"We’ve been getting inputs, advice, actions items…from the road mapping teams," said Doug McCuistion, Mars Exploration Program Director at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. "Nothing is finalized at this point. There have been no final decisions made or, frankly, any interim decisions made as yet."
+ Read Article (Space.com)
]]>However, many of those who depart likely will be replaced by new workers with skills more closely aligned with the new, deep space mission.
]]>New imagery of old Apollo touchdown spots, from the European Space Agency’s (ESA) SMART-1 probe, might put to rest conspiratorial thoughts that U.S. astronauts didn’t go the distance and scuff up the lunar landscape. NASA carried out six piloted landings on the Moon in the time period 1969 through 1972.
+ Read Article (Space.com)
]]>Pearson is responsible for vehicle avionics system analysis and software power systems for such NASA spacecraft as the Demonstration of Autonomous Rendezvous Technology (DART). DART is a flight demonstrator providing a key step in establishing automated human-free rendezvous capabilities through the use of onboard computers and sensors.
Pearson's projects also include the Orbital Express, scheduled for flight during 2006 and ground-level research to support development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV). The CEV is part of NASA's Project Constellation. The project is developing the next generation of space vehicles that will send humans to the moon, Mars and beyond.
]]>The nation’s Vision for Space Exploration set a goal of developing a new CEV by 2014. The CEV represents one building block in a future exploration architecture that can send astronauts to the moon and form the basis for exploration missions to other destinations.
The contract to build the CEV is a full and open competition. The anticipated period of performance is September, 2005 through December, 2008. The CEV acquisition will use a phased approach that anticipates a maximum of two contractors.
The two contracts will be Cost-Plus-Award-Fee. As part of the Phase 1 contract, the contractors will conduct a demonstration flight that provides risk reduction for the human-rated CEV to be delivered in 2014. The Phase 1 portion of the contract will end with a planned down select to a single prime contractor in late 2008.
The CEV proposals are due no later than 2 p.m. EST, May 2, 2005. A selection will be made in September, 2005.
For more information about the RFP on the Internet, visit:
http://exploration.nasa.gov/acquisition/cev_procurement.html
]]>Editor's Note: This is according to Keith Cowing, so as always take it with a grain (or block) of salt.
+ Read Article (SpaceRef.com)
]]>Japan's space agency, JAXA, hopes to develop a robot to conduct probes on the moon by 2015, then begin constructing a solar-powered manned research base on the moon and designing a reusable manned space vessel like the U.S. space shuttle by 2025, the Mainichi Shimbun said.
The space agency's budget could be boosted six-fold to $57 billion to finance those plans, the Mainichi said.
]]>As it has been pointed out many times before, if it is to be truly successful, the CEV system will have to remain in production for forty years or more. This is not that hard to accomplish, especially when one realizes that the Soyuz has been manufactured for nearly as long. If the CEV turns into another OSP or X-33, it will probably be the end of NASA in its current form.
+ Read Editorial (The Space Review)
He will step into the top job until President Bush nominates, and the U.S. Senate confirms, a replacement for Sean O'Keefe, agency spokesman Robert "Doc" Mirelson said Wednesday.
O'Keefe's last official day is Friday. Citing personal and financial reasons, O'Keefe decided in December to take a job as chancellor of Louisiana State University's Baton Rouge campus after three years as NASA's chief.
+ Read Article (Space.com)
]]>The multi-billion dollar Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (Jimo) mission was to have been launched in about 2015 as a demonstration for the Project Prometheus nuclear power and propulsion initiative.
Jimo is part of the ambitious Prometheus propulsion technologies programme. It would have gone into orbit around the giant planet and its moons, possibly putting landers on their surfaces in much the same way as Cassini has done with Huygens on Titan.
Nasa officials now say Jimo is too ambitious an undertaking for an initial demonstration project, and a search for an alternative mission is underway.
+ Read Article (BBC)
]]>+ Read Article (NASA Watch)
]]>As my time permits, I will continue to write articles on CEV-related topics, and of course will be happy to post any reader submissions.
Thanks and here's to another year of CEV blogging!
James Burk
Editor, ProjectConstellation.US
The cooperation will focus on developing a miniature synthetic aperture radar sensor that the lunar probe will use to develop detailed maps of the Moon’s surface, Rustan said in a Jan. 25 interview.
The lunar probe is expected to begin its mission, which will run over the course of a year, in 2008. The Pentagon is planning to launch the fourth in a series of small spacecraft known as TacSat or Joint Warfighter spacecraft that year.
+ Read Article (MSNBC)
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