July 2008 Archives

NASA administrator Michael Griffin told an audience at the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin that he could not serve a president who did not want to carry on with the Constellation programme

Indicating that he did not expect to serve the next administration, Griffin explained that as a presidential appointee it was customary for someone in such a position to hand in their resignation and that those resignations were rarely rejected

This video is from the 19 July 1130h NASA session in pavilion six at the EAA AirVenture event in Oshkosh. Griffin took questions for over an hour about what the space and aeronautics agency does

Read more about the context of this question, Griffin's answer and the Ares rockets in this flightglobal.com story

While at Scaled Composites at Mojave air and space port on 28 July I took the opportunity to video SpaceShipTwo underwraps in one of Scaled's hangars after the roll out of WhiteKnightTwo



Click through to the extended portion to see the video

More information from NASA studies about deflecting humanity destroying asteroids (Near Earth Objects, NEOs, as they are also known) has emerged with a presentation at the 44th AIAA Joint Propulsion Conference by NASA Glenn Research Center's Stanley Borowski. Flight published a story about NASA's work in this area last year. That was about a nuclear weapon carrying deflection mission that used chemical rockets but Borowski's work has looked at nuclear propulsion

click on all the images in this blog post from Borowski's presentation for a larger version in the same browser window

At the roll out of Virgin Galactic's carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) on 28 July Burt Rutan, Scaled Composites founder and now its chief technology officer, spoke to Hyperbola about the propulsion system of SpaceShipTwo and the spacecraft's simulator


credit: Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic's Scaled Composites designed White Knight II carrier aircraft for SpaceShipTwo has been rolled out of Scaled's hangar at Mojave air and space port

click on all the images to see larger versions in the same browser window


credit: Flight

credit: NASA / click on the image to see a larger version in the same browser window

I spent the whole of Wednesday 23 July in NASA Ares project offices' presentations and have a wealth of information to write about these rocket's ongoing development 

credit: NASA / this image is from the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission STS-61

Click through to the video obtained by Hyperbola here at the 44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference held in Hartford, Connecticut. The NASA exhibit staff told me it has not been placed on the internet yet, so here it is for its "internet premier" so to speak, enjoy

ESA's head of the future transport and infrastructure division, Marco Caporicci, has provided Hyperbola with further information about the agency's plans for its Automated Transfer Vehicle Advanced Return Vehicle (ARV) that could become the basis for a manned capsule

If approved when could you start the new ARV work?

The ARV activities, if approved at the Ministerial Council will start in the March 2009 time frame. Preliminary work is already being performed in preparation of the ESA proposal to the Ministerial Council


credit: ESA / click on image to view larger version in same browser window

Would this help you resolve the issue that you ordered nine EADS Astrium Ariane 5 ECAs from Arianespace originally for ATV?

It could, but the situation is more complex and linked to the final decisions on the life duration of the ISS. More ATV's could be considered in that frame, even before discussing the ARV

Here in Hartford, Connecticut at the 44th AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory's advanced propulsion technology group's leader Robert Frisbee spoke to Hyperbola on 21 July for a five minute interview about his design for an antimatter powered interstellar rocket that could reach solar systems up to 40-light years away within a human lifetime

China's English language state owned television channel CCTV9 has revealed the fact that on its past two manned missons the astronauts have experienced physical discomfort from the vibration of the rocket on its ascent

credit: JAXA / click on image to see larger version in this window browser

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has unveiled a new website for its Space Exploration Center that includes a lunar outpost team webpage

The website blurb says: "Human Lunar Systems Team works for the conceptual system study on the future human lunar outpost. Based on the achievements and lessons learned from the International Space Station Program, system architecture on the basis of the international cooperation and the way of Japan's contribution are discussed continuously."

credit: ESA / click on image to see larger version in same browser window

The European Space Agency has announced its intention to develop a cargo return vehicle (CARV) to bring back payload from the International Space Station. The CARV will be an evolution of the agency's expendable Automated Transfer vehicle (ATV)

click to see larger version in same browser window

Note the NK-33 single engine for the first core stage

NASA is concerned that the flight hardware for Orion crew exploration vehicle's (CEV) extra vehicular activity (EVA) system is too heavy for its CEV and is working towards a preliminary design that is light enough for April 2009


credit: NASA / click on image to get larger version

Why won't Russia's Federal Space Agency (FSA) aka Roscosmos just admit that its "private investor" for the 2011 flight is Space Adventures?

At the joint Russian delegation press conference yesterday I recorded my brief question and answer opportunity with FSA/Roscosmos deputy director Vitaly Davidov about the 2011 private spaceflight agreement, the cooperation with South Korea and Soyuz in Kourou


caption: Davidov on the phone prior to the press conference's start
 
I never got an answer to the third part, maybe that was the translator's mistake, but I didn't get much about Korea or this mooted 2011 flight either

Click here to download a recording of my very brief Q&A at the press conference in Russian and English. The recording begins with the translator asking my questions in Russian and then Davidov's answers, which are translated. The sound qualty varies due to the public address system and background noise - well it is an airshow!

Click on image for larger version in same browser window

Is this Energia Rocket and Space Corporation's concept for the Euro-Russian Crew Space Transportation System vehicle? I was told by the two Energia employees on the company's stand that they had been given it to display at the last minute. They knew very little but said they thought it was reusable and it could carry six people

At the US Embassy in London yesterday (14 July 2008) I met with NASA administrator Michael Griffin to chat for 15min about what he is doing in Europe this week, the International Space Station, space tourism, the forthcoming authorisation bill and when he expects to talk to the new US president. Hear Griffin talk about his hopes that the UK get involved in human spaceflight and his support for an international common docking system

Click on this to download

I need to thank the US Embassy public affairs staff for their generous loan of their audio recording device and general help yesterday as well

Sadly at the moment I am among the enthusists for subsonic tubes with a sticky out bit called a wing

This Farnborough air show is severely lacking in all things space and part of the reason is the British National Space Centre is apparently saving all its pennies for the International Astronautical Congress that is being held in Glasgow later this year - well I can't blame them but should a member of the G8 be unable to fund both?

While I eeek out the time and stories to meet my blogging qouta I can report that I interviewed NASA administrator Michael Griffin today and, technology willing, that should become a podcast you can download tomorrow. Then on Wednesday I have a pre-written blog entry about a new issue for the Constellation programme

As for the rest of the week, it will come round soon enough

The interview with Griffin spanned issues such as the recent problems with the Soyuz capsules, the NASA authorisation bill, the challenge of changing administrations and more

Learn about how to use NASA's simulation software, based on first-person-shooter computer game engine technology, in this video with narration by a British women. The software was developed by NASA with the help of the Virginian company Valador

This tv report from China state television channel CCTV shows part of the Shenzhou VII spacecraft being transferred to its launch site where the video's translation says there will be airlock tests


credit: CCTV

HAL-9000: What is going to happen?
Ghost of David Bowman: Something wonderful
Film: 2010 Odyssey Two (1984)

While Spaceport America announced an update to its website yesterday I have been following the progress of Spaceport Sweden, launched in Janary 2007 with all the fanfare that Virgin Galactic could help to muster


credit: Spaceport Sweden

Despite its high orbit Hyperbola will regenerate soon with a slightly new look that will be similar to Flight's blogs that have already made the change, such as Image of the day, Unusual Attitude, Flightblogger, and also Learmount, which was launched with the new "skin". Flightglobal.com editor Mike Targett explains the new look here. And answers on a postcard please as to what qoute from which film I am paraphrasing in this post's title

NASA and ESA announced some of the outcomes of their Comparative [exploration] Architecture Assessment today

In the following text from the joint statement find hyperlinks to the various Flight stories that have pre-empted the agencies' announcement;
 
"Findings from the study included a significant mutual interest in the potential development of lunar cargo landing systems, communication and navigation systems, lunar orbital infrastructures, and lunar surface systems, such as habitats or mobility systems. The study also identified the significant value gained from redundant human crew transportation capability."


credit ESA Click on the image for a larger version

Hyperbola has obtained details of the work on NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle's proposed landing systems being carried out till 11 and 12 September when the CEV's Systems Baseline Review (SBR) occurs and its Preliminary Design Review (PDR) that takes place from 10 to 21 November


credit: NASA / caption: This old airbag system design has been rejected due to its mass penalty

credit: NASA / Flight

The big conundrum for NASA's Constellation programme is how do you design transportation for an exploration strategy that envisages a permanently manned lunar outpost when all your major procurement decisions are based on reusing elements of a largely reusable launch system that only flew to low Earth orbit?

credit: spaceX

Speaking to journalists after his speech at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London on 3 July, Space Exporation Technologies chief executive Elon Musk talked about his ideas for a circumlunar flight service

Directlauncher.com team member and AIAA paper co-author Chuck Longton has responded to the NASA criticism of the DIRECT concept in this Hyperbola blog post and pointed out what his team considers are Constellation's failures with its architecture


credit: NASA

See Chuck's main points in the extended entry portion of this post. He also says in his original comment that "there will be an upcoming response that will be placed, at the very least, on the www.directlauncher.com website"

I agree with Doug Cooke, NASA exploration systems mission directorate's deputy director, that the DIRECT concept is not the optimal solution its proponents claim it to be

I made my opposition to DIRECT clear in a reply to a reader's comment on this blog in January

credit: DIRECT

Space Exploration Technologies chief executive Elon Musk spoke at the UK's Royal Aeronautical Society in London on the evening of the 3 July

The approximately 10min speech was entitled "What is Needed to Extend Life Permanently Beyond Earth?" Musk also reviewed SpaceX's progress. There were no pictures or video

There then followed about a 60min question and answer session. The audio recording of both the speech and Q&A can be found in the extended entry of this blog post

credit: NASA

NASA has been investigating inflatable modules for its planned lunar outpost. Here are some pictures of its concept, designs and the Ares V cargo launch vehicle integration

Click on all images in this blog post to see larger versions in the same browser window

credit: Starchaser Industries

In line with the embargo its 1 July so here are the UK's Starchaser Industries' Nova 2 rocket pictures. Amusingly Clark Lindsey, while kindly linking to my blog post with related pictures, managed to find this link to the rocket's pictures on Starchaser's own website. Something to think about for media management for anybody out there, website porosity...

Click on the image here and those in the extended portion to see larger versions