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The Space Shuttle program is to be ended in 2010, after 29 years of service and two disasters. NASA will be downsized by about 8600 jobs by that time, as the follow-on Constellation program, with its Orion Crew Vehicle, Ares Launch Vehicles and Altair Lunar Lander, is not expected to be operational until about 2015.

There will be no more Shuttle-style Reusable Launch Vehicles, as the heavy lifting required to build the International Space Station will have been completed. Resupply of the ISS, and crew exchange, will be via Soyuz TMA spacecraft, and eventually also by private space companies such as SpaceX.

…And for what it’s worth, the GadgetManiac view on all this can be summarized as… ‘Sell the ISS, Forget the Moon and Go directly to Mars ‘.

Shuttle Retirement May Bring Loss of 8,600 Jobs, NASA Says – NY Times, April 2 2008

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The Navy plans to start testing carrier launches of the X-47B in the 2011. The X-47B is part of the Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program to establish the effectiveness of carrier landing of unmanned stealth-type air vehicles.

40,000 ft ceiling with 1,500 nm range.

…as part of its mission involves surveillance, one wonders how well it would surveil the new/purported Xian H-8 stealth bomber.

X-47B UCAS

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STS-123 Endeavour is up there right now and carrying at least 1 iPod (probably more) by the Pilot’s seat as shown by the attached photo.

Space Shuttle Gallery – NASA via Engadget

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A rocket sled at the Holloman High-Speed Test Track (HHSTT) located near Alamogordo, New Mexico, set a new land speed record of 6,589 mph on Thurs Jan 31 2008, beating the previous record by 136 mph.

Aside from raising the potential of getting one from NYC to LA in 22.25 minutes, the HHSTT exists for the analysis and simulation of hypervelocity penetrator munitions on hard targets.

…the HHSTT combines the need for speed, with things that go boom — the best of both worlds.

Navy rocket sled sets record at Holloman AFB – Air Force Times, Feb 2 2008

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A nicely done, interactive, panoramic view of an A380 cockpit by one Gilles Vidal.

via news.com

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It will cost you about $200K for a 2-hour flight aboard SpaceShipTwo into the thermosphere, but that includes 4 minutes of weightlessness…the booking form is here.

If that’s too expensive for you, or you can’t wait until 2009 for the 1st flights to begin, the next best thing is to go on over to the London Science Museum, to view the prototype now on display, and perhaps ask them nicely if you can sit inside. 

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The New York Times questions the raison d’etre for the International Space Station in a new article that suggests that the ISS is a kind of technological dead-end not unlike the Zeppelin. The International Space Station will end up costing about $100B, is currently less than half-built and will require 15 more space shuttle flights to complete (depicted) – missions that would have to occur before the space shuttle is decommissioned in 2010 to make way for the planned Moon base.

ISS defenders cite the need for more research into the effects of microgravity on humans and the test-bedding of new technologies. Others disagree – apparently even NASA director Michael D. Griffin is of the opinion that the current focus on the shuttle and on low Earth orbit will come to be seen as a strategic mistake – see “NASA Official Questions Agency’s Focus on the Shuttle”.

We’re on board with that – in fact we suggest (as if we know of what we speak..) mothballing the ISS or selling it to Virgin Galactic for use as a space hotel, skipping the moon and going directly to Mars, as per a modified Moon/Mars Mission Statement.

Destination Is the Space Station, but Many Experts Ask What For - New York Times, December 5, 2006

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NASA today announced plans to return to the Moon and set up a permanent base by 2024, as per the goals and objectives laid out in “A Renewed Spirit of Discovery” issued by the White House in 2004. That document directs the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to undertake various initiatives in space to include renewed human exploration of the Moon no later than 2020, and of Mars and “other destinations” at some unspecified future date.

NASA’s announcement of today is fairly general and utilizes the yet-to-be-built Ares launch vehicle and Orion crew capsule. They go on to describe plans for about 40 landings on the rim of Shackleton Crater near the Moon’s south pole, in order to construct the aforementioned base and habitat. The main benefits provided by that particular location are moderate temperatures, high levels of sunlight and low delta-v requirements.

NASA hopes to have a fairly mature operation in place at the Moon base by 2025, supporting long-duration missions with near self-sufficiency. Plans become vague beyond that timeframe, with “Humans to Mars” occupying a single bullet point in the NASA presentation – however, we were fortunate to have NASA Administrator Michael Griffin forward the attached graphic to us, showing what a future Mars colony might look like)

Why The Moon - NASA News Release, 12.04.06

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The ray gun, or directed energy weapon as they like to call it these days, continues its remarkable ex-migration from the pages of science fiction…we mentioned the Airborne Laser (ABL) a while ago – it’s designed to shoot down ballistic missles during the launch phase. Boeing’s new Advanced Tactical Laser (ATL) achieved first light this month – the ATL is intended for use by aircraft against ground targets.

And looking ahead to about 2025, the aptly-named FotoFighter should make its appearance. According to the military, the FotoFighter will have “embedded arrays of semi-conductor lasers as sensors and weapons” for both defensive & offensive purposes. It will also likely be pilotless and/or autonomous, have invisibility, and be able to fry the countryside with megajoule bursts of energy, but only, one supposes, after ‘de-cloaking’.

And looking still further afield, we should see the start of efforts to weaponize quantum mechanics. Some future defense appropriations bill may well include line items associated with development of a retrocausality weapon, timeline modification via the entanglement of time, extra-dimensional warfare, or delivery systems based on quantum teleportation, or the expedient of simply re-programming reality, assuming the universe is indeed a quantum computer. We’ve no idea what we’re talking about here…speculative pseudo science at best.

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At the intersection of gadgets and rockets, we find amateur rocketeers, who combine their love of flight with things that go boom. The NY Times describes the goings-on at the Tripoli Rocketry Association, and some of their recent accomplishments, such as sending an amateur rocket to a record altitude of 94000 feet. The article also makes note of some of the challenges of using explosives while keeping legal, and goes on to describe upcoming events such as the following..

The X PRIZE Cup exposition will be held in NM October 20 – 21, 2006 with $2.5M in prizes to be awarded for various achievements in rocketry & space. The Rocket Racing League X-Racer will be unveiled, a Space Elevator contest will be held along with other space-oriented initiatives.

Rumor has it that some enthusiasts plan to slip the surly bonds of Earth all the way to the moon.

A Cult of Backyard Rocketeers Keeps the Solid Fuel Burning - NYT, October 14, 2006

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