[SarSerceSaice]

All the media focus surrounding the recent landing of NASA’S rover Curiosity has brought increased attention to space technology. Just in time to bask in the limelight, NASA has delivered a tech enthusiast’s dream in terms of astounding new concepts that have recently been funded. They range in scope from nanosatellite technology to the exploration under the ice of Europa.

NASA’s Innovative and Advanced Concepts program announced on August 1st that it has funded 28 studies for the upcoming year. Eighteen of the studies are considered “Phase 1” projects, while ten are considered “Phase 2.”


Phase 1 projects are the new, innovative ideas that NASA received during its call for proposals. Some other conepts include an air purification system with no moving parts, and a system that could use in situ lunar regolith to autonomously build concrete structures on the Moon, as pictured above. Each of the winning proposals, from a pool of hundreds, will receive $100,000 to pursue the idea further. Each team will report back to NIAC at the end of the year with a report on their progress toward the goals of the project that were laid out in the proposal.


Phase 2 projects are pulled from the successful proposals from last year that reapplied for another grant. These projects have already made it through their Phase 1 development and will receive $500,000 for continuing research into the concept. These projects include such technologies as fusion-driven rockets and printable space-craft, and could move on to commercial or mission development if they successfully complete their Phase 2 goals. Other parts of NASA’s Office of the Chief Technologist will help support those goals, as the NIAC only supports project up through the completion of Phase 2.


The NIAC ties nicely into NASA’s new focus on the commercial side of space flight. Many of the concepts funded by the program could serve as the basis for viable commercial businesses, such as asteroid mining and robotic construction. But most importantly, NASA is still funding the risky, game-changing projects that could drastically transform the way people live their every-day lives. Tech enthusiasts everywhere should be happy with that concept.

You can see here for a list of the proposals. We’ll try to feature some of these in future articles.



http://www.universetoday.com/97028/n...logy-concepts/

[FateHostera]

Then we have private Enterprise doing their bit with the or ready launching and ISS docking of the Space-X "Dragon" capsule [capacity 7 crew]

Sierra Nevada has completed except for full testing its Dream Chaser, a smaller version of the space shuttle in looks....

And we now have a new comer on the scene in " XCOR Aerospace ' and their " Lynx Mark II suborbital reusable launch vehicles."

And of course "Planetary Mining company with plans for Asteroid mining in the future.


Others are are well in the planning and construction stages.

Appears a pretty busy industry

[auctionlover]

Then we have of course "Planetary Research" company which is planning on first monitoring, capturing, and then finally mining Asteroids.
Not an easy task for any of these Space oriented companies, but all are stocked with Engineers and Physicists, some ex NASA to guide the way.

[Injurnerona]

> new, innovative ideas

I have about a dozen of these. Perhaps I should send some to NASA. Though, my ideas are practical, and they're looking more for impractical ideas.

[wvbwxol]

Here's an interesting article I just found on Asteroid and off Earth mining in general....


This from the Bad Astronomer, Phill Plaitt.....


Breaking: Private company does indeed plan to mine asteroids… and I think they can do it

Planetary Resources, Inc. is not your average startup: its mission is to investigate and eventually mine asteroids in space!
Last week, the company issued a somewhat cryptic announcement saying they “will overlay two critical sectors – space exploration and natural resources – to add trillions of dollars to the global GDP”. I predicted this meant they wanted to mine asteroids, and yes, I will toot my own horn: I was right. They’re holding a press conference Tuesday morning to officially announce they’re going asteroid hunting.
The company had a pretty fierce amount of credibility right off the bat, with several ex-NASA engineers, an astronaut, and planetary scientists involved, as well as the backing of not one but several billionaires, including a few from Google… not to mention James Cameron. The co-founders of Planetary Resources are Peter Diamandis — he created the highly-successful X-Prize Foundation, to give cash awards to incremental accomplishments that will help achieve technological breakthroughs, including those for space travel — and Eric Anderson, X-Prize board member and Chairman of the Board of the Space Spaceflight Federation.
These are very, very heavy hitters. Clearly, they’re not screwing around.
So what’s the deal?

much more at......
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/ba...hey-can-do-it/


Phill's summing up....

My opinion on all this
The beauty of being me (among other things) is that I don’t always have to be objective. So I’ll say this: I love this idea. Love it.
Mind you, that’s different than saying I think they can do it. But, in theory at least, I think they can. Their step-wise plan makes sense to me, and they don’t need huge rockets and huge money to get things started. By the time operations ramp up to something truly ambitious they should already have in place the pieces necessary for it, including the track record. In other words, by the time they’re ready to mine an asteroid, they’ll have in place all the infrastructure needed to actually do it. I still want to see some engineering plans and a timeline, but in general what I’ve heard sounds good.
My biggest initial skepticism would be the investors — with no hope of profit for years, would they really stick with it?
But look at the investors: Film maker James Cameron. Google executives Larry Page & Eric Schmidt, and Google investor K. Ram Shriram. Software pioneer Charles Simonyi. Ross Perot, Jr. These are all billionaires, some of them adventurers, and all of them have proven to have patience in developing new ventures. I don’t think they’ll turn tail and run at the first setback.
Lewicki said much the same thing. “I was a harsh skeptic at first, but [when the company founders Peter Diamandis and Eric Anderson] approached me we talked about a plan on how to create a company and pursue this.” Soon after, he came to the conclusion this was a logical plan and the group was capable of doing it. In the press release, he said, “Not only is our mission to expand the world’s resource base, but we want to expand people’s access to, and understanding of, our planet and solar system by developing capable and cost-efficient systems.”
That sounds like a great idea to me. And I am strongly of the opinion that private industry is the way to make that happen. The Saturn V was incredible, but not terribly cost effective; that wasn’t its point. And when NASA tried to make a cost-effective machine, they came up with the Space Shuttle, which was terribly expensive, inefficient, and — let’s face it — dangerous. The government is good for a lot of things, but political machinations can really impede innovation when it comes to making things easier and less costly. As many people involved with NASA used to joke: “Faster, better, cheaper: pick two.”
I still strongly support NASA, of course; don’t get me wrong. It should still do what it does best: the things private industry can’t, like breaking new ground. That’s what NASA has been doing in space for 50 years, and now that paved way is being taken up by private companies. I think it’s just that combination of government support and private innovation that will get us to the stars. And for now, just for now, you know what?
Getting to the asteroids will do just fine.

[kranfid]

NASA Administrator Announces New Commercial Crew And Cargo Milestones
by Staff Writers
Kennedy Space Center FL (SPX) Aug 27, 2012

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden Thursday announced new milestones in the nation's commercial space initiatives from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, near the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced Thursday new milestones in the nation's commercial space initiatives from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The latest advances made by NASA's commercial space partners pave the way for the first contracted flight of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS) this fall and mark progress toward a launch of astronauts from U.S. soil in the next 5 years.

Bolden announced Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has completed its Space Act Agreement with NASA for Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS). SpaceX is scheduled to launch the first of its 12 contracted cargo flights to the space station from Cape Canaveral in October, under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services Program.

"We're working to open a new frontier for commercial opportunities in space and create job opportunities right here in Florida and across the United States," Bolden said. "And we're working to in-source the work that is currently being done elsewhere and bring it right back here to the U.S. where it belongs."

Through the COTS program, NASA provides investments to stimulate the American commercial space industry. As part of its COTS partnership, SpaceX became the first commercial company to resupply the space station in May, successfully launching its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the orbiting complex.

During the historic mission, the Dragon was captured by astronauts using the station's robot arm, unloaded and safely returned to Earth carrying experiments conducted aboard ISS. Later this winter, Orbital Sciences Corp. plans to carry out its first test flight under COTS.

Bolden also announced NASA partner Sierra Nevada Corp. has conducted its first milestone under the agency's recently announced Commercial Crew integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative.

The milestone, a program implementation plan review, marks an important first step in Sierra Nevada's efforts to develop a crew transportation system with its Dream Chaser spacecraft.

CCiCap is an initiative of NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) and an Obama administration priority. The objective of the CCP is to facilitate the development of a U.S. commercial crew space transportation capability with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the space station and low Earth orbit.

After the capability is matured, it is expected to be available to the government and other customers. NASA could contract to purchase commercial services to meet its station crew transportation needs later this decade.

While NASA works with U.S. industry partners to develop commercial spaceflight capabilities, the agency also is developing the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS), a crew capsule and heavy-lift rocket to provide an entirely new capability for human exploration.

Designed to be flexible for launching spacecraft for crew and cargo missions, SLS and Orion will expand human presence beyond low Earth orbit and enable new missions of exploration across the solar system.





http://www.space-travel.com/reports/...tones_999.html

[bgsavings]

new, innovative ideas

I have about a dozen of these. Perhaps I should send some to NASA. Though, my ideas are practical, and they're looking more for impractical ideas.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>


One of their proposal plans is "harpooning" an Asteroid, as you suggested awhile back molly.

[Sotmoigma]

COR Announces AdamWorks as Lynx Mark I Cockpit Manufacturer
by Staff Writers
Mojave CA (SPX) Aug 31, 2012

File image.


XCOR Aerospace has announced that the Lynx Mark I suborbital reusable launch vehicle (RLV) carbon fiber cockpit will be manufactured by AdamWorks of Centennial, Colorado.

The Lynx Mark I is the prototype of the Lynx family of suborbital RLVs from XCOR Aerospace. The Lynx suborbital vehicles will seat an astronaut pilot and a spaceflight participant, or an astronaut pilot and large scientific payload. A production model of the Lynx, designated "Lynx Mark II" is designed to fly to space up to four times per day with similar payload and significantly improved performance.

The Lynx Mark II is available for wet lease domestically and abroad in the free world by emerging spacelines, private operators and sovereign countries wishing to have their own manned spaceflight program for less cost than a traditional high end business jet.

XCOR has already announced the signing of a wet lease definitive agreement for Lynx Mark II operations in the island nation of Curacao and plans for XCOR-led operations at two U.S. sites, Mojave, California and Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida, pending final NASA approvals.

The Lynx cockpit has been designed by XCOR to rigorous design standards as a comfortable, roomy and safe, pressurized vessel capable of tens of thousands of flights to and from suborbital altitudes exceeding 100 kilometers. The cockpit has undergone an iterative design process by XCOR engineers and outside independent third party structural and thermal analysis experts from Quartus Engineering in San Diego.

AdamWorks was selected after a thorough competitive selection process that emphasized past experience, ability to manufacture complex carbon fiber structures used in safety critical pressurized applications, schedule and value.

"AdamWorks was enthusiastic and responsive during our selection process and demonstrated through past experience, like the Dream Chaser fuselage/cockpit project, the ability to produce a complex part on time and within budget. We are happy they'll be working with us to turn our design into reality," said Jeff Greason, Co-Founder and President of XCOR.

"A total of six firms are planning to build commercial space vehicles, and three of those six companies designing and building commercial space vehicles are AdamWorks customers," said Kim Madigan, AdamWorks CEO. "XCOR is one of these great space pioneers. We are extremely proud and honored to be partners in this game-changing effort."





http://www.space-travel.com/reports/...turer_999.html
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Another prospective player with a shuttle like craft.

Seeesh, they're getting as numerous as Sydney Taxi Cabs at the International terminal rank