And here’s the megafeed of everything I’ve been doing.
Ted Cruz called a hearing on NASA’s space exploration policy in the next president’s administration. The president of France’s CNES discussed some policy statements, and I went on a rant about his thoughts on Ariane 6 and its competition.
In addition to an increased flight rate, they’re working on different experiment types for future New Shepard flights. I’ll be interested in how they handle exposed experiments, specifically to see if they will be done in a way applicable to unpressurized cargo space for any future cargo contracts they may get with their orbital-class vehicle.
The lack of other information here from XCOR regarding Lynx is strange. Very strange timing, just a few months after layoffs.
Moon Express will take over LC-17 and LC-18 to build test stands and a test flight area for tethered and free-flight tests of its lander.
Good signs for their progress towards a ground demonstrator engine in 2020.
Interesting rundown of the predicament that SLS is in for the Europa missions, EM-2, and beyond. And this doesn’t even touch on the budgetary issues surrounding the use of the EUS.
A Mijingo course, taught by Ryan Irelan, based on my talk from Craft CMS Summit 2014, that details my preferred Craft template structure.
History will not be kind to the AR1 program. It’s a fairly expensive development program focused on building an American alternative to the RD-180, an engine used on a launch vehicle that will be phased out within 3-ish years of when the AR1 would be completed.
My friend Brandon designed a beautiful James Webb Space Telescope shirt. You should check it out.
France says they’re interested in backing ISS until 2024. And they continue to hope reusability doesn’t work out so that Ariane 6 can be competitive.
China’s next space station reached its launch site and they’re on their way to a fall launch.
NASA awarded a grant for technology that could be used to operate a Venusian lander on the surface for much longer than we have previously.
ESA is working on a mission to catch and deorbit a derelict satellite.
Our political system is increasingly incapable of supporting a thriving national space program. Congress battling the executive branch tooth and nail for Orion/SLS and the Europa mission is only the tip of the iceberg. Factor in the massive amounts of pork and governmental overhead…it runs away from you quickly.
The Space, Science, And Competitiveness subcommittee has scheduled a hearing next Wednesday, titled “NASA at a Crossroads: Reasserting American Leadership in Space Exploration.” Seems like a hearing that will be filled with desperate pleas to the future president to avoid another cancellation.
Going from stationary landers to rovers was game-changing for planetary exploration. The next era of quadcopters and gliders is going to be even more so.
Jalopnik posted a gearhead-focused feature on the Roush Fenway Racing-built internal combustion engine that will be used on ULA’s upcoming ACES upper stage.
OneWeb says their satellite constellation project is on time. But things still seem a bit murky to me.
Xinhua News Agency reports a successful in-orbit refueling test.
SpaceX printed a public notice in Florida Today on July 3rd outlining plans for LZ-1 expansion. Sierra Nevada Corporation and the United Nations signed a Memorandum of Understanding regarding future use of Dream Chaser by UN member countries. China solidified partnerships with The Netherlands and Poland, continuing the growth of the China-ESA relationship.