Shuttle/Shuttle Concept Restart: July 2015

Friday, July 31, 2015

Abbey, krantz, Kraft , Armstrong, Glenn said don't go back to capsules PLUS Others --- Get Replacement before you retire Shuttle!!

Read Abbey 's recommendation in lost in space article in Washington examiner------ USE X37C

But, present leadership in nasa, wh, congress either don't care, or will not listen to Experts!

Sent from my iPad

Charlie Bolden , Marine Corps test pilot, flew shuttle three times, FEELS COTS capsules are Equivalent to Shuttle capabilities. THIS DOES NOT PASS the SMELL test!! And is DAMAGING this country's critical Space program!

Thursday, July 30, 2015

NASA adm , Charlie Bolden flew shuttle three times, OBVIOUSLY understands advantages of Shuttle capabilities over COTS capsules & how lack of shuttle capability is placing this country in danger!

TRYING TO DAMAGE USA National Security!!

AS Abbey indicated in his Washington examiner article, Lost in Space , we need & can have the shuttle like capabilities by modifying the X37. However, the NASA adm ( a former shuttle cmdr), the potus, & the Congress either do not understand the importance of shuttle like capabilities OR are TRYING to DAMAGE the national security & the economy of this greatest country on Earth.

Below sums up the lack of logic in shuttle retirement!

Myth vs. Reality

Sunday, April 13, 2014 Myth vs. Reality --Space dollars to Russia!!! 4. Cost of Shuttle Based System is Far Less Than the Constellation System or the Proposed Obama System This claim results from simple arithmetic. At a shuttle cost per mission of 500 million for the round trip transport of 6 astronauts, the per man cost of shuttle transport is 80 million. The system to be developed in the Constellation program or the Obama plan would duplicate the Russian Soyuz system. The Russians are to be paid 50 million per astronaut per trip. When the huge cost to develop a new U S system is added in, the resulting per seat cost would greatly exceed that of the existing shuttle system. Considering the cargo superiority of the shuttle makes the shuttle system even more cost effective, and it is in place now, no interruption, no space dollars spent overseas. Origin and Impetus for the Redirection Six years ago the Bush Administration unilaterally redirected the manned space program to (1) terminate the shuttle system and (2) to recreate the Apollo system, consisting of large boosters and a capsule and parachute crew transport system. If you accept the SAT positions why did NASA opt for the redirection and for and sustain the disassembly of a 200 billion dollar Space Shuttle System? One can only speculate but one reason for the redirection could have been a nostalgic desire within the NASA leadership and the Bush Administration to remake the Apollo experience. A second and perhaps more compelling reason could been a desire within NASA leadership to reclaim the prestige associated with creating a new massive heavy lift vehicle similar to the Apollo Saturn V. . The Obama Administration has basically endorsed the redirection by supporting creation of a new heavy lift vehicle, the return to a capsule and parachute system and allowing the termination of the more advanced shuttle system to continue. Pressure has apparently been put on pro shuttle astronauts to stifle it. Again one can only speculate as to the reason. Certainly any desire within NASA for new heavy lift vehicle would be ongoing.The fact that two presidents have sided with the heavy lift segment of NASA shows the power of this group. On the president's side it one could add - lack of vision, political pressure, and the effects of the anti shuttle propaganda. It makes one wonder if the SAT information reached him. Anti Shuttle Propaganda Part of the shuttle termination initiative has been a deceptive ongoing anti shuttle propaganda campaign by a cadre of " Space Experts"and the then NASA Administrator. The PBS Columbia Documentary is the most extensive example. In it the shuttles are labeled as "worn out, old technology, too risky, too costly, a mistake and not capable of supporting solar system exploration" none of which is true.The initiative has been very effective and after six years the anti shuttle rhetoric has become a media myth. Myth versus Reality Even with the approaching termination of the Public's 200 billion dollar shuttle system the nation still has a choice. Considering the facts above it is clear the reality is the shuttle based system for space exploration is the correct choice both technically and financially. . The press could make the difference. SAT has approached numerous media publications with our message and they have chosen to continue to support the myth. These include PBS, the NY Times ,Flight International, the Orange County Register, NASA News and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. It is my hope that you will read the pro shuttle information noted and will arrange for me to meet with you and your editor for a one hour question and answer session. It is your choice as to time place and agenda. It is vital to the nation that someone of your stature in the press investigates and acts on this information. I have an impressive list of engineer sources (Bob Thompson and three former Chief Engineers for a start) ready to answer any question you might have, people you would be honored, as I am, to associate with and people who are true space experts. By Interviewing these guys you would become the most space shuttle knowledgeable reporter on the planet. Without media support to get our message out the shuttle legacy will probably be similar to that of the Titanic and the Hindenberg, manned space travel will regress fifty years, the Public's money invested in the Space Shuttle System will have been wasted, and America's leadership in space will be forfeited. Allen Richardson SAT Spokesman Sent from my iPad

Sent from my iPad

Sent from my iPad

So YOU THINK IT CAN'T HAPPEN -- LOSS of CONTROL of EO

AS Abbey indicated in his Washington examiner article, Lost in Space , we need & can have the shuttle like capabilities by modifying the X37. However, the NASA adm ( a former shuttle cmdr), the potus, & the Congress either do not understand the importance of shuttle like capabilities OR are TRYING to DAMAGE the national security & the economy of this greatest country on Earth.

Below sums up the lack of logic in shuttle retirement!

Myth vs. Reality

Sent from my iPad

Fwd: [Keep the shuttle flying] There is lots of money to be made in space.. This...

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Begin forwarded message:

From: "Paul Purcell" <notification+zrdo1g6d6h6z@facebookmail.com>
Date: July 30, 2015 at 11:54:22 AM CDT
To: Keep the shuttle flying <157290994368336@groups.facebook.com>
Subject: [Keep the shuttle flying] There is lots of money to be made in space.. This...
Reply-To: Reply to Comment <g+41qdgp7l000zg4rwjl7x0080na9afnjl000000hdilab2yw46@groups.facebook.com>

Facebook


    Keep the shuttle flying





Paul Purcell
July 30 at 11:54am

There is lots of money to be made in space.. This report values the space economy at 330 Billion annually... With the growth of further space based economy in the area's of energy and mining this figure is set to soar to much grander heights!.. The space based economy will grow and grow until the milestone of manufacturing structures in space with material harvested in space is accomplished.. When that happens.. It will be an economic super nova.. Exciting times lay ahead..
http://acuriousguy.blogspot.ca/2015/07/space-economy-now-330bln-us-per-annum.html

An article outlining the science, economic drivers and logic to mining in space..
The Technical and Economic Feasibility of Mining the Near-Earth Asteroids
http://www.nss.org/settlement/asteroids/sonter.html

The economic benefits of mining on the Moon has changed the economics of a voyage to Mars.. A new study released in July of 2015 demonstrates that propellant and material mining on the moon is going to be a big game changer in our space exploration efforts to all destinations including savings of supporting missions in low Earth orbit..
http://www.ibtimes.com.au/nasa-funded-study-finds-lunar-resources-could-cut-space-exploration-cost-10b-year-1456974

Telerobotic equipment on the moon could easily be controlled from the comfort and safety of Earth.. Telerobotic systems have many advantages over robotic systems.. The incorporation of a human operator into the system makes for a very much accelerated pace of scientific investigation..
The Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) excavator robot is a teleoperated mobility platform with a space regolith excavation capability.
http://www.techbriefs.com/component/content/article/15471

The full NexGen study demonstrating economic gains to mining on the Moon.
A commercial lunar base providing propellant in lunar orbit will substantially reduce the cost and risk NASA of sending humans to Mars. The ELA would reduce the number of required Space Launch System (SLS) launches from as many as 12 to a total of only 3, thereby reducing SLS operational risks, and increasing its affordability..
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/nexgen/Nexgen_Downloads/NexGen_ELA_Report_FINAL.pdf

The future of energy! Space based solar power. 8 times more energy per unit area then ground based and no unproductive night time in space.. The power is abundant and available 24 hours a day 7 days a week 365 days of the year! Attached to this article is a study demonstrating the justified economics for such a venture..Click on "See more for more interesting articles and film..
http://www.kurzweilai.net/a-limitless-power-source-for-the-indefinite-future

NASA film free to watch, about their research into space based solar power... The technology was proved feasible!
http://www.nss.org/settlement/ssp/sspnasavideo.htm

Asteroids may be a much better place to get the supplies. Early evidence suggests that there are trillions of dollars' worth of minerals and metals buried in asteroids that come close to the Earth.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/asteroid-mining.htm

Mining asteroids is not just a dream—several enterprising companies are already getting the jump on it. Still, the technological barriers are immense, and we're just beginning to come to grips with the social and political implications of a space-based civilization.
http://gizmodo.com/how-asteroid-mining-could-pay-for-our-first-space-colon-1685429089

Excellent concept here.. I have for a few years now thought about power transmission to a craft that uses an engine like the Sabre Engine of the Sklon Space Plane design.. Using the beamed energy to move air through an engine while in a dense atmosphere then in the vacuum of space operate like a rocket using the same beamed energy.. I'm very excited to see how this concept develops!
http://escapedynamics.com/

Electrically powered aircraft could get a boost from power beaming technology that is being developed.. The aircraft could be powered by energy generated on the ground that is beamed to the aircraft... Heavier loads could be lofted to an altitude where they then could be launched into space.. The power beamed from the ground reduces the weight of the aircraft and could provide huge quantities of energy to the electrical fan engines....
http://www.airbusgroup.com/int/en/innovation-environment/airbus-e-fan-the-future-of-electric-aircraft.html

Laser beams can deliver energy to machines through thin air. This might be a good way to power drone aircraft
http://www.economist.com/node/18304136?story_id=18304136&fsrc=rss

LaserMotive is a Seattle-based company developing wireless power delivery systems using laser beams to transmit electricity without wires, for applications where wires are either cost prohibitive or physically impractical.
http://lasermotive.com/

NASA and the space community need to address the two most limiting factors for long duration space flight.. Exposure to micro gravity and radiation. To do this we need a adequate vessel..
Because the Nautilus-X design relies so heavily on off-the-shelf technology, the Technology Application Assessment Team concluded it could be developed in just over five years (64 months, to be exact) for a relatively modest investment
Every dollar invested in space exploration returns more than 12 to the economy...
http://www.citizensinspace.org/2012/03/deep-space-from-pilgrim-to-nautilus/

I finished reading a NASA publication in July 2014, titled "NASA Space Technology Roadmaps and Priorities".. In that publication it clearly outlines that the most significant obstacle to long duration human space flight is the exposure to R...adiation... The second largest obstacle is the effects on the human body in a 0 G or micro gravity environment.. What research is being done into these two challenges?.. Is there any thought of putting two space modules coupled by a truss rotating around a center point in orbit?.. I don't think it would be overly expensive to get some valuable data in this way... If we want to go anywhere besides the moon these are the challenges upon us.. Mitigating micro gravity and radiation exposure..
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/13354/nasa-space-technology-roadmaps-and-priorities-restoring-nasas-technological-edge

NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts lecture video's.. These video's display the latest technological advances and research that is being currently reviewed at NASA.. The technologies that NASA develops most often are utilized in other area's besides space exploration to better the quality of life for all of us!.. Every dollar invested in NASA returns more than 12 to the economy...
http://new.livestream.com/viewnow/NIAC2015

The Von Karmen Lecture series discusses the various technologies that NASA is using to further science and better our lives..
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/lectures.php

Inexpensive access to space is what the Skylon Space Plane and it's Sabre Engines promise.. The Sabre Engine that functions as a air breathing engine at lower altitudes then functions as a rocket.. Much hard work and innovations have gone into the design of this vehicle.. I'm anxious to see a prototype..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G50nvEdFVEM

Awesome video's!
"When We Left the Earth - The NASA Missions"...
Incredible footage and excellent narration of NASA's journeys into space from the pioneering days of Mercury to Modern day... Incredible video's!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKXqm-qDHXg

Now here, Europa the Jovian moon is a truly worthy space exploration goal... Logical pragmatic steps to addressing the major limiting factors of long duration spaceflight.. Micro gravity and effective radiation shielding.. Acceptance of the fact we need a large capable spacecraft to make such extended journeys.. Perhaps the Nautilus design... Along with the adoption of practical mission forward space hardware design and manufacture... Perhaps standardization of hermetic structures with plug and play equipment architecture made with assembly line efficiency's.. Mission forward design of space structures that re-uses and re-purposes space vessels launched into orbit.. For example a resupply vessel that delivers it's cargo is now used to expand the working space of the ISS or a new space structure.. The service module is re-purposed to provide the same services to the new space structure... Second stage rocket designs made to be used in orbit for alternative functions.. A motto of "If it goes up.. It stays up" Might serve the space exploration agencies well as this thinking makes better use of the resources already invested in building and launching the equipment.. Of course in situ resource utilization will be a mission enabler.. The use of material harvested from space to make space equipment, vehicles and structures should be a key objective.. Practical use of existing resources and commitment to a direction will take us further...

Informative video demonstrating how internal heat of Europa interacts with the ice surface. Many scientists believe this is where to look for life in our solar system. Many believe the basic requirements for life have been satisfied here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldzRCO55cUw&feature=digest_fri
The Commercial Space Blog: Space Economy Now $330Bln US per Annum Says Report
acuriousguy.blogspot.com

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Fwd: The Sadly Familiar Reason NASA Was Created

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: July 30, 2015 at 11:37:56 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: The Sadly Familiar Reason NASA Was Created

http://time.com/3964417/nasa-history-1958/

History space
The Sadly Familiar Reason NASA Was Created
Lily Rothman @lilyrothman
July 29, 2015
AP President Dwight Eisenhower and Dr. T. Keith Glennan, the first head of NASA, discuss photos received from the satellite Tires I in Washington on April 1, 1960,
The act that created the space agency was signed on July 29, 1958
NASA may be devoted to exploring the universe, but the agency owes its existence to a far more earthly concern: office politics.
The National Aeronautics and Space Act, which was signed into law on July 29, 1958, was intended to "provide for research into problems of flight within and outside the earth's atmosphere, and for other purposes." One of those other purposes, as TIME noted shortly after the act was signed, was "to overcome the interservice rivalries that had confused the U.S. missile and space programs."
Before NASA, various branches of the military were conducting research into aspects of space exploration like jet propulsion and satellites, and each wanted a key role in the exciting new field. Giving a single branch agency over all space exploration would alienate the others. Moreover, it could signal that the universe was a battleground as much as a place of inquiry. As the NASA act noted, activities in space "should be devoted to peaceful purposes."
With the establishment of an agency specifically dedicated to space—and its counterpoint, the military research agency now known as DARPA, which was created at the same time—that bureaucratic nightmare was thought solved.
Or not. As TIME reported that autumn, NASA's authority to take over peaceful space-centric mission didn't exactly go down easy:
Energetic Dr. T. Keith Glennan, chief of the newly created National Aeronautics and Space Administration, made his way into the Pentagon office of Army Secretary Wilber Brucker last fortnight with a message: civilian-run NASA, operating under Congressional authority, intended to take over the Army's missile-making Redstone Arsenal, 2,100 scientists from its missile team, the Army-backed Caltech Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Los Angeles and various other installations.
Brucker lost no time hustling down to the office of Deputy Defense Secretary Donald Quarles to protest. In Chicago Major General John Medaris, Redstone commander, dramatically got aboard a plane for Washington to fight off NASA capture—while a news leak rallied press reinforcements.
President Eisenhower tried to stop the kerfuffle by saying that he hadn't yet decided who would run the Arsenal and Laboratory in the long run. The Army implied that they'd be fine splitting the difference and giving everything except Redstone to NASA.
A version of that plan is what ended up happening, and before the end of the year NASA's preeminence in American space exploration was settled. And, TIME reported, there was no sign of future in-fighting—at least not that NASA's Glennan would be involved with. "I doubt," he said, "that I can go through this again."
Read more from 1958, here in the TIME Vault: Fight for Space

© 2015 Time Inc. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

No reason not to continue to fly it !

"I think the United States by giving up the shuttle is making a serious mistake because technologically, it's the most advanced space vehicle in the world, and really there is no reason not to continue to fly it," former Johnson Space Center Director George Abbey said.
In Moscow, Abbey told us NASA should keep flying the shuttle indefinitely and in the meantime build a new space vehicle based on the technology it knows — winged shuttles. He insists the new rockets that NASA has planned are a step backwards.
"Here we've got really the greatest vehicle in the world, and we are giving it up," Abbey said. "Don't start a whole new type of architecture that causes you to go back and start flying capsules, which gave up many years ago."

Abbey 2011
Sent from my iPad

X37C ---- could be operational in two years --- got x37b experience

And those in Congress specializing in space are well aware that, had getting independent access to ISS for our nation really been Job #1 for NASA's leadership, then the Administration would have approved Boeing's proposal for the X-37B follow-on, the 5 crew X-37C. We are talking about a dependable spacecraft that can sit in orbit for over a year and NASA said no to making it a crewed vehicle. Why? Jim Hillhouse of American Space
http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2013/03/x-37b-expanded-capabilities-iss-missions/

Sent from my iPad

Get shuttle II going !

Fwd: Roscosmos to create national manned spaceflight program center

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: July 29, 2015 at 12:32:01 PM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: Roscosmos to create national manned spaceflight program center

Russia's Roscosmos to create national manned spaceflight program center
July 29, 9:25 UTC+3
According to the reports, Roscosmos intends to create a close analogue of the US Lyndon B. Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, which is responsible for NASA manned missions

© ITAR-TASS/Anton Novoderezhkin

MOSCOW, July 29. /TASS/. Russia plans to create a national manned spaceflight program center as a result of the reorganization of the Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) into a state corporation, the Izvestia daily writes on Wednesday. Cosmonaut Sergey Krikalev — first deputy director of the Central Research Institute of Machine Building (TsNIIMash) is considered to be the main contender for the post of the center's head.
The manned spaceflight program center is expected to include, in particular, the cosmonaut training center, the manned space programs department of Roscosmos and a number of units of the RKK Energia Rocket and Space Corporation and TsNIIMash. The newspaper writes that Roscosmos intends to create a close analogue of the US Lyndon B. Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, which is responsible for NASA manned missions.

© 2015 TASS

Roscosmos to Set Up National Manned Spaceflight Center
© AP Photo/ NASA/Joel Kowsky
12:22 29.07.2015(updated 12:27 29.07.2015) Get short URL
132880
Ex-cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev is tapped to be the head of Russia's future national center for manned flights to space, Russian media reported on Wednesday.

"I don't want to rush things and I can say something about this new structure only after I am appointed," Sergei Krikalev, the current deputy head of the Central Engineering Research Institute TsNIIMash, told Izvestiya newspaper.
The new Center, to be comprised of the Cosmonaut Training Center, Roscosmos' Manned Spaceflight Center, Energia Space Rocket Corporation and TsNIIMash, will be modeled after the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, which is NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center, where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted.
Yury Lonchakov may be replaced as the head of the Cosmonaut Training Center as part of the ongoing reorganization.
The information was not confirmed by the official Roscosmos spokesman Igor Burenkov, who said that matter had not even been discussed yet.
© 2015 Sputnik All rights reserved.

Fwd: This Week in The Space Review - 2015 July 27

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Begin forwarded message:

From: jeff@thespacereview.com (Jeff Foust)
Date: July 27, 2015 at 7:06:14 PM CDT
Subject: This Week in The Space Review - 2015 July 27
Reply-To: jeff@thespacereview.com

[ If you no longer wish to receive announcements from The Space Review,
please follow the instructions at the end of this message. ]

Welcome to this week's issue of The Space Review:

1997, 2001, 1999: a science fiction calendar from the Apollo era
---
As Apollo flew people to the Moon, the science fiction shows people watched on TV and at the movies painted a bright future for human spaceflight, but one in retrospect was wholly unrealistic. Andre Bormanis examines that disconnect between those visions of the future and what came to pass.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2796/1

Cutting the costs of a human return to the Moon
---
Governments have largely deferred plans for human missions to the Moon, citing their cost, while private ventures offer more affordable concepts but struggle to raise funding. Jeff Foust reports on a new study that argues that a combination of the two, through public-private partnerships, could reduce the cost of human missions by as much as an order of magnitude.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2795/1

The mission of Zond 3
---
Fifty years ago, the Soviet Union launched a spacecraft that flew past the far side of the Moon and into deep space. Andrew LePage describes the mission of Zond 3 and how it fit into Soviet plans for missions to Mars and Venus.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2794/1

Review: Seeing Like A Rover
---
Operating Mars rovers is more complicated than simply driving across the terrain and collecting images and other scientific data. Jeff Foust reviews a book that offers a behind-the-scenes look at the operations of the Mars Exploration Rovers and how scientists analyze and manipulate the data those rovers have returned to better understand the Red Planet.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2793/1

If you missed it, here's what we published in our previous issue:

They did it: New Horizons flies past Pluto
---
On Tuesday, NASA's New Horizons spacecraft flew past Pluto, collecting images and other data that it is slowly returning to Earth. Jeff Foust reports on the celebrations at the Applied Physics Lab that marked the successful flyby and the first look at images that are surprising the mission's science team.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2792/1

Flash foresight, hard trends, and commercial space business
---
SpaceX's pursuit of reusable launch vehicles has prompted other companies to also study reusability. Anthony Young sees this as evidence of a "hard trend" that makes it all the more likely that reusability will become reality.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2791/1

Is "NewSpace" obsolete?
---
For about a decade, commercial space advocates have been promoting the term "NewSpace" to describe a new wave of entrepreneurial space ventures. As those ventures now reach critical market and funding mass, Jeff Foust explains that some think the term may now be outdated in some respects.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2790/1

Review: How We'll Live on Mars
---
As space agencies like NASA make long-term plans for human missions to Mars, some expect private ventures to get there faster. Jeff Foust reviews a book, patterned after a TED talk, that argues that SpaceX in particular could get there faster.
http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2789/1

We appreciate any feedback you may have about these articles as well as
any other questions, comments, or suggestions about The Space Review.
We're also actively soliciting articles to publish in future issues, so
if you have an article or article idea that you think would be of
interest, please email me.

Until next week,

Jeff Foust
Editor, The Space Review
jeff@thespacereview.com
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Fwd: CST-100 Spacecraft Development Moves Forward in Former Shuttle Hangar

Sent from my iPad

Begin forwarded message:

From: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Date: July 29, 2015 at 9:34:30 AM CDT
To: "Gary Johnson" <gjohnson144@comcast.net>
Subject: FW: CST-100 Spacecraft Development Moves Forward in Former Shuttle Hangar

AmericaSpace
For a nation that explores
July 29th, 2015
CST-100 Spacecraft Development Moves Forward in Former Shuttle Hangar
By Ben Evans

One of two pressurized domes for the "shell" of the Structural Test Article (STA) of Boeing's CST-100 spacecraft undergoes checkout. Photo Credit: NASA
Less than a year since winning a $4.2 billion slice of the $6.8 billion Commercial Crew transportation Capability (CCtCap) contract—the current phase of NASA's effort to return U.S. astronauts to space, aboard a U.S.-built vehicle, and from U.S. soil—Boeing has taken a significant forward step as it prepares its CST-100 spacecraft for an initial unpiloted "shakedown" voyage in April 2017, then a crewed test flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in July 2017. This will be followed by the first contracted long-duration crew exchange mission, by either Boeing's CST-100 or SpaceX's Dragon V-2, at some stage after November 2017, on the eagerly awaited "U.S. Crew Vehicle-1" or "USCV-1". In anticipation of Commercial Crew operations, the first two domes for CST-100's Structural Test Article (STA) have been delivered to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida, where they will be transferred to the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) Bay 3 for integration.
According to a NASA blog, posted Monday 27 July, the twin domes will form the pressurized "shell" of the STA, which is not itself intended to fly with a human crew, but which is expected to yield significant insights into the manufacturing and processing methods for flight-ready CST-100 vehicles. The STA will be employed "to determine the effectiveness of the design and prove its escape system during a pad abort test," it was explained. "The ability to abort from an emergency and safely carry crew members out of harm's way is a critical element for NASA's next generation of crew spacecraft." In recent weeks, the main structure of the STA was friction-stir-welded into a single upper and lower hull, then machined to its final thickness. Throughout the second half of 2015, it will be outfitted with critical components and systems for an expansive testing program.
The majority of this work will be performed within OPF Bay 3—now known as the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF)—which is situated to the northwest of the cavernous Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and just across the street from its sisters, OPF Bays 1 and 2. This trio of processing facilities were employed at various stages throughout the 30-year Space Shuttle era to process Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour for their 135 historic missions. The predecessor of today's OPF Bay 3 was activated in 1987 as the Orbiter Maintenance and Refurbishment Facility (OMRF), initially for non-hazardous and off-line processing of the shuttles. Its first client was Columbia, the queen of the fleet, which underwent low-key attention in the OMRF from September 1987 through July 1988, prior to moving into the fully equipped OPF Bay 2 to commence preparations for her first post-Challenger mission, STS-28.
NASA's Deputy Administrator Lori Garver lauds efforts to place OPF-3 in private hands during the event highlighting the announcement in 2011 as former Florida Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll and Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana look on. Photo Credit: NASA
Then, from 1989 through 1991, NASA implemented an extensive upgrade program to convert the OMRF into a third OPF bay, with about $46 million-worth of Ground Support Equipment (GSE) and work platforms transferred from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.—which might originally have supported a series of polar-orbiting shuttle flights from the West Coast in the pre-Challenger era—to the Cape. During this period, the facility was briefly occupied by Discovery in mid-1989, during the interval between her STS-29 and STS-33 missions, and again by Columbia for a handful of days in August 1991. With the "pooling" of other GSE across the three facilities, the conversion of the OMRF to OPF Bay 3 was accomplished for just $85 million, considerably lower than the $170 million expected to complete the task. When finished, OPF Bay 3 measured 197 feet (60 meters) in length, 150 feet (46 meters) wide and 95 feet (29 meters) high, with adjacent areas for logistics and flight hardware storage.
Activated in September 1991, its first formal processing occupant was Discovery, fresh from her STS-48 mission to deploy NASA's Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). The orbiter spent 77 days in the new bay, being readied for her STS-42 International Microgravity Laboratory (IML)-1 research flight in January 1992. OPF Bay 3 subsequently supported Columbia and Endeavour, before being devoted chiefly to Discovery from the fall of 1992 through early 1994. It was later used almost exclusively by Atlantis and Endeavour from May 1994 through August 1997—punctuated on a couple of occasions, when it provided storage for orbiters newly returned or about to depart for major modification periods—and by all four shuttles into the present millennium. Poignantly, Columbia occupied OPF Bay 3 in the summer of 2002, just months before her ill-fated STS-107 mission. Following the resumption of flights in the summer of 2005, OPF Bay 3 was pivotal in processing the final voyages of the Space Shuttle Program, finally witnessing the rollover of Discovery to the VAB in September 2010 for stacking onto her External Tank (ET) and Solid Rocket Boosters (SRBs) for her swansong, the STS-133 mission to the ISS.
Last month, four veteran astronauts were assigned to begin training for the Commercial Crew Program. From left to right are Doug Hurley, Eric Boe, Bob Behnken and Suni Williams. Photo Credit: James Blair/NASA
A year later, in October 2011, NASA signed a 15-year use permit with Space Florida, under which OPF Bay 3—together with the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing Facility and Processing Control Center—were retasked for Boeing's CST-100 program and subsequently renamed as the Commercial Crew and Cargo Processing Facility (C3PF). It was anticipated that the move would create up to 550 aerospace-related jobs along the Space Coast and was described as "the latest step…as the center transitions from a historically government-only launch complex to a multi-user spaceport". At the same time, Boeing selected Florida for its Commercial Crew headquarters, citing not only "our NASA customer", but also the "outstanding facilities and…experienced space workforce". In July 2015, that transition is bearing fruit, with the maiden voyage of the CST-100 hopefully less than two years into the future. However, as cautioned in a recent article by AmericaSpace's Jim Hillhouse, proposed congressional cuts to the Commercial Crew endeavor could render 2017 an increasingly unrealistic goal.
Last summer, on time and on-budget, Boeing concluded the final two milestones of its $460 million Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap) agreement with NASA, passing the Phase Two Spacecraft Safety Review and the Critical Design Review (CDR) of its integrated systems for the CST-100. Receipt of the CCiCap contract came after initial funding under the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) program. The interior of the conical CST-100 capsule features therapeutic Boeing LED Sky Lighting technology—not dissimilar to that seen aboard Boeing's 787 Dreamliner—and measures 15 feet (4.5 meters) in diameter at its base, making it somewhat larger than the Apollo Command Module (CM). It has the capacity to transport up to seven astronauts into orbit, can remain aloft for up to 210 days and is reusable for up to ten discrete missions. Under normal circumstances, it will be lofted atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V booster from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. As described in a recent article by AmericaSpace's Mike Killian, construction of the 200-foot-tall (60-meter) Crew Access Tower at the SLC-41 site is well underway.
NASA astronaut Randy Bresnik getting ready to board Boeing's CST-100 mock up for a fit check of the capsule. Photo Credit: NASA / Robert Markowitz
Last September, Boeing secured a slice of the CCtCap "pie", worth up to $4.2 billion, for the continued development of the CST-100. Under the terms of the contract, Boeing and SpaceX were required to fly at least one crewed test flight, with at least one NASA astronaut aboard, to verify that the fully integrated rocket and spacecraft can launch, maneuver in orbit and dock with the ISS. Successful completion of these milestones would then open the gates for between two and six dedicated crew rotation missions to the space station.
Earlier this year, John Elbon, Vice President and General Manager of Boeing Space Exploration, explained that the unpiloted CST-100 test flight would be launched atop ULA's 74th Atlas V mission, after which the inaugural crewed mission would take place atop the 80th Atlas V, in the early-to-mid-2017 timeframe. Asked about the NASA/industry crew composition of the missions, he explained that having a Boeing test pilot aboard would be in keeping with the company's flight test heritage. More recently, in July 2015, NASA assigned veteran spacefarers Eric Boe, Suni Williams, Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken—the latter of whom had just stepped down from his previous post as Chief of the Astronaut Office—to begin training for Commercial Crew flights. Also in recent weeks, Boeing received the first of up to six orders to execute a crew-rotation mission of CST-100 to the space station.
Of course, flying these missions requires an active, operational docking interface, and NASA intended to deliver a pair of International Docking Adapters (IDAs) aboard SpaceX's CRS-7 and CRS-9 Dragon cargo missions. The IDA-1 mechanism—which was to have been attached to Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)-2 on the forward face of the station's Harmony node—would have been the primary Commercial Crew interface, but was lost in a launch failure on 28 June. The IDA-2 adapter will now assume the primary role, with IDA-3 to be assembled from spare parts and launched at a later date for installation onto the Pressurized Mating Adapter (PMA)-3 on Harmony's space-facing (or "zenith") port. Notwithstanding the disappointing loss of IDA-1, a major reconfiguration of the station's U.S. Orbital Segment (USOS) is underway, with the Leonardo Permanent Multipurpose Module (PMM) having been robotically relocated to improve clearance issues on 27 May and PMA-3 due to be moved from its current home on the Tranquility node over to its final home at Harmony zenith in late October 2015.

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