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posted by on Wednesday February 15 2017, @08:36AM   Printer-friendly
from the where-public-private-actually-works dept.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the White House is considering a proposal to send a manned mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope for a sixth time. The mission would use a Sierra Nevada Dream Chaser Space System miniature space shuttle and could act as an "insurance policy" in case of issues with the launch and deployment of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). The JWST will be located at the Earth-Sun L2 point, over 2,700 times further away from Earth than Hubble.

NASA's recent trend of partnering with private companies will continue under President Trump:

NASA will continue tapping the private sector to fund space exploration efforts under President Trump, marking a continuation in policy that first began under former president Barack Obama. "Public-private partnerships are the future of space exploration," Dava Newman, a former NASA deputy administrator who resigned before Trump took office, told CNBC on Tuesday. "I call it the new NASA."

In total, 22 companies—all American—have won contracts with the agency across a diverse range of sectors, from in-space manufacturing to engine development. Boeing and Elon Musk's SpaceX will be delivering NASA astronauts to international space stations, while Orbital ATK, Sierra Nevada and SpaceX will transport NASA cargo to space stations, said Newman, who is now chair of the Apollo Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The European Space Agency is partnering with NASA on a 2021 orbital mission around the Moon.


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Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser Spacecraft Could Spell Trouble for Northrop Grumman 9 comments

Soon, three companies will be able to perform resupply missions for the International Space Station, and that may be one too many:

How Sierra Nevada's "Dream Chaser" Could Become a Nightmare for Northrop Grumman

[Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC)] intends to perform its obligations under [Commercial Resupply Services (CRS-2)] using its new "Dream Chaser" spaceplane, a privately developed space shuttle (but only one-quarter the size of the Space Shuttle) that will launch into orbit atop a rocket, make its delivery, then land back on Earth under its own power like an airplane.

[...] Dream Chaser is designed to be reusable, with a service life of 15 missions. In this regard, the SNC is similar to SpaceX, which sends cargo to ISS aboard reusable Dragon space capsules launched into orbit by also-reusable Falcon rockets. Utilizing reusable spacecraft, both SNC and SpaceX should be able to save considerably on the cost of their missions, because they will not need to build new spacecraft for each supply run. In contrast, Northrop Grumman performs its ISS resupply missions using disposable Cygnus cargo capsules carried by expendable Antares rockets -- likely a more expensive proposition.

[...] Currently, plans are for SNC to purchase Atlas V rockets from United Launch Alliance for this purpose. But in 2016, SNC's then-VP of Space Systems John Olson let on that SNC was designing the spaceplane to be "agnostic" as to which launcher it uses to get into orbit. So in theory, at least, SNC could use a SpaceX Falcon rocket to carry Dream Chaser instead. Because SpaceX's Falcons are cheaper than the expendable rockets used by other space launch companies, this would probably result in a lower launch cost for SNC (and the cost could be even cheaper if SNC uses reusable Falcons).

Granted, this would necessitate giving money to a competitor. However, seeing as Sierra Nevada is going to have to buy its launch vehicles from somebody, it might as well buy them from the cheapest provider. And if it does so, this will almost certainly mean that not only SpaceX, but SNC, too, can bid below what Northrop Grumman must charge to perform CRS-2 supply missions for NASA -- giving SNC a leg up in future competitions to resupply ISS.

Related: United Nations to Launch a Space Mission
NASA to Continue Funding Private Spaceflight, Considers Sixth Hubble Upgrade Mission


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  • (Score: 2) by isostatic on Wednesday February 15 2017, @11:01AM

    by isostatic (365) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @11:01AM (#467323) Journal

    Hubble was a renowned astronomer. Webb ran Nasa. Why not name it after someone like Tombaugh (if it has to be an american)?

    • (Score: 3, Informative) by bob_super on Wednesday February 15 2017, @06:06PM

      by bob_super (1357) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @06:06PM (#467497)

      The US is going to launch a multi-billion-dollar gold-colored tool designed to look at things differently than us, with a cold heart and a weird protruding sun-shielding contraption. It's unserviceable and, unlike its predecessor, won't provide real-color views inspiring a whole generation. It also won't be losing focus early on about what's important.

      Do not argue against "James Webb", it could still be renamed to a lot worse.

  • (Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Wednesday February 15 2017, @03:35PM

    by linkdude64 (5482) on Wednesday February 15 2017, @03:35PM (#467412)

    Is the worm logo back...