Aviation Week has published a terrific article on the Shuttle Discovery flight, STS-131, that will take the innovative microgravity research NanoRacks platform and two "Cubelabs" to the International Space Station next month.

The flight is more than a simple delivery of hardware built right here in Kentucky, exciting as that is, but "could be a harbinger of how the U.S. hopes to do business in space in the years to come."

In addition to space station work, NanoRacks also also discussion with a other space companies about the use of the standard interface across several different space vehicles, orbital and suborbital, "so the customer can concentrate on developing the experiment or other hardware to be flown."

That's key. A focus on something other than the sheer technical challenge of getting to and staying in space represents an exciting new development in the commercialization of space. Working with NanoRacks, Kentucky Space is not only carving out a place for Kentucky-built and integrated suborbital and orbital payloads, but participating directly in the growth of space as a business frontier.

The managing partner for NanoRacks, Jeffrey Manber, also spoke on camera recently while in Lexington about the upcoming flight. Please check it out.

Wayne

Recently released by the Jet Propulsion Lab, this video is the result of work by an amateur researcher working with surface data produced by the Cassini mission. Such terrain bears strong similarities to the Karst topography of Utah, and might even suggest caves below the surface.

For Kentucky Space readers interested in the concept of "citizen science," astronomer Dr. Pamela Gay will be at the Kentucky Center on Friday, April 2 for a brief lecture sponsored by the IdeaFestival that will touch on this new phenomenon. Astronomy and planetary sciences are areas where amateurs can, and do, make significant scientific contributions. Follow @ideafestival on Twitter for more.

Wayne

Uploaded by University of Kentucky student Alex Clements, this video features several Kentucky Space students and two faculty advisors involved with Sub-orbital Cubesat Experimental Mission, or "SOCEM," and offers an overview of why Kentucky Space will be flying ADAMASat on March 11. The launch window opens at 0700 ET.

The launch is a unique marriage of Cubesats with the sounding rocket program at the NASA Wallops facility, the first, perhaps, of many such flights.

As mentioned in the video, free software is available for download to amateur radio enthusiasts wanting to collect packets from ADAMASat during its time in space.

Wayne