SpaceCoalition: Shuttle Fight Down to Money: From MSNBC
With space shuttle retirement just months away, a senior NASA manager sai... http://bit.ly/d1NtHT
China is eying development of a Saturn V-class booster. This hefty rocket is under consideration according to Liang Xiaohong, vice president of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology.
As reported by China's Xinhua News Agency, the jumbo rocket's "carrying capacity factor" would lift a maximum payload of 25 tons. This booster, the Long March 5, is expected to be able to send lunar rovers, large satellites and space stations into space after 2014.
In the March 3 Xinhua report, Liang said "the rocket is currently China's best with the largest payload among the nation's rocket lineup" and was expected to deliver astronauts onto the Moon.
Long March 5 is most likely to rocket away from Wenchang, the southernmost island province of Hainan, where a new satellite launch center is now under construction. That spaceport is slated to be operational in 2014.
Xinhua also reported that China's launch of an unmanned space module, Tiangong-1, the "Heavenly Palace" has slipped into 2011. That 8.5 ton module will be used to demonstrate the country's first space docking and is regarded as an essential step toward building a space station.
Earlier, it was reported that the Heavenly Palace would be orbited by year's end. However, technical reasons have been cited that have pushed its launch into 2011.
The Heavenly Palace would be transformed into a human-carrying space lab after experimental dockings with three Shenzhou spacecraft, which are expected to be put into space within two years following the module's launch, said Qi Faren, former chief designer of China's Shenzhou spaceships.
Lastly, according to space officials in China and specialists attending last week's Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Texas, Chang'e-2 is being readied for an October liftoff.
Chang'e-2 is a robotic lunar orbiter, similar to Chang'e-1, but will carry several science instrument improvements. It is also slated to orbit the Moon at a much lower altitude.
The leaders of China's human spaceflight endeavors say 2011 is shaping up to be the most ambitious year in the history of the country's space program.
China plans to launch the cornerstone of a new orbiting space laboratory some time in 2011. Weighing nearly 19,000 pounds, the Tiangong 1 module will be launched into orbit unmanned aboard a Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan space center in the Gobi desert, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
Xinhua reported Qi Faren, the former chief designer of the piloted Shenzhou spacecraft, outlined China's human spaceflight plans Wednesday at a meeting of a Chinese political advisory committee.
Tiangong means Heavenly Palace in English.
Beginning as early as late 2011, China will launch three Shenzhou spacecraft to rendezvous and dock with Tiangong 1 in orbit. The first mission, named Shenzhou 8, will launch unmanned and approach the module in China's first orbital docking attempt.
Within two years of Tiangong 1's launch, two more Shenzhou ships will fly to the fledgling space station with Chinese astronauts aboard. The crewed flights will contain two or three astronauts each for temporary visits, according to Xinhua.
Chinese astronauts would conduct scientific experiments aboard the complex, according to Xinhua.
Military observations and investigations will also be likely payloads for the small space station.
China is preparing its second moon orbiter for launch in October of this year. The Chang'e 2 probe will carry a high-resolution camera capable of spotting lunar surface features as small as 3 feet.
China has postponed the next step in its ambitious space station program until 2011 for technical reasons, state media said Wednesday.
China had originally planned to place the Tiangong-1 space module in orbit late this year and undertake experimental docking maneuvers in subsequent missions, Xinhua news agency cited rocket designer Qi Faren as saying.
But the initial launch has now been delayed by a year due to "technical reasons", Qi said, without elaborating.
Qi was speaking to the media on the sidelines of a meeting of a legislative advisory body, which convened on Wednesday, two days before the start of the annual session of China's rubber-stamp parliament.
China became the third nation to put a man in space when Yang Liwei piloted the one-man Shenzhou-5 space mission in 2003.
In September 2008, the Shenzhou-7, piloted by three "taikonauts" or astronauts, carried out China's first space walk.
The Tiangong-1, or "Heavenly Palace," is seen as the building block of China's maiden space station.
Weighing about 8.5 tons, it would provide a "safe room" for Chinese astronauts to live in and conduct research in zero gravity.
After being placed in orbit, the Tiangong-1 would dock with the unmanned Shenzhou-8 spacecraft in the country's first space docking -- a feat to be controlled remotely by scientists on the ground.
Qi said Shenzhou-9 and Shenzhou-10, carrying two to three astronauts, would also dock with the orbiting module in successive years.
Selling Peace: Inside the Soviet Conspiracy that Transformed the U.S. Space Program by Jeffrey Manber; Apogee Books/C.G. Publishing Inc., Burlington, Ontario; (soft cover) $28.95; 2010.
This is a unique view of behind-the-scenes dealings to realize the signing of the first contract between the Russians and NASA. The tale is one entrepreneurial spunk, conspiratorial zeal, political intrigue and barrier breaking guts.
What the reader finds here -- admittedly a personal and unabashedly biased retrospective of people, places and intentions -- is an exciting, often humorous saga.
Jeffrey Manber is a gifted writer. But beyond that, he was in a front row position representing Russian space officials to major power players in Washington, D.C. The result was a business plan to lease the Russian Mir space station. As CEO for MirCorp, he paints a historical thriller, in a sense, of a Wild West collage of characters on both Russian and American shores.
MirCorp was a commercial space company created in 1999 by space entrepreneurs that chalked up a number of firsts in the business of space exploration by using the aging Russian space station Mir as a commercial platform.
I particularly enjoyed reading about the out-of-public stage show of getting Dennis Tito off the ground as the first space tourist to pay for his own ticket into Earth orbit.
The over 330-page book spans past decades, but offers some fresh perspective of how the future may well play out.
As the author notes, space cooperation between two great nations "is a never ending effort and the road will undoubtedly veer in unexpected directions" and will remain so in coming years. There's no doubt that the author, along with the individuals cited in this book, played a central part in shaping that on-going adventure.
The New Space Race - China vs. the United States by Erik Seedhouse; Jointly published with Praxis Publishing, UK; (soft cover) $34.95; 2010.
Here's a timely book that puts in perspective what may unfold in the coming years - not by the United States but by China. The author puts his view upfront: "This book argues that here is compelling evidence for an impending space race between China and the U.S." A key driving element, he continues, is China's ambitions to place their own Taikonauts on the Moon.
Seedhouse has compiled an absorbing look at the military and human spaceflight capabilities of both China and America. In doing so, he puts the reader in a frame of mind to consider the geostrategic implications of this international rivalry.
Given all the trappings of the newly shaped Obama civilian space policy, this book underscores what the author feels is China's increasing interest in usurping America's long heritage of space progress. Moreover, there's an unnerving tone to this book about being a winner, or a loser, in terms of dominating space.
What I found helpful is a tutorial on Chinese space hardware contrasted to U.S. space hardware, particularly given that America's Constellation efforts are now being politically challenged.
In a section of the book, Seedhouse addresses why cooperation between the two nations won't work - and why a new space race is looming, one that is moving headlong into greater competition rather than collaboration.
In the absence of any efforts to manage the emerging competition, the author concludes that "it would be remiss not to prepare for the launch of a new arms race in space."
Price gouging or simple laws of supply and demand? The Soyuz will soon be the only ride in town to the International Space Station, and reportedly, Russia is considering raising the price per seat. NASA and Roskosmos have an agreement for six rides to the ISS in 2012 and 2013, at a rate of about $51 million dollars per US astronaut. "We have an agreement until 2012 that Russia will be responsible for this," Roskomos head Anatoly Perminov was quoted by the Interfax news agency. "But after that? Excuse me, but the prices should be absolutely different then!"
The end of the shuttle program means NASA has to buy rides on the Soyuz. The total deal of $306 million (224 million euros) seems to be a pretty good deal for Roskomos. But they say in order to provide seats for the NASA astronauts, they'll have to quit their space tourism program, which charges only $35 million (28 million euros) per seat.
The $51 million includes training, equipment, medical checks, supplies, services for launch operations and support personnel to launch site, flight control operations, and rendezvous and docking services.
Recent media reports suggest that China is stepping up their program to send people to the Moon just as America appears to be standing down from it. This circumstance has re-awakened a long-standing debate about the geopolitical aspects of space travel and with it some questions. Are we in a race back to the Moon? Should we be? And if there is a "space race" today, what do we mean by the term? Is it a race of military dimensions or is such thinking just an artifact of the Cold War? What are the implications of a new space race?
Many in the space business purport to be unimpressed by the idea that China is going to the Moon and publicly invite them to waste money on such a stunt. "No big deal" seems to be the attitude - after all America did that over 30 years ago. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden recently professed to be unmoved by the possible future presence of a Chinese flag on the Moon, noting that there are already six American flags on the Moon.
Although it is not currently popular in this country to think about national interests and the competition of nations in space, others do not labor under this restriction. Our current human spaceflight effort, the International Space Station (ISS), has shown us both the benefits and drawbacks of cooperative projects. Soon, we will not have the ability to send crew to and from the ISS. But that's not a problem; the Russians have graciously agreed to transport us - at $50 million a pop. Look for that price to rise once the Shuttle is fully retired.
To understand whether there is a new space race or not, we must understand its history. Why would nations compete in space anyway? And if such competition occurs, how might it affect us? What should we have in space: Kumbaya or Starship Troopers? Or is the answer somewhere between the two?
Some History
People tend to think of Apollo and the race to the Moon when they hear the term "space race" but the race began with the October 1957 launch of a Russian satellite called Sputnik. The clear implication of this new Soviet satellite was that if they wanted to, they could lob a nuclear bomb at the United States. This situation led to near panic in America, with outraged demands that we technically catch up to the Soviets as quickly as possible and damn the cost.
The initial phases of the space race were not auspicious for America. In our publicized and televised launches, vehicles frequently blew up while the Soviets appeared to effortlessly achieve an endless series of headline-grabbing space "firsts." American officials working behind the scenes knew that we were not as far behind as it seemed but to reveal that knowledge was to disclose our national technical means of surveillance. So each new Soviet first was officially greeted with silence.
The Russians raised the stakes in the spring of 1961 with the launch of Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space. Although America followed a month later with Alan Shepard's ballistic hop, the new U.S. President, John F. Kennedy, wanted to issue a challenge, one carefully crafted to be beyond the existing capabilities of both the USA and the USSR, yet reachable by us (but not by them) over the course of a few years. A manned landing on the Moon was selected as the ideal target for such a race. Although no specific strategic goals on the Moon were identified, it was believed that the attainment of this difficult task would demonstrate the superiority of our open, pluralistic capitalist society in contrast to its closed, authoritarian, socialist opposite number.
The so-called "Moon race" of the 1960's was a Cold War exercise of soft power projection, meaning that no real military confrontation was part of it, but rather, it was a competition by non-lethal means to determine which country had the superior technology and by implication, the superior political and economic system. In short, it was largely a national propaganda struggle. Simultaneously, the two countries also engaged in a hard power struggle space race to develop ever-better systems to observe and monitor the military assets of the other. There was little public debate associated with this struggle, indeed, much of it was held in the deepest secrecy. But as the decade passed, military space systems became increasingly capable and extensive and largely replaced human intelligence assets for the estimation of our adversaries' strategic capabilities and intentions.
The United States went on to very publicly win the race to the Moon, giving rise to a flurry of rhetoric pronouncing everyone's peaceful intentions for outer space while the larger struggle continued to play out behind the scenes. NASA's replacement effort for the concluded Apollo program, the Space Shuttle project, promised to lower the costs of space travel by providing a reusable vehicle that would launch like a rocket and land like an airplane. Because of the need to fit under a tightly constrained budgetary envelope and for a variety of other technical reasons, the Shuttle did not live up to its promise as a low cost "truck" for space flight. However, the program resulted in a fleet of four operational spacecraft that flew over 120 missions over the course of its 30-year history.
Although widely cited in American space circles as a policy failure, the Shuttle had some interesting characteristics that led it to be considered a military threat by the USSR. One of the earliest missions of the Shuttle had its crew retrieve and repair an orbiting satellite (Solar Max). Later missions grappled balky satellites and returned them to Earth for refurbishment, repair and re-launch. This capability culminated with a series of Shuttle missions to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), which conducted on-orbit servicing tasks ranging from literally fixing the worthless satellite (the first mission) to routine upgrading of sensors, replacement of solar arrays and main computers, and re-boosting the telescope to a higher orbit. The significance of these missions was that the HST is basically a strategic reconnaissance satellite: it looks up at the heavens rather than down at nuclear missile sites from orbit. The Hubble repair missions documented the value of being able to access orbital assets with people and equipment.
Another relatively unnoticed series of Shuttle missions demonstrated the value of advanced sensors. As a large, stable platform in orbit (the orbiting mass of the Shuttle is almost 100 mT), the Shuttle could fly very heavy, high-power payloads that smaller robotic satellites could not. The Shuttle Imaging Radar (SIR) was a synthetic aperture radar that could obtain images of the Earth from space by sending out radar pulses as an illuminating beam. It could thus image through cloud cover, day or night, all over the Earth. In a stunning realization, it was found that it could also image subsurface features; in particular, the SIR-A mission mapped ancient riverbeds buried beneath the sands of the western Sahara from space. The strategic implications of this were immense; as most land-based nuclear missiles are buried in silos, they cannot be hidden from account because of sensors like imaging radar.
The construction of the International Space Station (ISS) became the next frontier for strategic space. One of the most complex spacecraft ever made, it was designed to be launched in small pieces by the Shuttle without an end-to-end systems test on the ground and assembled on-orbit. It worked perfectly the first time it was activated. The building of the ISS documented that not only could people assemble complex machines in space, they could also repair, maintain and upgrade them as well. As the ISS nears completion, much complaint continues about its cost and supposed lack of value, yet even if we get nothing further from it as a research facility, it has already taught us invaluable lessons about the building and maintenance of large spacecraft in orbit.
These new Shuttle capabilities had significant policy implications for the Soviets. To them, it seemed that the Shuttle was a great leap forward in military space technology, not the "policy failure" bemoaned by American analysts. With its capabilities for on-orbit satellite servicing and as a platform for advanced sensors, the Shuttle became a threat that had to be countered. The USSR responded with their own space shuttle (Buran), which looked superficially very similar to ours. The Challenger accident showed that Shuttle was a highly vulnerable system in many respects; even as the Soviets developed Buran, the American military decided to withdraw from our Shuttle program.
During the 1990's, we saw a revolution in tactical space - the use of and reliance on space assets on the modern battlefield. The Global Positioning System (GPS) has made the transition to the consumer market, but it was originally designed to allow troops to instantly know their exact positions. A global network of communications satellites carries both voice and data, and interfaces to the partly space-based Internet (another innovation originally built for military technical research). The entire world is connected and plugged in and spacebridges are now key components of that connection. Fifty years after the beginning of the Space Age, we are now, more than ever, dependent upon our satellite assets.
Faced with criticism from Congress over the Obama Administration's decision to cancel the Constellation Program, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said Saturday he will strive to preserve an effort to develop a heavy lift rocket and settle on an ultimate destination for future human deep space exploration, possibly Mars, as he meets with lawmakers and other policy makers to discuss the agency's future.
Bolden spoke for nearly an hour at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, where he hosted a news conference on the eve of the shuttle Endeavour's scheduled lift off on a 13-day mission to the International Space Station.
The questioning from news reporters was focused on the Obama Administration's proposed 2011 budget, which the president handed to Congress on Monday. The spending plan cancels Constellation, dismantling an initiative inherited from the Bush Administration to reach the moon with American explorers by 2020.
The new policy includes only a vague outline of what is to come next for NASA. The lack of definition caught many by surprise and sent new waves of uncertainty through a NASA work force facing thousands of job losses as the shuttle program winds to a close at the end of this year.
Bolden blamed himself for not consulting more closely with Congress and the agency's own work force before the budget roll out.
"I learned a valuable lesson. I have someone who knows the media. I have someone who knows (Congress) to advise me. I did not listen," he told reporters. "So, I learned a very hard lesson. That is why the workforce was not better prepared. I did not listen to people. I was stupid. I didn't do it right."
The proposed spending plan, if passed by Congress, would make $6 billion available over the next five years to develop commercial rockets for the transportation of astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station. Commercial services would take the place of Constellation's cancelled Ares 1 rocket and Orion crew exploration vehicle.
The spending includes funds to research and development propulsion and life support systems for future deep space exploration. But it lacks mention of specific destinations. Bolden said he hopes to win backing within the administration and Congress for a new heavy lift rocket that could be ready for deep space missions between 2020 and 2030. The planning for deep space missions will be made in close collaboration with other nations, who can expect to be placed in the "critical path," he stressed.
"It's my intent to work diligently on developing a heavy lift capability for the United States," said Bolden. "Ideally, you build a little, fly a little and test. You build a little, fly a little and test. It's an incremental move toward finally having a heavy lift vehicle."
The administrator did not rule out a new role for the Ares 1 as a test vehicle in the process. Constellation included a heavy lift version of the Ares 1 called the Ares V, which is also facing cancellation. Efforts are already under way to preserve the cutting edge development work on the Ares V for a future heavy lift rocket, Bolden said.
The NASA chief acknowledged the benefits and the difficulties of reaching a consensus on a destination for future human exploration.
While he favors Mars as a goal, Bolden said NASA lacks the propulsion technologies and the know how to deal with the health hazards to astronauts posed by cosmic and stellar radiation and the loss of bone and muscle mass over long exposures to weightlessness.
"This is my opinion, I think I need some more time on the surface of the moon," said Bolden. "I need some time flying around interstellar space to see if a human can survive that trip before I can recommend to the president that we are ready to put somebody on the surface of Mars. That is the discussion we need to have."
The Review of U. S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, also known as the Augustine Committee, outlined a similar approach to NASA and the White House last year in a re-assessment of the Constellation Program. The Augustine panel concluded Constellation's objectives were so vastly under funded they could not be attained.
The panel offered a "Flex Path" approach as an option to Constellation's goals of establishing a human lunar outpost. The Flex Path includes a series of "fly by" missions to the moon, asteroids and the moons of Mars. It includes missions to the lunar surface to rehearse the first lengthy mission to the Martian surface.
Bolden voiced support for the "Flex Path" on Saturday but cautioned it may not find support among those who worry that China or another country might focus on near-term human lunar exploration.
He noted the United States achieved a half-dozen successful human lunar landings between 1969 and 1972 during the Apollo program. The achievement cemented America as the first nation to place humans on another planetary body.
"That will not change," said Bolden.
"So, am I concerned that China may have a flag on the surface of the moon? Not really. Am I concerned that Argentina, Brazil or Russia or someone else (will reach the moon)? I am not concerned because they will join six American flags. So, my approach to all of this: In a true international partnership, when one of us succeeds, all of us succeed."
Iran announced Wednesday it has successfully launched a 10-foot-long research rocket carrying a mouse, two turtles and worms into space - a feat President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said showed Iran could defeat the West in the battle of technology.
The launch of the Kavoshgar-3, which means Explorer-3 in Farsi, was announced by Defense Minister Gen. Ahmad Vahidi as part of Iran's ambitious space program.
It comes a year after Iran sent its first domestically made telecommunications satellite into orbit.
The program has worried Western powers who fear the same technology used to launch satellites and research capsules could also deliver warheads.
Iranian state television broadcast images Wednesday of officials putting a mouse, two turtles and about a dozen creatures that looked like worms inside a capsule in the rocket before it blasted off.
Vahidi gave no details on the research and the report did not disclose when or where the launch took place.
The rocket is the third in a series bearing the same name. Iran reported launching Kavoshgar-1, or Explorer-1, in Feb. 2008.
India's space agency is planning the nation's first manned space flight for 2016, if it gets government approval of the project budget, an official said Thursday.
The Indian Space Research Organization has sought 120 billion rupees ($2.6 billion) to put two astronauts in space for a week, spokesman S. Satish told The Associated Press.
The government has already provided a pre-project fund of about four billion rupees ($87 million) allowing the agency to do some initial research on the space flight, he said, adding that ISRO is "hopeful" of getting the entire project approved soon so it can start making full-scale preparations.
In October 2008, India launched Chandrayaan-1, its first satellite orbiting the moon, but had to abandon it nearly a year later after communication links snapped and scientists lost control of the satellite.
Chandrayaan-1 put India in an elite club of countries with moon missions. Similar satellites have been launched by the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China.
As India's economy has boomed in recent years, it has sought to convert its new found wealth - built on its high-tech sector - into political and military clout and stake a claim as a world leader.
Coalition readers in the Denver, Colorado area, take note of When Tang Met Laika, a performing arts look at post-Cold-War era, Russian-American collaboration in space.
The play asks the question, how do you live your life after living in space?
Playwright Rogelio Martinez explores the 1990's Cold War thaw as two individuals find in space an interesting brew: love, Tang the breakfast drink, a lost dog. and a spirit named Yuri.
The play is being performed January 22 - February 27 at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts in Denver, Colorado. It was commissioned by the Denver Center Theatre Company and Magic Theatre/Alfred P. Sloan Foundation New Science & Technology Plays Initiative, with additional support from the United Launch Alliance and Lockheed Martin.
To help the actors appreciate the inner and outer workings of space exploration, they were recently treated with a briefing from former NASA astronaut, Bruce McCandless - the first human to fly untethered in space making use of a Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU).
Take a view of the McCandless presentation to the actors, following a quick TV ad.
Educators Note: A teacher's guide with lots of space information, both related to the performance as well as future space activities, can be found here:
India launched a small fleet of rockets to monitor the effects of the annular solar eclipse that occurred today. A total of 11 Rohini sounding rockets - suborbital rockets designed for scientific experiments - were launched from several different sites, including the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. These rockets, launched by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), carried instruments to measure the effect the eclipse had on the Earth's atmosphere.
The eclipse - which lasted 11 minutes and 8 seconds at its peak, was visible to observers in Africa, southern Asian countries, India and China. This was an annular eclipse, meaning that the Moon blocked the Sun's light enough for a bright ring to be seen around the silhouette of the Moon, and was the longest such eclipse of the millennium.
There are several phenomena that take place in the lessening of the Sun's rays during an eclipse. When the solar radiation drops during an eclipse, the ionization that occurs in the atmosphere is temporarily lowered, causing disruptions in the Equatorial Electrojet - a ribbon of electric current that flows east to west near the equator.
The temperature and wind of the atmosphere are also altered by the cessation of sunlight, and were measured by the rockets. India launched five rockets yesterday to record pre-eclipse data, and then six more were launched today to measure the changes after the eclipse, which peaked at 1:15pm local time. Over 90% of the Sun's light was blocked near the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS), which lies on the southern tip of India, and was well-placed to measure the eclipse.
In November, Chinese air force commander Gen. Xu Qiliang observed that "competition between military forces is now turning toward the realm of space, [and] military modernization is ceaselessly expanding into space."
But during his visit to Beijing a few days later, President Obama talked about "cooperation" rather than competition. In a joint statement with Chinese President Hu Jintao, the two leaders called for "a dialogue on human space flight and space exploration, based on the principles of transparency, reciprocity and mutual benefit."
China's aerospace industry firms - which for decades have supplied dangerous missile technologies and equipment to Iran, North Korea and Pakistan, and which have been sanctioned ceaselessly by four successive U.S. presidents for their transgressions - will find the United States in a new suppliant posture.
The atrophying U.S. space program suggests that America will be forced to cooperate with China in space, or else cede the high frontier of space to China altogether.
In October, a White House committee headed by former Lockheed Martin Chairman Norman Augustine, reported that without $3 billion in additional funding, NASA has no plan that "permits human exploration to continue in any meaningful way."
October's launch of the experimental Ares 1-X heavy lift rocket, while flawless, may well mark the end rather than the beginning of America's next-generation Constellation manned-space program. The space shuttle is scheduled for retirement this year and until Constellation gets off the ground, future American astronauts will rely on Russians - or Chinese - to get into orbit - if they want to get there at all. America's multitrillion-dollar deficits over the next 10 years are likely to dissuade the Obama administration from budgeting for Constellation until well after Mr. Obama leaves office, if then.
The Pentagon is clearly alarmed by the prospect. The chief of U.S. Strategic Command, Gen. Kevin Chilton, told reporters Nov. 3, "With regard to China's [space] capabilities, I think anyone who's familiar with this business ... would have to be absolutely amazed at the advancement that China has made in such a short period of time, whether that be in their unmanned program or the manned program."
Senior Chinese space officials have told their state media that China could be on the moon by 2022 at the outside. Other authoritative Chinese space engineers see a moon landing as a next step in the Tiangong program that will launch three Chinese space stations into Earth orbit between 2011 and 2015. In 2008, NASA scientists told the Bush White House that, with the technology currently available to the Chinese space program, Chinese cosmonauts could be on the moon by 2017.
NASA sees China's strategy for a manned lunar landing as launch vehicle intensive. While America's notional Constellation moon project centers on a single - and still unbuilt - Ares-V "superheavy" lift booster for a direct ascent to the moon and two "lunar orbit rendezvous" operations, China will likely opt for two complex "Earth orbit rendezvous" maneuvers.
Chinese space program engineers are readying that country's second Moon probe, a lunar orbiter expected to fly at the end of 2010.
According to recent reports from Chinese news and government outlets, Chang'e-2 has been built and is now undergoing a series of ground checkouts. Among its duties, Chang'e-2 is expected to test soft-landing technologies, along with imaging the landing area for Chang'e-3.
The Chang'e-3 is a mission involving a lunar lander and rover with the project now in the prototype stage.
China's State Administration of Science Technology and Industry for National Defense has noted progress on six key technologies of Chang'e-2, including lunar capture, orbit control and research on a high-resolution stereo camera.
Chang'e-2 and Chang'e-3 are considered part of the second phase of the country's lunar exploration program, a three stage effort of "orbiting", "landing" and "returning".
Ye Peijian, chief designer of the nation's first lunar probe, has told China Daily that Chang'e-3 is likely to be launched before 2013.
In other space news from China, Qi Faren, chief designer of the Shenzhou piloted spacecraft, told Guangzhou Daily that Tiangong-1, or Heavenly Palace-1, is to be placed into Earth orbit by the end of 2010, at the earliest. Heavenly Palace-1will test docking technology and prepare for the future construction of space laboratories. China plans to build its own space station by the year 2020.
Lastly, Shen Liping, deputy chief designer of China's manned space program, was also quoted by Guangzhou Daily that China's first woman astronaut will be able to fly to outer space sooner than the targeted 10 years.
XCOR Aerospace of Mojave, California announced today that it has been selected by the Yecheon Astro Space Center in South Korea as its "preferred supplier of suborbital space launch services."
XCOR stated that it intends to supply services to the Center using the firm's Lynx Mark II suborbital vehicle, pending United States government approvals to station the vehicle in the Republic of Korea.
Working closely with its partners, Yecheon Astro Space Center has formed a broad coalition of regional and national entities to fund the approximately $30 million project to bring the Lynx to Yecheon for space tourism, educational, scientific and environmental monitoring missions.
Under the envisioned arrangement, Yecheon will be the exclusive Lynx operational site in Korea. The Center is roughly 240 kilometers (150 miles) southeast of Seoul.
The XCOR Aerospace Lynx is in development and would be a piloted, two seat, fully reusable, liquid rocket powered vehicle that takes off and lands horizontally.
The Lynx production models (designated Lynx Mark II) are designed to be robust, multi-commercial mission vehicles capable of flying to 100 - plus kilometers in altitude up to four times per day.
For more information, go to XCOR's web address: www.xcor.com
The UK is headed for creation of its own dedicated space agency. That's the word from Science and Innovation Minister Lord Drayson, speaking at the Rutherford Appleton Space Conference in Didcot, Oxfordshire.
The birth of the agency, Drayson announced, would mean gluing together a number of government departments, research councils and other entities.
"Space is a rapidly growing industry, even in this period of economic difficulty, with great potential to contribute positively to the future UK economy especially in the area of small satellites," noted a statement from Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL), owned by EADS Astrium NV.
Professor Sir Martin Sweeting, SSTL's founder and Executive Chairman, added that several new ideas with business potential have been identified: These include satellite broadband internet provision, constellations of small remote sensing satellites and "inspirational concepts" such as Virgin Galactic's piloted SpaceShipTwo, and the UK MoonLITE lunar mission.
"These all point to a vibrant future for UK Space," Sweeting said.
It sounds like something from a James Bond movie: a massive satellite, the largest ever launched, equipped with a powerful laser to take out the American anti-missile shield in advance of a Soviet first strike. It was real, though-or at least the plan was. In fact, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev walked out of the October 1986 summit in Reykjavik, Iceland, because President Ronald Reagan wouldn't abandon his Strategic Defense Initiative, or SDI, the Soviets were closer to fielding a space-based weapon than the United States was. Less than a year later, as the world continued to criticize Reagan for his "Star Wars" concept, the Soviet Union launched a test satellite for its own space-based laser system, which failed to reach orbit. Had it succeeded, the cold war might have taken a different turn.
The spacecraft was known as Polyus-Skif. "Polyus" is Russian for "pole," as in the north pole. "Skif" referred to the Scythians, an ancient tribe of warriors in central Asia-and the European equivalent of "barbarian."
According to Soviet space scholar Asif Siddiqi, a historian at Fordham University in New York City, Moscow began working on space-based weapons well before Reagan kicked the U.S. program into high gear with his March 23, 1983 Star Wars speech. "[The Soviets] funded two massive R&D studies in the late 1970s and early 1980s to explore how to counter imaginary American missile defense ideas," he says. Two concepts emerged: Skif-a laser "cannon" in orbit-and another weapon known as Kaskad (Cascade), designed to destroy an enemy's satellites with missiles fired from another craft in orbit.
Although some details about these programs leaked out in the mid-1990s, it was not until a few years ago, says Siddiqi, that the full extent of the space weapon plans became known, even in Russia. A former press officer in the Russian space industry, Konstantin Lantratov, pieced together the history of Polyus-Skif. "Lantratov managed to dig deep into the story, and his research clearly shows the enormous scale of these battle station projects," Siddiqi says. "These were not sideline efforts; this was a real space weapons program."
Design work began in the 1970s, not long after the symbolic Apollo-Soyuz "handshake in space" between NASA astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts. The famed Energia organization, which had built the Soyuz crew spacecraft as well as the giant N-1 moon rocket, a program that between 1969 and 1972 suffered four explosions, started studying both the Skif and the Kaskad concepts in 1976. Initially, Energia's plan was to use space-based weapons to shoot down American intercontinental ballistic missiles early in flight, when they were still moving relatively slowly. The Salyut space stations, the first of which was launched in 1971, would serve as the core for either the laser-equipped Polyus spacecraft or the missile-armed Kaskad. The stations could be refueled in orbit and could house two cosmonauts for up to a week.
The designers quickly abandoned this plan, however, and with it the notion of having cosmonauts live on board the Polyus spacecraft. According to Lantratov, the Soviet Ministry of Defense determined that Soviet technology was not up to the challenge of shooting down ICBMs from space, and directed that Skif and Kaskad instead be used to disable American anti-missile satellites-which didn't yet exist, and hadn't even been approved.
MOJAVE, California - The stage is set here for the unveiling of the first suborbital passenger-carrying spaceliner - SpaceShipTwo.
The six passenger and two pilot craft is getting a final buff for its debut. Festivities are being held within a specially-built complex, including two huge domes and tents, erected for the event. Some 800 dignitaries and media are gathering here for a Monday, early evening celebration of SpaceShipTwo's unveiling.
On display too is SpaceShipTwo's mothership, the WhiteKnightTwo. Both vehicles have been designed and built by Scaled Composites, based at the Mojave Air and Space Port
WhiteKnightTwo will carry the spaceliner up to high altitude for release. Once in free-flight, the space plane will ignite its hybrid rocket motor and zoom to the edge of Earth's atmosphere.
Per seat cost (with window included!) is $200,000, with ticket sales reportedly up and going.
Both the carrier plane and the rocketship form a space launch system. WhiteKnightTwo is also designed to be the first stage of a suborbital payload launcher and can serve as a platform to lob small satellites in Earth orbit.
Backing the suborbital space tourism endeavor is Sir Richard Branson, a high-roller adventurer and UK billionaire businessman.
Branson has established Virgin Galactic - billed as the world's first commercial spaceline.
WhiteKnightTwo was revealed to the public for the first time in July 2008 and started an extensive test flight program. The airliner-sized White Knight Two is dubbed VMS Eve, after Branson's mother.
A UK firm has won a $1 million contract from China to provide software tools for use in China's evolving space station program.
LDRA is a UK company that will provide a tool suite to analyze complex safety-critical applications related to China's Tiangong 1 spacecraft.
Tiangong 1, or Heavenly Palace 1, is a platform to test the space docking technology - a first step in China's bid to build and operate a large space station in Earth orbit.
The LDRA tool suite will enable Chinese space program engineers to achieve the stringent safety-critical standards required to ensure the safe launch of the Heavenly Palace 1.
The new contract extends LDRA's experience in the Chinese market where the LDRA tool suite has been used by the aerospace and defense software market for projects including China's human spaceflight efforts, as well as that country's Moon exploration programs.
The LDRA tool suite has been used within China's manned spacecraft program since 2001.
According to a LDRA press statement issued today, China's primary mission with the Tiangong 1 will be to carry out space rendezvous and docking experiments, to guarantee the working and living conditions of Chinese taikonauts and to ensure their safety during short-term parking orbits.
The Tiangong 1 activities also include conducting space application and aerospace medical experiments, space science experiments and technical testing of the space station, as well as establishing a space experiment platform that can carry out short-term manned missions and long-term independent and reliably-operated unmanned missions.
Earlier this year, Qi Faren, chief designer of China's Shenzhou spacecraft, told China Daily that the Tiangong 1, or Heavenly Palace 1, was scheduled for launch before 2011. It would be utilized as a platform to test the space docking technology, he said.
"In its one- to two-year lifespan, Tiangong I, which weighs 8.5 tons, will be the object that Shenzhou 8, Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 will dock with in order to test the technology," he said.
According to the plan, Shenzhou 8 would be an unmanned spaceship that will try to dock with Tiangong 1 in 2011, if preparations go smoothly, Qi said. If that mission is a success, he added, piloted spaceships would be launched to dock with the Tiangong I.
China is working toward launch of its second lunar probe, now slated for an October 2010 liftoff.
According to China Daily, the Chang'e-2 mission also sets the stage for a follow-on lunar lander and Moon rover before 2013.
Speaking before an International Conference on Space Information Technology in Beijing, Ye Peijian, chief designer of China's first moon probe, said the second lunar probe will fly at a lower altitude above the Moon than the previous orbiter.
"We expect to acquire more scientific data about the Moon with increased accuracy," Ye told China Daily.
Chang'e-2-toted instruments are improved, with the spacecraft carrying a charge-coupled device camera on board with a much higher resolution than the camera on China's first lunar orbiter.
China's first lunar lander and rover, Chang'e-3, is to be launched atop a Long March 3B launch vehicle from the Xichang satellite launch center before 2013.
Ye added that the landing site on the moon for Chang'e-3 has already been selected: Sinus Iridium (Bay of Rainbows).
Chang'e-2 and Chang'e-3 are part of the second phase of China's lunar exploration program. A third phase is scripted that has China dispatching a robotic spacecraft to the Moon to collect samples and launch them back to Earth. That mission is slated before 2017.
Support America's Human Space Flight Program Urge President Obama to Fulfill Augustine Committee's Recommendation to Increase Funding for NASA Current Cosigners C. Brown (FL), Capps (CA), Fudge (OH), Grayson (FL), G. Green (TX), Griffith (AL), A. Hastings (FL), Honda (CA), Jackson-Lee (TX), Klein (FL), Kosmas (FL), Kratovil (MD), B. Markey (CO), Meek (FL), Napolitano (CA), Nye (VA), Perlmutter (CO), Schiff (CA), Van Hollen (VA), Wasserman Schultz (FL), and Wexler (FL) Barton (TX), R. Bishop (UT), K. Brady (TX), Calvert (CA), Cao (LA), Carter (TX), Chaffetz (UT), Culberson (TX), R. Forbes (VA), R. Hall (TX), Jenkins (KS), Lundgren (CA), McCaul (TX), McKeon (CA), C. Miller (MI), Olson (TX), Posey (FL), Rooney (FL), L. Smith (TX)
Dear Colleague,
With the recent release of the Final Report by the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee (Augustine Committee), we invite you to join us in sending a letter to President Obama urging him to make the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) a national priority and work with the Congress to provide the funding necessary to ensure a robust human space flight program (the Summary and Final Augustine Committee reports can be found at www.nasa.gov/offices/hsf/home/index.html).
The Augustine Committee's findings that our nation cannot conduct meaningful human exploration beyond low-Earth-orbit under current budget guidelines should serve as a wake up call. For too long, NASA has been given funds that do not match its mission. This insufficient funding has delayed the development of NASA's next generation spacecraft, leading to an extended gap in domestic access to space.
To enable a human space exploration program that our nation can truly be proud of, the Augustine Committee recommends an increase of at least $3 billion annually over the FY10 budget profile. Although this level would not fully restore the funding originally budgeted for NASA's next generation human space flight program, it will allow for meaningful exploration and ensure we maximize the return on our investment.
NASA's human space flight program and the impending gap impacts nearly every state, with contractors and suppliers large and small spread out across the nation. To find out NASA's impact on your state and district, please visit http://prod.nais.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/npdv/map.cgi.
We must ensure the President works with Congress to take this unique and fleeting opportunity to show a true commitment to NASA in order to sustain our global leadership in science and technology, address national challenges, and inspire our youth to pursue math and science.
We face many critical decisions in the coming months that will affect America's human space flight program for decades to come and hope you will join us in urging the President to take action in a timely manner. Deadline to co-sign is Noon on Tuesday, November 17th. Please contact Carrie Chess with Congresswoman Kosmas at carrie.chess@mail.house.gov or 5-2706 or Deena Contreras with Congressman Calvert at deena.contreras@mail.house.gov or 5-1986 to sign on or if you have questions.
Sincerely,
Rep. Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL) Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA) November X, 2009
President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Obama:
As Members of Congress who greatly value the contributions of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to our nation, we appreciate the hard work of the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee. With its final report available now, we look forward to renewed communications between the Administration and Congress about America's human space flight program. We write in strong support of receiving a Fiscal Year 2011 budget request which truly supports this core element of NASA's mission.
While evaluating options for future of human space exploration, the Augustine Committee concluded that regardless of the direction or the details of the program, an increased level of long-term, sustainable funding must be a major component. The Review Committee's finding that, "Human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit is not viable under the FY 2010 budget guideline" demonstrates that NASA's underfunded budgets over the past several years have slowed the pace of exploration, depleted resources, and frustrated the development of new space systems. We believe an increased level of funding is essential to ensure NASA has the resources needed to meet the mission challenges of human space flight.
Currently, NASA is funding the development of the next generation human space flight systems with partners that bring decades of experience in developing and operating complex space systems while also encouraging new entrants to the space flight industry. The $3 billion annual increase recommended by the Committee would not fully restore the funding originally budgeted for the next generation programs. However, the increase would make a considerable difference in our ability to have a space exploration program to ensure that our nation maintains its global leadership position. A significant investment must be made given NASA's contributions to America's economic and national security.
The International Space Station (ISS) should remain operational as long as it can be productive without being constrained by an arbitrary, budget-driven termination date. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration Authorization Act of 2008 designated the ISS as a U.S. National Laboratory to conduct research for other Federal agencies and the commercial sector. Extending the ISS, at least through 2020, is necessary in order to maintain and improve important international partnerships, maximize the return on our nation's investment, and spur discoveries that will enable exploration of our universe and improve life here on Earth.
As you may know, NASA is supported by tens of thousands of highly skilled and experienced men and women who make up the civil servant and contractor workforce. These space professionals are a critical national resource and contribute to a vital industrial base that supports civil, military, and commercial space. If we allow a gap in human space flight our nation will have lost valuable skills that will be costly and difficult to replace. In addition, we also will have given up on our hard-won space preeminence over other nations, including Russia and China, who will surely step in to fill the void.
We wish to impress upon you the significant and fleeting opportunity we have to ensure that our nation continues its preeminence in human space flight. Instituting a cohesive and comprehensive plan with clear direction for NASA's future policies depends on leadership and the commitment to follow through with adequate funding. This can only be accomplished if it is established as a national priority through Presidential leadership.
We know that you share with us the enthusiasm that is generated by a bold human space flight program. We look forward to receiving your Administration's proposal and working with you to ensure a robust, cutting edge and inspirational human space flight program worthy of our great nation.
The European Space Agency (ESA) has chosen Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) to manage a pan-European student built mission to the Moon.
Called the European Student Moon Orbiter (ESMO) program, the intent of the effort is to place the student-led effort into lunar orbit as soon as 2013.
Students from at least 10 universities throughout ESA's Member States and Cooperating States will learn about space science and engineering by taking part in this "hands on" project.
Getting a space-ready Moon orbiter designed and built will drawn upon the extensive background of SSTL, a smallsat pioneer and leader in the field.
Furthermore, SSTL was recently down-selected by the UK government's Science and Technology Facilities Council to lead the design phase for the MoonLITE mission.
MoonLITE is a program to launch a low-cost lunar orbiter carrying scientific lunar surface penetrators and a communications relay payload to the Moon in 2014.
Winners of the Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander X Prize Challenge are receiving their checks at a special awards ceremony taking place today at the Rayburn House in Washington, D.C.
NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and Director of NASA Centennial Challenges, Doug Comstock, are speaking at the event.
Representatives of Team Masten Space Systems and Team Armadillo Aerospace are in attendance to accept the awards.
Live updates and photos from the event are being posted on:
In this seaside village, the children of farmers and fishermen aspire to become something that their impoverished parents never thought possible: astronauts.
Through community-based programs, India's space agency has been partnering with schools in remote areas such as this one, helping to teach students about space exploration and cutting-edge technology. The agency is also training thousands of young scientists and, in 2012, will open the nation's first astronaut-training center in the southern city of Bangalore.
"I want to be prepared in space sciences so I can go to the moon when India picks its astronauts," said Lakshmi Kannan, 15, pushing her long braids out of her face and clutching her science textbook.
Lakshmi's hopes are not unlike India's ambitions, writ small. For years, the country has focused its efforts in space on practical applications - using satellites to collect information on natural disasters, for instance. But India is now moving beyond that traditional focus and has planned its first manned space mission in 2015.
'Turning point' The ambitions of the 46-year-old national space program could vastly expand India's international profile in space and catapult it into a space race with China. China, the only country besides the United States and Russia to have launched a manned spacecraft, did so six years ago.
"It's such an exciting time in the history of India's space program," said G. Madhavan Nair, a rocket scientist and the outgoing chairman of the national space agency, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). "More and more bright young Indian scientists are calling us for jobs. We will look back on this as a turning point."
The ascendancy of India's space program highlights the country's rising ambitions on the world stage, as it grows economically and asserts itself in matters of diplomacy.
Politicians once dismissed the space program as a waste. Activists for India's legions of poor criticized additional funding for the program, saying it was needless decades after the American crew of Apollo 11 had landed on the moon. Now, however, the program is a source of prestige.
Last year, India reached a milestone, launching 10 satellites into space on a single rocket. Officials are positioning the country to become a leader in the business of launching satellites for others, having found paying clients in countries such as Israel and Italy. They even talk of a mission to Mars.
The Russian space agency may build a nuclear-powered spacecraft with the blessing of the country's leader, Russian and international media reported Thursday.
The craft would cost $600 million and Russian scientists claim it could be ready as early as 2012.
"The idea [of nuclear-powered spaceflight] has bright prospects, and if Russia could stage a breakthrough it could become our main contribution to any future international program of deep space exploration," Andrei Ionin, an independent Moscow-based space expert, told Christian Science Monitor.
Building a nuclear-powered spacecraft is feasible, said Patrick McDaniel, a nuclear engineer and co-director of the University of New Mexico's Institute for Space and Nuclear Power Studies, but probably not in the short time frame that the Russians have proposed.
"To have a test article that they could test on the ground, that's very reasonable," McDaniel said. "To have a completed system, that's highly unlikely."
If the spaceship actually gets built, it would complete a half-century quest to bring nuclear power to space propulsion, beginning with a 1947 report by North American Aviation to the Air Force.
It's not hard to see why engineers would want to use nuclear power. Fission reactors provide a lot of power for their size, which is a key attribute in designing space systems. One engineer claims nuclear rockets are inherently twice as efficient as their chemical brethren. Their attributes could have increased the exploration range of the space program, nuclear propulsion advocates argue, allowing us to get to more interesting places.
"We could have done a lot more things in space. We could have gone more places," McDaniel said of nuclear rocket research. "It's highly likely we would have gone to Mars."
The current plans to potentially return to Mars do not include a nuclear rocket, but several decades of plans from the 1950s through the 1980s just assumed that nuclear power would be a part of the effort to reach the Red Planet.
Toward that end, the Air Force, which preceded NASA in managing space programs, created Project Rover in conjunction with Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The goal of Rover was to develop a reactor that could be used for propulsion. Various incarnations of the reactor the scientists developed, called Kiwi, were tested at Jackass Flats, Nevada (see video). The idea behind the reactor was to use the heat generated by fission to heat hydrogen, which would expand, generating the force to push the rocket.
None of the reactors ran for more than eight minutes, but they were considered to have met their goals. Technically, they worked.
Though the exhaust from the rockets is radioactive, the first serious program to build a nuclear-powered rocket, Project Rover, enjoyed broad government support, even after it hit some cost overrun problems in the early 1960s.
"Everyone likes Rover - the White House, the Atomic Energy Commission, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration," Time magazine wrote in 1962. "Senator [Clinton] Anderson insists that nuclear-powered rocketry is as important to U.S. security as the hydrogen bomb."
Spirit Mars Rover: "Free Wheelie!"
Alan Radecki said: With the arm sitting that close to the ground, I'm wondering if it has enough strength to push down ...
[More]
Selling Peace: Inside the Soviet Conspiracy that Transformed the U.S. Space Program by Jeffrey Manber; Apogee Books/C.G. Publishing Inc., Burlington, Ontario; (soft cover) $28.95; 2010.
The New Space Race - China vs. the United States by Erik Seedhouse; Jointly published with Praxis Publishing, UK; (soft cover) $34.95; 2010.
