Daily Archives: February 3, 2015

Russia Launches British Communications Satellite Into Space
For more WORLD NEWS "SUBSCRIBE" US MOSCOW, RUSSIA: Russia on Sunday carried out its first space launch of the year, using its commercial Proton rocket to send a British satellite into orbit....

By: World News Channel

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Russia Launches British Communications Satellite Into Space - Video

Kerbal Space Program - A TOTALLY WORKING SPACE STATION!
Hey guys this is The Farmboy here and i had a lot of fun making this video, i will do an episode like this every day! -----------------------------------------------------------...

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Kerbal Space Program - A TOTALLY WORKING SPACE STATION! - Video

Freescast MoonQuest Episode 5 - The Secretary
shadow and ndunk finish building the space station with their new secretary. HDX #39;s channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheHDXvideogames Freescast channel: ...

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Freescast MoonQuest Episode 5 - The Secretary - Video

International Space Station Science Experiments (1080p)
International Space Station Science Experiments (1080p) More videos: Space System HD - Exploring the International Space Station 1080pSpace System HD - Expl. Craft File Mods required: B9 ...

By: Cordell Pene

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International Space Station Science Experiments (1080p) - Video

From shop floors to launch pads at Cape Canaveral, momentum is building toward lofting the first commercial services to carry humans to and from the space station by the end of 2017.

The two companies NASA has selected for the job Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies are clearing initial, crucial milestones, and to keep the program moving, President Obama has proposed that the government spend $1.24 billion on the effort in fiscal 2016, which begins Oct. 1. That's up from $805 million the program received this year.

During the past five fiscal years, Congress repeatedly has provided less money for the program than the White House sought, although the gap has narrowed significantly. In the eyes of some analysts, Congress is increasingly warming to the program.

The 2017 target "will be here before we know it," and all indications are that the two companies are on pace to launch, says Eric Stallmer, president of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation, a Washington-based organization promoting commercial human spaceflight.

Indeed, the United States finds itself in a unique position with regard to human-spaceflight technology, according to John Elbon, vice president and general manager for space exploration at Boeing

"Never before in the history of human spaceflight has there been so much going on all at once," he observed during a recent briefing on the status of NASA's commercial-crew program.

Beyond the work his company and SpaceX are performing to build a commercial capability for human spaceflight, Sierra Nevada Corporation is working on its Dream Chaser craft for carrying humans into low-Earth orbit.

In addition, companies such as Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and Bigelow Aerospace are developing hardware to commercialize various aspects of human spaceflight. And NASA is pressing ahead with its own Space Launch System rocket and Orion crew capsule for deep-space exploration.

NASA's bid to turn over resupply of the space station to two commercial contractors began in 2010, when five companies received seed money. After whittling the number of companies to four and then three during the next two years, NASA picked Boeing and SpaceX as its two providers last September. The last contender to be eliminated, Sierra Nevada Corporation, filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office, but the GAO ruled in NASA's favor in January.

Boeing and SpaceX already have passed one of NASA's five milestones: approval of their long-term plans for earning the agency's OK for carrying astronauts. Meanwhile, the companies have been busy.

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Can private companies replace space shuttle? Congress warms to the idea.

Washington, D.C.,(Feb. 2, 2015) -- The Space Foundation today said it supports President Obama's FY2016 budget request for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). That request, released today, calls for a FY2016 top line budget of $18.5 billion for the nation's space agency -- a $519 million increase over what Congress approved for the current fiscal year.

"The President's request is a move in the right direction," said Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham.

"The U.S. investment in NASA is a strategic investment in the future -- one that fuels our technology base, our global economic competitiveness, and our ability to lead international partnerships," Pulham said."In that context, we believe the NASA budget can, and should, continue to grow.The President's FY2016 budget request preserves International Space Station operations through 2024, increases NASA science programs by $43 million to $5.29 billion, keeps the SLS-Orion program on track to provide capabilities for human exploration beyond low earth orbit, and preserves a space technology budget of $724.8 million.

"The proposed budget also includes a credible aeronautics program, funded at $571.4 million," Pulham said, "and, very importantly, it keeps commercial crew transport programs on track with $1.2 billion in funding toward a competitive, two-supplier system that will return America to human spaceflight operations in just two years' time."

About the Space Foundation Founded in 1983, the Space Foundation is the foremost advocate for all sectors of space, and is a global, nonprofit leader in space awareness activities, educational programs and major industry events, including the annualSpace Symposium, in support of its mission "to advance space-related endeavors to inspire, enable and propel humanity." Space Foundation World Headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., USA, has a publicDiscovery Center, includingEl Pomar Space Gallery,Northrop Grumman Science Center featuring Science On a Sphere and the Lockheed Martin Space Education Center.The Space Foundation has a field office in Houston, and conducts government affairs from its Washington, D.C., office.It annually publishesThe Space Report: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity,andthrough itsSpace CertificationandSpace Technology Hall of Fame programs,recognizes space-basedinnovations that have been adapted to improve life on Earth. Visitwww.SpaceFoundation.org, follow us onFacebook,Instagram,LinkedIn,Pinterest,TwitterandYouTube,and read our e-newsletterSpace Watch.

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Space Foundation Statement on President's Proposed NASA Budget

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, left, discusses the agency's fiscal 2016 budget with reporters at the Kennedy Space Center while spaceport director Robert Cabana, right, looks on. William Harwood/CBS News

The Obama administration's fiscal 2016 budget includes $18.5 billion for NASA -- a half-billion-dollar increase -- that continues development of a new mega-rocket and capsule for deep space exploration and significantly boosts funding for commercial spacecraft to ferry crews to and from the space station, agency officials said Monday.

The budget proposal also includes funding to continue studies of a proposed crewed mission to visit an asteroid in the 2020s, to pay for ongoing and planned robotic Mars missions and to keep the $6 billion James Webb Space Telescope, the long-awaited successor to the Hubble Space Telescope, on track for launch in late 2018.

4 Photos

Astronomers revisit iconic nebula for a different look from 20 years ago

"President Obama today is proposing an FY 2016 budget of $18.5 billion for NASA, building on the significant investments the administration has made in America's space program over the past six years," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden told Kennedy Space Center workers.

Standing in front of an Orion deep space exploration capsule that completed an initial test flight in December, Bolden said the budget represented a "half billion-dollar increase over last year's enacted budget, and it is a clear vote of confidence to you, the employees of NASA, and the ambitious exploration program you are executing."

Repeating what has become a sort of mantra for senior NASA officials, Bolden said the agency "is firmly on a journey to Mars. Make no mistake, this journey will help guide and define our generation."

While eventual Mars flights are not expected until the mid 2030s at the earliest, NASA's long-range focus is the red planet, a goal Bolden promotes at every opportunity.

NASA's human exploration program accounts for nearly half of the agency's 2016 budget request, or $8.51 billion. That total includes $3.106 billion for International Space Station operations, $1.244 billion for commercial crew spacecraft, $2.863 billion for the Orion deep space capsule and the heavy-lift Space Launch System booster and $400 million for research and development.

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What NASA would do with an extra half-billion dollars