There’s a race between the future and the past boiling between a space upstart and an aerospace giant—Elon Musk’s 13-year-old SpaceX and Lockheed Martin, a company whose roots go back 103 years. At the heart of the matter is a potential competition for a future in deep space between two spacecraft, SpaceX’s Dragon 2 versus Lockheed Martin’s Orion. The Dragon 2 has been contracted by NASA for short runs only—to take.. Read More
Need For a New Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle Strategy
by Gerald Black Gerald Black is a retired aerospace engineer with more than 40 years experience in the industry. After graduating from college, he first worked for Bell Aerosystems Co. in the Buffalo, New York area from 1967 to 1968 as a Rocket Test Engineer. One of the engines he helped test was the engine for the ascent stage of the Apollo Lunar module. Later he worked for more than 39 years for.. Read More
Congress Poisons Space Program with Pork
In the latest NASA authorization bill, a cabal of pork-seeking congressmen complain that too much money is going into the program that will end America’s manned space gap—NASA’s Commercial Crew program. America has not been able to get its citizens into space on American vehicles for four years. Instead, America pays the Russians to take its astronauts to the International Space Station on Soyuz rockets at a cost of over.. Read More
Mars at One Tenth the Cost: The Modular Path to Money Saving
John K. Strickland Elon Musk’s SpaceX has enormous implications for Mars. When Musk’s reusable rockets and upcoming reusable spacecraft become a reality, Mars missions will be possible at one-tenth the cost of the Mars plan NASA now has on its books. One such low-cost Mars plan comes from the Space Development Steering Committee’s chief analyst John Strickland. Working with artist Anna Nesterova, Strickland has developed the following program. SpaceX’s Falcon-based.. Read More