The NRO is Busy, Busy, Busy

Busy hands are happy hands (within reason) I often say. Therefore, the NRO should have happy hands based on the two ops they have coming up. The link speculates about the NROL-32 and 49 missions which will ride on a pair of Delta IVs and are in the launch queue for October and January 2011 [...]

Boeing, United Launch Alliance, and DoD To Grapple Over $271 Million

Well, this will be interesting. Stand by for some alphabet soup. First, the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) says Boeing needs to reimburse $72 million it has already received. Next, DCAA says the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA, not to be confused with DCAA) should notify the joint Boeing-Lockheed Martin venture called the United Launch [...]

Revised USAF Launch Manifest Strategy

I think the new strategy–basically to match a spacecraft to a boosters six to twelve months out based on spacecraft readiness–is enabled by the studly to-orbit capabilities of the Delta IV and Atlas V EELV vehicles. I’m guessing both families of boosters have enough margin that they can wait until later in the scheduling process [...]

Buzz Aldrin’s Way Ahead

Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin supports many of the principles the administration has called for regarding NASA and he’s given some thought on how to move the nation forward in space. Mr. Aldrin identifies a number of important ideas, but IMHO the three most important goals he calls for include 1) an increased presence and use [...]

USAF Plans For Reusable Booster

Groan.  Wasn’t the shuttle a reusable booster?  Didn’t EELV promise cost savings? Here’s the link to the Aviation Week article… When I read about savings of over 50%, I think about EELV and the cost savings it was asserted to create.  EELV was a massive ‘cost avoidance’ program, that is, by creating and using new [...]

My Excellent Adventure

Yesterday was a visit with three very smart men from Microcosm in Hawthorne.  They are very focused on reducing the cost to get to space and have an outstanding combination of innovative ideas and beneficial and simplified technologies.  These include significant innovations in fiber-based tank systems for fuels and oxidizers.  They also include highly simplified rocket engines [...]

U.S. Spaceflight Gap Wider Than Thought

The bottom line: the shuttle won’t retire on time and its replacement won’t be ready on time. Those are some preliminary findings of the U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee, led by Norm Augustine and briefed by former astronaut Sally Ride. In total, the delays could add another year without a U.S. provided ride to [...]