This Week in The Space Review
Funding the seed corn of advanced space technology
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The final NASA fiscal year 2011 funding bill provided no explicit funding for space technology activities, a key element of the agency's future plans. Lou Friedman says that without such investment, it will become increasingly difficult to make new advances in robotic or human space exploration.
Commercial crew's final four
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Last week NASA announced that four companies would share nearly $270 million in commercial crew development awards, the next step in efforts to develop commercial vehicles to carry astronauts to orbit. Jeff Foust reports on the outcome of the competition and whether there's room for other companies to compete later in the program.
Fifty years of piloted spaceflight: Where are we going?
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It's clear to many that, half a century after the era of human spaceflight began, we have fallen fall short of our early dreams for the exploration and settlement of space. Claude Lafleur take a look at what went wrong.
Paul Allen's past (and future) in space
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While best known for co-founding Microsoft, Paul Allen is known in the space community for funding development of SpaceShipOne. Jeff Foust discusses some insights about that effort Allen reveals in a new book, and his potential to return to the commercial space field.
An exercise in the Art of War: China's National Defense white paper, outer space, and the PPWT
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China continues to press for a treaty banning the placement of weapons in outer space, even while developing its own ASAT capability. Michael Listner examines what may be at the root of Chinese strategy regarding space weaponization.
If you missed it, here's what we published in our previous issue:
Tobacco and beaver pelts: the sustainable path
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Debates about human space exploration often focus on destinations and technologies. Charles A. Gardner argues that a more important requirement is finding an economically sustainable path for human exploration into and settlement of the solar system.
Following SpaceX down the rabbit hole
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Earlier this month SpaceX announced plans to develop a more powerful version of its Falcon 9 rocket, called the Falcon Heavy. Stewart Money examines what the implications are of a vehicle with the performance and cost goals of the Falcon Heavy.
Shuttle scavengers
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NASA used the 30th anniversary of the first shuttle launch last week to announce where the orbiters will go once the fleet is retired. Jeff Foust reports this set off a new debate about one aspect of the agency's past when attention should be focused on its future.
NASA's continuing problems
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More than six months after the fiscal year started, NASA finally got its final 2011 budget last week. Taylor Dinerman notes, though, that the agency still faces a host of problems in its human spaceflight, science, and other programs.
Review: Starman
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While one of the most famous individuals of the Space Age, surprisingly little is known about Yuri Gagarin. Jeff Foust reviews a controversial reprinted book about the life of the first person to fly in space.
Until next week,
Provided by The Space Review
