Infrastructure: Web Articles
Next100 - A Dialogue on the Next Century of Energy
"When President Obama visits India in a couple of weeks to help cement the two countries’ strategic and economic relationship, he should make room on the agenda for a visionary plan to create a joint space-based solar energy program. That’s the provocative recommendation of a recent report drafted by a U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel, and published by the Institute for Defense Studies and Analyses, a think tank based in New Delhi and funded by India’s defense ministry." There is also significant NASA-related interest in this topic as seen by the agenda (Session #6) for the October 29-31, 2010 Space Studies Institute conference at NASA Ames Research Center. International interest in the space community is growing and discussions that may lead to effective collaborations are already underway.
Orbital Technologies and RSC Energia to Launch World's First Commercial Space Station - Orbital Technologies
"Private Russian company and lead contractor for the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation collaborate to commercialize space." This facility appears to be on a path to compete with the Bigelow Space Station concept, but apparently on a smaller scale. The competition heats up.
SpaceX + Astrium: Falcon Finds European Possibilities (Launch Services) : Satnews Publishers
"Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Astrium have engaged in a commercial agreement to provide dedicated launch services to the European institutional small satellite market. Astrium intends to work with SpaceX to market Falcon 1 launch capabilities to various space agencies and other institutional customers in Europe for launches to take place through 2015.(SatNewsPublisher)"
Public Offerings for Space Travel | R&D Mag
Space tourism has already enjoyed a nearly 10-year run with steady business (only seven customers, but at $20-35 million apiece). Most of us will never get the opportunity, but we might be able to soon own a piece of the action if space entrepreneur Elon Musk is ready for shareholder meetings. Camille Ricketts of the blog Green Beat thinks it’s one way for the entrepreneur to keep the wheels turning and the rockets burning on his high-flying SpaceX and Tesla ventures.
Entrepreneurs Enter the Commercial Space Race | NYTimes.com
At the Bigelow Aerospace factory here, the full-size space station mockups sitting on the warehouse floor look somewhat like puffy white watermelons. The interiors offer a hint of what spacious living in space might look like.
“Every astronaut we have come in here just says, ‘Wow,’ ” said Robert T. Bigelow, the company founder. “They can’t believe the size of this thing.” Four years from now, the company plans for real modules to be launched and assembled into the solar system’s first private space station. Paying customers — primarily nations that do not have the money or expertise to build a space program from scratch — would arrive a year later.
An Inflatable Space Station
6 Private Companies That Could Launch Humans Into Space | Space.com
"The era of private spaceflight is breaking new ground with the first test launch of the new Falcon 9 rocket by the company Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), which hopes to use the booster to fly its Dragon spaceship on space station trips. And with NASA's space shuttles retiring this year, SpaceX is not alone in the bid to launch cargo and astronauts into space. NASA has tapped SpaceX and another company – Virginia's Orbital Sciences – to build unmanned cargo ships to stock up the International Space Station after its final two shuttle missions fly later this year. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is poised to make its first test flight this weekend (now it's today).
After that, the agency plans to modify the Lockheed Martin-designed Orion capsule as a space station lifeboat. Aerospace juggernaut Boeing is also hoping to compete for commercial crew capabilities. But while giants like Lockheed Martin and Boeing duke it out, some smaller – but equally ambitious – companies have joined SpaceX in the race to build the next spacecraft to put Americans in space. Here's a look at six smaller companies vying for the future of human spaceflight." See the whole article (above) for a profile of 6 companies that could launch humans into space.
High-Tech Space Planes Taking Shape in Italy, Russia | Space.com
The U.S. Air Force's secretive X-37B space plane may eventually get some company in low-Earth orbit as other countries such as Italy and Russia push forward with plans for their own reusable winged spaceships.
Italy's prototype space plane, named Pollux, successfully carried out high-speed maneuvers that slowed it down from a falling speed of Mach 1.2 during a test flight in April. More recently, Russia has begun considering whether to revive a Cold War era, air-launched mini-shuttle in response to the U.S. X-37B space plane debut.
Elon Musk - The 2010 TIME 100 | TIME
"Elon Musk makes no sense — and that's the reason I know him (says Jon Favreau, Director of Iron Man). When I was trying to bring the character of genius billionaire Tony Stark to the big screen in Iron Man, I had no idea how to make him seem real. Robert Downey Jr. (who plays Stark in the film) said, "We need to sit down with Elon Musk." He was right."
Lunar Rover Initiative
"The Lunar Rover Initiative is developing Scarab to evaluate and demonstrate a combined drilling and science rover platform for lunar exploration. Scarab needs to be able to withstand extreme temperatures, perpetual darkness, and intermittent communications to explore polar regions of the moon in order to survey sites and understand resources for future science and exploratory missions. Working for nearly a decade to develop feasible mission concepts and validate technologies in extreme environments here on Earth, we are experienced, skilled, and dedicated to the vision of lunar exploration."
These kind of academic/commercial lunar rovers than can drive, drill, navigate and analyze are the precursors to lunar commercial applications.
2nd Annual NASA STEM Educators Workshop Series - AESP
"Calling all teachers in the Charlotte area. NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va., and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are inviting educators to take part in free workshops Feb. 23-25. The second annual NASA STEM Educator Workshop Series will showcase science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education resources relating to studying the NASA mission to return to the moon."
This announcement is from a NASA-sponsored Aerospace Education Services Project (AESP) located at Penn State. STEM education for teachers flows into our classrooms and helps stimulate creation of our future workforce, that includes commercial space enterprises.