When a spacecraft is bound for another planet, examining it up close and personal is a rare opportunity. Senior Editor Frank Morring, Jr. (left) and Los Angeles Bureau Chief Guy Norris did just that with the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution spacecraft during its final stages of integration at Lockheed Martin's facility in Littleton, Colo. Now in preflight preparation at Kennedy Space Center, Maven is scheduled for launch in a 20-day window that opens Nov. 18.
Obituary: Long-serving NASA astronaut, research pilot and U.S. Air Force test pilot C. Gordon Fullerton died Aug. 21 at home in Lancaster, Calif. He was 76. Fullerton, who logged 382 hr. in space on two shuttle missions, was particularly well known for his work at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, where he was a research test pilot for 22 years.
Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC), of McLean, Va., has unseated incumbent contractor Wyle Laboratories for a potential $1.76 billion, 10-year contract supporting a wide range of human spaceflight-related biomedical and biotechnology research and operational activities at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. The agreement, effective Oct. 1, includes a five-year base period with two options to extend.
NEW DELHI — After scrubbing the launch of its Geostationary Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV-D5) Aug. 19 due to a fuel leak in the rocket’s second stage, India may consider destacking the rocket and swapping for a backup engine. “We have the standby for the second-stage engine. It is similar to the one used for the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle [PSLV],” a scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) says. But “first we have to see what went wrong with the [GSLV] launch,” he says.
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Boeing officials say that they are not out of the precision timing and navigation business, despite having lost the $1.8 billion, winner-take-all development contract for the next generation of GPS satellites to Lockheed Martin five years ago.
LOS ANGELES and HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. — Boeing hopes by year’s end to secure its first sale of a new family of small satellites unveiled by the company this year and dubbed Phantom Phoenix. Executives declined to say whether this first customer would be commercial or supporting national security missions for the U.S. government. But Craig Cooning, vice president of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, says talks could culminate in an announcement by the end of the year.
The National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI), acting in partnership with NASA’s human research program, plans to establish a Center for Space Radiation Research—budgeted at $2 billion annually—to focus on the effects of space radiation on astronauts assigned to deep-space missions. NSBRI issued a request for applications (RFA) on Aug. 14, seeking proposals from U.S research teams from academia, federal research centers, the private sector and labs established by state and local governments.
Lost-link complications may have contributed to the suspected crash of an unmanned aircraft taking part in a NASA environmental survey in international airspace in the Beaufort Sea north of Alaska on July 26.
Space Systems/Loral (SSL) says it has been selected to build a commercial communications satellite for Latin American satellite operator Star One, a subsidiary of Brazilian telecom company Embratel. SSL announced the contract July 18, though the customer was not disclosed.
The U.S. Navy's Unmanned Carrier-Launched Airborne Surveillance and Strike (Uclass) effort has garnered lots of headlines for the innovations it represents, but the service is trying to use the program to prod the acquisition world into new thinking. And while seemingly bureaucratic, the new approach might just help the Navy land its desired Uclass fleet even as the military and intelligence sectors enter a long-term austere budget environment.
Speaking of austerity, the full effect of the 2011 Budget Control Act and its annual sequestration limits is likely to force the Pentagon to take a major near-term hit in its research, development and procurement accounts for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
Finally, NASA is rolling out a new “strategic vision” for aeronautics that focuses civil aviation research on six themes. But with no new money, work that does not align with the main thrusts will be reduced. The strategy is based on understanding emerging global trends, including new competitors for U.S.
Meanwhile, the Transportation Department is working to designate permanent areas of the Arctic where small UAVs can operate 24/7 for research and commercial purposes, with the first approved operations coming this summer. The Arctic airspace comes on top of six congressionally mandated domestic test centers the FAA is racing to identify in a closely watched announcement expected by the end of this year. So far, 25 potential centers in 24 states have submitted proposals for the sites, Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari told the AUVSI conference.
Spacecraft manufacturers in Europe and the U.S. are finding new business in Brazil's emerging satellite market, with Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy, and Palo Alto, Calif.-based Space Systems/Loral (SSL) tapped in recent weeks to build new commercial spacecraft. Brazil, the world's seventh-largest economy, is expected to spend roughly $2 billion between 2012-15 on new civil and military space initiatives.
