Category: Aerospace

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From Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now: India Will Launch Probe to Mars Next Year

India’s PSLV-C12 India’s space program successfully launched the PSLV-C12 satellite in 2009. EPA/ISRO/HO

While we in the U.S. wait with bated breath for Mars Rover Curiosity‘s August 5 landing on the red planet, India’s space program, the Indian Space Research Organisation, has confirmed that it plans to send an orbiter to Mars in 2013. It’s one small step in a program that’s been making giant leaps in recent years, including multiple satellite launch missions.

The total price tag for the project could wind up between $70 and $90 million, a source told AFP, which would go toward a 320-ton rocket carrying the orbiter. Once in place, it would study the planet’s climate and geology. That would already be a pretty big success for the program, but the ISRO is trying to go even further, planning to launch a fully manned mission by 2016.

India’s space program has been in place since the ’60s, but it’s in more recent years that its gained notoriety. In 2009, the country successfully launched seven satellites on a single rocket and it has been providing a cost efficient means of transporting satellites into space, but it was the Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe that brought the program global attention. Officials took criticism for spending on the space program, which intensified when the ISRO lunar probe lost radio contact with the probe after ten months. But Chandrayaan-1 was deemed a major success when it discovered water and a protective magnetic field on the moon.

Of course, a mission to Mars is a whole new beast, and they’ll be up against a lot of rough history when it launches.

[AFP]

 

from Popular Science – New Technology, Science News, The Future Now

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From Engadget: Google takes one giant leap: now lets you Street View the Kennedy Space Center

Google takes one giant leap: now lets you Street View the Kennedy Space Center

Today’s a stupendous day for lovers of the one and only National Aeronautics Space Administration — nearly half as great as when we took you inside Kennedy Space Center shortly after it had opened its fascinating doors to the public. At any rate, Google announced earlier that its captivating (and sometimes troubling) Street View technology had made its way into NASA’s KSC, allowing people to check out what the compound is all about and what sort of sensational machinery lies inside. With Mountain View’s doings, you can now find your way around different spots within the Space Center, including the Launch Firing Room, Vehicle Assembly Building and, as seen above, the Space Shuttle Launch Pad. There’s a video past the break if you’re interested in a quick preview, otherwise you can give it a go yourself by clicking the more coverage link below.

 

from Engadget

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From Ars Technica: NASA picks Boeing, Sierra Nevada, and SpaceX for Commercial Crew

The Boeing CST-100 just after its successful drop test at Delamar Dry Lake, Nevada

NASA announced the two and a half winners of the third Commercial Crew development round this morning. The winners were SpaceX ($440M), Boeing ($460M) and Sierra Nevada Corporation ($212.5M), although those allocations are subject to Congressional approval.

Today’s awards give a huge advantage to the three companies that got them, because competitors will need to fund their own development in its entirety. On the other hand, by partnering with the competitors, NASA has managed to seed the development of five different manned space vehicles for under $1B so far, a leap forward for the evolving space passenger market. They’ve paid for it on a reward-for-progress basis, handing out pre-agreed amounts of money for each specified milestone.

SpaceX was well ahead of the other two competitors because of the unmanned Dragon, which has already berthed with the International Space Station. The company has borne the brunt of the development costs itself, putting in about $300 million of its own money in addition to about $75 million from NASA. DragonRider, the nickname for the manned Dragon spacecraft, will probably fly its first manned flight in 2015, coming down for an ocean landing with the aid of parachutes. However, SpaceX has completed the development of the SuperDraco thruster, which will serve primarily as a launch abort system but also allow the DragonRider to make powered landings on solid earth without parachutes.

 

from Ars Technica

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From Engadget: China’s new liquid oxygen and kerosene-fueled rocket engine lights up for testing

China's new liquid oxygen and kerosenefueld rocket engine lights up for testing

Liquid oxygen and kerosene, that’s what fuels China’s new — and freshly tested — rocket engine. When fired up on Sunday, it withstood temperatures as high as 5,432 degrees Fahrenheit (3,000 degrees Celsius) for 200 seconds and powered through almost 20,000 revolutions per minute in a rotational test. “The successful tests confirm the reliability of China’s LOX / kerosene engine,” test commander Lai Daichu told China Daily. According to China Central Television, the engine is non-toxic, pollution-free and the first of its kind for which China holds proprietary intellectual property rights — though similar engines have been used by other space agencies. The engine is on track to lend the upcoming Long March 5 rocket a total of 118 tons of thrust, giving it enough oomph to launch a 25-ton payload into low-earth orbit or 14-ton cargo into geostationary orbit. Its expected to haul additional portions of the country’s space station and aid lunar exploration, but the first voyage isn’t slated until 2014.

[Image Credit: China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation]

from Engadget

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From Engadget: China sending a probe to the moon next year to look for Moonbase Alpha

China to the Moon

State news agency Xinhua is reporting that China is planning to launch a probe to the moon in the second half of 2013. The Chang’e-3, named after the Chinese moon goddess, will deposit a lander and rover on our natural satellite to survey its bumpy surface. It’ll launch from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in Sichuan province and is a sign of the continuing ambition of the nation’s space program — after it deposited a crew on its Tiangong-1 space station two months ago.

 

from Engadget