Ian O'Neill

SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Awarded NASA Contracts: $3.5 Billion Total

SpaceX Dragon approaches the ISS (SpaceX)

NASA has just signed two very large cheques for two private spaceflight companies, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) and Orbital Sciences Corporation. The contracts will allow private launches to re-supply the International Space Station beyond Shuttle decommissioning in 2010, and SpaceX claims they could be doing it by next year.

These contracts represent some of the largest ever given to private enterprise, and demonstrates the trust the US space agency is placing in these space start-ups. The contracts are worth $3.5 billion combined; $1.9 billion for Orbital Sciences and $1.6 billion for SpaceX, equating to 8 flights from Orbital and 12 flights from SpaceX. For now, these contracts are for cargo deliveries only, replacing the Shuttle and providing a viable alternative to the Russian Progress flights. Critically, the US now has a very real prospect to bridge the “5-year gap” from Shuttle retirement (2010) and Constellation launch (2015).

All we need now is for SpaceX’s Dragon capsule and Falcon 9 rocket system to become “human rated” and we could see the first routine commercial launches of US astronauts before the Constellation Program is even rolled out onto the launchpad. Very exciting times…

Source: Universe Today, SpaceX

Sorry, 2012 Just Got Quieter: No Comet Impact

Comets are out there, but there's nothing scheduled for 2012...

It’s been a nagging frustration ever since I started writing about the 2012 doomsday scenarios seven months ago. Every time I posted articles with the keywords “2012”, “doomsday”, “comet” or “asteroid”, ads would appear across my website linking to 2012 doomsday sites. Simply writing about these misguided theories had attracted ads for the very sites I was criticising!

At first I blocked them, but then I became pretty relaxed about it. Why not allow these ads to appear? I get ad revenue, they lose ad revenue, seems somehow justified doesn’t it? Well, not really. If I let these individuals advertise on my site with impunity, I’d be little better than them… I’d be cashing in (albeit in a small way) on their popularity. So I’ve kept the worst of them blocked (although you will still see some 2012 ads, they shouldn’t be the ones I’m critical of in my writing, and they shouldn’t be promoting the end of the world).

Today I decided to make a stand against these 2012 comet theories and write an article. It’s been a long time coming. In fact, it was one of those articles that have been hanging over my head for months, an uncomfortable thorn in my side. The comet impact theory has been around for decades, there’s nothing new with the thought that we might be scrubbed out of existence by a comet or asteroid, but the whole 2012 worry has dusted off some old fears…
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Can Gravitational Waves be Used for Evil?

Theoretical gravitational waves generated after a black hole collision. Can we surf them?

Gravitational waves are a theoretical consequence of a propagating energy disturbance through space-time. They are predicted by Einstein’s general relativity equations, and astrophysicists are going to great pains to try to detect the faint signature from the passage of these waves through local space. Unfortunately, even though millions of dollars have been spent on international experiments, the gravitational wave remains in equation form; there is little (direct) evidence to support their existence.

However, this doesn’t stop the US military from worrying about them and commissioned a 40-page report into whether high frequency gravitational waves could be used by an enemy. Excuse me? Gravitational waves… as a weapon?
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Who Said Star Wars Was Dead? Introducing the Airborne Laser

A plane... with a frickin' laser attached to its head! Sorry, couldn't resist... The 747 plus ABL (USAF)

The US Air Force and a number of military contractors have successfully test-fired the first aircraft-based military laser system called the “Airborne Laser” (or ABL). Airborne Laser? Looking at the laser-touting Boeing 747 above, you’d think the USAF would have come up with a more imaginative name… Like, “Project Lightning Strike“, “Winged Overlord” or “Delta Echo Alpha Tango Hotel (DEATH)“. There’s probably some military call-sign, but on reading about the ABL, I found myself a little bored of the concept until I saw the finished product…
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Carnival of Space Week 84 – Next Big Future

Superb! Possibly for the first time ever, an Astroengine.com article features at the top of page for the Carnival of Space! Nice. It’s more than likely luck, but I really appreciate Brian Wang reading and posting my article about the Space Exploration Crisis. As it turns out, there are a few blogs that are concerned about the recent NASA turmoil, and the pressure will be on President-elect Barack Obama to enact some changes…

So, this week, be sure to check out week 84 of the Carnival of Space at Brian Wang’s Next Big Future. There are loads of space news articles from all over the web, in fact each CoS seems to be getting bigger and bigger; compiling all the submissions from the space blogosphere is no easy task. However, Brian did a great job this week, and I’ll be sure to give a rundown on some of the entries that caught my eye during Wednesday’s Astroengine Live…

Tune into Paranormal Radio… Now! A Chat About Anti-Gravity

I’ll be appearing on Paranormal Radio to chat about anti-gravity with Captain Jack… right now! The show has already started, but it’s a three-hour show, so you’ve got plenty of time to tune in! Check out the Paranormal Radio website for details, I’m sure it will be fun! I have very little opinion on the subject… but I think that might change tonight…

Astroengine Live Notes #5: Water Interrupts Play…

Turns out cable and live radio do not mix...

I went into today’s show a little disorganized after tending to a flood in the garage. I was a little rushed to prepare all my notes, so I thought I’d do a more informal show, running through the Carnival of Space, and ending up discussing the recent Obama-NASA funding debate. Alas, things got a little worse than just wet socks. The microphone died in the first 15 seconds of the show and then my Internet connection went completely AWOL, ripping Astroengine Live from the airwaves (I was even broadcasting across Central Texas via KVMP Radio, 99.9FM!). According to my cable company, due to the adverse weather (i.e. rain. Yes, rain. Not snow, blizzards or electrical storms. Rain), cable was “patchy” in some regions.

So, no more live radio shows in the rain, then. Fortunately this is California where rain is a fleeting feature.

Anyhow, I am currently editing the show that did record my end to remove the ominous silent patch. Alas I wasn’t able to get to the meat of my discussion, and fell back on my backup instead. Oh well, more to discuss next week. Regardless of the technical issues, I hope you enjoyed this week’s show, next week will be far more polished. Thanks for tuning in!

Cheers, Ian

Astroengine Live #5: Constellation… A Bad Idea?

Sorry for the late post on today’s Astroengine Live, running woefully behind schedule. However, the show will be going live at 4pm PST/7pm EST (that’s about 2 hours from when I post this). I have some assorted news from the week’s goings on in space, so be sure to tune in. However, if you miss the live broadcast, you can catch up with all the archives soon after I’m off air, so be sure to keep an eye on the nifty radio player on the Astroengine Live pages. A special thanks goes to John Greenewald at Black Vault Radio for hosting my shows and making my archives a reality!

There isn’t a specific theme for today’s show, but no doubt I’ll be having a rant about NASA funding, so I’ll be discussing the recent articles I’ve written on the subject. There is actually a live teleconference today at 4pm EST at NASA HQ discussing the progress of Constellation, so I’ll try to bring you updates from that if and when I get them… why do I get the feeling it’s not going to be pretty…?

Anyhow, I’ll give a rundown of all the space news, plus the Carnival of Space. I’ll also be giving a rundown of the activities of the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO) who are doing an astounding job keeping their eyes on those variable stars. I hope to do an interview with Mike Simonsen who has been a member of the AAVSO for many years in the future to get an idea about what his job entails…

Get Involved!

Have any articles or stories you want to contribute? Have an opinion on anything in the world of space? Email me on astro@wprtradio.com and I’ll be sure to give it a mention. Eventually, I hope to have telephone call-ins, but for now, email will do.

Listen to Astroengine Live using your default streaming audio player.

The Space Exploration Crisis

President-elect Barack Obama has some big challenges to confront when he takes office in January. Let's hope it's not to the detriment to the US space agency

When you look up on a starry night, what do you see?

Do you see a Universe with endless potential and resources for mankind to discover? Or, do you see an unnecessary challenge; too expensive, too risky and too pointless to consider wasting billions of tax-payers dollars on?

Right now, President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team is pondering the future of US manned spaceflight, and I’m sure they are addressing each of the above questions in turn. There has always been an unhealthy mix of politics and spin when it comes to the way NASA is funded, and while it would appear NASA’s future is confronted with a flood of budget cuts and red tape, the Obama administration will want to put a positive light on whatever direction they choose.

However, it will be hard to justify a funding cut (and therefore a delay) of the Constellation Program. We already have a “5-year gap” between Shuttle decommissioning and proposed Ares launch (2010-2015), if this block on US-administered manned spaceflight is extended, the damage inflicted on NASA will be irreversible. However, I doubt we’d ever be able to measure the permanent damage caused to mankind.
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