Space Proponents Should Bring their Support for Settlement to D.C.

The National Space Society‘s 2012 International Space Development Conference will take place in Washington D.C. on May 24-28 and the Space Frontier Foundation enlists it’s members to bring the fight for space settlement to the nation’s capital. Join space industry leaders and help craft the future of the space industry by registering today at ISDC.NSS.org/2012.

ISDC has always been a key opportunity to further the commercialization and settlement of space. This year NewSpace champions Jeff Greason of XCOR Aerospace and Eric Anderson of Planetary Resources will be giving keynote speeches. Stephen Hawking was awarded the prestigious NSS Robert A. Heinlein Memorial Award for his continued support of space settlement and in partnership with NASA Ames, the NSS once again held a Space Settlement Design Contest for students. The stage is clearly set for a new push for NewSpace and space settlement, and as the conference take place near the seat of government, we urge all space policy makers to come out in support.

“The National Space Society has long been a partner of the Space Frontier Foundation in the path toward settling the stars,” says SFF Executive Director William Watson, ”and their annual International Space Development Conference reflects that partnership. Settlement technology, the commercial space industry and policy change have always been subjects that we at the Foundation have focused on and it’s good to see these subjects receiving continued support at National Space Society’s annual conference.”

 Don’t miss out on this opportunity to meet Mercury 7 astronauts John Glenn and Scott Carpenter, hear NASA’s plan directly from NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, meet the new NSS Executive Director Paul Damphousse and of course, meet up with many members of the SFF. Register at ISDC.NSS.org/2012/Register before May 20th as the price will increase onsite.

Friends of the Space Frontier Foundation Get a $125 Discount on Registration

The Seasteading Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works to enable seasteading communities – floating cities in international waters – which will allow the next generation of pioneers to peacefully test new political and social systems. Their efforts could lead to advances applicable to future space communities and the Space Frontier Foundation recommends you check it out! Friends of the SFF can get an extra $125 off their registration by entering the promotional code: SFF2012. Register today at www.seasteading.org/conference2012.

The first seasteaders will likely be entrepreneurs operating single-purpose businesses on ships just outside territorial waters, where they will be free to explore new opportunities outside the jurisdiction of coastal governments. Accordingly, the Institute’s primary objective over the next few years is to support the formation of seasteading businesses that can eventually scale up into thriving autonomous ocean communities. The most successful can then inspire change in governments around the world.

“Our flagship project for 2012 is hosting a conference in San Francisco for entrepreneurs, investors, engineers, ocean law experts, maritime professionals and other forward-thinking individuals who want to learn about where they fit into the future of seasteading. The Seasteading Conference will surely be a landmark event for the development of oceanic cities across the globe,” says Partri Friedman, Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Seasteading Institute

Presentations will cover a variety of topics pertinent to the advancement of ocean-based businesses. For example, the Institute’s director of engineering, George Petrie, will present research on various ship and ocean platform configurations in terms of cost and comfort, as well as on promising locations for seasteads, and renewable energy possibilities. Myron Nordquist, the associate director of University of Virginia’s Center for Ocean Law and Policy, and John Briscoe, senior visiting scholar at University of California Berkeley’s Law of the Sea Institute, will discuss how ocean laws and policies may affect the first wave of seasteaders. Other topics include, but are not limited to, aquaculture, security, maritime management, investing, and technology.

Registration begins at $715, and includes breakfast, lunch, and refreshments for both days of conference programming, along with a closing cruise around the San Francisco Bay on Saturday evening, June 2nd. For more information, please visit at www.seasteading.org/conference2012.

The NewSpace 2012 Conference Has Grown by Leaps and Bounds Forcing a Move to the Hyatt Regency Hotel!

Silicon Valley, CA - The NewSpace 2012 Conference and events have moved from the NASA Ames Research Center to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Santa Clara, a short distance from NASA Ames. The conference organizers were working with the NASA Ames staff to find a larger venue onsite but due to increased interest in the conference, NewSpace 2012 has outgrown their facilities. We thank NASA Ames for their hospitality and effort, as well as their support as a sponsor. We look forward to continued collaboration with Ames employees at the conference and expect to see many in attendance! Register at a discounted rate today for your spot at the expanded and exciting NewSpace 2012 this July 26-28!

 

Commute is now 

just an elevator ride!

 

 Discover why you should come to NewSpace 2012 at newspace.spacefrontier.org. 

RSVP on Facebook today 

and follow the @NewSpaceCon on Twitter for updates.

Expo Showcases the Latest in Spacecraft, Satellite, Launch Vehicle

and Space-Related Technologies

May 2012 marks the launch of a new show dedicated to bringing together global decision makers, engineers, and the supply chain involved in spacecraft, satellite, launch vehicle and space-related technologies. The Space Frontier Foundation invites you to take part in the inaugural Spacecraft Technology Expo by registering for free today.

Held at Los Angeles Convention Center between May 8-10, Spacecraft Technology Expo is the first and only show of its kind and is free to attend when pre-registering online. Focused on the design, build and testing of spacecraft, the expo will feature over 100 companies promoting testing and design services, software services and components manufacturing through to complete spacecraft. Exhibitors include Boeing, United Launch Alliance, ATK, Siemens, Honeywell, Cobham Life Support and many more.

Aside from the booth offerings, Spacecraft Technology Expo boasts a Human Spaceflight Park - a dynamic area designed to promote companies and technologies involved in all areas of manned spaceflight. Visitors to the show can expect to see a SpaceX Dragon capsule, as well as a full-scale model of XCOR Aerospace’s LYNX, displayed in the US for the first time.

Accompanying the show will be the Spacecraft Technology Conference, a three-day, two-track conference aimed at evaluating the latest technologies and engineering innovations. The program will bring together leading industry experts and eminent speakers such as Dr. Howard Ross, chief technologist at NASA Glenn Research Center.

The Conference Theme New Products, New Profits, NewSpace Gets Down to the Business of Building Out the Frontier

Silicon Valley, CA - The NewSpace 2012 Conference agenda is now available at newspace.spacefrontier.org. The panels cover a wide range of topics pertinent to the current state of space industry from “Space Meets Cyberspace” and “Moving Forward with What We’ve Got” to “Opportunities in Military Space” and a roundtable with NASA’s leadership. Hosted by the Space Frontier Foundation, NewSpace 2012 is a prime opportunity for the next generation of space companies to lay out a roadmap with established space leaders. View the panels to see how NewSpace 2012 covers the near term issues as well as long term vision and register today to get involved. The conference will be held at NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley on July 26-28.

Dear Space Activist,

As you know, the President’s budget for NASA was released last month, meaning Congress is beginning the process of digesting and… well, whatever it is they do with it.

The budget proposes funding increases for two NASA programs of great importance to the grass roots, pro-space exploration, development, and settlement community: Commercial Crew, and Space Technology. The budget requests $827 million for Commercial Crew, and $699 million for Space Technology, and has already provoked some criticism from the usual suspects in Congress.

The good news is that the House of Representatives’ Committee on Appropriations allows any and all Congresspersons to submit “programmatic” funding requests to fully fund, increase, or cut the level of funding for any discretionary federal program.  Requests for specific projects are no longer allowed under the “earmark ban”.  But Members can ask the Committee to provide full funding for “commercial crew” and the “space technology” programs within NASA.

The deadline for such requests being turned in by Members of Congress is in just one week, at 5pm on March 20th.  So we are asking that you to contact your Member of Congress by the close of business on Monday, March 19th on behalf of full funding for Commercial Crew and Space Technology.

What you need to do:

1. If you do not already know, look up who your U.S. Representative is and find out their DC office phone number.  (To find out, go here and enter your zip code.)
2. Then, call your Representative’s D.C. office between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EDT.  Remember to be respectful as well as passionate when you talk to them.
3. Tell the person who answers the phone that you are a constituent and ask to speak with the staff member who handles “NASA Appropriations” (if they say that is two different people, ask for the “Appropriations” staffer).  Have your talking points ready (see the end of this alert for some suggestions).
4. When you have the appropriate staff person on the phone, tell them that you…
   • Are a constituent.
   • Would like your Congressman to request that the House Appropriations Committee fully fund NASA’s Commercial Crew and Space Technology Programs.
   • Want them to turn in a Programmatic Funding Request to the Commerce, Justice, Science Subcommittee of the Appropriations Committee on the Committee’s website (see below for specifics).
5. Listen to what they say in response.  See if they will commit to doing something (at least asking their boss to make this request before the deadline passes).  Thank them for listening, and (hopefully) for agreeing to do whatever they say they will do.  Hang up.
6. Then WRITE DOWN WHAT THEY SAID and email the name of the Congressman, the staffer’s name, what the staffer said, and any other comments you have to ACT4SPACE@GMAIL.COM so we can keep track of your accomplishments!

Information you will need:

• A “Dear Colleague” explaining the FY2013 program request process is at appropriations.house.gov
• The staffer will fill out an online form to make this request, including a signed letter from their boss that confirms the request (they are probably very familiar with this process).
• Request #1: Commercial Crew
  • Request Type: “Program”
  • Subcommittee/Agency/Account: “Commerce Justice Science, NASA, Exploration”
  • Program Title: “Commercial Spaceflight, Commercial Crew”
  • Description: “Develop new U.S. private sector ISS crew transport systems”
  • Funding: “Support the President’s FY2013 budget request”
  • [They will need to attach a signed letter from their boss endorsing this and any
    other requests they are making]
• Request #2: Space Technology
  • Request Type: “Program”
  • Subcommittee/Agency/Account: “Commerce Justice Science, NASA, Space Technology”
  • Program Title: “Space Technology”
  • Description: “R&D in new innovative space technologies to open the space frontier to human exploration, development & settlement”
  • Funding: “Support the President’s FY2013 budget request”
  • [They will need to attach a signed letter from their boss endorsing this and any other requests they are making]

Thank you very much for contacting your representative in support of fully funding these critical and innovative NASA program!!!

Suggested Talking Points about Commercial Crew:

• The CJS bill spends more money in Russia to launch U.S. astronauts than on U.S. companies to develop safer, cheaper, American crew systems.  And Russia keeps raising their prices… up 175% in just six years.
• Commercial Crew will create high-tech, high-paying jobs for Americans, right now, at a time we need them.
• Commercial Crew is the quickest, cheapest way to reduce the Gap in U.S. human spaceflight and fully utilize our $100 Billion dollar Space Station
• Fully funding Commercial Crew will enable multiple systems to fly…
• demonstrating US leadership in space,
• creating competition which drives innovation and lowers costs, and
• provides better safety and less risk with independent backups
• Without fully funding Commercial Crew, billions of dollars and thousands of jobs will go to Russia, instead of staying home in America.

Suggested Talking Points about Space Technology:

• NASA is laboring with space technology developed in the 1970s.
• To lower the cost and extend the duration and distance of human spaceflight, NASA needs technologies that will revolutionize how we explore space.
• New technologies like propellant depots and high-efficiency propulsion will dramatically lower the cost of sending astronauts further into the solar system.
• Developing new space technologies will also enable new space-based industries, creating even more jobs and economic return from our space program.
• America needs newer, smarter ways to “do space”, instead of just spending more money to stay ahead of other countries.

Apply Now for Summer 2012 STEM Workshops

The Space Frontier Foundation’s Teachers in Space program and NASA are teaming up this summer for a second round of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workshops that focus on Suborbital Astronautics, Space Medicine and Human Factors, and Suborbital Flight Experiments. The goal of the workshops is to give teachers the curriculum and experiences necessary to boost STEM instruction, including the opportunity to fly an experiment on a Masten Space suborbital vehicle. The workshop instructors will include a former Space Shuttle Commander as well as leading scientists from NASA, FAA, NewSpace and leading aerospace universities. Secondary teachers currently teaching STEM subjects should apply at tis.spacefrontier.org/workshops by April 5, 2012.

The Suborbital Astronautics Workshops will offer teachers the opportunity to learn about aeronautics/astronautics and spaceflight while experiencing some of the training concepts that future space pilots will receive. Expert instructors will include former Shuttle Commander/Pilot and XCOR Aerospace Chief Test Pilot Col. Rick Searfoss (USAF-ret), wind tunnel expert Dr. Kurt Long of NASA Ames, and Teachers in Space Pathfinders Maureen Adams and Lt. Col. Steve Heck (USAF-ret). Participants will fly in a glider and Embry-Riddle flight simulators. They will also learn about the Lynx suborbital spacecraft now under development by XCOR Aerospace. These workshops will be held at at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL on July 9-13 and at the NASA Dryden AERO Institute in Palmdale, CA on July 30-Aug 3.

The Space Medicine and Human Factors Workshop will cover high-altitude physiology and respiration, decompression and vacuum exposure, space weather and radiation, and the effects of weightlessness, G-forces, noise, and vibration. Participants will experience the effects of high altitude in a normobaric chamber. The workshop will be held at the FAA Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) in Oklahoma City on June 25-29 and at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, FL on July 16-20.

At the Suborbital Flight Experiment Workshop teachers will gain hands-on experience with space hardware by building experiments to fly aboard a Masten Space unmanned suborbital vehicle as part of the Excelsior STEM mission. The workshop will be held at the NASA Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, CA on July 23-27 in conjunction with theNewSpace Conference.

The workshops are open to secondary teachers currently teaching science, technology, engineering or math. The workshops are free and stipends are available to assist teachers in travel and housing expenses.

Go to tis.spacefrontier.org/workshops to apply. Seats are limited and the application process will close on April 5, 2012. For more information please contact Don McMahon at don.mcmahon@spacefrontier.org.

ABOUT TEACHERS IN SPACE

Teachers in Space began in 2004 as a non-profit project of the 501(c)3 Space Frontier Foundation. Our mission is to put space in the hands of STEM teachers via professional development workshops offered each summer. Our teachers and their students have flown experiments on ZeroG and to the International Space Station on the final mission of space shuttle Atlantis. With support from NASA and the NewSpace industry, we are giving teachers the tools and experiences needed to inspire their students, peers and communities.

Discover more at TIS.SpaceFrontier.org.

Nyack, NY - Today marks the 50th anniversary of John Glenn’s historic flight into earth orbit, aboard Friendship 7.  As the U.S. celebrates this anniversary, the Space Frontier Foundation also looks towards the future of human spaceflight, and sees a bright future.  Part of our optimism comes from the US heritage rockets and spacecraft that the Commercial Crew providers are using to build their spacecraft.

The most powerful example of that can be found in the Atlas rocket.  First conceived of as a weapon of war, one of its most important uses came 50 years ago, when John Glenn rode it into earth orbit.  Today’s Atlas V can trace a direct ancestry to the rocket that carried Friendship 7, and serves the US in a number of vital roles.  Late last November, it launched the Curiosity probe to Mars.  And now, working with NASA under an unfunded Space Act Agreement, United Launch Alliance is preparing the Atlas V to lift three different spacecraft to take US astronauts to the International Space Station.

It’s not just the Atlas V rocket that has heritage.  Boeing has been heavily involved in spaceflight since its earliest days, and is now building the CST-100 spacecraft.  Sierra Nevada Corp’s Dream Chaser is building on the lessons learned from NASA’s HL-20 program.  Even newer companies, like SpaceX and Blue Origin, draw on a history and heritage of U.S. entrepreneurialism that enabled the US to become dominant in so many industries.

On Monday, the Space Frontier Foundation was prepared to release a statement on the proposed NASA budget, declaring it a futile compromise to nowhere.  However, after seeing the various Congressional reactions to the proposed budget, the Foundation decided that these responses provided an opportunity for a teachable moment.  It started with Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who said…

“Despite repeated assurances from NASA and White House officials that the SLS and Orion are ‘key elements of our future strategy for human space exploration’, vehicle development for the heavy lift SLS rocket and the Orion capsule is cut by hundreds of millions of dollars”

After hearing her comment, the Foundation is left pondering what budget Senator Hutchison is reading.  The actual budget numbers include:

• A budget of $1.88 billion for the unaffordable Senate Launch System (including a $28.2 million budget increase)
• A budget of over $1 billion for Orion, which won’t fly people using SLS until 2021 (at best)
• Resulting in a total budget of nearly $3 billion for the combined Senate Launch System and MPCV and ground systems.

And none of this money gets the United States exploring.  Spending money on big rockets is not exploring!!  Multiple options have been promoted to begin exploration with existing rockets.  Even former administrator Mike Griffin said that a return to the moon could be achieved with four Delta IV Heavy rockets.  In short, America will be able to explore when SLS is canceled, not when it is completed.

Fortunately, Senator Hutchison isn’t the only voice on Capitol Hill.  Congressman Dana Rohrbacher was highly critical of “continued pursuit of the SLS Titanic”.  He then continued,

“If I had someone come to me and say they wanted to spend well over a hundred billion dollars when they knew the task could be done more quickly and less expensively, I’d say, ‘You’re fired,’”

The United States does NOT need big, unaffordable rockets, like SLS, to explore.  What it needs is innovative thinking, a willingness to try new ways of doing business, and realizing that humanity shouldn’t pursue space exploration merely because it’s exciting.  Human exploration of the cosmos serves a larger purpose – to expand humanity permanently beyond the surface of the earth.

“Projects like the Senate Launch System do not serve the American Taxpayer,” said Space Frontier Foundation Executive Director William Watson.  “And it is important to understand the reason it does not serve our purpose.  Space is not a program existing only to create a specific number of jobs in certain special districts.  Space is a place, for us to explore, to develop, and to settle.  SLS and programs like it do not serve the cause of exploration, development and settlement.  They only serve the cause of pork — resulting in wasted money and lost dreams.  The Space Frontier Foundation really wishes more elected officials were serving the cause of space settlement.”