simonbp - Slashdot User

Submission + - House Passes NASA Authorization Bill (nasaspaceflight.com) 1

Submitted by simonbp on Thursday September 30, 2010 @02:40AM

simonbp writes: The US House of Representatives has just passed the Senate version of the FY2011 NASA Authorization Act. This bill is a compromise between Obama's proposed budget and earlier House bills. It cancels Ares I in favor of commercially-operated crew transportation to ISS, adds technology development funds, and keeps a version of Orion and a new heavy-lift "Space Launch System" to both be operational by 2016. The timing of this bill was crucial to keeping key NASA personal and contractors from being laid off.

Submission + - Senate Bill Adds Shuttle Flight, New Shuttle-Deriv (orlandosentinel.com)

Submitted by simonbp on Thursday July 15, 2010 @11:52AM

simonbp writes: The Senate Commerce Committee this morning marked up a compromise NASA Authorization Act that rolls back some of Obama's plans for NASA, while keeping others. The bill adds at least one more shuttle flight, keeps Obama's technology demonstrators and commercial access to ISS (albeit at reduced funding), restores the Orion crew capsule, and replaces the Ares rockets with a Shuttle-Derived "Space Launch System" for going to the ISS and Beyond, and which could be ready as soon as 2015.

Submission + - NASA Rethinks Escape Rocket (nasaspaceflight.com)

Submitted by

simonbp

on Wednesday December 05, 2007 @05:21PM

simonbp writes: "NASA is in the process of rethinking how to save astronauts from an exploding rocket. All previous systems (US, Russian, and Chinese) all used an escape rocket housed in a tower on top of the capsule. A new effort at NASA, though, has redesigned this so that the rockets are mounted next to the capsule and housed in a much more aerodynamic bullet-shaped cover. If approved, the first flight test of the system would be in September 2008."

Submission + - China Hitching a Russian Ride to Mars

Submitted by

simonbp

on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @09:47AM

simonbp writes: "China is preparing its own Mars probe — Yinghuo-1 — that will hitch-hike a ride to the Red Planet with the Russian Phobus-Grunt probe (mission video). The development of the probe started at the Shangai Academy of Spaceflight in late 2006, and a prototype will be ready by April 2008. The Mars probe will be ready vehicle integration four months before being launched by a Soyuz-2 launch vehicle in October 2009."

Submission + - Orion Moonship Looking Less Like Apollo

Submitted by

simonbp

on Friday May 11, 2007 @11:49AM

simonbp writes: "NASA's Orion Spacecraft, designed to return the United States to the Moon, has undergone some massive changes recently. The design, which originally looked like a scaled-up version of Apollo, has evolved considerably under the prime contractor, Lockheed Martin. Changes include an encapsulated service module, circular solar panels, a rearranged reaction-control system, a larger escape rocket system, and deadbeat airbags for landing, rather than Russian-style retrorockets."

Submission + - NASA's Rollercoaster for Moon Rocket Escape

Submitted by

simonbp

on Saturday November 04, 2006 @11:48PM

simonbp writes: "Eat your heart out Disneyworld! NASA's Constellation Project has approved the Rollercoaster Escape System to be used as the Emergency Egress Systems (EES) for astronauts and pad crew to race away from the Ares I pad, should an emergency be called. The Ares I is the first of NASA's new moon/Mars rockets and is scheduled for a first manned flight in 2014."

Submission + - NASA's rollercoaster escape for Ares I

Submitted by

simonbp

on Friday September 29, 2006 @06:43PM

simonbp writes: "Looking like it would appear more at home to the nearby Disney attractions in Orlando, NASA is favouring a Rollercoaster Escape System for the Ares I pad. The Emergency Egress Systems (EES) are currently going through trade studies at NASA, with the Rollercoaster option coming out on top... The current slidewire basket system used for Shuttle crew and pad workers will be removed, with a new system installed into the taller pad configuration for the Ares [moon rocket] program."

Submission + - Lockheed and Bigelow to Build Space Hotel

Submitted by

simonbp

on Thursday September 21, 2006 @01:29PM

simonbp writes: "Lockheed Martin and Bigelow Aerospace have entered into a deal to move towards the use of the Atlas V for private manned space flight ... A formal agreement between the two companies to study Atlas V feasibility for space tourism — including up to 16 launches a year — will be announced shortly. The initiative could radically transform both the "New Space" and traditional launch marketplace ... Bigelow Aerospace plans to build an orbiting hotel from inflatable modules for space tourists. The company is interested in Lockheed Martin's Atlas V to provide human and cargo transportation to their planned space station."

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