"The Best of Times, the Worst of Times..."

Robert Bigelow explains his commercial lunar habitat, being readied to undergo a test deployment in the Nevada desert, last May. More recently he's proposed using of the NASA COTS model to explore cislunar space and establish 'extended human activity' on the Moon [Bigelow Aerospace].

Doug Messier
Parabolic Arc

All the promise, perils and contradictions of America’s human spaceflight effort were on display earlier this week in Washington, D.C.

Things were looking good for a day or so, but then the proverbial other shoe dropped to remind everyone of the deep trouble that lies ahead as NASA attempts to restore its human spaceflight capability and send astronauts beyond low Earth orbit.

As NASA struggles to execute a series of ambitious programs on increasingly tight budgets, the main beneficiary appears to be the bumbling, crisis prone Russian space agency Roscosmos, which has reaped a financial windfall as a result of America’s equally bumbling human spaceflight policy. And matters could get worse before they get better (for NASA, at least).

The events of the week played out as follows:

Read the full post, HERE.

Also:
Bigelow urges use of COTS model for cislunar transportation
Jeff Foust, New Space Journal, November 15, 2013 

NASA studies Ad Astra VASIMR for Lunar Tug

Ad Astra VX-200 at full power using argon propellant/

Doug Messier at Parabolic Arc has posted a video demonstration of the VASIMR-powered lunar tug concept with news of the NASA study. Read the post, HERE.

Aldrin calls Orion a step backwards

Doug Messier
Parabolic Arc

Buzz Aldrin writes that NASA is making a mistake by replacing the winged shuttle with smaller ocean-landing Orion:

"Two Shuttle accidents — each caused by NASA hubris — combined with a tight budget have caused NASA to retire the fleet. Understandable, I think. But in a move that truly makes no sense, they will be replaced by…the space capsules we long ago outgrew. And to save even more money, these cannon-ball-like capsules would land once again in the ocean, not on dry land. To recover Orion will require deployment of ships in several landing zones. How much will that cost? Much of the Orion will be expendable, such as the heat shield. It seems we have decided to throw away our Shuttle experience and go “back to the future”.

Read the rest of Aldrin:
Let Private Sector Develop Space Shuttle Replacement

Selling Dragon as 60% cost saver

Doug Messier
ParabolicArc.com

The Examiner has a Q&A with SpaceX founder Elon Musk in which he talks about how much cheaper it will be once his company’s Falcon 9 rocket begins launching Dragon spacecraft into orbit:

SA: A manned flight to the ISS aboard a Soyuz currently costs about 50 million dollars. Where do you see this price in a few years when the Falcon 9 comes online and what are the benefits to US taxpayers?

EM: In contrast to the existing manned systems, a seat on-board the Dragon Spacecraft launched by the Falcon 9 rocket and would cost less than $20M per seat and it is 100% manufactured and launched in the United States. We are estimating that it would create well in excess of a 1000 high quality jobs at Cape Canaveral and an equivalent number in California and Texas, where we do our manufacturing and testing. Moreover, the total cost would only be $1.5 billion, so taxpayers would save $2 billion.

Read more HERE.

Excalibur-Almaz, Ltd.

The reusable re-entry vehicle that was previously part of a Soviet manned-military surveillance space station, the Almaz component, will now be integrated into a private space station run by the Russian-American company Excalabur-Almaz, Ltd. They have announced they will carry paying research crews on one week missions into low Earth orbit by 2013. (NPROM)

Excalibur Almaz to launch private space station by 2013

Doug Messier
ParabolicArc.com

EA Founder and CEO Art Dula said, “Through cooperation with NPOM and with the support of leading space contractors around the world and an exceptionally strong management and advisory team, EA is in a unique position to initiate a new era of private orbital space exploration.”

Cosmonaut Vladimir Titov, advisor to EA in Russia, said, “With this announcement, the dream of private orbital space exploration may become a reality in the very near future.”

Read the Posting HERE.

India moves forward on human spaceflight

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) PSLV being readied for launch at Sriharikota, on the southeastern coast of the Indian Sub-Continent.

Doug Messier at Parabolic Arc has posted updates regarding India's spaceflight ambitions.

View them HERE.