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For Release: Dec. 20, 2001

Release: 01-378
 

December 2001 Space Launch Initiative Media Update

Space Launch Initiative Executive Management Council meets to discuss program progress, direction

More than 50 NASA, contractor and university leaders of NASA’s Space Launch Initiative (SLI) met Thursday, Dec. 6, to explore how new technologies and various launch architectures under development today will help open the space frontier for continued scientific exploration and economic expansion.

Members of the Space Launch Initiative’s Executive Management Council assembled at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.  The group consisted of NASA Headquarters officials, the directors of NASA’s field centers and of Chief Executive Officers and other high-ranking officials of companies and universities with SLI contracts.  They heard an overview of the program’s progress to date from NASA’s SLI manager Dennis Smith, and discussed upcoming milestones.  They discussed what is needed to make space flight significantly safer and less expensive — two primary goals for the Space Launch Initiative — and how they can work together effectively toward that end.

The meeting — the first Executive lead meeting since contract awards were made last May — was viewed by the participants as a valuable communications forum. The group agreed to meet every six months.

 “This program is critical to our nation’s future in space.  It’s important that aerospace leaders meet face-to-face to chart the course for this effort,” said Art Stephenson, director of the Marshall Center, which leads the Space Launch Initiative for NASA. “The companies partnering in SLI are pushing technology frontiers.  As partners, it is essential that we actively communicate because each technology being developed can affect all the others needed to develop a launch system.  That’s why we are doing our homework, developing the technologies first.”  Stephenson emphasized the importance of proper execution of contracts and encouraged industry and university leaders to get personally involved.

The Space Launch Initiative is a research and development effort designed to substantially improve safety and reduce the high cost of space travel. The program’s ultimate goal is to reduce the cost of launch to low earth orbit to $1,000 per pound of payload and improve safety to loss of crew to 1 in 10,000 flights.

These cutting-edge advancements will be used for future government and commercial launch systems and space transportation operations.

The Space Launch Initiative will lead to the development of a common set of alternative technologies that NASA will make available to all U.S. companies.

For more information, contact June Malone of the Marshall Center Media Relations Department at June.Malone@msfc.nasa.gov or (256) 544-0034. 

Fly-back boosters being studied for next launch system

NASA researchers are taking a detailed look at novel launch configurations as part of the agency's Space Launch Initiative (SLI).  One concept features a fully reusable, two-stage vehicle with a winged first stage booster.  After launch, the winged booster would separate — at a predetermined altitude — from the main vehicle and fly back to the launch site for reuse. 

Long before the first liftoff, researchers must thoroughly understand the intricacies of two winged vehicles separating from each other at high speed and at high temperature conditions — in a safe and efficient manner.  To this end, teams from NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.; Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas; and the Marshall Center are taking the first steps toward understanding the fundamental physics of multiple wing-body separation through computer analyses and wind tunnel testing. 

For more information, contact Keith Henry, at NASA’s Langley Research Center at h.k.henry@larc.nasa.gov or (757) 864-6120.

Two recent news releases issued include:

Note to Editors/News Directors:  Interviews and photos supporting the Space Launch Initiative are available to news media representatives by contacting June Malone of the Marshall Center Media Relations Department at (256) 544-0034. For more information, visit the Space Launch Initiative on the Web at:

http://www.slinews.com/ or http://www.spacetransportation.com/

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