NASA Remembers Moonwalker, Shuttle Commander John Young,Captain,US Navy (retired)

USAF Boeing X-37B Helps Ensure Leadership in Space Technology

The US Air Force will launch the fourth unmanned mission of its dedicated space plane,the Boeing X-37B,on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 20 May 2015.The mission,known as OTV-4,or Orbital Test Vehicle-4,will be focused on the testing of experimental payloads,says Randy Walden,director of the USAF Rapid Capabilities Office.The RCO will test an experimental propulsion system developed by the Air Force Research Laboratory and Space and Missile Systems Center,among other experiments.A NASA advanced materials investigation is also on the docket.No other experiments have been disclosed.
We're very pleased with the experiments lined up for our fourth OTV mission,Mr.Walden said.We'll continue to evaluate improvements to the space vehicle's performance,but we're honoured to host these collaborative experiments that will help advance space technology.*
The Air Force has two of the vehicles,which are 8.8 meters/29 ft. long.One of the OTVs flew missions 1 and 3;the other flew mission 3.The last mission,OTV-3,lasted nearly two years at 674 days in orbit,landing on 14 October 2014.OTV-1 launched in April 2010 and lasted 225 days;OTV-2 blasted off in March 2011 and lasted 469 days.The duration of the OTV-4 mission wasn't released.*
The X-37B began as a NASA project in 1999,but was transferred to the USAF in 2004.The spacecraft was based on the aerodynamic design of the space shuttle.Indeed,it was originally intended to be launched from the shuttle's cargo bay,but was converted to an independent launch format when that was deemed too costly.Originating in Boeing's Phantom Works,it became a classified project of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and part of the Department of Defense's independent space policy after the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger.The program is concerned with risk reduction,experimentation and operational concept development for reusable space technologies in support of long-term developmental space objectives.*
The X-37B has been landing at Vandenburg Air Force Base,California,with Edwards Air Force Base,California as an alternate site.By the end of 2014,the OTVs were to be housed in the former space shuttle hangars at Kennedy Space Center,OPF-1 and OPF-2,following the hangars' renovation.The spacecraft is the world's smallest orbital space plane,one-fourth the size of the space shuttle.It is powered by one Aerojet Rocketdyne human-rated AR2-3 engine.Flying an orbit of the same altitude as reconnaissance satellites and the International Space Station at 410 kilometers/255 miles,it is a crucial exponent of the Air Force's space doctrine that space is vitally important to everything it does,be it secure communications;intelligence,search and rescue;missile warning;weather prediction;or precision navigation and timing,all of which rely on space,a domain that is increasingly contested.*
One of the main experiments on OTV-4 will test the Hall effect thruster in support of the Advanced High Frequency Communications Satellite program.The AEHF satellites are nuclear-hardened and cost one billion dollars each.They are designed to ensure the continuity of military communications in the most drastic wartime scenarios.Three AEHFs have been deployed,with three more planned.
The Hall effect thruster experiment involves collection of telemetry from the thruster operating in the space environment,as well as measurement of the thrust imported on the vehicle.The data will be used to validate and improve Hall thruster and environmental modeling capabilities,which will enhance the ability to extrapolate ground test results to actual in-orbit performance,the Air Force said.A more efficient on-orbit thruster capability is highly significant.Less fuel burn lowers the cost to put a satellite in orbit,as well as enhances a spacecraft's operational flexibility,survivability and longevity.
The Hall thruster is a 4.5 kilowatt unit that uses electricity and xenon to produce thrust for maneuvering satellites.It produces whisper-like thrust by ionising and accelerating xenon gas.Xenon fuel weighs just a fraction of conventional hydrazine fuel,but takes longer to utilise.It is an electric propulsion system that needs very long periods of time to harness for orbital maneuvering.That may explain why the OTV-3 mission lasted almost two years.*
Boeing (BA),Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc (AJRD)

Orion Program's SLS Rocket Already Being Fabricated;Engine Test Soon

Some components of the Orion Program's new Space Launch System rocket are already being fabricated by a giant tool at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility,New Orleans.Parts of the rocket's engine section and the Core Stage are being welded by the Vertical Weld Center,a massive tool that is three stories high and weighs 150 tons.The barrel that holds the rocket's four RS-25 main engines was completed in November.The VWC will also weld barrel panels together to produce whole barrels for the SLS Core Stage's two pressurised tanks,intertank and forward skirt.*
The SLS will include components that were also part of the Space Shuttle system's hardware.For example,the RS-25 engine was also the Space Shuttle's main engine,and the SLS will utilise the same two solid rocket boosters that the Space Shuttle used as well.An engine firing test was planned to occur before year's end at NASA's Stennis Space Center in Hancock County,Mississippi.An RS-25 engine was placed on the A-1 Test Stand at the Center in November,awaiting final preparation and activation work.*
The Boeing SLS Core Stage contains the rocket's cryogenic liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant for the main engines.The Core Stage will tower more than 200 feet high and have a diameter of 27.5 feet.*
A new engine controller is being produced for the RS-25 engines.The controller regulates valves that direct the flow of propellant to the engines,which determines the amount of thrust generated during an engine test.Propellant flow and engine thrust determine a spacecraft's speed and trajectory,NASA explains.The engine controller also regulates the engine's start-up sequence and shutdown sequence,critical to the proper operation of the sophisticated RS-25 engine under both normal and emergency conditions.)*
The RS-25 engine is a product of Aerojet Rocketdyne,a division of GenCorp.*
Boeing(BA),GenCorp(GY)

After the Shuttle:SpaceX Prepares For ISS Demonstration Mission

Good progress is being made in the successor to the space shuttle program,even as the shuttles are being retired to museums.On May 7,NASA contractor SpaceX is set to launch its unmanned Dragon spacecraft on its Falcon 9 rocket toward the International Space Station.According to NASA,this date now appears unlikely,however,because of a software problem.A firm date will be announced when the issue is resolved.The spacecraft and rocket were successfully sent into low earth orbit in 2010-the first time a commercial entity had achieved low earth orbit,or LEO.
On this mission,the goal is to rendezvous with the ISS.At that point,the ISS will grapple the Dragon,which is a capsule atop a module,draw it close with its robot arm and dock with it.The ISS astronauts will enter the Dragon,retrieve 1200 pounds of cargo,and insert a return load into the Dragon.
The Dragon spacecraft will undock,reenter earth's atmosphere and splash down.The spacecraft and its return cargo are then to be retrieved.Should this mission succeed,SpaceX will begin regular resupply missions to the ISS under its 12 mission contract with NASA that has a renewal option.
SpaceX was founded in 2002 by South African native Elon Musk,a noted engineer and billionaire entrepreneur,who cofounded PayPal.
Another NASA contractor,Orbital Sciences,is to conduct an unmanned demonstration mission with its Cygnus spacecraft later this year.Once the cargo missions are underway and further testing is completed,manned low earth missions with NASA astronauts in commercial spacecraft are slated to begin.SpaceX and Boeing are vying for the manned LEO mission contract.
The low earth orbit contractors allow NASA to husband its resources for deep space exploration with the new Space Launch System and Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle,which are to be capable of taking astronauts to the asteroids and Mars,as well as the Webb Space Telescope,successor to the Hubble.Initial testing of the SLS and MPCV have been going well.The first launch of the SLS is planned for 2017.
Orbital Sciences(ORB),Boeing(BA)

Fifty Years Later:John Glenn,Marine and Astronaut

Astronaut John Glenn recently concluded his distinguished aviation career when he gave up his pilot's license at the age of 90.It was getting too hard for him to climb into his Beechcraft Baron.Still alert,Senator Glenn,who represented Ohio in the U.S. Senate from 1974-99,attended the fiftieth anniversary commemoration of his first orbital spaceflight by an American on 20 February at the Kennedy Space Center.
Senator Glenn's career in military aviation isn't nearly as well known as his NASA years,yet was outstanding in its own right.He flew 59 combat missions as a U.S. Marine pilot in World War II in an F49 Corsair in the South Pacific.That was followed by 63 combat missions in the Korean War in an F9F Panther jet interceptor,as well as 27 missions in an F-86F Sabre on an exchange program with the U.S. Air Force in that war,downing 3 MiG-15s near the Yalu River just before the truce that obtains to this day.
For his achievements,Senator Glenn was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Gold Stars and two Oak Leaf Clusters;an Air Medal with three Silver Stars and two Oak Leaf Clusters;and an Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with one Bronze Star.He also received two Presidential Unit Citations,one for the United States and the other for Korea.
As well as orbiting the earth three times in a Mercury space capsule in February,1962,Senator Glenn became the oldest astronaut to fly in space when he joined the crew of the space shuttle Discovery in 1998 at age 77.On that flight,he was the subject of a biomedical evaluation of the effect of spaceflight on the elderly,with his 1962 space flight serving as a baseline for the study.Initially opposed to women being astronauts,he changed his mind about that and delivered a stirring tribute to Mission Specialist Judith Resnik,the second American woman in space,who tragically died in the space shuttle Challenger disaster on 28 January,1986.
For his storied accomplishments,Senator Glenn was also honored with the Congressional Gold Medal and the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

A Marine for NASA

Major General Charles F. Bolden,Jr.,U.S. Marine Corps Retired,has been selected by President Barack Obama to head NASA.General Bolden was himself an astronaut,having flown on four space shuttle missions-commanding two of them.His last mission was in 2004.Before his space career,which also included stints as a NASA administrator,General Bolden was a Marine aviator,flying more than 1000 sorties in the Vietnam War.He served in the Persian Gulf as well.The U.S. Naval Academy graduate was praised by fellow astronaut Senator Bill Nelson(D-Florida) for being a patriot,a leader and a visionary.General Bolden would be charged with conducting a review of all of NASA's programs,retiring the shuttle and guiding the follow-on Orion program,if he wins U.S. Senate approval.He would be the first African American to direct NASA.