Military space plane nears launch from Cape
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is expected to roll to its Cape Canaveral launch pad Tuesday in preparation for a Wednesday morning liftoff with the Air Force's X-37B space plane.
A precise launch window for the semi-classified mission is still to be released. A longer launch "period" opens at 10:45 a.m. and extends four hours.
The mission will be the X-37B program's fourth, and first since moving its base of operations into two former space shuttle orbiter hangars at Kennedy Space Center.
COVERAGE: Join Florida Today for live coverage on Wednesday (May 20) beginning at 10 a.m.
Boeing operates two of the robotic space planes, which weigh 11,000 pounds at launch and measure about 29 feet long and more than nine feet tall, with nearly 15-foot wingspans.
While the overall mission is secret, the Air Force has disclosed that a propulsion experiment and a NASA materials science experiment are on board this flight.
Also launching on the Atlas V is a citizen-funded CubeSat developed by The Planetary Society, called LightSail.
The satellite, and a second version expected to launch next year, will demonstrate navigating a spacecraft using only the sun's radiation, or solar wind.
Launch competition
For the first time in more than a decade, the Air Force plans to open to competition a contract to launch a national security satellite.
SpaceX is expected to bid against incumbent United Launch Alliance for the contract to launch a next-generation Global Positioning System III satellite, for which the Air Force recently released a draft solicitation.
"Our intent is to reintroduce competition while maintaining our focus on mission success in support of national security space launches," Lt. Gen. Sam Greaves, Air Force Program Executive Office for Space, said in a statement.
The Air Force said the GPS III mission was the first of nine competitive launch service contracts planned under the first phase of its strategy welcoming "new entrants" like SpaceX into the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program.
The EELV program helped foster the development of Boeing's Delta IV rocket and Lockheed Martin's Atlas V, which in 2006 merged under the joint venture United Launch Alliance. ULA ever since has been the only company certified to launch high-value national security missions.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket isn't certified yet, but is expected to earn it in June.
While awaiting that milestone, the rocket last week won NASA's blessing to launch a sea level-monitoring satellite from California this summer. The Category 2 certification makes the Falcon 9 eligible to launch for moderate-risk missions.
After Apollo?
Space policy expert John Logsdon on Monday will discuss his new book, "After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program," with Kennedy Space Center employees.
The book examines how the Nixon administration responded to the question of what the nation should do after the first successful moon landing in 1969, launched from KSC.
Logsdon is professor emeritus at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs, where he founded the Space Policy Institute. He served on the Columbia Accident Investigation Board.
Drag on nears flight
An unmanned SpaceX Dragon capsule early Thursday is scheduled to depart the International Space Station for a plunge through the atmosphere and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California.
The Dragon will return with more than 3,000 pounds of science experiments, hardware and supplies. It is the only spacecraft flying today that can return any significant quantity of cargo to Earth, as all other cargo vehicles burn up during atmospheric reentry.
Student miners compete at KSC
Student-built, dirt-digging robots will test their mettle this week in a NASA-sponsored competition at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
Over five days beginning Monday, nearly 50 teams of undergraduate and graduate students will compete in the sixth NASA Robotics Mining Competition, in which remote-controlled robots will simulate traversing and excavating soil on Mars.
The winner will scoop up the most simulated Martian soil and deposit it in a bin within 10 minutes, earning a $5,000 team scholarship.
Competitors include the Florida Institute of Technology, University of Central Florida, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, University of Florida, University of Miami and Florida International University.
Robotic mining is one of the specialties at Kennedy Space Center's Swamp Works division.
Earth odyssey
Take in high-definition NASA images of Earth with an orchestral accompaniment at "An Earth Odyssey," the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra's 2014-15 season finale at 7 p.m. next Saturday at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy's Scott Center for the Performing Arts, located at 5625 Holy Trinity Drive, Melbourne.
"We are showcasing amazing HD footage from NASA's immense catalog of Earth and pairing it with the powerful music of Richard Strauss," said Artistic Director Aaron Collins. "After seeing this, you will never think of our planet quite the same way again."
Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door, or is free for those 18 or under or with a college student ID. Visit www.SpaceCoastSymphony.org or call 855-252-7276 for details.
Contact Dean at 321-242-3668 or jdean@floridatoday.com. And follow on Twitter at @flatoday_jdean and on Facebook at facebook.com/jamesdeanspace.