Friday, June 29, 2018
Thursday, June 28, 2018
Tuesday, June 26, 2018
Monday, June 25, 2018
NASA Solicits Industry for Gateway Project - commercial and international effort
On 21 June 2018,NASA issued a draft solicitation by way of a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) for proposals for the first element of the Gateway project.The Gateway is basically a small space station,most recently referred to as the Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway.Built with commercial and international partners,it will support robotic and human exploration of the Moon and beyond,including Mars,in accordance with Space Policy Directive 1.*
The draft solicitation seeks proposals for the first element of the Gateway,which is to be a high power,solar electric propulsion (SEP) spacecraft to maintain the Gateway's position in space and move it between lunar orbits as needed,NASA said.It will also power the Gateway's controls and communications.Industry's response to the draft will facilitate the issuance of a final solicitation later this summer.The current target date for the launch of this power and propulsion element by a commercial rocket is 2022.
In addition to the draft,an Industry Day has been scheduled for 10 July 2018 at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland,Ohio.
The SEP spacecraft is to enable the high rate,reliable communications between Earth and deep space that are critical for deep space spacewalks and human exploration of celestial bodies such as the Moon and Mars.*
Since 2016,companies have been developing prospective habitation elements for deep space exploration in the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) programme.Five of the firms are developing complete Gateway concepts.*
Jason Crusan is director for Advanced Exploration Systems at NASA headquarters in Washington.
The draft solicitation seeks proposals for the first element of the Gateway,which is to be a high power,solar electric propulsion (SEP) spacecraft to maintain the Gateway's position in space and move it between lunar orbits as needed,NASA said.It will also power the Gateway's controls and communications.Industry's response to the draft will facilitate the issuance of a final solicitation later this summer.The current target date for the launch of this power and propulsion element by a commercial rocket is 2022.
In addition to the draft,an Industry Day has been scheduled for 10 July 2018 at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland,Ohio.
The SEP spacecraft is to enable the high rate,reliable communications between Earth and deep space that are critical for deep space spacewalks and human exploration of celestial bodies such as the Moon and Mars.*
Since 2016,companies have been developing prospective habitation elements for deep space exploration in the Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) programme.Five of the firms are developing complete Gateway concepts.*
Jason Crusan is director for Advanced Exploration Systems at NASA headquarters in Washington.
Friday, June 22, 2018
Thursday, June 21, 2018
Wednesday, June 20, 2018
Tuesday, June 19, 2018
Monday, June 18, 2018
Friday, June 15, 2018
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
Tuesday, June 12, 2018
Bulletin:NASA ICON Mission Postponed
While being ferried,the Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems (formerly Orbital ATK) Pegasus rocket emitted off-nominal data.It is therefore being returned to Vandenberg AFB for inspection and data analysis,NASA said.The ICON spacecraft itself is in nominal condition.The mission will be rescheduled for a later date.*
Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Northrop Grumman (NOC)
Monday, June 11, 2018
Friday, June 8, 2018
Thursday, June 7, 2018
Wednesday, June 6, 2018
Tuesday, June 5, 2018
Monday, June 4, 2018
Orbital ATK Readies NASA ICON Mission
On 2 June 2018 at Vandenberg Air Force Base,California,Orbital ATK personnel finished all-day operations to move and mate the Pegasus XL rocket to the Stargazer L1011 aircraft,a converted airliner,in preparation for the 15 June (14 June EST) launch of NASA's ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer) satellite.The ICON mission,led by UC Berkeley,will study the mysterious boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space,the ionosphere.The ionosphere is a complex transitional area of plasma that thickens in the day with high ultraviolet radiation,charged particles from the Sun,and thins out again at nighttime.It can be difficult for spacecraft to navigate because of the variable drag it subjects them to.To date,relatively little is known about this critical region for telecommunications and GPS signals,which can be distorted or even completely disrupted there,and ICON,a mission of NASA Heliophysics,hopes to fill in some of the gaps.
Our increased situational awareness of the region will help protect astronauts and satellites alike,NASA says.*
The Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket was being prepared to be ferried by the Stargazer aircraft to NASA's Kwajalein Atoll facility in the remote Republic of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific,with a refueling stop at Hickam AFB,Hawaii.The NASA facility,which includes a tracking station for crewed spaceflight and NASA research,is a tenant of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site,which is primarily a test facility for US missile defence and space research programmes.The Reagan Test Site,as it is informally known,is managed by the US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) and assisted by Bechtel Corporation.Besides an impressive array of deep space and other antennae and radars,there are also launch facilities on some of the 11 islands of the Atoll that are leased from the Marshall Islands by the US Army,such as a commercial SpaceX facility on Omelek Island.*
Orbital ATK (OA)
Our increased situational awareness of the region will help protect astronauts and satellites alike,NASA says.*
The Orbital ATK Pegasus XL rocket was being prepared to be ferried by the Stargazer aircraft to NASA's Kwajalein Atoll facility in the remote Republic of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific,with a refueling stop at Hickam AFB,Hawaii.The NASA facility,which includes a tracking station for crewed spaceflight and NASA research,is a tenant of the Ronald Reagan Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site,which is primarily a test facility for US missile defence and space research programmes.The Reagan Test Site,as it is informally known,is managed by the US Army Kwajalein Atoll (USAKA) and assisted by Bechtel Corporation.Besides an impressive array of deep space and other antennae and radars,there are also launch facilities on some of the 11 islands of the Atoll that are leased from the Marshall Islands by the US Army,such as a commercial SpaceX facility on Omelek Island.*
Orbital ATK (OA)
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