Mission to Mars (10 page)
Authors: Buzz Aldrin
Tags: #Engineering & Transportation, #Engineering, #Aerospace, #Astronautics & Space Flight, #Aeronautical Engineering, #Science & Mathematics, #Science & Math, #Astronomy & Space Science, #Aeronautics & Astronautics, #Astrophysics & Space Science, #Mars, #Technology
New Shepard, a private suborbital spacecraft design by Blue Origin
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Boeing
is developing a commercial crew vehicle, the CST-100, which can be launched on a variety of launch vehicles. The Boeing system will provide crewed flights to the International Space Station and also support the Bigelow Aerospace orbital space complex. The CST-100 is a reusable capsule-shaped spacecraft based on flight-proven subsystems and mature technologies. The system can transport up to seven people, or a combination of people and cargo.
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Masten Space Systems
designs, builds, tests, and operates reusable launch vehicles. The entrepreneurial firm sees quick turnaround times for reusable launch vehicles, there by spurring an increase in flight rate—a way to drive down the cost of space access—and permitting more people to reach space. The company is developing fully reusable vertical takeoff, vertical landing launch vehicles; technology and concept demonstration; technology acceleration; and engineering services.
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Orbital Sciences
, formed in 1982, is manifested to conduct resupply missions to the International Space Station (ISS) using its new Antares launch vehicle from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility at Wallops Island, Virginia. The company is teamed with NASA to offer commercial orbital
transportation and resupply services. Orbital is offering the Cygnus advanced maneuvering spacecraft and a module to deliver pressurized cargo to the International Space Station. Under NASA contract, Orbital will conduct eight cargo missions beginning in 2013 to complement Russian, European, and Japanese ISS cargo vehicles.
Boeing’s CST-100 crew-carrying commercial capsule
Orbital Sciences’ Cygnus cargo craft approaching the International Space Station
• Sierra Nevada
is advancing the development of a commercial crew space transportation system. The Dream Chaser is based on NASA’s HL-20 lifting body design and would be launched on the Atlas V launch vehicle into Earth orbit. The Dream Chaser’s lifting body shape offers increased cross range and lower g-forces on entry than a capsule design, providing more landing opportunities and a more benign entry environment for crew and science experiment return.
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XCOR Aerospace
rocketeers build reusable rocket-powered vehicles, propulsion systems, advanced nonflammable composites, and rocket piston pumps. XCOR is building the Lynx, a piloted, two-seat, fully reusable liquid rocket–powered suborbital vehicle that takes off and lands horizontally. The Lynx family of vehicles is geared toward research and scientific missions, private spaceflight, and microsatellite launch. An objective of the group is to fly Lynx commercial vehicles to 100-plus kilometers in altitude up to four times per day.
When you look at the global space economy, a striking dollar number stems from a yearly read of the Space Foundation’s appraisal of the situation. The nonprofit Space Foundation of Colorado Springs, Colorado, is a leading advocate group for all sectors of the space industry and hosts the annual National Space Symposium—a heady gathering of professionals from all sectors of space, which I regularly attend.
In its
Space Report 2012: The Authoritative Guide to Global Space Activity
, the Space Foundation flags the growth in the around-the-world space economy to nearly $290 billion in 2011. That tally reflects a surprisingly robust single-year expansion of 12.2 percent and five-year growth of 41 percent in a global economy that has been suppressed in many other sectors. That grand total comprises worldwide commercial revenues and government budgets, compiled from original research and a wide variety of public and private sources and analyzed by Space Foundation researchers. The 12.2 percent increase is calculated on a 2010 total of $258.21 billion.
Suborbital Lynx vehicle design by XCOR Aerospace
According to
The Space Report 2012
, overall governmental space spending grew by 6 percent globally, although changes varied significantly from country to country. India, Russia, and Brazil each increased government space spending by more than 20 percent. Other nations—including the United States and Japan—saw very little change from previous years.
On issuing the report during the 28th National Space Symposium, Space Foundation Chief Executive Officer Elliot Pulham explained that space is good business, “with vast social and economic benefit.” But he went on to add: “Sadly, these data reflect a continuation of the trend that sees the U.S. losing ground
compared to other spacefaring nations, including both established and emerging space powers.”
Here are a few facts and analyses from
The Space Report 2012
worth paying attention to, much of the information good news, but some of it troubling:
• In 2011 there were 84 launches, 14 percent more than the previous year; Russia led with 31, China had 19, and the United States had 18, marking the first time that Chinese launches exceeded those of the United States. The United States led in launch vehicle diversity, with eight types of orbital rockets launched throughout the year.
• At the end of 2011 there were an estimated 994 active satellites in orbit around Earth.
• The U.S. space workforce declined for the fourth year in a row, dropping 3 percent from 259,996 in 2009 to 252,315 in 2010 (the most recent year for which data is available); this was the second lowest employment level recorded during the previous ten years.
• Average annual space industry salaries were 15 percent more than the average salary for the ten science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers that employ the largest number of people in the United States; in 2010 the average space industry salary was $96,706, more than double the average U.S. private-sector salary; the states with the highest salaries were Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, California, and Virginia.
• More than 70 percent of the NASA workforce is between 40 and 60 years old, with less than 12 percent under age
35, compared to the overall U.S. workforce, where less than 45 percent is between 40 and 60.
• Thirty-four percent of U.S. fourth graders and 30 percent of eighth graders performed at or above the proficient level in science in 2009; 40 percent of fourth graders and 35 percent of eighth graders scored at proficient or higher levels in math in 2011, an improvement over past years.
Quite a few trends were reported in
The Space Report 2012
, developments likely to affect space activity for years to come. They include changes in the trajectory of human spaceflight; national budget austerity that leads to programmatic uncertainty; increasingly prevalent and diverse partnership models; and the maturing relationship between government and commercial space.
This last trend couldn’t be more epitomized than by a milestone reached last year. For the first time, an American private spacecraft was launched and then was docked at the International Space Station. That historic berthing of the automated SpaceX Dragon supply ship was followed by a successful splashdown of the capsule in the Pacific Ocean. It was a powerful message about innovation and private commerce in space and exemplified the clout of NASA-funded U.S. competition to help plug up the country’s loss of capacity now missing in action with the retirement of the space shuttle.
The occasion did not go unnoticed by the White House, and they requested my comments. I was glad to oblige, writing:
This week’s successful launch and delivery of logistics supplies to the International Space Station by a U.S. commercial space company, reminds us that where the entrepreneurial interests of the private sector are aligned with NASA’s mission to explore, America wins. Falcon 9’s maiden flight to ISS—and the other commercial space launches that lie ahead—represent the dawn of a new era in space exploration. Nearly 43 years after we first walked on the moon, we have taken another step in demonstrating continued American leadership in space.
Joining me with additional thoughts were leaders in the space community, such as my longtime friend Norm Augustine, retired chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin. “Successes in commercial space transportation are not only important in their own right,” wrote Augustine, “they also free NASA to do that which it does best … namely, push the very frontiers of space and knowledge.”
Likewise, Bill Nye, CEO of the Planetary Society, drew attention to the event, calling it a huge step and a milestone that enables cheaper, more reliable access to space. “Investments like this, where the private sector and government work together on technical challenges, strengthens our economy by making advanced technology and innovation part of our culture,” Nye said. “With the success of commercial partnerships like this, NASA will have the resources to reach farther and deeper into the cosmos so that we may all further know and appreciate our place in space.”
