Space

In this rapidly expanding information-technology-driven environment, the NTSB is adjusting its methods to take advantage of the details of incidents captured by the public on PDAs to enrich their investigations.
Space

Slowing the rapid rate of growth of the Commercial Crew program is not a “cut,” but President Obama’s low-ball budget requests for Orion and the Space Launch System are.
Space

By Jen DiMascio
Budget experts begin to worry about a potential government shutdown; the FAA disputes method of finding control tower inefficiencies; and NASA tells lawmakers it is tough on Space X.
Aviation Week & Space Technology

By Guy Norris
Boeing says it is on track to fly its CST-100 commercial crew vehicle in September and December 2017 for the first U.S.-launched human missions to the International Space Station since 2011.
Space

The launch, managed by Proton commercial service provider ILS, is the Russian heavy-lifter’s first flight since a mishap last May resulted in the loss of a communications satellite.
Space

By Mark Carreau
New Horizons probably will aim for a tiny object 1 billion mi. past Pluto in an extended mission.
Space

By Guy Norris
SpaceX says it remains at least “a couple of months” away from returning to flight following the Falcon 9 launch failure on a resupply mission to the International Space Station on June 28, partially because the company’s accident investigation has taken longer than expected.
Space

By Guy Norris
The country’s efforts to develop an indigenous sounding rocket and nanosat launch capability advance, as Nammo plans a suborbital test flight of a new hybrid rocket motor.
Aerospace

By Graham Warwick
As satellites and their antennas get bigger, they become harder to launch. Spacecraft-maker Space Systems/Loral thinks on-orbit self-assembly, reconfiguration and repair using an onboard robotic arm could make satellites more powerful and more flexible over their lifetimes.
Aerospace

By Graham Warwick
Prize challenge seeks drag-reducing ideas; precision location for NASA Langley UAS testing; carnivorous plant inspires morphing flap design; rocket-propelled fireballs will incinerate chem/bio agents; bend it, stretch it, wear it—Pentagon backs flexible electronics
Aerospace

We round up five of our most read stories in August, and your reaction to them.
Aerospace

Republican lawmakers have questioned whether SpaceX is receiving special treatment in NASA’s oversight of the two commercial launch providers, but NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says that is not the case.
Space

By Jen DiMascio
With a large area to cover, Canada plans to build 24 repeaters for the global Medium Earth Orbit Search-and-Rescue project.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Restocking, including crucial filters for environmental control systems, will keep the space station productive with six crewmembers
Space

Silicon Valley startup is investigating using additive manufacturing techniques to enable fabrication of large structures in space that would collapse under their own weight on Earth
Space

The Southwest Research Institute is working on a set of eight microsatellites designed to improve hurricane tracking by measuring GPS signals reflected off the ocean surface beneath the gathering storm.
Space

Robert Salvage
Human missions to Mars could prove difficult without artificial gravity. Why has the space community not moved forward on this basic principle?
Space

Can water at the Moon’s poles provide rocket fuel for human exploration deeper into the Solar System?
Space

By Mark Carreau
Agreement calls for experimental facility and sample carriers to begin traveling to the International Space Station in early 2017.
Space

By Mark Carreau
Researchers from eight U.S. universities will pursue early stage advances in support of NASA space program technology needs that range from high temperature tolerant solar cells and enhanced thermal protection systems to food production.
Space

By Guy Norris
Why German hypersonic researchers believe tapping into a tiny fraction of the global long-haul air passenger market could be a boost to low-cost access to space.
Aerospace

By Jay Menon
Launch deals follow agreement to jointly develop a dual-frequency synthetic aperture radar satellite.
Space

By Graham Warwick
Electric propulsion for satellites is efficient, but low-thrust. An infrastructure of power-generation satellites in orbit would help speed the time it takes to change orbits
Aerospace

By Mark Carreau
ISS crewmembers have taken a first, small bite out of the problem of keeping astronauts fed on deep-space missions.
Space

The cost of ballistic missile interceptors, and the chance of failure, is high, but lasers pose their own efficiency and cost challenges.
Defense