New NASA Designs for a Reusable Manned Deep-Space Craft, Nautilus-X

Nautilus includes a centrifuge and inflatable parts

By Rebecca BoylePosted 02.14.2011 at 5:52 pm13 Comments

NAUTILUS-X NAUTILUS-X stands for Non-Atmospheric Universal Transport Intended for Lengthy United States eXploration. via HobbySpace

This tubular spacecraft could serve as a reusable vehicle for lunar and deep-space missions, holding a crew of six and enough supplies for a two-year expedition.

Dubbed Nautilus-X, for “Non-Atmospheric Universal Transport Intended for Lengthy United States eXploration,” this craft could be built in orbit and ready for space missions by 2020, according to a briefing by NASA’s Future In Space Operations group.

It would be assembled from expandable structures, such as the inflatable habitats proposed byBigelow Aerospace. It would also contain a ring centrifuge to provide partial gravity, and radiation-mitigation systems that could include tanks of water or liquid hydrogen slush, reports the website HobbySpace.com.

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Science, Rebecca Boyle, astronauts, bigelow aerospace, centrifuges, gravity, international space station, nasa, nautilus-x, space exploration, space stations, space travel

Nautilus is a multi-mission space exploration vehicle, so it could incorporate mission-specific propulsion units, according to Edward Henderson of NASA Johnson Space Center. Theoretically, you could swap out engines and fuel depending on where you wanted to go. Such an all-purpose system would be simpler than building heavy-lift rockets for specific missions to the moon or Mars.

Henderson described the system at a briefing on NASA’s Technology Applications Assessment Team, which is studying (relatively) inexpensive, quick-turnaround technologies for space exploration. Check out the PowerPoint slides here. HobbySpace has a nice roundup of the meeting, which also included a DARPA-funded geosynchronous satellite servicing project, in-situ water recovery on the Moon, a project that would demonstrate space-based solar power beams, a solar electric propulsion vehicle, and propellant depots floating in geosynchronous orbit.

Nautilus is by far the highlight, however, with pretty specific schematics and development estimates. Construction would take at least five years and require two or three rocket launches. It would cost about $3.7 billion.

The centrifuge, which could help keep crew members healthy during a long trip, includes inflatable structures and pieces that must be launched into orbit. It would be fairly simple to test on the International Space Station — it would launch to the station on board a rocket, and if it works out, it could become living quarters for the station’s crew.

ISS Centrifuge: An artist's impression of a centrifuge attached to the ISS.  Mark Holderman/NASA via HobbySpace

These are dreamy ideas, to be sure, especially in light of federal funding roadblocks. But the use of existing technologies like Bigelow’s modules, as well as the adaptability of a multi-purpose crew carrier, means a system like Nautilus could play a role in NASA’s future.

[HobbySpace]

Using 3-D Printing Tech, British Airbus Engineers Aim to Print Out an Entire Aircraft Wing http://bit.ly/ejmicg

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Boeing 787 No. 5

Number 5 Boeing 787 Dreamliner recently paid a visit to Continental Airlines in Houston after flight testing in Bolivia.

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Giant Scale R/C C-17

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After Retiring from Government Service, Space Shuttles May Be Sold For Flights In Private Sector

NASA contractor suggests private spaceflights starting in 2013

By Rebecca BoylePosted 02.07.2011 at 2:01 pm1 Comment

Endeavour Rolls Out Space Shuttle Endeavour rolls to the launch pad at dawn a year ago for STS-130, which delivered the Tranquility node to the International Space Station. NASA is considering keeping Endeavour flight-ready after its last flight this April. NASA

A NASA contractor wants to go all Brett Favre on America’s space shuttles, pulling them out of retirement past their prime to keep them going, even if it’s to play for the other side.

United Space Alliance, which manages the shuttle program for NASA, wants to spend $1.5 billion annually to fly two missions a year from 2013 to 2017, using Endeavour and Atlantis. It would bridge the gap between the end of the shuttle program and the start of privately run space taxis, and help prevent American reliance on Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

The shuttles couldn’t emerge from retirement until 2013, however, after the construction of a new external tank. The last tank ever made is dedicated for Atlantis, which will be ready to fly a rescue mission during Endeavour’s April mission. If it’s not needed, Atlantis will close out the shuttle program with its final mission in June.

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United Space Alliance broached the subject as part of NASA’s Commercial Crew Development Initiative, a program to encourage private shuttle replacements. NASA disbursed $50 million in stimulus funds to five companies as part of the initiative, and USA is the only one to suggest continuous shuttle use. NASA has $200 million for a second round of the initiative. Competitors include SpaceX and Orbital Sciences, which are already receiving NASA funds to develop cargo transportation systems.

Mark Nappi, head of USA’s Florida operations, told Florida Today it’s worth a shot to include the shuttle among other commerical options, because they have more than proven themselves: “It is safe. We have a lot of history, we understand how to operate it,” he said.

The company proposed a six-month study of the privatized-shuttle option, which is actually not a new concept — NASA has studied it going back at least a decade. Meanwhile, NASA is apparently looking at the costs of keeping Endeavour in flight-ready status at Kennedy Space Center after its final launch, MSNBC reported last week. Space shuttle Discovery has already been promised to the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

The $1.5 billion price tag is about the same cost as NASA’s cargo contract with SpaceX, which involves at least 12 trips to the International Space Station. It’s about half the cost ($3.1 billion) budgeted for the space shuttle program in 2010, according to USA Today.

The whole plan is a long shot, however. Nappi said he told his employees as much to avoid giving them false hope.

[Florida Today]

The Navy's X-47B Carrier-Capable Stealth UAV Makes its First Flight

By Clay DillowPosted 02.07.2011 at 11:12 am1 Comment

The X-47B in Flight Northrop Grumman

The future of carrier-based warfare quietly took to the skies over the weekend as the U.S. Navy successfully conducted the first-ever flight of its vaunted X-47B unmanned aircraft at Edwards AFB. The tailless, fighter-sized drone aircraft, designed by Northrop Grumman for carrier-based takeoffs and landings, spent half an hour in the air late Friday executing basic navigation maneuvers and otherwise proving that its design is airworthy and ready for further development.

The flight took off just after 2 p.m. local time and lasted just 29 minutes, reaching an altitude of only 5,000 feet. But for designers at Northrop Grumman and the Navy, it marks an important milestone for unmanned flight. The X-47B is the precursor to what the Navy hopes will be a fleet of unmanned, combat-capable aircraft that can launch from the deck of an aircraft carrier to carry out a range of missions.

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That, of course, is a big deal not just for the Navy but for the future of robotic aerial warfare, which thus far has been restricted to land-launched drones like the Predators and Reapers operating in Afghanistan and Iraq. The X-47B is different. Designed as a robotic strike aircraft, it is jet powered (Predators and Reapers are prop-powered) and will fly at much higher speeds than its surveillance-oriented counterparts. It is also designed for stealth, sporting a tailless design that cuts down on aerodynamic noise and a sleek, flying-wing design reminiscent of the F-117 Nighthawk.

It’s worth noting that the X-47B is different from the secret “Beast of Kandahar” stealth drone thatkeeps popping up in Afghanistan—they’re easy to confuse due to a likeness in appearance. Little is known about the RQ-170 Sentinel, but we do know that it has taken to the skies before. The X-47B is just now getting wind beneath its wings, with initial carrier trials slated for sometime in 2013.

[Northrop Grumman]