MIRROR, MIRROR: NASA plans to hold a workshop in February on possible uses for two 2.4-meter telescope mirrors transferred to the civil space agency in June by the National Reconnaissance Office. Although the optics have been proposed for a wide field infrared survey of the sky, other possibilities include uses for focused space-technology research, human exploration and operations, heliophysics, astrophysics and planetary science. The agency will select concepts for using the mirrors that it believes advance its goals, and allow detailed presentations of them at the Feb.
A small engineering firm on Florida’s Space Coast hopes to recover some of the revenue and jobs the region lost with retirement of the space shuttle fleet by offering maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services to the commercial spaceflight industry that the Obama administration hopes will take the shuttle’s place.
SATELLITE EXPORTS: The U.S. Export-Import Bank has authorized two transactions totaling $461 million to underwrite the export of U.S.-made satellites to Hong Kong. Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) will deploy the satellites to upgrade and expand its fleet, which offers coverage to 80% of the world’s population. In the first transaction, the bank authorized a $171.3 million loan to ABS to finance the purchase of a FS1300, C/Ka/Ku-band geostationary satellite from Space Systems/Loral and associated insurance. The satellite is scheduled to launch in 2013.
Houston — The nonprofit ArduSat initiative has selected NanoRacks LLC to coordinate the launch of the first U.S. commercial satellites from the International Space Station using the small spacecraft deployment system successfully demonstrated by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and NASA from the orbiting lab’s Kibo science module in early October.
The 40-year stream of Landsat remote sending imagery of the Earth is poised to be extended by another decade with the upcoming launch of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). The LDCM spacecraft is in thermal vacuum testing at prime contractor Orbital Sciences Corp.’s Gilbert, Ariz., factory, and on track for a Feb. 11 launch. The 3,085-kg spacecraft — built around Orbital’s LEOStar-3 bus — has a design life of five years, but will carry enough fuel to keep it functioning for 10.
The U.K. Defense Ministry plans to equip six Royal Navy mine-hunting ships with military X-band satellite communications gear over the next five years, with the first vessels to be outfitted by spring 2013. The ships will be the first to use SCOTPatrol 0.8-meter X-band satellite terminals developed by EADS-Astrium Services, a smaller version of the company’s legacy SCOT 5 terminals in service with 11 navies worldwide, including Britain.
HOUSTON — NASA and Roscosmos have selected two veteran International Space Station (ISS) crewmembers for a yearlong assignment to the 14-year-old orbiting science laboratory that is intended to shed new light on human adaptation to long-duration spaceflight and other challenges facing explorers on future deep-space missions. Scott Kelly, a 48-year-old U.S. Navy captain, and Mikhail Kornienko, a 52-year-old RSC Energia test engineer, will begin a two-year training program for the mission early next year.
While there is general acceptance of the trend toward more-electric aircraft, few can predict the near- or even mid-term debut of electrically propelled vehicles, let alone one that could be capable of Mach 4-plus.
Just 15.5 sec. after it was released from the Boeing B-52 mother ship over the Pacific, one of four control fins on the Boeing X-51A WaveRider hypersonic demonstrator unlocked. The unpowered fin swung fully trailing-edge down and stayed there as the booster accelerated the X-51A cruiser to its planned release at Mach 4.9.
Russian researchers, long in the forefront of plasma control experimentation, are combining forces with U.S. military and European industrial counterparts to further exploit plasma's potential effect in hypersonic flight. The concept involves generating plasma by using an electrical discharge to create a shape or force which can act as a virtual actuator, a flow modifier or as an aid to combustion.
The European Space Agency (ESA) will spend €588 million ($752 million) over the next two years to upgrade the Ariane 5 rocket, conduct detailed design studies of a successor and identify synergies between the two launch vehicles, including development of a common upper stage.
Hypersonic technology is extremely difficult to master and high-speed travel generally involves long distances. These simple, but axiomatic principles of hypersonic studies not only dictate key areas of research but also, increasingly, influences who teams with whom.
Houston – Researchers at Rice University have merged advances in nanotechnology and solar energy for the efficient generation of “solar steam,” a technology they suggest could find initial application in sanitation and water purification in developing countries.
