AmericaSpace

Chairman Gordon Responds To The Laureates

Jim — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:09:53 +0000

Last week, we carried the news that several Nobel laureates had written a letter to House Science & Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon to express their support for the President’s proposed changes to the nation’s human space flight program and to state their opposition to the Committee’s bill that would largely ignore those proposals. If [...]

Exploding Supernova Spews Guts

Jim — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:19:39 +0000

We thought you, our readers, would enjoy this, Exploding supernova spews star guts – Holy Kaw!,

“Astronomers have been able to measure the velocity and composition of ‘star guts’ being ejected into space following the explosion of a nearby supernova, thanks to a newly refurbished Hubble Space Telescope.”

Hopefully, when all the bruh-ha-ha is over about whether [...]

NASA & Armadillo Aerospace Make Interesting Couple

Jim — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:10:49 +0000

As noted by Patrick Michels of the Dallas Observer blog Unfair Park, NASA Enlists Caddo Mills-Based Armadillo Aerospace For A Boost to Suborbital Space,

“Like other NewSpace teams, [Armadillo Aerospace] pretty much define themselves against the glacial pace and dense bureaucracy of government spaceflight — but at least until there’s a real market for space tourism [...]

JPL Reports Missing Piece Inspires New Look at Mars Puzzle

Jim — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 22:01:44 +0000

The first paragraph of this press release from NASA-JPL,Missing Piece Inspires New Look at Mars Puzzle, says it all,

Experiments prompted by a 2008 surprise from NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander suggest that soil examined by NASA’s Viking Mars landers in 1976 may have contained carbon-based chemical building blocks of life.

While the release goes on to state [...]

DM-2 Test

JR — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:48:13 +0000

The DM-2 prior to its test firing. Photo Credit: ATK

PROMONTORY, UTAH – The first few seconds there was only light and smoke – then came the roar. The sound was so intense – it moved the Earth beneath the feet of the throngs of visitors that had come to see the test fire of [...]

Nobel Winners Back Obama Space Strategy

Jim — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 04:02:27 +0000

Today’s New York Times reports that Nobel Winners Back Obama Space Strategy. The problem that we have with this letter is that these are all scientists who of course want more research money and funding for University-led research, for which the Obama space plan would be a boon.

One of the letter’s prime movers is Dr. [...]

Lockheed Details Plymouth Rock Asteroid Mission

Jim — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:46:47 +0000

From AIAA Daily Launch:

Aviation Week (8/30, Carreau) reported, “Lockheed Martin says its “Plymouth Rock” mission proposal would reach a Near Earth Asteroid with astronauts using two Orion capsules and a dual-launch strategy as early as 2016-or nearly a decade ahead of the asteroid goal outlined by President Barack Obama in April.” The article noted Lockheed [...]

DM-2 Press Release

Jim — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:43:23 +0000

PROMONTORY, Utah – With a loud roar and mighty column of flame, NASA and ATK Aerospace Systems successfully completed a two-minute, full-scale test of the largest and most powerful solid rocket motor designed for flight. The motor is potentially transferable to future heavy-lift launch vehicle designs.

The stationary firing of the first-stage development solid rocket motor, [...]

DM-2 – Test Movie

Jim — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:22:38 +0000

First, the test was a success, as NASA’s and ATK’s press releases have announced. Enclosed is a video link of the test. Note at the beginning the flash of the igniter from the mirror staring up the exit nozzle of the motor.

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DM-2 Press Conference

Jim — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:11:21 +0000

Doug Cooke thanks the team for doing a great job and says that it’s great for an engineer to see a successful engineering test. Mr. Cooke is noting the hopeful resolution of the question of which direction to go in human space flight. He mentions that work today puts on a path to achieve human [...]