usa technology

           By Henry Stewart American experts and industry suppliers are slowly chiming in on US Vice President Mike Pence's aggressive demand that the US commit to placing " boots on the Moon " by 2024. The emerging consensus is that the goal is achievable, but difficult and will " require concerted effort by NASA, the White House, and the Office of Management and Budget ." As outlined in the March 28th, 2019 Space.com post, " Can NASA Really Put Astronauts on the Moon in 2024? ," Pence has instructed NASA to put US astronauts on the lunar surface by 2024, four years earlier than previously planned. The article noted that representatives from Denver CO based Lockheed Martin Space Systems , the prime contractor for the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle (Orion MPCV), have indicated that: ... the company could build a crewed lunar lander relatively quickly, by leveraging technologies developed for Orion. This lander could touch down by 2024, provided it de...

           By  Chuck Black It's worth noting that very few large government or private sector organizations ever announce new initiatives unless they're having trouble raising enough money to build the consensus needed for the previous plan. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's just the way the world works. It's also worth noting that, in Canada at least, our space program has recently tied its future to approximately $2Bln CDN of new funding over the next twenty-four years to construct an AI turbocharged next generation Canadarm for the NASA led Lunar Gateway . The Gateway is one of two major US programs which could very well end up delayed or on the chopping block to fund this latest, boots on the Moon, US initiative. Or worse, each individual program could continue but no single program would ever receive enough of a budget to ever accomplish something. That would be kinda like how things are now. US President Trump. Photo c/o  Saul ...

           By Henry Stewart NASA's current flagship robotics mission, the $2.46Bln US ($3.29Bln CDN) Mars 2020 rover, is " following the pattern of its predecessors and seeing its cost rise because of technical issues ." As outlined in the March 18th, 2019 Science post, " Cost of Mars 2020 mission may rise by up to 15% ," the mission’s cost will increase by " no more than 15% " according to Lori Glade, NASA’s acting director of planetary science. That's still a sizable sum and will take money away from other NASA missions. Cost growth above the 15% threshold would also trigger requirements for US Congressional notification and mission modifications, according to a plan put in place by NASA in 2016 intended to limit cost overruns. As outlined in the March 19th, 2019 Space News post, " NASA dealing with cost growth on planetary science flagship missions ," there had been " widespread rumors in the planetary science community that Mars ...

           By Henry Stewart Jim Bridenstine. Photo c/o NASA/ Bill Ingalls . It's worth noting that, only a day after questioning whether the US Space Launch System (SLS) will be ready in time to be used for the scheduled 2020 first orbital flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft and its European built service module, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine sent an e-mail to NASA employees and SLS contractors praising the SLS workforce and stating that using alternative commercial carriers for Orion missions " is not optimum or sustainable ." As outlined in the March 14th, 2019 NASA blog post, " A Message to the Workforce on SLS and Orion ," Bridenstine sent this message to NASA employees and contractors: Yesterday, I was asked by Congress about the schedule slip of the Space Launch System and plans to get NASA back on track. I mentioned that we are exploring the possibility of launching Orion and the European Service Module to low-Earth orbit on an existing heavy-l...

           By  Chuck Black The rumor has been whispered in the corridors of space industry experts since almost the beginning of the program. NASA's expensive Space Launch System (SLS), an American shuttle-derived " super heavy-lift " expendable launch vehicle developed originally as part of NASA's long-term deep space exploration plans, would eventually be replaced by the smaller, but far less expensive commercial crewed vehicles currently undergoing their final testing and expected to fly astronauts to space over the next year. And now, that rumor has exploded into public view. During a public hearing of the US Senate Commerce Committee to assess America's future in space held in Washington DC on March 13th, 2019, NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said the agency would decide in the coming weeks about whether to take the first orbital flight of NASA's Orion spacecraft and its European built Orion service module on a pair of commercial launc...

           By  Chuck Black The Liberal government under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is at least being honest when talking about Federal motivation to participate in the US Lunar Gateway . As outlined in the March 6th, 2019 Canadian government press release, " Launching Canada's Space Strategy ," the key priority of the strategy is " investing in science, innovation and research " which, according the press release, will unlock " new opportunities for economic growth ," create " thousands of jobs for hard-working Canadians ," and help Canadian's " understand the world we live in and our place in it ." But while there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the government's stated motivations, some (in office and elsewhere) have argued that the Moon is now " the central focus of the new space strategy and investments ," despite what the press release explicitly states. Those arguments are obviously in error. The new p...

           By  Brian Orlotti At 5:51 am EST on March 3rd, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft successfully docked with the International Space Station (ISS) 27 hours after its launch from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. The docking marks a major milestone towards restoring indigenous human spaceflight capability to the US. The main goal of the mission, named Demo-1, was to prove that the Crew Dragon spacecraft can safely carry NASA astronauts to and from the ISS. SpaceX has been developing Crew Dragon under a $2.6Bln US (#3.4Bln CDN) NASA contract, awarded in 2014. The spacecraft is based on SpaceX’s own robotic Dragon spacecraft, which has flown 16 ISS resupply missions to date under a separate NASA contract. In a first for SpaceX, the Crew Dragon docked itself at the ISS. The cargo-only version of the Dragon spacecraft requires the ISS’s human-controlled robotic arm to grab and then attach it to the station. Crew Dragon made use of the ISS’ new Interna...

           By  Chuck Black The Washington DC based Wilson Center , the US think-tank which organized the September 7th, 2018 event " Over the Horizon: A New Era for Canada-US Space Cooperation? " which included many US and Canadian senior space focused bureaucrats, has published a February 2019 White Paper on " The Potential for a US-Canadian Spacefaring Partnership: Canada’s Role in The US Return to Space Leadership ." The front cover of the twenty-one page February 2019 Wilson Center position paper on " The Potential for a US-Canadian Spacefaring Partnership: Canada’s Role in The US Return to Space Leadership ." Graphic c/o Wilson Center . As outlined in the position paper: Canada has a well-developed partnership with NASA that supports space science and exploration, but the changes in US priorities for NASA will require a recalibration of this partnership and open new opportunities for the CSA. Canada’s small but highly regarded commercial space sec...

           By  Brian Orlotti The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has announced that it is collaborating with China’s national space agency on lunar landing research. The announcement, coming at a time of increased tension between the superpowers (and increased tensions between Canada and China), is a hopeful sign of rapprochement and a break from past policy. As outlined in the January 18th, 2019 CTV News post, " NASA and China collaborate on Moon exploration ," NASA has held discussions with the China National Space Administration (CNSA) on the possibility of having its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft observe the landing plume of China’s Chang’e 4 lunar lander on January 31st, 2019. Also discussed was a proposal for NASA access to Chang’e’4’s orbiter imagery and the placing of a radio beacon on Chang’e 4 to aid future US lunar surface missions by public and private entities. The discussions followed on an exch...

           By Henry Stewart Preparations for an upcoming US visit by Roscosmos State Corporation  Director General  Dmitry Rogozin  are still moving forward despite growing criticism in the US. DG Rogozin Photo c/o Sergey Savostyanov/TASS . Last October, NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine extended an invitation for his Russian counterpart to visit NASA headquarters in Houston TX in the new year. But others objected. As outlined in the January 1st, 2019 Politico post, " 'Wow': NASA startles with invitation to sanctioned Russian ," some Russian hawks considered Rogozin to be " no typical rocket-science technocrat. He is an ultranationalist politician with a record of stark racism and homophobia who is under American sanctions ." And that's a quote from a news story. Imagine the sort of comments the editorialists are generating. To be fair to Rogazin, he's a well known public figure, in both Russia and the US. As outlined on his official Ru...

           By  Chuck Black Photo c/o Toronto Star . We live in a twilight period between a post cold-war space race dominated by government space agencies, expensive science projects and covert military considerations and the beginning of what could just possibly be a new, lower cost " commercial " space age. As always, Canada is busy performing its designated " utility player " role. Today's contributions included: Providing an astronaut for the next crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS).  Contributing scientific experiments to the NASA Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, Security, Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) mission, currently in the midst of rendezvousing with asteroid Bennu. Supplying two small satellites, from Cambridge ON based exactEarth and Vancouver BC based Helios Wire , for the NASA Small-Sat Express mission. All three missions either successfully launched from Earth or achieved m...

           By Henry Stewart NASA Administrator  Jim Bridenstine has announced that nine US based companies are now eligible to bid on NASA delivery services to the lunar surface through a new  Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, a series of fixed price procurement contracts NASA will begin issuing in 2019 which are intended to facilitate the planned US return to the Moon. The new contracts will have more than a passing resemblance to the very successful Commercial Orbital Transportation Services  (COTS) fixed priced contracts, which came out of a NASA program to coordinate the delivery of crew and cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) by private companies. Hawthorne CA based SpaceX used COTS and its follow-on programs to grow into the low-cost rocket launching powerhouse it is today. As outlined in the November 29th, 2018 NASA press release, " NASA Announces New Partnerships for Commercial Lunar Payload Delivery...

           By  Brian Orlotti NASA’s Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft has landed on Mars after a six-month, 482 million-kilometre journey. The mission includes a small Canadian component. InSight is a two-year mission managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) whose goal is to study the interior of Mars. As outlined in the November 26th, 2018 CTV News post " Mars touchdown: NASA spacecraft survives supersonic plunge ," the spacecraft spent six minutes descending through the Martian atmosphere, using its parachute and engines to slow down before landing. A pair of cubesats trailing InSight since their May liftoff provided near real-time updates of the spacecraft's descent. One satellite also sent back a quick photo from Mars's surface. InSight touched down in Elysium Planitia, a plain hear the Martian equator chosen for its flatness and minimal landing risk. The mission consists of a ...

           By  Chuck Black It may not last. But at least for now, Federal Innovation Minister Navdeep Bains has refused to respond to NASA Administer Jim Bridenstine 's request for Canada to fund a multi-billion dollar 3rd generation Canadarm contribution to the proposed NASA Lunar Gateway  (also known as the  Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway or LOP-G), the next generation orbital outpost and staging platform NASA expects to build sometime in the 2020's. AIAC president and CEO Quick (left) with NASA administrator Bridenstine (centre) and innovation minister Bains at the Canadian Aerospace Summit , which was held in Ottawa ON from November 12th - 14th. According to Bains, " we obviously can't replicate the Silicon Valley model here ," but the Canadian focus on basic research and the funding for a variety of smaller, space focused projects is the best way for Canada to develop an ecosystem of innovation. According to Bridenstine,...