The recent intense and frequent solar storms have passed and were now experiencing a welcome low level of solar activity (unless your into looking at Auroras that is). The Solar X rays have basically flat line as the storms that were causing some of the most intense CMEs since 2005 have passed to the back side of the sun and are not facing us any longer. If the sun spots are still active in about 28 days when the sun rotates them around to be in our field of view again we can expect some more excitement.

In reality it will …

Lofty goals such as manned moon base by 2020, but are they real?
Editorial – With the election campaign in full swing Newt Gingrich has recently been stumping Florida and has had some interesting things to say about his view on the exploration of space and the future. One interesting item he has stated as a goal is to have a permanently maned moon base by 2020, the end of his second term. That is a mere eight years from now. Is this even possible? At first glance one would say most likely it is not. The NASA SLS heavy lift …

NASA Moves former Shuttle Rocket Engines From Kennedy To Stennis
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — The relocation of the RS-25D SLS Rocket former space shuttle main engine inventory from Kennedy Space Center’s Engine Shop in Cape Canaveral, Fla., is underway. The RS-25D flight engines, repurposed for NASA’s Space Launch System, are being moved to NASA’s Stennis Space Center in south Mississippi.

The Space Launch System (SLS) is a new heavy-lift launch vehicle that will expand human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration across the solar system. The Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., is leading the design and development …

SLS rocket will be the largest rocket since the Apollo Saturn V.
NASA issued a report NASA’s Space Launch System and Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle persuent to Section 309 of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-267). We have listed some of the highlights and facts about the SLS and NASA directors statement from this report.

With the President’s signing of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 on October 11, 2010, NASA has a clear direction and is making plans for moving the Agency forward. Guidance from the Administrator has established three principles for development of any future systems for exploration. These …

 
SLS and former Constellation (Ares) programs are flawed in same fundamental way.
NASA recently announced development of a new heavy lift rocket. The pictures of this new rocket look very much like the Apollo era Saturn V. It appears NASA wants to suggest a Saturn V like heritage. With the recent cancellation of the Constellation program and the ARES V heavy lift rocket one wonders what will be different that will allow the SLS Rocket to succeed where the ARES did not. Both launch systems are heavy lift rockets intended to get us to the Moon and beyond. Both designed by …

 
Falcon Rocket only overshadowed by Saturn 5
WASHINGTON –  CEO and chief rocket designer of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) unveiled the dramatic final specifications and launch date for the Falcon Heavy, the world’s largest rocket.

“Falcon Heavy will carry more payload to orbit or escape velocity than any vehicle in history, apart from the Saturn V moon rocket, which was decommissioned after the Apollo program. This opens a new world of capability for both government and commercial space missions,” Musk told a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington, DC.
“Falcon Heavy will arrive at our Vandenberg, California, launch complex by …

NASA to Hold Industry Day to Discuss Advanced Booster

The new Space Launch System’s (SLS) advanced rocket looks suspiciously Saturn 5 like. Perhaps NASA is hoping it will rekindle some of the support it had in the Apollo era. NASA will host an industry day at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. to share information on an upcoming NASA Research Announcement for the . Marshall is leading the design and development of the SLS on behalf of the agency. The new heavy-lift launch vehicle will expand human presence beyond low-Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration across the …