Space Access Update is Space Access Society's when-there's-news publication. Space Access Society's goal is to promote affordable access to space for all, period. We believe in concentrating our limited resources at whatever point looks like yielding maximum progress toward this goal.
For the moment, our main focus is on supporting the government's "SSRT" (Single Stage Rocket Technology) program, DC-X and its recently funded followon, SX-2. Space Access Update is thus for the moment largely about the technology and politics of DC-X and SX-2, though we also cover the subject of reusable SSTO (Single Stage To Orbit) policy in general.
We anticipate a change of focus soon if all goes well. Once SX-2 startup is (with your help!) assured, we plan to begin working on establishment of a healthy second X-rocket development track at NASA, and on getting development of suitable engines started for the fully reusable orbital transports that should come after SX-2 and NASA's X-rocket.
With luck and hard work, we should see fully reusable SSTO testbeds flying to orbit toward the end of this decade, with production ships a-building shortly thereafter. Join us and help us make this happen.
Henry Vanderbilt, Editor, Space Access Update
[For more info on Space Access Society or on the DC-X/SSTO video we have for sale, write us at 4855 E Warner Rd #24-150, Phoenix AZ 85044, or email hvanderbilt@bix.com. Please forgive any delay in our reply; we're a couple weeks behind in answering non life-or-death email right now.]
On Wednesday, June 15th, DC-X was run through a full systems check ground test, culminating in a 4.8 second firing of all four Pratt & Whitney RL-10-A5 engines. The peak throttle setting of 30% thrust was held for just over one second. All of DC-X's systems performed to requirements, and the next test should be the first flight of DC-X since funding ran out last October.
The previous (Saturday June 11th) ground test attempt saw the engine monitoring system shut down one engine, similar to what happened last fall in the (pad-aborted) last attempt to fly before funds ran out. Analysis of Saturday's engine shutdown led to a couple of fixes being made. The fueling sequence was altered to avoid any chance of nitrogen ice building up in a valve mechanism, and the engine start sequence was modified to get a more positive start. The fixes seem to have done the job.
DC-X was tentatively scheduled to fly at 9 am local time, Saturday June 18th, but that has been cancelled, as best we can tell due to a combination of a test range scheduling conflict and the test crew wanting a little more time to get ready to fly.
The new schedule, still not carved in stone, calls for the first reflight at 9 am local (Mountain) time on Monday June 20th. The next two flights are still planned as a three-day turnaround test; tentative dates for them are now Monday June 27th and Thursday June 30th.
The first reflight is likely to be closed to just about everyone, we suspect because the test crew will have enough to worry about without visitors getting in their hair. The second reflight we hear will have some media types in attendance, though still a very limited number -- the project simply doesn't have the funds to take care of anything like the numbers who attended the second flight last September. We'd guess though that there will be TV coverage, more likely clips on the evening news than live.
The House Appropriations Committee's Defense Subcommittee (John Murtha, D PA Chairman) added $50 million for SX-2 in its markup of the House FY'95 Defense Appropriations bill during this past week. This is very good news, as this money is unlikely to be removed again when the full HAC does its markup, or when the bill is worked over by the full House. We are very likely to go into both DOD Authorizations and Appropriations conferences with substantial sums for SX-2 in the House versions.
Meanwhile over in the Senate, it turns out that the Senate Armed Services Committee did in fact approve language that would zero funding for DOD SX-2, and transfer the (still roadblocked in ARPA) $35 million we fought for last year to NASA. We of course approve of NASA getting into the SSTO tech development business, but not at the expense of the existing DOD effort.
The good news is that SASC did this on an 11-10 vote, and some of the Senators who voted against us can probably be persuaded to change their minds before the House-Senate conference meets to hammer out the final version of this bill, sometime in late July.
We'll be going over legislative strategy in detail in the next issue of Space Access Update. Meanwhile it's late, and we figure y'all don't want to wait for us to get our act together on that before you see the revised DC-X flight schedule info.
That's all for tonight.
Henry Vanderbilt "Reach low orbit and you're halfway to anywhere Space Access Society in the Solar System." 4855 E Warner Rd #24-150 - Robert A. Heinlein Phoenix, AZ 85044 602 431-9283 voice/fax "You can't get there from here." (hvanderbilt@bix.com) - Anonymous -- Permission granted to redistribute the full and unaltered text of this -- -- piece, including the copyright and this notice. All other rights -- -- reserved. In other words, intact crossposting is strongly encouraged. --