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Orbital Sciences Corporation announced today that it has joined a Lockheed Martin led "all-star" team of aerospace industry innovators competing to design and build NASA's new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). Orbital's teaming agreement with Lockheed Martin continues the company's history as a key participant in the development of a next-generation human space transportation system.
Orbital will bring its expertise and extensive experience in several areas to the Lockheed Martin team, including solid fuel propulsion integration, in-orbit space systems, safety and risk management, and a new capability, in-orbit autonomous rendezvous.
+ Read News Release (Orbital)
The European Space Agency's SMART-1 spacecraft has sent back the first close-up pictures of the Moon taken in more than five years.
The test observations show three views of ancient impact craters on the pockmarked lunar surface.
SMART-1, Europe's first Moon mission, used a high-tech ion engine to gradually escape Earth's gravity after launch on Sept. 27, 2023. The slow-and-steady propulsion system makes for a cheaper mission compared to conventional rocketry. The craft spiraled outward for months, then entered a wide lunar orbit on Nov. 15 after the longest trip to the Moon ever made. It has been circling closer and closer to the Moon the past two months.
+ Read Article (Space.com)
There is no sense in submitting comment spam to this weblog. We have implemented the rel=nofollow tag for all hyperlinks in comments, so even if you do get past our defenses, your comment spam will not help out the Google ranking for your site.
Our defenses include the latest version of Movable Type (3.15), a daily updated MT-Blacklist file including many custom additions, and an administrator almost constantly engaged in this fight. You are wasting your time trying to get spam on this site.
Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) and The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA) have completed and signed a formal agreement to compete as a team for NASA's new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) and related human lunar exploration systems.
The agreement was signed on Jan. 21, just one week after the one-year anniversary of the nation's decision to renew its commitment to space exploration. It concludes a negotiation process that began in October when the companies signed a memorandum of agreement to explore teaming opportunities. The major participants in the agreement are Northrop Grumman's Integrated Systems sector and Boeing NASA Systems.
You are invited to review the draft NASA/Exploration Systems Mission Directorate Crew Exploration Vehicle solicitation. The Nation's Vision for Space Exploration sets a goal of developing a new Crew Exploration Vehicle by 2015 that is capable of carrying astronauts beyond low Earth orbit and a goal of landing astronauts on the Moon no later than 2021.
On a day that we have for the first time landed a probe on another planet's moon, it is also the first anniversary of the day that President Bush announced a new direction for our nation's space activities.
How are we doing?
Well, while the president (probably wisely) didn't emphasize it in any way after the announcement, NASA has moved forward in implementing it, with a new Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, with a new and apparently able man in charge...
+ Read Article (Transterrestrial Musings)
A European probe has landed on Saturn's moon Titan a mysterious satellite that has perplexed astronomers for decades. The probe's landing is the farthest touchdown for any human-built object to set land on another world.
Bezos' Blue Origin venture to build West Texas rocket facility
After years of work behind closed doors, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos has gone public with a plan to build a suborbital space facility on a sprawling ranch under the wide open skies of West Texas.
Bezos' Seattle-based Blue Origin suborbital space venture is starting the process to build an aerospace testing and operations center on a portion of the Corn Ranch, a 165,000-acre spread that the 41-year-old billionaire purchased north of Van Horn, Texas. Over the next six or seven years, the team would use the facility to test components for a craft that could take off and land vertically, carrying three or more riders to the edge of space.
+ Read Article (MSNBC)
+ Read Article (Van Horn Advocate)
My apologies for the lack of updates... I've been doing a lot of travelling and haven't often had internet access. Also I really haven't seen that much in the way of CEV news. Please post a comment with article title/URL if you have seen anything noteworthy.
We're still getting a ton of comment spam, and I will be upgrading the weblog software soon.
Thanks!
James Burk