By Michael Mackowski I have the privilege of working in the space industry as a power subsystem engineer for Orbital Sciences in Gilbert, Arizona. On February 11, 2013 the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (aka Landsat 8) spacecraft was launched and I was at the NASA Goddard mission operations center monitoring performance of this satellite that Orbital built for NASA and the [...]
Editorial
The Columbia Disaster and Space Program Safety
The sixth issue of Space Safety Magazine is dedicated to one of the most tragic events in human spaceflight: the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia and its crew. As you will learn from the Special Report “Remembering Columbia,” the Shuttle was destroyed upon reentry by a flux of super-heated air coming through a breach in the reinforced carbon-carbon left wing leading edge [...]
The International Space Safety Foundation Advisory Council
Dear Reader, The International Space Safety Foundation (ISSF) is a recently established US based non-profit organization dedicated to furthering international cooperation and scientific progress in the field of space safety. The final aim of the Foundation is to pursue the advancement of space safety on a worldwide scale and to contribute to making space missions, vehicles, stations, extra-terrestrial habitats, equipment, and payloads safer for the general public, ground personnel, astronauts, and space travellers. Concurrently, the Foundation is [...]
IAASS Conference 2013 “Safety is Not an Option”: Call for Papers
Welcome back to Space Safety Magazine! We are glad to announce that the sixth IAASS international space safety conference “Safety is Not an Option” will be held 21-23 May, 2013, at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. The conference, organized in cooperation with the International Space Safety Foundation (ISSF), Mc-Gill University, and the Canadian Space Agency, is an invitation to reflect and exchange information on a number space safety and [...]
Building a Space Safety Institute
Welcome back to Space Safety Magazine! Space safety is about manned as well as unmanned missions. It is not only about space vehicle design and astronaut safety, but includes spaceport operations; space traffic management; ground, atmospheric, and on-orbit pollution prevention; and safety of uninvolved public during launch and reentry operations. Space safety is also about specific technical legal, insurance, and regulatory matters. Finally, it is a national as well as and international matter. [...]
Cooperating with China: Space Safety is the Key!
China’s space activities and intentions are seen by some military analysts as not sufficiently transparent, and the dual-use nature of most space technology compounds the uncertainties and slows down cooperative efforts. However, cooperation among all spacefaring nations is essential to ensure safety and sustainability of space operations. Confidence and communication with China could be developed through a high profile and mutually beneficial program. Such a program could be the development and demonstration of orbital [...]
Former Astronauts Urge US Congress to Fund NASA’s Commercial Crew Program
In an open letter on November 7, 23 former NASA astronauts urged the U.S. Congressional Appropriations subcommittees to fund the U.S. Commercial Crew Program. Read the full letter below: Monday, November 7, 2011 The Honorable Barbara Mikulski Chair, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies 503 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable [...]
Welcome to the First Issue of the Space Safety Magazine
Dear Reader, Welcome to the first issue of the Space Safety Magazine, which is the joint “voice” of the IAASS (International Association for the Advancement of Space Safety) and of the ISSF (International Space Safety Foundation). The Space Safety Magazine supersedes the IAASS Newsletter that you were familiar with and enjoyed. There is an important change of scope and target audience for the magazine. The main objective of the IAASS Newsletter was [...]
