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Fwd: America Needs Russian Rocket Engines to Fly to Space – US Space Command

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: June 29, 2015 at 9:37:28 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: America Needs Russian Rocket Engines to Fly to Space – US Space Command

 

 

America Needs Russian Rocket Engines to Fly to Space – US Space Command

© AP Photo/ Maxim Marmur

 

12:20 28.06.2015(updated 12:22 28.06.2015) 

71703170

 

US space agencies need additional Russian-made RD-180 rocket engines until a domestically produced equivalent is ready for use, the head of US Space Command said June 26.

© Sputnik/ Iliya Pitalev

US Space Firm Supports Need to Ease Russian Rocket Engines Ban

 

"Without access to the RD-180… we severely limit our assured access [to space], undermine the competition we have worked so diligently to enable and will have traded one monopoly for another in the medium and intermediate vehicle classes," Gen. John Hyten said at a House Armed Services Committee hearing, National Defense magazine wrote on Friday.

The nine RD-180 rocket engines available will not ensure access to space for the United States national security needs, said Hyten. He supported the

Defense Department request to fulfill the 2012 purchase of additional RD-180 rocket engines in order to allow the ULA to participate competitively until a new launch system is available to deliver necessary space capabilities.

Congress earlier prohibited the use of the Russian-made engines for heavy lift rockets after 2019.

Now, the aeronautic industry is working to produce a domestic version, but there are concerns that a replacement will not be ready in time.

That may leave SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, alone in offering heavy lift services if its Falcon Heavy is developed by then, the magazine noted.

"If the current law is not modified, America will not have assured access to space and competition will have been unintentionally eliminated, giving the new entrant a monopoly," Tory Bruno, President and CEO United Launch Alliance, said referring to launch provider SpaceX.

US federal law requires two independent providers of launch systems for access to space. ULA manufactured Atlas V and Delta IV launch systems, which use the Russian made RD-180 engine, currently carry two-thirds of US national security payloads.

 

© 2015 Sputnik All rights reserved. 

 

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Fwd: This Week in The Space Review - 2015 June 29

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Begin forwarded message:

From: jeff@thespacereview.com (Jeff Foust)
Date: June 29, 2015 at 12:27:48 PM CDT
Subject: This Week in The Space Review - 2015 June 29
Reply-To: jeff@thespacereview.com

[ If you no longer wish to receive announcements from The Space Review,
please follow the instructions at the end of this message. ]


Welcome to this week's issue of The Space Review:


The aftermath of a launch failure
---
On Sunday, SpaceX suffered the first failure of its Falcon 9 rocket in 19 launches, losing a Dragon cargo spacecraft bound for the ISS. Jeff Foust reports on what's known about the failure and its implications for the company, the space station, and broader space policy.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2780/1

Untangling the knot: fix Congress, pioneer space
---
Developing a coherent, sustainable space policy in the US is made challenging by changing administrations and a Congress often stuck in partisan gridlock. Clark Cohen describes how an alternative approach to congressional representation could end that gridlock and help space policy.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2779/1

Way out there in The Black: orbiting Pluto
---
In just over two weeks, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft will speed past Pluto in the first spacecraft reconnaissance of that distant world. Dwayne Day describes an ambitious mission concept from the 1980s to send a nuclear-powered orbiter, with landers, to Pluto.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2778/1

Review: The Nazis Next Door
---
The coverup, and later investigations, into Nazi scientists who found refuge in the United States after World War II remains controversial. Michael Neufeld reviews a book that examines the roles Nazi scientists and engineers played in America after the war, including two involved in the space program.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2777/1


If you missed it, here's what we published in our previous issue:


The ups and downs of smallsat constellations
---
There is growing interest in developing constellations of smallsats for a variety of missions, with new concepts appearing regularly. Jeff Foust reports on some of the challenges these ventures face both in launching those satellites and dealing with orbital debris risks.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2776/1

Space deterrence: a response
---
The issue of the role deterrence plays in protecting space assets has been the subject of debate in military policy circles. Roger G. Harrison and Deron R. Jackson respond to a recent essay here to defend their concept of a multi-layered approach to space deterrence.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2775/1

The myth of "what might have been" in space
---
Many space advocates lament that the US did not act upon the plans for long-term space exploration proposed as Apollo achieved its lunar landing goal. Alastair Browne argues that there's little need to regret that path not taken, since the nation would not have traveled far down it.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2774/1

Review: The Ordinary Spaceman
---
Astronauts comprise an elite group, and it's hard to think of any of them as ordinary. Jeff Foust reviews a book by a self-described "ordinary" astronaut whose details about life as an astronaut, in space and on Earth, are far from ordinary.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2773/1


We appreciate any feedback you may have about these articles as well as
any other questions, comments, or suggestions about The Space Review.
We're also actively soliciting articles to publish in future issues, so
if you have an article or article idea that you think would be of
interest, please email me.

Until next week,

Jeff Foust
Editor, The Space Review
jeff@thespacereview.com
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Fwd: Russian Dominance in Space Continues

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: June 30, 2015 at 9:25:48 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Russian Dominance in Space Continues

 

 

Russian Ship to Supply International Space Station After Space X Explosion

 

Tech

23:06 29.06.2015(updated 23:09 29.06.2015) Get short URL

128440

 

The Russian Ressuply ship will deliver more than three tons of food and fuel to the crew of ISS on Friday, a US National Aeronautics and Space Administration official blogger Mark Garcia acknowledged on Monday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The International Space Station crew will be spared any risk of hardship because a regular Russian Progress supply mission will be launched to them on Friday, according to Garcia's blog.

"[A] Russian resupply ship is getting ready for its launch Friday at 12:55 am EDT (5:55 p.m. GMT)" Garcia wrote on his NASA blog. "The ISS Progress 60 will deliver more than three tons of food, fuel and supplies to the crew and dock to the Pirs docking compartment after a two-day ride."

On Sunday, a private sector Space X rocket exploded on an unmanned supply mission to the ISS shortly after being launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Space X Dragon cargo craft "was lost about 139 seconds after launch Sunday morning," Garcia noted.

The accident was the second loss of a private unmanned supply rocket in eight months.

However, Garcia acknowledged the ISS remained "well stocked with plenty of supplies and consumables through October."

The ISS is currently manned by a three-man crew, which consists of one American and two Russians — Commander Gennady Padalka and one-year crew members Scott Kelly and Mikhail Kornienko.

The next crew, Soyuz Commander Oleg Kononenko and Flight Engineers Kjell Lindgren and Kimiya Yui are scheduled to be launched in their mission to the space station on July 22, 2015, in a Soyuz TMA-17M spacecraft, Garcia noted.

 

 

Russian Dominance in Space Continues After SpaceX Explosion – US Media / Sputnik International

Sputnik  13:55 29.06.2015

The Falcon 9 rocket exploded just three minutes after liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. SpaceX rocket was carrying the Dragon cargo ship with supplies for the ISS. According to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the explosion happened due to excess pressure in the liquid oxygen tank.

NATO contracted SpaceX for $1.6 billion to fly at least 12 unmanned re-supply missions to the ISS. The failed mission was an attempt to deliver a water purifier, as well as an extra docking port adapter, food, research data and one extra space suit.

Although astronauts at the space station have enough water and supplies to last for several months, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden described the explosion of the rocket as a "significant setback" to the re-supply program, Breitbart said.

Currently, the incident is under investigation to find out what went wrong with the CRS-7 Falcon 9 rocket. Until the investigation is complete SpaceX won't be able to fly missions to the ISS.

The next cargo delivery flight will be launched from the Baikanur station in Kazakhstan this Friday after Russian officials re-scheduled it from August 3 to July 3.

 

© 2015 Sputnik All rights reserved. 

 

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COTS issues

ISS Integrity & it science programs ( re COTS issues)

How could this risk mitigated?

The most obvious way to control the risks associated with current NASA planning is to retain the Space Shuttle capability in some form until there is demonstrated American provided capability to transport humans and cargo to and from the ISS. Retention of the Space Shuttle would provide all of the capability to protect the integrity of the Space Station and its science programs. The issue as always is cost; however, the cost model could be significantly moderated by commercializing the Space Shuttle Program. Estimates are that a commercial venture could operate the Space Shuttle for a couple flights per year at perhaps 1/3 of its current cost. The critical skills are still available at this time. This would enable America to continue the same capability to support the ISS, and even conduct other priority earth orbit missions such as American controlled human access to space to support a critical unforeseen national security need.

By establishing commercialized Space Shuttle operations, NASA can take a known and reliable flight system and use it to develop and transition the governance and oversight processes needed for the COTS era operations. In addition to mitigating the risks and uncertainties associated with current NASA plans, America would retain its prominence as a leading participant in human space flight. A professionally done peer reviewed risk assessment will define the risks with their associated uncertainties and highlight where mitigations must be taken. To do otherwise places reliance on hope over experience.

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Must regain this capability!