Collaborations: 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.
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.
This Land - A New Exit to Space Readies for Business | NYTimes.com
Barry digs into the local scene and discovers some background stories about SpacePort America that's emerging from the barren flats of New Mexico.
"This is not a secret government project, or some NASA reception hall for alien dignitaries. This is Spaceport America, a $198 million endeavor by the State of New Mexico to plumb the commercial potential of the suborbital heavens — a place once known only to astronauts, dreamers and the occasional chimp.
Space tourism. Scientific research. Satellite deliveries. All possible up there, where the stars glitter like spilled coins. Who knows? One day you might decide to skip another two-week vacation in the Wisconsin Dells for a two-hour trip into space. Fly Virgin Galactic. See the sights from as high as 80 miles up. Five minutes of weightlessness guaranteed. Just $200,000."
Northrop Grumman Foundation Now Accepting Teacher Applications for 2010 Weightless Flights of Discovery Program - Yahoo! Finance
"The Northrup Gumman Foundation is accepting teacher applications for the 2010 Weightless Flights of Discovery program, a unique initiative that places teachers on micro-gravity flights to test Newton's Laws of Motion and energize students in the formative middle-school years. Middle-school math and science teachers in public schools are welcome to apply for the program."
NASA, GM believes Robonaut2 will work alongside humans | R&D Mag
"Engineers and scientists from NASA and GM worked together through a Space Act Agreement at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston to build a new humanoid robot capable of working side by side with people. Using leading edge control, sensor and vision technologies, future robots could assist astronauts during hazardous space missions and help GM build safer cars and plants.
The two organizations, with the help of engineers from Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston, developed and built the next iteration of Robonaut. Robonaut 2, or R2, is a faster, more dexterous and more technologically advanced robot. This new generation robot can use its hands to do work beyond the scope of prior humanoid machines. R2 can work safely alongside people, a necessity both on Earth and in space."
Veteran astronauts find new roles in commercial sector | Spaceflight Now
"Two former space shuttle and space station commanders are now competitors in the nascent world of commercial human spaceflight, a start-up industry still in its infancy but likely close to receiving a major boost from the White House.
Ken Bowersox and Frank Culbertson are vice presidents at Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and Orbital Sciences Corp., two U.S. companies at the forefront of the private space industry."
Astronauts get to vote for commercial space with their feet which indicates they feel this industry has a great opportunity to grow.
Department of Commerce Secretary, Gary Locke's "States of Entrepreneurism" Address
"The United States has not adjusted to a new global marketplace where foreign countries and foreign companies have the ability to outpace their American counterparts. It’s not tenable for...[us] to continue with the status quo. In a world where innovation is critical to U.S. competitiveness, we must do everything in our power to optimize commercialization that stems from our nation’s vast research investments. This is an issue where the Commerce Department is working hard to find solutions.
Last fall, we launched the Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, whose mandate is to drive policies and programs that help entrepreneurs translate new ideas, products, and services into economic growth, and to accelerate technology commercialization of federal R&D.
And today, I want to announce that on February 24 [2010], this Office will host a forum with university leaders and key stakeholders on the roles of universities in innovation, economic development, job creation, and commercialization of federally funded research."
Locke's analysis is dead on and includes references to NASA, aerospace and public-private collaboration in commercialization. The emerging suborbital space vehicle industry is a classic example of what he and the Obama administration are strongly promoting and they surely support STEM education as a critical lifeline essential to feed such entrepreneurial innovations.
Development of the American commercial space industry: imminent federal decisions and implications for economic development in the states
"It’s very early to have much certainty, but I’d say that a shift in federal policy toward commercial operation presages a subtle but notable shift in the center of gravity of the American space program from the South/Southeast to the Far West and Southwest, with lots of interesting economic-development consequences.
The table in this article by Hochman summarizes these data, noting the broad mandates of these space authorities to develop comprehensive aerospace sectors, including enabling technologies of all types. The table also lists states with NASA Centers and their expertises, some but not all of which will be salient to Augustine’s call for enhanced attention to “technology development” necessary to meet long-term, inspirational space goals."
The End of Magical Climate Thinking | Foreign Policy
"The Obama administration succumbed, like many others, to a sort of magical climate thinking that promised a painless and even prosperous transition to a low-carbon future with the tools already at hand. The only official within his administration to accurately grasp the technology challenges faced, Energy Secretary Steven Chu, was sidelined at crucial moments. Here is the back story of how the Obama administration dramatically raised and then dashed America's -- and the world's -- hopes that 2009 would be a pivotal year for remaking our collective energy future." This article places blame on both government and green energy advocates for "magical thinking" about what will surely at minimum be a tough, expensive, decades-long slog. The importance of space infrastructure advancements, especially by the private sector, to developing innovative lower-cost solar power and biospheric and climate monitoring systems will be major. Earth and its environment are increasingly understood as one evolving macro-ecosystem traveling through space over eons.