Applications: Reports
Commercial Spaceflight Federation: 2009 Annual Report
“This report showcases a year’s worth of exciting progress for the commercial spaceflight industry and the members of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation,” says Bretton Alexander, Commercial Spaceflight Federation President, in the opening page of the report.
Commercial Human Space Travel Provides New Research Opportunities
Katharine Sanderson's Special Report in Nature describes how commercial spaceflight can open doors for lower-cost, more frequent, flexible access to space for researchers (subscript or fee req'd). See free editorial, "Divide and Conquer", same issue, same topic.
Solar Power Satellites
The latest issue of the "Online Journal of Space Communication" is devoted to Solar Power Satellites. "Evidence is building that 2010 will be the year this turns from an idea to the beginning of reality."
Ex-ESA Officials Claim "Space Tourism is a Hoax"!
Who is selling tickets to people from $20K to $200K to access orbital space? Not the suborbital spaceflight industry as Engstrom and Pfeffer claim!
Space, Gravity and the Physiology of Aging: Parallel or Convergent Disciplines?
Vernikos and Schneider are space life scientists who have conducted research for years within NASA on the similarities and intriguing differences between the rapid aging effects seen during the gravity deficit experienced in spaceflight, in best rest which simulates some of these changes on Earth by minimizing gravity effects, and within the aging process as we grow older and tend to be much less active. They conclude that the research in these areas is actually converging to the benefit of better understanding of the critical role of gravity in keeping us fit and active. They prepared this short review article for a journal titled, "Gerontology", but it is accessible to all interested readers. There are potential commercial applications to utilizing this knowledge to allow us to experience "active aging" and lead a more vital life.
Review of Human Spaceflight Plans Committee - Final Report | NASA
Here's the options agenda to support heated discussions over the next few days and weeks by NASA and the Obama administration. Commercial space seems to be baselined.
NASA Chief Onboard with Commercial Spaceflight, Suborbital Science & Innovation Prizes
Bolden says NASA must leverage the power and innovation of American industry and the American entrepreneur as it is tasked to do.
Sustainable Utilization of the ISS Beyond 2015 | IAC 2009
"This International Astronautical Congress (IAC) session summary addresses the significant and unique value of the International Space Station (ISS), with growing potential to deliver future benefits beyond 2015, in areas such as: biotechnology and life sciences; Earth imaging; engineering research and technology; materials science; and various commercial applications. Presenters also considered how enhanced management of operations costs can maximize ISS productivity."
Chairs: Paul Eckert, Boeing (Human Space Endeavours Symposium); Helmut Luttman, EADS Astrium (Space Operations Symposium)
Rapporteur: Rachid Amekrane, EADS Astrium (Human Space Endeavours Symposium)
Humans to Mars: Logical Step or Dangerous Distraction? | AIAA Space 2009
"This paper examines post-Apollo proposals for human exploration of Mars and assesses their failure to win enduring political and public support. There are lessons to be learned that are applicable to current exploration efforts. Foremost among them is that the path to solar system exploration that has dominated the space community's thinking since the 1950s may not be a logical or politically feasible approach for the 21st century. The paper proposes that human exploration of the Moon and Mars should be decoupled and treated as separate ventures with each justified by its own merits and pursued at its own pace." Good arguments are made for this viewpoint which include the role of commercial space and public benefits.
Severe Space Weather Events:Understanding Societal and Economic Impacts: A Workshop Report
"The adverse effects of extreme space weather on modern technology--power grid outages, high-frequency communication blackouts, spacecraft anomalies--are well known and well documented, and the physical processes underlying space weather are generally well understood. Less well documented and understood, however, are the potential economic and societal impacts of the disruption of critical technological systems by severe space weather. As a first step toward determining the socioeconomic impacts of extreme space weather events and addressing the questions of space weather risk assessment and management, a public workshop was held in May 2008."