Posts Tagged ‘Diana M. Alba’

Article courtesy of Las Cruces Sun-News

Courtesy of Sierra Nevada Corp.

By Diana M. Alba

LAS CRUCES – Spaceport America’s anchor tenant company, Virgin Galactic, announced recently it’s partnering with two other companies that have their sights set on orbital spaceflight.

The other companies, Nevada-based Sierra Nevada Corp. and the Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp., have submitted competing bids to NASA for a chance at flying U.S. astronauts to space after the shuttle program retires.

But don’t expect orbital flights to launch from Spaceport America any time soon.

For starters, Virgin Galactic’s proposed role seems limited at this point. The commercial spaceflight company has said it would market seats aboard orbital flights to its existing suborbital-flight customer base, as well as to the larger public, according to a company news release. Virgin Galactic may also have some involvement in vehicle testing for the companies’ development programs.

Also, potential launch locations for orbital vehicles are limited by infrastructure and regulation. That’s the case with Sierra Nevada Corp.’s proposal, said Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president and head of the company’s space systems division.

“It’s not possible for any of the companies’ orbital to fly out of New Mexico because of physics and logistics, so we all would be flying out of one of the coastal spaceports,” he said. “New Mexico doesn’t have a rocket port that can launch a vehicle of this size – we’re flying out of an Atlas V rocket.”

Continued Sirangelo: “And there still is a prohibition against doing this type of launch from an inland port.”

Both orbital companies would use expendable rockets to propel their spaceships upward. And the spaceships would return to Earth using conventional, runway landings.

That means Sierra Nevada Corp. could touch down its vehicle, called Dream Chaser, at Spaceport America, Sirangelo said.

“We could fly to Las Cruces as an entry point and land there, if we wanted to,” he said.

By comparison, Virgin Galactic launches its suborbital spaceship from a runway using a carrier plane, WhiteKnightTwo, and also lands on a runway.

Sirangelo acknowledged there’s nothing to restrict Dream Chaser’s landing to a spaceport. Because there will be no hazardous chemicals aboard, he said, “all we need is a normal, commercial runway to land, which is the same thing a 737 would use.”

Spaceport America executive director Rick Homans said the spaceport is communicating with Virgin Galactic “to understand better their relationship and role with these two proposals and also understanding the different technologies and companies they’re teaming with.” Spaceport America’s emphasis now, he said, is suborbital flights, though “we’re open to exploring ways to participate in this project.”

“All of this is relatively new, and I think everybody is sorting out the various relationships,” he said. “If there is a way to participate, we’d be eager to do so, but that requires some extensive discussions.”

Homans said that discussion would have to take place with the orbital spaceflight companies themselves.

Virgin Galactic, in a news release, said both companies’ vehicle designs could “revolutionize” orbital flight, the way its own vehicle, SpaceShipTwo, has “revolutionized suborbital spaceflight.”

Richard Branson, Virgin Galactic founder, said his company has focused on making suborbital space accessible to people.

“We know that many of those same people, including myself, would also love to take an orbital space trip in the future, so we are putting our weight behind new technologies that could deliver that safely,” while greatly reducing costs of manned, orbital flight, he said.

Other involvement

Sierra Nevada Corp. is the builder of the rocket motor Virgin Galactic is using in its suborbital system.

Virgin Galactic in a Dec. 16 announcement indicated the company may support Sierra Nevada Corp. and Orbital Sciences Corp. by using WhiteKnightTwo as a carrier plane during development.

“We would be doing our testing work, which means we’d take our vehicles up to a high altitude, drop it and learn how to fly it home, using the Virgin Galactic plane,” Sirangelo said. “And we’d likely being doing that work out of Spaceport America. It’s likely our testing program would be happening in both Mojave (Calif.) and New Mexico.”

Sirangelo said he couldn’t comment about whether Virgin Galactic is proposing to become an investor in his company, but he did say “the companies will likely explore other areas of mutual interest later.”

Representatives from Virgin Galactic and Orbital Sciences could not be reached for comment for this report.

Diana M. Alba can be reached at (575) 541-5443.

Article Courtesy of Las Cruces Sun-News

By Diana M. Alba

LAS CRUCES – Michael Blum’s conference name tag dubs him as an “astronaut-in-waiting.”He’s one of Virgin Galactic’s customers, and, if all goes well, he and five friends will launch into suborbital space about a year after the company begins its commercial space tourism operations at Spaceport America in southern Sierra County.

Personal interests are part of the reason Blum, an investor from Singapore, has traveled to Las Cruces annually to attend the International Symposium for Personal and Commercial Spaceflight. This year is his seventh conference. But business also drives his interest.

“Like a number of other early Virgin Galactic customers, we’re also interested in investing in Virgin’s business and what’s going to pop up around Virgin’s business,” he said. “We’re always looking at what it is and where it is that we can get involved.” Continued Blum: “This conference is a great way to connect with the local community here in southern New Mexico, with other like-minded individuals and with other companies that are bringing change to the industry.”

Blum said he believes it’s time for the government to focus more attention on space exploration, a role that can be filled by commercial aerospace companies, such as SpaceX, Bigelow Aerospace and Virgin Galactic.

Some 340 people are at the conference this year – the largest-ever attendance, said Patricia Hynes, director of the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium. The event was founded in 2005. “We have every single large player in the industry here,” she said.

The symposium began Tuesday, with a free, all-day public forum at the Pan American Center. People attending Wednesday had to pay a registration fee.

In a morning panel, representatives from three large companies spoke about the difficulty in gaining the public’s trust in their eventual spaceflights, while at the same time conducting vehicle development programs that not only allow for failures, but rely on them in order to solve as many problems as possible early on.

Jeff Greason, CEO of XCOR Aerospace, said part of that entails countering a myth that calls for everything to go right the first time.

Steven Brody, vice president of North American operations for International Space University, based in France, said this is the third year he’s attended the symposium. He said gaining exposure for the institution is one reason for the trip. Also, “I come partly to see people I know and others I’d like to meet,” he said. “The networking potential is great here.”

Author and Pulitzer winner Neil Sheehan did not speak Wednesday morning, as originally scheduled, because of an allergic reaction to a medication, Hynes said. Sheehan was slated to give the keynote address

The symposium, hosted at the New Mexico Farm & Ranch Heritage Museum, wraps up today.

Diana M. Alba can be reached at (575) 541-5443

Article courtesy of Las Cruces Sun-News

By Diana M. Alba

As the 20-foot, 1,100-pound rocket fired gracefully skyward against the backdrop of a New Mexico sunrise Tuesday, something struck a chord in the heart of 19-year-old Quang Tran.

A Vietnam native who’s studying computer science at New Mexico Highlands University, Tran and his classmates were among the roughly 100 college and high school students from around the state who had science projects aboard the rocket. Going into the launch, Tran said, he was excited but didn’t realize how much the event would affect him.

“When I put on my camera and pointed to the rocket right at the time it went up, I just felt: ‘This is so emotional I can’t find any words to express it, and I think it’s one of the best moments I’ve ever experienced,” said Tran, a freshman.

Organizers called the second-ever educational launch at Spaceport America a success. The SL-4 rocket, made by the Colorado-based UP Aerospace, reached suborbital space — about 73 miles up — and fell to earth without many glitches. That’s in contrast to last year, when the first educational rocket launch only made it part of the way to space.

Though it reached suborbital space, UP Aerospace President Jerry Larson said the rocket didn’t reach its goal of 80 miles. Still, “we exceeded space by 10 miles,” he said.

In addition to students’ experiments, 30 cremated remains of people were on board, paid for by family members seeking a novel tribute to their loved ones. Charles Chafer, CEO of Celestis, which sells the memorial flights, said the most well-known figure included was the late Ralph White, discoverer of the sunken location of the Titanic. White’s remains were first flown last year, but, because the rocket didn’t reach space, had to be flown again this year.

Asked if there were additional famous names, Chafer replied: “None others, but, as I like to say, everyone has a story. Everyone has lived an interesting life.”

After a launch delay because of a crashed computer, the rocket shot into the air around 6:40 a.m. with a rushing sound. It disappeared quickly from sight.

Tran wasn’t the only one mesmerized by the event. Virginia Grossetete, 74, of Albuquerque, bought one of the $20 attendance tickets that were sold to the general public. She had glowing remarks about the launch, saying she’s optimistic about the spaceport’s future. “We didn’t think it was going to be so vivid,” she said. “Just think what it would be like to be inside.” Added Liz Crain of Albuquerque, who attended with Grossetete: “It makes us proud to be New Mexicans.”

The rocket reached its peak about 2.5 minutes into flight, officials said. Meanwhile, it took about 13 minutes to descend, landing on White Sands Missile Range ground. Officials said the rocket was quickly located and the payloads were expected to be returned to students starting Tuesday.

In all, roughly 200 spectators attended: a mix of students, their parents, state officials, journalists and members of the general public. A group of sixth-graders from Truth or Consequences took a field trip to watch the event, though they didn’t have a payload on board. “It’s an opportunity to come out here and see things others can’t,” said Skylar Green of Truth or Consequences, 12. “We’re going to hear and see with our own eyes the launch, instead of seeing it on TV.”

Students from New Mexico State University and the University of New Mexico were involved with rocket projects, but didn’t attend because of final exams, said Aaron Perez, program coordinator for the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium, which hosted the launch.

Officials also offered a tour of the spaceport site, about five miles north of where the rocket was launched. Workers appeared to be making significant headway on the 10,000-foot runway and the terminal-hangar facility.

Said Rick Homans, chairman of the New Mexico Spaceport Authority: “As Spaceport America continues to move forward, it’s gratifying to see another successful launch take flight and to see the excitement in the faces of the students who launched their experiments.”

Perez said carrying out the program — including the launch and mission assurance and conducting training for students — cost about $350,000. A large part of the funding, he said, is coming from a grant aimed at helping minority students.

Tran, participating in the student launch for the first time, said it was life-changing, and he sees a future for himself in aerospace. “It is not about the project, it’s how you feel about it — how you contribute to something that carries both your hopes and faith into the sky and brings you something back,” he said.

Spaceport America, located about 45 miles north of Las Cruces, is an under-construction launch site for commercial space vehicles in southeastern Sierra County.