After a trip out of town its time to catch up on last weeks news.

NASA, Lockheed fret over Orion funding

Astronauts, NASA brass recognize Phoenix contributions to space program 

Orbital to provide Orion crew exploration vehicle launch abort test booster for NASA

NASA turns to past for ideas – Orion will use Apollo-style equipment for ocean recovery

NASA’S Orion Program: Hardware Progresses, Challenges Ahead

Space program needs to pick up pace

Orbital to Provide Abort Test Booster for NASA Testing

DED chief hopes funding keeps NASA plant in N.O.

NASA urged by Congress to continue planning robotic missions

Less is more for astronauts – As spacecraft get smaller, greener, shorter occupants in big demand

Boeing’s bid to win work in New Orleans on NASA’s next space exploration program will be joined by a team of eight suppliers — including Northrop Grumman — that would work with the aerospace company.

NASA will award what’s expected to be a multibillion-dollar contract in late August, with Boeing’s key competition being a team of Alliant Techsystems Thiokol, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne and Lockheed Martin, which currently produces space shuttle components at the 832-acre Michoud facility.

Plans are underway to establish a permanent human presence on the moon by the year 2020.

Earth & Sky spoke with Pete Worden, Director of NASA’s Ames Research Center. We asked him why humanity should return to the moon.  Read more

NASA officials have set a requirements baseline for the Orion crew exploration vehicle, bringing the next U.S. spacecraft a step closer to construction. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Orion Project scientists completed the system requirements review in cooperation with the project’s prime contractor, the Lockheed Martin Corp.NASA said the review marks the first major milestone in the Orion engineering process and provides the foundation for design, development, construction and safe operation of the spacecraft that will carry explorers into Earth orbit, to the moon and eventually to Mars.

The detailed requirements established in the review will serve as the basis for design analysis work and systems testing.

Aerojet, a GenCorp, Inc.  company and a core propulsion provider for NASA’s
new space exploration vehicle, Orion, recently conducted an
internally-funded static firing of a key Launch Abort System component.
Orion’s Launch Abort System is a new capability that will allow the
astronaut crew to safely escape in the event of an emergency during launch.
Aerojet’s test of an abort motor reverse flow nozzle increases the
technical readiness of the Launch Abort System concept.

From New Scientist comes this review of human spaceflight during 2006.  Read the article.

The Nobel Intent article ‘What if we made a moonbase and no one turned up?’ brings up some compelling thoughts. These include: Is the lack of budget increases from NASA going to affect the objectives of the program? Will building the moonbase divert funds from getting to Mars? Can we research the Mars voyage in low-earth orbit as opposed to on the moon?

There has been a lot in the news about NASA’s proposed Mooncamp. Here are some links:

“NASA may be going to the same old moon with a ship that looks a lot like a 1960s Apollo capsule, but the space agency said Monday that it’s going to do something dramatically different this time: Stay there.” Forbes

“US space agency NASA has said it plans to start work on a permanently-occupied base on the Moon after astronauts begin flying back there in 2020. The base is likely to be built on one of the Moon’s poles and will serve as a science center and possible stepping stone for manned missions to Mars.” BBC

View Mooncamp Plans and Video – Here 

The most powerful radiotelescope yet devised is to be built on the Moon, under plans being put together by Nasa for its 2018 lunar mission.Mike Griffin, the head of the US space agency, said the construction of a telescope is being “factored into” the mission.

It is intended to push forward the exploration of space and, eventually, help to identify how mankind can reach other planets in and outside the solar system.

A radiotelescope on the Moon would offer astronomers and physicists an unrivalled opportunity to see farther into the cosmos than ever before and in more detail.  More

There is a great article on the development of food for astronauts.  It shows how meals have evolved since the early days of space travel and looks at developments that may come about during the Orion program.

“On the outpost of Moon as well as Mars, it is very likely we will grow vegetables and fruits.”

Read the full article by collectSPACE here.