The new partnership between NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA) on the Orion deep-space crew capsule opens the door for more international cooperation in human exploration beyond low Earth orbit, U.S. space officials say. Just as the “critical path” to completion of the International Space Station was shared by U.S. and Russian launch vehicles, future exploration missions based on the four-seat Orion capsule will require European hardware in the capsule’s service module.
MONITORING AGENDA: The worldwide monitoring system set up to verify compliance with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is a potential untapped treasure trove for science, according to the American Association for the Advancement Of Science (AAAS). “Science is only beginning to discover the value of this $1 billion system for uses beyond the detection of nuclear tests,” AAAS says in announcing a Feb. 17 panel on the subject.
The loss of a big Boeing-built Intelsat communications satellite in the first failure of a Sea Launch Zenit rocket since the multinational company emerged from bankruptcy protection is likely to make it more difficult for the equatorial launch provider to regain momentum. The company has no firm missions on its manifest beyond the one that failed Jan. 31, and relies on Russian hardware at a time when the reliability of that country’s launchers has been questioned through quality-control issues.
BEIJING — South Korea’s first satellite is communicating with the ground, demonstrating initial functionality following a launch on a KSLV-1 rocket on Jan. 30. To follow the KSLV-1, which matches a South Korean second stage to a first stage based on Russian technology, South Korea aims at developing its own rocket engine of 10 metric tons (22,000 lb.) thrust by 2016 and a 75-ton-thrust engine by 2018, officials tell local media.
The U.S. government spends more on weapons development than any other nation on the planet, but its plans for doing so are caught up in a larger financial debate.
The first of three advanced Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) spacecraft, procured for $354 million each, is heading for checkout in a temporary geostationary slot after this Jan. 30 nighttime launch on an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral's Launch Complex 41.
Iranian space officials say their nation's launch and recovery of a live monkey on a suborbital spaceflight advances the goal of an orbital human mission, but that day apparently is more distant than the stated 2020 date. The Iranian Space Agency is said to have used a variant of the Kavoshgar rocket for the 120-km (74-mi.) flight, following a 2011 test that reportedly carried a sealed biocapsule, but no monkey. The 22-meter-long (72-ft.) rocket is believed to have a payload capacity of 50 kg (110 lb.). Israel dismissed the flight as a “publicity stunt,” while a U.S.
A technology that turns computer-aided design (CAD) drawings into tangible hardware has advanced far beyond producing toy rockets and airplanes from plastic as a Science Technology Engineering and Mathmatics hook for schoolchildren. Today advanced versions of what once was called 3-D printing, and now is more commonly termed additive manufacturing (AM), is well on its way to producing large flightworthy components for real rockets and aircraft.
HOUSTON — The first in a new generation of NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellites has begun a measured climb to geosynchronous orbit, following a successful launch aboard a United Space Alliance Atlas V rocket late Jan. 30 from Cape Canaveral. The Boeing-built TDRS-K spacecraft marks the first addition in a decade to the aging, seven-spacecraft communications constellation that supports the Ka-, Ku- and S-band requirements of the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope and a growing fleet of multi-agency Earth observations satellites.
IN ORBIT: South Korea’s STSAT 2C satellite is operating nominally following the Asian nation’s first successful launch from its Naro Space Center Jan. 30, according to the Korea Aerospace Research Institute. Succeeding on the third try with its two-stage KSLV-1 launcher, South Korea became the 11th nation to orbit its own spacecraft. Weighing less than 100 kg (220 lb.), the satellite will test space hardware and measure radiation levels from its elliptical polar orbit. Lofted from the facility southeast of Seoul, it follows North Korea’s Dec.
LOS ANGELES — Scaled Composites’ veteran Kevin Mickey has been named president of the Northrop Grumman subsidiary, taking over from Doug Shane, who is taking on a special assignment to focus on completing the Virgin Galactic and Stratolaunch programs.
NASA is casting a wide net as it offers research opportunities aboard the U.S. segment of the International Space Station to small businesses, industry, academia and other governmental agencies for projects with the potential to advance technologies critical to space exploration. Those technologies include in-space propulsion, space power and energy storage, closed-loop life support, thermal control, robotics and telerobotics, and automated systems.
NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) constellation is scheduled to receive its first on-orbit update in a decade on Jan. 30, sustaining the workhorse fleet as demands for its services continue to grow. TDRS-K, the first of three third-generation TDRSS birds, is scheduled to lift off at 8:52 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral on an Atlas V 401 with a 4-meter-dia. (13-ft.) fairing to contain the large, folded single-access antennas that deliver two-way high-data-rate service.
HUTCHISON HONORED: The Rotary National Award for Space Achievement Foundation has selected Kay Bailey Hutchison, who influenced U.S. space policy as a member of the U.S. Senate from Texas for two decades, as the 2013 recipient of the National Space Trophy. Hutchison, who retired in January, led efforts to designate U.S. elements of the International Space Station as a National Laboratory, opening access to non-NASA researchers.
When safety issues arise with products used by millions of Americans, Congress is often quick to exercise its oversight role. But for the most part, lawmakers are willing to let the FAA and Boeing take time to discover just what caused the 787 battery fires that have grounded the fledgling fleet (see page 30). Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee who plans to retire in 2014, is one exception. He had a brief outburst last week pressing for congressional inquiry into the matter.
As the development of Stratolaunch's Air Launch and Scaled Composites' WhiteKnightTwo carrier aircraft shows, the use of wing-borne platforms for delivering rockets to orbit is set to grow as the industry strives for lower launch costs. However, unlike the latest purpose-built air launchers, which build on the experience gained over the years of proven mothership vehicles such as the Boeing B-52 and Orbital Sciences' Lockheed L-1011, a newly unveiled NASA air launch concept differs in one major aspect in that it has no engines.
NASA's loss is Boeing's gain, as former space shuttle program manager John Shannon retires to head up the company's International Space Station program. “It is really great to be back in an operational program again,” Shannon says. Not so great for his space-agency bosses, who continue to see rising stars bail out while Congress and the White House squabble over NASA's future.
As the Boeing 787 fleet remains grounded due to safety issues with its lithium-ion batteries, the Joint Strike Fighter program office is not saying whether the issue will prompt any review of the F-35's electrical system, which incorporates a lithium-ion battery that is larger and higher-voltage than the 787's and has a once-per-sortie charge/discharge cycle. Made by a U.S. subsidiary of France's Saft, the JSF battery is the only onboard means of starting the fighter's integrated power pack, which starts the engine.
