Bigelow to Rehire Workers in Wake of NASA’s Commercial Crew Awards | Parabolic Arc
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
NASA’s decision last month to award commercial crew contracts worth a combined $900 million to Boeing and SpaceX has provided a boost for Bigelow Aerospace’s efforts to launch private space stations into orbit.
Bigelow, which has partnered with both companies to provide transportation services to its orbital facilities, plans to hire re-hire workers who had been earlier laid off due to delays in NASA’s commercial crew program.
Robert Bigelow, owner and president of Bigelow Aerospace, called the funding “more aggressive” than prior NASA contracts and said he was “very happy” about the ramped-up investment, which will nearly double the workforce at his North Las Vegas plant.
See on www.parabolicarc.com
Launch site for SpaceX draws mixed reviews
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
Bill Wilting’s face lights up when he thinks about the possibility of watching rocket launches from virtually his front door.
He talks about all the opportunities the area would have if Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, decides to build a launch site near Boca Chica Beach, just a few miles from where he lives.
“I’m excited about it. Rocket ships — are you kidding me? I’m crazy about it. I think it’s the greatest thing,” he says.
Wilting is one of several residents of Boca Chica Village, once known as Kopernick Shores and home to a founding Polish community, who could have a front-row seat to possibly 12 rocket launches a year if SpaceX builds a launch facility here.
See on www.brownsvilleherald.com
The insignificance of space policy in the 2012 campaign | Space Politics
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
At first glance, it might appear that space policy got a lot of attention in the last week: Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney mentioned the late Neil Armstrong in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night, and did so again during a campaign stop on Saturday in Cincinnati, a day after the Apollo 11 astronaut’s funeral there. The Republican Party platform, approved during the convention, included a plank about space. Meanwhile, while the Republicans convened in Tampa, President Barack Obama found a very different outlet to discuss policy issues, an “Ask Me Anything” discussion on the popular website Reddit, where he answered one question on space policy.
So, that should be good news for those who follow space policy, right? Not really. None of these comments said much of anything new—or even much of anything at all—about the candidates’ positions on space policy. The fact that we’re paying so much attention to such minor comments indicates how little the candidates, in particular Romney, have said on space, especially in comparison to just four years ago.
See on www.spacepolitics.com
Falcon Launch Report | Falcon 9 undergoes pad rehearsal for October launch | Spaceflight Now
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
In a critical prelaunch test before SpaceX’s first operational cargo delivery to the International Space Station, engineers filled a Falcon 9 rocket with propellant Friday, rehearsing countdown procedures ahead of the mission’s scheduled liftoff in October.
A SpaceX spokesperson confirmed the successful completion of the test.
See on spaceflightnow.com
SpaceX conduct successful WDR on their latest Falcon 9 | NASASpaceFlight.com
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
Preparations for SpaceX’s debut Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in October are on track, following Friday’s successful Wet Dress Rehearsal (WDR). The test was carried out on their Falcon 9 launch vehicle, minus its Dragon passenger, at Cape Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40).
See on www.nasaspaceflight.com
See Where The World’s First Commercial Space Flights Will Take Off From
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
Virgin Galactic has promised to launch its pioneer spaceflight sometime next year aboard its spacecraft Spaceship Two. Once this flight takes off, it could mean the start of a whole new wave of commercial space tourism—and all of those space flights will likely leave from America’s shiny new spaceport: Spaceport America.
Located in New Mexico, Spaceport America is “the world’s first purpose-built commercial spaceport.”
See on www.businessinsider.com
The GOP’s Non-Existent Space Policy
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
In light of the recent loss of our nation’s greatest space hero, I decided to take a gander at the Republican Party platform to see what they had to say about space and NASA…
… There is no discussion, or even consideration, of space as a new venue for human activity, whether economic (e.g., mining) or actual settlement, despite the fact that a number of companies have been formed recently for the former, and part of their business plans are to enable the latter.
See on pjmedia.com
Space Exploration – A Presidential Priority
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
America cannot afford to squander the opportunity to take full advantage of exploring the next great frontier: space. So it is time for the presidential candidates — Mr. Obama and Mr. Romney — to let America know where they really stand on an important issue that will transform — or stagnate — America in this century and the next. NASA needs presidential investment and advocacy — and the budget to back it up. Nothing less than the future of our children and grandchildren is at stake here. Tell us about your vision which will nourish America’s frontier spirit, her ambition and thirst for innovation which were the catalysts that opened the West, brought victory in World War II and reversed economic adversity in the last century.
Thoughtful voters recognize that the current urgent issues facing NASA need to be resolved and they want to know how we will ensure America’s future leadership, prosperity and security.
See on www.huffingtonpost.com
Elon Musk Says He May Form Holding Company for Tesla, SpaceX
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) and founder of Space Exploration Technologies Corp., said he’s interested in creating a holding company for shares of his electric car and rocket launch businesses.
“Am starting to consider whether it would make sense to create a parent corporation that would own the stock,” Musk said today in a Web chat on jalopnik.com. “Not sure if that is feasible or sensible, but am thinking about it.”
Musk, 41, who is Palo Alto, California-based Tesla’s chief executive officer and biggest investor, has said an initial public offering of his aerospace company, known as SpaceX, may happen next year.
See on www.bloomberg.com
Neil Armstrong, X Prize and SPACE.com: A True ‘Right Stuff’ Moment
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
On the morning of Sept. 29, 2004, Neil Armstrong was participating in an executive meeting of SPACE.com in New York City as an investor and board member. At the same time, 2,600 miles to the west, Scaled Composites was preparing to launch its SpaceShipOne in the first of two competitive flights to capture the Ansari X Prize.
We interrupted the meeting at 11 a.m. and invited the board members to watch the video feed from X Prize under way in Mojave, Calif.
See on www.space.com
The Right Goes the Wrong Direction in Space
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
Having read the 2012 Republican Party Platform’s section on space policy, I am not so much disappointed (as I passed that marker years ago) as I am in that place where a family goes when their junkie son gets arrested yet again after crashing all the family cars and selling off everything in the house to feed his addiction, and Dad says, “Here, son, take mine…” Primarily, I am confused. Having seen in Tampa several days of celebration of American ideals such as individual initiatives, entrepreneurship, and enterprise, to actually read the core document put out by the party and its take on U.S. space policy was almost nauseating. I had truly hoped that the obvious and glaringly real rise of an incredible and dynamic commercial space industry that is almost completely U.S.-born and bred would be embraced as an icon of a new, can-do, Right Stuff kind of American spirit.
See on www.huffingtonpost.com
Romney, the Republicans, and Space | Behind The Black
See on Scoop.it – The NewSpace Daily
On one side are the pork politicians like Kay Bailey Hutchison and Ralph Hall, who in past years worked very hard to get NASA money for its in-house projects. These politicians definitely like space exploration and everything it stood for, but wanted it designed, built, and run by NASA, so that the jobs it produced would exist in their state and district.
On the other side are the new tea party politicians, who favor the free market, private enterprise, and small government. Spending a lot of money on pork is not their idea of building a space industry. Instead, they want to see private enterprise do it, and are willing to let NASA die if necessary to make it happen. These include men like Newt Gingrich and Dana Rohrabacher, both of whom have even been willing to cross party lines and compliment the Obama administration’s efforts to encourage private enterprise in space.
See on behindtheblack.com
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