Habitats for Deep Space Exploration: NASA announces aerospace partners for its deep space habitats NASA increases to six the number of U.S. companies the agency is partnering with to develop a habitat for astronauts assigned to months- to years-long missions to Mars. The habitat would fly in lunar orbit with astronauts during the 2020s to… [Continue Reading]
Boeing’s Starliner: Boeing starts assembly of 1st flightworthy Starliner crew taxi vehicle at Kennedy spaceport Coming together at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner could begin transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station in early 2018. The program is part of NASA’s strategy to focus on… [Continue Reading]
Heat Shield Installation on Orion: Installation of heat-shielding tiles marks new phase for Orion spacecraft The NASA/Lockheed Martin Orion crew capsule designated for a late 2018 test flight, Exploration Mission-1, is undergoing heat shield installation at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The uncrewed capsule is to launch atop the first Space Launch System exploration… [Continue Reading]
Clinton Highlights SLS Rocket: NASA’s Space Launch System referenced by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton spoke on Thursday (August 11) during a campaign event held at Futuramic, a small business manufacturing facility that works with the military, automotive and space industries. Futuramic is a NASA Space Launch System (SLS) supplier…. [Continue Reading]
Chinese Space Activity: Is China militarizing space? Experts say new junk collector could be used as anti-satellite weapon China celebrated the inaugural launch of its new Long March 7 workhorse launch vehicle last weekend. Among the multiple payloads was Aolong-1, or Roaming Dragon. Equipped with a robot arm, Roaming Dragon was designated to remove orbital space… [Continue Reading]
Dream Chaser: Sierra Nevada’s Dream Chaser to provide access to space for countries worldwide U nder a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Sierra Nevada’s reusable Dream Chaser spacecraft will offer access to orbital space for member states that desire to conduct experiments. Sierra Nevada announced the agreement on… [Continue Reading]
SLS Rocket Test: An afternoon with the world’s most powerful rocket booster Space vets cautioned ahead that Tuesday’s ear shattering ground test of the solid rocket motor developed for NASA’s Space Launch System exploration rocket would rattle fillings and cause loose clothing to wave in the wind. The warnings were true as the Orbital ATK… [Continue Reading]
Long Duration Spaceflight: Williams to become NASA’s longest-duration space flier NASA’s Jeff Williams, the current International Space Station commander, is in line on Aug. 24 to break the U.S. record of 520 days for time accumulated in space over a career that includes four spaceflights. The current record was established Mar. 1, 2016, as Scott Kelly… [Continue Reading]
Space Policy Platform: Coalition for Deep Space Exploration recommends space priorities for next president The space industry led CDSE urges a bi-partisan backed strategy by the new administration and Congress in keeping with the 2010 NASA Authorization Act for the preservation of U.S. space leadership. Those principles would improve commercial access to space, while backing key… [Continue Reading]
Commercial Crew Progress: Suni Williams details Commercial Crew Program progress during visit to NASA’s Plum Brook Station Suni Williams, a veteran NASA astronaut and one of four “test astronauts” assigned to NASA’s commercial crew program visits the agency’s Plum Brook Station near the Glenn Research Center. Commercial Crew is focused on nurturing two private sector… [Continue Reading]