CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - Space Exploration Technologies' unmanned Dragon capsule arrived in Los Angeles on Tuesday following a test flight for NASA that could open the door to a long-desired and more elusive customer - the U.S. military. The cargo capsule blasted off May on 22 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida and three days later became the first privately owned spaceship ...
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GREENBELT, Md., June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --SGT, Inc., a leading provider of Engineering, Science, Project Management, and Information Technology services, today announced that NASA has awarded a bridge contract to provide mechanical, thermal, and related engineering services to the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate (AETD), in support of space technology development, Earth and Space science missions, and NASA's Exploration Program.
The MSES Bridge Contract is a follow-on contract to the current MSES IIA Contract that SGT was awarded in 2007. The MSES Bridge contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum ordering value of $285 million. The contract has a two-year effective ordering period beginning June 1, 2012.
The contract enables SGT to continue to provide state-of-the-art engineering and related services for the formulation, design, development, fabrication, integration, testing, verification, and operations of space flight and ground system hardware and software, including development and validation of new technologies to enable future space and science missions. The multidisciplinary services include mechanical and thermal engineering, structural and dynamic analysis, mechanical design, electro-mechanical system development, contamination and coatings, manufacturing, materials engineering, and integration & test.
SGT, Inc. is privately held and headquartered in Greenbelt, MD, USA. SGT, Inc. provides aerospace engineering, earth and planetary science modeling and analysis, information systems, project management, operational support and technical services to NASA, DOT, NOAA, USGS, DOD, and various other government and commercial organizations.
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SGT Awarded NASA Goddard Space Flight Center MSES Bridge Contract
HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Here is an Army experimental test pilot, an aspiring astronaut. He has wanted to be in space since childhood.
His childhood goal was to fly - to experience the weightlessness that came with being in space.
"Going to Space Camp, I realized what was going on," he said. "It was going into space. I still want to do it."
So that is how Maj. David Hnyda, now 35, latched even tighter to his childhood ambition, never letting go of it after first attending Space Camp when he was in the sixth grade.
"I am still pursuing," he said.
Last year, NASA announced it was seeking astronauts. Hnyda applied, and he's scheduled to find out this summer if he made the initial round of cuts.
At Space Camp, he said, he learned how much was required to travel and be in space.
"Absolutely, you would say it impacted my choice in majoring in college," he said. "It confirmed that, yes, I do want to try to be an astronaut. It solidified the dream."
The dream flourished at Space Camp in the late 1980s. Growing up in Lilburn, Ga., east of Atlanta, he learned about Space Camp.
"When I went the first time, I did the whole thing," he said. "I had to work a deal with my parents and grandfather. If I could earn half of the money, they would match that, and they would pay the other half."
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David Hnyda: Attending Space Camp solidified his dream of space flight
Craig Curran, an accredited travel agent for Virgin Galactic, the world's first space tourism business, has sold exactly two tickets since getting the job in early 2011. And one of those tickets was to himself.
To be fair, it's not easy selling $200,000 tickets (with a $20,000 deposit payable up front) for a suborbital day cruise in which the inaugural flight hasn't even been announced. It's basically selling a promise for something that will probably happen in the vague near future.
But as Curran prefers to think of it, his customers are "investing in the birth of an industry."
"They're not getting shares or a piece of the company," he clarified. "But they are trailblazers. They'll be among the first 500 civilians to leave the Earth's atmosphere."
Before Curran was picked to join Virgin Galactic's global sales team - he's one of 140 agents worldwide - the 30-year travel agent vet from Rochester, N.Y., had to prove that he has, as Tom Wolfe might say, the right stuff. In addition to marketing plans and a resume, he was asked to demonstrate an "enthusiasm for space travel."
And how does one demonstrate such a thing?
"I explained to them that I've been a passenger in fighter jets at air shows," Curran said. "I own a Ferrari. I've gone to high-speed driving schools. I like guns. I'm mechanically inclined and scientifically wired."
In other words, he represents the type of person who'd feasibly spend big money to be shot about 60 miles above the Earth's surface. Finding customers - gun-toting, science-loving, Ferrari-driving people like Curran - has been a unique challenge.
It's not like it was back in Curran's travel agent heyday in the '80s and '90s, when customers would actively seek him out. For space tourism, he's had to be creative.
"I do speaking engagements," he said. "I'll speak in front of anybody who'll have me."
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LOUISVILLE -- Images from space dominated the week and fired up imaginations all over again.
An unmanned capsule launched by a private company docked with the International Space Station 240 miles above Earth, exchanged cargo with the astronauts living there and then plummeted through the atmosphere into a picture-perfect splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday morning.
The accomplishment was a first for the burgeoning commercial space sector and California-based SpaceX, helmed by 40-year-old South Africa-born billionaire Elon Musk, was lauded worldwide for its success.
But just two days before the heralded return of SpaceX's Dragon capsule 560 miles off the coast of Baja California, a company much closer to home
Engineering Technician Richard Santos wipes down the surface on the Dream Chaser space vehicle at Sierra Nevada Space Systems in Louisville on May 31, 2012. ( MARK LEFFINGWELL )
Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems, headquartered on the Colorado Technology Center campus in Louisville, passed one of the most complex tests it has faced in its attempt to launch a seven-person orbital vehicle -- called the Dream Chaser -- into space by 2016. Known as a captive-carry test, the effort required the 40-foot-long and 25-foot-wide Dream Chaser to be lifted by an Erickson Air-Crane helicopter into the skies above Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport and put through a battery of tests measuring its aerodynamic flight performance.
Last week's successful result paves the way for the sleek space plane to undergo autonomous approach and landing tests at Edwards Air Force Base in California this fall before finally heading skyward on an Atlas V rocket.
"We're really excited because after taking it on paper for many years, we're actually starting to fly the real thing that NASA is going to be taking to space," said Mark Sirangelo, who heads up Sierra Nevada's 230-employee space systems division in Louisville.
He doesn't begrudge SpaceX's day in the sun
In this image provided by NASA with clouds and land forming a backdrop, the SpaceX Dragon commercial cargo craft is grappled by the Canadarm2 robotic arm at the International Space Station on May 25. (AP Photo/NASA)
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Big week for commercial space flight, big week for Louisville-built Dream Chaser
GREENBELT, Md., June 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- SGT, Inc., a leading provider of Engineering, Science, Project Management, and Information Technology services, today announced that it had been selected for the Omnibus Multidiscipline Engineering Services (OMES) contract in support of the Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate (AETD) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
The OMES Contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract with a maximum ordering value of $400 million. The effective ordering period is from June 1, 2012, through May 31, 2017.
SGT will provide services for development and validation of new technologies for future earth and space science missions. This will include study, design, systems engineering, development, fabrication, integration, testing, verification and operations of space flight, airborne and ground system hardware and software.
NASA Goddard AETD is responsible for providing multidiscipline engineering expertise for both in-house and out-of-house instrument and spacecraft programs, including the Joint Polar Satellite System Program and the Space Servicing Capabilities Project.
SGT, Inc. is privately held and headquartered in Greenbelt, MD, USA. SGT, Inc. provides aerospace engineering, earth and planetary science modeling and analysis, information systems, project management, operational support and technical services to NASA, DOT, NOAA, USGS, DOD, and various other government and commercial organizations.
Contact: Shelley Johnson Phone: 301.489.1108 Email: sjohnson@sgt-inc.com http://www.sgt-inc.com
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The private Dream Chaser space plane took to the skies Tuesday, kicking off a flight-test program that will vet the vehicle's ability to carry astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit.
The Dream Chaser, which is built by aerospace firm Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC), did not fly under its own power during the test. Instead it was held aloft the entire time by an Erickson Air-Crane heavy-lift helicopter, which hauled the space plane through the skies near Denver to verify its aerodynamic flight performance.
Still, the so-called captive-carry test marks an important step forward in the Dream Chaser's progress, company officials said.
"The successful captive-carry flight test of the Dream Chaser full-scale flight vehicle marks the beginning of SNC's flight test program, a program that could culminate in crewed missions to the International Space Station for NASA," said former astronaut Steve Lindsey, head of the space plane's flight operations at Sierra Nevada, in a statement. [ Photos: Dream Chaser, a Private Space Plane ]
More science news from msnbc.com
Science editor Alan Boyle's blog: Researchers show how DNA can be tweaked to create shapes as complex as alphabets and smiley faces more cheaply and quickly than previously thought.
Developing private astronaut taxis Sierra Nevada is one of four spaceship-building companies to receive funding from NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, which is encouraging private American vehicles to fill the astronaut-carrying void left by the retirement of the space shuttle fleet last year.
Sierra Nevada got more than $100 million in two rounds of CCDev funding over the past two years, which it's using to develop the Dream Chaser. Tuesday's captive-carry test allows the company to check off another milestone stipulated in the second round, known as CCDev-2.
"This is a very positive success for the Dream Chaser team and their innovative approach," said Ed Mango, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager. "I applaud and encourage the designers and engineers to continue their efforts in meeting the objectives of the rest of their CCDev-2 milestones."
Data from the captive-carry test will be used to evaluate and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations in preparation for approach and landing tests, during which the Dream Chaser will be carried into the skies and then dropped. The first of those test flights is planned for later this year, officials said.
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By Marcia Dunn THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The privately funded SpaceX Dragon capsule left the International Space Station on Thursday and aimed for a Pacific splashdown to end its historic flight. Astronauts set the worlds first commercial supply ship loose after a five-day visit, releasing the vessel with the space stations robot arm. The Dragon slowly backed away from the 250-mile-high (400-kilometre-high) outpost, on track for a midday return to Earth, six hours later.
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SpaceX Dragon leaves space station for flight home, aims for splashdown off Mexico
The private Dream Chaser space plane took to the skies Tuesday (May 29), kicking off a flight-test program that will vet the vehicle's ability to carry astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit.
The Dream Chaser, which is built by aerospace firm Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC), did not fly under its own power during the test. Instead it performed a so-called captive carry test and was held aloft the entire time by an Erickson Air-Crane heavy-lift helicopter, which hauled the space plane through the skies near Denver to verify its aerodynamic flight performance.
Still, the so-called captive-carry test marks an important step forward in the Dream Chaser's progress, company officials said.
"The successful captive-carry flight test of the Dream Chaser full-scale flight vehicle marks the beginning of SNC's flight test program, a program that could culminate in crewed missions to the International Space Station for NASA," said former astronaut Steve Lindsey, head of the space plane's flight operations at Sierra Nevada, in a statement. [Photos: Dream Chaser, a Private Space Plane]
Sierra Nevada is one of four companies to receive funding from NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program, which is encouraging private American vehicles to fill the astronaut-carrying void left by the retirement of the space shuttle fleet last year.
Sierra Nevada got more than $100 million in two rounds of CCDev funding over the past two years, which it's using to develop the Dream Chaser. Tuesday's captive-carry test allows the company to check off another milestone stipulated in the second round, known as CCDev-2.
"This is a very positive success for the Dream Chaser team and their innovative approach," said Ed Mango, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager. "I applaud and encourage the designers and engineers to continue their efforts in meeting the objectives of the rest of their CCDev-2 milestones."
Data from the captive-carry test will be used to evaluate and prove hardware, facilities and ground operations in preparation for approach and landing tests, during which the Dream Chaser will be carried into the skies and then dropped. The first of those test flights is planned for later this year, officials said.
The Dream Chaser team conducted several other tests before taking off on Tuesday. For example, engineers performed a ground-based landing gear test and a flight readiness review, and they also demonstrated the release mechanism between the space plane and the helicopter.
The other three CCDev-funded companies are Blue Origin, Boeing and SpaceX, which on Thursday (May 31) wrapped up a historic demonstration flight of its Dragon capsule to the space station.
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Photo: SpaceX
The first private space flight to the International Space Station has ended with a successful splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.
Welcome home, baby, SpaceX founder and chief designer Elon Musk said in a post-flight briefing, its like seeing your kid come home.
Musk was clearly elated by the successful reentry and splashdown, saying that when you know how complex the spacecraft is inside and out, you know everything that can go wrong. When the mission ends in success, theres the one simple thought going through your head: Wow, OK, it didnt fail.
The former internet entrepreneur said he wasnt pessimistic or expecting failure, but he knew how much potential there was for things to go wrong. Instead, the demonstration mission for NASA went very well with a few hiccups, but nothing that wasnt fixed by the SpaceX team. NASAs Alan Lindenmoyer shared Musks approval, saying the mission appears to be a 100 percent success, but did add there are still a few more things to check. Were going to have to see the cargo.
The charred Dragon bobbing gently in the Pacific Ocean several hundred miles off of the coast of Baja California began its return to Earth early this morning after being released from the stations robotic arm at 2:29 a.m. PDT. Moments later small pulses of thrust could be seen from two of the spacecrafts Draco thrusters as Dragon began to move away from the ISS, ending its historic trip in orbit.
A little over five hours later, Dragon used its thrusters again to begin slowing down as the first step of its reentry procedure. With Dragon flying more than 240 miles over the Indian Ocean, SpaceX engineers at the company headquarters, factory and mission control center in Hawthorne, California confirmed the deorbit burn started at 7:51 a.m. PDT. Beginning south of Sri Lanka, the Draco thrusters slowed the craft down by 100 meters/second (224 mph) with a nine minute and 50 second burn. After the deorbit burn Dragon jettisoned its cargo trunk, which will burn up in the atmosphere, exposing its protective Pica-X heat shield.
The change in velocity from the burn allowed Dragon to begin falling out of its orbit, and over the next half hour or so, Dragon began to descend to the point of entry interface over the north Pacific, south of Alaska. Once the entry into the atmosphere began, temperatures on the heat shield were expected to reach around 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. During the high-temperature deceleration, the usual communications blackout meant no information was available for several minutes.
At 8:30 a.m. PDT a NASA P-3 reconnaissance aircraft reported seeing the Dragon using its infrared camera. Minutes later a grainy live video feed showed a glowing dot descending through the sky. At 45,000 feet Dragons drogue parachutes inflated. Astronaut Don Pettit, who was responsible for berthing Dragon to the ISS with the robotic arm, was getting updates from NASA controllers in Houston and summed up the moment with a simple comment: Parachutes are good.
A few minutes later the three main parachutes deployed and Dragon spent around 10 minutes descending to the Pacific, where it splashed down a few minutes ahead of schedule at 8:42 a.m. PDT. A recovery team has retrieved the capsule from the ocean and is transporting it to the port of Los Angeles, where some science cargo will be removed as one of the last demonstrations for NASA. Then the capsule will be transported by plane to SpaceXs McGregor, Texas facility for post-flight processing.
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SpaceShipTwo Set to Go for Heavy-Weight Glide Tests with Supersonic Flight Targeted for Year End
MOJAVE, Calif. - (May 30, 2012) Virgin Galactic, the world's first commercial spaceline, announced today that its vehicle developer, Scaled Composites (Scaled), has been granted an experimental launch permit from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for its suborbital spacecraft, SpaceshipTwo, and the carrier aircraft, WhiteKnightTwo.
"This important milestone enables our team to progress to the rocket-powered phase of test flight, bringing us a major step closer to bringing our customers to space," said George Whitesides, president and CEO of Virgin Galactic. "We thank the FAA for their timely issuance of this permit, and for their responsible oversight of the test program."
Already, SpaceShipTwo and WhiteKnightTwo have made significant progress in their flight test program. With 80 test flights completed, WhiteKnightTwo is substantially through its test plan, while the more recently constructed SpaceShipTwo has safely completed sixteen free flights, including three that tested the vehicle's unique "feathering" re-entry system. Additionally, ten test firings of the full scale SpaceShipTwo rocket motor, including full duration burns, have been safely and successfully completed.
With this permit now in hand, Scaled is now authorized to press onward towards rocket-powered test flights. In preparation for those powered flights, SpaceShipTwo will soon return to flight, testing the aerodynamic performance of the spacecraft with the full weight of the rocket motor system on board. Integration of key rocket motor components, already begun during a now-concluding period of downtime for routine maintenance, will continue into the autumn. Scaled expects to begin rocket powered, supersonic flights under the just-issued experimental permit toward the end of the year.
"The Spaceship program is making steady progress, and we are all looking forward to lighting the vehicle's rocket engine in flight for the first time," said Doug Shane, president of Scaled.
Although a handful of experimental launch permits have been granted to other rockets, SpaceShipTwo is the first rocket-powered vehicle that carries humans on board to receive such a permit. SpaceShipOne, the manned spaceship successfully flown to space in 2004 and the basis for the design of SpaceShipTwo, flew before the Experimental Permit regulatory regime was established.
The FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation issues permits after it has determined that the vehicle operator has taken the appropriate steps to protect the public during testing. Permitees must submit detailed plans for vehicle design and operation in order to ensure that all possible scenarios have been addressed.
About Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic, owned by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group and aabar Investments PJS, is on track to be the world's first commercial spaceline. The new spaceship (SpaceShipTwo, VSS Enterprise) and carrier craft (WhiteKnightTwo, VMS Eve) have both been developed for Virgin Galactic by Mojave-based Scaled Composites. Founded by Burt Rutan, Scaled developed SpaceShipOne, which in 2004 claimed the $10m Ansari X Prize as the world's first privately developed manned spacecraft. Virgin Galactic's new vehicles share much of the same basic design, but are being built to carry six customers, or the equivalent scientific research payload, on sub-orbital space flights, allowing an out-of-the-seat, zero-gravity experience and offering astounding views of the planet from the black sky of space for tourist astronauts and a unique microgravity platform for researchers. The VSS Enterprise and VMS Eve test flight program is well under way, leading to Virgin Galactic commercial operations, which will be based at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
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FAA Launch Permit Gives Virgin Galactic's Space Vehicles the Green Light for Powered Flight
(CNN) -
The first commercial mission to the International Space Station ended Thursday with the SpaceX Dragon capsule splashing down after a flight the company's founder declared a "grand slam."
The Dragon drifted beneath parachutes to the surface of the Pacific Ocean, about 560 miles off Baja California, on Thursday morning. It hit the water about a mile from its target, SpaceX founder Elon Musk told reporters.
"This has been a fantastic day," Musk said, adding, "I'm just overwhelmed with joy." He said recovery crews have reached the capsule and report it "looks really good."
Splashdown came at 8:42 a.m. (11:42 a.m. ET), about two minutes earlier than expected, SpaceX and NASA reported. Musk was on hand at the company's mission control center near Los Angeles as operators monitored the descent, and called the mission a "grand slam" in a briefing later Thursday.
Splashdown came nine days after it took off on its historic mission, during which it delivered food, clothing, computer equipment and supplies for science experiments to the orbital platform and returned with about 1,300 pounds of cargo -- everything from trash to scientific research and experimental samples.
The space station's robotic arm released the Dragon at 5:35 a.m. ET. A thruster burn a minute later pushed the spacecraft away from its host, according to SpaceX, the private company that built and operates the vessel.
Alan Lindenmoyer, NASA's head of commercial space systems, said the space agency is waiting to recover the spacecraft's cargo and will review post-flight reports. But he told Musk, "We became a customer today." "We've been waiting for this day, and it certainly is a tremendous day," Lindenmoyer said. "We're looking forward now to routine, regular cargo service."
Space analyst Miles O'Brien said the flight was a demonstration of the company's capabilities, and the spacecraft wasn't carrying critical equipment or supplies.
"If none of this cargo had gone up or down, the show would have gone on," said O'Brien, a former CNN correspondent. Its next mission, expected later this year, "will be a for-real cargo with mission-critical items."
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First private capsule to dock at space station begins return flight to Earth
SpaceX Dragon spashes down
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
(CNN) -- The first commercial mission to the International Space Station ended Thursday with the SpaceX Dragon capsule splashing down after a flight the company's founder declared a "grand slam."
The Dragon drifted beneath parachutes to the surface of the Pacific Ocean, about 560 miles off Baja California, on Thursday morning. It hit the water about a mile from its target, SpaceX founder Elon Musk told reporters.
"This has been a fantastic day," Musk said, adding, "I'm just overwhelmed with joy." He said recovery crews have reached the capsule and report it "looks really good."
Splashdown came at 8:42 a.m. (11:42 a.m. ET), about two minutes earlier than expected, SpaceX and NASA reported. Musk was on hand at the company's mission control center near Los Angeles as operators monitored the descent, and called the mission a "grand slam" in a briefing later Thursday.
Splashdown came nine days after it took off on its historic mission, during which it delivered food, clothing, computer equipment and supplies for science experiments to the orbital platform and returned with about 1,300 pounds of cargo -- everything from trash to scientific research and experimental samples.
The space station's robotic arm released the Dragon at 5:35 a.m. ET. A thruster burn a minute later pushed the spacecraft away from its host, according to SpaceX, the private company that built and operates the vessel.
Alan Lindenmoyer, NASA's head of commercial space systems, said the space agency is waiting to recover the spacecraft's cargo and will review post-flight reports. But he told Musk, "We became a customer today." "We've been waiting for this day, and it certainly is a tremendous day," Lindenmoyer said. "We're looking forward now to routine, regular cargo service."
Space analyst Miles O'Brien said the flight was a demonstration of the company's capabilities, and the spacecraft wasn't carrying critical equipment or supplies.
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NASA engineers working on the new Space Launch System (SLS) can now begin developing the advanced, heavy-lift launch vehicle's flight software using newly delivered software test bed computers from Boeing.
The SLS will launch NASA's Orion spacecraft and provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond Earth's orbit. Designed to be flexible for crew or cargo missions, SLS and Orion will be safe, affordable, sustainable and continue America's journey of discovery from the unique vantage point of space.
"We are moving out very quickly on SLS," said Todd May, Space Launch System Program manager at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "SLS will be the most powerful launch vehicle ever built, and it requires the most capable flight software in the history of human spaceflight. Having this avionics hardware in place early will allow the NASA SLS team and Boeing to accelerate the flight software development."
The Boeing test bed computers make it possible for NASA to begin fine-tuning the launch vehicle's software. The flight software then will be installed in the Software Integration Test Facility at Marshall and tested with other electrical hardware and software. In this facility, the SLS team can run a variety of simulations to evaluate how the vehicle will perform in space.
The final SLS flight computer that will run the flight software will have the highest processing capability available in a flight avionics computer. It is being developed by upgrading existing systems used in Global Positioning System and communication satellites.
The first test flight of the SLS is scheduled for 2017, for which the launch vehicle will be configured for a 70-metric ton lift capacity. An evolved, two-stage launch vehicle configuration will provide a lift capability of 130 metric tons to enable missions beyond Earth's orbit and support deep space exploration.
The SLS software test bed computers were developed by The Boeing Company and delivered to Marshall ahead of schedule. Availability of this test bed platform early in the engineering development phase allows more time for NASA programmers to develop the most capable flight software in the history of spaceflight.
For more information about SLS and images of the software test bed facility and team, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/sls
For more information about Orion, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/orion
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NASA Begins Development of Space Launch System Flight Software
Space tourism is closer to reality now that Virgin Galactic was finally issued permits to test its rocket-powered space plane. As Space News' Brian Berger reports, The company announced yesterday that the FAA has given approval for them to begin "the rocket-powered phase of test flight" on SpaceShipTwo, the six-seat space craft designed by Scaled Composites that will someday ferry rich ...
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Virgin Galactic Takes a Big Step Closer to Private Space Flights
The SpaceX Dragon capsule left the International Space Station on Thursday and aimed for a Pacific splashdown to end its historic flight.
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Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Reuters Published Friday, May. 18, 2012 10:40AM EDT Last updated Saturday, May. 19, 2012 7:44AM EDT
An Obama administration plan to cut the cost of spaceflight services faces a key test on Saturday when a privately owned rocket lifts off for a practice run to the International Space Station.
If successful, Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, would become the first private company to reach the $100-billion outpost, which flies about 390 kilometres above Earth.
It is, by all accounts, an important step, bordering on a giant leap, for commercial space, said Michael Lopez-Alegria, a former NASA astronaut and space station commander who now heads the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, a Washington-based industry association.
SpaceXs Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule are scheduled for launch at 4:55 a.m. EDT on Saturday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
If everything goes as planned, it would reach the space station on Tuesday.
Since the space shuttles were retired last year, NASA is dependent on partners Europe, Japan and especially Russia to fly to the station.
Instead of building a shuttle replacement, the U.S. space agency is spending about $3-billion a year on a new rocket and capsule to send astronauts to the moon, asteroids and eventually to Mars.
To reach the station, NASA is investing in five U.S firms SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp ORB-Nfor cargo transports; and SpaceX, Boeing BA-N, Sierra Nevada Corp, and Blue Origin, a startup owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, for passenger ships.
All the companies are contributing their own funds as well, a break from traditional U.S. government procurement practices. Rather than having their costs reimbursed, NASAs commercial partners are paid when they achieve predetermined milestones.
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SpaceX rocket preps for first commercial flight to space station
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., May 30, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Wyle's operations that develop space-rated flight hardware for the International Space Station and the Space Shuttle has been awarded a major hardware development accreditation for using advanced processes to achieve high quality at lower costs.
The company's Houston-based operations was recently notified that it had been approved for the Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 3 awarded by the Software Engineering Institute at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa. CMMI provides guidance for developing or improving processes that meet the business goals of an organization and was developed by a group of experts from industry, government and the Software Engineering Institute.
Wyle's Houston operations have been supporting NASA's astronaut corps for more than four decades by providing highly specialized hardware used in space such as the "Colbert" treadmill used by astronauts to stay fit, medical diagnostic equipment and other safety related hardware. The organization also provides a wide range of other medical and crew safety services.
"Achieving CMMI Level 3 is a significant milestone for Wyle's space flight hardware and software development, and sustaining engineering operations," said Jim Kukla, Wyle vice president for the company's Science, Technology and Engineering Group. "It tells our customers that not only are we consistently following recognized and standardized processes but more importantly we are actively working to review and improve these same processes to achieve high quality, lower costs and/or deliver on a shorter schedule.
In trying to meet the CMMI Level 3 requirements, Wyle's certification approach avoided a compliance-driven "checkbox" approach.
"We successfully balanced the model requirements of CMMI with the actual process needs of Wyle's highly unique flight hardware/software and sustaining engineering organization," said Dan Butler, Wyle's safety, reliability and mission assurance section manager. "We did that by creating a value-added approach that views process as a critical corporate investment and emphasizes user ownership and accountability for process improvement."
"Over the past several years our customers, specifically at Johnson Space Center, have been challenging Wyle with unique flight hardware and software development requirements, such as significantly compressed development schedules, accelerating technology readiness level maturation, and/or transitioning hardware systems from the lab to flight."
"In each case, Wyle has successfully stepped up to the challenge.Through award fee scores and direct feedback, our customers tell us that we consistently go above and beyond; that we bring solutions to the table, not just problems; and that "process" does not bind our ability to work through challenges.Reaching this significant industry standard is a leading indicator of the quality of our personnel and leadership in flight hardware and software development and sustaining engineering."
Wyle, a privately held company, is a leading provider of high tech aerospace engineering and information technology services to the federal government on long-term outsourcing contracts. The company also provides test and evaluation of aircraft, weapon systems, networks, and other government assets; and other engineering services to the aerospace, defense, and nuclear power industries.
Contact: Dan Reeder (310) 563-6834 Ref.: NR/12-14
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Wyle Houston's Operations Supporting NASA Awarded Major Hardware Development Accreditation
SpaceX's historic demonstration mission to the International Space Station is grabbing most of the headlines these days, but other private spaceflight companies are hatching big plans, too.
SpaceX's unmanned Dragon capsule docked with the huge orbiting lab Friday (May 25), becoming the first commercial vehicle ever to do so. Astronauts are currently unpacking Dragon's 1,014 pounds (460 kilograms) of cargo and loading it up with used station gear before the capsule heads back down to Earth on Thursday (May 31).
SpaceX may be leading the way, but a handful of other commercial aerospace firms have their eyes on the skies, too. Here's a brief rundown of some of the most prominent private spaceflight companies and what they're shooting for, in both the orbital and suborbital realms.
The California-based SpaceX already holds a $1.6 billion NASA contract to make 12 robotic supply runs to the space station, the first of which could launch in September if everything goes well with the rest of Dragon's test flight. [SpaceX's Dragon Arrives at Space Station (Pictures)]
SpaceX is upgrading Dragon to carry crew, with some funding help from NASA's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. The space agency wants at least two private American vehicles to be ready to transport astronauts to the space station by 2017, to fill the void left when the space shuttle fleet retired last year.
The final shuttle mission, Atlantis' STS-135 flight in July, delivered to the station an American flag that had flown on the maiden shuttle flight in 1981. The first private spaceship to carry astronauts to the station captures that flag, and SpaceX may get the prize; company founder and CEO Elon Musk has said a crew-carrying Dragon could be operational within the next three years or so.
But the company's dreams don't end in low-Earth orbit. Musk started the company in 2002 primarily to help make humanity a multiplanet species, so Dragon may be flying astronauts to Mars someday.
Orbital Sciences Corp., based in Dulles, Va., inked a $1.9 billion deal with NASA to make eight unmanned cargo flights to the space station using its Cygnus vehicle and Antares rocket. The company is aiming to launch a demonstration mission to the orbiting lab this November or December.
Unlike Dragon, Cygnus is a cargo-only vehicle; Orbital is not working on a crewed version.
The Colorado-based Sierra Nevada Corp. is developing a small space plane called the Dream Chaser, which is designed to carry seven astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit. The spacecraft will launch vertically atop a rocket but land on a runway like an airplane.
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The next phase in AUT's link to the International Space Station will take place tomorrow.AUT University's radio astronomy observatory north of Auckland will track the re-entry into Earth's atmosphere of the first private space flight...
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