Category Archives: Space participation

DIY space, Space participation, Space Systems

ISSE-3 Reboot Project raises $125k + SpaceIL crowd-funding campaign

I wrote a post  back in April about the private effort to reconnect with the 36 year old International Sun-Earth Explorers (ISSE) spacecraft and direct it back to its original solar science mission. The crowd-funding campaign to raise $125,000 to get the project underway has been a success:

Here’s an update from Dennis Wingo: ISEE-3 Reboot Project Status and Schedule for First Contact – Space College.

And here is a video report on the project:

===

The Israeli based SpaceIL team in the GLXP has opened a crowdfunding campaign as well: Join SpaceIL’s Mission to Land the First Israeli Spacecraft on the Moon! – Indiegogo.

After just 2 days they have raised $41k towards their $240k goal.

In April the Las Vegas billionaire Sheldon Adelson gave the project $16.4M: Israel space project gets $16 million boost from casino mogul Adelson | Reuters

However, they still need to raise a considerable amount of money to cover the launch and the mission operations.

Here is a new video about the project:

Education, Simulators, Space participation

The Russell Space Team shuttle simulations for grade school astronauts

The Russell Space Team at Russell Elementary School in Smyrna, GA is an award winning program in which 4th & 5th graders carry out elaborate Space Shuttle mission simulations. They use their shuttle Intrepid Simulator and a Mission Control. They have been carrying out the day long simulations since the 1990s.

Their Russell Space Team YouTube channel shows reports from their missions, including a 27 hour sim from this month.

Chris Laster is the force behind the Russell Space Team and he was on the Space Show this week to describe the program and how it came about: Chris Laster, Tuesday, 5-13-14 – Thespaceshow’s Blog

A couple of Russell Space Team videos:

DIY space, Space participation, Space Settlement

The Great DIY Enterprise: Citizen space exploration to space settlement

An announcement from Citizens in Space and the Space Studies Institute:

The Great (Do It Yourself) Enterprise: From
Citizen Space Exploration to Space Settlement

Los Angeles, CA (May 12, 2014) – A new strategy for space development will be presented at the International Space Development Conference, which takes place at the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel this week.

Citizens in Space, a project of the United States Rocket Academy and the Space Studies Institute, will present “The Great Enterprise: From Citizen Space Exploration to Space Settlement” in the Redondo California Ballroom at 3:00 on Saturday, May 17.

“The Great Enterprise is a theme developed by the Space Studies Institute over the past several years,” said Robin Snelson, executive director of SSI. “The end goal of the Great Enterprise is the permanent human settlement of space.

“Space settlement was envisioned by SSI founder Dr. Gerard K. O’Neill, Princeton physics professor and author of the best-selling book ‘The High Frontier,’ nearly 40 years ago.

“O’Neill’s vision inspired the creation of space-advocacy groups like the National Space Society, the sponsor of the International Space Development Conference. Despite the widespread interest in O’Neill’s ideas, space settlement has remained an elusive goal.

“A new strategy is required. Dr. O’Neill showed that permanent human settlement of space is a realistic goal, but we need a practical path to reach that goal. The old belief that government will step in with large sums of money has led nowhere and failed to inspire the general public.”

“The burgeoning Do It Yourself movement provides a model for the new strategy,” said Edward Wright, founder of the United States Rocket Academy and program manager for Citizens in Space. “530,000 people attended Maker Faires last year. Citizen-science projects and hackerspaces are springing up all over the country. Space advocacy organizations must tap into that community to a create a Do It Yourself space movement.

“All progress starts at the low end. We will outline a path for incremental development, beginning with low-cost suborbital spacecraft that are already under construction, followed by practical, achievable steps, leading ultimately to space settlement.”

“Now is the time for a new type of space movement, based on individual initiative and enterprise,” said Robert Smith, evangelist with the Space Studies Institute. “It is time we moved beyond mere advocacy. We must roll up our sleeves and take the bull by the horns. As the saying goes, ‘If you want something done right, do it yourself.'”

DIY space, Rockets, Space participation

Copenhagen Suborbitals: HEAT-2x rocket test on May 17th

Copenhagen Suborbitals announces an upcoming rocket engine test event:

Live test of the HEAT-2X rocket

Saturday May 17th we are testing our biggest rocket to date: The HEAT2X. The rocket will be mounted atop our teststand VTC3 firmly attached to the concrete and the umbilical tower. At 14:00 CEST the engine is ignited for a full duration 90 second burn.

The primary objective of the test is to verify the performance of the TM65LE engine. During the burn we will also measure the forces on the jet vanes exerted by the engines exhaust. These data will be used to calibrate the guidance computer and rudder system correctly before flight.

We invite you to watch the test live at our facility. You can buy tickets here. Copenhagen Suborbitals Supporters have free access – register as a supporter here.

We will provide a live commented broadcast of the preparations and the test itself on Youtube and Livestream. Link to the live video feed will be posted on the website.

Visit www.copsub.com to read more about the test and the latest news about the developement of HEAT2X.

HEAT2X_TDS80-no-text-no-title-655x222

Education, Space participation, Space Systems

Citizens in Space at MakerCon to debut space experiment carrier for XCOR Lynx

Here’s a follow-up to the recent news from Citizens in Space about their newly developed experiment payload rack for the XCOR Lynx:

New Space Research Platform Will Be Unveiled at MakerCon

Redwood City, CA (May 8, 2013) – A new research platform that promises to dramatically reduce the cost of access to space for small scientific and education payloads will be publicly unveiled at MakerCon, which takes place at the Oracle Conference Center in Redwood City next week.

The Lynx Cub Payload Carrier, developed by the United States Rocket Academy, Texas A&M University, and the Space Engineering Research Center (a Texas state agency) will fly on the XCOR Lynx spacecraft. A fully reusable, piloted, suborbital spacecraft, Lynx is designed to fly four times a day. The Lynx Cub Payload Carrier will fit behind the pilot’s seat and carry up to 15 small experiments on each flight.

The Lynx Cub Carrier will be unveiled by United States Rocket Academy founder Edward Wright during a presentation on “Citizen Science and Citizen Space Exploration.” The presentation takes place on Tuesday, May 13 at 2:55-3:15 PM, in  Room 102/103 of the Oracle Conference Center.

“The Lynx spacecraft is now under construction at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California,” Wright said. “XCOR Aerospace expects to begin flight tests later this year.

“The Cub Carrier can be installed and removed quickly for frequent, low-cost flight opportunities. The Lynx Cub Carrier is an ideal platform for small materials-processing, fluid-physics, life-science, and engineering experiments. University teaching and research, K-12 education, citizen science, government and industrial R&D will all benefit from the convenient simple interfaces, rapid integration, and affordability of Lynx Cub experiments. We are pleased to have the opportunity to introduce this exciting platform to the audience at MakerCon.”

MakerCon is a premiere event organized by Maker Media, publisher of Make magazine and producer of Maker Faire.

MakerCon brings together the leaders at the forefront of the maker movement. The conference provides new insights into local and global manufacturing, design, marketing and distribution, and diverse funding options to help makers bring their products to market.

MakerCon is presented by Intel and hosted by Oracle Corporation. More information, including a complete list of speakers, is available at www.makercon.com. Registration is available at www.makercon.com/attend.

Additional information about Citizens in Space can be found at www.citizensinspace.org.