Slashdot Mirror

Heartbreak writes "In a recent press release, the Space Frontier Foundation warns that NASA's Oribital Space Plane program, its latest initiative to take the load off the aging STS (the 'Space Shuttle'), is essentially doomed before it starts. 'NASA's unbroken string of cancelled vehicle programs' going back 20 years makes it a good bet that OSP will also fail. Is this just really, really, bad luck, or is NASA little more than a multi-billion-dollar jobs program for important U.S. aerospace contractors?"

Baldrson writes: "Wired reports that the only scheduled rocket launch for the CATS Prize has failed. Since the CATS Prize has a deadline of November 8, the enormous hard work and enthusiasm that has gone into this competition will meet with a lot of disappointment. This is unfortunate, because in my original prize announcement, I specifically requested that many individuals put up small amounts of money for their own awards so that there would be no single point of failure. The bright side of all this is that others are now taking that meta-challenge seriously. See, for example the Stark Draper Open Source Rocketry Award."

Clark writes " SpaceViews reports that the startup company SkyCorp will fly an Apple Macintosh G4 computer in an experimental satellite next year. It will be deployed from the space shuttle. The server will be accessed as the sat passes in range via wireless networking protocols, including a variant of Apple's existing AirPort wireless networking technology. The project, announced at the recent Silicon Valley Space Enterprise Symposium, is mainly intended as a test for Skycorp's plans to assemble and deploy satellites at the Space Station."

Anonymous Coward writes "According to this article in Aerotech News and Review as well as information on the Space Frontier Foundation web site, a mission to reactivate Mir for commercial purposes is scheduled to launch April 3rd or 4th and dock with Mir on the 6th. The mission is being launched by Holland-based MirCorp in preparation for scientific experiment, space-tourism, and in-orbit advertising."

According to this story on Wired News, NASA honcho Dan Goldin is now actively encouraging private companies to become more active in space research and exploration. In a speech he gave yesterday at the 8th annual Space Frontier Foundation conference, he is quoted as saying, "A partnership between NASA and the Space Frontier Foundation -- which consists mostly of aerospace companies -- will be the only way to make the new millennium the space millennium." For decades, NASA has seemingly done more to hinder than to help private industry get into space. Maybe this represents a long-overdue about-face. I sure hope so.