Nobody knows exactly when X-37B will return to Earth. Right now, there are no indications that it's about to return soon. The US Air Force seemed confident in the performance of their spacecraft when it reached the 270-day mark in orbit. It's probably still working well, and could be expected to do so for months to follow.

Few details have been revealed about the mission, which is a semi-secret test flight. As this author has suggested for years, there are really two missions going on at once. The first mission is a test of the X-37B vehicle and the components used to make it. This is all about testing new technology that will find their way into future re-useable spacecraft.

The second mission concerns some unidentified objects in the spacecraft's small payload bay. This writer believes that these are satellite parts undergoing endurance testing for America's National Reconnaissance Office, the shadowy organization behind America's spy satellites.

Little has been said officially about the X-37B in recent months, but there has been some interesting unofficial discussion. In January, the British Interplanetary Society published an article in the journal "Spaceflight", claiming that X-37B was spying on China's Tiangong 1 space laboratory.

The claim was rapidly dismissed by spaceflight analysts around the world, who pointed to differences in the orbits of the two spacecraft. This author also suggested that the gear on board X-37B doesn't even equip the spacecraft for a spy mission. The claim gained some traction in the mass media before the rebuttals caught up with the original story.

So, how long will it take for X-37B to come home? It seems logical to assume that the US Air Force would want to fly a year-long mission, at least. This makes the flight look like a real marathon. But the robot shuttle probably won't come home on its birthday. There's too much publicity and attention. Mission managers will probably want to wait at least another month before returning the vehicle. They could even wait longer than that.

We don't know the true endurance of this robust little spacecraft. The US Air Force probably doesn't know exactly how long it could function. At some point, a line has to be drawn. We probably won't see a mission that goes more than six months beyond the one-year point. This author guesses that the vehicle won't stay in orbit for longer than three months beyond the birthday mark.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the next few months. We probably won't learn anything new about the spacecraft or the mysterious payload it carries under its clamshell doors. At some point, it will glide downwards from the sky. We will see pictures of the vehicle, no different from the return of the first X-37B mission. Then everything will go quiet again.

A third X-37B mission would certainly be useful. It would use one of the two vehicles that have already been flown, and demonstrate re-usability of the same spacecraft.

Dr Morris Jones is an Australian space analyst and writer. Email morrisjonesNOSPAMhotmail.com. Replace NOSPAM with @ to send email. Dr Jones will answer media inquiries.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:54 AEST Heath TX (SPX) Feb 03, 2012 - Following detailed analysis of the downlinked telemetry and audio/video recordings from both ground based cameras and a camera that was recovered from the rocket, Armadillo Aerospace has determined that the maximum altitude attained by the STIG-A rocket in the January 28th mission was approximately 82-km MSL (~50 miles).

A failure of the ballute (balloon-parachute) recovery system meant that the GPS steerable main parachute could not be deployed as intended. The vehicle was recovered within the predicted operating area and the nose cone and ballute were separately recovered intact on the Spaceport property.

This vehicle was the same one that flew in December 2011 and successfully demonstrated the feasibility of a reusable rocket. The altitude achieved in this second flight was approximately twice that of the earlier flight and again tested many of the core technologies needed for the proposed manned reusable suborbital vehicle.

The images captured by the rocket mounted camera at apogee also serve to indicate the spectacular views that await future private astronauts.

The next incremental step for Armadillo Aerospace will be a 100-km (~62 miles) plus "space shot" with the successor vehicle STIG-B which is provisionally scheduled to launch in early spring from Spaceport America.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:54 AEST Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Feb 02, 2012 - One of NASA's industry partners, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), completed a full-duration, full-thrust firing of its new SuperDraco engine prototype at the company's Rocket Development Facility in McGregor, Texas. The firing was in preparation for the ninth milestone to be completed under SpaceX's funded Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP).

"SpaceX and all our industry partners are being extremely innovative in their approaches to developing commercial transportation capabilities," said Commercial Crew Program Manager Ed Mango.

"We are happy that our investment in SpaceX was met with success in the firing of its new engine."

Nine months after CCP awarded SpaceX $75 million to design and test its Dragon spacecraft with a launch abort system, the company test fired its SuperDraco development engine to demonstrate its capabilities of keeping an astronaut crew safe during launch and ascent.

The engine produced full thrust within approximately 100 milliseconds of the ignition command. It also fired for 5 seconds, which is the same amount of time the engines would burn during an emergency abort.

"Eight SuperDracos will be built into the sidewalls of the Dragon spacecraft, producing up to 120,000 pounds of axial thrust to quickly carry astronauts to safety should an emergency occur during launch," said Elon Musk, SpaceX chief executive officer and chief technology officer.

"Those engines will have the ability to deep throttle, providing astronauts with precise control and enormous power."

SuperDracos are powered by the same propellant that powers the 18 Draco thrusters Dragon will use to maneuver in orbit and during re-entry. To achieve the power necessary to quickly carry the spacecraft out of harm's way, SuperDraco engines would burn through propellant 200 times faster than the engines Dragon uses for orbital maneuvers.

"Crews will have the unprecedented ability to escape from danger at any point during the launch because the launch abort engines are integrated into the side walls of the vehicle," Musk said.

"With eight SuperDracos, if any one engine fails the abort still can be carried out successfully."

Ultimately, SpaceX intends for the Dragon and SuperDraco engines to be fully reusable, which will help advance the company's long-term goal of making spacecraft more like airplanes that can be flown repeatedly with minimum refurbishment. SpaceX has 10 milestones to meet under the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) agreement, which continues through at least May.

All of NASA's industry partners continue to meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew transportation capabilities that will ferry U.S. astronauts to and from the International Space Station, reducing the amount of time America is without its own system.

One of NASA's industry partners, SpaceX, fires its new SuperDraco engine prototype in preparation for the ninth milestone to be completed under SpaceX's funded Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP). Video package provided courtesy SpaceX.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:54 AEST Washington DC (SPX) Jan 30, 2012 - A new series of tests on the engine that will help carry humans to deep space will begin next week at NASA's Stennis Space Center in southern Mississippi. The tests on the J-2X engine bring NASA one step closer to the first human-rated liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen rocket engine to be developed in 40 years.

Tests will focus on the powerpack for the J-2X. This highly efficient and versatile advanced rocket engine is being designed to power the upper stage of NASA's Space Launch System, a new heavy-lift launch vehicle capable of missions beyond low-Earth orbit.

The powerpack comprises components on the top portion of the engine, including the gas generator, oxygen and fuel turbopumps, and related ducts and valves that bring the propellants together to create combustion and generate thrust.

"The J-2X upper stage engine is vital to achieving the full launch capability of the heavy-lift Space Launch System," said William Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate.

"The testing will help insure that a key propulsion element is ready to support exploration across the solar system."

About a dozen powerpack tests of varying lengths are slated now through summer at Stennis' A-1 Test Stand.

By separating the engine components - the thrust chamber assembly, including the main combustion chamber, main injector and nozzle - engineers can more easily push the various components to operate over a wide range of conditions to ensure the parts' integrity, demonstrate the safety margin and better understand how the turbopumps operate.

"By varying the pressures, temperatures and flow rates, the powerpack test series will evaluate the full range of operating conditions of the engine components," said Tom Byrd, J-2X engine lead in the SLS Liquid Engines Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.

"This will enable us to verify the components' design and validate our analytical models against performance data, as well as ensure structural stability and verify the combustion stability of the gas generator."

This is the second powerpack test series for J-2X. The powerpack 1A was tested in 2008 with J-2S engine turbomachinery originally developed for the Apollo Program. Engineers tested these heritage components to obtain data to help them modify the design of the turbomachinery to meet the higher performance requirements of the J-2X engine.

"The test engineers on the A-1 test team are excited and ready to begin another phase of testing which will provide critical data in support of the Space Launch System," said Gary Benton, J-2X engine testing project manager at Stennis.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:54 AEST Salt Lake City UT (SPX) Jan 25, 2012 - ATK's Liberty program successfully held its Launch System Initial Systems Design (ISD) Review, which completes the third of five milestones in the company's unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA for the Commercial Crew Development Program.

The SAA enables NASA and the Liberty team to share technical information related to the Liberty Transportation System during the Preliminary Design Review phase of the program. During this meeting ATK presented the status of Liberty's systems level requirements, preliminary design and certification process.

"This unfunded partnership with ATK on its Liberty systems brings expertise from around the globe and we are glad to contribute our more than 50 years of human spaceflight experience to this effort," said Ed Mango, NASA's Commercial Crew Program manager.

"With the SAA in place we have been able to work closely with NASA's Commercial Program and receive valuable feedback as we develop the Liberty Transportation System," said Kent Rominger, ATK vice president and program manager for Liberty. "We continue to develop Liberty with the goal of providing the safest, most reliable, cost-effective and capable launch vehicle for crew transport."

The current SAA continues through at least March 2012. The two milestones met earlier included a Requirements Status Briefing and a Technical Interchange Meeting for the Liberty Transportation System. The ISD Review included Liberty team members from ATK, Astrium (an EADS Company), their subcontractors, and representatives from NASA's Commercial Crew Office at Kennedy Space Center and NASA representatives from other centers.

Prior to the signing of the SAA, the Liberty team successfully conducted a System Requirements Review and a System Development Review. All efforts to date have been supported exclusively by internal funding.

The commercial crew Liberty Transportation System combines two of the world's most reliable propulsion systems. ATK is the prime, providing the human-rated five-segment solid rocket motor as the first stage. Astrium is providing the core stage from the Ariane 5 rocket, including the Vulcain 2 engine, as Liberty's upper stage. The launch vehicle has the capability to lift 44,000 pounds to low-Earth-orbit.

"Liberty not only has the highest pounds-to-orbit of any other vehicle currently working under commercial agreements, it also is the only vehicle that was originally designed for human rating," said Rominger.

The five-segment motor is derived from the human-rated Space Shuttle and Ares solid rocket motors, and the core stage for the Ariane 5 was originally slated to lift the Hermes Space Plane. The current goal is to begin test launches in 2015, with a crewed flight in 2016.

ATK is an aerospace, defense, and commercial products company with operations in 22 states, Puerto Rico, and internationally, and revenues of approximately $4.8 billion. News and information can be found on the Internet at www.atk.com. ]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:54 AEST Boulder, CO (SPX) Jan 11, 2012 - Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp. has submitted a mission concept study to NASA for the storage and transfer of cryogenic propellants in space.

Ball Aerospace was one of four companies awarded a six-month contract by NASA to develop a mission concept that demonstrates long duration, in-space storage and transfer of cryogenic propellants.

Successful development and in-space demonstration of the technology would advance the state of the art that is required for future exploration elements such as large cryogenic propulsion stages. The Ball concept study proposes solutions to close current gaps in technology to achieve that goal.

"Ball has provided cryogenic storage technology for every human mission beginning with Gemini," said Cary Ludtke, vice president of Ball's Civil and Operational Space business unit. "NASA's future exploration architecture is well aligned with Ball's heritage for innovative solutions."

Ball has more than 40 years of experience with cryogenic spaceflight instruments and over 150 cryogenic space flights. These include NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope, the Cosmic Background Explorer, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite, and Power Reactant Storage Assembly tanks for the space shuttle program.

As a leader in the analysis, design and fabrication of spaceflight cryogenic systems and components, Ball relies on its cryogenic technology strength to deliver complete flight hardware solutions and systems.

A few of Ball's cryogenic product innovations include high performance and next-generation multilayer insulation (MLI), dewars and cryostats, cryocoolers, cryoradiators, as well as related components such as vapor cooled shields, struts, and high efficiency heat exchangers.

NASA will use the four contracted studies to plan and implement a future flight demonstration mission that will test and validate key capabilities and technologies. NASA's Exploration Technology Development Program is funding the studies.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:54 AEST Hampton VA (SPX) Jan 10, 2012 - After six months of testing, an 18,000 pound (8,165 kg) Orion mockup took its final splash into NASA Langley Research Center's Hydro Impact Basin on Jan. 6.

Orion, the next deep space exploration vehicle, will carry astronauts into space, provide emergency abort capability, sustain the crew during space travel, and ensure safe re-entry and landing.

The testing, which began in July 2011, simulated different water landing scenarios and took into account different velocities, parachute deployments, entry angles, sea states and wind conditions that Orion could face when landing in the Pacific Ocean.

The January 6 test represented worst case landing for an abort scenario in rough seas. The test impact conditions simulated all parachutes being deployed with a high impact pitch of 43 degrees. The capsule traveled approximately 47 mph (75.6 kph) before splashing into the basin and rolling over into the Stable 2 position.

This type of landing scenario isn't likely to occur during actual vehicle operation, but is essential for the validation of analytical models. As was the case with Apollo, the Orion flight design will feature an onboard up-righting system.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:54 AEST Huntsville, AL (SPX) Jan 10, 2012 - More than 500 students from middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities in 29 states will show their rocketeering prowess in the 2011-12 NASA Student Launch Projects flight challenge. The teams will build and test large-scale rockets of their own design in April 2012.

NASA created the twin Student Launch Projects to spark students' imaginations, challenge their problem-solving skills and give them real-world experience. The project aims to complement the science, mathematics and engineering lessons they study in the classroom.

"Just as NASA partners with innovative companies such as ATK to pursue the nation's space exploration mission, these young rocketeers pool their talent and ingenuity to solve complex engineering problems and fly sophisticated machines," said Tammy Rowan, manager of Marshall's Academic Affairs Office.

A record 57 teams of engineering, math and science students will take part in the annual challenge, organized by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. Fifteen middle and high school teams will tackle the non-competitive Student Launch Initiative, while 42 college and university teams will compete in the University Student Launch Initiative. The latter features a $5,000 first-place award provided by ATK Aerospace Systems of Salt Lake City, Utah.

"This competition is extremely important to ATK to mentor and train our future workforce," said Charlie Precourt, ATK general manager and vice president of Space Launch Systems. Precourt is a former space shuttle astronaut who piloted STS-71 in 1995 and commanded STS-84 in 1997 and STS-91 in 1998.

"ATK is proud to enter our fifth year as a partner with NASA on this initiative to engage the next generation. The competition grows in impact each year."

Each Student Launch Projects team will build a powerful rocket, complete with a working science or engineering payload, which the team must design, install and activate during the rocket launch. The flight goal is to come as close as possible to an altitude of 1 mile, requiring a precise balance of aerodynamics, mass and propulsive power.

As in classroom studies, participants must "show their work," writing detailed preliminary and post-launch reports and maintaining a public website for their rocket-building adventure. Each team also must develop educational engagement projects for schools and youth organizations in its community, inspiring the imaginations and career passions of future explorers.

In April, the teams will converge at Marshall, where NASA engineers will put the students' creations through the same kind of rigorous reviews and safety inspections applied to the nation's space launch vehicles.

On April 21, 2012, students will firing their rockets toward the elusive 1-mile goal, operating onboard payloads and waiting for chutes to open, signaling a safe return to Earth.

The student teams will vie for a variety of awards for engineering skill and ingenuity, team spirit and vehicle design. These include two new prizes: a pair of TDS2000 Series oscilloscopes, which are sophisticated tools for studying the change in flow of electrical voltage or current.

Donated by Tektronix Inc. of Beaverton, Ore., the oscilloscopes will be presented to the two school teams that earn the "Best Payload" and "Best Science Mission Directorate Challenge Payload" honors.

This year's participants hail from Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:54 AEST Paris (AFP) Jan 9, 2012 - The maiden voyage of Europe's Vega rocket, designed to launch small payloads of about 1.5 tonnes into low-Earth orbit, is set for February 9, the head of the European Space Agency said Monday.

"The target date for the Vega launch, set with all the partners involved -- Arianespace, industry, other space agencies -- is February 9," ESA's Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain said at a press conference.

The rocket is scheduled to lift the LARES (Laser Relativity Satellite), along with several other micro-satellites, from the Ariane launch site in Kourou, French Guiana.

The ESA had hoped to put the first Vega into space as early as 2009, and in October set a January 30 date for the light rocket's first voyage.

"Goodness knows it is a very difficult campaign. Everything is new," Dordain said, adding that he was confident the new date would hold.

Bringing Vega on line means that Europe will have completed its three-pronged launch capability.

Heavy-lifter Ariane ES can hoist the 20 tonnes Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) supply module to the International Space Station, while the Ariane ECA is designed mainly to lift communications satellites weighing up to 10 tonnes into geostationary orbit.

The Russian workhorse Soyuz rocket, launched for the first time from the Ariane site in October, carries mid-sized loads.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:54 AEST Las Cruces, N.M. (UPI) Jan 6, 2012 - Lowell Randall, described as one of the "great pioneer rocket scientists" who launched the U.S. space program, died this week in New Mexico.

He was 96.

Randall died at Good Samaritan Las Cruces Village Home Health Center Tuesday, the Silver City (N.M.) Sun-News reported.

Randall was a contemporary of legendary rocketry pioneer Robert Goddard.

Randall's work as a rocket engineer stretched from the 1930s through World War II and into late 20th century space program research.

He served as chief test engineer with the U.S. Naval Research Station at Annapolis, Md., and worked with corporate and governmental programs to develop and test technology for a series of rockets, aircraft and intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Engineer Joe Gold of Las Cruces, who said he first met Randall in 1950, called him "the last surviving member of a team of great pioneer rocket scientists who launched the U.S. space program" in his biography of Randall.

In 1978 Randall retired from the White Sands Missile Range.

Randall, a New Mexico native, was born in Roswell in 1916.

]]> Thu, 09 FEB 2012 09:06:54 AEST Subscribe to our daily selection of space, military, environment and energy newsletters responseText http://visitor.constantcontact.com/manage/optin/ea?v=0016gbbKsaiGSpQFojVO8ZoHw%3D%3D