HOUSTON — The NASA-led International Space Station (ISS) Mission Management Team has approved plans for the scheduled unberthing of the first U.S. commercial resupply mission spacecraft later this week, as the astronauts aboard the orbiting science laboratory wrapped up a fast-paced, 2,400-lb. cargo exchange.
HOUSTON — The SpaceX Dragon capsule rendezvoused with the International Space Station (ISS) May 25, overcoming some late tracking issues to become the first U.S. commercial resupply craft to dock with the six-person orbital science laboratory. Astronauts Don Pettit, Andre Kuipers and Joe Acaba grappled the unpiloted spacecraft with the station’s 17.6-meter (58-ft.) Canadarm2 at 9:56 a.m. EDT, as Dragon flew in formation 10 meters below. The freighter was berthed at the station’s U.S. segment Harmony module at 12:02 p.m. EDT.
Exploration program experts looking for ways to restructure NASA’s downsized Mars program will have about 400 concepts and abstracts to review, following a call for ideas in connection with an upcoming workshop in Houston.
Solar-electric propulsion (SEP) is high on NASA’s priority list of technologies required for long-term human space exploration. And within that arena, figuring out how to deploy large, lightweight solar arrays in space is a key enabler. Results are starting to come in under the relatively open-ended technology development effort launched at the beginning of the Obama administration. While Congress hasn’t approved the billion-dollar funding levels for the work the White House wanted, it has sprung enough money to make a start.
NEXT UP: With SpaceX’s first cargo demonstration mission to the International Space Station (ISS) a success so far, NASA is looking ahead to the first flights of its other Commercial Orbital Transportation Services contractor, Orbital Sciences Corp. Orbital’s first demonstration launch of its Antares/Cygnus vehicle — which will not visit the ISS — could occur as early as August, according to NASA ISS Program Manager Mike Suffredini.
The results of Aviation Week's 2012 Top-Performing Companies (TPC) study are providing fresh evidence that downturns in U.S. and European defense spending are starting to hit contractors (p. 44). BAE Systems, Finmeccanica, General Dynamics, L-3 Communications, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon all saw their TPC scores decline from last year. And the strong gains in operational efficiency made by defense primes during the past decade are showing tentative signs of weakening.
Jim McNerney smiled broadly as he bounded onto a podium in a historic hangar at Reagan Washington National Airport this month, a gleaming Boeing 787 serving as a dramatic backdrop just beyond the open hangar door. The chairman and CEO of Boeing was accepting the 2011 Robert J. Collier Trophy on behalf of the team that developed the 787, a jet that is finally in service following more than three years of delays.
Michael Bruno (Washington), Mark Carreau (Houston)
One thing has been made certain by the mission launched last week to the International Space Station (ISS) by Space Exploration Technologies Inc.: governments now have someone else they can call to send their cargo into space. The demonstration of Dragon's capabilities since its May 22 launch make clear that cargo transport to the ISS can be viably outsourced to at least one commercial player.
Here is one simple lesson to be gleaned from Aviation Week's Top-Performing Companies (TPC Study): avoid overconfidence. History shows that a first-place finish is no guarantee of long-term success. Conversely, even consistently strong performers have a bad year every now and then.
As top-tier defense contractors begin to move away from an era of big-ticket weapons procurements, they are scrutinizing their portfolios in an effort to weed out lower-performing businesses. And one problem area keeps coming to the forefront: low-margin government services businesses.
When the U.S. Air Force showed only a tepid interest in unmanned aircraft, a small San Diego company, General Atomics, decided to build them on its own dime. So when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks hit and U.S. forces were suddenly sent to combat guerilla-like forces in the mountains of Afghanistan, the company's Hellfire-equipped Predators were not just a concept—they were in production.
NASA is spending about $3 million on the initial SEP studies, originally set up by the technology element in the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.
HOUSTON — The SpaceX Dragon, working flawlessly, sailed 1.5 mi. below the International Space Station (ISS) early May 24, clearing the way for the first U.S. commercial delivery of cargo to the orbiting laboratory.
MOTOR RUNNING: Alliant Techsystems plans to test a GEM-60 solid rocket motor on May 31 at its test facility in Promontory, Utah. The 60-in.-dia. graphite epoxy motor (GEM) is designed to provide additional thrust to United Launch Alliance Delta IV medium rockets. The 90-sec. “cold motor” test, designed to evaluate performance at low temperatures, will see the motor produce a maximum thrust of 270,000 lb. Test objectives include verification of the motor’s new vectorable nozzle and its insulation.
SPACE SPENDING: As SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft makes its way toward its first rendezvous with the International Space Station, the Sunlight Reporting Group has tallied up the money the Hawthorne, Calif.-based company has spread around on Capitol Hill. SpaceX has spent $4 million lobbying Congress and given more than $800,000 in political contributions since its founding a decade go, the group says. Founder Elon Musk has donated $35,800 to President Barack Obama’s re-election committee, $15,000 to the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee and $5,000 to Sen.
NASA and the National Space Biomedical Research Institute will distribute $26 million among 29 teams selected to investigate the range of health and performance issues confronting humans during long-duration spaceflight.
HOUSTON — The unpiloted SpaceX Dragon spacecraft sped toward its first encounter with the International Space Station May 23, on the eve of a crucial set of maneuvers and communication exchanges intended to bring the first U.S. commercial resupply ship within a mile and a half of the six-person orbiting science lab.
HOUSTON — SpaceX’s Dragon capsule thundered into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket early May 22, marking a successful start in the 10-year-old company’s bid to carry out the first U.S. commercial resupply mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
Mankind’s next objective in space exploration should be the establishment of a permanent international base on the Moon, in the “professional opinion” of the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
LOS ANGELES — Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne (PWR) tested three separate engines over three consecutive days last week as negotiations near completion for the sale of the rocket maker from United Technologies Corp. (UTC) to an unidentified investor group.
REMOTE VIEWING: Consultancy Forecast International (FI) projects the worldwide civil and commercial remote sensing satellite market will reach $17 billion over 2012-2021, during which 108 remote sensing satellites will be produced. “Demand for remote sensing satellite data continues to increase,” FI says.
U.S. NAVY Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., is being awarded a $133,751,000 cost-plus-fixed-fee not-to-exceed modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-06-C-2222) for advance procurement of long-lead-time materials and pre-construction activities in support of Landing Platform Dock 27. Work will be performed in Pascagoula, Miss., and is expected to complete by June 2017. Contract funds will not expire at the end of the current fiscal year. Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, D.C., is the contracting activity.
U.S. ARMY Alliant Techsystems, Inc., Plymouth, Minn., was awarded a $58,272,447 firm-fixed-price contract. The award will provide for the modification of an existing contract to procure Spider XM-7 networked munitions systems. Work will be performed in Plymouth, Minn.; Wilmington, Mass.; and Rocket Center, W.Va., with an estimated completion date of April 30, 2013. One bid was solicited, with one bid received. The U.S. Army Contracting Command, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., is the contracting activity (W15QKN-11-C-0126).
