SpaceX and Bigelow Aerospace Join Forces to Offer Crewed Missions to Private Space Stations
Hawthorne, CA, and Las Vegas, NV– Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Bigelow Aerospace (BA) have agreed to conduct a joint marketing effort focused on international customers. The two companies will offer rides on SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, using the Falcon launch vehicle to carry passengers to Bigelow habitats orbiting the Earth.
According to Bigelow Aerospace’s President and Founder, Robert T. Bigelow, “We’re very excited to be working with our colleagues at SpaceX to present the unique services that our two companies can offer to international clientele. We’re eager to join them overseas to discuss the substantial benefits that BA 330 leasing can offer in combination with SpaceX transportation capabilities”.
The BA 330 is a habitat that will provide roughly 330 cubic meters of usable volume and can support a crew of up to six. Bigelow Aerospace plans to connect two or more BA 330s in orbit to provide national space agencies, companies, and universities with unparalleled access to the microgravity environment.
“SpaceX and BA have a lot in common. Both companies were founded to help create a new era in space enterprise,” said SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell. “Together we will provide unique opportunities to entities — whether nations or corporations — wishing to have crewed access to the space environment for extended periods. I’m looking forward to working with Bigelow Aerospace and engaging with international customers,” Shotwell explained.
SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft will be capable of carrying seven passengers to orbit. With the company’s Falcon family of rockets, SpaceX is working to create the world’s safest human spaceflight system.
The companies will kick off their marketing effort in Asia. Representatives from Bigelow and SpaceX will meet with officials in Japan shortly after the next launch of the Falcon 9 and Dragon spacecraft.
About SpaceX
SpaceX designs, manufactures and launches the world’s most advanced rockets and spacecraft. With a diverse manifest of launches to deliver commercial and government satellites to orbit, SpaceX is the world’s fastest growing space launch company. In 2010, SpaceX became the first commercial company in history to put a spacecraft into orbit and return it safely to Earth. With the retirement of the space shuttle, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft will soon carry cargo and astronauts to and from the International Space Station for NASA. Founded in 2002 by Elon Musk, SpaceX is a private company owned by management and employees, with minority investments from the Founders Fund, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Valor Equity Partners. The company has over 1,700 employees in California, Texas, Washington, D.C., and Florida.
For more information, visit spacex.com.
About Bigelow Aerospace
Bigelow Aerospace is an entrepreneurial company dedicated to revolutionizing space commerce and exploration via the development of next-generation expandable habitat technology. Bigelow Aerospace’s habitats will offer unprecedented amounts of volume on-orbit while providing astronauts with enhanced protection against radiation and physical debris. Bigelow habitats are also lighter and more affordable than traditional rigidized metallic structures. Bigelow Aerospace is the first and only organization to demonstrate expandable habitat technology in orbit, via the successful launch of Genesis I in 2006 and Genesis II in 2007. Bigelow Aerospace has manufacturing facilities and offices in Nevada and
Maryland.
For more information, visit bigelowaerospace.com.
Hubble Observes a Dwarf Galaxy with a Bright Nebula
The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has made detailed observations of the dwarf galaxy NGC 2366. While it lacks the elegant spiral arms of many larger galaxies, NGC 2366 is home to a bright, star-forming nebula and is close enough for astronomers to discern its individual stars.
VISTA Views a Vast Ball of Stars
A new image of Messier 55 from ESO’s VISTA infrared survey telescope shows tens of thousands of stars crowded together like a swarm of bees. Besides being packed into a relatively small space, these stars are also among the oldest in the Universe. Astronomers study Messier 55 and other ancient objects like it, called globular clusters, to learn how galaxies evolve and stars age.
Read more:
Keck Observatory Presents How Stars Destroyed Most of the Atoms in the Universe
W. M. Keck Observatory Presents
How Stars Destroyed Most of the Atoms in the Universe
University of California at
Riverside
The first galaxies had an
extraordinary impact on the young universe. Their ultraviolet light destroyed
nearly all of the atoms in the cosmos. This process, called reionization, had
severe consequences for galaxies trying to form thereafter. Unfortunately, we
have no idea how it happened. In galaxies today ultraviolet light cannot
escape, so the first galaxies must have been very different from those we see
today. Dr. Siana will describe the quest to detect these first galaxies and
their impact on the early universe.
This event also will be webcast live via the Keck
Observatory website.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
7:00 PM
at the Kahilu
Theatre
Free and Open to the Public
Doors Open at 6:30 PM
SpaceX to Webcast Static Fire for Upcoming
Mission Would Make SpaceX the First Commercial Company to Attempt to Send a Spacecraft
to the International Space Station
Hawthorne, CA – On Monday, April 30, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) will webcast a static fire test of the Falcon 9 rocket’s nine powerful Merlin engines in preparation for the company’s upcoming launch.
The webcast, available at spacex.com, is set to begin at 2:30 PM ET/ 11:30 AM PT, with the actual static fire targeted for 3:00 PM ET/ 12:00 PM PT.
The 9 engine test will take place at the company’s Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station as part of a full launch dress rehearsal leading up to the second Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) launch. During the rehearsal, SpaceX engineers will run through all countdown processes as though it were launch day. The exercise will end with all nine engines firing at full power for two seconds.
After the test, SpaceX will conduct a thorough review of all data as engineers make final preparations for the upcoming launch, currently targeted for May 7. SpaceX plans to launch its Dragon spacecraft into low-Earth orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket. During the mission, Dragon’s sensors and flight systems will be subject to a series of tests to determine if the vehicle is ready to berth with the space station. If NASA decides Dragon is ready, the vehicle will attach to the
station and astronauts will open Dragon’s hatch and unload the cargo onboard.
This will be the first attempt by a commercial company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station, a feat previously performed by only a few
governments. Success is not guaranteed. If any aspect of the mission is not successful, SpaceX will learn from the experience and try again. It is also the
second demonstration flight under NASA’s program to develop commercial supply services to the International Space Station.
The first SpaceX COTS flight, in December 2010, made SpaceX the first commercial company in history to send a spacecraft to orbit and return it safely to Earth. Once SpaceX demonstrates the ability to carry cargo to the space station, it will begin to fulfill its Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract for NASA for at least 12 missions to carry cargo to and from the space station. The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft were designed to one day carry astronauts; both the COTS and CRS missions will yield valuable flight experience toward this goal.
SpaceX also plans to broadcast the entire launch live at spacex.com on launch day.
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NASA Administrator Bolden, Deputy Administrator Garver Announced as Keynote Speakers at ISDC 2012
(Washington, DC – April 23, 2012) The National Space Society is pleased to announce NASA Administrator Charles Bolden as the Keynote speaker for the Opening Plenary Session at this year’s International Space Development Conference (ISDC), being held at the Grand Hyatt Washington (DC) hotel May 25th. In addition, NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver is confirmed as the Keynote speaker for NSS’s Annual Awards Dinner on Sunday evening, May 27th.
Retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden, Jr., began his duties as the twelfth Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration on July 17, 2009. Gen. Bolden’s 34-year career with the Marine Corps included 14 years as a member of NASA’s Astronaut Office. He traveled to orbit four times aboard the space shuttle between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions. His flights included deployment of the Hubble SpaceTelescope and the first joint U.S.-Russian shuttle mission, which featured a cosmonaut as a member of his crew.
As Deputy Administrator, Ms. Garver is NASA’s second in command and this is the second time she has worked for the agency. During her first period of service (1996 to 2001), she served as a special assistant to the NASA Administrator and senior policy analyst for the Office of Policy and Plans, where she was later named Associate Administrator. Reporting to the NASA Administrator in the latter position, she oversaw the analysis, development and integration of policies and long-range plans, the NASA Strategic Management System, and the NASA Advisory Council.
Ms. Garver, who also worked for NSS from 1984 through 1996 and served as the Society’s Executive Director for a number of years, will also participate in a panel exploring NSS’s heritage during a plenary session the same morning, as
part of the Society’s celebration of its 25th Anniversary year.
About ISDC: The International Space Development Conference is the annual conference of the National Space Society. ISDC 2012 will take place at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, DC from May 24 through 28, 2012. ISDC brings
together a diverse group of NASA officials, aerospace industry leaders and interested private citizens to engage in discussions about today’s prevalent space issues in order to stimulate innovation and overcome the obstacles that hinder human advancement off the Earth.
About The National Space Society (NSS): NSS is an independent, educational, grassroots, non-profit organization dedicated to the creation of a spacefaring civilization. Founded when the National Space Institute and
the L5 Society merged in 1987, NSS is widely acknowledged as the preeminent citizen’s voice on space. NSS has over 12,000 members and supporters, and over 50 chapters in the United States and around the world. The society
publishes Ad Astra magazine, an award-winning periodical chronicling the most important developments in space. For more information about NSS, please visit www.nss.org.
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For more information about or to register
for ISDC 2012, please visit http://isdc.nss.org/2012.
For more information on media access to the ISDC, please contact Debbie Cohen
at ISDC2012.Media@nss.org or 202-429-1600
A Cluster Within a Cluster
The star cluster NGC 6604 is shown in this new image taken by the Wide Field Imager attached to the MPG/ESO 2.2-metre telescope at the La Silla Observatory in Chile. It is often overlooked in favour of its more prominent neighbour, the Eagle Nebula (also known as Messier 16), that lies a mere wingspan away. But the framing of this picture, which places the star cluster in a landscape of surrounding gas and dust clouds, shows what a beautiful object NGC 6604 is in its own right.
Read more: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1218/
Discovery Lands at Washington Dulles Airport After It’s Final Ferry Flight
The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft ferrying Discovery touched down at Dulles at 11:05 a.m EDT. This completes the final ferry flight of Discovery.Space shuttle Discovery has departed NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the last time. Instead of blazing a trail toward low Earth orbit, the agency’s most-flown shuttle is on its way to Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va.
Landing at Dulles
Secured atop NASA’s Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), Discovery took off from Kennedy at 7 a.m. EDT, just as the first light dawned at the Shuttle Landing Facility. Invited guests, members of the media and NASA officials were joined at the runway by members of Discovery’s first and last astronaut crews for an emotional send-off.
ESO’s ALMA Reveals Workings of Nearby Planetary System
A new observatory still under construction has given astronomers a major breakthrough in understanding a nearby planetary system and provided valuable clues about how such systems form and evolve. Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have discovered that planets orbiting the star Fomalhaut must be much smaller than originally thought. This is the first published science result from ALMA in its first period of open observations for astronomers worldwide.
Read more: http://www.eso.org/public/news/eso1216/
‘First Light’ of Powerful New Science Instrument
Keck Observatory is celebrating the first two nights of viewing the heavens with MOSFIRE. Installed on the Keck I telescope, MOSFIRE (Multi-Object Spectrometer For Infra-Red Exploration) has been many years in the making and is expected to vastly increase the data gathering power of what is already the world’s most productive ground-based observatory.
We’ve collected the “first light” images from the first two nights of MOSFIRE’s commissioning, as well as a video showing the instrument being inserted into the back of the telescope.
Click here to see it all and to read more about MOSFIRE’s unique capabilities.
New Keck Astronomy Talks Online:
- The Accelerating Universe: On the Secrets of Dark EnergyDr. Brain Schmidt, Australian National University, March 20, 2012.
- From Hot Jupiters to Habitable Planets Dr. Debra Fischer, Yale University, Feb. 27, 2012.
- Seeing the Invisible Universe Dr. Tom Soifer, Caltech, Feb. 9, 2012.
- Discovering Dark Stars Dr. Adam Burgasser, U.C. San Diego, Jan. 24, 2012.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR: May 10, 2012 Keck Astronomy Talk at the Kahilu Theater in Waimea
U.C. Riverside astronomer Dr. Brian Siana will present “How Stars
Destroyed Most of the Atoms in the Universe.” This talk will be streamed
live on the Internet via the Keck Observatory website