SpaceX Sues Expert Who Questioned Safety of Private Falcon 9 Rocket (SPACE.com)

WASHINGTON — Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is suing Herndon, Va.-based Valador Inc. and its vice president, Joe Fragola, for making what SpaceX says were defamatory allegations about the safety and reliability of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

At the heart of the lawsuit is a June 8 email Fragola allegedly sent to NASA’s chief of safety and mission assurance, Bryan D. O’Connor, saying he was trying to verify a rumor that the Falcon 9’s first stage experienced a significant anomaly during its December launch of the Dragon space capsule. The suit was filed June 14 in Virginia’s Fairfax County Circuit Court.

"I have just heard a rumor, and I am trying now to check its veracity, that the Falcon 9 experienced a double engine failure in the first stage and that the entire stage blew up just after the first stage separated. I also heard that this information was being held from NASA until SpaceX can 'verify' it."

SpaceX denies there were any such problems on the flight, the second of the medium-lift Falcon 9 rocket. [Photos: SpaceX's Falcon 9 Rocket]

"First, there was no ‘double-engine’ failure (nor even a single engine failure)," SpaceX says in its complaint. “As planned, two of the nine first-stage engines shut down automatically ten seconds before the first stage shut down.

"Second, the first stage did not 'blow up' after separation from the second stage and spacecraft. The launch was broadcast by a camera on the Dragon spacecraft, which vividly showed the separation of the first stage — and no explosion occurred. Furthermore, the first stage was, at all times, tracked by ground telemetry including by NASA. No systems observed any "explosion" of the first stage. As an 'expert,' Fragola should have known the notion of the first stage 'blowing up' was abjectly untrue."

O'Connor did not respond to a request for comment. Fragola, reached June 16 at Valador's Rockville Centre, New York, office, declined to comment, saying he had been advised not to talk about the case.

SpaceX also declined to discuss the case. "It’s still in the hands of counsel and we have no comment," SpaceX spokesman Bobby Block said June 17.

Fragola is a safety expert and a core member of the NASA Exploration Systems Architecture Study team that in 2005 picked the Ares 1 and Ares 5 rockets the agency then set out to build under the now-defunct Constellation program. In December 2009, Fragola testified before the House Science and Technology space and aeronautics subcommittee about ensuring safety in human spaceflight.

In its complaint, SpaceX says Fragola sought a consulting contract worth up to $1 million, claiming the company needed his independent analysis of the Falcon 9 "to bolster its reputation with NASA based on what he called an unfair ‘perception’ about SpaceX." [Video: Falcon Heavy - Most Lift Since Saturn 5]

"SpaceX subsequently learned that Fragola — within the scope of his employment at Valador, and using his email account at Valador — has been contacting officials in the United States Government to make disparaging remarks about SpaceX, which have created the very ‘perception’ that he claimed SpaceX needed his help to rectify," SpaceX’s claim states.

SpaceX also says that if anything went wrong during the flight, NASA would have known. "NASA officials were present with SpaceX controllers in the control center during the flight, and thus saw in real time all of the telemetry information SpaceX controllers saw," the complaint states. "SpaceX then provided extensive post-flight debriefings to NASA, including telemetry analysis. If any of the foregoing events claimed by Fragola had occurred, then NASA would have known as soon as SpaceX did."

Asked whether the Falcon 9 experienced any type of first-stage anomaly in its last outing, Block said: "Any observance noted had no impact on this or future mission success."

SpaceX, which holds a $1.6 billion contract to deliver supplies to the International Space Station using Falcon 9 and Dragon, is seeking at least $1 million in damages plus legal fees and is demanding that a jury hear the case.

SpaceX’s attorney in the suit, Douglas Lobel with the Cooley law firm of Reston, Va., did not respond to a request for comment.

This article was provided by Space News, dedicated to covering all aspects of the space industry.

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Spinning Robotic Landers Make Space Exploration a Hop and Skip (SPACE.com)

Jeremy Hsu, InnovationNewsDaily Senior Writer
Space.com Jeremy Hsu, Innovationnewsdaily Senior Writer
space.com – Sat Jun 25, 8:14 am ET

LAUREL, Md. — A former robot contender for the Google Lunar X Prize may find resurrection as a robotic lander for surface missions to planets and moons across the solar system. Its secret rests in a spinning midsection based on proven satellite technology that ensures almost unshakable stability.

The spinning lander could land and hop across alien surfaces on springy legs that have the flexibility "between a golf club shaft and a fishing pole," said Rex Ridenoure, president and CEO of Ecliptic Enterprises in Pasadena, Calif. His company holds pending patents on the space technology that originated with Harold Rosen, a satellite pioneer.

One version of the lander intended for an asteroid mission might have extra detachable harpoon legs to temporarily anchor itself to the rock, Ridenoure told a crowd of scientists and engineers at the 9th IAA Low-Cost Planetary Missions Conference here. Another version aimed at Europa might add a drill for tapping the Jupiter moon's icy secrets. [Best and Worst Mars Landings]

Whatever the destination, the spinning design ensures a relatively easy landing compared to most space missions.

"The neat thing is that the thing will not tip over," Ridenoure said. "The thing will just hop and bounce and skitter until it comes to a stop."

That vision began with Rosen, a former engineer for the Hughes Aircraft Company who first harnessed spinning back in 1965 as a way to stabilize satellites holding the same geostationary orbit above the Earth. His dual-spin design kept the main satellite body spinning while an instrument platform remained motionless.

Space explorers such as Galileo have also used the dual-spin concept. But even after Rosen retired from Hughes Space & Communications (now Boeing Satellite Systems), he harbored unfulfilled hopes of using spinning for stabilized robotic landings.

Rosen got his chance when the Google Lunar X Prize first debuted in 2007. The lunar landing competition offers a $20 million grand prize for landing a robot on a lunar surface, having it travel at least 1,650 feet (500 meters) and send data and images back to Earth.

The Southern California Selene Group formed by Rosen to compete in the Google Lunar X Prize included Ridenoure at Ecliptic Enterprises. The team designed a three-legged robotic contender, but eventually withdrew from the competition in 2008 after expressing philosophical differences with the X Prize Foundation's vision for commercializing space and human exploration.

But the spinning lander concept has not died.

Rosen handed off the technology to Ecliptic, and the company is now fielding queries from anyone interested in a possible low-cost lander mission. For comparison, the Southern California Selene Group had planned on a total mission cost of $20 million to $30 million while competing for the X Prize.

The spinning lander is small enough to reach many solar system targets by riding aboard a private Falcon 9 rocket developed by the commercial spaceflight firm SpaceX, Ridenoure said. And there is always the opportunity to pull up stakes and move if the original landing site doesn't work out.

"Once you get down on the surface, if you rotate the payload around and don't like the site, you can hop to another one," Ridenoure said.

You can follow InnovationNewsDailysenior writer Jeremy Hsu on Twitter @ScienceHsu. Follow InnovationNewsDaily on Twitter @News_Innovation, or on Facebook.

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Huntsman Gives Nonanswer to Space Policy Question (ContributorNetwork)

Another Republican presidential candidate, former Utah governor and ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, was asked about space policy. While former Speaker Newt Gingrich's response was hostile and angry, Huntsman's reply was vague.

According to the Orlando Sentinel: "When asked Thursday about the long period NASA now faces before it can have a manned space flight program again, Huntsman began by talking about first getting the country's economic house in order. He said space will be a part of that because of the 'long term return on investment" from space projects.'

"'We always want to be at the cutting edge of space flight. Today it's an affordability issue. When we get around to space policy, we'll come down here and make sure people are fully aware of what our hopes are,' he said."

The nonresponse that Huntsman gave had none of the luster of "We choose to go to the moon," but it was much as one might expect coming from a politician who had likely never been confronted with a space policy question before. Huntsman artfully gave a nod to the continuing debt crisis, but at the same time held out hope that something might happen that would tie space into jump starting the stalled economy.

There is not much yet from the Republican field of candidates concerning space issues, aside from Huntsman's tap dance and Gingrich's attack on NASA and lauding of the private sector. In a way, nether matters as neither man is given much of a chance of winning the nomination, not to mention the general election.

Huntsman is considered a moderate and the second coming of John McCain, but without the charisma and war record. Gingrich's campaign is in full meltdown mode with staff abandoning ship and questions about the former Speaker's seriousness about running for president being raised.

The candidates to look for a space policy that might actually have a chance of being implemented are Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann and Tim Pawlenty and -- if they choose to run -- Rick Perry and Sarah Palin. That is because these three candidates and two potential candidates might win.

Romney has spoken in vague terms about support for space exploration. Palin has lauded space as well in her two books, "Going Rogue" and "America by Heart." Coming from Texas, Perry would be expected to be supportive of NASA as well.

Nothing is certain, of course, until the candidates formulate a policy proposal. The debt crisis makes any increase for NASA a hard sale. However, regulatory and tax incentives for commercial space are certainly possibilities.

President Barack Obama's space policy, as unpopular as it is, has given the Republican candidates an opening to make space an issue, tying it perhaps to American exceptionalism, economic revival and national security. Whether anyone will take the opportunity remains to be seen.

Mark R. Whittington is the author of Children of Apollo and The Last Moonwalker. He has written on space subjects for a variety of periodicals, including The Houston Chronicle, The Washington Post, USA Today, the L.A. Times, and The Weekly Standard.

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Solstice Sun Storm May Spark Dazzling Northern Lights Today (SPACE.com)

A wave of sun particles unleashed during a strong solar flare this week is arriving at Earth today (June 24) and could touch off a dazzling northern lights display, NASA officials say.

The solar storm occurred Tuesday, June 21, during Earth's solstice, which marked the first day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and the start of winter in the Southern Hemisphere.

The storm triggered a powerful explosion on the sun, called a coronal mass ejection, which sent a vast wave of solar particles directly at Earth at a speed of about 1.4 million mph (2.3 million kph). Those particles are now buffeting Earth's magnetic field in interactions that could amplify the planet's polar auroras, also known as the northern and southern lights.

"High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras," officials with NASA's Goddard Space Center said in an update today. [Auroras Dazzle Northern Observers]

Supercharged auroras

Auroras occur when solar wind particles collide with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in Earth's upper atmosphere. The interaction excites the atoms, which then emit light (the aurora) as they return to their normal energy level. [Video: Fantastic Aurora at Earth's Poles]

Tuesday's solar flare registered as a class C7.7 flare (C-class flares are the weakest types of flares), but lasted for several hours. There are three classes of solar flares. M-class solar flares are medium-strength flares, while the most intense solar storms register as X-class flares.

There is a 30 percent to 35 percent chance of a minor geomagnetic storm in Earth's atmosphere today from this week's storm, NASA officials said.

The active sun

This week's solar flare was detected by the space-based Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) operated by NASA and the European Space Agency. It came just weeks after another strong solar flare on June 7, which unleashed a massive coronal mass ejection that stunned astronomers with its intensity.

The June 7 event  kicked up a wave of plasma that rained back down on the sun over an area 75 times the width of Earth. The leading edge of the particles that erupted from the sun were traveling at about 3.5 million mph (5.7 million kph), SOHO officials have said.

Another coronal mass ejection on June 14 unleashed an eerie wave of material that formed a partial halo as it expanded into space.

The most severe solar storms, when aimed at Earth, can pose a danger to astronauts in space, satellites and even ground-based communications and power systems. This week's solar flare, however, is not powerful enough to pose a serious risk, NASA officials said.

The sun is currently in an active period of its 11-year solar cycle. NASA and other space and weather agencies are keeping a close watch on the sun using space-based observatories, satellites and ground-based monitoring systems.

You can follow SPACE.com Managing Editor Tariq Malik on Twitter @tariqjmalik. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

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Small asteroid to zip harmlessly past Earth Monday (AP)

PASADENA, Calif. – NASA says a newly discovered asteroid will have a close encounter with Earth on Monday, but there's no need to worry.

The space agency's Near-Earth Object Program Office says the small space rock — dubbed 2011 MD — will pass 7,500 miles above Earth's surface over the southern Atlantic Ocean at about 6:30 a.m. PDT.

Though it will come close, it's not a distance record holder. Earlier this year, a tiny asteroid flew by even closer — within 3,400 miles. .

The latest asteroid measures 33 feet long and was discovered this week by telescopes in New Mexico. Scientists say asteroids this size sail past Earth every six years.

The asteroid will briefly be bright enough that medium-size telescopes may be able to spot it.

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Humanity Again Ready to Make Giant Leaps into Space (ContributorNetwork)

Yahoo! News asked its readers and contributors to share their memories of the space shuttle program as it nears its end in July. Below is a story from a contributor.

[Your Voice: Sign up with the Yahoo! Contributor Network to share your thoughts.]

Intellectually, I am certain that it is time to retire the space shuttles from active service. We need to focus on the future instead of continuing to fly outdated vehicles into orbit. Emotionally, however, I have to say I have mixed feelings about the end of the space shuttle era.

[Related: Former NASA Chief of Staff Explains Why It's Time to Retire the Space Shuttle]

I remember the sense of wonder and excitement that I felt when a classmate in grammar school, knowing my interest in the space program, handed me the latest edition of Scholastic Magazine that featured and article about a planned reusable space shuttle in development by NASA. By the popular demand of thousands of Star Trek fans, the article said, NASA had to change the name of one of the early test shuttles to Enterprise.

The idea of a reusable launch vehicle that could glide to a runway landing seemed to me at the time to bring us one giant leap closer to making space travel a reality for the average person. Today, as the last space shuttle flight prepares to launch, that vision is even closer to reality. George Whitesides, President and CEO of Virgin Galactic told me he expects to be sending paying passengers to the edge of space next year.

I also remember watching the space shuttle Challenger as it seemed to disappear in forked trail of smoke. As I watched, I hoped that the smoke was caused by the jettisoning of malfunctioning booster rockets and that the shuttle itself would reappear and perhaps proceed to an emergency landing. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case and seven brave souls lost their lives on January 28, 1986.

[Related: Why Do So Many Remember Exactly Where They Were When the Challenger Exploded?]

The return to space after Challenger demonstrated that we, as a nation, could overcome adversity, learn from our mistakes, and push forward toward our goals. It also taught me that where much is at stake, one must use an abundance of care to make sure that things go the way one expects them to go.

[Related: Space Shuttle Rocket Scientist Discusses the Return to Space Effort]

Moving forward after the space shuttle, my hope is that we can develop safer and more cost-efficient launch and recovery vehicles, freeing resources for those grander goals that represent the next steps in our journey. With private companies beginning to find profit in space travel, we are once again ready to take one more giant leap into a future of nearly limitless possibilities.

[Related: Three Big Goals for NASA to Inspire a New Generations of Students]

Follow @Space_Matterson Twitter or 'like' the Space Matters Fan Page on Facebook for more of this author's space-related writing.

Brad Sylvester writes about the space program for the Yahoo! Contributor Network. Watching the Apollo missions through the static on a small black and white television sparked a lifelong interest in the space sciences for him. Since then, he has spent 40 years watching improvements in the technologies of space travel and our understanding of the universe unfold.

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Tag! Spyware Tracks Mysterious Basking Shark (LiveScience.com)

Basking sharks, one of the largest fish on Earth, are notoriously hard to find, despite their colossal size and unmistakable silhouette. Now, scientists working in California have called on satellite technology to help them track these mysterious and scarce sharks.

In early June, researchers with the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Fisheries Service affixed a tracking tag to a basking shark swimming about 5 miles (8 kilometers) off the San Diego coast. Despite the fact that satellite tags are now widely used to study marine animals, it is only the third time a basking shark has been tagged in the entire Pacific Ocean.

"Reasonable numbers haven't been seen off California since the late '80s and early '90s," said NOAA's Heidi Dewar, in an email. "So until recently it would have been hard to even get access to them to tag."

In fact, Dewar said, the species had become so elusive in the eastern Pacific that it fell off scientists' radar as part of the local fauna. Worldwide, very little is known about the life cycle of the giant fish, which can grow up to 45 feet (13 meters) long, second only to whale sharks in sheer size.

"They seem to nearly disappear for decades at a time and we have no idea where they might be going," Dewar told OurAmazingPlanet. "Japan, Russia, Ecuador? We also don't have any idea where the nursery for little basking sharks is."

Tagging trials

Basking sharks live in temperate, coastal waters around the world. In decades past, they were targeted for their valuable fins and liver oil. Their numbers plummeted and continue to decline, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

NOAA scientists John Hyde and Owyn Snodgrass tagged the first Pacific basking shark just about a year ago, in June 2010. Almost a year later, in May 2011, a second, 20-foot (6 m) fish was tagged, but it prematurely shed its tracker, which was found on a beach by a surfer and sent back to the lab.

"We got very lucky to recover the tag so quickly," Dewar said, adding that although the first tagged shark provided valuable information via satellite — data such as water temperature, depth and location — scientists get even more data on the fish's habits when the tags are returned.

The tracking devices are attached just below the dorsal fin, by means of a long, spear-like pole. Tagging a fish is no easy feat, yet one made slightly easier by basking sharks' habit of swimming slowly along the ocean surface, their cavernous mouths agape to catch swarms of krill and other tiny crustaceans.

Gentle giants

Despite their rather alarming appearance, Dewar said humans have nothing to fear from basking sharks.

"They are gentle giants," she said. "They aren't bothered by people in the water with them and have itty-bitty teeth."

There is hope that their sudden reappearance off Southern California will offer researchers a chance to finally solve some of the mysteries that surround the world's second-largest fish.

"The main misconception on our coast is that they don't occur here," Dewar said. "Hopefully, we will see more of them, and people will come to see them as a friendly neighbor."

Reach Andrea Mustain at @AndreaMustain.

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