SpaceX Falcon 9

Автор ATN, 08.09.2005 20:24:10

« назад - далее »

0 Пользователи и 1 гость просматривают эту тему.

instml

NASA Taps ULA, SpaceX for Earth Science Launches
ЦитироватьWASHINGTON — NASA tapped United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) to launch a total of four Earth Science missions between 2014 and 2016, the agency said in a pair of press releases issued late July 16.

United Launch Alliance of Littleton, Colo., got a $412 million contract to launch three of the missions aboard Delta 2 rockets from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. ULA will launch NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive spacecraft in October 2014, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 in July 2014, and the Joint Polar Satellite System-1 in November 2016. NASA in March said that ULA was likely to get a contract for these missions.

Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX, meanwhile, will get $82 million to launch Jason-3, which a French-U.S. satellite that will measure the height of global sea surfaces. The mission will ride to space aboard a Falcon 9 in December 2014 from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 4, NASA said. The missions stands to be SpaceX's first launch of a NASA science satellite. SpaceX also bid on the trio of Earth Science launches that went to ULA

ULA's Delta 2 was once the go-to medium-lift vehicle for NASA and the Air Force. The Air Force, which footed the bill for most of the rocket's support costs, stopped using Delta 2 in 2009. NASA subsequently said it could not absorb those costs and also decided to stop using Delta 2, which is no longer in production.

ULA has parts for five Delta 2 rockets left in its inventory. The rocket last flew in October, when it launched NASA's Suomi NPP weather and climate satellite from Vandenberg.

NASA Earth Science officials have said that they are willing to pay a premium price for launch reliability to avoid losing any more payloads. Back-to-back failures of Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Taurus XL rocket in 2009 and 2011 doomed two Earth science satellites at a cost of about $1 billion to the agency, NASA Earth Science Director Michael Freilich said July 10.
http://www.spacenews.com/launch/120716-nasa-taps-ula-spacex-for-earth-science-launches.html
Go MSL!

Salo

http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/120802-iridium-next-satellites-launch-dnepr-rocket.html
ЦитироватьThu, 2 August, 2012
First Iridium Next Satellites To Launch on Dnepr Rocket[/size]
By Peter B. de Selding

    IBIZA, Spain — Mobile satellite services operator Iridium Communications on Aug. 2 said it has rearranged the launch profile for its 72-satellite Iridium Next constellation to give its primary launch services provider, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), more time to prepare for the initial mission.

    In an Aug. 2 conference call with investors and an Aug. 1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Iridium said the new scenario reduces the total Iridium Next launch cost by a net $15 million and should have no effect on the in-service date of the second-generation system.

    McLean, Va.-based Iridium in mid-2010 signed a $492 million contract with SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., to launch the operational Iridium Next satellites nine at a time aboard eight Falcon 9 rockets between early 2015 and 2017.

    The restructured contract, which SpaceX and Iridium concluded Aug. 1, calls for seven Falcon 9 rockets, each carrying 10 Iridium Next satellites, to be launched beginning in mid-2015 and ending about 24 months later.

    Iridium said it is saving $39 million by ordering seven rockets instead of eight. Iridium Chief Executive Matt Desch said during the conference call that the new calendar also gives SpaceX, whose Falcon 9 rocket is still in its infancy in terms of launch record, more time to digest its already large manifest of customers.

    Launching the first Iridium Next satellites several months later than planned "gives SpaceX a little more time to get through the two dozen or so launches that are on their manifest before Iridium Next," Desch said.

    To offset the delayed first flight, Iridium has contracted with ISC Kosmotras of Moscow to launch two Iridium Next satellites aboard a Dnepr converted ballistic missile in early 2015.

    Desch said having two spacecraft, which feature a new design, in orbit for several months will give Iridium time to perform a thorough in-orbit test regime and make any changes needed for the remaining 70 satellites.

    Iridium Chief Financial Officer Thomas J. Fitzpatrick said during the conference call that Iridium is saving a net $15 million with the new launch program, giving an implied price of $24 million for the Dnepr launch.[/size]
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

dee34rt

100% офисная ракета и грохочет как офисная ракета.

Salo

http://www.spacenews.com/satellite_telecom/120810-orbcomm-competition-ais.html
ЦитироватьFri, 10 August, 2012
Orbcomm Welcomes Competition in AIS Market[/size]

 The launch of the second-generation constellation, which in addition to AIS will provide Orbcomm customers with higher data throughput, has been delayed for multiple reasons during the last two years and is now dependent on the launch schedule of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif. SpaceX is launching the satellites under a $46.6 million contract.

    Sierra Nevada on Aug. 9 said a prototype second-generation Orbcomm satellite has successfully completed testing and is ready for launch on the next SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that will also be carrying SpaceX's Dragon cargo canister to the international space station under a NASA contract.

    Eisenberg said that launch is scheduled for October. The 17 other satellites will be carried into low Earth orbit aboard two or three Falcon 9 vehicles expected to launch in 2013 and 2014, he said.
...

    "We're going to be adding eight or nine satellites next year, and that's when [the AIS business] becomes significant," Eisenberg said.[/size]
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

Salo

http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/asd_08_17_2012_p03-02-486227.xml
ЦитироватьUSAF Eyes SpaceX For Future GPS Launches[/size]
By Samantha Lambert
Source: Aerospace Daily & Defense Report



August 17, 2012

The U.S. Air Force is considering Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) Falcon rocket for future Global Positioning System (GPS) launches, according to Maj. Gen. Martin Whelan, director of requirements for Air Force Space Command.

During a presentation to the Space-based Positioning Navigation & Timing (PNT) national advisory board meeting in Arlington, Va., Aug. 14, Whelan also was asked by board members whether the service would consider triple launches of GPS satellites.

"Our friendly competitors are all doing triple launch," said PNT board vice chair Bradford Parkinson. "Granted, our satellites are more complex, [but] nevertheless the economics are persuasive. Pressure on launch pads are persuasive. It would just cost a heck of a lot less."

Board chairman James Schlesinger noted that the Chinese now have three satellites that are simultaneously launched on a single launch vehicle.

Whelan replied that dual launch is being explored for the fifth and sixth satellites in the next-generation GPS III constellation.

"We are trying to give ourselves options, whether it is single launch, dual launch ... or multiple launch," Whelan said. The service also hopes that SpaceX will be able to provide multiple-launch capability in the future.

Whelan reminded the board that the Air Force is facing budget cuts over the next several years, which could be compounded by additional reductions under so-called budget sequestration.

Whelan added that some Capitol Hill lawmakers are pressuring the service to maintain competitive opportunities within the launch industry, which can make the multiple-launch strategy less attractive.

"We are not in the business of putting people out of business, that is certainly not our intent," Whelan said.[/size]
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

Salo

http://www.spacenews.com/commentaries/120831-fromwires-musk-holding-co.html
ЦитироватьFri, 31 August, 2012 | Submitted by: Bloomberg | in commentaries

Musk Considers Holding Company for SpaceX, Tesla Stock [Bloomberg][/size]

    Elon Musk, founder of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), said Aug. 30 he is "starting to consider whether it would make sense to create a parent corporation that would own the stock" of SpaceX and Tesla Motors Inc., the electric car company he co-founded, Bloomberg reports.

    "Not sure if that is feasible or sensible, but am thinking about it," Musk said in a Web chat on jalopnik.com.

    "Gets unwieldy to have lots of companies with me as the only connection," he said in an email. But "no actual plans" for such a holding company are under way, he said.

    Musk has said an initial public offering of Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX may happen next year.[/size]
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

Valerij

ЦитироватьLaunch site for SpaceX draws mixed reviews[/size]
 September 02, 2012 1:57 AM

By LAURA B. MARTINEZ/The Brownsville Herald

Bill Wilting's face lights up when he thinks about the possibility of watching rocket launches from virtually his front door.

He talks about all the opportunities the area would have if Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, decides to build a launch site near Boca Chica Beach, just a few miles from where he lives.

"I'm excited about it. Rocket ships — are you kidding me? I'm crazy about it. I think it's the greatest thing," he says.

Wilting is one of several residents of Boca Chica Village, once known as Kopernick Shores and home to a founding Polish community, who could have a front-row seat to possibly 12 rocket launches a year if SpaceX builds a launch facility here.

The Cameron County site reportedly is one of three finalists; the others are in Florida and Puerto Rico.

GROUND ZERO

Earlier this summer, representatives from SpaceX were at Wilting's property, running tests on the groundwater, among other things, but they remained mum about why they were doing it, he said.

Wilting even has been asked how much he wants for his 4

Уилбер Райт: "Признаюсь, в 1901-м я сказал своему брату Орвиллу, что человек не будет летать лет пятьдесят. А два года спустя мы сами взлетели".


Valerij

ЦитироватьDeep Impact: SpaceX has economic promise, environmental concerns[/size]
September 02, 2012 1:28 AM

By JACQUELINE ARMENDARIZ/ The Brownsville Herald

EDITOR'S NOTE: In this eight-day series beginning today and ending Sunday, Sept. 9, Valley Morning Star and The Brownsville Herald examine how a rocket launch site proposed by Space Explorations Technologies Corp. could carry Brownsville, Harlingen, South Padre Island and Cameron County as a whole, into a new frontier. Our focus is on the potential impact to the local economy, education and the environment.

For an area like Cameron County, supported by unique ecological assets yet historically plagued by economic and cultural obstacles, the possibility of space exploration as an industry poses a bittersweet dilemma: disrupt paradise, or feed the populace?

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX — a Hawthorne, Calif.-based space transport company that earlier this year became the first commercial enterprise to complete a supply mission to the International Space Station — has announced its interest in building a rocket launch site on Boca Chica Beach. Remote yet not inaccessible, the beach is home to the piping plover, the Kemp's ridley sea turtle and other unique fauna and flora that have drawn the attention of ecologists committed to maintenance and protection. This, for many, is paradise.

The isolated beach area has little commercial or residential development, but surrounding cities like South Padre Island, Brownsville and Harlingen all have taken a keen interest in every move SpaceX makes.

In the lower Cameron County area, 30 percent of families last year had an income below poverty level. If the company does build at Boca Chica, it would create hundreds of jobs with an annual salary of no less than $55,000. That is well above the county's average household income of $15,000 to $24,999, according to five-year estimates from the Census Bureau. And those jobs, along with actual construction of the site and the proposed $80 million capital investment, would bring widespread spinoff prosperity for the county.

So, the dilemma now for many is how to reconcile the need for economic opportunity with the need to protect our natural resources. About the reconciled destination, there is no doubt. It is the journey that presents the challenges.

In an attempt to explore both the economic and environmental concerns spurred by such development, the staffs of The Brownsville Herald and the Valley Morning Star have undertaken a cooperative project to examine the benefits and drawbacks in many of the individual communities that could feel an impact from SpaceX development. What resulted is this series, "Frontiers," an eight-day look at what could happen. In large part, there is much speculation, with both sides weighing in with what they want and need to happen.

Many questions remain unanswered, pending the federal government's release of its Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS. Many of the participants in SpaceX negotiations, including SpaceX representatives and local negotiators and officials, are restricted from commenting publicly until the statement is released.

Maneuvering the rollout of such a critical project may require a precision similar to the scientific calculations the company uses to launch its rockets. The area is largely Hispanic and historically underserved, making any economic boost crucial. School of Business Dean Mark Kroll, of the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College, cited a number of factors that could be significant for the area.

"I think it would also have a material impact upon the position of the community, vis-a-vis the rest of the country. It would give a cachet that it hasn't had before," he said. "Anytime you're shooting rockets into outer space, that's getting recognized. It's just one of those things that's hard to miss."

Kroll said it is possible a launch site would mean an influx of new people moving to the area.

"We don't have that many aerospace engineers running around Brownsville," he said, noting that a concentration of well-paid residents would be an "economic multiplier."

He likened SpaceX to a smaller version of the Keppel AmFELS shipyard, which counts Brownsville as one of its sites and is a business with significant impact here.

"There's no question when they started opening casinos in Vegas it changed Vegas forever," he said. "When Boeing first started building military aircraft in Washington state, that changed that area forever."

What really remains to be seen, Kroll said, is the future of the commercial space business.

"I think we have to keep it in perspective," he said. "This may or may not be a growth industry."

Local officials are banking on the new industry raising the area's profile internationally.
Currently, the largest industries here are educational services, health care and social assistance, followed by retail, then arts, entertainment and recreation, presumably heavily linked to South Padre Island.

SpaceX is watching, local officials say. The company already has met with Brownsville school district and university officials to connect with science, technology, engineering and math educators here.

The company's CEO and chief designer is Elon Musk, the colorful entrepreneur who co-founded the Internet payment system called PayPal, created Tesla Motors (which builds electric cars) and Solar City (which builds solar panels), and who in 2002 made no secret of his intention to revolutionize space travel with his new company, Space Exploration Technologies. His ultimate goal: make life on other planets possible for humans.

"Our growing launch manifest has led us to look for additional sites," Musk said last November in a statement announcing the location search. "We're considering several states and territories. I envision this site functioning like a commercial Cape Canaveral."

At this point, Brownsville is in competition with Florida and Puerto Rico for the new vertical launch area and control center. The site being considered here is near Boca Chica Beach, just a few miles from the major tourism hub of South Padre Island and a neighboring federal wildlife reserve.

Nearby is Boca Chica Village, a small residential neighborhood that acts as an example of the infrastructure the proposed launch site currently lacks. Residents have their water trucked in, and the access road is narrow. Many of the homes are seasonal, or completely shuttered. Some of the residents are thrilled about the prospect of watching a rocket launch from the backyard; others say, there goes the neighborhood.

SpaceX already has launch facilities at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and Vandenberg Air Force Base in California as well as a rocket development facility in McGregor, Texas.

This summer, NASA said it is not involved in SpaceX's launch facility initiative and would not officially comment on the matter. However, a Houston-based spokesman from Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center explained there are several programs in which SpaceX is involved. NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program allows for payments to SpaceX for the building of spacecraft, which is different from the contracts awarded to them for supply missions to the International Space Station.

And in August, SpaceX also was granted a $440 million contract from NASA under the Commercial Crew Development program to further develop its hardware. The end goal of the program is to create shuttles that would carry astronauts to and from the space station using U.S. companies, instead of hardware from foreign countries.

The COTS program, which began in 2006, allows NASA to invest financial and technical resources in the private sector to help develop space transportation. SpaceX and another company will be paid incrementally as they reach certain milestones.

In May, SpaceX became the first commercial company in history to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station. And with more than $3 billion of revenue set through 2017, Musk's vision seems increasingly closer on the horizon. What remains to be seen is whether that horizon will be viewed by space tourists at Boca Chica Beach, or whether the panorama will remain the purview of the piping plover and its friends.
http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/environmental-144411-impact-concerns.html

Уилбер Райт: "Признаюсь, в 1901-м я сказал своему брату Орвиллу, что человек не будет летать лет пятьдесят. А два года спустя мы сами взлетели".


RustemNur

2 Valerij:
можно ли для тугих на ухо в английском хотя бы значимые места в этих портянках цветом выделять?
На форуме прошу обращаться ко мне на "ты". Спасибо.

Bell

Там значимое место только одно - Маск хочет построить третий старт, на берегу Мексиканского залива рядом с границей с Мексикой. Все остальное - пустое бла-бла на тему как к этому относятся местные жители захолустья.
Иногда мне кажется что мы черти, которые штурмуют небеса (с) фон Браун

Valerij

Цитировать2 Valerij:
можно ли для тугих на ухо в английском хотя бы значимые места в этих портянках цветом выделять?
Там самое интересное точное место, где предлагается построить старт, и нынешний уровень экономического развития. В деревеньке Boca Chica, например, сейчас нет водопровода. Место, в общем, весьма депрессивное, где уровень доходов большинства семей ниже черты бедности, в пределах от 15 000 до 29 999 долларов в год. Так что и здесь, хотя никто не собирается вкладываться в строительство города, космодром рассматривается как фактор экономического подъема, который создаст сотни рабочих мест с зарплатой о 55 000 долларов в год. Тем не менее, есть и недовольные, которые думают, что уедут, если космодром будет построен здесь. Кстати, есть и расчеты на развитие образования в округе.

Космодром первоначально рассчитан на проведение до 12 запусков в год, и будет располагаться в трех милях от мексиканской границы, недалеко от побережья Мексиканского залива, в пяти милях южнее Port Isabel и South Padre Island. Подъезд по шоссе номер 4.

На самом деле ничего принципиально нового я там не нашел, но главное в том, что жизнь идет и проект дышит.

З.Ы.
Пока писал, Bell ответил короче.

Уилбер Райт: "Признаюсь, в 1901-м я сказал своему брату Орвиллу, что человек не будет летать лет пятьдесят. А два года спустя мы сами взлетели".


RustemNur

Спасибо, парни!  :)
На форуме прошу обращаться ко мне на "ты". Спасибо.

Valerij

ЦитироватьElon Musk Says He May Form Holding Company for Tesla, SpaceX[/size]
By Alan Ohnsman - Aug 31, 2012 12:12 AM GMT+0400

Musk, 41, who is Palo Alto, California-based Tesla's chief executive officer and biggest investor, has said an initial public offering of his aerospace company, known as SpaceX, may happen next year.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-30/elon-musk-says-he-may-form-holding-company-for-tesla-spacex-1-.html

Здесь тоже, в принципе, ничего нового, Маск только подтверждает свои старые планы произвести IPO в 2013 году. Интересно это именно потому, что сейчас в Штатах явный экономический спад, и Маску сейчас вроде IPO не с руки. В 2013 другая его фирма, "Тесла Моторс" которая провела IPO в 2010 году, должна стать прибыльной с недавно выпущенным седаном "Модель S". Поэтому интересен комментарий на параллельном форуме:

ЦитироватьBobCarver,  Full Member, Online,  Posts: 36
Re: What's the optimal timing for a SpaceX IPO? [/size]
« Reply #175 on: Today at 01:51 AM »

ЦитироватьIf he's smart, he'll be looking for the public IPO to:

1. Make some of his best engineers wealthy. This might sound like something undesirable, but engineers who love to do rockets will have no monetary worries and will be able to do what they do best. They won't retire, that's boring. They want to do space. And, they'll have the perfect place to do it.

2. Incentivize the best and brightest young talent to join his winning team.

3. Fund the Mars and other advanced projects where extra investment can speed the process.
http://forum.nasaspaceflight.com/index.php?topic=21951.msg949546#msg949546

Перевод ПРОМТом без редактирования:

ЦитироватьЕсли он будет умен, то он будет искать общественный IPO:

1. Сделайте некоторых из его лучших инженеров богатыми. Это могло бы походить кое на что нежелательное, но инженеров, которые любят делать, ракеты не будут иметь никаких денежно-кредитных забот и будут в состоянии сделать то, что они прилагают все усилия. Они не будут удаляться, это является скучным. Они хотят сделать место. И, у них будет прекрасное место, чтобы сделать это.

2. Incentivize лучший и самый яркий молодой талант присоединиться к его побеждающей команде.

3. Финансируйте Марс и другие продвинутые проекты, где дополнительные инвестиции могут ускорить процесс.
Мне к этому добавить нечего.
.

Уилбер Райт: "Признаюсь, в 1901-м я сказал своему брату Орвиллу, что человек не будет летать лет пятьдесят. А два года спустя мы сами взлетели".


SFN

инвестиции и прочие плюсы строительства СК на "Береге Коперника"

contra
http://savebocachicabeach.blogspot.com/

Valerij

ЦитироватьSpaceX could be 'game changer' for students[/size]
September 04, 2012 10:15 PM
By GARY LONG/The Brownsville Herald

Цитировать

University of Texas at Brownsville student Louis Dartez makes a slight adjustment to an antenna at the Low-Frequency All-Sky Monitor radio observatory in Port Mansfield. At the University, Dartez and other students do the same type of radio astronomy to map distant stars that SpaceX engineers use to guide the company's rockets.
PHOTOS BY YVETTE VELA/The Brownsville Herald

Listen to Dr. Frederick Jenet talk about the physics and radio astronomy program at UTB-TSC and it's suddenly no surprise that a world-class company like SpaceX would be interested in Brownsville.

"We have students getting up at 3 a.m. to control the world's largest radio telescope in Puerto Rico. They understand the pressure of a deadline in a real-world environment," Jenet said via Skype from a conference he was attending in Sydney, Australia.

"What they're doing is actual scientific research. What they're doing is advancing our knowledge of the universe, and they know how to work together as a team."

Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, is the Hawthorne, Calif.-based space transport com-pany that earlier this year became the first commercial enterprise to complete a resupply mission to the International Space Station. The company has $1.6 billion in supply contracts with NASA and launch agreements with operators of communication satellites worldwide.

The company has launch facilities in California and Florida and designs and builds all of its own hard-ware in McGregor, Texas, near Waco. Brownsville is one of three sites under consideration for a third launch facility, with the other two in Puerto Rico and Florida.

"I'm excited about the possibility for a future SpaceX launch site here," said Jenet, who earned his Ph.D. in physics from California Institute of Technology and now is an associate professor of physics and head of the Center for Advanced Radio Astronomy in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.

The idea of rockets being launched on missions into space over the Gulf of Mexico from a site near Boca Chica Beach is not far-fetched.

"It has the potential to be a game changer for Brownsville, but it has always been in the game plan — which is to develop a very good group of students doing hands-on research under a world-class faculty. ... This idea of developing student scientists, and that they would attract industry down here, has always been part of the plan.

"It's a fantastic opportunity," Jenet said. "I very much hope Brownsville will be their choice."


SPACE-FARING CIVILIZATION


If Brownsville does become home to a rocket launch facility, the area will have an opportunity to be part of the push to conquer mankind's next frontier — space — and inhabit planets beyond our own.

That is precisely the purpose for which entrepreneur Elon Musk founded SpaceX in 2002. A natural-ized U.S. citizen reportedly worth nearly $2 billion, Musk told a "60 Minutes" interviewer after the suc-cessful SpaceX mission to the ISS in May that humanity finds itself at the dawn of a new era, one in which it becomes a space-faring civilization.

Musk, 40, immigrated to the United States from South Africa, eventually cofounding the Internet pay-ment system PayPal. When eBay bought PayPal for $1.5 billion, Musk started looking for ways to invest his new fortune to achieve his top goal of making space exploration affordable. The result was SpaceX.

Shortly before the company grabbed headlines for docking a satellite with the ISS, it became public knowledge that SpaceX wanted to build a third launch facility and that Brownsville was one of the areas under consideration. Not long after, Musk said publicly that Brownsville was his top choice for the pro-posed facility, which would sit on 50 acres of flats just off Boca Chica Beach.

Should Brownsville prevail in its quest to land the launch facility, the educational community here would gain a committed partner in making education in the so-called STEM fields — science, technology, engineering and math — more attractive to students. That has been the school district's experience in McGregor.

Here, SpaceX already has begun reaching out to the Brownsville Independent School District, as well as to faculty, staff and students at UTB-TSC.

At a May 15 public hearing on SpaceX, five of Jenet's top students, members of the first class of Are-cibo Remote Command Center Scholars, spoke in favor of the project. Then they took the SpaceX offi-cials from the meeting, down the hall to their lab at UTB-TSC's International Technology, Education and Commerce Center on Mexico Boulevard.

Louis Dartez, one of the students, said it quickly became apparent to SpaceX officials that the ARCC Scholars were doing precisely the type of radio astronomy to map distant stars that SpaceX engineers use to guide the company's rockets.

The similarity of focus was evident, right down to the fact that the students' Center for Advanced Ra-dio Astronomy Multi-purpose Astronomy lab was working with the same computer chips that SpaceX uses on its rockets.

"They've taken very proactive steps," Jenet said of SpaceX. "They've approached me as director of the CARAMA lab to put forth ideas of how we could collaborate. My understanding is that they are very keen to work together with the university. I think it's safe to say that our students made a good impression on them."

The company has said that about half of the 600 jobs it would bring to Brownsville would pay in the $50,000 range. Dartez was understandably thrilled to find out he might qualify for one of them. He said having a company like SpaceX right in his backyard would make finding employment after graduation much more realistic.

Otherwise, he would be looking out of town for prospects, joining the "brain drain" of Brownsville stu-dents who get their education here but then can't find work in their field and end up leaving the area.

Dartez graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in physics.

"They asked for our r

Уилбер Райт: "Признаюсь, в 1901-м я сказал своему брату Орвиллу, что человек не будет летать лет пятьдесят. А два года спустя мы сами взлетели".


SpaceR

Насколько я помню, правилами форума предполагались даже некоторые наказательные процедуры за постинг многометровых иноязычных "кирпичей" без какого-либо перевода и пояснения.

Valerij

ЦитироватьНасколько я помню, правилами форума предполагались даже некоторые наказательные процедуры за постинг многометровых иноязычных "кирпичей" без какого-либо перевода и пояснения.
Немного выше вашего комментария вы как раз и видите требуемые вами пояснения. Они даже были размещены одновременно со статьей.

Вот еще четыре статьи из The Brownsville Herald:

1) FAA takes environmental look at SpaceX plan[/size]
Цитировать
Цитировать

A great blue heron feasts on a fish on Boca Chica Beach near the proposed SpaceX rocket launch site at the eastern end of Highway 4 in Cameron County. The Federal Aviation Administration is leading an environmental impact study for the permit process.
Brad Doherty/The Brownsville Herald
Ryan Henry/THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
SpaceX may be setting its sights on humankind's final frontier — the cosmos — but the proposal to build a rocket launch site in Cameron County is raising questions among environmentalists about the fate of our original frontier — the Earth.

For a proposal that presents the hope of economic progress for the region, conservationists likely could generate the biggest source of opposition, perhaps even its demise.

Or, they could play a decisive role in influencing and refining the proposal so that it addresses environmental concerns and alle-viates the potential impact to nearby wildlife refuges, bays, tidal flats, beaches and ocean ecologies.

As Space Exploration Technologies Corp. casts its eye to Boca Chica Beach as a possible location to build a launch site for its rockets, area officials are citing the overwhelming economic potential of such a partnership. However, the project is far from a certainty and, for now, some of the biggest questions remain unanswered.

Officials with the company are unable to elaborate at this time, but SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Brost Grantham does offer re-assurances that the company is acutely aware of the environment and the need to protect habitat.

"SpaceX is very experienced in ensuring that our sites have a minimal environmental impact," she said.

While the Federal Aviation Administration prepares an environmental impact statement on SpaceX's Boca Chica proposal, the company may not speak to the media or the public at large about the project. The FAA — which can grant or refuse SpaceX its license for a Cameron County launch site — solicited comments from various state and federal environmental agencies, nonprofits, citizens and others during a scoping period that ended May 30. Those comments now are guiding a study to examine any potential environmental impact posed by a SpaceX launch site at Boca Chica Beach.

Based on the study's findings, the FAA could clear SpaceX to continue with its licensing application, or the agency could refuse to grant the license, according to the Federal Register, which provided notice of the scoping period.

"The successful completion of the environmental review process does not guarantee that the FAA would issue launch licenses and or experimental permits to SpaceX. The project must also meet all FAA safety, risk and indemnification requirements," the register states.

FAA officials will not answer questions concerning ongoing environmental impact studies — nor do they reveal who submitted comments or even how many comments were received.

"The study is being conducted as we speak right now, so I really can't talk about it in terms of what the FAA will do in the study because we don't want to skew any of the results," said Hank Price, an FAA spokesman.

The agency will release information about public comments and the findings of the environmental impact study in December, Price said.

However, county and municipal officials already have progressed from the dreaming phase to cautious optimism and planning.

"This area is embracing the thought of having SpaceX come to Cameron County," said Sofia Benavides, a Cameron County com-missioner whose precinct includes the Boca Chica area.

More than 500 people attended the FAA's public scoping meeting in Brownsville, with 74 people speaking in favor of the project. Among the others who commented, one was opposed and another was neutral.

Many local conservationists support the spirit of the SpaceX project, if not the proposed location. Several say they are withhold-ing opinion until they learn more.

"We're very interested in the issue," said Jim Chapman of the Frontera Audubon Society. "Basically, we're in favor of the project, but we would like it to be somewhere else in Texas — because putting a rocket launch facility in an area that is surrounded by a wildlife refuge and is almost immediately adjacent to a beach where endangered sea turtles nest doesn't seem like a wise idea."

Brost Grantham, the SpaceX spokeswoman, stresses the fact that the company's existing launch sites balance operations in areas with similarly delicate environmental profiles.

"Almost all launch sites (including SpaceX's launch sites at Vandenberg Air Force Base and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Sta-tion) are on environmental preserves or habitats," she said.

Still, local conservation groups other than Audubon are cautious, as well.

"The Sierra Club is withholding judgment on the project until its impacts are fully examined," writes Scott Nicol, conservation co-chairman for the Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club. "For the time being, we are working to ensure that thorough, accurate studies are undertaken so that the general public and the politicians that are supposed to represent us can make a well-informed decision."

The club has a range of concerns about what effects construction and operations could have on the local environment.

"At the heart of the Sierra Club's concerns is the location chosen for the launch site," Nicol wrote on behalf of the club in com-ments sent to the FAA.

He explains how the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge is home to more than 1,100 plant species and some 700 animals that include 484 bird species.

"Of the original habitat that once supported this enormous diversity, less than 5 percent currently remains, so every acre that is lost is important."
 .....
Статья полностью: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/spacex-144662-plan-setting.html

2) State records don't provide complete picture[/size]
Цитировать
Sihil, a captive ocelot that visits the Rio Grande Valley during the annual Ocelot Conservation Festival, climbs a tree in this file photo.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Статья полностью: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/articles/state-144668-records-spacex.html

3) Why launch near wildlife refuges?[/size]
Цитировать
Цитировать

A sign along Highway 4 leading to Boca Chica Beach marks an area belonging to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's refuge area near the proposed rocket launch site in Cameron County.
Brad Doherty/The Brownsville Herald
Ryan Henry/THE BROWNSVILLE HERALD
According to SpaceX, rocket launch sites require insulation from urban development, just as wildlife habitats do.

Building in the middle of a ref-uge protects the launch site from encroaching development, which would threaten future operations. For example, during launches SpaceX must guarantee that a 1.5-mile radius around the rocket has been cleared of all unauthorized people, for safety.

That radius translates to a little more than 7 square miles, or 4,522 acres — though perhaps about a quarter to a third of that zone appears to extend into the Gulf of Mexico, according to a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department map.

Had all that preserved habitat not existed, SpaceX well may have been forced to buy all the sur-rounding land just to enforce a "no-man's land" around the launch pad. However, it also might be highly unfeasible, if not impossible, for a private company to acquire enough land to create a proper buffer zone clear of populated areas without also being near protected habitat.

Part of the FAA's environmental impact study looks at compatible land use, such as the effect SpaceX operations would have on sur-rounding land. For the Boca Chica proposal, the nearby land includes wildlife refuge property, the South Bay Coastal Preserve, a state highway and public beaches. Of course, the more insulated a pro-posed launch site, the better.

More southerly sites are sought so that rockets can fire closer to the equator, providing additional speed as the earth rotates and creating a slingshot effect that saves fuel.

Also, the Boca Chica site would allow rockets to blast eastward over the unpopulated waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

Regardless, environmentalists are not questioning whether SpaceX's 50-acre lease would benefit from the insulation pro-vided by the refuge. What they want to know is whether the 10,680 acres of adjacent refuge property will be sufficiently isolated from SpaceX and its rockets, at least enough to preserve the integrity of the wildlife habitat.

Seen from SpaceX's perspective, the Boca Chica proposal actually allows the site to operate with a "small, eco-friendly footprint," according to a company document dated May 2.About 5 acres will be developed on the 50-acre tract, and the surrounding area will be "left untouched and, like Cape Canaveral, provides an excellent wildlife habitat," the company states.Furthermore, according to SpaceX, its Boca Chica site will be powered by solar panels and bat-teries. SpaceX founder Elon Musk also owns a solar panel installation company, Solar City, as well as electric car company Tesla Motors.

After the FAA releases its draft environmental impact statement for the proposed launch site, per-haps in December, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will better under-stand the next steps involving its refuge mission.

"We did send comments to the FAA during the scoping period," said Jennifer Owen-White, spokes-woman for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's South Texas Refuge Complex. "We're just waiting for this draft environmental statement to learn what action is being pro-posed (by the FAA)."
......
Статья полностью: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/launch-144665-spacex-rocket.html

4) What about sea turtles?[/size]
Цитировать

The gloved hands of a Sea Turtle Inc. worker hold a newly hatched Kemp's ridley sea turtle moments before it was released into the Gulf of Mexico this summer on South Padre Island.
Paul Chouy / Brownsville Herald
Статья полностью: http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/turtles-144666-sea-something.html

Все четыре статьи размещены вечером восьмого сентября, во всех четырех говорится об экологических аспектах размещения ракетного старта на "Берегу Коперника". Мне лично самыми интересными показались первая и третья статьи, поэтому они удостоились цитирования первых, вводных частей.

Таким образом "Проблема сусликов", как видите, стоит не только перед Байконуром.

Уилбер Райт: "Признаюсь, в 1901-м я сказал своему брату Орвиллу, что человек не будет летать лет пятьдесят. А два года спустя мы сами взлетели".


Lanista

А скажите, флакон-блок-2 будет? когда примерно?
(ответы принимаются от всех кроме В.)

Salo

Он теперь называется v1.1 и планируется первым пуском с Ванденберга в следующем году. Для блока 1 (v1.0) последним пуском будет январский CRS2.
"Были когда-то и мы рысаками!!!"

Lanista

Спасибо.