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Bush Signs New NASA Authorization Act: One More Shuttle, Faster Orion (News) October 17, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Bush, Current News, NASA, Obama, Orion (craft), Soyuz, Space Shuttle , add a comment

Today, President Bush signed into law a new NASA Authorization Act with some interesting folds in regards to NASA’s development, especially in regards to the Space Shuttle program.

The act authorizes $20.2 billion for NASA, including funding for an additional space shuttle flight , originally planned for retirement in 2010.

The gap between the shuttle’s retirement and the first flights of the Orion craft in 2014-2015 has created some concern, with the Russian Soyuz being the main stopgap option; recently, a measure was passed in Congress to allow NASA to purchase Soyuz craft (instead of having to piggyback); an interesting side note is that the Soyuz purchase waiver was something that Barack Obama discussed and then became involved with, with his running mate Joe Biden being the sponsor of the waiver. NASA’s future is clearly attracting some high-profile attention lately.

The new authorization act also calls for $1 billion in additional funding to accelerate the Orion program.

For the full text of the act, check out the always dependable SpaceRef.com’s posting of it here.

Picture of the Week: So You's Comfortable In There? October 14, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Int'l Space Station, Orion (craft), Picture of the Week, Russia, Soyuz, space tourism , add a comment


That is the interior of the Russian Soyuz craft, that is currently in the news for carrying the 6th space tourist, video game developer (and son of an astronaut) Richard Garriott, to the International Space Station for a few weeks (a trip that has it’s own web site).

The Soyuz, once the space shuttle is retired in 2010, will actually be the vehicle American astronauts will have to hitch a ride on (or, as appears to be the case now, the craft NASA will be buying from he Russians for our use) to get to the ISS and into space in general until the development of the Orion craft is completed.

For more on space tourism, check out Space.com’s whole section on it.

Astrobotic Site Revamp October 11, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Astrobotic, Google Lunar X Prize, rover , add a comment

In another Google Lunar X Prize related note, Astrobotic Technology (one of the teams competing) recently did a significant revamp of their site, including nifty features. Hate to sound almost like an ad, but there’s tons of info there now.

They do a good job of talking about their technological development, including their new blog with pics and descriptions of various elements of their craft, and their Lunar X Prize team page has this neat video on their camera testing:

As the Lunar X Prize’s requirements state the grand prize goals must be met by 2012 (with the final, any-prize-at-all date being the end of 2014), the Lunar X Prize is going to be a central topic here at Luna C/I over the short-term. Expect to see a lot more features and updates on all the teams in the coming weeks, months, and years here :)

Two New Teams Join Google Lunar X Prize (News) October 9, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Current News, Earthrise Space Inc, Google Lunar X Prize, Mooncast , add a comment

The X Prize Foundation has announced that two additional teams have joined the quest for the Google Lunar X Prize:

Both teams express simplicity as a key of their efforts to get a Mooncast and the other objectives completed.

It’ll be fun to watch this X Prize ramp up in the next couple of years, as it could be remembered as something of a ‘Shot Heard ‘Round the World’ for Lunar integration (perhaps that panoramic view in the requirements could be ‘The Shot Seen ‘Round the World’? :) ).

NASA Chief Mike Griffin's Interesting 50th Anniversary Comments October 8, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Apollo, Constellation, cooperation, Fusion Power, Helium-3, McCain, NASA, Obama, Space Shuttle , add a comment

Recently, Michael Griffin (Administrator, a.k.a the chief, of NASA) made some interesting comments to the Agency France-Presse (AFP) when discussing the 50th anniversary of NASA and NASA’s current state:

“[Christopher Columbus] travelled for months and spent a few weeks in the Americas and returned home. He could hardly have said to have explored the New World. So we have just begun to touch other worlds.”

-Mike Griffin, referring to Apollo 11‘s first walk on the Moon

Mr. Griffin went on to talk about how the explorers of the 15th century set out not knowing exactly what they’d find, and what value it would have. Griffin stated, “We can’t prove today that we can exploit what we find to the benefit of humankind”, though personally I beg to differ (and so do others more significant than me).

Griffin also expresses support for international cooperation, a subject that was a key contrast between the Obama and McCain space plans (with Obama’s plan mentioning it often and McCain’s plan never mentioning it).

“The space station is much bigger and better and more impressive and more productive as a result of the partnership with Canada, Russia, Europe, and Japan, than it would have been if we had done it ourselves.”
-Mike Griffin

For some more interesting Mike Griffin interviews, check out this Popular Mechanics ’10 tough questions’ from 2007, and a Space.com grilling from about a month ago on the space shuttle program, changes to it, and the potential impact of that on Constellation. Seems like Mr. Griffin gets some tough gigs with these interviews, haha.

(Note: I think that 8.8mb portrait from NASA of Mr. Griffin is one of the largest images I have ever seen uploaded to the internet.)

Eternal Flame? Phoenix Lander Lasting Longer Than Expected October 6, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Base Race, Google Lunar X Prize, Helium-3, Integration, Phoenix lander, robotics, rover , add a comment

NASA’s robotic Mars lander, Phoenix, made news recently as it was snowed on. Let the Martian snowmen and snowball fights commence.

But, a subplot to this event and just as notable in the long run, is that the Phoenix lander has lasted much longer than anticipated.

Originally expected to last 90 Martian days (also known as “sols”; Martian hours, minutes, and seconds are 2.7% longer than Earth ones), the lander has operated for 120+. The Martian winter is settling in, and with the lander being at a pole, that means a long, cold dark and the probable end of the lander’s lifespan.

Considering that everything from the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize up through Helium-3 mining and moon base surveying and construction will be completed by similar robotic rovers and other heroic robots, the fact that as high-profile a rover as the Phoenix has proven much more durable than anticipated is great news for any and all forthcoming efforts to integrate, and then colonize the Moon.

Rovers proving more durable means that everything on Luna will get explored, built on, and mined that much faster and more efficiently (and more efficiency itself speeds things up again by freeing up R+D, etc. cash). If rovers and other equipment prove to consistently outperform expectations like the Phoenix has, then the pace of the Moon’s integration into our Earthbound society is going to get really wild.

The Phoenix lander’s perserverance has shone a bright light of promise into the future of robotic Martian, Lunar, and other missions.

Picture of the Week: Festival Coming Soon October 5, 2008

Posted by Nick Azer in : Chang'e, China, Helium-3, Mythology, Picture of the Week , add a comment

That is that first Chinese photo of the Moon, taken by their Chang’e-1 (嫦娥一号) Lunar orbiter craft last year, as part of an imaging/exploration mission (including for concentrations of helium-3).

Check out this really interesting look from the China National Space Administration (CNSA) at the Chang’e-1 program and its goals, from the Chang’e project leader, Luan Enjie. He’s exceptionally well-spoken– here’s a great interview where he talks about his take on the differences from this space race (that I refer to as the “Base Race”) and the space rae of the 1950′s and 60′s.

The Chang’e program is named after the Chinese goddess of the moon, who (notably) only lives on the moon.

“The U.S. is the leader in deep space exploration.”
-Luan Enjie, opening statement of his description of the Chang’e-1 program

The way the Chinese space program has been rolling along in the past year, I think we could be seeing a ‘chang’e’ to that fact in the very near future ;)