The European Space Agency's PRIDE

The European Space Agency's (ESA) unmanned Intermediate eXperimental Vehicle (IXV) space shuttle/spaceplane, part of its Programme for Reusable In-orbit Demonstrator for Europe (PRIDE), was on display last week at the Paris Air and Space Show.  Showing the wear of a February test (see above), the spaceplane represents ESA's answer to the U.S. Air Force's X37B unmanned space shuttle, though with more science and less intrigue. 

Under PRIDE, ESA's is attempting to design a space vehicle that can provide all of the following:  

- Reusable launchers stages (lower and upper),

- Robotic exploration (for example, sample return from Mars or asteroid),

- Servicing of orbital infrastructures (for example, International Space Station),

- Servicing of future generation satellites (for example, in-orbit refuelling or disposal),

- Microgravity experiments (for example, optimum time/cost ratio),

- Earth sciences (for example, high-altitude atmospheric research), and

- Earth observation (for example, crisis monitoring).

That is quite a list.  And, of course, these type of spaceplane and reusable rockets are the focus of multiple projects around the world.  For instance, in addition to SpaceX's Falcon, earlier this month the European Airbus Defence and Space unveiled the Advanced Expendable Launcher with Innovative engine Economy (Adeline), though it will not be ready until 2025-2030. And Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is developing the reusable rocket New Shepard (shown below). 

So the race is on and future missions and governments funding those missions will be the winners. 

The Passing of Leonard Nimoy

Unlike the movies, the loss of Leonard Nimoy is final.  Mr. Nimoy passed away yesterday at the age of 83. And while he led a diverse life, he will always be Star Trek's Spock in the eyes of most of us left behind. Here is a little bit about his early life from a story in The Washington Post:

Leonard Simon Nimoy was born in Boston on March 26, 1931, to parents who had been peasants in what is now Ukraine. His father became a barber and urged his sons — Leonard and an older brother, Melvin — toward stable careers.

The boys grew up in a Yiddish-speaking household and attended Orthodox Jewish services, which became an unexpected influence on Mr. Nimoy’s role as Spock. His “Vulcan salute” — made by parting the middle and ring fingers of each hand — was based on a hand gesture he noticed while attending a synagogue as an 8-year-old.

So now we know where that ever famous gesture originated.

NASA has issued its own tribute with the photo below showing the Star Trek crew in front of the shuttle Enterprise in 1976:

RIP Leonard Nimoy. So many of us at NASA were inspired by Star Trek. Boldly go...go.nasa.gov/10F4Ci0 

And we can expect to hear and see a lot more about Leonard Nimoy in the weeks to come.  SyFy is planning to dedicate five hours of programming to Mr. Nimoy tomorrow. 

If imagination is the origination of much exploration, then Mr. Nimoy was a key part of the space program we see today and the dreams we have for tomorrow.