NASA Funding: FY2018 budget may be topic A, but FY2017 still not settled Though Congress is soon to get more details from the Administration on the proposed 2018 budget, the White House and lawmakers must still come to terms on a spending plan for 2017. Unable to agree on a budget last year, lawmakers and… [Continue Reading]
Senate: Senate passes 2017 NASA Transition Authorization Act The U.S. Senate passed an updated NASA authorization measure on Friday, one similar to a House measure approved in the last Congress. Formulated with bi-partisan support, the Senate measure urges NASA to study how the Orion capsule might serve as a backup to the commercial crew vehicles… [Continue Reading]
New ISS Airlock: The International Space Station will get a new, private airlock in 2019 Houston-based Nanoracks has reached an agreement with NASA for the installation of a cargo airlock on the U.S. segment of the International Space Station, possibly at the Tranquility module. Boeing will assemble and install a compatible berthing mechanism. The new… [Continue Reading]
Orion Update: Insider exclusive: Orion designed to keep crew in the ‘loop’ Lockheed Martin, NASA’s prime contractor for development of the Orion crew module, is paying close attention to the requirements and limitations of future crew members as it proceeds, according to the company’s crew module director. Work is underway at NASA’s Johnson Space Center… [Continue Reading]
Commercial Crew: Commercial crew providers remain confident in schedules Prepare for the inaugural launches of astronauts by Boeing and SpaceX in 2018, representatives of the two companies are declaring in response to a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office audit that cautions the flights could be delayed until 2019. Boeing’s Starliner 100 and SpaceX’s crewed Dragon are… [Continue Reading]
Crewed EM-1 Mission: Panel urges caution as NASA studies flying crew on first SLS; ESA deal hinges on what Trump does with NASA’s human spaceflight plans;NASA just got real about returning to the moon; Expert panel supports study to accelerate first crewed SLS mission; Trump makes NASA add astronauts to moon mission, could save $10… [Continue Reading]
Human Missions to Mars: Why Mars is the best planet The passage of time, four billion years, has separated Mars and the Earth. The two planets may once have exhibited similar conditions, including temperate environments. However, while life thrived on the Earth, Mars turned cold and desert-like. The red planet may hold answers to why… [Continue Reading]
Contracts for Boeing and SpaceX: Boeing and SpaceX win four more NASA orders for space taxis, with one big ‘if’ NASA has agreed to purchase four more crew launches to the International Space Station from Boeing and SpaceX — if their spacecraft achieve agency certification. Each company had contracts for two flights previously. The two companies… [Continue Reading]
Orion in 2017: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/nasa-readies-for-major-orion-milestones-in-2017 SLS Rocket Test Stand: Huge NASA rocket test stand constructed in 2.5 years | Time-lapse video Video offers the latest on the lengthy construction of a NASA Marshall Space Center test stand to help prepare the Space Launch System rocket for its first test flight in late 2018. SLS is a… [Continue Reading]
Scott Kelly: PBS to document Scott Kelly after historic Space Station stay in ‘Beyond a Year in Space’ PBS plans a follow-on documentary detailing NASA astronaut Scott Kelly’s return to Earth, following a 340-day mission to the International Space Station in 2015-16. Beyond a Year in Space promises to look into the health challenges of… [Continue Reading]