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Now that Sean O'Keefe has resigned, who do you think will be the next NASA Administrator?
* Gen. Pete Worden (Clementine & Delta Clipper -- this would be my pick)
* Gen. Ronald Kadish (missile defense guy & the establishment candidate -- sounds to me like a potential disaster)
* Adm. Craig Steidle (current Exploration Systems director -- he's been impressive so far)
* Frank Culbertson (former astronaut, Shuttle-Mir program mgr -- might be a good pick)
* Charles Elachi (JPL Director -- might be a good pick)
* Pete Aldridge (Moon-Mars Commission chair, fmr Air Force secretary -- not a big fan of his, he seemed somewhat out of touch during the Commission. Plus hasn't done squat to make sure the recs are going to be followed.)
* Rep. Bob Walker (Moon-Mars Commission member -- would be an ok pick, but he's not enthusiastic)
* Gen. Charles F. Bolden (former shuttle commander)
* Bob Crippen (first shuttle pilot, former NASA deputy)
* Ron Sega (former astronaut, DoD technologist)
Anybody else you have in mind?
NASA is reviewing a list of fission-powered missions that could pre-empt the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) effort now being eyed for space travel no sooner than 2016.
A special study team has identified six potential candidate missions that could be done sooner, have shorter mission durations, and would be far less difficult to implement.
* Technology Demonstration Mission to test fission power system in deep space with no specific science goal or destination.
* Lunar Geophysical Orbiter that in extended mission mode could serve as a telecom asset for future lunar missions.
* Next Generation Mars Telecommunications Station.
* Near Earth Object (NEO) Asteroid Mission that would involve stopovers at multiple objects, perhaps landing hardware on a NEO to assess the ability to modify the trajectory of a celestial body.
* Venus Orbiter, more like a Magellan II spacecraft that would carry out low altitude runs over the cloudy planet with state-of-the-art radar.
* Astrophysics Mission that would use high power levels from a fission power source, likely sending collected science information at very high data rates.
+ Read Article (Space.com)
Sean O'Keefe, the NASA administrator who guided the agency through sweeping changes after the Columbia shuttle accident, will resign and pursue a job as chancellor of Louisiana State University, agency and university officials said on Sunday.
+ Read Article (NY Times)
"It would appear that the CEV/CTS/EDS/LSAM combination would be launched into orbit separately, docked together, depart for the Moon, the CEV/LSAM would dock in lunar orbit and the CEV return to an earth or water landing. The EDS may be reusable or may be stored on orbit elsewhere and be refuelable. The requirements description also mandates that the CEV design be expandable. All four elements shall be called Constellation space vehicles.
This is very much the Wernher Von Braun Earth-Orbit-Rendezvous architecture scenario! Shades of Apollo!"
+ Read Article (NASA Watch)
NASA/Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD) plans to issue a Request for Proposal (RFP) for design, development, test and evaluation of a Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). Attached to the synopsis are the draft Statement of Work (SOW) and the draft Data Requirements Documents list for this contract. The efforts described in this SOW occur prior to NASA down-selection in 2009. These documents are available for review by potential bidders. Of particular interest to NASA are comments concerning the entrance and exit criteria for program milestones, and comments concerning the Work Breakdown Structure utilized in developing the SOW.
+ Read News Release (NASA)
+ Draft Statement of Work (NASA)
The Transformational Space Corporation (t/Space) today posted on its Web site a public version of its Mid Term Briefing to NASA, a task under the company's contract to the space agency for the development of complete architecture to realize the Exploration Vision.
The briefing is located on the “Background” page in both Flash Paper and PDF formats.
In addition, t/Space announced that it will showcase its approach to low-cost, fast-paced exploration in an exhibit at the 1 st Space Exploration Conference in Orlando , Jan. 30—Feb. 1, 2025. The conference, organized by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, will feature a panel of companies that won $3 million contracts under NASA's Concept Exploration and Refinement competition. t/Space will report on the current status of its exploration architecture studies during that panel.
+ Read Briefing (Transformational Space Corporation)
Presently, our organization has been tasked with developing a Crew Exploration Vehicle that will be used by astronauts to travel in space. We are also developing nuclear technologies that will enable long-duration space travel and evaluating plans for a new capability that may service, repair, and eventually de-orbit the Hubble Space Telescope. We are conducting research to ensure the health and safety of astronauts during long-duration space exploration far from Earth. We are actively engaged in promoting new approaches that will substantially involve industry and universities in these efforts. Our Centennial Challenges Program, which offers prizes to stimulate innovation, is one example of a novel approach.
+ Read & Download (NASA Office of Exploration Systems)
Photos of Klipper mockup at RSC Energia
Seems like somebody's personal photo gallery!
Getting the money to build it may not be so easy
Russian space officials on Tuesday unveiled a full-scale high-fidelity mockup of the spacecraft they hope will replace the veteran Soyuz space capsule. Descriptions of the Kliper (for "clipper ship") vehicle have been widely circulated in the space community but today’s presentation in Moscow was the most detailed yet.
+ Read Article (MSNBC)