Feb 1-12, 2016 Commercial Cargo Contract: NASA offers more details on cargo contract decision NASA offered new details on the selection criteria it used in January to award contracts for continued commercial resupply of the International Space Station between late 2019 and 2014. The contracts were awarded to incumbents Orbital ATK and SpaceX and newcomer… [Continue Reading]
Feb 1-12, 2016 Orion Pressure Vessel at KSC: NASA prepares Orion spacecraft for its first big mission The NASA/Lockheed Martin weight reduced Orion crew exploration capsule assigned to Exploration Mission-1 is now at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center where it will undergo testing and final assembly. The first uncrewed test launch of Orion paired with the… [Continue Reading]
Feb 1-12, 2016 Space Marathon: Into the homestretch: Kelly and Kornienko to pass 300 days in space, heading for 2 March return to Earth Closing in on the early March finale of a near yearlong stay aboard the International Space Station, NASA’s Scott Kelly and Russia’s Mikhail Kornienko passed the 300-day-mark on Thursday. New Space… [Continue Reading]
Feb 1-12, 2016 Exploration Concerns: President Obama proposes $19bn budget for NASA in 2017 Human exploration advocates raise concerns over reductions in development activities for the Space Launch System exploration rocket and Orion crew capsule included in the proposed 2017 budget President Obama presented Congress this week. (See also: White House proposes $19 billion NASA… [Continue Reading]
Feb 1-12, 2016 Candidate Positions: Election 2016 The Planetary Society’s website is tracking what the presidential candidates are saying about space exploration as the primaries, party conventions and November elections approach. Citizens for Space Exploration – a pro-space, taxpayer, grassroots advocacy group (http://www.bayareahouston.com/content/c_s_e/c_s_e) – has traveled to Washington, D.C. the past 24 years to meet face-to-face… [Continue Reading]