SpaceX and Boeing win the Commercial Crew contracts as expected

The spacecraft will be SpaceX's Dragon and Boeing's CST-100 flying on the companies' own launch vehicles Falcon 9 and Atlas V (by ULA - with Lockheed) respectively. 

Sierra Nevada's mini-shuttle atop an Atlas V proposal did not win, but they want to continue to develop it, even without the NASA contract. 

USAtoday.com link:

Worth up to $6.8 billion combined, the contracts include at least one crewed test flight to the station, then two to six operational flights of four-person crews.

"Today we're one step closer to launching our astronauts from U.S. soil on American spacecraft and ending the nation's sole reliance on Russia by 2017."

NASA awarded Boeing significantly more money, up to $4.2 billion compared to $2.6 billion for SpaceX. That apparently reflects the higher cost of Boeing's proposal, as NASA said the proposals covered the same amount of work.

The savings in launch costs already seen in SpaceX even without the reusable program's cost reductions seems to have been translated into commercial crew costs as well.

"Boeing has been part of every American human space flight program, and we're honored that NASA has chosen us to continue that legacy," said John Elbon, Boeing vice president and general manager for Space Exploration, in a statement.
Added SpaceX CEO Elon Musk: "SpaceX is deeply honored by the trust NASA has placed in us. We welcome today's decision and the mission it advances with gratitude and seriousness of purpose."

NASA would not say how many proposals it received or discuss their details, saying it was still debriefing the companies.
The agency would not confirm if the new commercial spacecraft offer a significantly better value per seat than the $70 million NASA is paying for Russian Soyuz spacecraft.

 In a surprise to many, Boeing has partnered with Blue Origin, the startup founded by Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos, to develop an engine that could potentially replace the Atlas V's Russian-made main engine, whose continued availability is considered a risk.

Video of announcement:

Information on the spacecraft:

I've already posted about the Dragon one here before (video of reveal with both physical mockup, animations of launch cycle included and Elon Musk - it's really cool!). 

Space.com link - includes videos of both launch vehicle and spacecraft's launch cycle as well as interior/layouts.

At first I thought astroid mining companies were laughable..

but then I was convinced from their business cases.
Mind you, they're still going to be like at least 50 years before massive monies get raked in, and it all depends on someone getting those earth to orbit vehicles cheap and accessible. Personally I reckon 20 years before real profit gets raked in.

Planetary Resources website doesn't have much in depth info, though they were first, and do have 'le google executive investor', if that means anything.

If everything the sleek Deep Space Industries website says is true, then the business case for one of these really will be alright, but it all depends on increased customers in space, in the long-term. Which if humanity should expand, would be the logical necessary step. DSI seems a bit more open than PR and heck, it reminds me of RSI which is always a good thing (positive reinforcement ftw). Props to them for making the "Firefly" their first spacecraft =P And if that isn't an obvious enough reference, 300+m asteroids are apparently useful for hiding from Darth Vader and Reavers". Sign me up =)

Nice surprise to see Daniel Faber is actually part of the team, heard a talk when he introduced the project he's behind - Antarctic Broadband, which in the process of their main goal, will put a "A satellite ground station capability at ANU Mt Stromlo." and also use the new space R&D space (lol) that they built for projects like these.

It's interesting to note that they are both USA companies, and will most likely be subject to Space Export laws, which means I need that citizenship if I ever work there. But I'll worry about that later.

I wonder what people would think if you meet an 'asteroid miner' and if companies like BHP will invest.
"So what do you do?"
"I mine asteroids."
"Oh, you mean on EVE? I've heard that's like, boringly grindy and tedious."
"No, like Armageddon Bruce Willis style. Except, I do the electronics and software, and no nukes... yet."


Vod:
Lol, the space colony animations reminded me of Macross and Gundam. Let's hope Gundam Earth VS Colonies wars never happens.

Russian Satellite Hit by Debris from Chinese Anti-Satellite Test [space.com]

Space.com story

So I feel like we're past the point where we can be passive about the problem and expect spacejunk to be negligible and avoidable.
Either PLA wanted to make space access harder for everyone once it secured manned spaceflight, or they have bigger egos than brains, or they don't understand sustainability. That graphic with the debris and ISS orbits is pretty freaky (below).

Also the tracking data seems to have large uncertainties or the statistics aren't to be trusted. -It's the 2nd time a mid-low chance of collision actually happened (there were higher probabilities of collision and closer aproaches by other objects each day).

 Also, ISS has manoeuvred as a result of avoiding this exact debris cloud's object.

If you want to learn more on the subject while being entertained, a good starting point is this movie:

http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/ce/Museum/Space/Programs/Omnimax/SpaceJunk3D/e_SpaceJunk3D.htm

This theatre highly recommended. Only criticism I have is that them red-cyan "goggles" make your FOV significantly smaller, making you have to look around a little sometimes. Non-3D shows have the advantage of filling your FOV with planetarium screen goodness, especially if you're at the back =) Also, any student ID is valid (Y)

 

Pong Sats on weather balloons

http://www.space.com/17589-pongsat-ping-pong-balls-space-balloon.html

How did I not find this on kickstarter?

Obligatory iFrame