News NASA's Future: The News and Updates Thread

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NASASpaceflight: Managers preparing for July 8 SLS announcement after SD HLV victory

 

[FADEC]

Managers preparing for July 8 SLS announcement after SD HLV victory

Following an intense week of executive level reviews, a decision has been made on the configuration for NASA’s new launch vehicle. With NASA administrator Charlie Bolden agreeing to a configuration which is heavily derived from the retiring Space Shuttle, an official announcement is likely to be made on July 8, coinciding with the Shuttle’s final launch date.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/06/managers-sls-announcement-after-sd-hlv-victory/

Constellation 2 (in the end...)?

 

[orb]

NASA:

• What's Next For NASA?:

  July 1, 2011​

  
  "As a former astronaut and the current NASA Administrator, I'm here to tell you that American leadership in space will continue for at least the next half-century because we have laid the foundation for success -- and failure is not an option."
  

  Charles Bolden, NASA Administrator​

  
  Administrator Bolden's National Press Club Speech, July 1, 2011 (PDF - 82 KB)
  
  {...}

• RELEASE : 11-218 - NASA Administrator Discusses Agency's Future Endeavors

 

[Orbinaut Pete]

I'll post this fantastic video here too. :thumbup:

Future of Human Space Flight.​

The transition away from Shuttle will be painful for sure - I love Shuttle as much as anybody can, and I know it'll be tough. But human spaceflight is not ending. There will be other vehicles and other destinations. Of that, I have no doubt.

 

[GoForPDI]

Great speech.

He speaks more of starting processes and spending money now, so that we don't have to in the future.

He hints that this plan is for the long term benefit, rather than the short term Apollo style challenge.

 

[ky]

If any of you have questions about NASA's future you can ask Charles Bolden tomorrow at 3:30 P.M. EST Here.I know I'll be there.

 

[GoForPDI]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-wXjYid4_8"]YouTube - ‪What's Next for NASA Spaceflight‬‏[/ame]

 

[N_Molson]

At least some good news...

[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=+2]NASA agrees to help modify Atlas 5 rocket for astronauts[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-2]BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: July 19, 2011

[/SIZE][/FONT]United Launch Alliance and NASA will share technical data to help ready the company's Atlas 5 rocket for astronaut passengers, officials announced Monday.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]Artist's concept of an Atlas 5 rocket launching Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser space plane from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Credit: Sierra Nevada

[/SIZE][/FONT]The agreement places the Atlas 5 rocket among the top competitors to launch the next piloted spacecraft from U.S. soil after the retirement of the space shuttle. "I am truly excited about the addition of ULA to NASA's Commercial Crew Development program team," said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden. "Having ULA on board may speed the development of a commercial crew transportation system for the International Space Station, allowing NASA to concentrate its resources on exploring beyond low Earth orbit."

Colorado-based United Launch Alliance was passed over in NASA's last Commercial Crew Development, or CCDev, competition. When the agency announced the winners in April, officials said they gave priority to spacecraft developers because rockets would take less time to modify for manned flights.

NASA divided $270 million among four companies in the April announcement, giving $92.3 million to Boeing, $80 million to Sierra Nevada Corp., $75 million to SpaceX and $22 million to Blue Origin. The competition was the second round of NASA's CCDev program, which provides federal funding to U.S. space companies building commercial human-rated spacecraft.

All of the winners are designing spacecraft to carry astronauts to and from low Earth orbit destinations such as the International Space Station.
But the space vehicles will need rockets to send them into orbit. Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin could launch their spacecraft on ULA rockets.

Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin have selected the Atlas 5 rocket to launch their spaceships. Sierra Nevada is working on a lifting body space plane named the Dream Chaser and Blue Origin, headed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, is developing a biconic capsule called the New Shepard.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]Artist's concept of an Atlas 5 rocket with Boeing's CST-100 capsule. Credit: Boeing[/SIZE][/FONT]

Boeing's CST-100 spaceship is designed to ferry up to seven astronauts to and from orbit. The company says the craft is compatible to launch on several rockets, including the Atlas 5, but managers plan to select a primary launch vehicle in the coming weeks, according to a Boeing spokesperson.

Boasting a stellar success record, the Atlas 5 rocket has launched 26 times with U.S. military payloads, NASA science probes and commercial communications satellites. The Atlas 5's first stage is powered by a kerosene-fueled Russian RD-180 main engine, and its Centaur second stage features one or two RL10 engines burning cryogenic propellant.
SpaceX will launch its Dragon capsule on the company's own Falcon 9 rocket.

NASA's agreement with ULA doesn't provide any funding, but it facilitates data sharing among the two entities. Under the agreement, ULA will provide technical data on the Atlas 5 rocket to NASA, which will give input based on the agency's extensive human spaceflight experience.

The space agency will also share draft human-rating certification requirements for ULA to review and provide feedback.

ULA says it will continue design and analysis of its plans to outfit the Atlas 5 for human crews, conduct program reviews, develop a hazard analysis, complete a probabilistic risk assessment, conduct a systems requirements review, and accomplish several other milestones. The company will pay for the continued design work without any NASA money.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]File photo of an Atlas 5 rocket launching NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory in February 2010. Credit: Pat Corkery/United Launch Alliance

[/SIZE][/FONT]NASA awarded ULA $6.7 million in the first CCDev competition in 2010 to advance the development of an Emergency Detection System, a computer that would monitor the health of rocket and spacecraft systems during launch. The system would issue commands for an abort to send astronauts away from a failing rocket. The $6.7 million agreement expired at the end of 2010.

"This unfunded [Space Act Agreement] will look at the Atlas 5 to understand its design risks, its capabilities, how it can be used within the context of flying our NASA crew and maturing ULA's designs for the Emergency Detection System and launch vehicle processing and launch architectures under a crewed configuration," said Ed Mango, NASA's commercial crew program manager.

ULA says the EDS computer is the only significant modification necessary for the Atlas 5 rocket to meet human-rating requirements. Other launch pad construction would be necessary to support crew launches, according to George Sowers, ULA's vice president of business development.

"We believe this effort will demonstrate to NASA that our systems are fully compliant with NASA requirements for human spaceflight," Sowers said. "ULA looks forward to continued work with NASA to develop a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability providing safe, reliable, and cost effective access to and return from low Earth orbit and the International Space Station."

 

[ky]

[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=+2]NASA agrees to help modify Atlas 5 rocket for astronauts[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-2]BY STEPHEN CLARK
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: July 19, 2011

[/SIZE][/FONT]United Launch Alliance and NASA will share technical data to help ready the company's Atlas 5 rocket for astronaut passengers, officials announced Monday.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]Artist's concept of an Atlas 5 rocket launching Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser space plane from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Credit: Sierra Nevada

[/SIZE][/FONT]The agreement places the Atlas 5 rocket among the top competitors to launch the next piloted spacecraft from U.S. soil after the retirement of the space shuttle. "I am truly excited about the addition of ULA to NASA's Commercial Crew Development program team," said NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden. "Having ULA on board may speed the development of a commercial crew transportation system for the International Space Station, allowing NASA to concentrate its resources on exploring beyond low Earth orbit."

Colorado-based United Launch Alliance was passed over in NASA's last Commercial Crew Development, or CCDev, competition. When the agency announced the winners in April, officials said they gave priority to spacecraft developers because rockets would take less time to modify for manned flights.

NASA divided $270 million among four companies in the April announcement, giving $92.3 million to Boeing, $80 million to Sierra Nevada Corp., $75 million to SpaceX and $22 million to Blue Origin. The competition was the second round of NASA's CCDev program, which provides federal funding to U.S. space companies building commercial human-rated spacecraft.

All of the winners are designing spacecraft to carry astronauts to and from low Earth orbit destinations such as the International Space Station.
But the space vehicles will need rockets to send them into orbit. Boeing, Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin could launch their spacecraft on ULA rockets.

Sierra Nevada and Blue Origin have selected the Atlas 5 rocket to launch their spaceships. Sierra Nevada is working on a lifting body space plane named the Dream Chaser and Blue Origin, headed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, is developing a biconic capsule called the New Shepard.

[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][SIZE=-2]Artist's concept of an Atlas 5 rocket with Boeing's CST-100 capsule. Credit: Boeing[/SIZE][/FONT]

Boeing's CST-100 spaceship is designed to ferry up to seven astronauts to and from orbit. The company says the craft is compatible to launch on several rockets, including the Atlas 5, but managers plan to select a primary launch vehicle in the coming weeks, according to a Boeing spokesperson.

Boasting a stellar success record, the Atlas 5 rocket has launched 26 times with U.S. military payloads, NASA science probes and commercial communications satellites. The Atlas 5's first stage is powered by a kerosene-fueled Russian RD-180 main engine, and its Centaur second stage features one or two RL10 engines burning cryogenic propellant.
SpaceX will launch its Dragon capsule on the company's own Falcon 9 rocket.

NASA's agreement with ULA doesn't provide any funding, but it facilitates data sharing among the two entities. Under the agreement, ULA will provide technical data on the Atlas 5 rocket to NASA, which will give input based on the agency's extensive human spaceflight experience.

The space agency will also share draft human-rating certification requirements for ULA to review and provide feedback.

ULA says it will continue design and analysis of its plans to outfit the Atlas 5 for human crews, conduct program reviews, develop a hazard analysis, complete a probabilistic risk assessment, conduct a systems requirements review, and accomplish several other milestones. The company will pay for the continued design work without any NASA money.

This is great news!I'll finally know which rocket to make the adapter for.Also,don't count Boeing out of this at all.They most likely will get back in the game.It's sad though,there is more info available on the Falcon 9 than there is on the Boeing CST-100.

 

[N_Molson]

The Dream Chaser HAS to fly, I just want to see that. And minishuttles were never really tried from the economic point of view. Hoping it would not have the same maintenance flaws as the Shuttle.

---------- Post added 07-20-11 at 12:31 PM ---------- Previous post was 07-19-11 at 09:12 PM ----------

Here's a well-done BBC News article on the future of US manned spaceflight (with pics and an overview of each spacecraft) :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14089297

19 July 2011 Last updated at 18:11 GMT

The shuttle's successors

After three decades, the shuttle era is all but over and the United States no longer has the means to send astronauts into space. Nasa is looking to the private sector to provide a new generation of space vehicles to take on the work of delivering crew and cargo to the International Space Station and low-Earth orbit. We detail five of the possible successors to the shuttle.

 

[orb]

To change the topic a little from the discussion about private spaceflight contractors, back to the NASA plans :

NASASpaceflight: Preliminary NASA plan shows Evolved SLS vehicle is 21 years away:

A new schedule, created by NASA, has provided a “preliminary, budget restricted” manifest which places the first flight of the fully evolved Space Launch System (SLS) in the year 2032. The information includes details on the chosen configuration and hardware, but provides a depressing schedule, with a flight rate of just one mission per year, after a staggered opening which results in SLS-2 waiting until 2021 to launch.

{...}

 

[GoForPDI]

So we have missions set then?

SLS-1, December 2017, Unmanned Lunar flight with MPCV..
SLS-2, August 2021, Manned Lunar flight with MPCV

 

[GoForPDI]

Missions mentioned in the article..

SLS-1 - December 2017 - Unmanned Lunar Orbital Flight.
SLS-2 - August 2021 - Manned Lunar Orbital Flight, Pacific landing.
SLS-3 - August 2022 - Manned Lunar Orbital Flight, Pacific landing.
SLS-4 - August 2023 - Manned Lunar Orbital Flight, Pacific landing.
SLS-5 - August 2024 - Cargo SLS debut.
SLS-6 - August 2025 - Manned 'exploration' Mission, likely Asteroid mission.
SLS-7 - August 2026 - Cargo SLS - New expendable SSME's used.
SLS-8 - August 2027 - Manned Mission
SLS-9 - August 2028 - Cargo Mission
SLS-10 - August 2029 - Manned Mission
SLS-11 - August 2030 - Cargo Mission (debut of more powerful SLS with two extra SSME's)
SLS-12 - August 2031 - Manned Mission (SLS-11 type configuration) - Martian Mission?
SLS-13 - August 2032 - Cargo Mission (debut of the fully evolved 130mT HLV)

 

[FADEC]

Of course a multiple-small-launches-concept would work. Why shouldn't it work only because it hasn't been done before? But the big question is: is it really less expensive? I doubt somehow. And I also see delays.

And it's too early to point to SpaceX. They didn't even launch any form of life into space and people already talk about big mannend Mars programs based on SpaceX. That's not even optimism, that's euphoria on an ultra level. Take a breath and just let's wait and see if they will launch humans into LEO first

However:

Preliminary NASA plan shows Evolved SLS vehicle is 21 years away

A new schedule, created by NASA, has provided a “preliminary, budget restricted” manifest which places the first flight of the fully evolved Space Launch System (SLS) in the year 2032. The information includes details on the chosen configuration and hardware, but provides a depressing schedule, with a flight rate of just one mission per year, after a staggered opening which results in SLS-2 waiting until 2021 to launch.

Initially, the call was to debut the SLS in 2016. As recently noted, the schedule for the opening flight has moved to December 2017 – although it now has an actual mission.

The mission will be lunar, with SLS-1 lofting Orion (MPCV) on an unmanned mission around the Moon.

Ironically, SpaceX recently noted – during their Falcon Heavy announcement – they are close to such a mission capability, far sooner than 2017.

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2011/07/preliminary-nasa-evolved-sls-vehicle-21-years-away/

Constellation 2?

 

[Turbinator]

 

[orb]

SPACE.com: NASA Must Evolve Its Interaction with Private Companies, 2nd-in-Command Says:

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — Despite concerns that funding shortfalls will hamper NASA's efforts to promote a private industry capable of ferrying cargo and crew into low Earth orbit, government and industry officials attending the Space Frontier Foundation's annual conference said they were confident that commercial firms would continue to play an increasingly important role in the U.S. space program.

NASA officials are working diligently "on evolving the way we work with the private sector," Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said July 28 at the NewSpace 2011 conference here.

While the overall percentage of NASA's budget going to the private sector is likely to remain at the current level of approximately 85 percent, the space agency is changing the way it spends that money in an effort to help private companies "leverage that money to bring in more private investment, more innovation, open new markets, reduce costs and provide economic gain."

{...}

 

[orb]

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Program Updates

I wasn't sure where to post that, but this thread seems appropriate, as it's about NASA's future -

NASA:

• NASA Selects Companies To Study Storing Cryogenic Propellants In Space
• NASA Selects Visionary Advanced Technology Concepts For Study

SPACE.com: NASA Invests in Far-Out Space Tech for Future Missions​

 

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NASASpaceflight: NASA interest in an interplanetary highway supported by Propellant Depots

 

[Star Voyager]

500-600 people could get a job with Space Florida out at OPF-3:

http://www.floridatoday.com/article...-get-OK-soon?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Home|p

 

[orb]

NASA: RELEASE : 11-264 - NASA Creates Human Exploration And Operations Directorate

Florida Today - The Flame Trench: NASA Sets Up Human Exploration Office

SPACE.com: NASA Opens New Office for Deep Space Missions

"America is opening a bold new chapter in human space exploration," NASA Administrator Charles Bolden said in a news release. "By combining the resources of Space Operations and Exploration Systems, and creating the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, we are recommitting ourselves to American leadership in space for years to come."