Falcon vs. Vulcan? United Launch Alliance turned to a "Star Trek" favorite, Vulcan, to name its next-generation rocket, which is due for its maiden launch in 2019 with a new breed of U.S.-made engine. The Vulcan is being positioned as the main U.S. rival for SpaceX's Falcon line of rockets.
ULA went with the top choice from an online poll to name what was previously known as the Next Generation Launch System. "As the company currently responsible for more than 70 percent of the nation's space launches, it is only fitting that America got to name the country's rocket of the future," Tory Bruno, ULA's president and CEO, said.
Bruno also unveiled an plan to recover the Vulcan's first-stage booster engines by using a helicopter to capture the heat-shielded, parachute-equipped stage in midair as it descends. The initiative is called Sensible, Modular, Autonomous Return Technology, or SMART. (4/13)
ULA Plans 2019 Debut for Vulcan Rocket (Source: SpaceFlight Now)
Vulcan, slated for its maiden launch in 2019, will be powered by either a pair of exotic Blue Origin BE-4 liquefied natural gas main engines for 1.1 million pounds of thrust or two conventional Aerojet Rocketdyne AR-1 kerosene powerplants for a million pounds of thrust. A final decision of which engine to pursue will come next year.
ULA envisions a Vulcan flight rate capable of 10 to 20 flights per year, offering the cost for the entry-level rocket at $100 million. An Atlas 5 today costs $164 million. “Our basic Atlas 401-equivalent in Next Generation Launch System, which will sort of be comparable to a Falcon but with more capability, will be about $100 million per launch service,” Tory Bruno said.
“When we plan our factory and talk about numbers like this, we always assume we are at a minimum of 10 flights per year. That’s where the knee in the curve breaks for economical order quantities coming through our rocket factory.” (4/13)
Vulcan Aerospace Takes Next Step in Space (Source: Vulcan Aerospace)
“What’s next?” Paul Allen asks me this question frequently, pushing me – and the entire Vulcan Inc. team – to think creatively and push the boundaries of possibility. Not just to improve what exists, but to think about what should exist. Today, we’re announcing an innovative new approach to the commercial space industry—Vulcan Aerospace.
His commitment to space continues with Stratolaunch, his commercial space project dedicated to facilitating a shift from the current orbital launch model to a flexible, less expensive model. In 2011, Mr. Allen founded Stratolaunch Systems to challenge the current model of orbital launches and to explore a more flexible and less expensive option. Under the oversight of Vulcan Aerospace, Stratolaunch continues to march toward demonstrating an air launch system capable of transporting payloads to low Earth orbit using a larger carrier aircraft acting as a mobile launch range.
Stratolaunch’s mobile launch range will optimize launch operations and improve flexibility and availability. This new architecture will expand mission and operational flexibility by decoupling launch service from its dependence on traditional ground launch ranges. Our mobile launch range’s non-traditional approach to space access will inspire other ways of utilizing space as a platform for development, collaboration and expansion. The Stratolaunch aircraft is about 80% fabricated and 40% assembled, and is on track for first flight in 2016. (4/13)
NASA's Curiosity Rover Finds Water Below Surface of Mars (Source: Guardian)
Mars has liquid water just below its surface, according to new measurements by NASA’s Curiosity rover. Until now, scientists had thought that conditions on the red planet were too cold and arid for liquid water to exist, although there were known to be deposits of ice.
Prof Andrew Coates, head of planetary science at the Mullard Space, said: “The evidence so far is that any water would be in the form of permafrost. It’s the first time we’ve had evidence of liquid water there now.” The latest findings suggest that Martian soil is damp with liquid brine, due to the presence of a salt that significantly lowers the freezing point of water. When mixed with calcium perchlorate liquid water can exist down to around -70C, and the salt also soaks up water vapour from the atmosphere. (4/13)
Preparing for the Longest, Loneliest Voyage Ever (Source: New Yorker)
A century after an ambitious early Antarctic science expedition, a NASA research consultant named Jack Stuster began examining the records of the trip to glean lessons for another kind of expedition: a three-year journey to Mars and back. “Future space expeditions will resemble sea voyages much more than test flights, which have served as the models for all previous space missions,” Stuster wrote.
“Bold Endeavors,” which was published in 1996 and quickly became a classic in the space program. A California anthropologist, Stuster had helped design U.S. space stations by studying crew productivity in cases of prolonged isolation and confinement: Antarctic research stations, submarines, the Skylab station. Click here. (4/13)
How 3-D Printing Is Going Out of This World (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Dutch television producers chose 100 contestants in February to vie for a one-way trip to Mars. If all goes as advertised, winners might be landing there sometime in 2027. They’ll quickly need permanent shelter. The nearest Home Depot will be 140 million miles away. The only readily available construction material on Mars is sand.
That might be all they need if a plan by Niki Werkheiser and her engineering team at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center works out. They are experimenting with a 3-D printer that would make bricks suitable for airtight buildings and radiation-proof shelters using the grit that blows across Mars’s red surface. Click here. (4/12)
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