Sad day in Mohave

Our sincere condolences to Burt Rutan and his Virgin Galactic Team on their recent tragedy where three of the team members were killed. This happened during a fuel transfer. Branson has stated that this will in no way delay the Virgin Galactic construction schedule at the Spaceport America in NM.

Genesis II

Bigelow Aerospace has successfully launched Genesis II and it is responding to commands made from the North Las Vegas command center. Genesis I is still orbiting and taking some fabulous photos of earth. See following article in re: Genesis II

http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/multiverse/news.php#update

Since Rocketcity is just up the road from us, we are always interested in what Steve Bennett is doing with his Starchaser Rockets. This is a link to a very nice article about his quest to send rockets into suborbital space and create a space tourism endeavor at our own Spaceport America.

http://www.starchaser.co.uk/pub/en_magazine_june2007.pdf

Shuttle Camp Registration

http://www.nmspacemuseum.org/shuttlecamp/index.php?type=schedule

If you want to sign up your children for the NM Space Museum's shuttle camp, here is the place to do that.

Space Tourism still just a dream.

Bigelow Aerospace is the only Aerospace Company to have a vehicle in orbit. Genesis I takes great pictures and has been orbiting the earth for over a year now. According to Mr. Bigelow, Genesis II will be launched soon. It has been delayed per the following statement:
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May 17, 2007 - 1:04 p.m. PDT
Statement from Robert T. Bigelow on the Second Bigelow Aerospace Pathfinder Mission
Las Vegas, NV 05/17/07 – Bigelow Aerospace has been informed by its launch provider ISC Kosmotras (“Kosmotras”) that additional testing of the Dnepr rocket and its ground equipment is being required by Russian authorities.Due to last year’s Dnepr failure, these new and additional tests have been requested to identify any remaining issues with the system and enhance the overall chances of achieving our primary objective of mission success. Unfortunately, these procedures will create an additional four week delay. We now expect the launch of Genesis II to occur in late June.Again, no one likes launch delays and we wish the situation were otherwise. However, we experienced similar delays on the Genesis I campaign and, of course, were quite pleased with the end result. Moreover, since Genesis II contains a variety of important mementos, photos, and other personal items as part of our pilot “Fly Your Stuff” program, both Kosmotras and Bigelow Aerospace are proceeding with great caution in order to safely and successfully deliver the spacecraft to orbit.The path to space has never been and will never be simple or easy. However, whether it’s Genesis II or the ongoing work with our future spacecraft Galaxy and Sundancer, we at Bigelow Aerospace are dedicating ourselves to building the foundation for a brighter future, and we hope that all of you will continue to share in the adventure.- Robert T. Bigelow

"Scotty" Returns to Terra Firma
The final chapter in the saga of the successful April 28 launch from Spaceport America was written today when reseachers recovered the payload capsule of the Spaceloft XL rocket in the New Mexico mountains, SPACE.com reports. The capsule contained ashes of actor James Doohan, best known for portraying "Scotty" on Star Trek. Also in the capsule were ashes of NASA astronaut Gordon Cooper and 200 others. The rocket completed its mission of shooting the payload into space, which then safely parachuted back to Earth.
posted by Tricia Ware at 2:01 PM 0 comments
Friday, April 06, 2007



Commercial Space: It's About Time

Yesterday, Time.com published "Space Cowboys," an in-depth business story on the New Space Race, covering every player from promiment Virgin Galactic to secretive Benson Space Co. About the Land of Enchatment, Time says: "New Mexico sees itself as a Silicon Valley of space, a place where an industry cluster could develop, absorbing investment and throwing off jobs as it does. When state economic-development secretary Rick Homans, chairman of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority, saw the list of global companies participating in the X Prize in 2004, he says it suddenly dawned on him that the new space industry might look like the early computer industry--a bunch of crazy guys. 'They start with chaotic, crazy inventors and entrepreneurs--colorful characters. . .'" The story is also featured prominently in the March 5, 2007 print edition, pictured above.

ISS

How about a new look at the International Space Station:

http://www.space.com/interplayer/sts116/index.html