GOES-O Satellite Successfully Launched

The latest Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite, GOES-O, soared into space yesterday after a successful launch from Space Launch Complex 37 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The GOES-O spacecraft lifted off at 6:51 p.m. EDT on a Delta IV rocket. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's GOES-O satellite will improve weather forecasting and monitor environmental events around the world. The satellite is the second to be launched in the GOES N series of geostationary environmental weather satellites.

"All indications are that GOES-O is in a normal orbit, with all spacecraft systems functioning properly," says Andre Dress, GOES deputy project manager at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "We are proud of our support teams and pleased with the performance of the Delta IV launch vehicle."

Approximately 4 hours and 21 minutes after launch, the spacecraft separated from the launch vehicle. The Universal Space Network Western Australia tracking site in Dongara monitored the spacecraft separation.

On July 7, GOES-O will be placed in its final orbit and renamed GOES-14. Approximately 24 days after launch, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems will turn engineering control over to NASA. About five months later, NASA will transfer operational control of GOES-14 to NOAA. The satellite will be checked out, stored in orbit and available for activation should one of the operational GOES satellites degrade or exhaust its fuel.

NASA contracted with Boeing to build and launch the GOES-O spacecraft. NASA's Launch Services Program at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida supported the launch in an advisory role. NOAA manages the GOES program, establishes requirements, provides all funding and distributes environmental satellite data for the United States.

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X-48B Blended Wing Body Flight Tests Enter Second Phase

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center and The Boeing Co. are expanding the flight envelope for the X-48B blended wing body research aircraft.

Flight tests with the 500-pound, remotely piloted test vehicle are now in a second phase involving higher speed regimes. The 21-foot wing span test aircraft is flying without its slats deployed. Slats are flight control surfaces on the leading edges of wings which, when extended, allow an aircraft to take off, fly and land at slower speeds.

Potential benefits of the aircraft under investigation include increased volume for carrying capacity, efficient aerodynamics for reduced fuel burn and possibly significant reductions in noise due to propulsion integration options. In these initial flights, the principal focus is to validate the research on the aerodynamics and controllability of the shape, including comparisons of the flight data with the extensive wind-tunnel database.

X-48B flight testing is taking place at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. NASA Dryden is providing critical support to a Boeing-led project team that also includes the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory in Dayton, Ohio, and Cranfield Aerospace Ltd., of Bedford, England.

"The first flight in the slats-retracted configuration marked another milestone in aviation history and the performance of the X-48 aircraft continues to exceed our expectations," says Tim Risch, NASA X-48B project manager. "This flight milestone reinforced the productive relationship of
the NASA, Boeing and Air Force team and NASA's continued commitment to developing the concepts, tools and technologies for the aircraft of the future."

"We want to fully understand the aerodynamics of the blended wing body design all the way up to and beyond stall, so that we can learn how to fly a blended wing body aircraft as safely as any other large transport aircraft with a conventional tail," says Norm Princen, Boeing's X-48B chief
engineer. "This latest phase of the flight testing is one more step in the process and we are looking forward to progressing on to more risky flight maneuvers in the months ahead."

Initial envelope expansion flights of the aircraft, known as Block 1, consisted of 11 flights and incorporated slow-speed testing with bolt-on leading edge slats in the extended position. Block 2 flights began on April 4. The X-48B first flew on July 20, 2007.

Now with a clean leading edge, the subscale aircraft, dubbed Skyray, takes off and lands at speeds of about 75 knots compared to 60 knots in Block 1. Data will be taken up to a maximum speed of 118 knots.

At least eight flights are scheduled for Block 2. A total of six phases are slated for the project, each progressively increasing the level of risk. The final phase, Block 6, is designed to push the aircraft's flight parameters by testing the departure limiter, a critical part of the flight
control software that is designed as a safety feature to prevent the aircraft from departing controlled flight.

NASA's participation in the blended wing body research effort is focused on fundamental, advanced flight dynamics and structural design concepts within the Subsonic Fixed Wing Project, part of the Fundamental Aeronautics Program managed by NASA's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate in Washington.

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NASA Awards Contracts for Design Study of Lunar Landing Craft

NASA's Constellation Program has selected five space-related companies to receive contract awards for a 210-day study to independently evaluate NASA's in-house design concept for a lunar lander that will deliver four astronauts to the surface of the moon by 2020.

The awards total approximately $1.5 million, with a maximum individual award of $350,000, NASA says. The study recommendations will be used to increase the technical maturity of the existing design in preparation for the development of vehicle requirements.

The Constellation Program is building NASA's next generation fleet of spacecraft -- including the Ares I and Ares V rockets, the Orion crew capsule and the Altair lunar lander -- to send humans beyond low Earth orbit and back to the moon. NASA plans to establish a human outpost on the
moon through a successive series of lunar missions.

"These studies will provide valuable input for developing a sound set of requirements for the Altair lunar lander," says Jeff Hanley, the Constellation Program manager at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston. "Industry collaboration will provide insight for our planning and early
design efforts for the spacecraft."

The selected companies are Andrews Space of Seattle, The Boeing Co. of Houston, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company of Denver, Northrop Grumman Corporation of El Segundo, Calif., and Odyssey Space Research of Houston.

The companies will evaluate the current in-house design, propose safety improvements and recommend industry-government partnering arrangements, according to NASA.

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Sandia, Boeing Collaborate on Hydrogen Aircraft Project

Sandia National Laboratories and the Boeing Corporation will collaborate on a project to investigate hydrogen aircraft technology, specifically a hydrogen-powered fuel cell for providing emergency power to aircraft.

Fuel cells are touted as emission-free and more friendly to the environment and a popular way to deal with climate change if they burn hydrogen but hydrogen must be extracted from water trough electrolysis.

The work will be conducted under an existing umbrella Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) signed in 2002.

Boeing is the largest aerospace company in the world and the United States’ leading exporter. It is NASA’s largest contractor and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft. Boeing is also home to the Boeing Phantom Works advanced R&D unit.

Sandia is a major Department of Energy lab. Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.


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