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Budgetary constraints continue to slow U.S. ambitions to send astronauts back to the moon as a prelude to future missions to Mars, AFP reported. Former president George W. Bush decided to phase out the shuttle flights after the Columbia space shuttle disaster in 2003 in order to set a more ambitious mandate for American space exploration.The Constellation program, which was launched in 2004, will be an effort to take Americans back to the moon by 2020, wherein the moon will someday be used as...

RESTON, Va., June 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Industry and government leaders will meet on June 18 to explore the promising future of commercial space transportation -- of humans as well as cargo -- in meeting government and private sector needs in low Earth orbit. The special half-day event, "Innovations in Orbit: An Exploration of Commercial Crew and Cargo Transportation," will feature panelists and speakers from NASA, the FAA, and the private sector, discussing a broad array of...

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has created a Web site to allow the public to comment on plans for U.S. human space flight activities. NASA said the Web site will allow the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee to facilitate a two-way conversation with the public about the future direction of the agency's space flight programs. In addition to providing documents and information, NASA said the site will allow the public to track committee activities, receive...

NASA is inviting the public to make its voice heard as a panel of experts undertakes an independent review of planned U.S. human space flight activities.NASA has created a Web site for the Review of U.S. Human Space Flight Plans Committee to facilitate a two-way conversation with the public about the future direction of the agency's space flight programs. In addition to providing documents and information, the site will allow the public to track committee activities, receive regular updates...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- United Space Alliance has assembled a team of experienced, innovative experts in space operations to support the Kennedy Space Center's mission to maintain the leading edge in space vehicle and payload processing, integration, launch and recovery operations. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080407/LAM060LOGO) The team has been assembled to compete for the Exploration Ground Launch Services (EGLS) contract, which provides ground...

President Obama will name retired Marine General and former astronaut Charles F. Bolden Jr. as NASA administrator, according to a Los Angeles times report citing three congressional sources.If confirmed by the Senate, Bolden, who flew on the shuttle mission that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope, would be the first African American to lead the space agency.  Bolden, 62, flew more than 100 combat missions during the Vietnam War before joining NASA for four shuttle flights, two of which he...

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla., May 11 /PRNewswire/ -- From the CEO to the flight operations experts that plan the space walks, to the technicians who install the payload and prepared the orbiter for launch, the STS-125 mission and Hubble Space Telescope are benefitting from the vast experience and capabilities of United Space Alliance in planning, managing, integrating and executing complex human space endeavors. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080407/LAM060LOGO) USA's...

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Aerojet, a GenCorp (NYSE: GY) company, successfully completed the first series of vibration and altitude hot fire tests on NASA's Orion crew module's 160 lb. thrust mono-propellant rocket engine. The objective of the test program was to verify engine performance after the thruster was subjected to Orion vibration loads which produced energy levels that were two times higher than those previously qualified. The post-vibration altitude...

NEW ORLEANS, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has begun its first friction stir weld process on an Orion crew module Ground Test Article at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, La. This ground test article will serve as a production pathfinder to validate the flight vehicle production processes and tools. When completed, this first full-sized, flight-like crew module will be tested on the ground in equivalent flight-like environments, including static...

On April 16, NASA moved the first segment of the Ares I rocket's five segment development motor, or DM-1, from ATK Space System's production facility in Promontory, Utah, to the nearby test stand, in preparation for the first ground test, targeted for August.The Development Motor 1, or DM-1, is the Constellation Program's first five-segment, test motor for the Ares I first stage. The Ares I rocket's first stage solid rocket motor will launch astronauts on future missions of exploration beyond...