Comga - 17/2/2007 11:50 AMBall does spacecraft buses with their electronics, ADC, etc, and although some of their craft are "predesigned" every one gets extensive modifications for just about each mission. Moreover, they are working with SpaceX, and not likely to compete with them. Their business model is to sell spacecraft, instruments, subsystems, and missions to committed customers, not building ahead of sales as entrepreneurs.
Atlas Boost for Space Tourism, Space ColonizationIf it was good enough for Mercury astronaut John Glenn back in 1962, it must be good to go to hurl tourists into Earth orbit and beyond.That was the one-two punch delivered at the recent Space Technology & Applications International Forum (STAIF) held February 11-15 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.Jeff Patton of the Business Development & Advanced Programs of the newly formed United Launch Alliance (ULA) spotlighted that a “potential new market for construction, crew and cargo delivery to low Earth orbit” can be serviced by the Atlas V 401 booster.ULA’s Patton detailed a capsule-based passenger transfer vehicle that sits nicely atop the Atlas - a craft based on the design work and reentry technology used in the Genesis, Stardust and several Mars missions.NASA has identified a term that is used for human flight called “Black Zones” Patton said, a phrase that defines any period of flight when an abort would be unsafe for the passengers.A great deal of effort was spent during work on the Orbital Space Plane - a precursor design to the current Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle - an exercise that identified potential Black Zones and eliminating them by modifying the Atlas Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV).Patton’s bottom line: Atlas V 401/402 boosters are well suited for low Earth orbit human spaceflight and taking on a roster of commerical human spaceflight needs.Also at STAIF, Michael Holguin of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Corporation pointed to using the Atlas and the Centaur upper stage to propel people, habitats and hardware to the Moon and Mars, calling it a reliable, robust, and safe approach to space colonization.
Bigelow would turn that region of space, called L1, into a construction zone. Inflatable modules would be linked up with propulsion/power systems and support structures, and then the completed base would be lowered down to the moon's surface, all in one piece.Once the moon base has been set down, dirt would be piled on top, using a technique that Bigelow plans to start testing later this year at his Las Vegas headquarters. The moon dirt, more technically known as regolith, would serve to shield the base's occupants from the harsh radiation hitting the lunar surface.>>The last thing you want to do is handcuff yourself to an Earth solution for moving material – a strategy that would be just crazy to apply to a lunar application. We have enough problems as it is keeping the machinery running – Caterpillars, loaders, excavators, all kinds of machinery.So our solution is something entirely different, involving a method where no machinery actually is used. We’re going to be trying the method this year, using one of our steel simulators as a prototype, because it’s the size of vessel that mimics the full-scale module. We’re actually going to try in Las Vegas to apply our solution for covering up a full-scale module, involving only two people, with a depth of soil on the crown of at least 2 or 3 feet. We’ll give you more on this later as we progress with this experiment.
Norm Hartnett - 1/3/2007 9:00 PM....A lot of status in having an orbital get-away...Rippin’ location for a business meeting or party
