NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The U.S. government should lead development of a nuclear thermal propulsion system for a future Mars mission and leave new heavy-lift launchers to commercial entities, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) says. Unveiling conceptual plans for a family of Falcon X and XX future heavy-lift vehicles at last week’s AIAA Joint Propulsion conference here, SpaceX McGregor rocket development facility director Tom Markusic said, “Mars is the ultimate goal of SpaceX.”
The Pentagon is exploring the potential export of F-16s to Oman. The foreign military sales deal would cover up to 18 Block 50/52 F-16s. Many of the configuration issues, including engine and electronic warfare selection, remain to be addressed, the Pentagon suggests in its notification to Congress, although the country already operates Block 50 F-16s. As part of the $3.5 billion deal now under review, 12 F-16s already operated by Oman will be upgraded.
The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa) has terminated a project that was designed to “fractionate” satellite capabilities, or develop a distributed satellite architecture that can better avoid threats posed against the large and valuable platforms now in orbit. The rationale given to F6 prime contractor Orbital Sciences was “termination for convenience.” Darpa officials say they remain committed to developing technologies for fractionation, though the effort is being rescoped.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. has filed a protest against U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (Navair) demanding the suspension of a request for proposals (RFP) for Russian Mi-17 helicopters for Afghanistan
India and Russia are continuing their longstanding cooperation in space with top-level talks on possible human missions. Meeting in Moscow this week, Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, and D. Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), discussed ways Roscosmos and RSC Energia — builder of Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft — could help India’s nascent human-spaceflight effort.
The U.S. Navy has established a new program office to manage its unmanned maritime vehicle (UMV) efforts, marrying traditional acquisition and advanced development into a single charter. “The goal is to coordinate [unmanned vehicle acquisition] efforts and then direct specific experimentation and technology maturation,” says new program manager Capt. Duane Ashton.
BUYING BACK: General Dynamics’ board of directors on Aug. 4 declared a regular quarterly dividend of 42 cents per share on the company’s common stock, payable Nov. 12, 2010, to shareholders of record at the close of business on Oct. 8. The board also authorized the repurchase of up to 10 million shares of the company’s issued and outstanding common stock on the open market.
HOUSTON — Nearly 300 participants gathered Aug. 3 for the first NASA International Space Station Research Academy, a three-day offering designed to familiarize researchers and payload developers with the orbiting outpost’s designation as a National Laboratory and its capabilities to support experiments in fields ranging from fundamental biology and physics to biotechnology and Earth observations.
HOUSTON — The Orion rendezvous navigation system demonstration planned for NASA’s STS-134 mission, the last scheduled flight of the space shuttle, holds unusual significance for the future of human spaceflight, according to Lockheed Martin’s Pam Melroy, a former shuttle commander.
HOUSTON — NASA has selected Aug. 6 and tentatively Aug. 9 for a pair of spacewalks to replace the faulty external cooling pump module identified as the cause of last weekend’s abrupt interruption in cooling aboard the International Space Station. Research activities have been suspended until the external repairs are complete as well. The first excursion by flight engineers Doug Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson is scheduled to get underway on Aug. 6 just before 7 a.m. EDT.
Certain U.S. Army commands misused supplemental money meant to fund emergency responses to terrorist attacks, a recent Pentagon Inspector General (IG) report says. The service commands spent some of the money for items like furniture or even for expenses incurred before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that served as the impetus for the funds, according to the IG report, “Management of Emergency Supplemental Appropriations at Selected Department of the Army Commands in Response to the Terrorist Attacks,” released July 12.
Northrop Grumman has completed shore-based pointing and tracking tests with the Maritime Laser Demonstrator (MLD) as a step toward mounting the system on a U.S. Navy ship for at-sea tests of its ability to counter small boats. Shore-based tests at Port Hueneme, Calif., showed the system’s ability to track small boats at long ranges in a maritime environment, and did not involve the high-energy laser, but “proved it’s ready for the at-sea demo,” says Dan Wildt, Northrop’s vice president of directed energy systems.
BENGALURU, India – A high-level naval delegation from the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) — the government makers of India’s much-anticipated Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) — is in Russia for contract negotiations and issues related to the program’s shore-based test facility (SBTF).
LONDON — Airbus Military has passed a major structural milestone on the A400M, with the airlifter clearing its ultimate wing-load test. The test exposed the A400M wing to 150% of the maximum load the aircraft would be expected to encounter. During the trial using MSN5000 at Airbus Military’s facility in Getafe, Spain, outside Madrid, the wing deflected upward around 4.6 ft. Both the Boeing C-17 and Airbus A380 failed the test on the first try.
The U.S. Air Force says the first Lockheed Martin Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellite is slated for launch Aug. 12. Once in operation after months of testing, AEHF will begin ushering in a new era for protected, jam-proof communications. This mission is now handled by the Milstar constellation. AEHF will be able to send high-data-rate communications to users around the globe (except for the extreme polar regions).
U.S.-European cooperation in the exploration of Mars has moved a step forward with the selection of instruments for the first of three joint missions to the Red Planet. Set for launch in 2016, the combined NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter will mark a thousandfold improvement in the sensitivity of atmospheric measurements at Mars. One of the gasses it will seek — methane — could be a signature of biological processes on the planet, and already has generated intriguing readings from less capable sensors.
STORM BOUND: NASA researchers are preparing for one of the agency’s largest hurricane research efforts ever, counting six NASA centers, three satellites, three aircraft, 14 different instruments and numerous scientists. The mission, set to last Aug. 15 through September – key hurricane season – also will be the first major field campaign to deploy NASA’s Global Hawk unmanned aircraft, outfitted with “advanced” hurricane-probing instruments.
SPACE SUPPORT: U.S. trade representatives at the Aerospace Industries Association are unveiling a website to help concerned citizens lobby the White House and Congress for space funding. Spaceleadership.org, which offers an expedited letter-writing service of sorts, also links to AIA’s space portal online for documents and social media sites “to help spread the word” while Washington works out a compromise over NASA’s future. “U.S. leadership in space has been recognized across the globe for decades,” AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey said in an announcement.
The Pentagon’s drive to reduce program costs is prompting Boeing to shift engineering jobs for its B-1 bomber and C-130 Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) out of its Long Beach, Calif., facility to Oklahoma City, where labor costs are lower and the company has plenty of space to expand.
