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NASA said:

U.S. astronauts once again will travel to and from the International Space Station from the United States on American spacecraft under groundbreaking contracts NASA announced Tuesday. The agency unveiled its selection of Boeing and SpaceX to transport U.S. crews to and from the space station using their CST-100 and Crew Dragon spacecraft, respectively, with a goal of ending the nation’s sole reliance on Russia in 2017.

"From day one, the Obama Administration made clear that the greatest nation on Earth should not be dependent on other nations to get into space," NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden said at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "Thanks to the leadership of President Obama, the hard work of our NASA and industry teams, and support from Congress, today we are one step closer to launching our astronauts from U.S. soil on American spacecraft and ending the nation’s sole reliance on Russia by 2017. Turning over low-Earth orbit transportation to private industry will also allow NASA to focus on an even more ambitious mission – sending humans to Mars."

These Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts are designed to complete the NASA certification for human space transportation systems capable of carrying people into orbit. Once certification is complete, NASA plans to use these systems to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station and return them safely to Earth.

The companies selected to provide this transportation capability and the maximum potential value of their FAR-based firm fixed-price contracts are:

-- The Boeing Company, Houston, $4.2 billion
-- Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, California, $2.6 billion

The contracts include at least one crewed flight test per company with at least one NASA astronaut aboard to verify the fully integrated rocket and spacecraft system can launch, maneuver in orbit, and dock to the space station, as well as validate all its systems perform as expected. Once each company’s test program has been completed successfully and its system achieves NASA certification, each contractor will conduct at least two, and as many as six, crewed missions to the space station. These spacecraft also will serve as a lifeboat for astronauts aboard the station.

NASA's Commercial Crew Program will implement this capability as a public-private partnership with the American aerospace companies. NASA's expert team of engineers and spaceflight specialists is facilitating and certifying the development work of industry partners to ensure new spacecraft are safe and reliable.

The U.S. missions to the International Space Station following certification will allow the station's current crew of six to grow, enabling the crew to conduct more research aboard the unique microgravity laboratory.

"We are excited to see our industry partners close in on operational flights to the International Space Station, an extraordinary feat industry and the NASA family began just four years ago," said Kathy Lueders, manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. "This space agency has long been a technology innovator, and now we also can say we are an American business innovator, spurring job creation and opening up new markets to the private sector. The agency and our partners have many important steps to finish, but we have shown we can do the tough work required and excel in ways few would dare to hope."

The companies will own and operate the crew transportation systems and be able to sell human space transportation services to other customers in addition to NASA, thereby reducing the costs for all customers.

By encouraging private companies to handle launches to low-Earth orbit -- a region NASA's been visiting since 1962 -- the nation's space agency can focus on getting the most research and experience out of America's investment in the International Space Station. NASA also can focus on building spacecraft and rockets for deep space missions, including flights to Mars.

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CNN) -- Just days after NASA's Mars orbiter reached the Red Planet, India's first mission could follow suit and make history Wednesday.

India's Mars Orbiter Mission has been groundbreaking for the country, with a price tag of $74 million, a fraction of the $671 million NASA spent on its MAVEN spacecraft.

If Mars Orbiter Mission, also known as Mangalyaan, successfully enters Mars' orbit, India would become the first Asian nation to do so.

To date, only the U.S., Europe and the Soviets have successfully sent spacecraft to Mars. But India is also aiming for another record.

It's aiming to be the first country in the world to succeed in its first attempt to enter the Mars orbit, said S. Satish, a space expert based in Bangalore, India.

"It's a great technical achievement for the country," he said.

Once it nears Mars' orbit, the spacecraft will have to execute a series of complicated and critical maneuvers. About half of all spacecraft sent to missions on the planet have veered off course, malfunctioned or crashed.

"The trajectory it has to follow is very complicated," Satish said.

The Mars Orbiter Mission will fire a small rocket in the reverse direction, to reduce speed for exactly 24 minutes and 11 seconds capture into Mars' orbit.

A live telecast will be available starting 6:45 a.m. Indian Standard Time (9:15 p.m. EST) on the Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) website. The entry into Mars' orbit is expected at 7:21 a.m. in India (9:51 p.m. EST)

The spacecraft launched on November 5, and has traveled over 215 million kilometers to get near Mars. Its mission is to orbit the Red Planet, mapping its surface and studying the atmosphere.

The mission has been freighted with patriotic significance for India since its inception, and is seen as a symbolic coup over its neighbor, China, which is also ramping up its space ambitions.

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California House Members Urge Launch Competition
By Dan Leone | Sep. 29, 2014

“While it is important that we invest in new technology, the problem of Russian reliance calls for an immediate solution,” states the letter. At issue is the RD-180 engine (above) used to power the first stage of ULA’s Atlas 5 rocket, one of the U.S. military’s two main satellite launchers. Credit: ULA photo
WASHINGTON — A large, bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers from California has asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to broaden competition in its national security launch program and to move away from a Russian-made rocket engine sooner rather than later. The U.S. Air Force in August asked American industry to propose ideas for doing just that.

“While it is important that we invest in new technology, the problem of Russian reliance calls for an immediate solution,” states the Sept. 22 letter, which was signed by 32 of California’s 53 members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

At issue is the RD-180 engine used to power the first stage of Denver-based United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket, one of the U.S. military’s two main satellite launchers. The engine is built by NPO Energomash of Russia and sold to ULA by RD-Amross, a joint venture between Energomash and United Technologies Corp.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees the country’s space sector, said in May he would ban exports of Russian-made rocket engines used to launch U.S. military satellites, but U.S. space leaders have not yet seen any evidence of the ban.

In the letter, the House members said they are “troubled by the Department’s willingness to continue sourcing this engine from the Russian government, apparently in the hope that the situation with Russia does not deteriorate further, and that Russia chooses to continue supporting U.S. military launches — while it ignores American sources of engine technology.

“We strongly encourage you to recognize that the United States — and specifically, California — today produces technology that exceeds any capability offered by Russian systems,” the letter said. “It is time for the Department to look to these existing U.S. engine manufacturers and launch vehicle providers.”

As part of its plan to reduce its satellite launching costs while mollifying critics of ULA’s national security launch monopoly, the Air Force ordered a large batch of rockets on a sole-source basis from the incumbent while setting aside an additional seven to eight missions for competition

Launch services provider Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is based in Hawthorne, California, and has filed a federal lawsuit to block the Air Force’s planned purchase of those rockets.

Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, California, which is the dominant U.S. supplier of large liquid-fueled rocket engines, has suggested a kerosene-fueled, 500,000-pound-thrust concept dubbed AR-1 to the Air Force for a potential RD-180 replacement. The company has said the engine could be fully developed in four years for less than $1 billion.

ULA, however, announced Sept. 17 that it is investing in Blue Origin’s BE-4 liquid natural gas-fueled engine as an RD-180 replacement that could be ready to fly by 2019. Blue Origin is based in Kent, Washington, and tests its engines in Texas.

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Sierra Nevada Corporation to Introduce Dream Chaser®
Global Project Spaceflight Program Sept. 30

SPARKS, Nev. (Sept. 29, 2014) – Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is pleased to announce it will be presenting an overview of its Global Project spaceflight program Tuesday, Sept. 30 at 11:45 a.m. EST at the 65th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Toronto. The Global Project offers clients a unique turn-key spaceflight capability based on SNC’s Dream Chaser crewed space vehicle.

SNC’s Global Project offers clients across the globe access to low Earth orbit (LEO) without the time, resources and financial burden of developing the necessary capabilities or infrastructure to support a mature human spaceflight program. The Global Project utilizes the Dream Chaser spacecraft as a baseline vehicle which, in turn, can be customized by the client for an array of missions to support government, commercial, academic and international goals. The individual mission customization of the Global Project can be applied to both crewed and uncrewed variants for a single dedicated mission or suite of missions.

“The SNC Global Project provides, for the first time in history, an unprecedented and unique set of spaceflight opportunities for clients around the world,” said John Roth, vice president of business development for SNC’s Space Systems. “SNC is offering access to crewed or uncrewed space missions that include an optionally-piloted space vehicle, a launch vehicle or choice of launch vehicles, and the supporting infrastructure and systems required for such a valuable program. The Global Project offers a client the opportunity to leverage and expand its local technology and industrial base by engaging government research and development laboratories, aerospace industry and universities in developing payloads, vehicle modifications, and ground processing capabilities in support of the selected LEO missions. This program will literally make space accessible to people all over the world, enabling those who have only dreamed about going to space to finally achieve it.”

In addition to offering customized access to LEO as part of the Global Project, SNC has also developed a tailored, world-class training program based on NASA’s strict certification standards that includes preparation for crewed flights, payload and vehicle safety operations. Dream Chaser astronauts undergo training at SNC’s Dream Chaser Training Facility and Space Operations Center. Individuals complete pre-flight, ground, payload and mission control training, and obtain mission briefings in addition to other necessary training as determined by the mission. SNC can also assist clients in setting up in-country training programs as needed.

SNC presents more detailed information on the Dream Chaser Global Project at the 65th IAC in Toronto, Sept. 30, 2014 at 11:45 a.m. EST.

The Dream Chaser is a reusable, lifting-body spacecraft capable of crewed or autonomous flight. Dream Chaser is the only lifting-body spacecraft capable of a runway landing anywhere in the world.

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Why NASA Rejected Sierra Nevada's Commercial Crew Vehicle

AWIN First
Guy Norris
Sat, 2014-10-11 20:33
Document says bid was less mature, posed risk to schedule
As Boeing and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) restart work on commercial crew contracts following NASA’s Oct 9. decision to lift a stop-work order, details of an internal agency document reveal why the bid from losing competitor Sierra Nevada lost out.

The three companies competed for $6.8 billion worth of Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CctCap) contracts to transport NASA astronauts to the international space station (ISS) starting in 2017. However, following the awards of work to Boeing for the CST-100 and to SpaceX for the Dragon V2, Sierra Nevada -- which proposed the Dream Chaser lifting body -- filed a protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) on Sept 26, citing “inconsistencies in the source selection process.”

In response, NASA issued a stop-work order to Boeing and SpaceX on Oct 2, only to rescind it a week later on the grounds that a delay to development of the transportation service, “poses risks to the ISS crew, jeopardizes continued operation of the ISS, would delay meeting critical crew size requirements, and may result in the U.S. failing to perform the commitments it made in its international agreements.” The GAO has until Jan. 5, 2015, to rule on Sierra Nevada’s protest.

The internal document, signed by NASA Associate Administrator William Gerstenmaier on Sept. 15, the day before the contract awards were announced, says, “I consider SNC’s (Sierra Nevada Corp.) design to be the lowest level of maturity, with significantly more technical work and critical design decisions to accomplish. The proposal did not thoroughly address these design challenges and trades.” Gerstenmaier goes on to say that Sierra’s proposal “has more schedule uncertainty. For example, some of the testing planned after the crewed flight could be required before the crewed flight, and the impact of this movement will greatly stress the schedule.”

A copy of Gerstenmaier’s document was obtained by Aviation Week.

Although the document praises Sierra’s “strong management approach to ensure the technical work and schedule are accomplished,” it cautions that the company’s Dream Chaser had “the longest schedule for completing certification.” The letter also states that “it also has the most work to accomplish which is likely to further extend its schedule beyond 2017, and is most likely to reach certification and begin service missions later than the other ‘Offerors’.”

Discussing costs, Gerstenmaier says that “although SNC’s price is lower than Boeing’s price, its technical and management approaches and its past performance are not as high and I see considerably more schedule risk with its proposal. Both SNC and SpaceX had high past performance, and very good technical and management approaches, but SNC’s price is significantly higher than SpaceX’s price.”

Touching on why Boeing received a $4.2 billion contract, versus $2.6 billion for SpaceX, he adds “I consider Boeing’s superior proposal, with regard to both its technical and management approach and its past performance, to be worth the additional price in comparison to the SNC proposal.”

Commenting on the two winning capsule concepts, Gerstenmaier clearly singles out the Boeing design for most praise, being “the strongest of all three proposals in both mission suitability and past performance. Boeing’s system offers the most useful inherent capabilities for operational flexibility in trading cargo and crew for individual missions. It is also based on a spacecraft design that is fairly mature in design.” He also points to Boeing’s “well-defined plan for addressing the specific issues from Phase 1,” and says of the three bidders Boeing “has the best management approach, with very comprehensive and integrated program management, and an effective organizational structure, further ensuring they will be able to accomplish the technical work in a manner that meets NASA’s standards.” Phase 1, the Certification Products Contract (CPC), covered hazard reports, plans for verification, validation and certification.

Space X had the best price of the three contenders and Gerstenmaier expressed a “high” overall level of confidence in the company’s ability to successfully perform the CctCap contract. However he acknowledged “some technical concerns about this proposal,” and worries that the schedule could be affected by having to tackle redesign issues late in the program.

While praising SpaceX’s strong approach for incremental development and testing with risk reduction, Gerstenmaier expressed a worry that the company has “the least robust approach for addressing the actual specific feedback on the Phase 1 products that are the foundations of certification in this second phase.” He added there could be a risk that “problems not yet well understood, and design trades made late in the development process, will result in the system not being certified and ready for missions in the needed timeframe.”

Despite SpaceX only showing “satisfactory” performance during CPC, Gerstenmaier says the young space company has “performed very well” on other relevant work and has the benefit of more schedule margin than the other companies.

Boeing plans to launch the CST-100 on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V from Space Launch Complex (SLC) 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, while SpaceX will launch its Dragon V2 atop its Falcon 9 v1.1 rocket from the adjacent SLC 40. Sierra Nevada, which recently announced new studies of a scaled, three-person version of the Dream Chaser for launch from the Stratolaunch air launch system, continues to pursue internationally-backed development plans and remains committed to a sub-orbital test planned for November 2016.

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NASA Mission Finds Widespread Evidence of Young Lunar Volcanism
Volcanic deposits on the Moon
The feature called Maskelyne is one of many newly discovered young volcanic deposits on the Moon. Called irregular mare patches, these areas are thought to be remnants of small basaltic eruptions that occurred much later than the commonly accepted end of lunar volcanism, 1 to 1.5 billion years ago.
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has provided researchers strong evidence the moon’s volcanic activity slowed gradually instead of stopping abruptly a billion years ago.
Scores of distinctive rock deposits observed by LRO are estimated to be less than 100 million years old. This time period corresponds to Earth’s Cretaceous period, the heyday of dinosaurs. Some areas may be less than 50 million years old. Details of the study are published online in Sunday’s edition of Nature Geoscience.
“This finding is the kind of science that is literally going to make geologists rewrite the textbooks about the moon,” said John Keller, LRO project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
The deposits are scattered across the moon’s dark volcanic plains and are characterized by a mixture of smooth, rounded, shallow mounds next to patches of rough, blocky terrain. Because of this combination of textures, the researchers refer to these unusual areas as irregular mare patches.
The features are too small to be seen from Earth, averaging less than a third of a mile (500 meters) across in their largest dimension. One of the largest, a well-studied area called Ina, was imaged from lunar orbit by Apollo 15 astronauts.
Ina appeared to be a one-of-a-kind feature until researchers from Arizona State University in Tempe and Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster in Germany spotted many similar regions in high-resolution images taken by the two Narrow Angle Cameras that are part of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC. The team identified a total of 70 irregular mare patches on the near side of the moon.
The large number of these features and their wide distribution strongly suggest that late-stage volcanic activity was not an anomaly but an important part of the moon's geologic history.
The numbers and sizes of the craters within these areas indicate the deposits are relatively recent. Based on a technique that links such crater measurements to the ages of Apollo and Luna samples, three of the irregular mare patches are thought to be less than 100 million years old, and perhaps less than 50 million years old in the case of Ina. The steep slopes leading down from the smooth rock layers to the rough terrain are consistent with the young age estimates.
In contrast, the volcanic plains surrounding these distinctive regions are attributed to volcanic activity that started about 3 1/2 billion years ago and ended roughly 1 billion years ago. At that point, all volcanic activity on the moon was thought to cease.
Several earlier studies suggested that Ina was quite young and might have formed due to localized volcanic activity. However, in the absence of other similar features, Ina was not considered an indication of widespread volcanism.
The findings have major implications for how warm the moon’s interior is thought to be.
“The existence and age of the irregular mare patches tell us that the lunar mantle had to remain hot enough to provide magma for the small-volume eruptions that created these unusual young features,” said Sarah Braden, a recent Arizona State University graduate and the lead author of the study.
The new information is hard to reconcile with what currently is thought about the temperature of the interior of the moon.
“These young volcanic features are prime targets for future exploration, both robotic and human,” said Mark Robinson, LROC principal investigator at Arizona State University.
LRO is managed by Goddard for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. LROC, a system of three cameras, was designed and built by Malin Space Science Systems and is operated by Arizona State University.
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Secretive U.S. robotic mini-shuttle to end 22-month mission on Tuesday
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Sun, Oct 12 2014
CAPE CANAVERAL Florida (Reuters) - The U.S. military plans to land its secretive X-37B robotic space plane in California on Tuesday, ending a classified 22-month mission, officials said.
The exact time and date will depend on weather and technical factors, the Air Force said in a statement released on Friday. The X-37B space plane, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, blasted off for its second mission aboard an unmanned Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on Dec. 11, 2012.
The 29-foot-long (9-meter) robotic spaceship, which resembles a miniature space shuttle, is an experimental vehicle that first flew in April 2010. It returned after eight months. A second vehicle blasted off in March 2011 and stayed in orbit for 15 months.
The military has said the vehicles, built by Boeing, are designed to test technologies, though details of the missions are classified.
Last week, the Air Force and NASA finalized a lease agreement to relocate the X-37B program from California to Florida’s Kennedy Space Center. The military is studying using the space shuttle’s runway for landing, but said the X-37B currently in orbit will touch down at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where the previous two missions also ended.
(Reporting by Irene Klotz; editing by Jason Neely)

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