NASA’s vision for deep-space exploration may be missing an opportunity to re-fortify the agency’s long-running but sporadic ties to nanotechnology, according to an assessment from Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
SLOW GOING: Orbital Sciences Corp. has once again postponed a flight demonstration of the Antares rocket and Cygnus cargo capsule it is developing under NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. The Dulles, Va.-based company will slip the mission three or four months to next spring, following a flight demonstration of the rocket from the Wallops Island, Va., launch facility in December. Under the terms of a 2008 COTS agreement, the first flight of the rocket and cargo vessel was slated for late 2010.
HOUSTON — NASA will orchestrate a Nov. 1 spacewalk to address a long-standing cooling system leak outside the International Space Station that has gradually increased since June, the space agency announced on Oct. 19. Earlier concerns about an external electrical short on Sept. 3 that compromised one of the station’s eight power channels and prompted the preparations for a possible second near-term spacewalk, have eased with troubleshooting this week.
Staffers on Capitol Hill have discussed reauthorizing NASA spending and even approving a spending bill that funds the space agency by the end of the year. But whether they succeed depends on the results of the November election.
Pentagon spending appears on the presidential campaign radar primarily as it relates to the No. 1 issue—jobs and the economy. When the candidates travel to Virginia—a military-heavy state that could make a difference in the election's outcome—they have to address defense issues. But without much emphasis by the campaigns on military matters, Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama wind up stumbling on the details.
While NASA and industry are continuing to push toward a 2015 deadline set by Congress for integrating UAVs into civilian airspace (i.e., National Air Space, or NAS), the FAA is weighing concerns about the potential to compromise safety. NASA is considering a prize challenge to accelerate the integration of unmanned aircraft into the FAA's NextGen airspace system. Two competitions of increasing complexity would be run in late 2013 and 2014, with a combined prize purse of $1.5 million.
Europe's aerospace and defense industry missed a unique opportunity to complete a wide-ranging consolidation process that began nearly 50 years ago. Combining EADS and BAE Systems would have created a world-class giant with an impressive €72.9 billion ($94.3 billion) in revenues, 216,000 employees and a comprehensive product range. Moreover, the initiative looked like a perfect fit.
Congressional staffers have held preliminary meetings on updating the legislative underpinnings for the U.S. civil space program, but it’s clear nothing will be decided until the voters choose who’ll be running the program — and the rest of the government — in the upcoming election.
The Obama administration is nearing the final and most contentious phase of its massive export control reform — telling Congress what items it ultimately plans to transfer from the U.S. Munitions List (USML) to one controlled by the Commerce Department. By the end of the year, congressional aides are anticipating the administration will detail how it will transfer two key aerospace categories of products from the USML controlled by the State Department to the Commerce list.
HOUSTON — Working ahead of schedule, astronauts aboard the International Space Station successfully grappled and berthed the unpiloted SpaceX Dragon re-supply capsule early Oct. 10, less than 60 hr. after the freighter lifted off. The three-member crew was scheduled to enter the supply ship on Oct. 11, or possibly late Oct. 10, for a 17-day, 2,675-lb. cargo swap (See charts pp. 6-8). The SpaceX mission marks the first cargo flight under the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company’s $1.6 billion, multi-mission NASA Commercial Resupply Services contract.
