Keep the shuttle flying

Friday, April 8, 2016

Reuseable space planes --- Buzz calls them Runway Landers

China working on one.
India working on one.
ESA working on one.
DOD has X37B, & Boeing proposed a crewed version ( X37C).
DARPA proposing one XS -1.
NASA had one--- now in museum-- even though all experts said get replacement before retiring. AND DON'T go back to Ocean landing Capsules -- Abbey

COTS ( commercial) has a Dreamchaser Runway lander with minimum payload capability.

I believe there is a message here ---- DOD & NASA need an operational RUNWAY LANDER !! BUZZ stated this in a post in 2011--- Don't throw it away, WE should improve IT!

ALSO, the SSME & solids are being used in the SLS system which uses a capsule!

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: April 7, 2016 at 9:10:59 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Meet the latest multimillionaire with an out-of-this-world idea for space

Meet the latest multimillionaire with an out-of-this-world idea for space
By Christian Davenport April 6 at 3:42 PM

Bigelow Aerospace is expected to begin testing these space habitats aboard the International Space Station. (Bill Ingalls/NASA/Reuters)
The class of wealthy entrepreneurs who have turned their childhood space passions into emerging companies has been dominated by some of the biggest names in technology and business--Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Richard Branson, Paul Allen. But now another wealthy, if lesser known, entrepreneur is about to join them on the public stage, unveiling his plans for how humans will finally spread out into the stars to stay.
On Friday, Robert Bigelow, who made millions with his extended stay hotels, is planning to send his expandable space habitat to the International Station. Once in orbit, the module will be attached to the station, inflated and then tested over a two-year period to see how it fares against the harsh environment of space. From time to time, the astronauts aboard the station will venture into the bedroom-sized pod--the first ever expandable habitat to be attached to the station, to take measurements.
Called the BEAM, the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module, is made of a kevlar-like material that expands in space once it is filled with air. Bigelow, the founder of Budget Suites of America, said he had invested $290 million of his fortune into Nevada-based Bigelow Aerospace, which has been working to develop the technology for years.
The habitat is scheduled to be flown to the station by SpaceX, founded by Musk, one of the leaders of what's often called the New Space movement--innovative ventures hoping to democratize space the way commercial aviation has.
"We're hoping this gets us a foot in the door," Bigelow said in an interview this week.
The BEAM is a first step for expandable manned habitats, but the company has already developed another line, the B330, which is 20 times as big that it hopes to also test out on the space station in preparation for flying them by 2020, Bigelow said.
The company has already been in talks with commercial companies and foreign governments who want to fly their experiments and astronauts to the micro-gravity environment of space, Bigelow said. There is only so much room on the International Space Station, where competition for time and space can sometimes be fierce, he said.
"It's not as though there isn't a demand," he said.
There are six astronauts on the station at any one time. The Russians and Americans get most of the slots, meaning there are lot of countries whose astronauts fly only infrequently.
"How are they going to have a human space program if they fly once every three years," he said. "That's nothing. We've had a lot of conversations with different countries, and we know they are potentially costumers for us."
NASA is interested in the technology as well for its deep space missions. The expandable modules can be packed up tight so they don't take up as much room on a rocket as traditional habitats. That's key, NASA said in a blog post last year, for manned missions to Mars, where "several rockets filled with cargo and supplies will be deployed to await the crews' arrival."
A lower-volume inflatable habitat could reduce the number of launches needed for the mission and bring down the cost, NASA said.
Bigelow said the habitats could be used by astronauts visiting the moon. Once a fleet of the habitats is set up in low Earthy orbit, a space tug vehicle could pull the habitats into lunar orbit to await the explorers. The habitats could even land if outfitted with the right equipment, and be used as a lunar base.
But that's years off.
In the meantime, the BEAM is scheduled to stay affixed to the station for two years while it's tested for radiation, temperature and how it stands up to debris swirling through space at 17,500 mph.
The BEAM was supposed to fly to the station last year but was delayed after SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket exploded.
SpaceX's launch is scheduled for Friday afternoon from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It'll be the first flight to resupply the space station with food and supplies since one of its Falcon 9 rockets blew up last year. SpaceX promises a show of its own after the launch, attempting another one of its landing on a floating platform at sea.
In December, SpaceX successfully landed its booster vertically on a landing pad at Cape Canaveral, but so far has not been quite able to pull it off on the sea platform it calls an autonomous spaceport drone ship. The company is on a quest to recover and reuse the first stage of its rockets, the most expensive part, in an effort to lower the cost of spaceflight.

Christian Davenport covers federal contracting for The Post's Financial desk. He joined The Post in 2000 and has served as an editor on the Metro desk and as a reporter covering military affairs. He is the author of "As You Were: To War and Back with the Black Hawk Battalion of the Virginia National Guard."

© 1996-2016 The Washington Post

Fwd: Ariane 6 designers say they’ll beat SpaceX prices on per-kilogram basis

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: April 7, 2016 at 9:14:49 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Ariane 6 designers say they'll beat SpaceX prices on per-kilogram basis

Ariane 6 designers say they'll beat SpaceX prices on per-kilogram basis
by Peter B. de Selding — April 6, 2016
Ariane 6 rocket development managers say they are more confident than ever that the vehicle will debut as scheduled in 2020 and will match or beat the price points for today's SpaceX Falcon 9 Upgrade rocket. Credit: ASL
LES MUREAUX, France – Europe's next-generation Ariane 6 rocket remains on track for a 2020 first launch with a cost structure allowing the heavier Ariane 64 version to advertise per-kilogram prices below today's Space X Falcon 9, European government and industry officials said April 6.
They said they saw no roadblocks to the 2020 first-flight date despite what they described as noncritical delays that have no impact on the rocket's design, performance or cost targets.
These issues include a delay of several months in the ramp-up of Airbus Safran Launchers (ASL), which is the Ariane 6 prime contractor, due to tax issues in France, and an extended antitrust review by the European Commission of ASL's plan to become the dominant shareholder of the Arianespace commercial launch consortium.
Addressing a press briefing here at Airbus Safran Launchers' production site, ASL Chief Executive Alain Charmeau said he expected the expected transfer of cash from Safran to Airbus to occur before the end of April.
Airbus and Safran had agreed that Safran would pay Airbus 800 million euros ($874 million) in cash, in addition to its rocket-engine manufacturing capability, to become a 50-50 ASL shareholder with Airbus.
Airbus officials since the beginning of the year have been negotiating with French tax authorities to determine how to minimize the tax bite of the cash transfer, which industry officials could be as high as 500 million euros, leaving Airbus with a net of just 300 million euros.
Delays in the cash transfer have meant that ASL, which is expected to count 8,000 employees, has been operating with only around 400 employees. In addition, it has made it difficult for the initial ASL team to present a fixed-price Ariane 6 production proposal to the 22-nation European Space Agency, which is financing the majority of Ariane 6 development.
Charmeau and other officials attending the briefing said there has been positive movement on the tax issue in recent days and that a late-April conclusion appeared possible.
ASL then will provide its Ariane 6 cost proposal – Charmeau called it a "fixed price with variations" – by the end of April. Negotiations on the details will follow, after which ESA will conduct a scheduled Program Implementation Review.
"We will agree with ESA on an escalation formula [in contract pricing] in order to update the prices according to certain criteria between now and the end of the development phase," Charmeau said. "It's an inflation computation."
ESA will submit its conclusions of its review, which its governments had ordered as a condition of releasing the full complement of Ariane 6 funding — to the agency's Ariane 6 participating nations in time for a decision by ESA's ruling council on Sept. 13.
The European Commission, which is the executive arm of the 28-nation European Union, has already approved ASL's formation with several minor caveats. But ASL's proposal to purchase the 35 percent stake in Arianespace now held by the French government faces a deeper review.
The commission has said the review is likely to end, possibly with requirements that ASL must meet, by mid-July.
Airbus officials in the past have referred to the creation of ASL, the signing of the ESA Ariane 6 contract and the de facto takeover of Arianespace as an indivisible package indispensable for the success of the Ariane 6 project.
Charmeau repeated this assessment during the briefing, but said that the commission's antitrust investigation "will have no effect" on the Ariane 6 design and contract schedule, assuming that the review is finished by September.
The commission is looking at whether Arianespace's minority shareholders, who are Ariane 6 contractors, will be protected once Airbus Safran Launchers raises its Arianespace shareholding to 74 percent from today's 39 percent.
The commission is also reviewing concerns expressed by satellite builders that Airbus, which is a major manufacturer of commercial satellites, might give its own satellites preferential treatment in setting the Ariane 6 manufest.
Ariane 6 comes in two versions. The Ariane 62 has two solid-fueled strap-on boosters, which also serve as the first stage of Europe's Vega small-satellite launcher, and is capable of placing a 5,000-kilogram satellite into geostationary transfer orbit.
The Ariane 64 carries four strap-on boosters and can place satellites weighing a combined 10,500 kilograms into that orbit, which is where most commercial telecommunications satellites operate.
Patrick Bonguet, Ariane 6 program head at ASL, said Ariane 6 is keeping to its promise of reducing per-kilogram launch prices by 40-50 percent compared to today's Ariane 5.
The goal, as it was in the beginning, is to complete with Hawthorne, California-based SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. "Ariane 6 will have twice the mass and twice the volume of the Falcon 9, at less than twice the price," Bonguet said.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 Upgrade recently demonstrated its ability to carry a 5,300-kilogram telecommunications satellite to geostationary transfer orbit by stretching its capacity to the limit.
Bonguet was referring to a fully loaded Ariane 6, with 10,500 kilograms of satellite payload, and comparing that launch's price to today's Falcon 9, which typically carries just one geostationary-orbit satellite per launch.
SpaceX prices are typically around $60 million per commercial launch. By the time the Ariane 6 enters service – the initial launch in mid-2020 is scheduled to lead to the full cadence of 11-12 missions per year by 2023 – SpaceX plans to be reusing its Falcon 9 first stage on a regular basis.
SpaceX has said reusing the stage should allow them to reduce Falcon 9 prices by around 30 percent.

© 2016 SpaceNews, Inc. All rights reserved.

Fwd: Scott Kelly Named Breitling Watches Ambassador

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: April 7, 2016 at 9:17:33 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Scott Kelly Named Breitling Watches Ambassador

Year-in-Space Astronaut Scott Kelly Named Breitling Watches Ambassador
By Robert Z. Pearlman, collectSPACE.com Editor | April 6, 2016 12:28pm ET
Scott Kelly, seen wearing a virtual reality headset aboard the space station in February 2016, is also sporting a Breitling chronograph. Now back on the Earth and retired from NASA, Kelly has become a brand ambassador for the Swiss watch manufacturer.
Credit: NASA
An astronaut who set a record for time in space has now signed on to represent the brand of luxury watches that helped track his 8,168 hours and 42 minutes circling the Earth.
Scott Kelly, who in March completed an almost year-long mission aboard the International Space Station — a first for a U.S. astronaut — was announced on Tuesday (April 5) as the new ambassador for Breitling, the Swiss manufacturer that made two of the timepieces he wore while in orbit.
"If you look at Scott's impressive career in space, you can't help but respect the longevity and duration of time he has spent in space," said Thierry Prissert, president of Breitling USA, in a statement. [One Year in Space: Epic Space Station Mission in Photos]
Kelly, who retired from NASA on April 1, logged more than 340 days during his most recent space station expedition, setting a record for the longest single mission flown by an American. Totaling the time he spent on his four missions, Kelly tallied more than 520 days off the planet, more than any other NASA astronaut to date (Jeff Williams, currently aboard the station, will surpass that record in August).
During his almost year-long mission, Kelly wore an Omega Speedmaster chronograph issued to him by NASA, but he also brought with him two Breitling timepieces: a limited-edition wristwatch equipped with a calendar function and a bright yellow model outfitted with a dual frequency distress beacon.
"Breitling watches set the standard for how a chronograph should perform," Kelly said in the same statement. "So when I volunteered for the yearlong mission, I needed to have my Navitimer 1461 and Emergency [watches] with me."
The Navitimer 1461 was gifted to Scott by his twin brother, Mark, who is also a former NASA astronaut.
During the March 2015 to March 2016 mission, Mark — on the ground — and Scott in space were the focus of a series of experiments as part of NASA's Twins Study.
With the newly-announced Breitling partnership, the Kellys now share something else in common.
"Being close to my brother, Mark, who is [also] a Breitling Ambassador, I have become familiar with Breitling, so I am really excited to be joining the Breitling family," Scott said.
Breitling's association with astronauts extends beyond the Kellys, dating back to the fourth American in space.
A Breitling wrist chronograph is seen floating in front of a window on board the International Space Station.
Credit: Breitling
In 1962, Scott Carpenter wore a Breitling Navitimer on his orbital mission aboard the Mercury space capsule Aurora 7, making that timepiece the first wrist chronograph to be worn by a U.S. astronaut in space.
Back on Earth, Carpenter's fellow Mercury astronaut Wally Schirra and moonwalker Buzz Aldrin also sported Breitling watches as personal timepieces after they left NASA.
Scott Kelly said that it was the quality and precision of the watches that drew him to wear and partner with Breitling.
"As the commander of a mission to the International Space Station, I [relied] heavily upon my instruments to perform in pressure-packed circumstances," Kelly said. "Their tireless effort to be at the cutting-edge of chronograph production is pretty remarkable."
See the Breitling watches that Scott Kelly wore aboard the space station at collectSPACE.

© 1999-2016 collectSPACE.com All rights reserved.