Archive for category Satellites
NASA Space Shuttle Ends Its Era – Commercial Space To Take The Future Load
Posted by Val in Satellites, Space and Satellites on July 21, 2011
NASA’s Space Shuttle Era officially ended today at 5:57AM with the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis.
NASA’s Space Shuttle program, officially called Space Transportation System(STS), was the United States government’s manned launch vehicle program from 1981 to 2011.
The STS-135 crew consisted of Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Doug Hurley, Mission Specialists Sandra Magnus and Rex Walheim. They delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts, spare equipment and other supplies in the Raffaello multi-purpose logistics module – including 2,677 pounds of food – that will sustain space station operations for the next year. The 21-foot long, 15-foot diameter Raffaello brought back nearly 5,700 pounds of unneeded materials from the station.
There is a lot of debate on whether or not the program was a success but from now the future of the human space travel will belong to the private companies.
Who are they?
In late May 2011 NASA announced that it awarded $269,3 million to the following companies in order to accelerate human spaceflight capability and commercial crew transportation. The companies were selected for the second round of the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2).
Blue Origin is a privately-funded aerospace company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. The company was awarded $3.7 million in funding in 2009 by NASA via a Space Act Agreement under the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program for development of concepts and technologies to support future human spaceflight operations. The company’s innovative ‘pusher’ Launch Abort System (LAS) was one of the technologies that was of particular interest to NASA. To date abort systems have been of the tractor variety, which pulls a crew vehicle to safety in case of an emergency.
Initially focused on sub-orbital spaceflight, the company has built and flown a testbed of its New Shepard spacecraft design at their Culberson County, Texas facility. According to company statements, it initially planned on placing the New Shepard in commercial suborbital tourist service in 2010 with flights about once a week. However, the most recently publicized timetable states that Blue Origin will fly unmanned in 2011, and manned in 2012.
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is an electronic systems provider and systems integrator specializing in microsatellites, energy, telemedicine, nanotechnology, and commercial orbital transportation services. The company contracts with the US military, NASA and private spaceflight companies. The company is headquartered in Sparks, Nevada.
SNC employs over 2000 people. SNC has six different business areas, and 35 locations in 16 states along with numerous customer support sites located throughout the world.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American space transport company founded by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk. It has developed the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets, both of which are built with a goal of being reusable launch vehicles. SpaceX is also developing the Dragon spacecraft to be carried to orbit by Falcon 9 launch vehicles. SpaceX designs, tests and fabricates the majority of their components in-house, including the Merlin, Kestrel, and Draco rocket engines. In December 2010, SpaceX became the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft (a Dragon).
Originally based in El Segundo, SpaceX now operates out of Hawthorne, California, USA.
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois[2] since 2001. Boeing is made up of multiple business units, which are Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA); Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS); Engineering, Operations & Technology; Boeing Capital; and Boeing Shared Services Group.
There is a viable program that does test flights in 2014 and will be ready to carry crew in 2015.
NASA’S YOUTUBE CHANNEL TO EDUCATE PUBLIC
Posted by Val in Defense, Including Radar, Missiles and EW, Satellites, Space and Satellites on July 1, 2011
About a year ago NASA created their own YouTube channel in order to provide the wider public with entertaining and informative way to learn about science, Earth, our Solar system and more. The videos are a collaboration of NASA’s astrophysicists, agency narrators and videographers. The videos are posted every Thursday around 4PM EDT.
Future episodes will focus on citizen science research; the search for new galaxies; how to watch this summer’s Perseid meteor shower; and the causes of recent wild weather events in the United States.
The below episodes are the most recent.
ZombieSat
Just when you thought it was safe to orbit Earth: Researchers say solar storms can turn satellites into zombies!
Power Of Sea Salt
Aquarius is the first NASA sensor to track ocean salinity from space, and aims to help uncover how the salinity of Earth’s oceans are effecting our climate.
Big Surprise
NASA’s Voyager probes have reached the edge of the solar system and found something surprising there–a froth of magnetic bubbles separating us from the rest of the galaxy.
Applied Technology Institute’s space, satellite, and aerospace engineering technical training classes deliver the highest quality professional development and continuing education training in the field of space, satellite, and aerospace engineering. Our industry leading instructors provide course attendees with both practical and technical knowledge necessary to excel in the field of satellite, aerospace, and space engineering. To view video of our courses please visit ATI YouTube channel.
NASA awards $269.3 million to accelerate human spaceflight capability
Posted by admin in Satellites, Space and Satellites on May 25, 2011
NASA announced that it awarded $269,3 million to the following companies in order to accelerate human spaceflight capability and commercial crew transportation. The companies were selected for the second round of the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2).
Blue Origin is a privately-funded aerospace company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. The company was awarded $3.7 million in funding in 2009 by NASA via a Space Act Agreement under the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program for development of concepts and technologies to support future human spaceflight operations. The company’s innovative ‘pusher’ Launch Abort System (LAS) was one of the technologies that was of particular interest to NASA. To date abort systems have been of the tractor variety, which pulls a crew vehicle to safety in case of an emergency.
Initially focused on sub-orbital spaceflight, the company has built and flown a testbed of its New Shepard spacecraft design at their Culberson County, Texas facility. According to company statements, it initially planned on placing the New Shepard in commercial suborbital tourist service in 2010 with flights about once a week. However, the most recently publicized timetable states that Blue Origin will fly unmanned in 2011, and manned in 2012.
Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) is an electronic systems provider and systems integrator specializing in microsatellites, energy, telemedicine, nanotechnology, and commercial orbital transportation services. The company contracts with the US military, NASA and private spaceflight companies. The company is headquartered in Sparks, Nevada.
SNC employs over 2000 people. SNC has six different business areas, and 35 locations in 16 states along with numerous customer support sites located throughout the world.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American space transport company founded by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk. It has developed the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets, both of which are built with a goal of being reusable launch vehicles. SpaceX is also developing the Dragon spacecraft to be carried to orbit by Falcon 9 launch vehicles. SpaceX designs, tests and fabricates the majority of their components in-house, including the Merlin, Kestrel, and Draco rocket engines. In December 2010, SpaceX became the first private company to successfully launch, orbit and recover a spacecraft (a Dragon).
Originally based in El Segundo, SpaceX now operates out of Hawthorne, California, USA.
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois[2] since 2001. Boeing is made up of multiple business units, which are Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA); Boeing Defense, Space & Security (BDS); Engineering, Operations & Technology; Boeing Capital; and Boeing Shared Services Group.
ATI Features World Class Instructors for Our Short Courses
Posted by admin in & SIGNAL PROCESSING, ANALYSIS, Analysis and Signal Processing, Continuing Education and Seminar Marketing, Defense, Including Radar, Missiles and EW, ENGINEERING, General, Satellites, Space and Satellites, Systems Engineering and Project Management, Underwater Acoustics and Sonar, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) on November 30, 2010
and onsite technical training
The short technical courses from the Applied Technology Institute (ATI) are designed to help you keep your professional knowledge up-to-date. Our courses provide a practical overview of space and defense technologies which provide a strong foundation for understanding the issues that must be confronted in the use, regulation and development such complex systems.
The classes are designed for individuals involved in planning, designing, building, launching, and operating space and defense systems. Whether you are a busy engineer, a technical expert or a project manager, you can enhance your understanding of complex systems in a short time.
ABOUT ATI AND THE INSTRUCTORS
Our mission here at the ATI is to provide expert training and the highest quality professional development in space, communications, defense, sonar, radar, and signal processing. We are not a one-size-fits-all educational facility. Our short classes include both introductory and advanced courses.
ATI’s instructors are world-class experts who are the best in the business. They are carefully selected for their ability to clearly explain advanced technology.
For example:
Robert Fry worked from 1979 to 2007 at The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory where he was a member of the Principal Professional Staff. He is now working at System Engineering Group (SEG) where he is Corporate Senior Staff and also serves as the company-wide technical advisor. Throughout his career he has been involved in the development of new combat weapon system concepts, development of system requirements, and balancing allocations within the fire control loop between sensing and weapon kinematic capabilities. He has worked on many aspects of the AEGIS combat system including AAW, BMD, AN/SPY-1, and multi-mission requirements development. Missile system development experience includes SM-2, SM-3, SM-6, Patriot, THAAD, HARPOON, AMRAAM, TOMAHAWK, and other missile systems.
Robert teaches ATI’s Combat Systems Engineering course
Wayne Tustin has been president of Equipment Reliability Institute (ERI), a specialized engineering school and consultancy he founded in Santa Barbara, CA, since 1995. His BSEE degree is from the University of Washington, Seattle. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in the State of California. Wayne’s first encounter with vibration was at Boeing/Seattle, performing what later came to be called modal tests, on the XB-52 prototype of that highly reliable platform. Subsequently he headed field service and technical training for a manufacturer of electrodynamic shakers, before establishing another specialized school on which he left his name.
Based on over 50 years of professional experience, Wayne has written several books and literally hundreds of articles dealing with practical aspects of vibration and shock measurement and testing.
Wayne teaches ATI’s Fundamentals of Random Vibration & Shock Testing course.
Thomas S. Logsdon, M.S
For more than 30 years, Thomas S. Logsdon, M. S., has worked on the Navstar GPS and other related technologies at the Naval Ordinance Laboratory, McDonnell Douglas, Lockheed Martin, Boeing Aerospace, and Rockwell International. His research projects and consulting assignments have included the Transit Navigation Satellites, The Tartar and Talos shipboard missiles, and the Navstar GPS. In addition, he has helped put astronauts on the moon and guide their colleagues on rendezvous missions headed toward the Skylab capsule. Some of his more challenging assignments have centered around constellation coverage studies, GPS performance enhancement, military applications, spacecraft survivability, differential navigation, booster rocket guidance using the GPS signals and shipboard attitude determination.
Tom Logsdon has taught short courses and lectured in thirty one different countries. He has written and published forty technical papers and journal articles, a dozen of which have dealt with military and civilian radionavigation techniques. He is also the author of twenty nine technical books on various engineering and scientific subjects. These include Understanding the Navstar, Orbital Mechanics: Theory and Applications, Mobile Communication Satellites, and The Navstar Global Positioning System.
Courses Mr. Logsdon teaches through ATI include:
Fundamentals of Orbital & Launch Mechanics
GPS Technology – Solutions for Earth & Space and
Strapdown Inertial Navigation Systems
COURSE OUTLINE, SAMPLERS, AND NOTES
Determine for yourself the value of our courses before you sign up. See our samples (See Slide Samples) on some of our courses.
Or check out the new ATI channel on YouTube.
After attending the course you will receive a full set of detailed notes from the class for future reference, as well as a certificate of completion. Please visit our website for more valuable information.
DATES, TIMES AND LOCATIONS
For the dates and locations of all of our short courses, please access the links below.
Sincerely,
The ATI Courses Team
P.S. Call today for registration at 410-956-8805 or 888-501-2100 or access our website at www.ATIcourses.com. For general questions please email us at ATI@ATIcourses.com.
Why Not Give Yourself the Gift of a Short Course this Holiday Season?
Posted by admin in & SIGNAL PROCESSING, ANALYSIS, Analysis and Signal Processing, Continuing Education and Seminar Marketing, Defense, Including Radar, Missiles and EW, ENGINEERING, General, Satellites, Space and Satellites, Systems Engineering and Project Management, Underwater Acoustics and Sonar, Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) on November 30, 2010
Since 1984, the Applied Technology Institute (ATI) has provided leading-edge public courses and onsite technical training to DoD and NASA personnel, as well as contractors. Our courses provide a practical overview of space and defense technologies which provide a strong foundation for understanding the issues that must be confronted in the use, regulation and development such complex systems.
ATI short courses are designed to help you keep your professional knowledge up-to-date.
Our short courses are designed for individuals involved in planning, designing, building, launching, and operating space and defense systems.
Whether you are a busy engineer, a technical expert or a project manager, you can enhance your understanding of complex systems in a short time. You will become aware of the basic vocabulary essential to interact meaningfully with your colleagues.
Course Outline, Samplers, and Notes
Determine for yourself the value of our courses before you sign up. See our samples (See Slide Samples) on some of our courses.
Or check out the new ATI channel on YouTube.
After attending the course you will receive a full set of detailed notes from the class for future reference, as well as a certificate of completion. Please visit our website for more valuable information.
About ATI and the Instructors
Our mission here at the Applied Technology Institute (ATI) is to provide expert training and the highest quality professional development in space, communications, defense, sonar, radar, and signal processing. We are not a one-size-fits-all educational facility. Our short classes include both introductory and advanced courses.
ATI’s instructors are world-class experts who are the best in the business. They are carefully selected for their ability to clearly explain advanced technology.
Dates, Times and Locations
For the dates and locations of all of our short courses, please access the links below.
Sincerely,
The ATI Courses Team
P.S Call today for registration at 410-956-8805 or 888-501-2100 or access our website at www.ATIcourses.com. For general questions please email us at ATI@ATIcourses.com.
NASA Ranks In the Top 5 Best Places to Work In The Federal Government/ Goddard Best In NASA
Posted by Jim in Continuing Education and Seminar Marketing, Satellites, Space and Satellites, Systems Engineering and Project Management, Uncategorized on September 1, 2010
The Partnership for Public Service 2010 ratings for the “Best Places to Work in the Federal Government placed NASA as number 5.
NASA’s workforce continues to score well on the survey among the 32 large federal agencies. The best places to work index is based on employee responses to questions about whether they are satisfied with their jobs and organization. A key factor is also whether employees would recommend their organization to others as a good place to work.
In addition to this overall index, agencies and subcomponents also were scored in workplace environment categories such as effective leadership, employee skills/mission match and work/life balance. NASA was among the leaders in several categories, including effective leadership, support for diversity, teamwork, training and performance based rewards. The complete listing of the rankings and scores for federal components is available at:
The Best Places to Work rankings are the most comprehensive and authoritative rating and analysis of employee satisfaction and commitment in the federal government. The 2010 rankings are the fifth edition of this ongoing series, following the 2003, 2005, 2007, and 2009 versions.
2010 Overall Index Scores
Rank Agency 2010 2009 % Change
1 Nuclear Regulatory Commission 81.8 80.7 1.30
2 Government Accountability Office 81.6 76.6 6.60
3 Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation 79.2 0.00
4 Smithsonian Institution 76.2 0.00
5 National Aeronautics and Space Administration 74.2 71.7 3.50
6 Social Security Administration 71.6 67.0 6.80
7 Department of State 70.8 69.1 2.40
8 General Services Administration 69.8 67.5 3.40
9 Department of Justice 69.3 68.0 1.90
10 Intelligence Community 69.0 70.9 -2.60
Of the subagency rankings NASA Goddard ranked highest for NASA
7 7 Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA) 79.5 74.5 6.80
11 11 John C. Stennis Space Center (NASA) 77.0 72.0 7.00
12 12 Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (NASA) 76.7 78.7 -2.50
NASA $19 Billion Budget Being Pushed In Different Directions By House and Senate.
Posted by admin in Satellites, Space and Satellites on July 21, 2010
The White House, Senate and House policy guidelines all provide for a total NASA budget of about $19 billion, but each provides different and conflicting directions .
The House committee, chaired by Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., directs NASA to build upon $9 billion already invested in the Constellation program, which the White House proposed terminating in its February budget request for fiscal year 2011.
“In an environment of constrained budgets, responsible stewardship of taxpayer-provided resources makes it imperative that NASA’s exploration program be carried out in a manner that builds on the investments made to date in the Orion, Ares 1 and heavy-lift projects,” the draft bill says.
The draft bill also calls for NASA to develop a heavy-lift rocket by the end of this decade.
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n1007/20house/
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The Manned Space Program Is In Deeper Trouble And Greater Turmoil Than At Any Time Since The US Landed Men On The Moon
Posted by Jim in Satellites, Space and Satellites on July 19, 2010
Work Continues On Constellation Despite Being “Dead” Soon The Los Angeles Times (7/18, Vartabedian) reported that even though Constellation is “almost certainly…dead within months,” work “continues at Plum Brook Station and other NASA centers and at private aerospace companies across the nation, where more than 14,000 people are still working on Constellation. Under pressure from Congress, NASA has been spending an average of about $9 million a day on the project.” According to the article, the US “now appears to lack not only the resources to mount a major human space program, but also the political will to eliminate the thousands of jobs connected with it.” Furthermore, “veteran space industry observers say the manned space program is in deeper trouble and greater turmoil than at any time since the US landed men on the moon.”
“The choice is: Do we have a space program or a jobs program, because we can’t have both,” said Jeff Greason, president of XCOR Aerospace Inc. in Mojave and a member of a presidential panel that delivered a scathing assessment of the space program last year.
Politicians cannot agree on long-term goals for the human spaceflight program, and the vast network of NASA facilities and private contractors is unable to make plans that keep pace with political action in the capital.
More at http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jul/17/nation/la-na-nasa-future-20100718
Plans for NASA Jobs and Training Continue Back and Forth
Posted by Jim in General, Satellites, Space and Satellites on July 14, 2010
Plans for NASA jobs and training continue back and forth. The Obama administration has told the Constellation contractors to start contract close-out procedures. That will result in thousands of job loses. The administration wants to use the money saved for training and workforce transition. Congress is considering funding an additional shuttle launch. The question is given limited funds, which makes the most sense?
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NASA contractor set to cut more than 1,000 jobs – United Space Alliance
Posted by Jim in Satellites, Space and Satellites on July 9, 2010
Ramifications connected to the upcoming retirement of NASA’s space shuttle fleet are reaching beyond the what, where and whens of delivering supplies to the orbiting International Space Station.
Affecting real people and real jobs back on terra firma, Houston-based United Space Alliance, one of NASA’s leading space shuttle contractors, has announced it plans to cull around 15 percent of its total U.S. workforce on October 01 of this year.
Announced in a statement released on Tuesday, that percentage equates to more than 1,000 employees, with 800 to 1,000 expected to go from facilities in Florida, 300 to 400 from Texas, and about 10 from Alabama.
According to United Space Alliance president Virginia Barnes, all workers that lose their jobs will be given severance packages along with assistance in training for future job interviews and career transitions.
Speaking with the BBC News website, Keith Cowling, editor of NASA Watch, has warned there are many more job cuts to come as the shuttles head towards retirement.
“People being laid off now is just the beginning,” he said. “Many more thousands will be laid off as the shuttle programme is wound down.”
http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201027/5842/Leading-NASA-contractor-set-to-cull-more-than-1-000-jobs
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