MAIN ARTICLE: Commercial Space Roundup 2008.
What happened in the "NewSpace" commercial space sector in 2008? Some exciting moments last year, from a moon prize to a successful launch.
Poll Results: Yesterday's poll "Should NASA have it's own LEO launch system." scroll down to get the latest polling results, click subscribe to stay informed of space polling.
Star Trek: In the News. New remastered images and review from DVD Talk.
Yesterday's Comments: "Speaking of sexy space ships...whaddya expect? The Jupiter 2? We should be so lucky, Dr. Smith" - Jeff W
Today's Poll: Which Sci/Fi television show was the best on space.
Scroll down to vote for your all time favorite science fiction television program.
SpaceX successfully launched the Falcon 1 after three previous failures. SpaceX also successfully tested a nine engine configuration of the new Merlin engine. Currenly they are in the process of intergrating the Falcon 9 at the Cape in Florida. (see"SpaceX: Falcon 9, on the road.", 'Americans in Space', Dec 29, 2008)
SPACEX MERLIN ENGINE:
"The main engine, called Merlin 1C, was developed internally at SpaceX, drawing upon a long heritage of space proven engines. The pintle style injector at the heart of Merlin 1C was first used in the Apollo Moon program for the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) landing engine, one of the most critical phases of the mission.
Propellant is fed via a single shaft, dual impeller turbo-pump operating on a gas generator cycle. High pressure kerosene fuel flows through the walls of the combustion chamber and exhaust nozzle before being injected into the combustions chamber. This provides significant cooling, permitting the engine to operate at a higher level of performance.
The turbo-pump also provides the high pressure kerosene for the hydraulic actuators, eliminating the need for a separate hydraulic power system. Additionally, actuating the turbine exhaust nozzle provides roll control during flight.
Combining these three functions into one device, and verifying its operation before the vehicle is allowed to lift off, provides significant improvement in system-level reliability.
With a vacuum specific impulse of 304s, Merlin 1C is the highest performance gas generator cycle kerosene engine ever built, exceeding the Boeing Delta II main engine, the Lockheed Atlas II main engine and on par with the Saturn V F-1."
SpaceX also was awarded a fixed priced contract from NASA for cargo launches to the International Space Station (see"NASA awards $3.5 billion for COTS - ISS resupply.", 'Americans in Space', Dec 23, 2008)
Virgin Galatic Successfully flys the White Knight Two or WK2. WK2 will fly to an altitude of 50,000 to 60,0000 feet. The carrier plane will then launch a suborbital space plane that is suspended underneath. The space plane will ignite it's rocket engines and fly to around 70 miles into suborbital space.
"The rocket motor has been switched off and it is quiet. But it's not just quiet, it's QUIET. The silence of space is as awe inspiring as was the noise of the rocket just moments earlier. What's really getting your senses screaming now though, is that the gravity which has dominated every movement you've made since the day you were born is not there any more. There is no up and no down and you're out of your seat experiencing the freedom that even your dreams underestimated. After a graceful mid-space summersault you find yourself at a large window and what you see would make your hair stand on end if the zero gravity hadn't already achieved that effect. Below you (or is it above you?) is a view that you've seen in countless images but the reality is so much more beautiful, so much more vivid and produces emotions that are strong but hard to define. The blue map, curving into the black distance is familiar but has none of the usual marked boundaries. The incredibly narrow ribbon of atmosphere looks worryingly fragile. What you are looking at is the source of everything it means to be human, and it is home. You see that your fellow astronauts are equally spellbound, all lost in their own thoughts and storing away the memories." - overview
Armadillo Aerospace not only had a good year with continued testing but was also a money winner. Armadillo successfully won the first leg of the Northrup Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge.
"Armadillo Aerospace is a leading developer of reusable rocket powered vehicles. We are focused on VTVL (vertical takeoff, vertical landing) suborbital research and passenger flights, with an eye towards eventual paths to orbit.
Founded in 2000, we have an unequaled experience base with over one hundred flight tests spread over a dozen different vehicles. We have done work for NASA and the Air Force, and flown vehicles at every X-Prize Cup event. We performed the very first flight under the new FAA/AST experimental permit regulatory regime, and we have made over a half dozen more permitted flights since then, all fully insured and observed by on-site AST personnel.
We believe in openness regarding both our successes and failures, and the progress updates here track our work from the very beginning" -
Blue Origin successfully test flew the Goddard vehicle, a prototype for the New Sheppard the suborbital space tourism vehicle they plan on flying in 2010. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com and Blue Origin, has been the most tight lipped of the New Space companies.
Goddard Test Flights:
First Test Flight: 13 November 2006, Second Test Flight: 22 March 2007, Third Test Flight 19 April 2007.
"a letter from Bezos himself, in which he explains Blue Origin's lofty goal:
"We’re working, patiently and step-by-step, to lower the cost of spaceflight so that many people can afford to go and so that we humans can better continue exploring the solar system. Accomplishing this mission will take a long time, and we’re working on it methodically. We believe in incremental improvement and in keeping investments at a pace that's sustainable. Slow and steady is the way to achieve results, and we do not kid ourselves into thinking this will get easier as we go along. Smaller, more frequent steps drive a faster rate of learning, help us maintain focus, and give each of us an opportunity to see our latest work fly sooner." " - MSNBC
Xcor Successfully tested it's new engine for the Lynx suborbital space place.
"December 17, 2008, Mojave, CA: XCOR Aerospace, Inc., announced today that it has successfully completed its first test fire of the rocket engine that will be used to power its Lynx suborbital launch vehicle to the edge of space.
The new engine, designated the 5K18, produces between 2500-2900 lbf thrust by burning a mixture of liquid oxygen and kerosene. The engine was fired Monday, December 15th, 2008 at XCOR's rocket test facility located at the Mojave Air and Space Port. The first test of the engine was performed using pressure-fed propellants whereas the final version of the engine will be fed using XCOR's proprietary cryogenic piston pump for liquid oxygen and a similar piston pump for kerosene.
"Today's successful hot fire marks an important step forward in building the Lynx," said XCOR CEO Jeff Greason. "The 5K18 builds on our previous experience in designing and building reliable, durable and fully reusable rocket engines from 15 lbf thrust up to 7500 lbf, that will make it possible to provide affordable access to space."
During its nine years of existence, XCOR has conducted over 3,600 hot fires of rocket engines. During this time, XCOR has built, test-fired, and flown many different engines. The 5K18 is the eleventh engine design XCOR has built and fired. All have had perfect safety records. XCOR has not had a single lost time injury due to engine operations during its nine years of existence. It has also never seen one of its engines wear out, which is in marked contrast with the experience of most of the aerospace industry. XCOR's experience also includes building rocket-powered vehicles. The company has already developed and safely flown two generations of rocket-powered aircraft." - Space Ref
Google Lunar X Prize, Google offered 30 million for a prize, 16 teams have signed up for the challenge.
"The Google Lunar X PRIZE is a $30 million international competition to safely land a robot on the surface of the Moon, travel 500 meters over the lunar surface, and send images and data back to the Earth. Teams must be at least 90% privately funded and must be registered to compete by December 31, 2010. The first team to land on the Moon and complete the mission objectives will be awarded $20 million; the full first prize is available until December 31, 2012. After that date, the first prize will drop to $15 million. The second team to do so will be awarded $5 million. Another $5 million will awarded in bonus prizes. The final deadline for winning the prize is December 31, 2014."
SpacePort America, successfully passed qualifications and was awarded a license from the FAA for the first commercial built space port. Located in New Mexico, the Governor of the state, Bill Richardson was happy about the recent developments for the spaceport. (see "Richardson gets a GREEN light:", 'Americans in Space', Dec 21, 2008) Richardson was recently named as the new Secretary of Commerce by President Elect Obama. He has publically stated he is going to push commercial space to the new Administration.
Virgin Galatic has already signed on at the new space port and will be the anchor company.
POLL RESULTS:
Yesterday's poll "Should NASA have it's own LEO launch system." had a lower turnout than normal but still had interesting results:
24% of DKOS members who participated in the poll thought "Yes, NASA should always retain the ability to launch it's own Astronauts it's own way." This was higher then expected given the many members who are not very NASA friendly. 27% wanted NASA to have it's own launch capability but should use commercial services as well with 16% wanting NASA out of the Low Earth Orbit launch business all together.
STAR TREK: In the News.
DVD Talk has an extensive write up and a ton of remastered images:
"Star Trek was not the first science-fiction television series about a crew of intrepid space explorers (Ricky Jones Space Ranger proceeded it by 12 years), nor was it even the most popular such television series of its day (Lost in Space had twice the viewers), but in the years since, Star Trek has eclipsed every sci-fi show that came before and influenced every one that came after.
Though Star Trek was conceived as a grand space opera version of NBC's popular western frontier show Wagon Train, it was always more about the personal relationships of the characters than it was about futuristic technology and aliens. The USS Enterprise was captained by James Kirk, a brash, romantic, adventurer, modeled on C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower. The initial idea for the show was that Kirk's most important friendship would be with chief engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, played by Irish-Canadian actor James Doohan. However, because the creators could not justify having the chief engineer on the bridge enough, it was decided to make the Vulcan first officer Spock (Leonard Nimoy) Kirk's closest confidant. Midway through the first season, chief medical officer Leonard McCoy (DeForest Kelly) was elevated to star billing as well when it was noted that his humane sentimentality was a useful foil for Spock's cold logic."
YESTERDAY'S COMMENTS:
Yesterday's Main Article: Should NASA use Military Rockets for Astronaut launches?
"NASA usedmilitary rockets for years! Redstone and Atlas missiles were fairly common power units.
Dual service missiles are ok, but a responsible NASA led by someone who is smarter than a Bushie is vital for success." - Boilerman 10
Rimjob - "Wouldn't They Still Have To "Man-Rate" (redesign for human use) the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets?
I've heard arguments that it's cheaper and easier to design a new system from the ground up, then to take an already in use system and make it work for something that it wasn't originally designed to do.
I know I've seen an argument along those lines used on another website when the question was posed for why we just don't use the Saturn V design, or some variant of it (after all, it did work).
"There is no point in even contemplating trying to rebuild the Saturn 5," he said. "Having a complete set of Saturn 5 blueprints would do us no good whatsoever. True, we would still be able to bend the big pieces of metal fairly easily. But they are not the problem.
"The real problem is the hundreds of thousands of other parts, some as apparently insignificant as a bolt or a washer, that are simply not manufactured any more. Everything would have to be redone. So a simple rebuild would be impossible. The only real answer would be to start from scratch and build anew using modern parts and processes. Yet another immense challenge!"
----------
"Mostly been military rockets NASA has mostly used military rockets for launching astronauts. Mercury used a modified Redstone missile as a launch vehicle. Gemini was launched using a Titan II ICBM rocket. Apollo had the impressive Saturn V (if you can, take the Kennedy Space Center tour in Florida and see the Saturn V), which was designed as a space launcher but was designed by a Wernher von Braun, who made lots of military rockets including the notorious German V-2.
To finish out manned space flight, the Shuttle program uses its specialized solid boosters combined with the shuttle's engines.
The issue of getting into orbit is a ballistic issue, regardless of whether or not it is military or civilian. I don't think the launch vehicle's origins really matter, just the performance and cost." - Puppethead
TODAY'S POLL:
A few weeks ago some members said they wanted to have a showdown poll for favorite science fiction television programs related to space. Here is your new year's day SCI FI poll.