Future Aerospace Tech Will Be Funded By NASA - http://clapway.com/2015/07/08/future-aerospace-tech-will-be-funded-by-nasa765/

NASA has recently decided that it will fund more future aerospace tech in an attempt to advance the mission of NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) and their dreams of game-changing new aerospace technology for future missions. The list of new aerospace tech concepts can be found on the website, listing those which were selected for Phase II of the program for further funding.

What is NIAC?

Originally, the NIAC was run by the Universities Space Research Association. Then, a change in who held the reins took place but the original NIAC website when it was manned by USRA can still be found for those with a hint of nostalgia and as a reminder of its origins. There more information can be found about past studies and other such things.

Now, NIAC deals with cultivating new aerospace tech ideas until fruition. These technologies would help NASA’s future missions but also work with the innovators/entrepreneurs that presented the idea as well. This is all in hopes of changing the way we think of aerospace tech as we know it.

The aerospace tech of tomorrow

There is half the number of concepts this go around than there were for Phase I with seven projects. Some of the concepts involve the idea of keeping the systems operational in parts of space where there is low light to pitch black conditions but also freezing temperatures. Others deal with exploring the depths or measuring the ability to support life.

All of the concepts dealing with their own unique mission. The statement by NASA involved the space agency reaffirming to the public that with this new innovative aerospace tech being funded, the stance America has in exploring space will be kept and future success will be had.

The Waiting Game

All in all, it is an exciting time to be an innovator with the NASA agency, especially considering the new funding available for those seven aerospace tech concepts. Let’s see what interesting things these new techs will bring to both the public and NASA, should their concepts prove viable and come to fruition.

 

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Future Aerospace Tech Will Be Funded By NASA

Space Florida"s new gain. - http://clapway.com/2015/06/23/nasa-transfers-ownership-of-historic-shuttle-landing-facility-373/

 

NASA’s historic space shuttle landing facility has been transferred to a state agency in Florida.

SPACE HISTORY SITE

The Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center is a significant location in the history of human space flight. Challenger was the first space shuttle to land at the facility in 1984. This was the first time a spacecraft landed at the same location from which it was launched. And the last shuttle to land at the facility was Atlantis in 2011—the final shuttle mission.

A reported seventy-seven shuttle missions concluded at the Shuttle Landing Facility, which boasts one of the longest runway in the world (15,000 feet).

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

NASA’s space shuttle program came to an end in 2011. This ignited a new era of commercial space flight, spurring the development of countless private space companies.

On Monday, June 22, 2015, NASA officially transferred the responsibilities of maintaining and operating the Shuttle Landing Facility to Space Florida—the state of Florida’s spaceport authority and aerospace development organization.

NASA selected Space Florida to manage the facility back in 2013. But the 30-year property agreement was just made official.

“Our journey to Mars goes straight through Florida, and this agreement helps amplify the many ways that our critical Kennedy Space Center can support the next generation of human spaceflight,” says NASA Administrator Charles Bolden.

NASA Will Continue Operating Aircraft

The agreement permits NASA to continue using the facility for its aircraft operations. But Space Florida will use the site to give private space companies a location for testing new technologies and space planes. Companies like Sierra Nevada Corp. and XCOR are expected to use the facility. Space Florida will also make the facility available for customers with unmanned aerial vehicles. The Air Force’s secretive unmanned space plane, the X-37B, will reportedly land at the facility at the conclusion of its current mission.

“This marks the dawn of a new era for horizontal spaceflight in Florida and the country as a whole,” says Space Florida president/CEO Frank DiBello. He continues, “The most storied runway in the world will now become the cornerstone of Florida’s next generation commercial spaceport.”

This arrangement will also reportedly create more than 200 jobs.

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NASA Transfers Ownership of Historic Shuttle Landing Facility