LIVE: CCDev-2 Awards and Decision Discussion - April 18

[yg1968]

CCDev2 Briefing tomorrow, via SpaceXer:

http://twitter.com/SpaceXer

"Interested in the future of human spaceflight? SpaceX is joining a NASA press briefing on CCDev Thursday"

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news/134_hours_events.html

It will be shown on NASA TV, Thursday at 11 a.m.:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/MM_NTV_Breaking.html

April 28, Thursday
11 a.m. - Commercial Crew Development Briefing - KSC (Public, HD and Media Channels)

[jacqmans]

MEDIA ADVISORY: M11-086

NASA BRIEFING WITH COMMERCIAL CREW DEVELOPMENT AWARD WINNERS

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA will host a media briefing at 11 a.m. EDT
Thursday, April 28, at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to
highlight the four companies selected for the second round of the
agency's Commercial Crew Development (CCDev2) efforts.

The briefing is part of the countdown activities for the final
scheduled launch of space shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission to the
International Space Station. Lift off is scheduled for 3:47 p.m. on
Friday, April 29.

The news conference participants are:
-- Phil McAlister, acting director, Commercial Spaceflight
Development, NASA Headquarters, Washington
-- Ed Mango, program manager for NASA's Commercial Crew Program,
Kennedy Space Center
-- Rob Meyerson, program manager, Blue Origin, Kent, Wash.
-- Mark Sirangelo, program manager, Sierra Nevada, Louisville, Colo.
-- Garrett Reisman, program manager, SpaceX, Hawthorne, Calif.
-- John Elbon, program manager, The Boeing Company, Houston

On April 18, NASA awarded $269.3 million to these companies to
accelerate the availability of U.S. commercial crew transportation
capabilities and reduce the gap in American human spaceflight
capability. Through this activity, NASA also may be able to spur
economic growth as potential new space markets are created. Once
developed, crew transportation capabilities could become available to
commercial and government customers.

The briefing will be broadcast live on NASA Television and streamed
at:



http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

[Chris Bergin]

CSF are in on it too.

As President Obama Marks Final Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour, Nation Looks to Commercial Space for the Future


Press Conference with Winners of NASA’s Commercial Crew Development Program to Take Place at Kennedy Space Center, Florida on Thursday, April 28




Kennedy Space Center, Florida, Wednesday, April 27, 2011 – As President Obama and Americans nationwide honor the historic accomplishments of the retiring Space Shuttle, an exciting new era of commercial spaceflight is being readied.  Tomorrow morning NASA will hold a press conference at Kennedy Space Center with commercial space pioneers.

“Once the Space Shuttle retires this year, the next vehicle to carry astronauts into space from Florida’s Space Coast will be a commercial spacecraft – and this marks a historic change, perhaps the biggest in NASA's fifty-year history,” said Bretton Alexander, President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.

America’s space program received a huge boost earlier this month when NASA awarded $269 million in competitive agreements to four pioneering commercial space companies who are developing the capability to take crews to low Earth orbit commercially: Blue Origin, The Boeing Company, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and SpaceX.  The program will create thousands of jobs across the United States, including a significant number in Florida. Company executives and senior NASA officials will be participating in a press conference at Kennedy Space Center at 11 am EDT on Thursday, April 28.

What: Press conference with winners of NASA’s $269M Commercial Crew Development Program
Where: NASA Kennedy Space Center press auditorium, also carried live on NASA TV and online:
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html
When: 11am Eastern Daylight Time, Thursday, April 28
Who:
- Rob Meyerson, President and Program Manager, Blue Origin
- John Elbon, VP and Program Manager Commercial Crew Transportation, the Boeing Company
- Mark Sirangelo, Chairman, Sierra Nevada Corporation Space Systems
- Garrett Reisman, Senior Engineer, SpaceX and former NASA Astronaut
- Phil McAlister, Acting Director of Commercial Spaceflight Development, NASA Headquarters
- Ed Mango, Program Manager of Commercial Crew Program, NASA Kennedy Space Center

Commercial Spaceflight Federation President Bretton Alexander continued, “These private companies are building and testing real spaceships that will inaugurate a whole new kind of space race.” Alexander added, “NASA's Commercial Crew Program is on par with the government Airmail Act that spurred the growth of early aviation and led to today’s passenger airline industry, which generates billions of dollars annually for the American economy.”

“Commercial spaceflight is about innovation, inspiration and jobs,” noted Eric Anderson, Chairman of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation.  “We’re at the forefront of major innovation, and the commercial spaceflight industry can serve as an example to the world of the power of American entrepreneurship.”

Anderson added, “We are really at the threshold of something truly transformative. We’ve seen numerous markets open ranging from NASA missions and space tourism, to scientific research.”

John Gedmark, Executive Director of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation stated, “Commercial spaceflight is a great deal for the American taxpayer.  NASA will no longer have to send money to Russia to buy seats for our astronauts. We can spend that money to create jobs here at home instead.”

Gedmark concluded, “We’ll finally be able to realize the sci-fi future people have been dreaming about, one that inspired an entire generation of dreamers and innovators.  People are again imagining a future like we saw in the landmark film ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’, where private spacecraft offered frequent flights into space.  This is going to be one of the most exciting stories of the 21st century, and we are just at the beginning of that story.”


About the Commercial Spaceflight Federation

The mission of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation (CSF) is to promote the development of commercial human spaceflight, pursue ever-higher levels of safety, and share best practices and expertise throughout the industry. The Commercial Spaceflight Federation’s member companies, which include commercial spaceflight developers, operators, spaceports, suppliers, and service providers, are creating thousands of high-tech jobs nationwide, working to preserve American leadership in aerospace through technology innovation, and inspiring young people to pursue careers in science and engineering. For more information please visit www.commercialspaceflight.org or contact Executive Director John Gedmark at [email protected] or at 202.349.1121.



--


Latching on to the massive popularity of STS-134 a bit, aren't they? Don't blame them, but I hope they all respect Shuttle and their legacy at these events.

[Namechange User]

Latching on to the massive popularity of STS-134 a bit, aren't they? Don't blame them, but I hope they all respect Shuttle and their legacy at these events.

Mango was deputy manager of OPO just not long ago.  I highly doubt he would say anything derogatory. 

The rest of the CSF nonsense is getting extreme.  If anyone else said this about anything, would they be viewed as credible?  It sounds like a amazing people talk honestly.  Does they point to any tangible piece of data or evidence that we are on this "brink"?  No. 

I mean, for goodness sake, who doesn't want commercial to succeed but at the same time all the cheerleading without EVER talking about many of the real pitfalls will seemingly strain their credibility.  For example, where are all those jobs they predicted would be created and mentioned here again?  Knowing the actual employment of several and the planned employment of several it would seem that the slope to creating them is much more shallow than initially claimed.

I wonder what else may be too good to be true.....

[libs0n]

  Knowing the actual employment of several and the planned employment of several it would seem that the slope to creating them is much more shallow than initially claimed.

Funding for Com crew was slashed and delayed, those comments were made in the context of a better funded program. 

[Namechange User]

  Knowing the actual employment of several and the planned employment of several it would seem that the slope to creating them is much more shallow than initially claimed.

Funding for Com crew was slashed and delayed, those comments were made in the context of a better funded program. 

Ok.  Pretty fine line then you are walking.  So government-funded "commercial" equals jobs.  Something more modest does not.  I get it now.

Yet, with the amounts for CCDev 1 and 2 known, along with COTS, the CSF is able to "proclaim" the above and still mention......jobs. 

Very interesting and thank you for sharing with me and everyone further the double-standard. 

[Lurker Steve]

Radiation shielding = water wall. Seriously, it's not that difficult. You just need mass. If you have enough to spare in your mass budget, it's not a difficult design problem.

The two leaders of CCDev2, CST-100 and Dragon, could both be used for BLEO. CST-100 may need a slightly thicker heat shield (and maybe it doesn't), but that's not at all a problem, considering it's an ablative heat shield. CST-100 uses the same shape as the Apollo capsule. There's absolutely nothing inherent in the design that means you couldn't use it for BLEO. And same thing with Dragon crew... And I should note that the LAS for Dragon Crew is integrated, meaning it's part of the spacecraft.

CST-100 is purely designed for LEO only. It is designed purely as a space taxi. It runs on batteries. Once the batteries are done, it's done. There might be a CST-200 or CST-300 on the drawing board, but lets keep it to vehicles that might be ready this decade.

We have no idea if the F9 can lift a Dragon capsule with the additional mass. Heck, we don't really know if the F9 can lift a Dragon loaded with anything heavier than a wheel of cheese. Then this additional mass requires the development of a more powerful LAS. All this extra weight, and you have a vehicle that requires the FH, just to get into LEO. Now you no longer have a vehicle that costs $20m per seat.

[Joris]

CST-100 is purely designed for LEO only. It is designed purely as a space taxi. It runs on batteries. Once the batteries are done, it's done. There might be a CST-200 or CST-300 on the drawing board, but lets keep it to vehicles that might be ready this decade.

We have no idea if the F9 can lift a Dragon capsule with the additional mass. Heck, we don't really know if the F9 can lift a Dragon loaded with anything heavier than a wheel of cheese. Then this additional mass requires the development of a more powerful LAS. All this extra weight, and you have a vehicle that requires the FH, just to get into LEO. Now you no longer have a vehicle that costs $20m per seat.

True about CST-100 although Falcon 9 Block II will be capable of launching a fully loaded dragon to LEO.

[yg1968]

Latching on to the massive popularity of STS-134 a bit, aren't they? Don't blame them, but I hope they all respect Shuttle and their legacy at these events.

Mango was deputy manager of OPO just not long ago.  I highly doubt he would say anything derogatory. 

The rest of the CSF nonsense is getting extreme.  If anyone else said this about anything, would they be viewed as credible?  It sounds like a amazing people talk honestly.  Does they point to any tangible piece of data or evidence that we are on this "brink"?  No. 

I mean, for goodness sake, who doesn't want commercial to succeed but at the same time all the cheerleading without EVER talking about many of the real pitfalls will seemingly strain their credibility.  For example, where are all those jobs they predicted would be created and mentioned here again?  Knowing the actual employment of several and the planned employment of several it would seem that the slope to creating them is much more shallow than initially claimed.

I wonder what else may be too good to be true.....

How dare an advocacy group actually advocate things...

In any event, it seems to me that they are trying to get the message across that the successor to the Shuttle is commercial crew and not the SLS/MPCV. I don't think that they are trying to be disrespectful towards the Shuttle. I am much more worried about commercial crew getting its funding reduced than the SLS/MPCV. So getting the message across is important.

[Namechange User]

Latching on to the massive popularity of STS-134 a bit, aren't they? Don't blame them, but I hope they all respect Shuttle and their legacy at these events.

Mango was deputy manager of OPO just not long ago.  I highly doubt he would say anything derogatory. 

The rest of the CSF nonsense is getting extreme.  If anyone else said this about anything, would they be viewed as credible?  It sounds like a amazing people talk honestly.  Does they point to any tangible piece of data or evidence that we are on this "brink"?  No. 

I mean, for goodness sake, who doesn't want commercial to succeed but at the same time all the cheerleading without EVER talking about many of the real pitfalls will seemingly strain their credibility.  For example, where are all those jobs they predicted would be created and mentioned here again?  Knowing the actual employment of several and the planned employment of several it would seem that the slope to creating them is much more shallow than initially claimed.

I wonder what else may be too good to be true.....

How dare an advocacy group actually advocate things...

In any event, it seems to me that they are trying to get the message across that the successor to the Shuttle is commercial crew and not the SLS/MPCV. I don't think that they are trying to be disrespectful towards the Shuttle. I am much more worried about commercial crew getting its funding reduced than the SLS/MPCV. So getting the message across is important.

Hey yg, so a snarky comment is the best you can do with my post.  That said, I will attempt to respond on a higher level. 

Note I never said an "advocacy group" shouldn't "advocate".  However, shouldn't it be *based* on something concrete and tangible so that your "advocacy" carries that much more weight and credibility?  If I ran around just saying "Mars is the ultimate goal", "we need to go there" and I am an "advocacy group" attempting to "advocate" isn't it my duty to give supporting data in order to sway and maintain opinion?  That is and was clearly my point.  Do you disagree?

Did I say absolutely anything anywhere about them being "disrespectful" to shuttle?  Understand you worrying about "commercial" having it's nearly all government-funded development reduced but isn't a "message" supposed to be something that has credibility that people can universally rally around?  I don't see that here, again, it is fluff that is seemingly based on nothing.  Or do you disagree, and if so, please point me to tangible evidence that the things said in this press release are happening and/or are imminent. 

[neilh]

OV-106, could you list which parts of the press release you have a problem with? That might help others address your concerns more specifically.

[AnalogMan]

Reminder (for anyone interested) starting at the top of the hour on NASA TV:

11 a.m. EDT -- CCDev2 Briefing

- Philip McAlister, acting director, NASA Commercial Spaceflight Development
- Edward Mango, program manager, NASA Commercial Crew Program
- Rob Meyerson – program manager, Blue Origin Commercial Crew Program
- Mark Sirangelo – program manager, Sierra Nevada Corporation Commercial Crew Program
- Garrett Reisman – program manager, Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) Commercial Crew Development Program
- John Elbon - vice president and program manager, The Boeing Company Commercial Crew Programs

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html

[Ronsmytheiii]

[Ronsmytheiii]

looks like it is going to start late

[Ronsmytheiii]

Beginning

Philip McAlister giving overview of CCDev2 program/ Commercial Crew

[Ronsmytheiii]

Edward Mango, program manager for the Commercial Crew Program

[Ronsmytheiii]

Map showing the spread of the CCDEV2 program

[baldusi]

Latching on to the massive popularity of STS-134 a bit, aren't they? Don't blame them, but I hope they all respect Shuttle and their legacy at these events.

For example, where are all those jobs they predicted would be created and mentioned here again?  Knowing the actual employment of several and the planned employment of several it would seem that the slope to creating them is much more shallow than initially claimed.

Of course a CSP would have less jobs. That's why it's cheaper. If you want a jobs program give an unemployment subsidy. I don't wee where's the supposedly "capitalist" country that only wants the government to invent jobs. Capitalism is tough and realistic, you either get somebody to willingly pay you for your work, or you starve. Government run programs don't work that way. Jobs programs run by government don't work that way, specially if they are under 1% of the federal budget.
Specially in the cost plus jobs. The contractor can contract some more people, and the govt will eat the tab, but will make another representative happy. Or he can not make that contract, or get a lower supplier, but will not earn more, and he will make a representative unhappy, thus increasing the possibility of budget reductions.
That's the problem of democracy. Can you imagine if elections were run once a year and people voted how much of the GDP want the government to have, and then a percentage for each line? That would be interesting.
So, to recap, you either go commercial, and you loose a lot of "government jobs" and replace them with fewer but truer (not totally true since NASA would be picking a huge part of the tab) jobs. Or you keep the govt program and let the working citizens pay for the "happiness" of certain representatives. Or in other words, you take money from some citizens, and give it to the citizens of some of the election citizens, just so they will vote to the same representative next election.

[Ronsmytheiii]

Rob Meyerson talking now on behalf of Blue Origin..

[Ronsmytheiii]