An artist rendering of Boeing's CST-100. Credit: Boeing

Boeing is building a capsule to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station and to future private space stations. Yesterday, at a media briefing, the company presented designs of its cone-shaped spacecraft, which is bigger than the Apollo capsule of the 60s and 70s, but smaller than NASA's possible future crew capsule, Orion. Boeing also announced a partnership with Bigelow Aerospace, a private company that is building inflatable space habitats with plans to launch the first private space station by 2014.

Boeing's new spacecraft, called CST-100, is being built through an $18 million award from NASA under the Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Space Act Agreement, which is intended to stimulate the private sector to develop human spaceflight capabilities. The company has a long history with NASA, and hopes to be the first private company to build a capsule that could take cargo and astronauts to the space station, helping fill the gap when the shuttles retire. But Boeing is not the only company with such ambitious plans. Orbital Sciences Corporation and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) are also in the midst of developing similar designs with funding from NASA.

While NASA could be a good customer for Boeing, servicing the government agency alone would probably not support the business case for the vehicle. So the company's partnership with Bigelow, which is in need of a transportation system to its space-based habitats and future space station, is essential.

According to Aviationweek.com,

Bigelow has at least two variants of space stations it is working on. Pricing for utilization would be $79 million - $95 million per year under a four-year lease, depending on the station's size, plus just under $25 million per seat for each crew member, Bigelow says. Three-quarters of Bigelow's revenue would go toward space transportation providers.

And on the CST-100 design:

An abort system would involve a "pusher" system, rather than the traditional arrangement of small rockets that pull a manned vehicle away from a launcher in distress, Boeing officials say. The advantage is that if the abort system is not used, the fuel would then be available for maneuvering in orbit.

The CST-100 could stay on orbit as long as seven months. After returning to Earth via ballistic re-entry while protected by an ablative shield, it would be slowed by parachutes to settle on dry land. The capsule could then receive a new heat shield and be refurbished to fly again. The CST-100 is being designed for a life of up to 10 missions for each vehicle.

Boeing did not announce when the spacecraft would be ready to fly, and it is not certain which rocket it will launch on--the company is designing it to be compatible with a variety: United Launch Alliances' Delta IV and Atlas V, and SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.

Credit: China National Space Administration

China has disclosed plans to begin construction of a space station, starting with the launch an unmanned module, called Tiangong-1, next year. Xinhua News reports that several other spacecraft will dock with Tiangong-1 (or the "Heavenly Palace"), to create an orbiting habitat for humans.

The Tiangong-1 module weighs 8.5 tons, and it will launch aboard a modified version of China's Long March 2F rocket, which has been assembled and is ready for testing. Over the next two years three different Shenzhou spacecraft, each carrying two to three humans, will dock with Tiangong-1, said the report. Chinese crew members will live and conduct zero-gravity experiments inside the combined modules.

Tiangong-1 was originally scheduled to launch by the end of this year, but was delayed for technical reasons. It is part of a larger project, called Project 921, that was started by the Chinese space program in 1992.

The space station plans were first revealed in 2008, when China conducted its third human spaceflight and its first spacewalk. Completion of the space station will be the third and final phase of Project 921, and China says it will be the beginning of international cooperation. The completed station will weight less than 100 tons and will be smaller than the Soviet Mir Space Station.

The Xinhua News report also discusses China's plans for a rocket-production base in the northern municipality of Tianjin:

With a total investment of 10 billion yuan and covering an area of more than one million square meters, the base would be capable of producing 12 carrier rockets each year once completed, [Liang Xiaohong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and Party chief of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology] said.

The base will be able to produce two carrier rockets each year after the first stage of construction is completed next year.

Liang said experts are currently developing China's new generation of carrier rockets, the Long March V, in the Tianjin base, adding that research on the initial model of the large-thrust rocket is already underway.

Astronaut glove. Credit: NASA

Astronauts working in space must wear protective, pressurized suits that also allow them to easily maneuver, so to repair satellites or add solar panels to the space station without constraints. One of the most essential elements of the suit is the glove.

As part of its Centennial Challenge Program, a prize program for the "citizen inventor," NASA is challenging inventors to develop a new astronaut glove. According to NASA:

Like an inflated balloon, the fingers of the gloves resist the effort to bend them. Astronauts must fight that pressure with every movement of their hand, which is exhausting and sometimes results in injury. Furthermore, the joints of the glove are subject to wear that can lead to life-threatening leaks. The Astronaut Glove Challenge seeks improvements to glove design that reduce the effort needed to perform tasks in space and improve the durability of the glove. In this challenge, competitors demonstrate their glove design by performing a range of tasks with the glove in an evacuated chamber. The gloves are also tested to ensure that they do not leak.

Two teams--Ted Southern and Peter Homer, who won the 2007 challenge and started his own company to produce his design--entered the 2009 competition, and have already undergone testing. While both contenders' gloves did not leak and passed the burst test, Homer's glove reached 20 psi, and Southern's glove maxed out at 17 psi. The competitors also had to insert their glove in a box and perform 30 minutes of exercises, which included pinching and gripping, and other manipulations that tested dexterity and flexibility. Judges will be scoring the performance.

The results are not yet in, but both designs were deemed "good" by NASA. The agency could possibly incorporate the glove designs into it's own design, called the Constellation Spacesuit, which will be used to return astronauts to the moon and build a lunar habitat.

Testing a glove design in the "glove box". Credit: NASA