Archive for the ‘Gary Barnhard’ Category

NSS Hails Stratolaunch Initiative – A Pioneering Investment in Space

Wednesday, December 14th, 2011

The National Space Society (NSS) hails the announcement of Stratolaunch Systems, a Paul G. Allen Project, as a pioneering investment in space transportation. The company has been formed to build a mobile air-launch-to-orbit system that will include three primary components:

• A carrier aircraft, developed by Scaled Composites, the aircraft manufacturer and assembler founded by Burt Rutan. It will be the largest aircraft ever flown.
• A multi-stage booster, manufactured by Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies;
• A state-of-the-art mating and integration system allowing the carrier aircraft to safely carry a booster weighing up to 490,000 pounds. It will be built by Dynetics, a leader in the field of aerospace engineering.

“The Stratolaunch Initiative is another bold step towards the key goal of reducing the cost of space travel” said Gary Barnhard, Executive Director of the National Space Society. “By providing a less costly, more flexible, and timely launch capability than existing ground-based systems, the Stratolaunch team intends to achieve routine airport-like space transportation services to orbital destinations. NSS wishes clear skies ahead for their efforts,” he concluded.

With an envisioned payload capability of 13,500 pounds cargo and/or crewed spacecraft delivered to Low Earth Orbit, a fully reusable first stage air-launch carrier, and the potential for evolution to a winged returnable second stage, the initiative holds great promise. More background information on the Stratolaunch concept can be found in their presskit.

In their announcement yesterday, Stratolaunch said, “… space has long been on Allen’s mind. In the close of his memoir, Idea Man, published earlier this year, he hinted at his plans, writing that he was ‘considering a new initiative with that magical contraption I never wearied of sketching as a boy: the rocket ship.” NSS thanks Paul for endeavoring to bring his boyhood dreams into reality in this historic way.

Since 1974, NSS has been working to bring forward the day when humans will be living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the vast resources of space are brought to bear for the dramatic betterment of humanity. Commercial space initiatives are bringing that day ever closer.

Posted in Commercial Spaceflight, Gary Barnhard, National Space Society | No Comments »

National Space Society Hails Space Solar Power Study Findings

Tuesday, November 15th, 2011

The National Space Society (NSS) and SPACE Canada held a press conference on November 14, 2011 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C to announce the findings of a ground-breaking space solar power study conducted by the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) under the leadership of John Mankins, a 25-year NASA veteran and expert on space solar power.

See video of the press conference on the NSS website.

The IAA’s three-year, ten-nation study, “Space Solar Power — The First International Assessment of Space Solar Power: Opportunities, Issues and Potential Pathways Forward,” confirms the possible readiness of using space solar power technology within the decade.

The full report is included in the NSS Space Solar Power Library.

Comments from environmentalists, scientists, aerospace engineers, and advocates in the space and clean energy movements are also available on the NSS website here.

Gary Barnhard, the Executive Director of NSS stated “The IAA report lays out the case quite clearly. Space Solar Power is one of the potential key elements in meeting the growing and evolving electrical energy demand of the United States and the world. Space Solar Power is not a panacea, nor is it engineering fantasy. Space Solar Power is a complex systems engineering and economics problem that entails learning how to build the most valuable system(s) and when to do so in order to best meet electrical energy needs. Space Solar Power is an option we can make real and in doing so help provide for a positive future for humanity.”

“With space solar power technology, energy can be collected from space and transmitted wirelessly anywhere in the world,” explained Mark Hopkins, the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Space Society. “This technology could be the answer to our energy crisis. We look forward to sharing the results of the IAA’s study, and exploring the potential that space solar power has for creating thousands of green energy jobs,” he said.

Collecting solar energy to convert to electricity is not a new concept. However, there are significant advantages to space solar power compared to ground solar power. Solar energy in space is seven times greater per unit area than on the ground. The collection of solar space energy is not disrupted by nightfall and inclement weather, thus avoiding the need for expensive energy storage.

Mr. Hopkins added, “Our dependence on crude oil is simply unsustainable, and other energy sources can be costly and harmful to the environment. As a continuous source of energy, space solar power is a potential cost-effective and environmentally superior energy alternative.”

Posted in Gary Barnhard, Mark Hopkins, National Space Society, Space Solar Power | 1 Comment »

NSS Calls on Its Members and All Friends of Space to Phone Their Representatives Today!

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

NSS has emphatically requested that the House of Representatives adopt the Senate version of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010.

The vote on this issue is now imminent!  

Please read the full NSS Press Release http://www.nss.org/Press-Release-Sept-10-2010-NASA-Authorization.pdf

You need to call your Congressman today if possible and let them know how you stand on this issue and what you would like them to do.

The exact schedule for the vote is not yet known.  We will post updates to the blog and the website as soon as further information is available.

Remember that telephone calls are usually taken by a staff member, not the member of Congress.  Ask to speak with the aide who handles the issue about which you wish to comment.  After identifying yourself, tell the aide you would like to leave a brief message, such as: “Please tell Representative (Name) that I support adopting the Senate version of the NASA Authorization Act of 2010 and request that he/she do so as well.”  You will also want to state reasons for your support of the bill. 

You can email them a copy of the NSS Press Release http://www.nss.org/Press-Release-Sept-10-2010-NASA-Authorization.pdf.    You may also request a written response to your telephone call.  You can follow up on any pending legislation at http://www.thomas.gov

Posted in Gary Barnhard, NASA, Space Policy, The Space Movement | No Comments »

Thoughts on the proposed NASA 2011 Budget . . .

Friday, February 5th, 2010

“The National Space Society (NSS) commends NASA and the Executive Branch for proposing to increase spending for science, technology, and sustainable economic development in space; however, we believe the President’s 2011 budget request would leave the job only partly done.”

We need to support a space program (human and robotic) that goes beyond low-Earth orbit. 

We need a space program that will bring the inner solar system into our economic sphere and extend human presence throughout the solar system in accordance with U.S. national space policy, by adopting a long-term vision including power and materials from space.

The confluence of interests necessary to establish and maintain a national Space Policy is forged from a potent blend of promise, political interest, and economic wisdom … the promise of new real wealth — in terms of knowledge, resources, and technology;  the political interest of the body politic, and those that serve it; and last, but not least, the economic wisdom to choose goals and missions sufficiently compelling that they can and will endure across multiple administrations.

The proposed NASA 2011 Budget is pregnant with opportunity, laying forth a cornucopia of constructive endeavors in a reasoned programmatic framework while at the same time seeking to strike a balance between proposed funding and the programs to be carried forward. 

That said, technology development without requirements, without a set of missions that it is intended to enable, runs the risk of irrelevance if not being deemed a squandering of resources.

The challenge before us is to establish policy that sustains the confluence of interests necessary to achieve the future we wish to see come to pass … people living and working in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity.

We need to support and expect a bright future in space, and the private sector cannot do it all alone.

Our space endeavors, government and commercial, provide strategic capabilities that define us as a nation and help maintain our leadership in the peaceful exploration and development of space.  

We need a comprehensive space program worthy of a nation willing to lead on the space frontier.  

Accordingly, whatever restructuring of NASA’s future is sustained and funded by this Congress, and those that come later, should be held to the standard of goals and destinations that foster the expansion of human activities and civilization into space beyond low Earth orbit. 

Ad Astra!

- Gary P. Barnhard

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