Boeing to Build Spacecraft at Shuttle Hangar

Associated Press
http://www.foxnews.com/

• Boeing
  Helping pave the road for the future of commercial spaceflight, Boeing is hard at work on the research and development of a new space capsule aimed at flying people to the International Space Station.

ORLANDO, Fla. –  Boeing is taking over one of NASA's old space shuttle hangars to build a new capsule that the company hopes will lift astronauts to orbit in four or five years.

More than 100 Boeing, NASA and state and federal officials gathered in the massive empty hangar -- Orbiting Processing Facility No. 3 -- for the announcement of the first-of-its-kind agreement allowing a private company to take over the government property.

The aerospace company expects to create 550 high-tech jobs at Kennedy Space Center over the next four years, 140 of them by the end of next year. That's less than 10 percent of the approximately 6,000 shuttle jobs lost in Florida over the past several years, but Gov. Rick Scott and other lawmakers at the ceremony said they expect additional hirings by the commercial space industry.

NASA is counting on companies like Boeing, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and others to ferry cargo and astronauts to and from the International Space Station in three to five years. Until then, the space agency will continue to shell out tens of millions of dollars per seat on Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

The Soyuz is the only way to get astronauts to and from the space station, ever since Atlantis returned from the final shuttle flight in July. A Soyuz rocket failure in August highlighted the risk of relying on just one type of craft.

During Monday's hourlong ceremony, lawmakers said the commercial industry is America's last hope, anytime soon, for U.S. astronauts to fly on U.S. spaceships from U.S. soil.

The Obama Administration requested $850 million in NASA's 2012 budget for the commercial space effort. The House slashed that to $312 million, but the Senate got it to $500 million, a reasonable figure given the nation's current economic situation, said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a one-time space shuttle flier.

Boeing expects to start removing shuttle platforms and modifying the hangar to suit its own purposes in the next few months.

John Mulholland, vice president and program manager of commercial programs for Boeing, said it will be sad to see all the shuttle equipment go.

"The shuttle's such an iconic vehicle. These marvelous buildings have a lot of memory," said Mulholland, a former shuttle manager. "But you've always got to be looking forward. So while the shuttle is remarkable, we're looking forward to the next phase of space exploration."

Boeing wants to ferry astronauts not only to the International Space Station, but to a commercial scientific outpost planned for orbit by Bigelow Aerospace. Each capsule will hold seven people. A test flight is planned by 2015.

The agreement calls for Boeing to use the hangar for 15 years, with an option to renew for another five. Then it will be up to Boeing to demolish the building, on NASA's get-rid-of list. Boeing is not paying NASA any rent, officials stressed, but rather will cover all operation costs and utilities.

The hangar is 197 feet long, 1,650 feet wide and 95 feet high. It was last used to ready the shuttle Discovery for its final launch earlier this year.

NASA wants to turn the space center -- long a government-only local -- into a multi-user spaceport. Other buildings are also up for grabs. Space Florida, a state agency, is working on more deals.

Tourists, meanwhile, are about to gain entree into areas that were once strictly off limits.

On Tuesday, the Vehicle Assembly Building -- where fuel tanks and booster rockets were attached to space shuttles -- will open its doors to public bus tours for the first time since 1978.

Throughout the ceremony, NASA officials and others stressed that Kennedy Space Center is not going out of business.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the dream is alive," Nelson told the crowd.

NASA relinquished its shuttle fleet to concentrate on new rockets and spacecraft that will be able to carry astronauts beyond low Earth orbit. An asteroid is the first stop. Mars is the prize.

William Shatner Helps Us Say Goodbye to the Space Shuttle

From: http://furiousfanboys.com/

There are only two Space Shuttle missions left. Endeavor goes up later this month, and Atlantis launches her final mission (and the final Space Shuttle launch ever) on June 28th. As space buffs, it’s pretty sad to be saying goodbye to the shuttle program. But who better to help us say goodbye than Captain Kirk himself? NASA has released a fourteen-minute video narrated by William Shatner that gives a brief history of the shuttle program, and showing what goes into a shuttle launch and it’s described as only Shatner can. Check it out.

SpaceX Reveals The Falcon Heavy, The Most Powerful Rocket Since The Mighty Saturn V

by Matt Burns
from http://www.crunchgear.com/

SpaceX teased the world last week with some rocket pr0n that hinted that the company was finally ready to reveal its Falcon Heavy mega rocket. Well, that’s what the company did minutes ago in a Washington DC press conference. World, meet the Falcon Heavy. She might take us back to the Moon.






The Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful and capable launch platform. At 52,000 kg the payload capability is nearly double that of the current heavy lifter, the Space Shuttle and its 24,400 kg carrying capacity. This super strength is thanks to a three banks of nine engines that combine to generate 17 MN (3,800,000 lb) of thrust at liftoff. SpaceX claims that the three core design makes the Falcon Heavy as powerful as a three stage rocket. (Like the Saturn V) Cross-feeding propellant from the side boosters leaves the center core the majority of the fuel even after the two boosters separate. This function is optional and can be disabled for lower-mass launches.

While impressive, it’s still half as powerful as the 44-year old Saturn V’s 7,648,000 lb record. Still, SpaceX’s CEO, Elon Musk stated that it’s powerful enough to send man back to the Moon and it very well do just that since the the Falcon Heavy complies with NASA’s human rating standards. The Falcon Heavy is expected to blast off for the first time in 2012. Space just got exciting again. [SpaceX]

NASA employees make a human spaceship in the Kennedy Center parking lot

by NASAKennedy

Employees at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., took a few moments to assemble for a historic aerial photo Friday outside Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building. Thousands of workers stood side-by-side to form an outline of a space shuttle. The event was organized in honor of the Space Shuttle Program's 30-year legacy.



If a recognizable person appears in this video, use for commercial purposes may infringe a right of privacy or publicity. It may not be used to state or imply the endorsement by NASA employees of a commercial product, process or service, or used in any other manner that might mislead. Accordingly, it is requested that if this video is used in advertising and other commercial promotion, layout and copy be submitted to NASA prior to release.

Space Shuttle Discovery's Final Launch

From: http://www.theatlantic.com/

Space Shuttle Discovery is towed from the shuttle landing facility to the orbiter processing facility at Kennedy Space Center on April 20, 2010.

(Matt Stroshane/Getty Images)

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, a space shuttle main engine secured on a Hyster forklift is installed in space shuttle Discovery in Orbiter Processing Facility-3. Three main engines, weighing 7,000 pounds each, will be installed for the STS-133 mission to the International Space Station. Engines are inspected and maintained in the nearby Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility before installation. (NASA/Jack Pfaller) 

At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, space shuttle Discovery begins its nighttime trek, known as "rollout," from the Vehicle Assembly Building to Launch Pad 39A. It will take the shuttle, attached to its external fuel tank, twin solid rocket boosters and mobile launcher platform, about six hours to complete the move atop a crawler-transporter. (NASA/Frankie Martin) 

Click here for the Entire Gallery of the FINAL LAUNCH OF THE DISCOVERY SPACE SHUTTLE

Shuttle Flights Down to Final Five

The space shuttle program, which has been the heart of human space flight since 1981, is due to end in 2010, but the fleet has a lot left to do.

By Irene Klotz

From: http://news.discovery.com/space/final-space-shuttle-flights.html

A computer-generated scene gives the perspective of a crewmember looking through a viewing dome, called the Cupola, on the International Space Station. Several of the Great Lakes help to form the backdrop for the scene. The cupola will be installed this year.
NASA

After 29 years of space shuttle flights, NASA plans to wrap up the program with five missions to complete construction of the International Space Station and retire the fleet before the end of 2010.

"It's a big growth year ... the last major growth spurt for the International Space Station," said Kirk Shireman, NASA's deputy manager for the station program.

The first shuttle mission of the year, scheduled for launch in February, will be devoted to delivering the last U.S.-owned module to the outpost. The connecting node, named Tranquility, will serve as crew quarters for four of the station astronauts, with two more crew sleeping berths located in the Russian service module.

Shuttle Endeavour also is scheduled to deliver a unique viewing dome called the cupola. The Italian-built pod has seven windows to give station residents a 360-degree view outside so they can oversee spacewalks and robotics operations, look at Earth and star-gaze.

"We'll be able to look in all directions at one time," said station commander Jeff Williams.

WATCH VIDEO: Kasey-Dee Gardner finds out what it is like to be launch director at NASA.

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In March, NASA plans to launch shuttle Discovery with tons of spare parts that will keep the station operational through at least 2015 and most likely to 2020 and beyond.

None of the other spacecraft that travel to the station can carry as much as the shuttle, which can hold about 50,000 pounds of cargo, so NASA is trying to stockpile as much as possible.

"We're going to finish strong with the shuttle and make sure we leave station in the best possible posture," said Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space operations.

In May, shuttle Atlantis will make its final flight, carrying a Russian-made docking port and research module. Endeavour's swan song in July will be devoted to delivering a pallet of spare parts and a particle physics experiment known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, or AMS.

The device, which is to be mounted to the outside of the station, is designed to look for evidence of dark matter, antimatter and other exotic phenomena.

The last flight on the shuttle's manifest is targeted for launch in September. Shuttle Discovery will deliver a final load of supplies and spare parts. NASA is planning to leave behind a storage compartment that will remain attached to the station. An extra sixth flight is under consideration, though it has not been approved or funded.

"The shuttle has a tough year to go ... lots to do," said Gerstenmaier. "There's no vehicle that could have built and assembled the station. Now that the station's assembled, it's time to retire the shuttle, to use smaller vehicles ... to transport crew back and forth."

NASA already has turned over station crew transportation to Russia, which launches three people at a time aboard Soyuz capsules. The agency is developing a spacecraft called Orion to replace the shuttle, but is it not expected to be ready to fly before 2015 at the earliest.

The Obama administration is considering turning over crew transport to commercial carriers.

Once the shuttles are grounded, keeping the station stocked with food, fuel and supplies will fall to Russian Progress spacecraft, Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicles, Japan's HTV ships and commercial capsules being developed by Space Exploration Technologies and Orbital Sciences Corp.

Introducing 327 Feet of Ares I-X Rocket!

By: Dan Kanigan

Now this is something you've really got to see! For the first time in more than 25 years, a new space vehicle is assembled and rarin' to go in KSC's Vehicle Assembly Building. Standing more than 320 feet tall, the rocket is almost twice as tall as a shuttle stack. A crane hoisted the simulator launch abort system tower off the floor and placed it on top of the Ares I-X to complete he rocket stack. It's obviously a huge milestone! Now you can really get a feel for the scope of the vehicle. The test rocket has been assembled on the top of a modified mobile launcher that used to be used by the shuttle. Now that it is assembled, there will be extensive tests run on all the systems, including the set of complex instruments that will measure the rocket's movements as it launches and the first stage separates. These tests will include a process called "modal testing," which will shake the stack slightly to test stiffness of the rocket including the pinned and bolted joints and make sure the rocket can handle the strain of launch and ascent. While those tests are conducted, a team of about 30 launch controllers also will practice their roles in the firing room preparing for its targeted launch in late October.