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Big Contracts! NASA Picks Boeing and SpaceX to ‘Ferry Astronauts’ On Future Missions – Video

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Big Contracts! NASA Picks Boeing and SpaceX to #39;Ferry Astronauts #39; On Future Missions
http://www.undergroundworldnews.com CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) NASA is a giant step closer to launching Americans again from U.S. soil. On Tuesday, the space agency announced it has picked...

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Big Contracts! NASA Picks Boeing and SpaceX to 'Ferry Astronauts' On Future Missions - Video

NASA's Maven spacecraft reaches Mars this weekend

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Artist's concept of NASA's Maven spacecraft approaching Mars. NASA/GSFC

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Mars, get ready for another visitor or two.

This weekend, NASA's Maven spacecraft will reach the red planet following a 10-month journey spanning 442 million miles. If all goes well, the robotic explorer will hit the brakes and slip into Martian orbit Sunday night.

"I'm all on pins and needles. This is a critical event," NASA's director of planetary science, Jim Green, said Wednesday.

Maven is not designed to land; rather, it will study Mars' upper atmosphere from orbit.

Hot on Maven's heels is India's first interplanetary spacecraft, Mangalyaan, which is due to go into orbit around Mars two days after Maven.

Scientists want to learn how Mars went from a warm, wet world that may have harbored microbial life during its first billion years, to the cold, barren place of today. Maven should help explain the atmospheric changes that led to this radical climate change.

"Where did the water go? Where did the CO2 go from that early environment?" said chief investigator Bruce Jakosky of the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics in Boulder.

These escaping gases likely went down into the Martian crust and up into the upper atmosphere and out into space. Jakosky and his team hope to ascertain whether the climatic about-face resulted from the sun's stripping away of the early atmospheric water and carbon dioxide.

"We measure these things today even though the processes we're interested in operated billions of years ago," he said.

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NASA's Maven spacecraft reaches Mars this weekend

NASA taps SpaceX and Boeing to ferry US astronauts into space

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American astronauts will soon have new homegrown rides into space.

After a four-year competition, NASA has tapped the commercial spaceflight companies SpaceX and Boeingto launch astronauts to the International Space Stationfrom U.S. soil by 2017, agency officials announced today (Sept. 16). If all goes according to plan, the two companies will reduce or end NASA's dependence on Russia for its orbital taxi service. Russia's Soyuz has been NASA's only crew access to space since the space shuttle fleet retired in 2011.

"Today's announcement sets the stage for what promises to be the most ambitious and exciting chapter in the history of NASA and human spaceflight," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told reporters today.

The choice reflects a melding of old and new; Boeing has been an aerospace mainstay for decades, while billionaire entrepreneurElon Muskfounded SpaceX just a dozen years ago, in 2002.

SpaceX and Boeing are splitting NASA's $6.8 billion Commercial Crew Transportation Capability award, or CCtCap, the latest in a series of contracts set up in 2010 to encourage the development of private American manned spaceships. SpaceX will get $2.6 billion and Boeing will receive $4.2 billion, officials said.

NASA is looking to the private sector to fill the crew-carrying shoes of thespace shuttle fleet, which was retired in 2011 after 30 years of orbital service. For the past three years, the agency has relied on Russian Soyuz capsules to fly its astronauts to and from space recently, at a cost of more than $70 million per seat.

NASA officials have said they want at least one American commercial vehicle to be up and running by late 2017. A domestic capability to and from low-Earth orbit could not only cut costs but also free the agency to work on getting people to more distant and difficult destinations such as Mars, Bolden said.

Four companies have been major players in NASA's ongoing commercial crew competition: SpaceX, Boeing, Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada. SpaceX and Boeing are building capsules called Dragon and the CST-100, respectively. Blue Origin has been developing a conical craft called the Space Vehicle, while Sierra Nevada's entry was a space plane called Dream Chaser.

Like SpaceX, Blue Origin is led by a billionaire in this case, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.

Today's announcement apparently takes Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada out of the mix, but it doesn't eliminate competition from the commercial crew program. Under the CCtCap contracts, both Boeing and SpaceX will be required to go through a rigorous certification process, which will include at least one manned demonstration mission to the space station, NASA officials said.

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NASA taps SpaceX and Boeing to ferry US astronauts into space

NASA sets its sights back on deep space

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NASA is a step closer to launching astronauts from American soil again.

The space agency announced Tuesday that Boeing and Space-x will ferry crew members to the International Space Station starting in 2017.

Right now, the United States pays Russia $70 million per seat for the ride into orbit. The new agreement also helps NASA's other mission: returning to deep space, reports CBS News correspondent Ben Tracy.

NASA's new Orion spacecraft is located 65 miles out in the Pacific Ocean. It's designed to take American astronauts back into deep space.

Orion capsule

Radislav Sinyak

"It will be the first time in 40 years that this nation, the most powerful nation in the world, has ever designed and built a spacecraft intended to carry humans beyond low earth orbit, and that's a big, big deal," said Charles Boden, head of NASA.

Boden was on board the Navy ship to oversee a test run of recovering Orion after it comes back to Earth. And if it all sounds a bit familiar, it should; Orion is the distant relative of Apollo, which also touched down in the Pacific.

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NASA sets its sights back on deep space

NASA picks Boeing, SpaceX for 'space taxi' service

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Cape Canaveral/Washington NASA will partner with Boeing and SpaceX to build commercially owned and operated "space taxis" to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, ending U.S. dependence on Russia for rides, officials said on Tuesday.

The U.S. space agency also considered a bid by privately owned Sierra Nevada Corp, but opted to award long-time aerospace contractor Boeing and California's SpaceX with contracts valued at a combined $6.8 billion to develop, certify and fly their seven-person capsules.

Boeing was awarded $4.2 billion to SpaceX's $2.6 billion. SpaceX is run by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, also the chief executive officer of electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors.

"SpaceX is deeply honored by the trust NASA has placed in us," said Musk, a South Africa-born, Canadian American billionaire. "It is a vital step in a journey that will ultimately take us to the stars and make humanity a multi-planet species."

The awards position Boeing and SpaceX to be ready for commercial flight services in 2017, said Kathy Leuders, manager for NASA's Commercial Crew program. She said both contracts have the same requirements.

"The companies proposed the value within which they were able to do the work and the government accepted that," Leuders told reporters in a conference call.

The contract has taken on new urgency given rising tensions between the United States and Russia over its annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Boeing's CST-100 spaceship would launch aboard Atlas 5 rockets, built by United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing. SpaceX, which already has a $1.3 billion NASA contract to fly cargo to the space station, intends to upgrade its Dragon freighter to carry astronauts.

NASA has said that in addition to test flights, the awards would include options for between two and six operational missions.

By flying astronauts commercially from the United States, NASA could end Russia's monopoly on space station crew transport. The agency pays $70 million per person for rides on Russian Soyuz capsules, the only flights available for astronauts since the retirement of the U.S. space shuttle fleet in 2011.

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NASA picks Boeing, SpaceX for 'space taxi' service

NASA picks Boeing, SpaceX for 'space taxi' service (+video)

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Cape Canaveral/Washington NASA will partner with Boeing and SpaceX to build commercially owned and operated "space taxis" to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, ending U.S. dependence on Russia for rides, officials said on Tuesday.

The U.S. space agency also considered a bid by privately owned Sierra Nevada Corp, but opted to award long-time aerospace contractor Boeing and California's SpaceX with contracts valued at a combined $6.8 billion to develop, certify and fly their seven-person capsules.

Boeing was awarded $4.2 billion to SpaceX's $2.6 billion. SpaceX is run by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, also the chief executive officer of electric car manufacturer Tesla Motors.

"SpaceX is deeply honored by the trust NASA has placed in us," said Musk, a South Africa-born, Canadian American billionaire. "It is a vital step in a journey that will ultimately take us to the stars and make humanity a multi-planet species."

The awards position Boeing and SpaceX to be ready for commercial flight services in 2017, said Kathy Leuders, manager for NASA's Commercial Crew program. She said both contracts have the same requirements.

"The companies proposed the value within which they were able to do the work and the government accepted that," Leuders told reporters in a conference call.

The contract has taken on new urgency given rising tensions between the United States and Russia over its annexation of the Crimea region of Ukraine and support for rebels in eastern Ukraine.

Boeing's CST-100 spaceship would launch aboard Atlas 5 rockets, built by United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing. SpaceX, which already has a $1.3 billion NASA contract to fly cargo to the space station, intends to upgrade its Dragon freighter to carry astronauts.

NASA has said that in addition to test flights, the awards would include options for between two and six operational missions.

By flying astronauts commercially from the United States, NASA could end Russia's monopoly on space station crew transport. The agency pays $70 million per person for rides on Russian Soyuz capsules, the only flights available for astronauts since the retirement of the U.S. space shuttle fleet in 2011.

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NASA picks Boeing, SpaceX for 'space taxi' service (+video)

NASA taps SpaceX and Boeing to ferry US astronauts into space (+video)

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American astronauts will soon have new homegrown rides into space.

After a four-year competition, NASA has tapped the commercial spaceflight companies SpaceX and Boeingto launch astronauts to the International Space Stationfrom U.S. soil by 2017, agency officials announced today (Sept. 16). If all goes according to plan, the two companies will reduce or end NASA's dependence on Russia for its orbital taxi service. Russia's Soyuz has been NASA's only crew access to space since the space shuttle fleet retired in 2011.

"Today's announcement sets the stage for what promises to be the most ambitious and exciting chapter in the history of NASA and human spaceflight," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told reporters today.

The choice reflects a melding of old and new; Boeing has been an aerospace mainstay for decades, while billionaire entrepreneurElon Muskfounded SpaceX just a dozen years ago, in 2002.

SpaceX and Boeing are splitting NASA's $6.8 billion Commercial Crew Transportation Capability award, or CCtCap, the latest in a series of contracts set up in 2010 to encourage the development of private American manned spaceships. SpaceX will get $2.6 billion and Boeing will receive $4.2 billion, officials said.

NASA is looking to the private sector to fill the crew-carrying shoes of thespace shuttle fleet, which was retired in 2011 after 30 years of orbital service. For the past three years, the agency has relied on Russian Soyuz capsules to fly its astronauts to and from space recently, at a cost of more than $70 million per seat.

NASA officials have said they want at least one American commercial vehicle to be up and running by late 2017. A domestic capability to and from low-Earth orbit could not only cut costs but also free the agency to work on getting people to more distant and difficult destinations such as Mars, Bolden said.

Four companies have been major players in NASA's ongoing commercial crew competition: SpaceX, Boeing, Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada. SpaceX and Boeing are building capsules called Dragon and the CST-100, respectively. Blue Origin has been developing a conical craft called the Space Vehicle, while Sierra Nevada's entry was a space plane called Dream Chaser.

Like SpaceX, Blue Origin is led by a billionaire in this case, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos.

Today's announcement apparently takes Blue Origin and Sierra Nevada out of the mix, but it doesn't eliminate competition from the commercial crew program. Under the CCtCap contracts, both Boeing and SpaceX will be required to go through a rigorous certification process, which will include at least one manned demonstration mission to the space station, NASA officials said.

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NASA taps SpaceX and Boeing to ferry US astronauts into space (+video)

NASA Rover Finds Hieroglyphs On Carved Martian Blocks Near Possible Water? – Video

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NASA Rover Finds Hieroglyphs On Carved Martian Blocks Near Possible Water?
I have had this one sent over many times and have always loved it. I has a area that many have called water as well as these blocks that look like they were quarried and then some upheaval...

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NASA Rover Finds Hieroglyphs On Carved Martian Blocks Near Possible Water? - Video

On Leadership: How NASA keeps innovating

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By Tom Fox September 16 at 10:26 AM

Rod Pyle, the author of Innovation the NASA Way,has led leadership trainings at NASA's Johnson Space Center for its top executives and has also trained leaders from Fortune 100 companies. Pyle spoke about NASA and fostering innovation with Tom Fox, a guest writer for On Leadership and vice president for leadership and innovation at the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service. Fox also heads up their Center for Government Leadership. The conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Q. What are some of the traits that make for successful innovators?

A. What I saw at NASA at large, and in looking at the history of the space race and the Apollo and early shuttle programs, was this sense of daring and boldness. Innovation comes with risk. In the public sector, youve got a lot of visibility and sometimes thats a problem. Yet the people at NASA who are successful always take risks. They make bold decisions and they are very dedicated. Havinga sense of passion seems to drive people to be able to come up with incredible ideas.

Q. What allows NASA to be an innovative organization?

A. NASA is more bureaucratic than it used to be and there is a thicker rulebook, but the momentum that carries them is still this incredible sense of mission. If you go to any NASA center and ask someone what program they are working on and how theyfeel about it, nine times out of 10 you are going to get this very excited civil servant who tells you all about where they are going, how they are getting there, what they hope to find when they get there and why it is important.

The best leaders in the organization are able to own that and let that transferdown to the people who work with them and for them. That includes being able to provide an environment in which innovation can really blossom.

Q. What have been some of the barriers to innovation at NASA?

A. Talk to ten different people at NASA and you would get ten different answers. I think a common frustration is having a program announcement thatthen either gets canceled or underfunded. Sometimes this happens within next years budget appropriation, or often it's when we have a change in the White House.

For instance, the Constellation program was announced back in the early 2000s. They were going to build a new rocket, a new command module and a new lunar landing ship. It was never fully funded because a lot of people outside of NASA primarily were pulling in different directions. Then in 2009, they commissioned a report that said, If you dont put more money into this, its never going to happen because you are just going to keep tinkering with it. So instead of funding it properly, they cut it.

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On Leadership: How NASA keeps innovating


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