NASA and the Private Sector - Page 10

On October 21 2011 14:16 {CC}StealthBlue wrote:
Sad. Too bad NASA is leashed by incompetent management and government bureaucracy that they could have asked for SpaceX to help setup up inflatable labs in orbit and then basically "rent" them out to countries. But this could actually be a good thing, not for those laid off of course, to further test hardware etc. SpaceX actually has concrete stats, test results, and hardware under development. Bigelow Aerospace less so.



Source

The privately built Dragon space capsule’s maiden flight to the International Space Station is just weeks away, but SpaceX and NASA already have big dreams for Dragon’s next steps. In a presentation at NASA late last month, SpaceX and space agency officials discussed sending Dragon to Mars. A “Red Dragon” mission, as NASA officials have nicknamed it, would be a low-cost way to send an ice drill to look for signs of life at the Martian poles.

The relatively cheap $500 million mission could launch as soon as 2018, Nature News reports. It would include a robotic drill that would sample Martian permafrost and examine them with onboard lab equipment, like the types integrated into the forthcoming Curiosity rover.

Researchers at NASA’s Ames Research Center first brought the concept to light earlier this year, but the presentation Oct. 31 was a formal discussion involving NASA’s planetary science division. It’s evidence that the agency is at least contemplating private space exploration, as well as private human spaceflight, in the face of tightening budgets, Nature News reports.

Aside from its relatively low cost (at least compared with other Mars missions) the Dragon capsule is equipped with retro rockets that could enable a calm, slow descent onto the Martian surface. It would not need any bouncing parachutes or hoverdrop capability, like NASA’s own rover missions. It would instead fire eight motors that are already attached to the Dragon capsule in its human-transport configuration, which will help it escape its Falcon 9 heavy lift rocket in case of an aborted launch. But not everyone is convinced this will work, and others at the space agency are worried a private-transport proposal could jeopardize other planned rover missions. NASA and SpaceX are gearing up for a proposal competition in 2013.

On September 27 2011 08:19 jbee wrote:
Why spend money on NASA? Seems so pointless to me.

You can be rich enough to buy a rocket and still get sticker shock. In early 2002, PayPal co-founder Elon Musk, already a multimillionaire at 30, was pursuing a grand scheme to rekindle public interest in sending humans to Mars. A lifelong space enthusiast with degrees in physics and business, Musk wanted to place a small greenhouse laden with seeds and nutrient gel on the Martian surface to establish life there, if only temporarily. The problem wasn’t the lander itself; he’d already talked to contractors who would build it for a comparatively low cost. The problem was launching it. Unwilling to pay what U.S. rocket companies were charging, Musk made three trips to Russia to try to buy a refurbished Dnepr missile, but found deal-making in the wild west of Russian capitalism too risky financially.

On the flight home, he recalls, “I was trying to understand why rockets were so expensive. Obviously the lowest cost you can make anything for is the spot value of the material constituents. And that’s if you had a magic wand and could rearrange the atoms. So there’s just a question of how efficient you can be about getting the atoms from raw material state to rocket shape.” That year, enlisting a handful of veteran space engineers, Musk formed Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, with two staggeringly ambitious goals: To make spaceflight routine and affordable, and to make humans a multi-planet species.

Upham, NM - New Mexico Spaceport Authority (NMSA) officials announced today a successful launch over the weekend of an advanced sounding rocket designed and built by Armadillo Aerospace. The launch took place from Spaceport America's vertical launch complex on Sun., Dec. 4. The test flight was a non-public, unpublished event at the request of Armadillo Aerospace, as the company is testing proprietary advanced launch technologies.

Saturday's Armadillo launch successfully lifted off at approximately 11:00 a.m. (MST), which was within the dedicated, five-hour launch window, and reached its projected sub-orbital altitude of 137,500 feet.

"This successful test of our "STIG A" reusable sub-orbital rocket technology represents major progress for the Armadillo Aerospace flight test program," said Neil Milburn, Vice President of Program Management at Armadillo Aerospace. "The flight successfully demonstrated many of the technologies that we need for our manned sub-orbital program." Armadillo Aerospace is a leading developer of reusable rocket-powered vehicles and plans to provide a platform for civilian access to suborbital space via its partnership with Space Adventures, Ltd.

"Spaceport America has been an ideal launch facility for this kind of vehicle R&D testing activity," said John Carmack, President and CTO of Armadillo Aerospace.

NASA has announced the launch target for Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) second Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) demonstration flight will be Feb. 7, 2012. Pending completion of final safety reviews, testing and verification, NASA also has agreed to allow SpaceX to send its Dragon spacecraft to rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) in a single flight.

"SpaceX has made incredible progress over the last several months preparing Dragon for its mission to the space station," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate. "We look forward to a successful mission, which will open up a new era in commercial cargo delivery for this international orbiting laboratory."

Gerstenmaier said, "There is still a significant amount of critical work to be completed before launch, but the teams have a sound plan to complete it and are prepared for unexpected challenges. As with all launches, we will adjust the launch date as needed to gain sufficient understanding of test and analysis results to ensure safety and mission success."

During the flight, Dragon will conduct a series of check-out procedures that will test and prove its systems in advance of the rendezvous with the station. The primary objectives for the flight include a fly-by of the space station at a distance of approximately two miles to validate the operation of sensors and flight systems necessary for a safe rendezvous and approach. The spacecraft also will demonstrate the capability to abort the rendezvous, if required.

Dragon will perform the final approach to the ISS while the station crew grapples the vehicle with the station's robotic arm. The capsule will be berthed to the Earth-facing side of the Harmony node. At the end of the mission, the crew will reverse the process, detaching Dragon from the station for its return to Earth and splashdown in the Pacific off the coast of California. If the rendezvous and attachment to the station are not successful, SpaceX will complete a third demonstration flight in order to achieve these objectives as originally planned.

On December 09 2011 10:05 BestZergOnEast wrote:
The colonization & resource extraction of/from outer space is absolutely crucial to the long term success of longevity. NASA's efforts in this regard are counter productive. When it becomes economic to mine asteroids, teraform Venus or set up colonies on the moon companies will do so. Until then public sector efforts to explore space are a gigantic drain of resources that can be better used on Earth. Economic development and technological progress must happen before we are ready to conquer outer space. Ultimately NASA is a form of welfare for the elite; it's welfare for rich scientists / bureaucrats & companies that thrive off procurement. Why should the government take money from the working poor and give it to the elite?

On December 10 2011 06:01 BestZergOnEast wrote:
If the 20th century taught us anything it's that there's no invention the government cannot turn into a tool for mass murder. Jet engines, rockets & atomic energy have all been used for this purpose by the state.

On December 10 2011 06:10 BestZergOnEast wrote:
Who is 'we'? Personally I don't care whether or not someone chooses to go into space. I'm all for it. Let's conquer new frontiers. Fuck yeah. But don't point a gun at me and demand my money in order to finance your Star Trek fantasies.

On December 09 2011 09:45 Orcasgt24 wrote:
Where the hell does SpaceX get that money? I cannt imagine finding corprate sponsorship to the tune of $800million is plausible and I highly doubt bank loans were used. I also do not see anything with retail value from the company.

So WTF!!

On December 10 2011 06:16 abominare wrote:



Aaaaand troll confirmed

At a press conference this morning in Seattle, Allen--a co-founder of Microsoft--along with Burt Rutan unveiled their new company, Stratolaunch Systems. Allen and Rutan previously collaborated on the creation of SpaceShipOne, which won the Ansari X Prize for being the first privately funded spacecraft to leave the Earth's atmosphere.

Now, Allen and Rutan are at it again, and at their Seattle event, they announced a next-generation mobile launch system that, at a cost that Allen said was "an order of magnitude" higher than SpaceShipOne, could completely shake up the world of manned and cargo spaceflight.

The new launch system has several elements. First, it has a giant carrier aircraft that will be built by Rutan's Scaled Composites. Second, it will have a multistage booster made by Elon Musk's SpaceX. And finally, it will have "a state-of-the-art mating and integration system allowing the carrier aircraft to safely carry a booster weighing up to 490,000 pounds." That element will be manufactured by Dynetics.

In a statement today, the company outlined its plans:

Stratolaunch Systems will bring airport-like operations to the launch of commercial and government payloads and, eventually, human missions. Plans call for a first flight within five years. The air-launch-to-orbit system will mean lower costs, greater safety, and more flexibility and responsiveness than is possible today with ground-based systems. Stratolaunch's quick turnaround between launches will enable new orbital missions as well as break the logjam of missions queued up for launch facilities and a chance at space. Rutan, who has joined Stratolaunch Systems as a board member, said he was thrilled to be back working with Allen. "Paul and I pioneered private space travel with SpaceShipOne, which led to Virgin Galactic's commercial suborbital SpaceShipTwo Program.

The Stratolaunch carrier aircraft will truly be massive. It is expected to have a wingspan of 380 feet--longer than a football field. As Rutan put it during the press conference, "You should never show this airplane, or a model of it, without right next to it, showing a plane that we know how big it is, like a little 747."