled rockets. Our fundamental innovation is a change in the composition of the solid fuel that’s used. Instead of the usual rubbery polymer, we use ordinary paraffin wax. Yes, wax.
Paraffin-based fuels give hybrid rockets more oomph, because the fuel that is exposed to combustion melts, atomizes, and becomes entrained in the flowing oxidizer. This enlarges the surface area over which the fuel can vaporize and react. (11/5)
McAuliffe Calls for Full Financial Review of Spaceport Deal with Orbital (Source: Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Gov. Terry McAuliffe has ordered a fresh look at the financial arrangements between a Virginia spaceflight authority and Orbital Sciences Corp. He expressed concern over the state’s apparent financial liability for damage to the pad under an agreement between Orbital and the Virginia Commercial Space Authority, as well as the state’s ongoing budget support of the authority and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport.
Orbital CEO David Thompson said Orbital will support efforts by the spaceport and NASA, which leases a portion of Wallops Island to the authority, to repair damage “so as to allow Antares launch operations to resume there in early to mid-2016 and continue for the long term.” The company’s plan to launch supply missions from other sites, using the Cygnus cargo spacecraft on other rockets, came as a surprise to Secretary of Transportation Aubrey L. Layne Jr., one of two state officials on the nine-member authority board. (11/6)
Raytheon-Led Team Wins Air Force Range Contract (Source: SpaceRef)
The Air Force awarded the Launch and Test Range Integrated Service Contract (LISC) to RGNext. The total contract value, including all potential options and potential award fee is $2.0 Billion. LISC will provide the Government with a single prime contractor responsible and accountable for operations, organizational- and depot-level maintenance as well as sustainment at Cape Canaveral AFS and Vandenberg AFB.
Editor's Note: RGNext is a Raytheon-led team. This long-delayed contract was originally targeted for award in 2013, after proposals were submitted in May of that year. It consolidates three previous contracts that supported range operations in Florida and California. (11/6)
Market Forces Should Guide Future of Oklahoma Spaceport (Source: The Oklahoman)
The crash of a Virgin Galactic rocket, which followed the explosion of an Orbital Sciences Corp. rocket, immediately brought to mind one Oklahoma lawmaker’s past warnings. In a 2007 debate, state Rep. John Wright noted the dangers associated with commercial space ventures, saying there was a pragmatic reason NASA flights launch off the Florida coast. “They launch those rockets out over the ocean,” Wright said, “because every once in a while, one doesn’t make it. It blows up.”
Wright made those comments while discussing potential space flights in Oklahoma. The Virgin Galactic tragedy shows Wright wasn’t engaging in hyperbole. It also illustrates the need to carefully limit where such activity is conducted. This doesn’t mean private businesses shouldn’t be allowed to innovate, even in high-risk developing industries such as commercial space.
But those industries should rise or fall based on market realities. The problem in Oklahoma (and other states) is that lawmakers have tried to tip the economic scales in favor of commercial space ventures through significant taxpayer subsidies. Wright’s above-noted comments were made while debating against such subsidies in Oklahoma. The millions of taxpayer dollars spent on an Oklahoma spaceport have not only failed to generate a single rocket flight or new economic activity, but may have undercut local economic development. (11/6)
ATK Offers Solid Motor Option to Replace RD-180 on Atlas (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
ATK has provided additional details about its domestic alternative to the Russian-built RD-180 engine currently in use on the venerable Atlas V rocket of United Launch Alliance (ULA). While ULA has aligned with Blue Origin’s BE-4 engine, ATK's proposal of a solid-fueled first stage – as a reliable, cost-effective, and commercial alternative to the RD-180 – provides insight into the wealth of American-built engine options.
According to ATK, manufacturing and testing of the solid fueled solution for the RD-180 replacement would take place within the United States using tooling and infrastructure already in place across the country. The solid fueled first stage could also be designed to specifically meet the Atlas V launch vehicle and payload requirements, including the upcoming requirement to ferry crew aboard Boeing’s CST-100 capsule. (11/6)
Insurers Are Likely to Close Space Tourism Loophole (Source: NBC)
While private pilots and skydivers have to take out extra life insurance to cover the added risk of their pursuits, space tourists do not need special policies on their high flying rides. That loophole is likely to disappear, slowly, after last week's fatal crash of Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo rocket plane during a test flight.
The loophole exists because U.S. life insurance policies don't ask about space tourism or exclude it from coverage, meaning insurers probably would have to pay if the holder died on a space trip, insurance industry veterans said. Insurance companies are likely to start adding questions about space travel and may even explicitly exclude spaceflight coverage, the industry observers said. (11/6)
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