FLORIDA SPACErePORT

November 30 News Items

2009-11-30T19:39:00.003-05:00

Space Jobs Go Wanting (Source: Space Daily)
The average age of current space industry professionals has risen steadily since the days of Apollo. today, it is not unusual to see many positions filled with post-65 year old grandparents who have the experience and knowledge needed to compete in a very-competitive international space environment. It has come to our attention that there are literally hundreds of professional positions available in the space industry that cannot be filled. At a time when there are millions of people out of work due to the worldwide recession the space industry seems to be booming with projects, contracts and a variety of other activities that require space professionals with some experience in all levels of organization.

So, where are these very essential people? This simple answer is that there are not enough space professionals who have the training and experience needed to do the required work. All of the qualified people that we know are working, and they are working very hard, putting in long hours and making sacrifices to try and get the many funded space projects completed. What is wrong with this industry? During the 1960s and 70s aerospace companies were notoriously poor employers. One day, thousands of people would be laid off and the next day thousands would be hired. Space professionals had to be mobile and expect to change jobs every two or three years. Click here to view the article. (11/30)

Land-Launch Zenit Rocket Launches with Communications Satellite (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
A new satellite to broadcast video and data services to Russia and the Middle East began a six-hour journey to geosynchronous transfer orbit Monday, following a middle-of-the-night blastoff from Kazakhstan aboard a Land Launch Zenit rocket. (11/30)

Presto! Black Hole Creates a Galaxy (Source: Space.com)
Astronomers have long wondered which came first, the black hole or the galaxy around it. The leading theory holds that the two co-evolve, starting small and building over time. But colossal black holes may zap galaxies into existence from scratch, new observations suggest. Astronomers recently observed a peculiar large black hole that did not belong to a surrounding galaxy as expected. Until now, scientists thought that this black hole's host galaxy was merely shrouded in dust and rendered invisible to us.

The astronomers think the black hole is powering star formation in a nearby galaxy by spraying its jets of high-energy particles toward it. In fact, the quasar could have triggered the galaxy's formation in the first place when its energetic jets hit nearby clouds of gas. And as time goes on, the neighboring galaxy will likely grow to encompass the black hole at last. (11/30)

Com Dev Sees Lower Q4 Results (Source: Reuters)
Canadian satellite technology company Com Dev International said it expects to post lower fourth-quarter results, hurt by weakness in two of its domestic government programs. The global designer and manufacturer of space hardware subsystems expects to post net income of less than C$1 million, down from C$4.8 million last year. Com Dev forecast revenue between C$56 million and C$58 million, down from C$59.8 million a year ago. For 2010, the company forecast revenue growth of at least 10 percent. (11/30)

Space Station Crew Will Shrink to Two (Source: Space.com)
The International Space Station, which was crowded last week with 12 astronauts onboard, is set to go down to a crew of two Tuesday. Seven astronauts departed the station Nov. 25 on the space shuttle Atlantis, and now three more station residents are set to undock from the orbital outpost Monday to land their Russian Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan. The barebones remaining crew of two — NASA astronaut Jeff Williams and Russian cosmonaut Maxim Suraev — will be left to handle the space laboratory themselves for about three weeks. (11/30)

Russia's Space Industry Output to Grow 18% in 2009 (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday that the output of the national space industry in 2009 will increase by about 18%. Despite difficulties caused by the global financial crisis, "financing of the space industry has always been and will remain sufficient," Putin said at a meeting on the development of defense-related industries. He added that overall production growth in the defense industry would increase by up to 3.8%.

The prime minister also noted that the quality of production needs improvement. "Despite all our efforts, many Russian-made spacecraft are not as advanced as their foreign equivalents... and the R&D work takes longer than planned," Putin said. He urged improvements to production efficiency, and said priority projects must be tackled, including the Angara-family carrier rockets and the development of new communications, navigation and remote Earth sensing spacecraft.
Putin reiterated that in the past two years Russia's space industry enterprises have received and spent over 21 billion rubles ($609 million), and that half of those funds were allocated for technical upgrading of production facilities. (11/30)

Northrop VIIRS Ahead, Finally (Source: DOD Buzz)
After two years or so of claiming that they had the key sensor on one of the most troubled programs in recent Pentagon history it looks as if Northrop Grumman has finally found a fix. The program is NPOESS, the nation’s most sophisticated weather and climate satellite managed and funded by a tortured trio of the Pentagon, NOAA (at the Commerce Department) and NASA. The sensor is the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS). The essential news is that the sensor “completed testing in late October, including 112 days of thermal vacuum and post-thermal vacuum testing.” A key detail — VIIRS was put into a shipping container, clearly indicating this is not another case of, we have a fix on hand and it looks promising. (11/30)

Colorado's Ball Aerospace Lands NASA Contract (Source: Boulder Business Report)
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder will build an instrument for NASA that collects data about rainfall. Boulder-based Ball Aerospace will build a Global Precipitation Measurement Microwave Imager that is scheduled to launch in 2014. The instrument collects higher quality and more frequent data and allows for temporal sampling of rainfall accumulation as part of the Global Precipitation Measurement mission. The mission is part of an international effort to collect better precipitation data. (11/30)

Piece of Rocket Found Off New Zealand Coast (Source: TVNZ)
Part of New Zealand's first space rocket has been found bobbing in the ocean off the Coromandel Peninsula coast. A fisherman called researchers just after 10am to say he had seen the booster floating off Great Mercury Island. The rocket had reached an altitude of 100 kilometers before splashing down. Rocket Lab technical director Peter Beck says the booster will be closely studied. "We've only literally pulled it up a minute ago so we're just looking at things like the fins and noticing that the fins are all melted so that tells us we achieved velocity. We're learning a lot." (11/30)

Caltech Scientists Explain Puzzling Lake Asymmetry on Titan (Source: CalTech)
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) suggest that the eccentricity of Saturn's orbit around the sun may be responsible for the unusually uneven distribution of lakes over the northern and southern polar regions of the planet’s largest moon, Titan. Saturn's oblong orbit around the sun exposes different parts of Titan to different amounts of sunlight, which affect the cycles of precipitation and evaporation in those areas. Similar variations in Earth's orbit also drive long-term ice-age cycles on our planet. (11/30)

Ares Team Pressing Forward with Ares I-X Prime Flight, For Now (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
Despite apparently failing to be short listed for President Obama’s upcoming decision on the forward path for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, the Ares I teams are pushing forward with new plans to follow up the Ares I-X test flight with a 2012 to 2013 flight of Ares I-X Prime – a replacement test launch for the cancelled Ares I-Y flight. (11/30)

A New Recipe for Rocket Fuel (Source: MIT Technology Review)
Researchers are using aluminum and frozen water to make a propellant that could allow rockets to refuel on the moon or even Mars. Last week researchers from Purdue and Penn State University launched a rocket that uses an unconventional propellant: aluminum-ice. The fuel mix, dubbed ALICE, is made of nano-aluminum powder and frozen water, and gets its thrust from the chemical reaction between the ingredients. The propellant is environmentally friendly, and it could perhaps allow spacecraft to refuel at locations like the moon, where water has been discovered.

Using aluminum for fuel is not completely new--the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters use a small amount of the metal, as will NASA's Ares rocket. But the new work involves making aluminum one of the key ingredients by using nanoscale particles. These tiny particles, when ignited, combust more rapidly than larger particles, forcing more exhaust gases out of the metal and giving the rocket the necessary kick. (11/30)

Prized Shuttle 'Relics' Will be Tough 'Get' (Source: Florida Today)
The deadline for schools, museums and other organizations to get in their proposals to get some priceless artifacts from the soon-to-end space shuttle program has now passed. A real flight simulator used by astronauts in training, spacesuit gloves and parts, a piece of an orbiter wing panel and a host of other items are up for grabs once the space shuttle program no longer needs them -- sometime in the next two years. The competition to nab those display pieces will be tough because there are so many excellent aerospace and science exhibits across the United States. (11/30)

First Stop for Flexible Path? (Source: Space Review)
The "Flexible Path" option included in the Augustine committee report has attracted a lot of interest, but where exactly should that path begin? Dan Lester proposes using the Earth-Moon L1 point as a logical starting point for journeys beyond low Earth orbit. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1521/1 to view the article. (11/30)

From Fulton to Falcon (Source: Space Review)
Some people have become impatient with the pace of progress in the development of the commercial space industry. Bob Clarebrough looks back two centuries to the development of a different industry to find lessons of innovation for today's space entrepreneurs. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1520/1 to view the article. (11/30)

Just How Soft is NASA's Soft Power Going To Be? (Source: Space Review)
A joint statement issued during President Obama's visit to China earlier this month included a passage about cooperation in space exploration. Taylor Dinerman warns that the US should not appear to be too eager to work with the Chinese. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1519/1 to view the article. (11/30)

November 29 News Items

2009-11-29T20:48:00.002-05:00

Space Florida Updates Master Plan (Source: Parabolic Arc)
Florida needs to create a dedicated fund devoted to supporting space transportation in order to be competitive in the field, according to Space Florida’s newly updated Spaceport Master Plan. The report, published earlier this month, was created “to propose a strategy for expansion and modernization of space transportation facilities and infrastructure in Florida.” State officials are attempting to stem large job losses that will result from NASA’s decision to end space shuttle flights next year and the five-to-seven year gap in flights before the successor vehicle, Orion, will begin flights.

The master plan lays out a series of infrastructure projects at the Kennedy Space Center, Space Florida Spaceport, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and Cecil Field designed to service traditional launch companies and space tourism firms. In addition to funding, the master plan recommends the creation of a series of financial incentives to attract new businesses. Click here to view the plan. (11/29)

Central Florida Students Invade Kennedy Space Center (Source: NSCFL)
National Space Club's Florida Committee has donated $40,000 to the Brevard Schools Foundation Space Week, a program that introduces sixth grade students to the space exploration activities that occur at Kennedy Space Center. Over a two-week period in December, more than 5,200 sixth grade students will travel to Kennedy Space Center, listen to an astronaut describe space flight, and participate in a variety of hands-on activities. Since 2004, over 25,000 sixth grade students have participated in this innovative program. (11/27)

UA Infrared Camera Jobs Mostly in California (Source: Arizona Daily Star)
Among the Southern Arizona projects funded by stimulus money, the one that listed the most job benefits was a University of Arizona-based infrared camera project. The project lists 91 jobs as preserved or created by the stimulus funding, but there's a catch: about 87 percent of them are in California. While the nerve center of the project is in Tucson, most of the jobs are at Lockheed Martin in Palo Alto, Calif. About a dozen people work on the project in Tucson.

But NASA has had a tight budget for scientific research this year, she said. And because of that, the project was in danger of delays if it hadn't received $10 million in stimulus funding. Despite the nebulous numbers, some economists say that spending on research and equipment is especially helpful to Tucson, even though it might not have a direct jobs-producing benefit in the short term. (11/29)

NASA Clamors for Safer Launches (Source: Florida Today)
President Barack Obama faces decisions that will set safety levels for American astronauts launching on space expeditions for decades to come. Congress will hear this week from NASA officials, proponents of commercial crew transportation and independent safety experts. No current NASA astronauts are scheduled to testify Wednesday before the House subcommittee on space and aeronautics.

But documents obtained by Florida Today show exactly where the actual risk-takers stand. NASA's Astronaut Office says the next crew launch vehicle should be 10 times safer than the shuttle, which is set for retirement after five more flights. The system should "dramatically improve crew survivability," Chief Astronaut Peggy Whitson said. "We believe an order-of-magnitude improvement is possible with today's technology and should be the goal." (11/29)

New Satellite Business Shows Europe's Strength In Developing World (Source: Aviation Week)
Two moves in South Asia could provide Astrium with a premier customer for a new small communications spacecraft, while reinforcing the company's lock on the remote-sensing satellite market. On Nov. 16, Sri Lanka signed an MOU to acquire a small telecom satellite from U.K.-based Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd., which Astrium acquired at the beginning of the year.

The sale would be the first for the GMPT, a multipurpose platform intended for communications, navigation and exploration applications. The Sri Lanka MOU followed a preliminary Astrium agreement, revealed on Nov. 13, to provide a remote-sensing satellite system for Vietnam. Astrium would supply the system, VNREDSat-1, within a long-term strategic cooperation framework, including technology transfer, training and technical assistance. (11/29)

India Plans 36 Launches During 11th Plan (Source: Space Daily)
India is planning 36 launches during the 11th plan with more than six a year, a top space official said here today. The expanding horizon of the Indian Space Program, with more number of launches annually and missions like reusable launch vehicle on the anvil, calls for increased productivity with consistent quality and at a competitive cost.

Partnership with aerospace Indian industries was likely to grow multifold with the expanding activities of Indian Space Program and ISRO's foray into International Space market, an official said. Presently more than 500 small and medium industries partnered with ISRO, he said. (11/29)

Land Launch of Intelsat 15 Aboard Zenit-3SLB Delayed (Source: Space Daily)
The launch of a US telecommunications satellite by Land Launch (an arm of Sea Launch) from Kazakhstan was put off overnight for technical reasons. "The date of the new launch is unknown -- either it will be postponed by an indefinite time or by 24 hours," the official said. The reasons for putting off the launch were not specified. (11/27)

November 28 News Items

2009-11-28T16:06:00.002-05:00

Kosmas and Calvert Lead Bipartisan Call to Increase NASA Funding (Source: CSA)
Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas (D-FL-24) and Congressman Ken Calvert (R-CA-44) sent a bipartisan letter to President Obama signed by 81 members of the U.S. House of Representatives from across the country calling for additional funding for NASA’s human spaceflight program. The large number of cosigners is an indication of the strong national support for human spaceflight and its many benefits. Click here to view the article. (11/27)

Alaska Spaceport Picks Quintron for Comm System (Source: CSA)
The Alaska Aerospace Corporation (AAC) has selected California-based Quintron Systems to provide "DICES" systems to support enhanced communications operability for launches from the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC). Click here for information. (11/27)

Third Congressional Space Hearing Planned This Week (Source: SpacePolicyOnline)
In addition to the two simultaneous space-focused hearings planned for Dec. 2 by House science and transportation subcommittees, the same science subcommittee plans a third hearing on Dec. 3, focused on an Independent Audit of NASA. (11/28)

Musk Comments on SpaceX Falcon 9 Launch Readiness (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Elon Musk set odds for success on the Falcon-9's maiden flight early next year. Hardware for the rocket is again streaming into the Cape, Musk said. The launcher's first stage, nine main engines, interstage, payload adapter and stripped down Dragon spacecraft have already arrived at the launch pad. The second stage is finishing testing in Texas before being shipped.

Musk said the Falcon 9 launch won't happen before early February, but the high-tech tycoon cautioned not to read into target dates. "I definitely want to be clear about any dates that are specified by SpaceX because it's often mischaracterized in the media as SpaceX delays again or some nonsense like that," Musk told Spaceflight Now. "The only thing we can really predict with some degree of accuracy, at least, is when the rockets will get to the launch pad." (11/28)

Japan Launches Satellite to Spy on North Korea (Source: RIA Novosti)
Japan successfully orbited on Saturday an information gathering satellite. A Japanese H-2A rocket carrying the satellite lifted off from Tanegashima Space Center. Japan's national space agency JAXA launched the satellite, the third of its kind, to replace an earlier model. Japan spent $566 million to design the satellite, and it cost another $109 million to build and launch the rocket.

China's Xinhua news agency said the satellite whose digital cameras can identify objects of around 60 cm in size from space would reportedly be used to watch missile and military developments in North Korea. Japan has been launching spy satellites since 1998, when Pyongyang test-fired a missile over its territory. (11/28)

November 27 News Items

2009-11-27T12:14:00.004-05:00

Musk Considers Former Shuttle Factory for Tesla (Source: The District Weekly)
Tesla Motors has selected the City of Downey over the City of Long Beach as the manufacturing site for its new Model S, a four-door all-electric family sedan. “We’re very close to being able to make an official announcement,” Downey Mayor Mario Guerra confirmed during a brief telephone interview this afternoon. “I’m about to call a special meeting of the city council, and we’ll likely have an official announcement next week. Cars ought to be rolling off the line in 2011.”

Telephone and e-mail requests to Tesla Motors have generated no response. Long Beach and Downey became finalists for the automobile plant because both cities have vast manufacturing sites that were abandoned by the aerospace industry—the former Boeing 717 location in Long Beach and the former NASA production facility in Downey. In fact, the two sites are located only a few miles apart on Lakewood Blvd. But while Downey’s city officials were united and aggressive in their pursuit of Tesla’s enigmatic CEO Elon Musk, the City of Long Beach-—particularly Mayor Bob Foster and city management—-was accused of being difficult and nearly indifferent toward the possibility of a manufacturing plant that is expected to bring between 1,000 and 1,200 jobs to the area. (11/26)

Editorial: We Need Goals for Our Space Flight Program (Source: New Hampshire Sentinel Source)
The Augustine Panel's 155-page report provides our country with options for the future of human spaceflight beyond low-Earth orbit. I served as a member of the committee, and am especially proud of the report for several reasons. First, the report makes clear that the key choice facing us is one of goals, not destinations. Too often the debate over human spaceflight becomes an argument over destination: Should we go back to the moon? Mars? But this risks choosing a destination first, then searching for reasons to justify that choice. At least in part, that is what went wrong with the International Space Station, a destination in low-Earth orbit that is still searching to explain its purpose.

Instead, we need to decide on our goals for human spaceflight, and have the destinations flow from these goals. The committee concluded that human spaceflight serves a variety of national interests, but sending humans beyond low-Earth orbit has as its fundamental goal charting a path for human expansion into the solar system. This is ambitious, but if this is not our goal, we should restrict ourselves to destinations in low-Earth orbit. Human expansion into the solar system is a goal worthy of a great nation working in concert with other space powers...

In the past, there have been too many glorious images of our exciting future in space unmatched by the budget for a realistic path to that future. The committee’s bottom line is that the United States should either provide a budget to do the job, or acknowledge that it is scaling back its ambitions in space. (11/27)

France Seeks Military Space Investment Partners (Source: Space News)
French defense officials said they are on track to increase military space spending by nearly 8 percent per year, on average, through 2014 but that the program and spending profile still depend in large part on whether other European nations agree to co-invest. With electronic intelligence and missile alert demonstrator satellites already in orbit, France is ready to move forward on operational systems that are more likely to be built if there is at least some contribution by other European Union nations. French Defense Ministry officials also said they have begun studying how to integrate the future encrypted government-only service offered by Europe’s planned Galileo navigation and timing system into French military vehicles alongside the U.S. GPS military code. (11/27)

Two Hearings To Examine Private Spaceflight Safety (Source: Space News)
As the Obama administration considers outsourcing part of NASA’s manned spaceflight program to the private sector, two congressional panels will examine potential safety issues associated with commercial human spaceflight Dec. 2 during simultaneous hearings. Tough questions from lawmakers are expected at a House Science and Technology space and aeronautics subcommittee hearing on human-rating NASA and commercial launch vehicles and spacecraft.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure aviation safety subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Jerry Costello (D-Ill.), will address Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight of the emerging space tourism industry and the potential conflict between the FAA’s dual role of ensuring aviation safety and promoting the burgeoning commercial space market. At press time, the subcommittee had yet to release its hearing charter or list of witnesses. (11/27)

MDA of Canada To Build Payloads for Russian Telecom Satellites (Source: Space News)
Confirming its ambitions in Europe and Central Asia, Canada’s MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. (MDA) has unseated competitor Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy to provide electronics payloads for two large Russian telecommunications satellites in a contract valued at more than 200 million Canadian dollars ($187 million). The two satellites, Express-AM5 and Express-AM6, will be operated by Moscow-based Russian Satellite Communications Co. (RSCC) and will provide a broad suite of commercial and government telecommunications services in the C-, Ku-, Ka- and L-band frequencies. (11/25)

Astrium Lands Four-Satellite Deal with SES (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator SES has selected Astrium Satellites to build four direct-broadcast television spacecraft in a contract valued at around 500 million euros ($753 million) and expected to be signed the week of Nov. 30. It will be the biggest single satellite order ever made by Luxembourg-based SES. The satellites will be delivered at six-month intervals starting in 2012, a production timetable that SES had said would permit the winning contractor to operate with maximum efficiency and correspondingly low cost. (11/27)

Albuquerque Firm Gets New Mexico Spaceport Contract (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority awarded a $32.5 million contract to an Albuquerque firm to build the terminal-hangar facility - the futuristic building often seen in artists' drawings of Spaceport America. Summit West was the lowest of four bidders on the project, said Steve Landeene, executive director of the Spaceport Authority. The three-floor, 110,000-square-foot facility will serve as the headquarters of operations for the Britain-based Virgin Galactic, considered the anchor-tenant company for the spaceport, as well as for the Spaceport Authority. Landeene said the bid award is a significant step in the overall construction of the $200-million state-owned spaceport, located southeast of Truth or Consequences. (11/27)

NASA Ames Motion Simulator Readies NASA for Moon Landing (Source: cnet)
The Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif., is the world's largest high-fidelity motion based simulation system. Moving as much as 60 feet vertically and 40 feet horizontally, the VMS gives pilots and engineers an opportunity to study flight characteristics of vehicles safely, in real time, and under accurate conditions. Right now, NASA is studying the designs for the next generation of human occupied space vehicles. The Altair lunar lander, now in its third design iteration, will undergo changes based on the studies here, and eventually go into production and be used in the next generation of spaceflight. Click here to view the article and photos. (11/27)

China to Launch Second Lunar Probe in 2010 (Source: Xinhua)
China will launch its second lunar probe, Chang'e-2, in October 2010, a top Chinese space scientist said. Ye Peijian, chief designer of the nation's first moon probe, said the second lunar orbiter will carry different payloads and orbit the moon in a different way. "It will orbit 100 km closer to the moon and be equipped with better facilities. We expect to acquire more scientific data about the moon with increased accuracy," he was quoted as saying. (11/27)

Space Shuttle Atlantis Lands at KSC (Source: Florida Today)
Space shuttle Atlantis gracefully returned to Earth at Kennedy Space Center on Friday, bringing to an end 11 days in space and a jam-packed year of five successful shuttle missions for NASA. The orbiter and seven astronauts landed at 9:44 a.m. at KSC's Runway 33, bringing its total trip just short of 4.5 million miles. (11/27)

November 26 News Items

2009-11-26T20:39:00.002-05:00

Aldrin: In Search of a Real Spaceship (Source: Huffington Post)
Imagine this scenario: you are a tourist coming home from a special vacation jaunt. Or maybe you're a researcher headed home from an assignment at a national laboratory. But instead of a nice gentle landing at an airport, you plunge into the cold waters of the Atlantic Ocean, bobbing about like a cork on a fishing line. Instead of a leisurely stroll to the airport concourse, you have to wait to be fished out of the drink by the U.S. navy.

Sound enticing? That's just the way future Americans will have to return from space visits to the International Space Station - whether you're a fancy high rolling space tourist or someone your government has sent to do space research - because space capsules - much like the tiny Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 capsules my colleagues and I flew more than 40 years ago - have been deemed the replacement shape for the craft that are to follow the Space Shuttle fleet when it retires next year.

Space capsules? That's right, instead of following the Shuttles with something as capable - something that can guarantee American space leadership - we're going to race China, India, and Russia in a competition to build a limited and ungainly spacecraft that America retired a generation ago. And guess what? It will take another seven years before the NASA Orion capsule is ready to ferry astronauts. And that's on top of the five years we've already spent designing the thing. And it will cost the taxpayers, oh more than $50 billion for these Orion capsules and their booster rockets! Washington, we don't have liftoff. Click here to view the article. (11/26)

India Developing Semi-Cryogenic Propulsion Technology (Source: India Times)
India's space scientists are developing semi-cryogenic propulsion technology using kerosene that is expected to give the country the capability to launch six-tonne class satellite, almost three times the weight its rockets can currently handle. The cryogenic technology uses liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, whereas in semi-cryogenic technology, instead of liquid hydrogen, pure kerosene (aviation-grade) is used. (11/26)

Delta IV WGS-3 Launch Set Dec. 2 (Source: PAFB)
The U.S. Air Force will launch the third Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle from Space Launch Complex 37 here Dec 2. The launch window is 7:21-8:41 p.m. EST. WGS satellites are designed to provide high-capacity communications to our nation's military forces. They will augment and eventually replace the aging Defense Satellite Communication System, which has been the Department of Defense's backbone for satellite communications over the past two decades. The satellite provides a giant leap in communications bandwidth and technology. (11/26)

Preparations Underway For "Land Launch" Of Commercial Satellite (Source: Space Daily)
Preparations are moving forward at the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan for the fourth Land Launch mission, the first of a satellite for Intelsat. Liftoff on Nov. 29 is planned for the Intelsat 15 satellite aboard a Zenit-3SLB vehicle. Land Launch is operated by Sea Launch, based in California. Orbital Sciences built the Intelsat 15 spacecraft to provide video and data services for Intelsat's customers operating in the Middle East and Indian Ocean regions as well as in Russia. (11/26)

Obama Administration Asks US Supreme Court to Lift Injunction Against JPL Background Checks (Source: Pasadena Weekly)
Scientist Robert Nelson trains his eyes to the sky as an investigator for the JPL team monitoring images from the far reaches of the galaxy. But President Barack Obama — much like his predecessor — wants to know what Nelson and many other low-security government contractors like him have been doing between the sheets and beyond. The Obama administration is petitioning the US Supreme Court to review an October 2007 injunction that Nelson and 27 other JPL contract workers were granted to halt sweeping background checks ushered in under a directive from former President George W. Bush. (11/26)

Canada's Space Program Hampered by U. S. Laws (Source: Whig Standard)
Canada's space program has lots of ideas and commercial potential, but one of the big things holding it back is the lack of a Canadian launch program, the Canadian Space Summit was told over the weekend. Also, both the military and civilian space research programs in Canada are hobbled by the fact that the country needs to rely on rockets launched by India, China or Russia, over which the U. S. holds wide-ranging veto powers.

That was one of the main messages of the summit, held at Royal Military College this weekend, from all sectors of the Canadian space establishment. The summit was held to forge links among, and accelerate the progress of, research and commercial use of space by Canadians. However, laws signed in the United States by former president Bill Clinton have put incredibly tight controls on other countries' space programs. (11/26)

Florida LG Kottkamp Looking Toward Space (Source: Daily Record)
When Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp was a kid his father worked for P.R. Mallory. The company made batteries, but not the kind that go into flashlights. “They made batteries for the Apollo space missions,” said Kottkamp. Through his father’s connection to NASA and the early space flights — Kottkamp says he vividly remembers watching Neil Armstrong walk on the moon in 1967 — Kottkamp developed a personal interest in space and space flight. That personal interest has transcended his professional life.

In addition to being second in command for the state, Kottkamp is chair of Space Florida and he’s really sure the state is positioned to take advantage of the economic opportunities that both manned and unmanned space flights present. Kottkamp is running for Attorney General. If he wins, being the state’s top attorney won’t deter him from pushing Florida to become the aerospace capital of the country. Kottkamp says such assets as the NASA facilities at Cape Canaveral and the potential in an airport such as Cecil Field make Florida attractive to any company looking to expand non-celestially. A workforce with plenty of experience in aerospace helps, too. (11/26)

Thousands Add Messages to Kiwi Rocket Ahead of Blast Off (Source: 3News)
The countdown is in progress. In just four days New Zealand’s first commercial space rocket is set to blast off on its maiden test flight. While it is designed to carry mostly scientific payloads, it will also transport a rather odd collection of memorabilia and messages. See a video article here. (11/26)

New Mexico Spaceport Almost Ready for Guided Tours (Source: KVIA)
Spaceport America is not quite ready for space aircraft just yet, but with plenty of construction underway, the project is headed for the stars. ABC-7 caught a glimpse of all the activity on the runway during the first-ever hard-hat tour of the area. "I don't look at it as my runway," Steve Waid, Project Engineer, said. "I look at it as New Mexico's runway." Runway 1634 is nearly two miles long and will be the world's first launch pad for commercial space travel. (11/26)

Russia: No Space for Space Tourists (Source: AP)
There is no space for tourists wishing to fly to the International Space Station, a top Russian space official said Thursday. Since the space station's crew doubled to six people earlier this year, there is no longer room for tourists who pay tens of millions of dollars for a trip on a Russian spacecraft from Earth, said Sergei Krikalyov, the chief of the Cosmonaut Training Center. Each Soyuz craft can accommodate three people. With the doubling of the station's permanent crew, Russia will now make four, rather than two, launches each year to allow for crew rotation. A permanent crew of six means the space program has to have two Soyuz ships permanently docked at the station to be used in case of emergency. (11/26)

NASA Proposes Robotic Rocket-Plane to Explore Mars (Source: Telegraph)
The Aerial Regional-scale Environmental Surveyor (Ares), around the size of a small plane, will be folded into a rocket and launched to the red planet. It would be the first aircraft ever to fly over another world. After entering the atmosphere in a capsule, the aircraft would deploy parachutes and unfold its wings and tail, before firing its rocket motor and flying around a mile above the surface of Mars for around an hour and a quarter. The idea is that an atmospheric craft like Ares can explore far more ground than existing rovers, like Spirit and Phoenix, but in much more detail than an orbital spacecraft. It is hoped that it could cover as much as 600 square miles in its short flight. (11/26)

November 25 News Items

2009-11-25T11:53:00.003-05:00

First Two Soyuz Launchers Arrive In French Guiana (Source: Space Daily)
Arianespace has marked a historic milestone with the arrival of its first two Soyuz launchers in French Guiana, which will be used to inaugurate service with this medium-lift workhorse vehicle next year from the Spaceport. The Soyuz 2-1a launchers were carried aboard the MN Colibri roll-on/roll-off transport ship, which docked on schedule yesterday morning at Pariacabo port near Kourou.

Delta-2 Launch from Vandenberg for NASA Payload on Dec. 9 (Source: Huntsville Times)
NASA is preparing to launch its latest astronomy probe, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, - also known as WISE - aboard a Delta-2 rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base, in California. The launch is scheduled to occur between 9:09 a.m. and 9:23 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Dec. 9. The mission is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, Calif. (11/25)

After Space Station is Built, What Will Its Crew Do Up There? (Source: Christian Science Monitor)
Now that NASA has begun putting the finishing touches to the International Space Station, it and partner agencies have been posting the equivalent of slick travel brochures complete with a photo montage of astronauts serving as lab technicians or wired up as test subjects. It's one part of preparations for expanding the use of a space station that could remain on orbit through 2020 or even 2028.

NASA is doing studies to see if the certified lifetime of the station's structural pieces can safely be extended. Con gress last year asked the agency to find ways to keep the station operating past 2015. "We're doing a 30-year look at all the components," says space-station program manager Michael Sufferedini. "Assuming we get them all certified, we'll actually have a vehicle certified through about 2028." Click here to view the article. (11/25)

Rocket Stars: The Guys Making Rocket Science A Career (Source: Space Daily)
A nondescript sign along an anonymous road east of Dallas announces the location of bustling and urbane Caddo Mills Municipal Airport. Parked among the slumbering agricultural equipment and looking like yet another oversized bale of plastic-wrapped hay is a trailer-mounted tank of cryogenic methane. A refrigerated tank of LOX (liquid oxygen) hides bashfully in the shade of a dainty tree. The rain and wind beat down the unmown prairie grasses and form puddles on the narrow entrance road.

This is the home of Texas' most unusual rocket company, Armadillo Aerospace. All that outwardly heralds the presence of the company is a small sign over a few windows looking in on a sparse lobby decorated with a few trophies. Like a mad scientist's secret hideout, there is no obvious sign of the genius and frenetic activity going on inside the cavernous space. Click here to view the article. (11/25)

Martian Meteorite Surrenders New Secrets of Possible Life (Source: Compelling new data that chemical and fossil evidence of ancient microbial life on Mars was carried to Earth in a Martian meteorite is being elevated to a higher plane by the same NASA team which made the initial discovery 13 years ago.

The new data are providing a powerful new case for the Allen Hills Meteorite to have carried strong evidence of Martian life to Earth -- evidence that is increasingly standing up to scrutiny as new analytical tools are used to examine the specimen. 13 years after the Martian meteorite life story emerged, the science team finally feels vindicated. Their data shows the meteorite is full of evidence that supports the existence of life on the surface of Mars, or in subsurface water pools, early in the planet's history. (11/25)

Russian Proton Launches Commercial Satellite (Source: ILS)
International Launch Services (ILS) successfully carried the W7 satellite to orbit for Eutelsat Communications of France on an ILS Proton. The Proton vehicle lifted off from the Baikonur spaceport and successfully released the W7 satellite into geostationary transfer orbit. Proton has a heritage of 349 missions since its inception in 1965. (11/25)

Astronaut Says Mexico Needs its Own Space Program (Source: AP)
A NASA astronaut says he wants to help Mexican officials start the country's first space agency. Astronaut Jose Hernandez says he has no plans to leave his job at NASA, but hopes to help Mexico's program get off the ground. Hernandez is the U.S.-born son of Mexican migrant farm workers who spent much of his childhood moving between Mexico and the U.S. He says officials must invest more money in science, technology and education to make Mexico more competitive and diversify its economy. Legislators have set aside 10 million pesos ($775,000) for the Mexican Space Agency in next year's budget, but the program has not yet been officially established. (11/25)

Gift Guide for Space Jockeys (Source: CNET)
Hey you, Ground Controls and Major Toms orbiting out there! If you're a space aficionado or know someone who'd like to blast into the cosmos, it's time to take your protein pills and scroll through the following gallery for a definitive go/no-go holiday gift list. Click here to view the gift guide. (11/25)

'Solar Tsunamis' Tower on Surface of the Sun (Source: Cosmos)
Observations from NASA's STEREO space probes have confirmed that vast 'solar tsunamis', taller than the Earth itself, ripple across the Sun for millions of kilometers. The technical name is 'fast-mode magneto-hydrodynamical wave (MHD)'. The one the STEREO probes recorded reared up to 100,000 km in height, and raced outward at 900 km/h packing as much energy as 2,400 megatons of TNT. In the 1990s when astronomers first witnessed a towering wave of hot plasma racing along the Sun's surface, they were perplexed. (11/25)

Sensor Failure Ends Long-Lived Satellite Mission (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
A spinning antenna on NASA's QuikSCAT satellite has failed after more than a decade of operations, leaving weather forecasters without a critical tool to measure winds inside distant hurricanes and adding fuel to a political firestorm on a potential replacement. QuikSCAT has been used as an operational resource by meteorologists around the world. It has proven particularly invaluable in gauging the location, size and strength of hurricanes in the open ocean, far from land-based radars and outside the range of reconnaissance aircraft. (11/25)

Florida Congressman Introduces Satellite Modernization Act (Source: Rep. Ron Klein)
In late September, in anticipation of the QuikSCAT failure, Congressman Ron Klein (D-FL) introduced legislation to support a cutting-edge next generation satellite system. The Hurricane Satellite Modernization Act authorizes the construction of next-generation hurricane tracking satellites, as recommended by the NASA Jet Propulsion Lab. The next-generation satellites will provide significantly improved information to narrow the cone of uncertainty and protect Florida’s families when a storm approaches. Click here for information. (11/25)

November 24 News Items

2009-11-24T11:01:00.002-05:00

Russia Schedules Proton Launch for Tuesday Evening (Source: RIA Novosti)
The launch of a Proton-M carrier rocket carrying the European Eutelsat W7 satellite has been scheduled for Tuesday evening, a spokesman for Russia's Khrunichev space center said. An official had no information on whether Kazakh Prime Minister Karim Masimov, who is on an official visit to Hong Kong, had signed a government resolution on the launch. The launch was earlier scheduled for Monday from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan but was postponed due to organizational disagreements between the Russian and Kazakh space agencies Roscosmos and Kazcosmos. (11/24)

Air Force Space Plane Shooting for April Launch (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
The U.S. Air Force has released new images of its experimental new X-37B space plane as the secretive mission's launch date next April draws near. The X-37B, or OTV, spacecraft is pictured here in launch configuration at a Boeing factory. In a response to written questions, an Air Force spokesperson said the unmanned spaceship is scheduled for launch April 19 on an Atlas 5 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The winged X-37B, also named the Orbital Test Vehicle, is managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office under the direct supervision of the secretary of the Air Force and the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics.

The military is tight-lipped on the demonstrator's payload for the April mission, but the Air Force says it will test space technologies and prove concepts for small reusable spacecraft. The spacecraft measures more than 29 feet long and nine-and-a-half feet tall. Its wingspan is 14 feet, 11 inches, and it will weigh about 11,000 pounds at launch. The OTV will be shrouded inside a bulbous five-meter diameter payload fairing for launch. The Atlas 5 rocket will fly in the 501 configuration with the large nose cone, no solid rocket boosters and a single engine Centaur upper stage. (11/24)

Double Jeopardy for Commercial Space on Dec. 2 (Source: Space Politics)
The House Science and Technology Committee has released the witness lineup for its hearing next Wednesday, December 2, on “Ensuring the Safety of Human Space Flight”. Meanwhile, at the exact same time (10 am December 2) a hearing on “Commercial Space Transportation” is planned by the aviation subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. No hearing information, including planned witnesses, has been released. The chairman of the full committee, James Oberstar, has been critical of commercial space transportation laws and regulations in the past. Click here to view the article, with a list of witnesses for the spaceflight safety hearing. (11/24)

Texas Governor's Race Might Get Spacey (Sources: SPACErePORT)
Instead of running for the U.S. Senate to replace Kay Bailey Hutchison, who is running for Governor of Texas, Houston Mayor Bill White may instead run against Hutchison for Governor. White is a popular "conservative-to-moderate" Democrat who, as Houston's Mayor, may win the support of space industry workers in the region surrounding Johnson Space Center. Hutchison, meanwhile, has been a solid supporter of space industry issues in Washington. (11/24)

Weird Data Suggest Something Big Beyond the Edge of the Universe (Source: Cosmos)
Something strange appears to be tugging a 'dark flow' of galaxies across the universe. is this evidence that parallel universes really exist? Astronomers have found the best evidence yet for the weird idea that our universe is one of many in the 'multiverse'. What's more, these parallel universes seem to be exerting a strange force on our own, causing galaxy clusters to stream across space towards the edge of the known universe. The new evidence comes from studies of 'bumps and wiggles' in the temperature of the cosmic background radiation (CMB), the leftover afterglow of the Big Bang. The mystery is about what exactly is 'pulling' at the galaxy clusters to cause the flow, and this is where parallel universes come in. Click here to view the article. (11/24)

November 23 News Items

2009-11-23T10:29:00.011-05:00

UCF Project Selected for Blue Origin Suborbital Flight (Source: SpaceRef.com)
Blue Origin has selected three unmanned research payloads to fly on the New Shepard suborbital vehicle as a part of Phase 1 of the New Shepard Research Flight Demonstration Program. Among the three payloads is the Microgravity Experiment on Dust Environments in Astrophysics (MEDEA). The principal investigator of this effort is Dr. Joshua Colwell, of the University of Central Florida. Other projects include the Three-Dimensional Critical Wetting Experiment in Microgravity, from Purdue University; and the Effective lnterfacial Tension lnduced Convection (EITIC), from Louisiana State University. These flights are planned to begin in the coming years to demonstrate the integration and operation of scientific experiments into the New Shepard system. (11/23)

Florida Small Business Research Projects Selected for NASA Funding (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected for development 368 small business innovation projects that include research to minimize aging of aircraft, new techniques for suppressing fires on spacecraft and advanced transmitters for deep space communications. The awards are part of NASA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs. Eight of the projects include Florida small businesses or universities, including two STTR projects: Streamline Numerics, Inc. off Gainesville (teamed with the University of Michigan) for an Advanced Unsteady Turbulent Combustion Simulation Capability for Space Propulsion Systems; and Alabama's Orion Propulsion, Inc. (teamed with the University of Central Florida, for Carbon Nano-Composite Ablative Rocket Nozzles.

The six SBIR projects include: Longwood-based Aligned Concepts, LLC, for a Oversubscribed Mission Scheduler Conflict Resolution System; Orlando-based OptiGrate Corp. for a Monolithic Rare Earth Doped PTR Glass Laser; Orlando-based APECOR for High-Temperature, Wirebondless, Ultra-Compact Wide Bandgap Power Semiconductor Modules for Space Power Systems; Belleair Beach's Fractal Systems, Inc. for a Multi-Component Remediation System for Generating Potable Water Onboard Spacecrafts; Tampa-based Advanced Materials Technology, Inc. for the Manufacture of Novel Cryogenic Thermal Protection Materials; and Jupiter-based Florida Turbine Technologies, Inc. for a Magnetically Actuated Seal. Click here for information. (11/23)

European Satellite Launch Delayed (Source: AFP)
The launch of a European telecommunications satellite from Kazakhstan was postponed on Monday after Kazakh authorities raised objections, Russian news agencies reported. "The launch of the European space device has been postponed indefinitely by the Kazakh side, even though all documents are in order," an official from Russian space agency Roskosmos told Ria Novosti and Interfax. He did not provide further details. (11/23)

Kazakhstan Blackmails Russia for Proton-M Booster Launches (Source: Pravda)
Russia’s Space Corporation Roskosmos had to delay to the launch of Proton-M booster rocket with Eutelsat-W7 European satellite on board. The rocket was supposed to blast off from the Baikonur Spaceport in Kazakhstan. However, the launch has been delayed indefinitely after the Kazakh authorities did not give their permission for it. An official statement released by Roskosmos said that the launch of the W7 spacecraft of Eutelsat had been canceled for reasons, which Russia was not accountable for. The satellite should have been launched from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur on Monday, Nov. 23. All the works related to the scheduled launch had been completed and coordinated with Kazakhstan’s Space Agency (Kazkosmos).

Russian experts believe that the scandal might have occurred because of the rent conditions. Russia and Kazakhstan have a special lease agreement for Baikonur Spaceport. The agreement, ratified by the governments of the two countries, stipulates that Kazakhstan shall not hinder the activities of the renter either expressly or by implication. Russia has already paid the rent of $1.265 billion to Kazakhstan since 1998, when the agreement was signed.

Kazakhstan ’s decision to cancel the launch might also be related to ecological reasons. One of the previous launches of Russia’s Proton-M booster with a Japanese spacecraft on board ended with a breakdown. The fragments of the rocket landed in an uninhabited area, about 50 km far from the nearest settlement. Kazakhstan’s EMERCOM officials said after the accident that the content of the toxic fuel – heptyl – on the crash site exceeded the norm some 5,200 times. Russia had to pay a $2.5-million-dollar compensation to Kazakhstan, although the Asian nation was asking for $60.7 million. Afterwards, the Kazakh authorities said that they would probably decide to halve the number of Proton-M launches in 2008. (11/23)

New Map Suggests Mars Was Wet and Humid (Source: AFP)
A new detailed map of Mars shows what was likely a vast ocean in the north and valleys around the equator, suggesting that the planet once had a humid, rainy climate, according to research published Monday. The computer-generated map, based on topographic data from NASA satellites, also shows that the network of valleys on the red planet is at least twice as extensive as previously estimated. "The relatively high values over extended regions indicate the valleys originated by means of precipitation-fed runoff erosion -- the same process that is responsible for formation of the bulk of valleys on our planet," said a report co-author. "A single ocean in the northern hemisphere would explain why there is a southern limit to the presence of valley networks," he said. (11/23)

Building a Better Alien-Calling Code (Source: WIRED)
Alien-seeking researchers have designed a new, simple code for sending messages into space. To a reasonably clever alien with math skills and a bit of astronomical training, the messages should be easy to decipher. As of now, Earthlings spend much more time searching for alien radio messages than broadcasting news of ourselves. We know how to do it, but relatively little attention has been paid to “ensuring that a transmitted message will be understandable to an alien listener,” according to a new research paper. Neither the Arecibo message, beamed at star cluster M13 in 1974, nor the Cosmic Calls sent in 1999 and 2003 were tested for decipherability. So the researchers devised their own alien-friendly messaging system. (11/23)

Florida Lawmakers Lobby Obama for More NASA Funding (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
More than 80 U.S. House members wrote President Barack Obama this week, urging the White House to increase NASA funding by up to $3 billion annually so that the agency can accelerate plans to send astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit. The letter, spearheaded by Democratic U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach, attracted the support of most Florida House members and several lawmakers from California and Texas. Those three states are directly tied to NASA’s human spaceflight program. “We believe an increased level of funding is essential to ensure NASA has the resources needed to meet the mission challenges of human space flight,” wrote the lawmakers, including U.S. Reps. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, and Alan Grayson, D-Orlando.

The letter was aimed at showing the White House that NASA funding has broad funding in Congress, although the 81 signatures represent less than 20 percent of the 435-member House. Surprisingly, the list did not include the signatures of two key House lawmakers: U.S. Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn, who chairs the House Science and Technology subcommittee and U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona, who heads the subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics. U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan also did not sign the letter. The West Virginia Democrat chairs the House subcommittee that oversees NASA funding. (11/23)

New Group to Enhance Cooperation Among Spaceports Worldwide (Source: CSF)
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is pleased to announce the creation and initial membership of the Spaceports Council, composed of spaceports worldwide who seek to cooperate on issues of common interest such as airspace access, legal and regulatory frameworks, infrastructure, international policy migration, liability, and voluntary common operating standards. Frank DiBello will represent Space Florida on the council, which also includes representatives from Spain, Sweden, Scotland, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, California, Indiana, and New Mexico. New Mexico's Steve Landeene will chair the council. In addition to DiBello, Todd Lindner will participate on behalf of the Cecil Field Spaceport, proposed near Jacksonville. (11/23)

Former Astronaut Is Candidate To Run Florida State University (Source: Florida Today)
Norm Thagard, a former NASA astronaut and now professor at the Florida State University, is among the candidates to become that school's next president. Thagard, who flew aboard the space shuttle on four missions and for an extended tour on the Russian space station Mir, is currently an associate dean of the school of engineering at FSU. (11/23)

Congressman John Mica to Speak at Embry-Riddle Graduation (Source: ERAU)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will hold its commencement ceremony for 388 candidates for graduation on Dec. 14. Guest speaker U.S. Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) will receive an Honorary Doctorate in Law (LL.D.) during the event. Mica is currently serving his ninth term in the U.S. House of Representatives, representing Florida’s 7th Congressional District, which stretches from Orlando to Jacksonville. As the two-term Republican leader of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the largest committee in Congress, Mica helps formulate and oversee federal policy in all areas of transportation, including aviation, and has called for the development of a comprehensive and national strategic transportation plan. (11/23)

Plan for Human Mission to Asteroid Gains Speed (Source: Space.com)
Call it Operation: Plymouth Rock. A plan to send a crew of astronauts to an asteroid is gaining momentum, both within NASA and industry circles. Not only would the deep space sojourn shake out hardware, it would also build confidence in long-duration stints at the moon and Mars. At the same time, the trek would sharpen skills to deal with a future space rock found on a collision course with Earth. In Lockheed Martin briefing charts, the mission has been dubbed "Plymouth Rock – An Early Human Asteroid Mission Using Orion." Lockheed is the builder of NASA's Orion spacecraft.

Study teams are now readying high-level briefings for NASA leaders - perhaps as early as this week - on a pilgrimage to an asteroid, along with appraisals of anchoring large, astronaut-enabled telescopes far from Earth, a human precursor mission to the vicinity of Mars, as well as an initiative to power-beam energy from space to Earth. The briefings have been spurred in response to the recent Review of U.S. Human Spaceflight Plans Committee and the option of a "Flexible Path" to human exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. (11/23)

Spy Satellites Lose Their Mystique (Source: Space Review)
The NRO and Congress are grappling with the direction the nation's reconnaissance satellite program should go. Taylor Dinerman argues that this is evidence that, thanks to past failures, the NRO doesn't have the influence and prestige it once did on Capitol Hill. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1516/1 to view the article. (11/23)

Dysfunctional Space Advocacy (Source: Space Review)
It's a critical time for the future of NASA's human spaceflight efforts, which makes space advocacy as important as it has been in years. Jeff Foust finds, though, that activists don't appear to be operating at the level they should if they want to make a difference in the ongoing debate. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1515/1 to view the article. (11/23)

Space Tourism is No Hoax (Source: Space Review)
A provocative essay in Space News last week called space tourism a "hoax" and its purveyors "con men". Stephen Ashworth counters that space tourism is, in fact, essential to the future of spaceflight. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1514/1 to view the article. (11/23)

A Good Old-Fashioned Space Rush (Source: Space Review)
What could get industry and government alike motivated to support human space exploration? Jim Gagnon suggests it might be the space equivalent of a land rush. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1512/1 to view the article. (11/23)

Editorial: Plan to Convert a NASA Depot is Worth Pursuing (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Barring delays or a change of heart from Congress and the White House, NASA's space shuttles will be grounded for good by this time next year. Unfortunately, the economic turmoil for Florida's Space Coast is just getting started. Shuttle contractors for NASA already have begun cutting jobs there in anticipation of the program's end. Last month, more than 250 positions were eliminated. The total could reach 7000.

With such a disaster looming for the region's economy, it's imperative for federal, state and local officials together to explore every reasonable opportunity to keep this work force employed and productive. Such an opportunity was proposed last week by the head of Space Florida, the agency charged with developing the industry in the state, and the president of United Space Alliance, the shuttle's lead private contractor. Under their proposal, NASA would transfer to another government agency — perhaps to Space Florida — its Shuttle Logistics Depot, a Cape Canaveral complex of machine shops and labs that have supported the program.

United Space Alliance would then use the complex, its equipment and — most important — its workforce of 300 engineers, technicians and machinists to produce and refurbish equipment for the U.S. military. There's billions of dollars of this kind of work to be done because of the long U.S. deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Space Florida's president, Frank DiBello, says there's also a shortage of skilled manufacturing and refurbishing contractors for the military. (11/23)

U.S. Wary Of Space Cooperation With China (Source: Aviation Week)
This autumn, China and the U.S. began moving toward greater cooperation in space. As China lifted a little more of the veil covering its space program, U.S. officials expressed a greater desire to work together in exploring space. Presidential science adviser John Holdren floated the idea of increased cooperation in human spaceflight last spring. The Augustine committee raised the idea again, and Presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao pledged to deepen space cooperation last week. Unfortunately, there are ample reasons for the U.S. to keep its distance. While the U.S. explicitly decided to separate its space exploration activities from the military, China’s human spaceflight program is a subsidiary of the People’s Liberation Army. In that context, the risks of illicit technology transfer are considerable.

Closer relations create greater opportunities for China to acquire sensitive technology. In 2007, the U.S. launched the inter agency National Export Enforcement Initiative, designed to combat illegal trafficking in sensitive technologies. Within a year, charges were filed against 145 criminal defendants. Iran and China were the intended destinations for most of the known illegal exports. The Justice Dept. noted, “The illegal exports to China have involved rocket launch data, space shuttle technology, missile technology, naval warship data, [UAV] technology, thermal imaging systems, military night-vision systems and other materials.” This is consistent with other Chinese activities, including a massive 2005 cyber-raid on NASA’s computers that exfiltrated data about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s propulsion system, solar panels and fuel tanks. (11/23)

Atlas V Launches Communications Satellite (Source: Florida Today)
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket carrying a commercial communications satellite blasted off Monday morning from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The launch of Intelsat-14, on behalf of Lockheed Martin Commercial Launch Services, was the 19th by an Atlas V and the ninth for a commercial customer. It also marked ULA's 35th launch in 35 months. The Intelsat-14 satellite will provide high-powered video and data services through its 40 C-band and 22 Ku-band payload to customers throughout the Americas, Europe and Africa, according to the company. (11/23)

November 22 News Items

2009-11-22T09:07:00.002-05:00

Atlantis Astronaut Announces Daughter's Birth (Source: Florida Today)
Atlantis spacewalker Randy Bresnik's wife delivered a baby girl, Abigail Mae Bresnik, late Saturday in Houston. Bresnik announced the news this morning, the day after conducting his first spacewalk outside the International Space Station. Bresnik now is the second U.S. astronaut to be in orbit for the birth of a child. (11/22)

Space Florida Hosts Design Discussion for Proposed Commercial Launch Pads (Source: SPACErePORT)
Space Florida hosted a design ‘charrette’ last week to discuss potential user requirements for two launch pads (LC-36 and LC-46) the agency plans to convert for commercial use at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Working with Eastern Range safety officials at the Air Force 45th Space Wing, Space Florida defined a conceptual “Composite Launch Vehicle” (CLV) to represent the different types of rockets that would generally be approved to fly from LC-36. (The Sea Launch Zenit would fit at LC-36.)

At nearby LC-46, a Navy pad previously converted by the state for Athena and Taurus rockets, Space Florida described plans for accommodating Minotaur and other small-class solid-fuel rockets. Companies like Alliant Techsystems, Orbital Sciences Corp., United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, Rocketplane Kistler, and others participated in the meeting to discuss how Space Florida’s plans for the two launch pads, and the state’s proposed investments, could enable their commercial launch operations. (11/22)

Regulators Propose OK Of PG&E Space-Based Solar Deal (Source: Wall Street Journal)
California regulators have proposed approving a long-term contract between PG&E Corp. and developers of a speculative technology that would beam 200 megawatts of solar power to earth from outer space. Under the 15-year contract, Solaren Corp., of Manhattan Beach, Calif., would ship 850 gigawatt-hours of solar power a year starting in 2016, doubling that amount in later years. The power would be sent by radio frequency from an earth-orbiting satellite to a receiving station in Fresno, Calif. The energy- conversion technology has been used by communications satellites for 45 years on a much smaller scale, Solaren said.

PG&E wouldn't disclose the cost of the proposed 15-year contract but said it would be above-market. PG&E and other California utilities are required to use renewable sources for a fifth of the power they sell by 2010, ramping up to one-third of their retail power by 2020. The requirements are part of the state's 2006 plan to combat climate change. Because Solaren's technology is untested, raising "concerns regarding the viability of the project," PG&E can't rely on the contract to comply with its renewable-energy requirements until construction begins on the project and the CPUC gives additional approval. (11/22)

When the Russians Came to Cape Canaveral (Source: Fox News)
From 1994 to 1998 seven NASA astronauts lived aboard Russia's Mir space station. NASA viewed this program as a collaboration; the Russians viewed America as a customer. And Jeffrey Manber was the US representative of RKK Energia, the company that owned the Mir space station. In this exclusive excerpt from Apogee Books' Selling Peace, he recalls the cultural clash that happened when his boss came to visit from Moscow.

With Shuttle-Mir cooperation imminent, RKK Energia president Yuri Semenov made the journey to Florida to witness the first of several shuttle launches. He would arrive at Cape Canaveral with a delegation of senior advisors, including RKK Energia board members and top program managers. The make-up of the group reflected wonder at an improbable dream being realized. Their space station having narrowly escaped the budgetary death of the Russian space shuttle, Mir was now the pivotal center for the American space program. Semenov wanted his closest supporters to experience the moment, and at the same time, he needed key engineers close by in the event of an unforeseen crisis.

There was no more jarring component for the well-oiled NASA prelaunch public relations machine than the Semenov delegation dropping into Cape Canaveral. The Russian's deeply held notions of ownership, pride and tradition went against the collective governmental experiences of those planning the shuttle launches. Every NASA representative, from the driver of our bus to the Mission Control launch director was forced to confront a situation never even contemplated; that the U.S. space shuttle sitting out there on the launch pad was programmatically and politically tied to a space station that — legally or by fiat — belonged to a Russian company. (11/21)

NASA Assumes Ownership of Next Space Station Module (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
The European Space Agency formally handed over ownership of the Tranquility module to NASA on Friday, two-and-a-half months before the connecting node's February launch on shuttle Endeavour. Tranquility and a small windowed room called Cupola will be launched together on Endeavour's STS-130 mission, currently scheduled for liftoff Feb. 4. The modules have a combined launch mass of almost 30,000 pounds. (11/21)

Indian University to Offer Space Law Course (Source: Indian Express)
Though several international conventions on space technology are held in India, for the first time a concrete step has been taken in the direction of framing legislation for space applications. In a first across the country, the Gujarat National Law University (GNLU) is launching a degree course on ‘Space Law’ from 2010. The single semester optional course (at PG degree level) will be conducted in coordination with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and will be offered to 160 students. Though India has a space policy, there is no comprehensive law on space legislation. (11/21)

November 21 News Items

2009-11-21T08:11:00.002-05:00

2nd Night of False Alarms on Space Station (Source: Discovery)
Depressurization and smoke alarms woke the shuttle and station crews for a second consecutive night on Friday. Flight controllers quickly determined they were false alarms, but the station's ventilation system automatically shut down, prompting NASA to cancel spacewalk preparations inside a low-pressure chamber on the station. Astronauts Michael Foreman and Randy Bresnik were camping out in the station's Quest airlock to purge their bodies from nitrogen in advance of Saturday's spacewalk, a planned 6.5-hour outing to install antennas and a cargo mount to the outside of the station. (11/21)

Constellation Claims Half of NASA Stimulus Funds To Date (Source: Space News)
With less than a year remaining to spend $1 billion in stimulus money that the U.S. Congress gave NASA in February as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), the space agency has spent roughly $570 million, with nearly half of those dollars going toward its embattled Constellation program. So far, some $270 million in ARRA funding has gone to Constellation, a 5-year-old effort to build new spacecraft and rockets optimized for sending astronauts to the Moon. The administration of President Barack Obama is reconsidering those plans and looking at scenarios that would entail the cancellation of projects currently receiving stimulus funds, including the Ares 1 rocket. (11/21)

November 20 News Items

2009-11-20T13:41:00.013-05:00

ULA and ITT Military Contracts Boost Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Sources: DOD, SPACErePORT)
United Launch Alliance was awarded a $9,000,000 contract to accelerate the launch-to-launch time spans of the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle launches to preserve the capability to launch the National Reconnaissance Office L-32 mission in October 2010. At this time, the entire amount has been obligated. In a separate action, ITT Industries, Inc. at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport was awarded a $66,370,706 contract option for continued program management, interface management, systems engineering and integration, depot maintenance transition, product acquisitions and modifications, and instrument modernization for operational systems and infrastructure at the spaceport. (11/19)

NASA Recruits 'Planet 51' Actor Dwayne Johnson to Spread Message (Source: Space.com)
Actor Dwayne Johnson, formerly known as "The Rock," is helping to spread the benefits of NASA in a new series of public service announcements (PSAs) timed with the release of Sony Pictures' animated feature film "Planet 51." In the PSAs, Johnson touts NASA's role in education, recycling and the development of new technologies, commonly referred to as "spinoffs."

"Films are such a powerful way to reach out to new audiences and excite them about space exploration," NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said in a statement. "Dwayne will enlighten families about the importance of learning science and math and celebrating others' differences. He also informs the public about some NASA technologies which are used right here on Earth." (11/20)

French Bond Issue Could be Boon for Space (Source: Space News)
A French government commission on Nov. 19 proposed investing 2 billion euros ($3 billion) of a planned 35 billion-euro government bond issue in new aeronautical and space technologies including Earth observation and broadband spacecraft. The commission estimated that the total investment package would expand to 60 billion euros when private-sector and possible European Union contributions are included. The investments backed by the bond issue could come in the form of grants co-financed by the projects’ sponsors, reimbursable loans or loan guarantees made by the French Innovation Agency, OSEO. (11/20)

Soyuz Rocket Launches Russian Military Payload (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Russia launched a military spy satellite into space Friday on a Soyuz rocket from the country's Plesetsk spaceport. The three-stage Soyuz rocket delivered the spacecraft to an elliptical orbit with a high point of about 560 miles and a low point of approximately 120 miles. The orbit's inclination is about 67.2 degrees, according to tracking data. The satellite was named Kosmos 2455 after the launch as part of the Russian defense ministry's naming system for spacecraft. The payload was the sixth Russian military satellite launched this year. This was the 12th flight this year of a variant of the venerable Soyuz rocket family. It also marked the 63rd space launch worldwide to successfully reach orbit this year. (11/20)

Iran to Launch Space Booster, Satellite by Late 2011 (Source: MSNBC)
Iran plans to launch a communications satellite by late 2011 with no outside help, a top Iranian official said Friday, after Italy and Russia declined to put it into orbit. The move reflected Tehran's frustration with the two countries as it tries to push ahead with an ambitious space program, which has worried world powers because the same rocket technology used to launch satellites can also be used for military purposes. Israeli media have claimed that the new Iranian satellite, named Misbah, or "Lantern" in Farsi, is a spy satellite. Iran says the satellite, which is to be launched into a low-earth orbit, is to assist in data communication. (11/20)

Cosmonaut: Russia Falling Behind in Space Race (Source: MSNBC)
Russia lacks a viable program for developing a new spacecraft and will likely fall behind in the space race, a veteran Russian cosmonaut said in an interview. Efforts to build a successor to the 40-year old Soyuz spacecraft have dragged on with no end in sight, Mikhail Tyurin said. He blamed the slow progress on a lack of clear goals and poor coordination. He said officials' talk of using the ship to fly to the International Space Station, and then the moon and Mars, are unfeasible. "One vehicle can't be both a steamroller and a Formula One racer," he said. (11/20)

Editorial: The Wet Side of the Moon (Source: New York Times)
Picture a habitat atop a hill in warm sunlight on the edge of a crater near the south pole of the Moon. There are metal ores in the rocks nearby and ice in the shadows of the crater below. Solar arrays are set up nearby and humans live in sealed, cave-like lava tubes, protected from solar flares and sustained by large surface greenhouses. Imagine the Moon as the first self-sustainable human settlement away from Earth and a high-speed transportation hub for the solar system.

We can finally begin to think seriously about establishing such a self-sufficient home on the Moon because last week, NASA announced that it had discovered large quantities of water there. While we have known for decades that the Moon had all the raw chemicals necessary for sustaining life, we believed they were trapped in rocks and thus difficult to extract. The discovery of plentiful lunar water is of tremendous importance to humanity and our long-term survival. Click here to view the editorial. (11/20)

U.S. Preeminence in Space is Eroding, Experts Tell Congress (Source: Miami Herald)
America is losing its edge in space as China, Iran and other rivals step up their efforts, experts told a congressional panel on Thursday. Among the statistics: 37 nations now have satellites in space, 13 have active space programs and eight are capable of launching their own satellites. Russia and China have particularly aggressive programs, the experts testified, while new entrants to the "space club" include Algeria, Nigeria, Venezuela and South Africa. AIA Vice President J.P. Stevens told lawmakers that the U.S. share of the global commercial space market has slipped to just 15%. "Our leadership is no longer guaranteed," he said. "We're being undercut." (11/20)

Increase in Defense Spending Needed to Meet Plans (Source: AIA)
Defense spending will need to increase by 6%, to $567 billion annually, in constant 2010 dollars, in order to meet the current administration's plans, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The need for more funds could squeeze suppliers of advanced systems, and steadily rising maintanence and personnel costs are among other factors requiring increased spending. (11/20)

Former Astronaut-Astronomer, Sam Durrance, Joins the Suborbital Researchers Group (Source: CSF)
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation announces that Florida native and former NASA astronaut Samuel T. Durrance, a PhD astronomer and veteran of two Space Shuttle missions, has been selected as the latest addition to CSF’s Suborbital Applications Researchers Group (SARG). Including Dr. Durrance, SARG now consists of eleven researchers and educators, in disciplines ranging from microgravity physics to life sciences, who are aiming to increase awareness of commercial suborbital spacecraft in the science and R&D communities, work with policymakers to ensure that payloads can have easy access to these vehicles, and further develop ideas for the uses of vehicles under development by Armadillo Aerospace, Blue Origin, Masten Space Systems, Virgin Galactic, and XCOR Aerospace. (11/20)

Lighting Science Lands NASA Deal (Source: Orlando Business Journal)
Lighting Science Group Corp. and the Kennedy Space Center have signed a two-year agreement to jointly develop a high-illumination and good-color-rendering LED light fixture for space exploration. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. The agreement calls for development of a lighting fixture prototype able to meet the unique demands of space equipment and space travel. Lighting Science CEO Zach Gibler said the agreement also opens up opportunities to take lighting advances developed for space exploration and translate them into earth-bound LED lighting applications. The company is based in Satellite Beach. (11/20)

Editorial: Who Owns the Moon? (Source: Cornell Sun)
The discovery of water on the moon opens up very basic questions that not many people stop to consider, most notably, “who owns the moon.” Who, if anyone, claims to own the moon? Who is recognized as owning the moon? Can anyone own the moon? While these questions may seem silly or trivial, the idea of eventually adding a permanent lunar base, or mining the moon for resources makes them surprisingly relevant. The answer to the question of who owns the moon, of course, is no one.

The Outer Space Treaty, the international law signed by more than 100 countries (including the United States), states that the moon and other celestial bodies are the province of all mankind, however, like most simple answers this one contains several complications. At the time the United Nations drafted the Outer Space Treaty there were only two spacefaring nations, the United States and the Soviet Union. We now have over a dozen, and many of them, China, Russia, the U.S., India and Japan, want to go to the moon. The commercial space sector is also becoming extremely interested in Earth’s only natural satellite with companies considering everything from mining the lunar surface to building extraterrestrial resorts on it.

Editor's Note: This article gives me another opportunity to suggest that the Obama Administration, with its ongoing multi-agency space policy update and keen interest in multi-national and commercial space programs, has a unique opportunity to lead the development of a new space treaty regime. Current gray-areas in today's treaties present a dis-incentive for some foreseeable large-scale commercially-oriented space projects. (11/20)

Solar Project Expansion at KSC Tied to Utility Rate Increase and State Support (Sources: Florida Today, SPACErePORT)
It doesn't yet include solar power-beaming satellites, but a Florida Power & Light (FPL) project at Kennedy Space Center will be expanded to include some other solar power R&D if the utility company is able to gain state approval for a rate increase. FPL officials said the expansion is also contingent upon state legislators passing a law supportive of renewable energy. FPL's ongoing development of a 10-megawatt solar plant at KSC would be expanded with an additional 100 megawatts, bringing 1,000 temporary jobs and 50 permanent ones. The permanent jobs would be science and engineering focused, residing at a new energy R&D center at KSC's Exploration Park. (11/20)

Key Lawmakers Stand Behind Constellation (Source: Florida Today)
Two NASA allies in Congress dug in their heels Thursday and said that the agency should continue with its troubled Constellation program and not rely on global partners to access space after the shuttle is retired in 2010. The assertions, by the chairwoman (Gabrielle Giffords) and ranking Republican member (Pete Olson) of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, signal a growing divide between Congress and the White House over NASA’s future, as the administration has indicated it wants to make space exploration more of a joint effort with other nations.

The White House has embraced the recent recommendation of a presidentially appointed space panel that advocated international partnerships to share the huge costs of human spaceflight. But Congress is reluctant to change the status quo, in part because it could put hometown jobs at risk. Thursday’s hearing was the first in a series planned by Giffords to underscore support for Constellation. Another is set for next month to assess the safety of competing commercial rocket designs, an issue Giffords said was “given inadequate scrutiny in the Augustine report.” Constellation backers frequently cite safety as a reason to continue the program’s Ares rockets and the Orion capsule.

But cost could ultimately be Constellation’s undoing. The program has cost nearly $8 billion since 2004. The White House has warned agencies including NASA to prepare for budget cuts of 5 to 10 percent. A test launch of an Ares I mockup last month cost $445 million, which led one lawmaker to question whether money would be better invested in helping commercial rocket companies. “We are spending more than any other country in the world but we are falling behind. What does that tell you?” asked U.S. Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California. (11/20)

When Good Rockets Go Bad (Source: WIRED)
In the grand scheme of human space programs in Russia and the United States, catastrophic failures are relatively rare. But they are often quite spectacular and make a big impression on the public and on the funding for space exploration. The explosions in the videos we’ve assembled here were very costly, some in terms of life, some in terms of lost equipment and all in terms of progress of the space programs. Click here to view a collection of rocket failure videos. (11/20)

Rocket Barons Share Thoughts on Launch Industry (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Managers of the top commercial launch providers, including Arianespace, ILS, and bankrupt Sea Launch, disagree on the outlook of the industry as satellite operators clamor for more participants in the launch market. Arianespace and ILS can now launch about 21 commercial communications satellites per year, based on combined average flight rates. Up to 28 payloads could be launched annually if both providers ramped up operations. Those numbers don't include the expected addition of the Soyuz rocket to Arianespace's fleet next year.

The Ariane 5 is launching two satellites at a time about seven times each year. The Proton launches on commercial missions six to eight times per year. The maximum flight rates for the vehicles are nine missions annually for Ariane and 10 commercial flights per year for Proton. Arianespace and ILS agree that two able providers could efficiently handle the demands of satellite operators worldwide. But officials with Sea Launch say there is room for a third major market participant.

The Sea Launch manifest has been emptied by payloads moving to Ariane 5 and Proton launchers. Most recently, the XM 5 radio broadcasting craft switched to the Proton rocket for a launch in late 2010, earlier than Sea Launch could conduct the mission. Sea Launch's backlog now consists of three firm launches, two unidenfitifed Eutelsat missions and the Intelsat 17 satellite. Four more options from Intelsat are also on the manifest. (11/20)

Other Players Vie for Launch Business (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
In addition to Arianespace, ILS and SeaLaunchc, United Launch Alliance (with Atlas-5 and Delta-4) and China (with the Long March) are vying for a slice of the commercial satellite launch market, as are SpaceX (with the Falcon-9), India's Antrix (with the PSLV and GSLV), and Japan (with the H-2). All of these companies are jockeying for position in a market that is projected to consist of 20 to 24 commercial satellites per year between 2009 and 2018, according to industry studies.

These numbers lead some to fear of more oversupply in the finicky launch market and question the value of new participants and even established companies like Sea Launch. The Federal Aviation Administration's Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee, or COMSTAC, released a report in May predicting an average of 20.8 commercial satellites and 15.7 commercial launches to geostationary transfer orbit in the next decade. Euroconsult, a Paris-based reserch firm specializing in satellites, published a similar forecast in June calling for a total of 235 commercial geostationary communications payloads between 2009 and 2018.

Leaders of the world's largest satellite operators have made repeated statements lambasting the state of the commercial rocket industry. Eutelsat and Intelsat have both kept contracts with Sea Launch and Land Launch, despite the company's financial trouble. Both companies say they would like to see more variety in the launch market. Sea Launch officials are thankful for the support and agree with the strategy. Now we don't see any operator complaining about launch prices anymore. What they're worried about is access to space," said Sea Launch's president. (11/20)

$350,000 Awarded in Glove Design Competition (Source: Florida Today)
The two competitors sat side by side, waiting like contestants at a high school science fair. But here, at the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville Thursday evening, much more was at stake: $400,000 in total prize money for designing gloves that exceeded the requirements of a NASA astronaut glove. The professorial Peter Homer, 48, from Maine had tasted victory before, winner of a similar competition in 2007. His competition was Ted Southern, a 32-year-old New York City native who designs props and costumes for a living.

Experience won, and Homer took home a check of $250,000. Southern's glove met the standards too, and he was awarded $100,000. The rest of the $50,000 prize money was held back because the five judges did not see a novel and innovative approach in the TMG design of the gloves. TMG refers to Thermal Micrometeoroid Garment, a material that makes up the outer layer of an astronaut glove or a spacesuit. (11/20)

November 19 News Items

2009-11-19T09:55:00.009-05:00

U.S. Losing its Lead in Space, Experts Warn Congress (Source: Star-Telegram)
America's once clear dominance in space is eroding as other nations, including China, Iran and North Korea, step up their activities, a panel of experts told the House subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics Thursday. Russia now leads the world in space launches. China recently became the third nation, after the United States and Russia, to send its own astronauts to space. "China is laying the groundwork for a long-term space program with or without us," said Scott Pace, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University in Washington. "We should worry if we're not out there with them."

In a competition once limited to the U.S. and the Soviet Union, 60 nations now have their own space agencies, panelists said. Thirteen nations have active space programs, and eight are capable of launching their own satellites into orbit. In the last 10 years, the number of countries with communications satellites or GPS systems in orbit has increased from 27 to 37. "Countries as diverse as Algeria, Iran, Nigeria, Venezuela, South Africa and Turkey have now become part of the so-called space club." (11/19)

Costa Rican Company Creates Plasma Rocket to Pick Up Space Trash (Source: Global Post)
Franklin Chang Diaz has great aspirations for his rocket: a mail-carrier for outer space, a garbage truck for orbital debris and, the ultimate goal, a shuttle to Mars. The Costa Rica-born physicist speaks nonchalantly about the day humankind will have moved entirely to outer space, while our precious Earth becomes “a protected park.” Click here to view the article. (11/19)

Burn-Through Blamed in Long March Mishap (Source: Space News)
China’s Long March 3A series of rockets is expected to return to flight before the end of this year following the conclusion of a state-run board of inquiry into the Aug. 31 failure of the vehicle’s upper stage. The investigation into the underperformance of one of two upper-stage engines during the flight, which placed Indonesia’s Palapa-D satellite into a useless orbit, concluded that failure was caused by a burn-through of the engine’s gas generator.

The board of inquiry into the vehicle’s first failure in 13 years concluded that the most likely cause of the burn-through was foreign matter or humidity-caused icing in the engine’s liquid-hydrogen injectors. To prevent a recurrence of the problem, the liquid hydrogen gas-feed system on future rockets will be fitted with a filter to prevent the passage of ice or other foreign objects. In addition, the gas generator in the third-stage engine’s liquid hydrogen cavity in the future will be purged before launch to prevent ice buildup. (11/19)

ULA To Delay Layoffs To January (Source: Florida Today)
United Launch Alliance will delay and reduce layoffs planned for Friday until Jan. 7. The layoffs, expected to affect up to 70 workers, now will affect 20 to 30 ULA employees the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, according to a letter from ULA President and CEO Michael Gass. The layoff delay was enabled by a funding increase from the federal government "for Delta IV launch capability enhancement." The additional funds reportedly totaled $10 million. ULA has two launches remaining this year, and nine scheduled next year.

"This (layoff) delay will allow our Cape launch team to remain focused on mission success for both the upcoming commercial Atlas V Intelsat-14 (Nov. 23) and Air Force Delta IV WGS-3 (Dec. 2) missions," said the letter from Gass. "Our best offense in preventing future reductions is a total commitment to prefect product delivery and 100 percent mission success for our government and commercial customers." Some 720 ULA employees work at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Nine workers were laid off on Oct. 1. (11/19)

AIAA Plans Aerospace Sciences Event in Orlando on Jan. 4-7 (Source: AIAA)
The AIAA will hold the 48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting (including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition) at the Orlando World Center Marriott on Jan. 4-7. This is a major multidisciplinary event for aerospace scientists and engineers from around the world. It provides an forum for scientists and engineers from industry, government, and academia to share and disseminate scientific knowledge and research results with a view toward new technologies for aerospace systems. New additions to the event for 2010 include a Jan. 4 session entitled NASA Research: Then and Now. The early-bird registration deadline is Dec. 7. Click here for information and registration.

Editor's Note: Four faculty members from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will serve on multiple panels during the event, and I'll be there in the audience. (11/19)

Analyst: Asia Threatens U.S. Military Dominance (Source: AIA)
A defense analyst at the Congressional Research Service says U.S. global military dominance is fading, threatening the "Pax Americana" that has ruled since the end of World War II. Stephen Daggett says the rise of Asian economies is shifting power to the east. "The days of the American Century were really in the last 50 years of the 20th century," Daggett said Wednesday before a meeting of the House Armed Services Committee. (11/19)

Hopes Dim for FAA Reauthorization Bill in 2009 (Source: AIA)
Despite pleas from the aviation industry -- and airports in particular -- the Senate appears unlikely to pass an FAA reauthorization bill by year's end. The Senate Finance Committee has yet to approve the measure, which would then require a debate by the full Senate followed by a conference to iron out differences with the House bill. The agency's current temporary authorization -- its seventh in two years -- is set to expire Dec. 31. (11/19)

Australian Space Science 'Making Gains' (Source: The Age)
A year after being advised to lift its game, Australia is making a leap forward in the field of space science, the federal government says. It has thrown $48.6 million at the problem, establishing a space science program and a space policy unit, and plans to set up a special space council bringing together top experts in the sector. The shift comes after a senate committee's report a year ago which found Australia was lagging well behind other countries in space science.

It said Australia was the only OECD country without a national spa ce agency and missing countless opportunities in a field driven by innovation and technology. Science Minister Kim Carr says a key change will come with the establishment of a Space Industry Innovation Council to oversee the improvement of the sector as a whole. (11/19)

Sri Lanka Signs Agreement to Set Up Space Agency (Source: Daily Mirror)
Sri Lanka has embarked on setting up a space agency yesterday with the signing of an agreement with the Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) that would pave the way for launching a local space agency which will lead the country to launch a geo satellite in three years. One of the major activities of the space agency is to launch a satellite. SLTRC Chief said there is a possibility of launching a satellite through a public partnership. “This may be a better option as the government may not have enough funds for it,” he said. (11/19)

Mexico Considering Space Agency to Develop Astronomy (Source: Xinhua)
Mexican President Felipe Calderon said on Wednesday that the nation is considering creating a space agency to boost the development of astronomy and space science. "Right now, the Congress is considering the creation of an aerospace agency, which already has a budget of 122 million pesos (9.38 million U.S. dollars) committed," Calderon said. The money is currently being spent on space-related projects via existing ministries and state-run bodies. In Latin America, Brazil and Costa Rica have well-known space programs. (11/19)

Editorial: Look Homeward, NASA (Source: Baltimore Sun)
The agency's Earth-science budget has been slashed at a time when it is most needed. Last month, 360 miles above the Earth, a little-noticed light went dark. It was the third and final laser on NASA's Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), developed and managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt. For the last 6 1/2 years, ICESat has been using precise laser measurements to determine how much the Greenland and Antarctica ice sheets are contributing to the rise of the global seas.

The situation with ICESat serves as a stark reminder that many of the remarkable capabilities that NASA has developed to help us understand our planet are living on borrowed time. NASA is best known for exotic projects that explore distant places, but many of NASA's greatest contributions to society have come from its Earth-observing satellites. I wish the loss of ICESat were just an aberration in an otherwise healthy global observing system, so we could continue to understand how and why our planet is changing. Unfortunately, this is only a hint of things to come. (11/19)

NASA Challenges Inventors to Improve Space Gloves (Source: Florida Today)
The gloves are off when it comes to the latest advancement in aerospace technology. NASA thinks a little competition and $400,000 in prize money might launch the latest in space hand wear during its Astronaut Glove Challenge at the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

The goal of the challenge is to find innovative ways to reduce hand fatigue and create a lighter, stronger glove with greater dexterity and flexibility. If gloves do not exceed current NASA baseline standards, there will be no winner in the competition. (11/19)

Editorial: The China Card (Source: Florida Today)
For more than a decade, the U.S. and China have been joined at the hip as major trading partners with the countries driving the global economy. But one aspect of Sino-American relations has never made sense even as ties between the nations have grown: The lack of an agreement to make China a partner with the U.S. in space exploration, even though 16 other spacefaring nations long ago joined NASA to fund, build and operate the International Space Station.

We have strongly advocated that Washington ink such a pact and one may finally be in the offing with the White House announcement Tuesday during President Obama’s trip to China that it’s opening preliminary talks with Beijing on the subject. The agreement would bring benefits to both countries, and American and Chinese officials should strive to turn the proposal into reality as soon as possible. (11/19)

European Mischief Makers? (Source: Hyperbola)
An article run by Space News and authored by two former senior European Space Agency launcher officials that attacks sub-orbital tourism and hopes for commercial orbital transport. It is clear that ESA's leadership does not share these views. The organization has a policy on space tourism. The two authors may actually feel so strongly about the subject matter that the word hoax is, for them, a polite reference to the new industry.

This blogger got to feel the strength of anti-space tourism sentiment in Europe at a recent conference, where a senior technical official at an ESA center called suborbital travel "trivial" and a French space agency representative, who was also on the panel, had some harsh words as well. It is hard for space industry veterans to accept the claims of New Space when they have been working, sometimes for decades, in an industry that has launched much into orbit and never brought the cost down.

The argument this blogger had put forward is that the frequency of suborbital trips generates the revenue and wider business confidence that leads to the markets investing. This in turn leads to a virtuous circle of suborbital improvement, leading to point to point services, with further improvement, and finally reaching an orbital capability that will in part be reusable. (11/19)

Embry-Riddle Flight Teams Dominate Regional Contests from Coast to Coast (Source: ERAU)
On Nov. 14, 2,200 miles apart in San Diego, Calif., and Jacksonville, Fla., the Golden Eagles and Eagles flight teams representing Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, dominated their respective regional competitions, winning in flight, ground, and overall team categories in regional Safety and Flight Evaluation Conference (SAFECON) competitions held by the National Intercollegiate Flying Association (NIFA). The Eagles are based at Embry-Riddle’s East Coast campus in Daytona Beach. The Golden Eagles hail from the West Coast campus in Prescott, Arizona. (11/19)

There’s Water on the Moon, But Who Owns It? (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Ownership of the moon? On the one hand, it sounds like something only a legal academic might think about. But that’s not so, says Timothy G. Nelson, an international arbitration lawyer. Nelson says aerospace companies are already thinking about ways to make space exploration profitable. While it’s still decades away, Nelson says the possibilities are becoming more concrete all the time, and that it’s not too soon to think about the law and the moon.

The question is governed by international law, and some of the principles are actually fairly well developed. At bottom, when one asks such a question, he’s really asking about the law concerning the extraction of resources in a place where there’s no sovereignty. Incidentally, the fact that there is no sovereignty is reflected in an international treaty in 1967 [often referred to as the Outer Space Treaty], which essentially said that no country shall make any sovereign claims to the moon.

Of course, getting resources from the moon will take an enormous capital investment, and the trick in setting up a treaty will be to make it feasible to get private capital involved. If you don’t do that; if it’s something that’s overly regulated by a centralized U.N. framework, it won’t work. You have to make it such that private investors could sensibly commit the funds to go ahead and do the exploitation. Click here to view the article. (11/19)

November 18 News Items

2009-11-18T10:41:00.011-05:00

What's the Environmental Impact of Going Into Space? (Source: Slate)
We hear so much about the environmental impacts of transportation. What about space travel? How do rockets affect the atmosphere? Each flight into space does have a small impact on the planet it leaves behind, but—-for the moment, at least—-these launchings are very rare. Only a couple of rockets blast off every week around the world. As a result, space travel doesn't register on most environmentalists' radars.

One issue that might deserve some attention has to do with the depletion of stratospheric ozone. Rocket engines emit reactive gases that cause ozone molecules to break apart. They also discharge microscopic particles of soot and aluminum oxide, which may increase the rate at which those gases wreak havoc. Each variety of rocket propellant delivers its own blend of ozone-depleting substances: Solid propellants, for example, are more damaging than liquid ones, though exactly how much is unclear. Engine design matters, too. To make matters worse, spacecraft dump some of these pollutants directly into the upper and middle stratosphere, where they can start causing damage immediately. (11/18)

Spy Agency Changes Spark Mistrust (Source: DOD Buzz)
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair should sign by Dec. 1 a document laying out new responsibilities for the National Reconnaissance Office, builder and operator of America’s spy satellites. This will set in motion the first substantial changes to the NRO charter since 1965.

The new document reportedly lays out eight core ideas meant to guide the NRO and will become the foundation for a new NRO charter, which most intelligence community and Pentagon officials feel strongly must be updated. But the document’s main guiding principle has some observers worried that it will give the NRO too much power, particularly over some Air Force satellite systems.

The key here is just what will the NRO build and operate. One phrase in the statement of principles worries these observers: “overhead reconnaissance systems.” This, said our source, “could include Air Force systems,” and thus gives the spy agency powers it currently does not possess. That worries military space advocates. They worry that the NRO could take budgetary and programmatic control over some systems currently controlled by the services, especially the Air Force. (11/18)

U.S. and China Face Mounting Orbital Debris Hazards (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Quick-thinking Chinese ground controllers were able to maneuver a high-value Chinese spacecraft out of the path of space debris marking the first such save by China, demonstrating the country's maturing space tracking and command and control systems.

In the U.S., major efforts are also underway to improve and exercise debris see-and-avoid measures. The U.S. military says it is now tracking 800 maneuverable satellites for possible collisions and expects to add 500 more non-maneuvering satellites by early 2010. (11/18)

Hatches Open and Shuttle and Space Station Crews Get to Work (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Hatches between space shuttle Atlantis and the International Space Station were opened and now there are 12 people aboard the orbiting outpost. The six shuttle astronauts floated into the station and exchanged hugs and handshakes with the six full-time station residents. The opening of the hatch also brings to an end Nicole Stott’s time as space station flight engineer. Stott will now officials be part of the Atlantis crew. If all goes according to plan and Atlantis lands in Florida on Nov. 27, Stott will have spent a total of 91 days in space. According to NASA, she will be the last station crew member to return to Earth on the space shuttle. From now on Russian Soyuz spacecraft will be used for future station crew launches and landings.

Editor's Note: Stott is an Embry-Riddle graduate who will also fly aboard the last Space Shuttle flight, currently planned for next year. Interestingly, Stott is married to Christopher Stott, a co-founder and board member of Excalibur Almaz and Odyssey Moon, based on the Isle of Man. (11/18)

India Reaches Out to Lonely Iran, May Offer Satellite Launch (Source: Indian Express)
New Delhi plans to woo Tehran with offers of greater intelligence sharing, revival of defense training and a possible launch of the latter’s satellite but will remain non-committal on the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. One “big gesture” by India at the talks will be an offer to launch Iran’s commercial satellite through an ISRO vehicle for which the technical details — sent by the Iranians in July — have been sent to Indian Space Research Organization for “assessing the nature of the satellite”. The Mesbah, designed to travel in low earth orbit to assist in data communication over three years, was first timed for a launch by a Russian Cosmos-3 satellite-carrier but that did not happen. Last week, satellite maker Carlo Gavazzi Space Company of Italy refuted Iran’s claim that it would be launching the satellite after March 2011. (11/16)

SaveSpace Campaign Reaches Milestone With Letters to Obama (Sources: NASA Watch, SaveSpace)
In a video posted at SaveSpace.us, Space Florida President Frank DiBello claims that he visited the White House and they asked "what they could do with all the letters" that they received. DiBello says that they claimed to have received 500,000 letters and that "this has had a devastating impact in Washington that has been recognized". (11/18)

Star Goes Rogue in Untimely Collision (Source: Discovery)
It's a solid doomsday prediction that in about 5 billion years the dying sun will expand as a bloated red giant and engulf the Earth. But imagine if in just a few weeks the middle-aged sun suddenly ballooned out to the orbit of Saturn and immediately vaporized Earth and most of the other planets in the solar system! And, even before this happened, imagine that every morning you awoke the sun was ever more sweltering until it began evaporating the oceans, spontaneously starting forests ablaze, and melting asphalt!

This sounds like the stuff of a far-out science fiction movie. But astronomers think that they actually witnessed such an even in 2002. A sun-like star on the edge of our galaxy abruptly grew 600,000 times brighter in a few weeks and ballooned 1,000 times its diameter. Alien astronomers on neighboring galaxies would have dutifully noted it as it briefly becoming one of the brightest stars in our Milky Way galaxy. (11/18)

UCF Professor Helps Launch New Space-Travel Industry (Source: UCF)
More than 40 years after man first set foot on the moon, space travel remains for its many fans a lifelong dream that is rarely realized. Joshua E. Colwell, an associate professor of planetary science at the University of Central Florida, is about to help change that. In the past three months, Mr. Colwell and a few other university scientists have begun working with a group of small companies that are close to launching a new generation of privately built spacecraft that would let human passengers routinely travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere to the beginning of outer space. The companies bear such names as Space Adventures, SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and Orbital Outfitters. They expect their flights, at about $200,000 a ticket, to cater mostly to wealthy tourists, at least at first. (11/18)

NASA Ames Supercomputer Ranks Among World's Fastest (Source: NASA)
After a recent upgrade, NASA’s premiere supercomputer located at Ames Research Center has garnered the sixth spot on the Top-500 list of the world's most powerful computers. The Pleiades supercomputer is an SGI® Altix® ICE system with 14,080 Intel® Xeon® quad-core processors (56,320 cores, 110 racks) running at 544 trillion floating point operations per second (teraflops) on the LINPACK benchmark, the industry standard for measuring a system’s floating point computing power. One of the most powerful general-purpose supercomputers ever built, Pleiades also features the world's largest InfiniBand® interconnect network. (11/18)

Is This the End for Human Space Flight? (Source: New Scientist)
So we won't be going to Mars, not in my lifetime anyway. And not back to the moon either, not for decades. Buzz Lightyear fantasies are dashed. Don't believe the spin - the dream is over. OK, the Augustine panel's review of NASA's human space-flight plans outlines several options. Mars may be out, but the moon is still in with a shout, and plans to go to the Lagrange points and even the asteroids are mooted. Technically, all this is probably doable. But it won't happen, and here's why. The problem is not money: the US can afford an extra $3 billion a year. It is psychological. NASA, the only game in town, has no idea what space is for, and no audacity.

There certainly was audacity in 1961, when JFK made his lunar pledge. The key line was not the crazy bit about landing a man on the moon, it was the hubristic promise to do so by 1970. If Wernher Von Braun had insisted the moon was unreachable before 1975, they probably would never have gone. Why? Because by 1975 Kennedy's presidency would be ancient history. Some other guy would get all the glory as Old Glory was hammered into the lunar regolith. Of course that happened anyway, but Kennedy's reasoning must have been that, even in 1969, he would be able to bask in the glory of a successful moon shot.

It may simply be that space exploration is incompatible with US democracy. A Mars shot would take four presidential terms at least. No president will ask taxpayers to fund something he won't be around to take credit for. Another big problem is the legacy of some terrible decisions that left NASA with the expensive, dangerous space shuttle and a white-elephant space station that manages the feat of making space seem as dull as cardboard. The whole thing is a mess. Click here to view the editorial. (11/18)

Atlas V & Delta IV Get New Launch Dates (Source: Florida Today)
The stalled launch of an Atlas V rocket is being rescheduled for early next Monday and a Delta IV rocket also has a new launch date: Dec. 2. The 19-story Atlas and its payload -- an Intelsat commercial communications satellite -- now is slated to blast off from Launch Complex 41 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport at 12:50 a.m. Monday. The launch window will extend until 2:20 a.m.

The Delta IV rocket and its payload -- a military communications satellite -- now are scheduled to blast off from Launch Complex 37 at 7:21 p.m. Dec. 2. The launch window that day will extend until 8:41 p.m. The mission had been set for Nov. 19 but the satellite payload had to be returned to a processing facility in south Titusville so critical batteries could be recharged. (11/18)

Hopes Stirring at NASA for Ares Engineering Vindication (Source: Popular Mechanics)
When NASA released news of engineering troubles surrounding the under-construction Ares I rocket's propensity to shake violently, critics were quick to jeer. But now NASA engineers at Marshall Flight are cautiously optimistic that the fears have been overstated after reviewing early data from the Ares I-X's test flight. "The data is very preliminary but the trends are very good," says Pat Lampton, the chief engineer for the first stage. As the Obama administration mulls over the future of manned spaceflight, making any positive test data discoveries especially well-timed.

A NASA team in 2007, looking at ground test data and shuttle launches, determined that the vibrations caused by the first stage of the rocket could damage hardware and disorient, or even injure astronauts. The vibrations were assumed to be worse in a 5-segment booster than a 4-segment boosters used on the space shuttle. However, that amplification has not been recorded during the Ares I-X test flight. "We've looked and we can't find it," Lampton says. "The physics are real but the amplification problem may not be as bad as we feared." (11/18)

Satellite Firms Moving Ahead on Orbital Database (Source: Space News)
Three of the world’s largest commercial satellite operators have issued a request for proposals for a company to design and operate a database on satellite positions, planned maneuvers and signal transmissions with a view to reducing the chance of orbital collisions and frequency interference. The three companies — Intelsat, SES and Inmarsat — expect to select a contractor as early as December to create the Space Data Center, to be located at the newly established Space Data Association (SDA) in Britain’s Isle of Man.

If it is successful in persuading other satellite operators to overcome their natural hesitation in handing over sensitive corporate operating details, the SDA would become the satellite industry’s first global effort to address the related issues of space situational awareness and signal interference. (11/18)

Russia Could Delay Maiden Launch of Angara Rocket (Source: RIA Novosti)
The maiden launch of Russia's new Angara carrier rocket could be postponed for at least one year due to shortage of funds from the Defense Ministry, the top Russian space official said Wednesday. The Angara rocket, currently under development by the Khrunichev center, is designed to put heavy payloads into orbit. The launch facilities were expected to be finished by 2010, and the first launch had been originally scheduled for 2011.

"There is a serious delay in the construction of launch facilities [for Angara] due to the shortage of financing from the Defense Ministry. We are doing everything we can on our part," said Anatoly Perminov, the head of the Federal Space Agency Roscosmos. Perminov said that the ministry has not halted financing completely, but significantly reduced it, resulting in the delay to construction this year. Angara is a modular launch system, planned for a capability similar to the US EELV rockets. (11/18)

Pentagon Takes Aim at Growing Number of Contract Protests (Source: AIA)
Last year saw a record 611 challenges to defense contract awards, and the Pentagon is reviewing its contracting procedures in an effort to reverse the trend. According to the General Accounting Office, contract protests surged 24% in 2008, including high-profile efforts to build new aerial refueling tankers and search-and-rescue helicopters. A Pentagon official refused to speculate whether his department might ask Congress to rewrite the 25-year-old law that made such protests possible. (11/18)

Satmex Reports 7.3 Increase in 3Q Revenue (Source: Space News)
Struggling satellite fleet operator Satmex of Mexico reported increased revenue for the three months ending Sept. 30 and also added to its cash balance as it continued to look for a way to finance a new satellite without violating its debt covenants. Satmex, which like other satellite operators in North America is facing a decline in business from satellite broadband provider Hughes Network Systems, said backlog dropped by 7 percent, to $240.3 million as of Sept. 30, compared where it stood June 30. (11/18)

NASA, Microsoft Take Web Surfers to Mars (Source: AFP)
NASA and Microsoft launched an interactive website that allows Web surfers to become Mars explorers. The "Be a Martian" website invites members of the public to help scientists perform such research tasks as improving maps of the red planet. "We're at a point in history where everyone can be an explorer," Doug McCuistion, director of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, said in a statement. "People worldwide can expand the specialized efforts of a few hundred Mars mission team members and make authentic contributions of their own," he said. Users can, for example, count craters on Mars, a task NASA said had posed a challenge in the past because of the vast numbers involved. (11/18)

Little Progress in Freeing a Rover on Mars (Source: New York Times)
The NASA rover Spirit, stuck in sand on Mars, tried to move Tuesday for the first time since May. In less than a second, it stopped. Cautious mission managers had put tight constraints on the Spirit’s movement to ensure that it did not drive itself into a deeper predicament. Because the uncertainty in its tilt was more than one degree, the rover called it a day. Spirit awaits new instructions. The commands to the rover were for it to make two forward motions, rotating its wheels three revolutions each time. If the rover were on solid ground, that would have carried it about five yards. (11/18)

Editorial: Can We Boldly Go? (Source: Philadelphia Inquirer)
Maybe someone should stick a copy of The Right Stuff into the DVD player tomorrow night on President Obama's long flight back from his mission to Asia. That inspirational movie about America's first astronauts might help Obama make a decision about the future of manned space flight. A blue-ribbon panel has told him that the future will be bleak unless more money is spent.

In a recession, such an assessment would appear to be fatal. But some creative thinking might lead to a different conclusion. With his mind on his whirlwind trip to Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, Beijing, and Seoul, Obama probably hasn't had time to appreciate last week's news that the presence of water on the moon has been confirmed. The discovery ironically came only months after former astronauts in the old Apollo program, which first sent men to the moon 40 years ago, had urged Obama to give up on plans to go back there and instead concentrate on a manned mission to Mars. (11/18)

Kranz: NASA Needs a Tune-up (Source: Wichita Eagle)
It took America a decade to go to the moon the first time. "We could do it in much less than that, five to seven years — if we had the will," said Gene Kranz, a NASA pioneer who led the ground team that guided America's astronauts to the moon and back. "Will is the key. Without will, you're powerless." Kranz, who spoke to a crowd of about 1,200 on Tuesday at the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce annual meeting and dinner, called the space program "the economic engine of our country." But, he said it's an engine in need of a tune-up.

The space program of the 1960s and 1970s "unleashed a generation of young Americans to step forward" and "take the hard route" of math, science and engineering. Today, Americans are "not as innovative as we used to be," Kranz said. One of his biggest concerns, he said, is that unemployment among technical and science professions is higher than the general unemployment rate of about 10 percent. (11/18)

Editorial: 2009 - A Space Travesty (Source: Daily Evergreen)
NASA is wasting time and money on moon exploration. Breaking news: NASA’s October attack on the moon has revealed the location of water beneath the lunar surface. I, however, am not excited. NASA plays a key role in improving human understanding of the universe, but continuing to focus attention on the moon harms the agency’s creditability. We are finished with the moon. We have gazed at it, walked on it, driven on it and now blown it up. It is time to look past the moon.

NASA’s official statement claims, “The discovery opens a new chapter in our understanding of the moon.” What the statement fails to answer is how this affects us. We already know the moon was once part of Earth, broken off most likely by a large meteor strike. We are well aware of how important the moon is to our ocean tides. We already knew that ice was on the moon, hinting that there could be water buried underneath. This is no great discovery. This is merely a confirmation of a theory that ultimately has no bearing on the human race.

This discovery sparked talk of “future lunar exploration,” which, in the minds of the average citizen, means astronauts walking on the moon again. Perhaps, it even means setting up a moon colony. We all need to stop believing science fiction. Unless NASA is hiding secret technology meant to allow us to easily live and breathe on the moon, there is [sic] not going to be any moon colonies anytime soon. If NASA is keeping this technology a secret, it must let us know. (11/18)

The Case for 'Telepresence' in Space (Source: EE Times)
Telepresence, a logical derivative of the telephone, is an emerging technology that can enable a human to perform physical work, or take action, at a remote location. Telepresence could be developed to enable a human on Earth to function in, and experience, a distant space environment such as Mars as effectively, for all practical purposes, as actually going there but without going there.

A telepresence mission for the human exploration and development of Mars would then be a valid, and much less expensive, substitute for a manned mission. The fundamental problem making manned missions prohibitively expensive is that the transportation, sustenance and safe return of living human bodies off of Earth is extremely difficult. Mars has therefore only been explored by what are presently called unmanned robotic missions -— an unfortunate terminology. It is unfortunate because the word "robot" is suggestive of an alien being such as R2D2 from Star Wars, while the term "unmanned" seems to imply the absence of a human. The false impression is that the exploration is not really human exploration. (11/18)

November 17 News Items

2009-11-17T12:06:00.004-05:00

Japan Aerospace Budget to be Cut, Research Canceled in National Fiscal Reductions (Source: Examiner)
A Japanese governmental advisory committee looking to cut billions of dollars worth of wasteful spending from the country’s 2010 budget has recommended that specific funds to Japan’s aerospace program (JAXA) be reduced, including a call to end research related to the development of a new rocket engine.

As part of a first round of recommendations for cuts and reductions that have amounted to 278.7 billion yen (approximately $3.1 billion USD), the committee on called for an end to research on the over-budget GX rocket engine, the Yomiuri reported. Requested funds for the 2010 fiscal year amounted to 5.8 billion yen (~$65 million USD). (11/17)

Florida Gets $98.7 Million Thus Far for Stimulus Research Projects (Source: WIRED)
More than $20 billion in economic stimulus money has poured into the nation’s universities, according to a new collection of data gathered by a trio of research consortia. “This is the largest investment in science and research probably since Sputnik,” said Bill Andresen, a vice president at the University of Pennsylvania in charge of Federal affairs and president of The Science Coalition.

California’s institutions were the big winners, snagging 1,602 grants worth almost $1.2 billion, but the money was spread across the country. Florida is ranked 21st, with 310 grants worth over $98.7 billion, or $5.39 per capita. Click here to view a table showing data on all 50 states. (11/17)

Could Jupiter Moon Harbor Fish-Size Life? (Source: National Geographic)
In the oceans of a moon hundreds of millions of miles from the sun, something fishy may be alive—right now. Below its icy crust Jupiter's moon Europa is believed to host a global ocean up to a hundred miles (160 kilometers) deep, with no land to speak of at the surface. And the extraterrestrial ocean is currently being fed more than a hundred times more oxygen than previous models had suggested, according to provocative new research.

That amount of oxygen would be enough to support more than just microscopic life-forms: At least three million tons of fishlike creatures could theoretically live and breathe on Europa, said study author Richard Greenberg of the University of Arizona in Tucson. Based on what we know about the Jovian moon, parts of Europa's seafloor should greatly resemble the environments around Earth's deep-ocean hydrothermal vents, said deep-sea molecular ecologist Timothy Shank. (11/17)

“Butterflies in Space” Education Project Launches to Space Station (Source: NASA)
Students of all ages can follow the “butterflynauts” aboard the International Space Station as they develop from larvae into Painted Lady butterflies. The educational experiment launched Nov. 16 on space shuttle Atlantis, and the butterfly habitat will be transferred to the Space Station within the first 2-3 days of the mission.

“About 100 elementary and middle school classrooms across the U.S. are participating in a pilot study by setting up ground-based habitats. Students will replicate the space experiment and compare the growth and behavior of their butterfly larvae with those living in the microgravity environment of space,” said Dr. Greg Vogt. Editor's Note: Under an arrangement with Space Florida, several Florida K-12 classrooms are participating. (11/17)

Sri Lanka Signs Agreement with SSTL for Space Capability (Source: SSTL)
Officials from Sri Lanka and Surrey Satellite Technology Limited (SSTL) signed an agreement that starts a Sri Lankan national space capability by providing an SSTL Earth Observation satellite and commencing the definition and design of Sri Lanka’s first communications satellite. (11/17)

First New Zealand Space Rocket Ready for Blast Off (Source: NBR)
In the week beginning November 30 (subject to weather), Rocket Lab’s Atea-1 rocket is due to blast off, carrying a payload 120km into the heavens. Atea-1 will become the first privately-funded rocket to launch from the Southern Hemisphere. Rocket Lab is offering its rocket for suborbital missions.

Compared to past and present US and Russian behemoths, Atea-1 is a tiddler - just 150mm wide and 6m tall. And its payload is restricted to a modest 2kg (compared to the Space Shuttle's 22,700kg). But Rocket Lab's chief executive Peter Beck told NBR that’s all the capacity his company needs for commercially successful launches (although larger rockets are planned). The launch will take place on Great Mercury Island, east of the Coromandel. (11/16)

Developer Selected for NASA Research Park at Ames (Source: Mountain View Voice)
TMG Partners and "The Related Companies" have been selected to be master developers of a unique $1 billion research park at Moffett Field in a partnership with NASA Ames and local universities. The 3-million-square-foot project includes nearly 2,000 homes, a million square feet of commercial space and 600,000 square feet of academic space, according to conceptual plans. The developers say that working with universities and NASA Ames attracted them to project, which could be seen as risky in the current market.

The developers are betting that the economy will rebound in three to five years, said William Berry, president of University Associates-Silicon Valley. "A new community integrating the commercial, science and residential components with technology companies of Silicon Valley can be found nowhere else," said Michael Covarrubias, chairman and CEO of TMG, in a press release. (11/16)

China, U.S. to Cooperate in Space Exploration (Source: People's Daily)
Chinese President Hu Jintao met in Beijing with visiting U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday. Both leaders agreed to start cooperation in new fields of space exploration and high-speed railway construction. (11/17)

Atlantis Blasts Off in Flawless Launch (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Space shuttle Atlantis roared into orbit at 2:28 pm on Monday, arching through light clouds to begin an 11-day mission to the International Space Station and bringing the 28-year-old shuttle program one step closer to retirement. The successful liftoff -- one of the most trouble-free in the history of the program -- reduces the number of remaining launches to five and marks the first NASA mission completely devoted to stocking the station with spare parts -- such as pumps and gyroscopes -- so that the floating observatory can continue long past the orbiter's 2010 retirement. (11/16)

NASA Wants to Retool Shuttle Logistics Depot (Source: Florida Today)
Until NASA's next spacecraft begins flying, the agency hopes to keep the doors open at the workshop that repairs and refurbishes the orbiter's mechanical and electronic equipment. Repairing military equipment returning from the Middle East could provide temporary work for up to 300 engineers and technicians at the NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot, operated by United Space Alliance.

"We have a skilled set of engineers, technicians and support staff that we need to keep here," USA deputy associate program manager Jim Kell told a gathering of nearly 50 elected officials and government representatives.

"There is no commitment on the (Defense Department's) part to put additional work here," said Frank DiBello, president of Space Florida, a state agency that supports the space industry. "We have to compete for it." U.S. Reps. Suzanne Kosmas and Bill Posey attended Monday's meeting. Both said they would work to secure money for the Defense Department to fund the program at the NSLD. (11/17)

EADS Reports Loss for Third Quarter (Source: AIA)
A stronger euro helped drag EADS to a third-quarter loss, the company said Monday, while big new military and commercial aircraft continued to weigh on the company's future. CFO Hans Peter Ring told analysts Airbus may have to take a new charge on the A380 super jumbo, and renegotiated contracts for the A400M could produce "substantial negative income statement impacts ... in future quarters." (11/16)

Things are Rough All Over... (Source: Space Review)
NASA is routinely criticized for failing to bring in projects on time and schedule. Dwayne Day notes that for all of NASA's problems, the Defense Department's project management woes are far more serious, with potentially bigger implications. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1511/1 to view the article. (11/16)

Solar Sailing Gets its Second Wind (Source: Space Review)
The concept of solar sailing is particularly attractive for some missions, but to date no one has been able to successfully launch one. Jeff Foust reports on a new bid by The Planetary Society to do that, and by doing so build upon the legacy of one of its co-founders. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1510/1 to view the article. (11/16)

All These Worlds Are Yours, Except the Moon and Mars (Attempt No Landing There) (Source: Space Review)
Much of the attention about the Augustine Committee report was with one of its options, called the Flexible Path. Michael Huang argues that while the committee might appear to prefer it, there are a number of problems with that architecture. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1509/1 to view the article. (11/16)

Editorial: The Human Moon (Source: New York Times)
Over the past four months, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, which is in a low polar orbit over the Moon, has returned a series of images of Apollo landing sites showing the vessels themselves at rest on the Moon’s surface. The mission of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is loaded with instruments, is to produce a new and vastly sharper glimpse of the Moon from an orbit about 30 miles above the surface — all with an eye toward a possible manned return.

Yet there’s something terribly wistful about the probe's photographs of the Apollo landing sites. The detail is such that if Neil Armstrong were walking there now, we could make him out, make out his footsteps even, like the astronaut footpath clearly visible in the photos of the Apollo 14 site.

Perhaps the wistfulness is caused by the sense of simple grandeur in those Apollo missions. Perhaps, too, it’s a reminder of the risk we all felt after the Eagle had landed — the possibility that it might be unable to lift off again and the astronauts would be stranded on the Moon. But it may also be that a photograph like this one is as close as we’re able to come to looking directly back into the human past. (11/17)

Russian Engines Power American Spacecraft (Source: Russia Today)
From Russia across the Atlantic – and ultimately toward space: the rocket engines used for historic missions like the first spacecraft visit to Pluto are known as RD-180s. They are used to power America’s Atlas boosters, which send satellites into orbit. (11/17)

November 15 News Items

2009-11-15T14:37:00.005-05:00

President Must Decide Whether Human Space Exploration is Worth the Expense (Source: San Diego Union Tribune)
We explore space because of precious intangibles. At its best, NASA exemplifies the best of America; our optimism, our curiosity, our ingenuity, our courage. It communicates values to the American public and to the world at large. It leads young people to the study of science and engineering. We explore space because human space flight connects with the global public, and NASA’s leadership in space promotes American leadership in the world.

The International Space Station has proved that many nations can learn how to work together toward a distant and difficult goal...Human society is ready to begin exploring the solar system for real. Should we start now or later? Is landing on the Moon the first thing we should do? Haven’t we already been there, done that? Should we settle on the Moon because of its own value, or as a steppingstone to Mars? If we are really setting the stage for humanity’s expansion beyond the Earth, don’t we also need to go elsewhere in the coming century? How about surveying asteroids for their useful minerals, and getting to know them better, in case one should threaten to hit Earth? Can’t we visit the moons of Mars more easily than landing on Mars?

We have to put things in perspective. Deep space exploration cannot overshadow the preservation of the planet most important to us: Earth. Leadership in using Earth-observing satellites to diagnose climate change will be as or more important than human space flight in fostering a fundamental belief among nations in America’s benevolent purpose. Each president since Eisenhower has had to decide for his time and place how space fits into the nation’s priorities. The decisions President Obama will make are especially momentous. NASA has not been at such a critical turning point since the end of the Apollo program. (11/15)

Twitter Fans Flock to Space Shuttle Launch (Source: Space.com)
NASA is about to open space shuttle launches to a whole new audience. About 100 lucky followers of NASA's Twitter feed are descending on the agency's Cape Canaveral, Fla., spaceport to get a front row seat to the planned Monday launch of space shuttle Atlantis. The gathering is the first time NASA has held an event for Twitterers to view a shuttle liftoff in person. NASA gave tickets to the two-day event to the first 100 "Space Tweeps" to register. "I'm certain it will be one of those 'top moments' of my life," said Adam Fast of Lawrence, Kan. Fast, a pilot, said he thinks it's important to educate the public more about NASA's activities and how they could impact everyday lives. (11/15)

Shuttle Workers Fear Job Outlook (Source: Florida Today)
Half of NASA's shuttle workers are worried about their future after next year's fleet retirement. Sixty percent are dissatisfied with information they are receiving about the shutdown and NASA's future. Three of four might leave for the right opportunity. But only 5 percent are actively seeking new jobs. In fact, 80 percent are likely to stay through the six remaining missions. And most supervisors believe they'll have the right people with the right skills to finish the program safely. The findings -- outlined in NASA employee surveys -- illuminate a major safety issue.

Losing critically skilled workers is a top risk for the $3 billion-a-year shuttle program, ranking right up there with potential rocket booster or engine failures. An exodus would raise the chances of catastrophe as NASA aims to complete the International Space Station. "I can't think of anything more important," said retired Navy Vice Adm. Joseph Dyer, chairman of the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, which was created by Congress after the 1967 Apollo 1 launch pad fire. (11/15)

India: Mars Exploration by 2030 (Source: The Hindu)
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) Chairman K. Radhakrishnan has said exploration of Mars will take a tangible shape by 2030. He called it the “next logical frontier in space” after Chandrayaan-II, which will be put in place by 2013 with robots and rovers to study the surface of the moon. (11/15)

Goddard Team Develops New Carriers for Space Station (Source: NASA)
In a partnership that exemplifies One NASA, engineers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. teamed up with engineers at NASA's Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers to design, build, and test five new ExPRESS Logistics Carriers, or ELCs, which will be delivered to the International Space Station. "ExPRESS" stands for Expedite the Processing of Experiments to the Space Station.

The ELCs will provide scientists with a platform and infrastructure to deploy experiments in the vacuum of space without requiring a separate dedicated Earth-orbiting satellite, and will also serve as parking fixtures for spare International Space Station (ISS) hardware which can be retrieved robotically long after the shuttle retires. (11/15)

New Mexico Spaceport Authority Awards Roads Contract (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
The New Mexico Spaceport Authority board on Friday awarded a $3 million contract to a company that will build roads at Spaceport America. The contract entails building four miles of paved road and three miles of gravel roads, as well as paving a parking lot at the spaceport site, located southeast of Truth or Consequences. The contract was awarded to CMC Construction of Truth or Consequences. Bidding will open up soon on the next construction package, the terminal-hangar facility. The spaceport authority also approved an amendment to its agreement with Sierra Electric Cooperative about constructing underground electricity infrastructure to reach the spaceport site. (11/15)

Langley: Battle Over the Future of NASA Hits Home (Source: Hampton Roads Daily Press)
Without the extra $3 billion NASA would lose thousands of jobs along the space coast from Cape Canaveral, Fla., to Houston, and the implications to Langley are totally unknown. All this in a recessionary economy with massive federal budget deficits. So, the battle lines are drawn. Congressional delegations from Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Texas are already fighting for the $3 billion or, failing that, some compromise that saves jobs in their states at the expense of other NASA programs and installations.

These delegations have membership on key congressional committees that appropriate NASA's funds. While Langley's major roles in NASA are in those parts of the agency "that aren't critical to the exploration strategy," Virginia's congressional delegation is not well positioned in this fight as it has no membership on NASA appropriating committees. Langley is indeed a pawn in the battle.

What's at stake for Hampton Roads? NASA Langley is a high-tech laboratory with more than 3,500 civil-service and contractor jobs, many of which are high-paying technical and managerial positions, and an annual budget of $700 million. This translates into an annual economic impact on Hampton Roads of $900 million and 10,000 jobs. Losing Langley would have an impact at least as great as losing an aircraft carrier, so it is critical that Hampton Roads leadership and the Virginia congressional delegation engage fully in the battle over the future of NASA. (11/15)

Much Media Coverage for Cirque du Soleil Founder’s Space Trip (Source: CanWest)
It seems Cirque du soleil founder Guy Laliberte created a media circus when he went into space last month. The Montreal billionaire’s trip to the International Space Station as a tourist received 23 times more international media attention than Canada’s presence in Afghanistan, according to recently released data. Influence Communication says it was hired by Cirque du soleil to do an analysis of the media coverage of Laliberte’s trip. The company placed the value of the advertising generated by the 50-year-old’s nearly two-week space odyssey at more than $592 million. (11/15)

Editorial: Space Travel to Save the Environment Makes Sense (Source: San Diego Union Tribune)
Now that human-induced climate change is on us, all our ideas and behaviors have to be re-examined...So what about space, which used to be the very emblem of our future? What is it we think we’re doing up there? And does it still make sense in the age of climate crisis? If you ask me, some of it never made sense. All that talk about our cosmic destiny, or the need “not to have all our eggs in one basket,” implied that we were somehow capable of living without this planet.

But Earth is not our cradle, and we are not meant to go to the stars. Earth is our permanent home, for good or ill. We need to stabilize its biosphere and our presence in it for our own good. We have to become global systems managers before we know how to do it, so at this point we are in emergency mode. It’s in this context that a particular kind of space travel makes sense and indeed is an excellent idea. We should explore our own solar system...because the climate crisis is very much a matter of interactions we have altered between our planet and our sun.

Another good reason for a space program is the immense potential of space-based solar power. Of course, constructing such a system would require a big fleet of reliable heavy lifters, but we have built such spacecraft before. And only with that kind of robust space program can we think about deflecting asteroids that otherwise might devastate us, another good reason for inhabiting local space. (11/15)

November 14 News Items

2009-11-14T07:57:00.005-05:00

Military Refurb Work Could Save 300-400 KSC Jobs (Source: Florida Today)
Work refurbishing military hardware returning from Iraq could keep several hundred shuttle workers employed, local officials hope. At 8 a.m. Monday, hours before the planned launch of shuttle Atlantis, officials from Space Florida and other economic development agencies, together with state and federal elected officials, plan to meet with a Department of Defense-led team to discuss the opportunity, estimated to be worth $25 billion nationally. "This is a real opportunity to keep 300 to 400 people employed who otherwise are going to be out of work when the shuttle retires," said Dale Ketcham, director of the Spaceport Research and Technology Institute at KSC. "This might not work, but it certainly seems like it ought to and should, so we're pursuing it," Ketcham said. (11/14)

Atlantis "Go" for Monday Liftoff (Source: Florida Today)
NASA mission managers gave a unanimous "go" to continue counting down toward a 2:28 p.m. Monday launch of space shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station. "Atlantis is ready to go, in really great shape," said Mike Moses, shuttle program launch integration manager and chair of the Mission Management Team. Atlantis and six astronauts are set to haul nearly 30,000 pounds of hardware to station, much of it large spares that will be stowed outside, during an 11-day flight that includes three spacewalks. (11/14)

Huntsville Space Center Wants Help Telling 'Rocket City' Story (Source: Huntsville Times)
From the early 1940s into the early '60s, Huntsville went through an extreme makeover. Especially in the years after World War II, as Redstone Arsenal became home to the Army's missile programs and Dr. Wernher von Braun's team of German scientists, the community's identity changed from watercress, cotton and mills to engineering, rocket engines and orbit. "We're going to try to really show Huntsville transforming from a cotton town to the Rocket City," said Jennifer Crozier, executive director of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Foundation. The center already has plenty of photographs, old films and interviews for the exhibit, which she said will be prominent in the northeast corner of the Davidson Center for Space Exploration. (11/14)

Atlas Slips Beyond Shuttle Launch (Source: Florida Today)
An Atlas rocket will be rolled back to its assembly building so technicians can resolve a problem with a signal relayer, and the move will force United Launch Alliance to slip its commercial satellite-delivery mission until after the planned launch Monday of shuttle Atlantis. Early morning Saturday's launch attempt was thwarted when an electronic assembly that routes signals to stage separation detonators suffered a momentary power glitch -- a 50-millisecond power cycle. Engineers could not determine the cause of the glitch and recommended canceling the today's attempt. Launch managers concurred. (11/14)

Enterprise Florida Invites Companies to Exhibit at International Aerospace Events (Source: EFI)
Enterprise Florida's 2010-11 Aviation/Aerospace & Defense Industry calendar includes state participation in major events like the Farnborough International Air Show, Singapore Air Show, FIDAE 2010 (Chile), DEFENDORY 2010 (Greece), and possibly others. Your company can gain international exposure and pursue import/export market opportunities as part of Florida's impressive multi-company exhibit at these events. Grants are available to assist companies with participation costs. Call Ken Cooksey at 850-298-6632 for information. (11/13)

Obama Eyes Domestic Spending Freeze (Source: AP)
The Obama administration has alerted domestic agencies to plan for a freeze or even a 5 percent cut in their budgets, part of an election-year push to rein in record deficits that threaten the economy and Democrats' political prospects next fall. White House budget director Peter Orszag said Friday that it is imperative to start curbing the flow of red ink in coming years so as not to erode the fledgling economic recovery and raise interest rates. But he called it a balancing act and said acting too fast could undercut the recovery. (11/14)

Russia Goes All Out to Develop Nuclear-Powered Spacecraft (Source: Xinhua)
President Dmitry Medvedev says Russia will prioritize the development of nuclear energy, especially the use of nuclear technology in spacecraft. He made the announcement during his annual address to the Federal Assembly. Anatoly Perminov, the head of Federal Space Agency Roscosmos, said last month that the agency has planned to develop spacecraft with a megawatt-class nuclear power set. He said the project would advance Russia's astronautic technology to a world-leading level. The project, he said, also would greatly reinforce the performance of Russia's new manned spacecraft while decreasing energy consumption. Perminov said the draft design of the spacecraft would be finished by 2012, and at least 17 billion rubles (more than 580 million U.S. dollars) were needed for further development over the next nine years. (11/13)

November 13 News Items

2009-11-13T08:39:00.006-05:00

SpaceX Protests Award of Launch Contract to Orbital (Source: Space News)
SpaceX has challenged an Air Force launch services order placed with Orbital Sciences Corp., arguing that under federal law the contract should have been competitively awarded. On Sep. 14, the Air Force issued a task order to Orbital to launch NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft using surplus missile hardware. Orbital has been launching government satellites with Minotaur rockets based on ballistic missile motors since 2000.

The five-stage Minotaur-5 rocket, the largest of the Minotaur family, has yet to make its debut. SpaceX believes it can provide the launch services with either its Falcon 1e or Falcon 9 rocket at a cost savings to the government. The Air Force never inquired with SpaceX as to whether it could meet the mission’s requirements, the company said. The protest could revive a long-running but recently dormant policy debate over whether the use of excess missile hardware to launch satellites undermines the U.S. commercial space industry.

SpaceX claims Orbital’s contract award violates the Commercial Space Act of 1998, which among other things requires the U.S. government to buy launch services from U.S. commercial providers whenever possible. The law also states that ballistic missiles cannot be used for space launches unless the secretary of defense certifies their use will result in cost savings to the government. SpaceX claims using the Minotaur-5 for this mission will not result in cost savings for the government, and that the government made no attempt to seek out alternative providers before issuing the contract. Click here to view the article. (11/13)

Ofeq-8 Nearing Launch on Israeli Rocket (Source: Space News)
Israel is readying its newest spy satellite, Ofeq-8, for launch by the middle of next year, but production orders for a next-generation Ofeq-9 are stalled pending a cost-sharing and technical agreement with a prospective partner country. The Ofeq-8, in final construction at Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), will be launched into low Earth orbit by Israel’s indigenous Shavit launcher, also built by IAI. Israel lost its Ofeq-6 in September 2004, when it crashed into the Mediterranean Sea due to an electrical malfunction that failed to ignite the Shavit’s third-stage motor. (11/13)

DigitalGlobe Raises Outlook on Strong 3Q Results (Source: Space News)
Commercial imagery satellite operator DigitalGlobe posted higher revenue and income for the third quarter of 2009 and raised its full-year outlook following the successful Oct. 8 launch of the company’s third high-resolution remote sensing satellite, WorldView-2. In a Nov. 10 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Longmont, Colo.-based company said net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 was up slightly, year over year, to $14.6 million. Revenue rose about 7.5 percent, to $71.8 million, compared with the same period last year. DigitalGlobe’s year-to-date net income, however, was down 16 percent to $33.6 million. (11/13)

Water Found on Moon, Scientists Say (Source: New York Times)
There is water on the Moon, scientists stated unequivocally on Friday, and considerable amounts of it. “Indeed yes, we found water,” Anthony Colaprete, the principal investigator for NASA’s Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, said in a news conference. The confirmation of scientists’ suspicions is welcome news both to future explorers who might set up home on the lunar surface and to scientists who hope that the water, in the form of ice accumulated over billions of years, could hold a record of the solar system’s history.

The satellite, known as Lcross (pronounced L-cross), slammed into a crater near the Moon’s south pole a month ago. The impact carved out a hole 60- to 100-feet wide and kicked up at least 24 gallons of water. “We got more than just whiff,” said Peter H. Schultz, a professor of geological sciences at Brown University and a co-investigator of the mission. “We practically tasted it with the impact.” (11/13)

Defective Satellites Hobble Orbcomm’s Business (Source: Space News)
Satellite two-way messaging service provider Orbcomm said it is prepared to take its insurers to court to force them to pay a $50 million claim for satellite failures that occurred both during and after the period that the company’s policy was in effect. Orbcomm also said one of its key services, providing Automatic Identification System (AIS) data on ships to the U.S. Coast Guard and other customers, is at risk because of an apparently identical defect on six satellites launched in 2008. These satellites are the focus of the insurance dispute. The company has filed a $50 million claim with its insurers covering the loss of all six satellites.

Orbcomm is unlikely to get any in-orbit relief until late 2010 at the earliest. Sierra Nevada Corp. is building Orbcomm’s 18-satellite second-generation constellation under a $117 million contract signed in May 2008, and has promised to have the first group of six satellites ready for launch starting in late 2010. The 18 satellites will be launched by five SpaceX Falcon 1e rockets under a $46.6 million contract, with the launches to occur between late 2010 and early 2014. (11/13)

Why Ares-1 Should Fly (As a Satellite Launcher) (Source: SPACErePORT)
Last month, National Reconnaissance Office chief Bruce Carlson expressed his agency's growing frustration that its Atlas and Delta space launch options were too limited. With too few launch sites and only one launch company under contract, Carlson sees a bottleneck that inhibits our nation's capability to deliver intelligence-gathering satellites to orbit. That same month, a group of private-sector satellite operators formed the "Coalition for Competitive Launches" to expand the availability of Atlas-5 and Delta-4 rockets for commercial missions. Developed under the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program, these highly capable rockets are marvels of engineering. But although they were intended for dual government/commercial role but they have remained largely unavailable for commercial missions.

From Carlson's perspective, according to Space News, "part of the solution is more NASA involvement in launch efforts." Without realizing it, NASA may already have done a huge favor to NRO and the Coalition for Competitive Launches. By funding technology development for Ares-1, and sponsoring risk-reduction with the recent Ares-1X test flight, NASA has positioned Alliant Techsystems (ATK) to enter the market for government and commercial satellite launches. If Ares-1 is canceled by NASA, ATK could propose to add an Ares-1-like vehicle to the Air Force's EELV program, meeting Carlson's desire to expand the number of launch sites, launch companies, and launch vehicles to meet our nation's large-satellite launch demand.

The big question is whether ATK could offer such a vehicle at a competitive price, including the cost for a new launch pad and processing facilities. SpaceX is way out in front of ATK on this opportunity, with a February 2010 debut for its Falcon-9, so ATK might also have some doubts about whether the government/commercial satellite market is strong enough to support four launch vehicle programs. If ATK does decide to pursue other markets for Ares-1, Florida's Space Coast (and the thousands of workers soon to lose their Space Shuttle jobs) would have the best of both worlds: an operational Ares-1 and whatever other system NASA develops to replace it. (11/13)

Excalibur Almaz Linked to Sea Launch Investment (Source: Space News)
The unidentified investor group providing initial financing to Sea Launch Co., the commercial launch provider that is in bankruptcy proceedings, includes an Isle of Man-based space tourism company, according to industry sources. The company, Excalibur Almaz Ltd., includes on its board George Abbey, former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center; J. Buckner Hightower, described in company documents as chief fundraiser; Art Dula, who has a long history of dealing with Russian space ventures; and Leroy Chiao, a former NASA astronaut. Excalibur Almaz was created in 2005 to refurbish Russia’s Almaz spacecraft and transform it into a capsule for week-long trips to space by paying customers. The company said it owns “several Almaz spacecraft, including reusable re-entry vehicles and space stations.” (11/13)

Editorial: Bring Sea Launch to Florida (Without the Ships) (Source: SPACErePORT)
The group of space industry investors poised to pull Sea Launch LLC out of bankruptcy should consider ditching the company's offshore launch platform in favor of launching their Ukrainian/Russian Zenit rockets from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Back in the early 1990s, before they went ahead with the floating-platform approach, the Sea Launch team was encouraged to consider operating on-land the Cape, but at that time the Eastern Range was a much more expensive and difficult environment for new commercial companies, especially companies flying former Soviet Union rockets. A mid-Pacific platform could steer clear of landside red-tape, while offering heavier-lift and both equatorial and polar flight profiles.

With a launch rate averaging less than four per year since 1999, Sea Launch was never able to justify the sky-high cost for developing and operating their floating infrastructure. They also have yet to launch a non-equatorial mission. I would wager that their operating costs are currently higher than if they were launching from a land-based spaceport, even with the associated red-tape. The main benefit they've accrued from operating at sea has been their ability to launch heavier satellites due to their equatorial location. In a move apparently intended to reduce costs for lighter satellite launches, the company has already begun to move some missions to a "Land Launch" operation at Kazakhstan's Baikonur spaceport.

Times have changed at the Eastern Range, and the environment now seems more accommodating for new commercial launchers, including rockets with major foreign components. Adding the Zenit to the Cape's stable of launch vehicles could be a game-changer for the company, positioning it not only for lower-cost commercial launches, but also potentially for U.S. government missions if the Air Force and NASA get serious about expanding the number of competitors eligible to launch their payloads. (11/13)

NASA Offers $400,000 Prize for Super Space Glove (SourcE: InfoWorld)
If you can build a high-tech glove that can move easily and operate effectively in the vacuum of space, NASA may have $400,000 for your effort. That’s the amount of money up for grabs in the 2009 Astronaut Glove Challenge set for Nov. 19 at the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, Fla. NASA said the competition will test gloves from at least two contestants that will measure the gloves' dexterity and strength during operation in a glove box that simulates the vacuum of space. The challenge will be conducted by Volanz Aerospace in a format that brings all competitors to a single location for a "head to head" competition to determine the winning Team(s). (11/13)

Shuttle Logistics Facility Considered for DOD Operations (Source: Space Florida)
A high-level team from the Pentagon and NASA HQ will meet on Nov. 16 to discuss potential opportunities to use the NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot (NSLD) at Cape Canaveral for the repair and refurbishment of military hardware returning from Iraq over the next two-to-five years. The estimated value of refurbishment activity is $25B. Pilot projects at the NSLD have demostrated its capability to perform this type of work.

If the bid for NSLD consideration is successful, the work could maintain (and possibly grow) the existing 300+ engineers and technicians presently committed to maintaining flight hardware and ground support equipment for the Shuttle Program at the NSLD, which is scheduled to be closed (and its employees laid off) next year. Progress to date has been funded and orchestrated by the Department of Defense Manufacturing Technology Program. (11/13)

NASA Studies Heavy-Lift Rocket Alternatives (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
In the wake of criticism that NASA's next-generation Constellation Program rockets are behind schedule and over budget, teams of agency engineers are hastily reviewing alternative designs for a new heavy-lift rocket. Among the options they are looking at: a rocket made of the space shuttle's external fuel tank, engines and solid-rocket boosters that has been championed by freelance engineers and hobbyists, and a successor to the Saturn V that once carried astronauts to the moon.

The study, ordered last month by NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden as a "top priority," is supposed to be finished by Thanksgiving so Bolden can present it to President Barack Obama to help him chart a new course for America's space policy. Bolden told managers at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., and Kennedy Space Center to set up a "special team" to evaluate alternatives to the Constellation Program's Ares rockets. The first launch of Ares I — scheduled for 2015 — could be delayed until 2017.

The study team is focused on designs that can be developed quickly and cheaply, using existing engines and motors. The team is trying to figure out how much each would cost to launch and operate — and whether it could be upgraded later to a more-powerful version if funding becomes available. Still, it remains unclear whether any of the designs will be seriously considered by the Obama administration — or whether there will be enough money to build any of them during the next decade. Click here to view the article. (11/13)

November 12 News Items

2009-11-12T09:45:00.010-05:00

Broken Urine Recycler May Affect Space Mission (Source: Space.com)
A broken device that recycles astronaut urine into clean drinking water on the International Space Station may have a slight impact to life onboard next week when NASA's shuttle Atlantis arrives to boost the number of people there to 12. Any impact would likely pertain to things like digging into supplies of spare urine bags (to hold stuff that would normally have been recycled), or determining how many astronauts can use the two bathrooms on the station, or the one on Atlantis. The space station has plenty of water to support its six astronauts through next spring with or without the recycler, he added. (11/12)

Orbital Picks Dutch Firm for Cygnus Solar Arrays (Source: Space News)
Dutch Space B.V. of the Netherlands will provide solar arrays for nine Orbital Science’s Cygnus unmanned cargo ferries to supply the international space station under a contract valued at more than $35 million. The contract highlights the trans-Atlantic design of Cygnus, whose exterior shell is being built by Thales Alenia Space of Turin, Italy. Dutch Space also provides solar arrays for Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle. (11/12)

Stellar Lithium Deficiency Linked to Planet Formation (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A deficiency of lithium in a star's atmosphere may be a sign of the presence of planets, astronomers reported this week. In a paper in the journal Nature, astronomers surveyed 30 Sun-like stars known to have planets and found nearly all had unusually low levels of lithium, just as the Sun does. Astronomers speculate that the presence of planets robs the stars of angular momentum, causing them to spin more slowly; this, in turn, causes the lithium in the atmospheres to fall to the surface and be destroyed. (11/12)

Inventors to Compete for $400,000 in Astronaut Glove Challenge (Source: NASA)
Reporters and the public are invited to attend the 2009 Astronaut Glove Challenge on Nov. 19 at the Astronaut Hall of Fame in Titusville, Fla., near NASA's Kennedy Space Center. The $400,000 prize challenge is a nationwide competition that focuses on developing improved pressure suit gloves for astronauts to use while working in the vacuum of space. The competition is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. EST on Nov. 19 and conclude with an award ceremony at approximately 5 p.m. Visit http://www.astronaut-glove.us for information. (11/12)

The Lisa Nowak I Knew (Source: Newsweek)
The last time I saw Lisa Nowak was Thanksgiving weekend 2001 at our 20th high-school reunion. This moment is etched in my mind, though I'm not sure why. The infamous drive from Texas to Florida, the diaper drama and wig, the love triangle, the late-night jokes—all of that had yet to happen. Lisa had the right stuff. She was elated about her twin girls, born just weeks before. And she was looking forward to pulling on her spacesuit and going for a ride. Nowak was the great Astromom—the woman who could mother three kids and train for a NASA shuttle flight.

Six years later, this week, Nowak appeared before a judge in an Orlando courtroom and pleaded guilty to two charges in the notorious case against her: felony burglary and misdemeanor battery. She looked exhausted, thin, and aged. Nowak answered the judge's questions calmly and confidently, then listened as her victim, Colleen Shipman, described the horror she experienced on Feb. 5, 2007, when Nowak followed her to her car at Orlando International Airport and assaulted her with pepper spray. A shaken Shipman, who was dating Nowak's love interest, former shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein, detailed the nightmares. "I know in my heart when Lisa Nowak attacked me, she was going to kill me," Shipman testified. "I believe I escaped a horrible death that night." (11/12)

Space Station Gets New Research Module (Source: AP)
A cargo ship has delivered a Russian research module to the International Space Station. Russia's space agency says the spacecraft carrying the Poisk (PAW'-eesk) module docked with the orbital station Thursday after a two-day trip from Earth. The space agency, Roskosmos, said the small module will be used for scientific research and experiments once it is secured and linked to the station with communications cables. That will require a space walk, scheduled for January. The decade-old international space station has expanded and now has a crew of six. The current crew includes two Russians, two Americans, a Canadian and a Belgian. (11/12)

Alabama Space Grant Consortium Presents $323,000 for University Fellowships/Scholarships (Source: NASA)
The Alabama Space Grant Consortium presented some $323,000 in fellowships and scholarships to 48 undergraduate and graduate students from seven Alabama universities. The Alabama Space Grant Consortium includes doctorate-granting state universities involved in space-related research activities that promote America's continuing leadership in aerospace technology and exploration. Funds for the awards were contributed 50-50 by the participating universities and by NASA's National Space Grant College & Fellowship Program through the Alabama Space Grant Consortium.

Editor's Note: The Florida Space Grant Consortium also supports scholarships and fellowships in Florida, but also focuses on grants to universities for strategically focused space research and education projects, with matching funds provided by the State of Florida through Space Florida. (11/12)

Best Invention of the Year: NASA's Ares Rockets (Source: Time)
From a distance, the Ares-1 rocket is unprepossessing — a slender white stalk that looks almost as if it would twang in the Florida wind. But up close, it's huge: about 327 ft. (100 m) tall, or the biggest thing the U.S. has launched since the 363-ft. (111 m) Saturn V moon rockets of the early 1970s. Its first stage is a souped-up version of one of the shuttle's solid-fuel rockets; its top stage is a similarly muscled-up model of the Saturn's massive J2 engines.

Alongside Ares-1, NASA is developing the Brobdingnagian Ares-5, a 380-ft. (116 m) behemoth intended to put such heavy equipment as a lunar lander in Earth orbit, where astronauts can link up with it before blasting away to the moon. Somewhere between the two rockets is the so-called Ares-5 Lite — a heavy-lift hybrid that could carry both humans and cargo and is intended to be a design that engineers can have in their back pockets if the two-booster plan proves unaffordable. (11/12)

Analysts Anticipate "Precipitous Fall" for Defense Procurement (Source: AIA)
With the Pentagon's personnel and maintenance costs growing, analysts say military procurement will likely see cuts as budgeters come to grips with a ballooning federal deficit. "There's a storm gathering" over the Pentagon's budget, says Michael Bayer, chairman of the Defense Business Board, pointing out that procurement spending has suffered "a precipitous fall" in the trough of the last three spending cycles dating back to the Korean War. (11/12)

Inside Astronaut Boot Camp (Source: Popular Science)
What does it take to prep humans for a trip to an asteroid or a martian moon? Starvation? Isolation? Recycling feces for food? NASA's newest astronauts began a grueling training regimen this fall to find out. The recruits will take an outdoor survival course in Maine, spend up to two weeks living in an underwater lab in Florida, endure altitude chambers, and struggle through flight mechanics. For long-duration deep-space missions, astronauts will need new training entirely, perhaps including spending weeks, even months, in confinement and isolation.

Jason Kring, an assistant professor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University who studies the human factors of spaceflight, agrees with that intensive training here on Earth is a must. He also suggests that NASA include a clinical psychologist on the crew to help mitigate potential conflicts. “What to us would be a minor problem in an office environment can become a big deal after six to eight months with the same people,” he says

NASA is already making efforts to screen more carefully for psychological flaws, after the meltdown of Lisa Nowak, the shuttle astronaut who goes on trial next month for attempting to kidnap a fellow astronaut’s girlfriend. It’s not hard to imagine how such instability could sink a space mission. Click here to view the article. (10/22)

NASA Narrows Field for Commercial Crew Development Dollars (Source: Space News)
NASA has narrowed the field of competitors still in the running for $50 million in economic stimulus money the U.S. space agency intends to award this year to seed development of commercial crew transportation systems, according to industry sources. NASA contacted at least six companies Nov. 6, inviting United Launch Alliance, Boeing, SpaceX), Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., SierraNevada Corp. and Paragon Space Development Corp. to discuss the Commercial Crew Development, or CCDev, proposals each submitted in September.

It remains unclear how NASA will divide the $50 million for commercial crew initiatives the agency received in February as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Boeing announced in September it would use CCDev money to accelerate development of a crew capsule that could be launched atop a human-rated Atlas 5 or other expendable rocket. The project, which proposed a teaming arrangement with Bigelow Aerospace, is one of at least three Boeing-backed proposals that industry sources say made the cut. (11/10)

Iridium Announces Quarterly Results (Source: Iridium)
Iridium's net income decreased 11.2% to $15.0 million in the third quarter from $16.9 million in the third quarter of 2008. Subscribers were up 16.1% to approximately 359,000 at the close of the third quarter from approximately 309,000 at the close of the third quarter of 2008. Commercial service revenue increased 23.0% to $43.9 million in the third quarter compared to $35.7 million during the third quarter of 2008. Government service revenue increased 2.1% to $19.4 million in the third quarter compared to $19.0 million in the third quarter of 2008. (11/12)

More Florida Members Sign-On to Kosmas NASA Funding Letter (Source: NSS)
The National Space Society reports that the bipartisan "Dear Colleague" letter sponsored by Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas and Congressman Ken Calvert, seeking an addition of $3 billion to NASA's budget, has gained several signatures from representatives around the nation, including the following Florida members: C. Brown, A. Grayson, A. Hastings, K. Meek, R. Klein, D. Wasserman-Schultz, R. Wexler, B. Posey, and T. Rooney. (11/12)

JPL Employees Criticize Government for Pursuing Background Checks (Source: Pasadena Star News)
JPL employees Wednesday criticized federal authorities for seeking a U.S. Supreme Court review of an appeals court decision blocking the government from requiring mandatory background checks. The U.S. Solicitor General's Office wants the nation's highest court to review the ruling, arguing that it could affect the government's ability to conduct background checks of contract employees.

Robert Nelson, a JPL scientist and the lead plaintiff in the case, said he was disappointed by the government's decision to pursue the case to the Supreme Court level. "We particularly had hoped that the Obama administration would take a closer look at the unwise national security decrees of his predecessor," Nelson said. In June, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld its previous ruling from January of 2008, which granted JPL employees an injunction against having to submit to background checks to continue their employment. (11/12)

ATK Reports Strong FY10 Second-Quarter Financial Results (Source: ATK)
Alliant Techsystems reported that sales for the quarter rose 11 percent to $1.2 billion, driven by continued strength in the company's Armament Systems and Mission Systems groups, partially offset by expected lower sales in the company's Space Systems group. Net income in the second quarter was up 18 percent to $73 million. Second quarter margins reached 11.2 percent. Orders in the quarter of $1.1 billion were in line with the company's expectations. (11/12)

Boeing Expected to End Stake in Sea Launch (Source: LA Times)
After struggling for nearly 15 years to prop up an unusual way to launch satellites into space, Boeing is expected to throw in the towel and walk away from its stake in Long Beach-based Sea Launch Co. Kjell Karlsen, Sea Launch president, said that Boeing was likely to have little or no ownership position in the rocket launch company after it emerges from Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Court reorganization early next year. "I would like to see Boeing being part of the new Sea Launch, but it's more likely they will work in a supplier capacity and not in an ownership role." (11/12)

November 11 News Items

2009-11-11T10:02:00.004-05:00

Radiation: The Moon's Greatest Menace (Source: Space Daily)
The Moon is a harsh place, as decades of direct exploration have demonstrated. It carries all of the risks of conventional spaceflight, then adds to them. The tyranny of distance from Earth makes emergency returns difficult. The dust on the surface could be dangerous to inhale. Meteorites pepper the surface. These are serious problems, but the greatest threat to future human explorers will probably be radiation.

Astronauts in low Earth orbit receive protection from the Earth's magnetic field, which shields out some of the heavier subatomic particles that stream in from space. It's just as well. These cosmic rays are energetic and dangerous to life. Go beyond this region of space, and this natural protection disappears. The Moon itself has essentially no magnetic field, and no atmosphere. There's little to stop the barrage of particles and rays that stream in from the Sun and beyond. (11/11)

Bankrupt Sea Launch Gets New Financing (Source: Space News)
Unidentified investors operating under the name Space Launch Services LLC have agreed to provide initial financing to Sea Launch Co., the commercial launch provider that is in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The backers ultimately want to manage Sea Launch through bankruptcy and a return to commercial activity, companies with a long-term interest in the space industry, according to Sea Launch President Kjell Karlsen.

Karlsen said Space Launch Services has agreed to provide $5 million immediately and another $7.5 million in early December at a hearing scheduled by the Delaware Bankruptcy Court overseeing Long Beach, Calif.-based Sea Launch’s reorganization. Karlsen said the $12.5 million should be enough to carry Sea Launch through February. He said he still expects Sea Launch to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the spring. (11/11)

Space Rock Buzzes Past Earth (Source: MSNBC)
Asteroid-watchers say a space rock about as big as a garage came within 9,000 miles (14,000 kilometers) of Earth last Friday, just 15 hours after it was detected. Experts quickly determined that the asteroid 2009 VA would miss us - and even if it came directly at us, it wouldn't have caused a catastrophe. Nevertheless, the close encounter serves as a reminder that someday a much bigger rock may well hit us and that it's best to be prepared. (11/11)

Vatican-Sponsored Meeting Discusses Extraterrestrial Life (Source: Catholic Review)
Dozens of scientists gathered at a Vatican-sponsored meeting to fit together emerging pieces of a puzzle still waiting to be solved: whether there is life on other planets. If finding extraterrestrial life is like “a detective chase, a crime to be solved, we're getting very close to the answer,” said Chris Impey, head of the Steward Observatory and the University of Arizona's department of astronomy in Tucson, Ariz.

Impey was one of 30 high-level scientists attending a Nov. 6-10 study week on astrobiology sponsored by the Vatican Observatory and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. He and others spoke at a Vatican press conference Nov. 10. The astronomer said it is widely believed that life needs three basic ingredients: carbon-based material, energy provided by stars, and water, “which is one of the most common molecules in the universe.” (11/11)

Better Ion Engines May Keep Satellites Alive Longer (Source: Space.com)
Spacecraft have used ion drives to explore the moon and deep space, but a new study aims to boost the electric propulsion idea to keep satellites around Earth alive longer. Researchers are working to develop new ion thrusters that can harvest vital electrons from electrified carbon nanotubes, rather than from precious xenon gas propellant. Less wasted propellant means that satellites can launch on smaller rockets, carry bigger payloads or stay in orbit for longer. More efficient ion thrusters could also benefit space missions beyond Earth orbit. (11/11)

The Turbulent Heart of the Milky Way (Source: Astronomy Now)
In celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, NASA is releasing a never-before-seen vista of the turbulent heart of our Milky Way Galaxy to planetaria, museums, libraries, nature centers and schools across America. These sites will unveil a giant six foot by three foot print that combines near infrared views from the Hubble Space Telescope, an infrared view from the Spitzer Space Telescope, and an X-ray view from the Chandra X-ray Observatory. The mosaic provides one of the most detailed views ever of the Galaxy's chaotic core. Click here to view the article. (11/11)

Titusville Wants Shuttle for KSC Display (Source: Florida Today)
The Titusville City Council on Tuesday joined the appeal to keep one of the space shuttle orbiters at Kennedy Space Center after the fleet is retired. "This state has cried and cheered for the shuttle for more than 20 years," said state Rep. Ritch Workman, who sponsored a bill in the Legislature to lobby for an orbiter. "We can not let that history and legacy go away because of a more enthused bidder."

After the fleet retires, expected to be sometime in 2011, Discovery will go to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., which has first right of refusal on all space artifacts. About 20 other organizations are vying for Atlantis and Endeavour, but NASA would not release the list of candidates. (11/11)

Adventurers Train for Space in Fighter Jet at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: PRWeb)
Incredible Adventures is teaming up with Starfighters Aerospace to offer suborbital flight training featuring the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, the same jet used to prepare an entire generation of astronauts for space travel. Training takes place at Kennedy Space Center. Flight Training is open to anyone who meets basic age, health and security clearance requirements.

Two days of intense academic instruction and safety briefings prepare and qualify participants for a high-speed training flight in the Starfighter on day three. The flight profile simulates a journey to astronaut altitude and includes a vertical climb and maneuvers replicating the g-forces and weightlessness of space travel. The program concludes with a VIP tour of NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. (11/11)

China to Launch Research Satellite Soon (Source: Xinhua)
China will launch a scientific research satellite into space in the near future from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the northwestern Gansu Province. The satellite, "Shijian XI-01," would be carried by a China-developed Long March 2C rocket. Both the satellite and the rocket were in good condition and preparations were proceeding well, the spokesman said without giving further details. (11/11)

Abu Dhabi Takes Center Stage as Spotlight Falls on Regional Space Race (Source: AME Info)
Abu Dhabi's position as an emerging hub of the developing Arab space industry will be highlighted when a distinguished international line-up of experts and key decision makers gather in the UAE capital for next month's Global Space Technology Forum. The second edition of the event is being staged at a time when Abu Dhabi has moved to the forefront of increased regional space industry activity with major investment in an Earth Observation Space Center, a Virgin Galactic Space Port and the Yahsat telecommunications satellite program.

Saudi Arabia's HRH Prince Sultan Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab, the first Muslim and the first Royal to visit space, will deliver the opening keynote address on the role of space technology in regional economic development at the Global Space Technology Forum, taking place from December 7-9 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Center. (11/11)

Loral Reports Quarterly Earnings (Source: Loral)
Combined segment revenues, for both Satellite Manufacturing and Satellite Services, for the quarter ending September 30, 2009, were $424 million compared to $386 million for the third quarter in 2008. Combined segment Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $145 million, compared to $114 million for the third quarter of 2008. Combined segment revenues for the first nine months of the year were $1.3 billion compared to $1.2 billion for the first nine months of 2008. Combined segment Adjusted EBITDA for the nine months ending September 30, 2009 was $391 million compared to $334 million for the first nine months of 2008. (11/11)

Star Factory Found in Faraway Galaxy (Source: Astronomy Now)
A young galaxy that existed just over a billion years after the big bang has been found to be making stars at the furious rate of about fifty per year, showing that star formation and galaxy growth was a much quicker process in the distant past than it is today. The galaxy, with its large star-forming regions, was made visible to astronomers at Durham University thanks to a gravitational lens seen by the Hubble and Spitzer space telescopes and the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. A gravitational lens is created when the gravity of a massive object – in this case a large cluster of galaxies called MS 1358+62 – bends and magnifies the light of even more distant galaxies behind it. This allowed the smeared and warped image of a galaxy that existed 12.5 billion years ago to be seen. (11/11)

GeoEye Reports Record 2009 Third Quarter Results (Source: GeoEye)
GeoEye, Inc., a premier provider of satellite and aerial-based geospatial information and services, announced third quarter revenues of $79.9 million, a 123% increase from $35.8 million for the third quarter of 2008. Net income for the third quarter of 2009 was $12.5 million, compared to net income of $31.6 million for the third quarter of 2008. Revenues related to contracts with the U.S. Government, the Company's largest customer, were $53.6 million for the third quarter. Operating profit for the third quarter $19.3 million from the third quarter of 2008 to $27.7 million. (11/11)

Obama in Asia: Space is Suddenly on the Agenda (Source: Asia Times)
President Barack Obama is preparing to make his first official trip to Asia this week, and a growing list of important economic and defense-related issues are on his agenda. Obama's visit to China is going through some last-minute changes due to recent remarks about China's plans for space by Chinese General Xu Qiliang. "Only power could protect peace. Superiority in space and in air would mean, to a certain extent, superiority over the land and the oceans," he said. "As the air force of a peace-loving country, we must forge our swords and shields in order to protect peace." Xu also said that, "military competition has shifted towards space. Such a shift is a major trend now, and such expansion is a historical inevitability."

"Clearly - and all of Washington is aware of this - the PLA has been thinking, even planning, to respond to what they perceive as US plans to dominate space for some time, though they have kept their public statements focused on peaceful uses, largely to contrast with statements and policies of the US," said Dr Joan Johnson-Freese, chair of the National Security Decision Making Department at the US Naval War College. "So, this does not indicate a major policy shift that should surprise Washington."

Conservative critics of Obama, particularly those who harbor a deep distrust of China, have jumped on Xu's comments. They view these comments by Xu as further proof that China poses a strategic threat to the US and is not to be trusted either in space or on the ground. They contend that Obama is deliberately disarming the US on two fronts, putting the US increasingly at risk. (11/11)

November 10 News Items

2009-11-10T12:45:00.007-05:00

LA Names Buzz Aldrin Honorary Consul General to Moon (Source: AP)
Los Angeles County has given moonwalker Buzz Aldrin a new title: Honorary consul general to the moon. Forty years after Aldrin and Neil Armstrong became the first men to walk on the moon, county supervisors on Tuesday gave him the title while saluting the contribution of veterans to America's space program. Aldrin thanked the supervisors and called on the federal government to lead an international effort to colonize another planet, clean up space debris and pursue commercial opportunities in space. (11/10)

Administration Seeks Input on Aeronautics R&D Plan (Source: OSTP)
The Aeronautics Science and Technology Subcommittee of the National Science and Technology Council has issued a notice of request for public review and comment on the draft biennial update to the National Plan for Aeronautics Research and Development and Related Infrastructure (R&D Plan). Since the initial publication in 2007, the R&D Plan has become incorporated within the planning process of the Federal departments and agencies, which in turn helps coordinate and guide national-level aeronautics research and development. The biennial update is part of the continuing process to accommodate advances and necessary changes to the R&D Plan. Public comments are requested by Nov. 17 at http://www.ostp.gov/nstc/aeroplans/ (11/10)

Skydiving From Space (Source: Orbital Outfitters)
Orbital Outfitters is partnered with a company called SpaceDiver on one of the world's most ambitious projects: diving from space. The goal of SpaceDiver is to create the systems and infrastructure necessary to allow a human being to accomplish an emergency (or other) egress from one of the NewSpace sub-orbital spacecraft and return to Earth safely - to bail out and skydive from the edge of space - or as it will be branded, “SpaceDive.” The project itself will demonstrate this capability through a series of progressive flights originating from NewSpace rocket powered vehicles at progressively higher altitudes thereby developing and demonstrating capability. The high point of this work will be a major media event focused around the breaking of the world skydive record of 102,800 Ft. set by Col. Joe Kittinger in 1960. Click here for more. (11/10)

Skydiving From Space (Source: Orbital Outfitters)
Orbital Outfitters is partnered with a company called SpaceDiver on one of the world's most ambitious projects: diving from space. The goal of SpaceDiver is to create the systems and infrastructure necessary to allow a human being to accomplish an emergency (or other) egress from one of the NewSpace sub-orbital spacecraft and return to Earth safely - to bail out and skydive from the edge of space - or as it will be branded, “SpaceDive.” The project itself will demonstrate this capability through a series of progressive flights originating from NewSpace rocket powered vehicles at progressively higher altitudes thereby developing and demonstrating capability. The high point of this work will be a major media event focused around the breaking of the world skydive record of 102,800 Ft. set by Col. Joe Kittinger in 1960. Click here for more. (11/10)

Nowak Receives Light Sentence in Orlando Courtroom Plea Deal (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The former astronaut arrested in an attack against her romantic rival has pleaded guilty to lesser counts. Before a packed courtroom 1:30 p.m., Lisa Marie Nowak, 46, pleaded guilty to counts of third-degree burglary of a conveyance and misdemeanor battery. She was originally charged with more-serious counts of attempted kidnapping and burglary with assault in addition to misdemeanor battery. Prosecutors dropped a count of burglary with assault. She was sentenced to two days in Orange County Jail with credit for time served and one year of probation. She must stay away from victim Colleen Shipman and has to write a "sincere" letter of apology to her within 10 days. (11/10)

Free Embry-Riddle Lecture on Life in Outer Space, Nov. 16 (Source: Daytona Beach News Journal)
An expert on the possibility of life in outer space will speak Monday at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in a lecture that is open to the public free of charge. Bruce Jakosky, professor and associate director of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado, will speak on "Science, Society and the Search for Life Elsewhere" as part of the university honors program's distinguished speaker lecture series. Jakosky will speak at 7 p.m. at the ERAU Daytona Beach campus. He is a member of the editorial board of the journal Astrobiology, an advisor to NASA on space exploration and astrobiology and has advised major national museums on exhibits about extraterrestrial life. (11/10)

Aldrin: Ares 1-X Only "Looked" Spectacular (Source: Huffington Post)
Well, it looked spectacular. I'm referring to NASA's recent launch of the Ares 1-X, billed as the prototype of the Ares 1 as a crew launch vehicle. The rocket is said to have performed as planned, and ushered in the era of the Ares rockets to replace the Space Shuttle next year. Only it won't. In fact, the much-hyped Ares 1-X was much ado about nothing. Yes, the rocket that thundered aloft from NASA's Launch Pad 39B sure looked like an Ares 1. But that's where the resemblance stops. Turns out the solid booster was - literally - bought from the Space Shuttle program, since a five-segment booster being designed for Ares wasn't ready.

So they put a fake can on top of the four-segmented motor to look like the real thing. Since the real Ares' upper stage rocket engine, called the J-2X wasn't ready either, they mounted a fake upper stage. No Orion capsule was ready, so - you guessed it - they mounted a fake capsule with a real-looking but fake escape rocket that wouldn't have worked if the booster had failed. Since the guidance system for Ares wasn't ready either they went and bought a unit from the Atlas rocket program and used it instead. Oh yes, the parachutes to recover the booster were the real thing -- and one of the three failed, causing the booster to slam into the ocean too fast and banging the thing up. So, why you might ask, did NASA bother to spend almost half a billion dollars in developing and launching the Ares 1-X? The answer: Politics. (11/10)

Aldrin: Different Launcher Approach Needed (Source: Huffington Post)
What do we need? One rocket for all our deep space missions. Save the taxpayer's money by canceling the Ares 1 and V. So how do we get to the space station without Ares 1? Let the commercial space firms develop their own crew launchers, and crew vehicles. Why should Uncle Sam be in the people hauling business? Here's my plan -- and yes, I am a rocket scientist -- cancel Ares 1 now and the version of the Orion capsule that is supposed to fly astronauts back and forth to the International Space Station. Instead, unleash the commercial sector by paying them for transportation services to the station. Could be capsules. Could be winged ships like the Space Shuttle, capable of flying back to a runway with its crews and cargoes, not splashing in the ocean like a cannonball.

With the money saved, start developing a true heavy lifter worthy of the Saturn V's successor. Could be a side-mount rocket like the Shuttles, with a tank-and-booster set flanked by a payload pod jammed full of cargo-or a space capsule with astronauts in tow. Or new upper stages capable of deep space missions. Let's open 'er up to a true competition, with designs from inside -- and outside -- NASA. If we bypass a foolish Moon race and let the development of the Moon be an international affair, we will have time to refine the super booster to make sure it is compatible with our deep space goals, like missions flying by comets or asteroids -- or to the moons of Mars. Such a rocket would be ready when the time comes to colonize Mars. No more false starts and dead end rockets. (11/10)

Ohio Back in Space (Source: Toledo Blade)
Whatever ultimately happens to NASA's grand program to send astronauts back to the Moon by 2020, Ohio has secured its place in the dream mission with its role in the successful test launch of the agency's new moon rocket. It's a point of pride for the state that Glenn Research personnel in NASA's Brook Park facility near Cleveland designed and built the upper stage mockup of the test rocket that recently completed a near flawless flight. The Ares-1-X, which lifted from Cape Canaveral in Florida, is the model for a new generation of booster rockets intended to carry humans back to the moon and perhaps other destinations in the solar system. In just three years, from conception to flying machine, an engineering team at NASA Glenn produced a prototype of Ares 1, the rocket slated to replace the space shuttle as NASA's primary space vehicle over the next several years. (11/10)

Intelsat Touts ProtoStar-1’s Revenue Potential (Source: Space News)
Intelsat officials defended their $210 million cash purchase of the ProtoStar-1 satellite, which is already in orbit, urging investors to see the deal in light of the bandwidth shortage in Africa and the launch vehicle delays that have kept the Intelsat IS-14 satellite grounded and cost the company in lost revenue this year. Intelsat declined to say how fast they expect to fill ProtoStar-1, to be named Intelsat 25 and moved into an Atlantic Ocean region orbital slot by early 2010. But they said the price they paid at the ProtoStar auction, which was far higher than expected, was well worth it given the satellite’s revenue-generating potential. (11/10)

NASA Langley's Latest Gadget (Source: DailyPress.com)
A gigantic block with portholes, NASA Langley Research Center's latest undertaking looks like a geometric escape pod. But you won't find astronauts inside its metallic walls. Instead you'll see something that resembles an engine suspended above a steel table. This is the guts of the Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication, a $2.5 million hands-free fabrication and welding machine that could revolutionize the way airplanes and spacecraft parts are built. Here's how it works. Using a computer, engineers draw a three-dimensional object. The drawing is sliced into layers which the beam traces. Meanwhile, metal wire, such as aluminum or titanium, is fed into the beam to build the layers. Heat from the beam — it can reach 3,000 degrees — briefly liquefies the metals before they settle into the desired shape. (11/10)

Telesat Now Expects Anik F1 to Last Until 2016 Despite Flaw (Source: Space News)
Satellite fleet operator Telesat of Canada said its Anik F1 satellite, which has been the subject of numerous legal battles with manufacturer Boeing and insurance underwriters since its 2000 launch, will operate until 2016 — its contracted retirement date — despite the solar-panel design flaw that had been expected to cut short its service life. The Ottawa-based company, which on Nov. 9 reported double-digit increases in revenue and operating profit for the nine months ending Sept. 30, nonetheless said it is continuing arbitration against insurance underwriters for unpaid claims totaling $18 million related to the Anik F1 solar-array problem. (11/10)

Russia Could Benefit From Space Junk Cleanup (Source: Interfax)
Removing defunct space objects from orbit, using a space "garbage collector" could be a profitable business for Russia - a country which possesses modern space technologies, and Russia should pay attention to this unexplored market, Energia rocket and space corporation director Vitaly Lopota said. "Space is filled with 1,200 non-operating objects. The orbit resource and positions have almost been tapped and we need to do something about it. We think a cleanup of just one position will bring us between $20 million and $50 million, and secure our "territorial" interests. Once we remove the junk, we can locate an object in the vacant position," Lopota said. The space cleanup market could grow to $3 billion a year by 2020, he said. (11/10)

Plea Deal Offered in Astronaut Love Triangle Case (Source: CNN)
A plea deal has been offered in the case of a former astronaut accused of being involved in a well-publicized, violent love triangle, prosecutors said. The former astronaut, Lisa Nowak, is scheduled to be in a Florida courtroom Tuesday to see whether she will accept the deal, said Randy Means, executive director of the Orange County State Attorney's Office. "An offer has been made with certain conditions, and we will find out [Tuesday] if those conditions will be accepted in a plea, when Ms. Nowak appears at the pretrial conference." Means said. (11/10)

Industry Experts Predict Space Holidays Before 2038 (Source: Travel Daily News)
World Travel Market has asked some of the worldwide travel industry's most senior executives to predict the next three decades of the travel and tourism industry. Here, we ask if the final frontier of space travel will be achieved in the next 30 years. World Travel Market Chairman Fiona Jeffrey said: "After countless false dawns, space travel will be a reality with people escaping to away-from-it-all holidays in space hotels located above the earth. "It is not a question of if, it's just a matter of time and money - but it's definitely coming." (11/10)

New Russian Docking Port Launches Toward Space Station (Source: Space.com)
A Russian rocket launched into space Tuesday carrying a brand-new docking port for the International Space Station. The Soyuz rocket blasted off from the Central Asian spaceport of Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan with the unmanned Mini-Research Module 2, a new multipurpose room for the space station that can serve as a docking port, storage closet or an airlock for Russian spacewalks. "This is additional space to store equipment and other things that are on board the station, but the primary objective is for us to use the module for extravehicular activity." It is due to dock at the space station Thursday. (11/10)

November 9 News Items

2009-11-09T10:11:00.007-05:00

Solar Sail to Launch in 2010 (Source: USA Today)
Setting sail for space, a "solar sail" project announced Monday aims to observe storms on the sun. The Planetary Society, a space exploration advocacy group founded by Carl Sagan, outlined its plans for the 2010 launch of its first solar sail. Lightsail-1 will use the pressure of the solar wind to navigate in space. In 2005, a prototype Planetary Society solar sail crashed due to the failure of a Russian launch rocket. The society plans to put the first solar sail into orbit almost 500 miles above Earth to test controlling its four triangular sails, which will be attached to lightweight "nanosat" spacecraft. Two follow-on missions will travel to sun-circling orbits and monitor space for solar storms. (11/9)

Investment in Commercial Spaceflight Grows to $1.46 Billion (Source: CSF)
Total investment in the commercial human spaceflight sector has risen by 20% since January 2008, reaching a cumulative total of $1.46 billion, according to a new extensive study performed by the Tauri Group and commissioned by the Commercial Spaceflight Federation. Revenues and deposits for commercial human spaceflight services, hardware, and support services has also grown, reaching a total of $261 million for the year 2008. Click here for more information. (11/9)

High Winds Delay Delta-4 Launch (Source: Florida Today)
The planned Nov. 19 launch of a Delta IV rocket and a military communications satellite is being delayed because high winds at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport prevented the mating of the spacecraft to the launch vehicle. Strict weather rules prohibit crane operators from lifting spacecraft and then carrying out a mating operations when winds exceed 20 knots. Winds Sunday and Monday were above that limit. A new launch date probably won't be established until the spacecraft is returned to the pad. A late November launch is still a possibility. (11/9)

Masten Building On X-Prize (Source: Aviation Week)
Masten Space Systems, fresh from a million-dollar win in the NASA-sponsored Lunar Lander X-Prize Challenge, hopes to use its vertical-takeoff-and-landing rocket technology to launch a commercial enterprise by the middle of next year. The next steps, Masten said, will be to devise an aeroshell to permit faster flight and - eventually - re-entry, and to build a new engine that can deliver 2,500 pounds of thrust, versus the 750-pound rating on the Xoie engine. (11/9)

Extraterrestrial Rafting: Hunting Off-World Sea Life (Source: New Scientist)
If life is to be found beyond our home planet, then our closest encounters with it may come in the dark abyss of some extraterrestrial sea. For Earth is certainly not the only ocean-girdled world in our solar system. As many as five moons of Jupiter and Saturn are now thought to hide seas beneath their icy crusts. To find out more about these worlds and their hidden oceans, two ambitious voyages are now taking shape. About a decade from now, if all goes to plan, the first mission will send a pair of probes to explore Jupiter's satellites. They will concentrate on giant Ganymede and pale Europa, gauging the depths of the oceans that almost certainly lie within them.

A few years later, an even more audacious mission will head towards Saturn to sniff the polar sea spray of its snow-white moon Enceladus. It will also visit Titan, which has perhaps the most astonishing extraterrestrial landscape in our solar system. To explore this giant moon, the spacecraft will send out two seemingly antique contraptions: a hot-air balloon to fly over the deserts and mountains, and a boat that will float on a sea of liquid hydrocarbons. (11/9)

Russia's Energia Doubles Spacecraft Production (Source: Space Daily)
Russia's space corporation Energia is doubling production of manned spacecraft, Energia's president said on Monday. Vitaly Lopota said production of space freighters would increase by 50%. He did not say what the current production levels were or how many spacecraft would be built. Nor did he offer a timeframe. He also said Russia's Moon and Mars mission projects were far more cost-effective than similar U.S. projects. "We can achieve more with less money," he said, adding that NASA had taken an interest in Russian projects. (11/9)

NASA Awards Institutional Support Services Contract for KSC (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected C&C International Computers and Consultants Inc. of Hollywood, Fla., to provide institutional support services at the agency's Kennedy Space Center. The contract begins Dec. 1 with a 10-month base period and two one-year option periods. The maximum potential value of the contract is approximately $31.5 million, which is comprised of an $11.5-million base value and $10 million for each one-year option.

C&C International Computers and Consultants will provide administrative support services personnel including accountants, accounting clerks, administrative assistants, personnel assistants, procurement specialists and analysts, program analysts, resource analysts, secretaries and general clerks. Programs supported under the contract include the space shuttle, International Space Station, Constellation, launch services, engineering, external relations and the Office of the Center Director. (11/9)

Augustine's Questionable Adjective (Source: Space Review)
A key element of the Augustine Committee's report was its emphasis on commercial providers to help support NASA's space exploration efforts. Taylor Dinerman cautions that may be too much to ask the nascent NewSpace industry at this stage in its development. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1507/1 to view the article. (11/9)

A Wild Finish for the Lunar Lander Challenge (Source: Space Review)
The Northrop Grumman Lunar Lander Challenge wrapped up at the end of October with the remaining prize money awarded to two teams. Jeff Foust reports on the conclusion of the competition, a bit of controversy, and future plans. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1506/1 to view the article. (11/9)

Losing Gravity (Source: Space Review)
The short-lived TV series "Defying Gravity" went off the air before American viewers could see all 13 episodes. Dwayne Day recounts what you missed and what the series' failure says about public interest in space exploration. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1505/1 to view the article. (11/9)

SpaceX Hires Former Air Force Official for Florida Launch Operations (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX announces that Colonel Scott Henderson has joined the company. He will serve as the director of Mission Assurance and Integration and will also handle Florida external relations, assisting with state and local governmental, customer and media relations. Henderson will primarily support former astronaut Ken Bowersox, vice president of SpaceX’s Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance office, working out of the company’s Florida office. (11/9)

SpaceX Dragon Would Bring Big Savings for NASA on ISS Crew Transport (Source: Examiner)
A manned flight to the ISS aboard a Soyuz currently costs about $50 million. According to SpaceX founder Elon Musk, "a seat onboard the Dragon capsule launched by the Falcon 9 rocket and would cost less than $20 million and it is 100% manufactured and launched in the United States. We are estimating that it would create well in excess of a 1000 high quality jobs at Cape Canaveral and an equivalent number in California and Texas, where we do our manufacturing and testing. Moreover, the total cost would only be $1.5 billion, so taxpayers would save $2 billion." (11/9)

Northrop Sells TASC Unit for $1.65 Billion (Source: AP)
Northrop Grumman said Sunday it agreed to sell its advisory services business TASC Inc. to private equity firm General Atlantic LLC and affiliates of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for $1.65 billion in cash. The No. 2 defense contractor says it will use the proceeds to fund a new $1.1 billion increase to its stock buyback program. TASC, based in Chantilly, Va., serves intelligence, defense and civil agencies. It has about 5,000 employees and is expected to record 2009 revenue of $1.6 billion. It is part of Northrop's information systems sector. (11/9)

Nelson Talks Shuttle Extension, Workforce Retention (Source: Florida Today)
Sen. Bill Nelson is not lobbying specifically for flying the shuttle longer, but rather for the president to take the recommendation of his blue-ribbon panel and increase NASA's budget long-term. That would help speed development of whatever replacement is chosen. The senator reinforced that the White House panel had cited safety as a potential drawback of extending the shuttle program.
Nelson added the White House and Congress must "commit to help the workforce during the disruption" between retirement of the shuttles in 2010 or 2011 and the ramp-up toward the replacement system's first flights. Click here to view the interview. (11/9)

MP ‘Mystified’ by Virgin Comments on UK Space Flights (Source: Aberdeen Press & Journal)
Moray MP Angus Robertson last night said he was “mystified” by Virgin Galactic’s claims that British laws must be changed before Moray can be considered as Europe’s international space station base. The company plans to offer space tourism flights to the paying public within five years and Lossiemouth’s RAF base is their first UK choice as a spaceport. Virgin Galactic’s president Will Whitehorn this weekend warned Britain “has no legislation to allow us to fly here – there is no regulatory authority”. He added: “The Outer Space Act, which Britain created in 1986, didn't really envisage a system like this.

Mr. Robertson said he had researched the issue at the House of Commons library and had met with Lord Drayson, the UK’s science minister. Mr Robertson said: “He told me that he did not see there being any legal impediments to commercial space flight.” Mr Robertson added that he was confident, however, that any existing challenges would not be “insurmountable”. (11/9)

November 8 News Items

2009-11-08T10:37:00.007-05:00

Embry-Riddle Students Aim for Spot on NASA Zero-G Mission (Source: Prescott (AZ) Daily Courier)
A team of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students is hoping that NASA officials will select their senior project for a flight on the "Weightless Wonder" microgravity aircraft. As part of their senior preliminary design course, the students' project was to develop a micro satellite system and an algorithm to measure the affect of torque on the mass moment of inertia (movement).

If successful, team member Brittany Wells said, "The program should tell us if a spacecraft will turn or move when you apply torque. The idea is that if you can determine the effect of torque as it is changing, you can point the satellite better." The students are building a small micro satellite to test their theory. They must test their project under condition similar to those in space. NASA officials will announce the four university projects accepted for free-float at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in June or July. (11/8)

Russian Rocket Ready to Launch Space Station Module (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
A Soyuz rocket topped with the new Poisk module for the International Space Station took a train ride to historic Launch Pad No. 1 at the Baikonur spaceport on Sunday morning, two days before the new component begins its trek to the orbiting complex. (11/8)

Three November Launches Upcoming at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: SPACErePORT)
Three launches are upcoming before the end of November at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. A commercial Atlas-5 mission lifts off on Nov. 14 at 12:48 a.m. A NASA Space Shuttle mission is on tap for Nov. 16 at 2:28 p.m. And a military Delta-4 mission is planned for Nov. 19 at 7:45 p.m. (11/8)

Kepler’s Search for Small Worlds Hampered by Noisy Electronics (Source: Space News)
In spite of electronic components that are creating extraneous noise on board the Kepler space telescope, NASA officials are confident the mission will be able by 2011 to either detect Earth-size planets or reveal that those planets are uncommon. A Kepler principal investigator at the NASA Ames Research Center, told members of the NASA Advisory Council that noise produced by three of the 42 amplifiers used to boost signals from the telescope’s charge-coupled devices was creating image artifacts, or features present in the Kepler data sets that reflect noise rather than an accurate picture of the stars. (11/8)

NASA Updated Guidelines for Aerospace Vehicle Development (Source: CSA)
NASA has updated guidelines and information regarding the natural environment for altitudes between the surface of the Earth and 90 km altitude for the principal NASA aerospace vehicle development, operational, and launch locations and associated local and worldwide geographical areas. Atmospheric phenomena play a significant role in the design and operation of aerospace vehicles and in the integrity of aerospace systems and elements. The terrestrial environment design criteria guidelines given in this handbook are based on statistics and models of atmospheric and climatic phenomena relative to various aerospace design, development, and operational issues. Click here to view the guidelines document. (11/8)

Zero-G Flight Carries Italian Crew from Florida (Source: SPACErePORT)
Zero-Gravity Corp. flew a weightless mission for tourists from the Space Coast Regional Airport on Saturday. The sold-out flight included a team from Italy's SpaceLand group, which featured European media coverage. The group held an underwater training session at a nearby resort pool. (11/8)

Virgin: Law Change Needed for Scotland Spaceflight (Source: BBC)
A change in the law is needed before Scotland can be considered as a launch site for commercial space flights, the head of Virgin Galactic has said. The firm's president Will Whitehorn said locations in Scotland and Sweden were being considered as bases for Virgin's European operations. But he said UK laws would have to be amended to allow flights to take place. Mr Whitehorn said UK ministers and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) was currently looking at the issue.
Virgin Galactic expects to start taking fare-paying passengers on short space hops in the next few years, but claims current rules would prevent launches from the UK. (11/8)

China to Launch French-Made Communications Satellite (Source: Xinhua)
China will launch a French-made communications satellite for the Hong Kong-based APT Satellite Holding Limited in the first half of 2012. A contract for the launch service was signed in Beijing Sunday. The satellite, dubbed APTSTAR-7 and made by the Thales Alenia Space, will be sent into space by China's Long March 3B/E carrier rocket at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern China, according to a statement issued by the China Great Wall Industry Corporation (CGWIC). (11/8)

When E.T. Phones the Pope (Source: Washinton Post)
A little more than a half-mile from the Vatican, in a square called Campo de' Fiori, stands a large statue of a brooding monk. Few of the shoppers and tourists wandering through the fruit-and-vegetable market below may know his story; he is Giordano Bruno, a Renaissance philosopher, writer and free-thinker who was burned at the stake by the Inquisition in 1600. Among his many heresies was his belief in a "plurality of worlds" -- in extraterrestrial life, in aliens.

He might take satisfaction in knowing that this week the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences is holding its first major conference on astrobiology, the new science that seeks to find life elsewhere in the cosmos and to understand how it began on Earth. Convened on private Vatican grounds in the elegant Casina Pio IV, formerly the pope's villa, the unlikely gathering of prominent scientists and religious leaders shows that some of the most tradition-bound faiths are seriously contemplating the possibility that life exists in myriad forms beyond this planet. Astrobiology has arrived, and religious and social institutions -- even the Vatican -- are taking note. (11/8)

South Korean Launch Failure Blamed on Indigenous Fairing (Source: Korea Herald)
An independent panel — tasked with finding the cause of the partial failure of Korea’s first rocket launch — confirmed yesterday that problems in the nose-fairing caused the satellite to veer off course. Based on its analysis of the data collected during the liftoff and flight of the two-stage rocket, the panel said one of the two fairings failed to separate, which prevented the satellite from gaining sufficient velocity to reach the intended orbit.

Other parts, such as engines, functioned normally and the separation of the satellite proceeded properly after the Korea Space Launch Vehicle-1, or Naro, blasted off on Aug. 25 in the Naro Space Center in South Jeolla Province, the panel said. The fairing set was attached to the second-stage rocket of the KSLV-1 to cover and protect a 100-kilogram experimental satellite. The fairing was one the rocket's components that was built by South Korea. Others were provided by Russia. (11/6)

Ben Bova: The "Cannonization" of Space Launches (Source: Naples News)
Rockets are very inefficient, and space travel is expensive. It costs upwards of $10,000 per pound to launch payloads into orbit around the Earth. A private firm called Quicklaunch Inc., however, is developing a high-tech cannon that will — company officials believe — launch small, unmanned spacecraft into orbit for a few hundred dollars per pound, rather than the $10,000 per pound, or more, that rockets cost. Shades of Jules Verne!

Quicklaunch’s personnel have been working on high-velocity gas-driven cannons for space launches for more than 30 years. One of the company’s founders is John W. Hunter, who has worked on this daring technology with the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Click here to view the article. (11/8)

Japan Serious About Space Solar Power Beaming (Source: AFP)
It may sound like a sci-fi vision, but Japan's space agency is dead serious: by 2030 it wants to collect solar power in space and zap it down to Earth, using laser beams or microwaves. The government has just picked a group of companies and a team of researchers tasked with turning the ambitious, multi-billion-dollar dream of unlimited clean energy into reality in coming decades. With few energy resources of its own and heavily reliant on oil imports, Japan has long been a leader in solar and other renewable energies and this year set ambitious greenhouse gas reduction targets.

But Japan's boldest plan to date is the Space Solar Power System (SSPS), in which arrays of photovoltaic dishes several square kilometres (square miles) in size would hover in geostationary orbit outside the Earth's atmosphere. "Since solar power is a clean and inexhaustible energy source, we believe that this system will be able to help solve the problems of energy shortage and global warming," researchers at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, one of the project participants, wrote in a report. (11/8)

November 7 News Items

2009-11-07T10:55:00.002-05:00

Signature of Antimatter Detected in Lightning (Source: Science News)
Designed to scan the heavens thousands to billions of light-years beyond the solar system for gamma rays, the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope has also picked up a shocking vibe from Earth. During its first 14 months of operation, the flying observatory has detected 17 gamma-ray flashes associated with terrestrial storms — and some of those flashes have contained a surprising signature of antimatter.

During two recent lightning storms, Fermi recorded gamma-ray emissions of a particular energy that could have been produced only by the decay of energetic positrons, the antimatter equivalent of electrons. The observations are the first of their kind for lightning storms. (11/7)

Space Markets Post Strong Growth, Defy Economic Crisis (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Markets for commercial communications satellites, Earth observation spacecraft and their launchers, all remarkably unaffected by the global economic crisis, continue to soar toward yearly double digit growth, generating billions in annual revenues.

Assessments by global market analysis firms are in close agreement about growth across 2008-2009, and for an upbeat picture to continue into 2010 and beyond. Companies out with new forecasts include Northern Sky Research, Euroconsult, Futron and Forecast International.

The latest payload numbers are being equaled on the launcher side. "The world market for expendable launch vehicles (ELVs) is [also] headed for a considerable market upturn," said John Edwards, senior analysts at Forecast International in comments about that firm's new payload forecast out to 2017. (11/7)

Plumes on Saturn's Moon May be a Sign of Life (Source: USA Today)
Saturn's geyser-spewing moon, Enceladus — visited by the international Cassini spacecraft on its closest flyby this week— presents planetary scientists with a geophysical locked-room mystery. How does something buried inside an ice ball only 311 miles wide, provide the pop to propel a plume 600 miles out of the moon's south pole?

"The biggest puzzle with Enceladus is where is the heat source," says Cassini scientist Linda Spilker of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which manages the mission. "This tiny moon 'should' be frozen over like the others orbiting Saturn." And there is one even more compelling question.

"Is it possible for life to exist on Enceladus, the tiny icy satellite of Saturn," asked planetary scientists. Life on Enceladus, hidden in an interior lake or ocean suspected under its ice, has consumed planetary researchers since 2005, when Cassini first spotted the plume. Click here to view the article. (11/7)

ISS Mission Control Gives All Clear for Orbital Debris Threat (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Ongoing analysis of the trajectory of a piece of space junk that was believed to pose a possible threat to the International Space Station shows the debris will not pass close enough to the lab complex to force the crew to seek refuge in their Soyuz lifeboats, a NASA official said late Friday. (11/7)

November 6 News Items

2009-11-06T13:22:00.006-05:00

Bolden: Flexible Path Approach is “Attractive to Everybody” (Source: Space News)
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden says sending astronauts to various solar system destinations instead of focusing exclusively on the Moon is an “attractive” option that could allow the U.S. space agency to phase in promising new technologies while inspiring the American public at regular intervals along the way.

“You utilize lunar exploration, utilize visits to asteroids, whether it’s robotic or human,” Bolden said. “That’s what makes it attractive to everybody,” he said. “That’s the one good thing about it. It is not a lunar program, and it’s not a Mars program. It allows you to go to different destinations as you see the capabilities arise.” (11/6)

Air Force To Study Using Alternative SBIRS Sensor (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Air Force intends to hire Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems to study the feasibility of incorporating a next-generation missile warning sensor into the service’s Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS). Raytheon started work in 2006 on an experimental missile warning sensor for the Air Force under a program now called the Third Generation Infrared Surveillance system (3GIRS). The company was awarded a $46 million contract to upgrade the sensor to a fully flight-qualified payload. (11/6)

Huntsville Mayor Rallies Support for Ares I (Source: Huntsville Times)
Mayor Tommy Battle used his second "State of the City" address Thursday to plug the embattled Ares I rocket. Speaking to a sellout crowd of 1,300 people at the Von Braun Center's North Hall, Battle said the Rocket City has to find a way to keep the Marshall Space Flight Center-managed program alive.

Battle drew loud applause when he said Huntsville needs to "convince Congress, convince the White House that we have the finest pool of intelligence and technologically advanced people that have ever been on earth in the business of space. "If you ever let that pool disperse," he said, "you'll never get it back." (11/6)

NASA COTS Companies Benefit from Stimulus Aid (Source: Flight Global)
Orbital Sciences and SpaceX are to benefit from millions of dollars more than originally agreed under their NASA-funded Commercial Transportation Space Act agreements. NASA is spending $24 million on launch and test infrastructure, including at its Wallops flight facility where Orbital will launch its Taurus II rocket and the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, where SpaceX will operate its Falcon 9 booster. NASA declines to say how much investment the two companies' launch sites are getting because it "may be procurement sensitive information".

The funding comes from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and some of the $24 million is being spent on John C Stennis Center testing facilities. Orbital could not provide investment figures for its site and construction company RS&H, which has won a Wallops contract, is prohibited from giving details. However, sources close to SpaceX say that Kennedy will get around $1 million of ARRA funds and that company's complex will gain improvements. (11/6)

Stadd Gets House Arrest and Probation (Source: Space News)
Former NASA Chief of Staff Courtney Stadd, convicted in August of lying to U.S. government ethics officials and inappropriately steering agency funds to a consulting client, was sentenced to three years probation, six months of home confinement Nov. 6 and fined $2,500. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer before a courtroom packed with many of Stadd’s friends and aerospace industry colleagues. Stadd had been facing up to 15 years in prison, but during the sentencing hearing the prosecutors asked for only a one-year term. (11/6)

Google Unveils Protocol for Interplanetary Internet (Source: WIRED)
Vint Cerf, Google's internet evangelist, has unveiled a new protocol intended to power an interplanetary internet. The Delay-Tolerant Networking (DTN) protocol emerged from work first started in 1998 in partnership with Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The initial goal was to modify the ubiquitous Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) to facilitate robust communications between celestial bodies and satellites. They were forced to acknowledge that TCP simply couldn't cut the mustard, with massive delay and data loss caused by celestial motion rendering TCP useless.

"There was a little problem called the speed of light," joked a typically playful Cerf, as he outlined the idea to the OpenMobileSummit conference in San Francisco. "When Earth and Mars are closest, we're 35 million miles apart, and it's a three and a half minute trip one way, seven minutes for a round trip. Then when we're farthest apart, we're 235 million miles – 20 minutes one way, 40 minutes round trip."

The core issue is that TCP assumes a continuous (and fairly reliable) connection. DTN makes no such assumptions, requiring each node to buffer all of its packets until a stable connection can be established. Whereas TCP will repeatedly attempt to send packets until they are successfully acknowledged, DTN will automatically find a destination node with a reliable connection, and then send its payload just once. Given the latency of space communications and the minimal power restrictions placed upon satellites, DTNs approach seems prudent. (11/6)

Air Force Recruitment Video Focuses on Space Collision Avoidance (Source: USAF)
An Air Force commercial highlighting the service's role in protecting satellite and other space assets shows what happens when two pieces of space junk collide, sending debris on a potentially cataclysmic collision course with a vital communications satellite. Click here to view the video. (11/6)

Spain Incorporates Space Tourism in Airports Legislation (Source: SPACErePORT)
In a Spanish "Airports and Heliports Law" passed in July, language was included to support Catalonia's efforts to develop a space tourism industry. The law states that facilities and services necessary for space and space tourism can be located at airports. Also, "the Government shall put into effect...actions of promotion and devlopment of space-related activities, and especially, activities of education, public outreach and spacce tourism..." (11/6)

Orbital Debris Threatens Space Station (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Flight controllers were monitoring an unknown piece of orbital debris that could pass within 500 meters of the International Space Station at 10:48 p.m. on Friday. The station crew might be asked to board the docked Soyuz capsules later, as a precaution, depending on the outcome of additional tracking data analysis. (11/6)

Foreign Land Awaits Soyuz Rockets leaving Russia (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
The first two Soyuz rockets scheduled to lift off from the Guiana Space Center next year will take their first step toward space Saturday, beginning a transatlantic ocean voyage to a jungle spaceport instead of heading for the familiar steppes of Kazakhstan. (11/6)

South Korean Weather-Communications Satellite to Launch From Kourou (Source: Xinhua)
South Korea plans to launch its first weather-communications satellite into space in March, 2010. The satellite was developed jointly by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and France's Astrium. It will be placed in geostationary orbit 36,000 km from Earth and be equipped with a multi-spectrum camera and sensor array that can help gather high quality ocean meteorological data including typhoons, ocean temperatures, the movement of dust and cloud formations. (11/6)

California Wants Boeing, NASA to Clean Up of Toxic Lab (Source: Daily Comet)
California environmental regulators have proposed forcing Boeing and NASA to clean up chemical and radioactive pollution at a 2,800-acre research site in eastern Ventura County. The draft of a revised cleanup plan for the Santa Susana Field Laboratory was announced Wednesday. The state Department of Toxic Substances Control wants any cleanup to meet federal and state standards. The draft plan names Boeing, NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy as the responsible parties. Boeing, which has been negotiating with the state for months over cleanup details, calls the plan disappointing. It has a week to respond. The lab 30 miles north of downtown Los Angeles was used for nuclear power and rocket testing for more than four decades. (11/6)

Space Debris Threatens Space Station And Its Crew (Source: Florida Today)
Six astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International Space Station will be ready to climb into Soyuz lifeboats for a potential evacuation tonight if a piece of space junk being tracked by flight controllers collides with the outpost. NASA flight commentator Kelly Humphries said a collision is highly unlikely. Nonetheless, the crew was briefed on the unidentified piece of debris, which is expected to come within one-third of a mile of the station around 10:48 p.m. EST. (11/6)

Firm Will Is Needed to Advance Korea's Space Program (Source: Chosun.com)
An independent panel of experts investigating the failure of Korea's first satellite launch rocket earlier this year announced on Thursday that the cause was an abnormal separation of the nose fairing assembly which covered the satellite payload. It caused by either a mechanical problem or a delayed detonation of a charge that facilitates the separation. The panel said no other abnormalities occurred during the launch. If that analysis is correct, then there is a good chance that the failure of the Naro or KSLV-1 rocket to put its satellite payload into orbit was due to a mistake in the portion of the rocket that Korean scientists were in charge of. (11/6)

China: Space Militarization Comment Misinterpreted (Source: Forbes)
Did the arms race in space begin this week? "Competition between military forces is developing towards the sky and space, it is extending beyond the atmosphere and even into outer space," said the chief of the Chinese air force in the Nov. 2 edition of People's Liberation Army Daily, the official newspaper of China's military. "This development is a historical inevitability and cannot be undone."

What cannot be undone is the effect of General Xu Qiliang's words. Chinese state media, however, tried to do just that, contending that the foreign media misinterpreted him. Then Chinese diplomats got in on the act. "China has never and will not participate in an outer space arms race in any form," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu on Nov. 5. "The position of China on this point remains unchanged." (11/6)

LaserMotive is First Ever Prize Winner in Space Elevator Games (Source: Popular Science)
First proposed in 1895, and popularized by the Arthur C. Clarke book The Fountains of Paradise, space elevators have a rich history in the culture of space travel. Unfortunately, the history of their engineering success is far less impressive. But if the results from this week's Space Elevator Games are any indication, that might be about to change. Funded by NASA and the Spaceward Foundation, the yearly contest offers a $2 million first prize to any group whose machine can quickly climb a kilometer-long ribbon tethered to a helicopter, while receiving power remotely from the ground. On Tuesday, LaserMotive became the first team in competition history to qualify for the $900,000 second prize.

The LaserMotive machine consists of a motor that pulls the device up the 2,953-foot-long ribbon, photovoltaic cells that power the motor, and a ground-based laser that provides the light for the cells. LaserMotive set a new record for the competition, and became the first team to ever reach the top of the ribbon. However, they had to settle for the $900,000 second prize, as securing the $2 million first prize requires not only reaching the top of the ribbon, but doing so at an average speed of 11 miles per hour. Sadly, the LaserMotive machine ran slightly slower than that mark. (11/6)

General Calls for Focus on Protecting Satellites (Source: USAF)
The chief of U.S. Strategic Command wants better tools for protecting against threats from space debris -- an estimated 20,000 pieces of manmade material orbiting around the planet. Gen. Kevin P. Chilton laid out what he described as his "wish list" Nov. 4, emphasizing the importance of being able to predict collisions between debris and valuable satellites. Given the scarce number of personnel tasked with carrying out this mission, "we are decades behind where we should be, in my view," General Chilton said. (11/6)

Senate Votes to Restore NASA Funding Previously Cut by House (Source: Houston Chronicle)
In a strong show of support for President Obama's vision for NASA and manned space missions, the Senate agreed Thursday to hand over all that he asked for: $4 billion to build cutting-edge spacecraft as part of an $18.7 billion budget. The Senate voted 71 to 28 for a massive spending bill that would restore $670 million cut from manned space exploration by the House in June. The proposed spending still faces a strong test of wills as the Senate and House try to reach a budgetary compromise.

“NASA can't do anything unless it gets some serious, new, additional money,” said Sen. Bill Nelson. The Senate measure provides $3.2 billion for shuttle operations through Sept. 30 next year; $4 billion for construction and operation of the orbiting $100 billion International Space Station; and $628 million to pay the Russian space agency to ferry U.S. astronauts and cargo to the ISS after the shuttle fleet is retired.

Texas' senators split on the measure. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Dallas, voted in favor of the spending bill and won a seat on the team of Senate negotiators that will work out differences with the House. Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, chairman of the GOP campaign committee working to win control of the Senate in 2010 and an increasingly ardent voice against federal spending, voted against the package. Cornyn backs full funding for NASA, spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said. But the overall measure increases federal funding for the various agencies and departments by nearly 13 percent over last year, McLaughlin said. (11/6)

China-Backed Space Measure Advances in United Nations (Source: Spaceports Blog)
China, Russia, and 68 other co-sponsor countries are behind a Transparency and Confidence Building Measures in Outer Space measure that was approved on Oct. 29 by the First Committee of the 64th UN General Assembly. Of particular note, the EU countries became a collective cosponsor. The measure will pave the way for talks on an agreement on the demilitarization of space, a Russian diplomat said. In the past, only the United States and several island nations opposed similar Russian proposals. The approval of the draft document by the committee practically ensures that the proposals will be adopted by the UN General Assembly in December.

The Russian official emphasized the fact that the U.S. has decided for the first time to go along with the rest of the world, and Washington has noted the importance of bilateral cooperation with Russia on all issues related to outer space. It clearly shows the shift in U.S. global policies in general and builds up optimism on the success of future talks on demilitarization of outer space, the Russian diplomat concluded. In consultation with allies, the United States is currently in the process of assessing options for international cooperation in space as a part of a comprehensive review of national space policy. (11/6)

Sirius Makes Strides in Third Quarter (Source: Wall Street Journal)
For the first time since December, Sirius XM Radio Inc. began adding subscribers, a promising sign for the paid-radio business. The company, which ran into financing difficulties that nearly sent it into bankruptcy early this year before Liberty Media Corp. took a 40% stake, is still suffering as consumers keep a tight lid on their spending, and it may lose subscribers again in the fourth quarter. (11/6)

DirecTV Shows Subscriber Gains, as Rivals See Loss (Source: LA Times)
Satellite TV operator DirecTV Group Inc. was one of the few pay-TV companies to attract new subscribers in the third quarter, as it reported revenue growth of 10 percent that was partly offset by higher costs to attract and serve those customers. DirecTV, which is controlled by media mogul John Malone's Liberty Media Corp., has focused on attracting consumers who don't mind paying more for quality TV as long as they get football and other packages they want. (11/6)

November 5 News Items

2009-11-05T10:13:00.013-05:00

Range Technology Prize Competition Suggested to NASA (Source: SPACErePORT)
NASA's deadline for submitting ideas for new "Centennial Challenge" prize competitions is Nov. 8. Embry-Riddle offered one idea to the mix, aimed at boosting U.S. space transportation competitiveness through the improvement of range safety technologies. The competition would bring together various alternative range safety systems for a head-to-head fly-off during a pre-scheduled Atlas, Delta or Falcon launch, allowing NASA, the FAA and Air Force to determine which ones meet basic government-set requirements, and which ones are most responsive and least expensive to operate.

There are several alternative range safety systems available or under development, and this competition would facilitate their qualification for use by the Air Force and NASA to upgrade existing launch ranges, while also allowing their use at FAA-licensed spaceports that don't already have a NASA or military range system in-place. (11/5)

Embry-Riddle Officials Join Study Team for Point-to-Point Suborbital Spaceflight (Source: SPACErePORT)
Policy and transportation analysts at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will participate on a "FastForward" study group to develop a pre-competitive analysis of future global high-speed point-to-point passenger and cargo services, a capability envisioned to grow into a major market for spaceports and suborbital launch companies. A representative from Space Florida also serves on the FastForward group. Click here for more information. (11/5)

USA Gets Lean for Contract Competition (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
United Space Alliance, NASA's main shuttle contractor, told employees it will be canceling merit pay raises across the company next year in order to keep costs down as it tries to win new business after the agency mothballs the orbiter fleet in 2011. "The annual merit pay increases for 2010 for performance and things like that, we made the decision not to do that," said company spokesman Jeff Carr. "This really about protecting our rates to be competitive for future follow on work."

United Space Alliance, which is jointly owned by aerospace giants Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., is hoping to win the ground operations contract that will run NASA's next human space exploration program after the shuttle fleet is retired by the end of next year or in early 2011. The Houston-based company employs 8,900 people in Texas, Alabama, Florida and Washington, D.C. The largest share of the workforce-- comprising some 5,600 technicians, engineers and managers -- is at KSC.

Carr provided no details about how much money USA expected to pay out in raises, but he said that increases in employee health care costs of between seven and 10 per cent were being absorbed by the company, which needed to offset those costs in order to compete for the new contracts. The question is whether the news about canceling pay raises will help retain workers or push them to look for different jobs. Workers with the most critical skills have been promised bonuses if they remain to the end of the shuttle program. These are unaffected by the latest announcement. (11/5)

Small European Satellites Look to Hitch a Ride to Space (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Future small-class European payloads are slated to shift from using Russian launchers to the Vega rocket when it begins flying late next year, but officials with Russian launch providers say they are not giving up on the market just yet. Monday's launch of the European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity satellite left the Rockot launcher with a single future mission on its books.

The Rockot is made by combining two stages of the SS-19 missile with a Breeze KM upper stage to deliver satellites to orbit. But Eurockot, the joint German-Russian company that oversees commercial Rockot flights, is still discussing potential deals with ESA for upcoming Earth observation satellites. It is ESA's formal policy to award small institutional missions to the agency's Vega rocket, a new launcher being built to haul light satellites into space from the Guiana Space Center in South America. (11/5)

New Theory Tries to Explain Missing Matter (Source: MSNBC)
One of the greatest mysteries of astronomy is the problem of the missing mass: All of the matter scientists can see in the universe accounts for only a small percent of the observed gravity. Astronomers often invoke the concept of dark matter to explain this discrepancy, but some researchers say the problem is really our understanding of gravity. These scientists tout an idea called MOND — Modified Theory of Newtonian Dynamics — to explain why the universe seems to behave as if there's much more matter in it than we think.

Instead of assuming that this missing mass exists in the form of dark matter, which scientists have yet to detect directly, MOND advocates say we must alter Einstein's general theory of relativity. Under MOND, mass is much more effective at bending space-time than under General Relativity, so it takes less stuff in the universe to account for all the gravity we measure. (11/5)

Astronomy Lecture Planned at College Planetarium on Nov. 13 (Source: SPACErePORT)
Brevard Community College continues its Space and Astronomy Lecture Series on Nov. 13 with a lecture by UCF's Dr. Humberto Campins. The free lecture is titled: Small Bodies and Big Impacts: Asteroids, Comets and the Origin of the Earth's Water." The event will be held at 7:00 p.m. at the BCC Planetarium in Cocoa. Click here for information. It will be followed by a star party hosted by the Brevard Astronomical Society. (11/5)

Lockheed Disputes Reports of Further SBIRS Delays (Source: AIA)
Defense officials say the Air Force's Space Based Infrared System program, troubled by cost overruns and schedule delays over the years, will face yet another delay -- this time of 12 to 18 months -- as Lockheed Martin Corp. wraps up testing. But Lockheed disputes that view, insisting that the program is on track for delivery to the Air Force by the fourth quarter of calendar year 2010. (11/5)

NASA Aims For 2012 Ares Test Flight From KSC (Source: Florida Today)
NASA is scrapping plans for an Ares I-Y test flight because it is slipping out too far to be of use and aiming instead to launch an earlier test flight on 2012 that would feature a five-segment solid rocket booster and perhaps test the rocket's launch abort system. The earlier launch would take place at launch pad 39B at Kennedy Space Center, giving a boost to a center that is expected to see about 7,000 layoffs in late 2010 or early 2011 when the shuttle fleet is retired.

The new test flight would be dubbed Ares I-X Prime, NASA officials said. The Ares I-Y mission was scheduled to fly in 2013 but would have slipped to 2014 -- just a year before NASA is slated to fly the first piloted flight of an Ares rocket and an Orion spacecraft. (11/5)

Debate Rages Over Radioactive Space Monkeys (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
An animal rights group plans to file legal action against NASA on Thursday to stop the space agency from injecting squirrel monkeys with radiation to mimic the effects that cosmic radiation could have on long-distance space travelers. Advocates with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine claim that the $1.75 million experiment, conducted in association with the Brookhaven National Laboratory, violates internal NASA guidelines and should not continue.

“Irradiating monkeys would be one giant leap backward for NASA,” said Hope Ferdowsian, the group’s director of research policy, in a statement. “The proposed experiments are cruel, unnecessary, and lack scientific merit.” A NASA spokesman said the four-year test -- which has not yet begun -- involves injecting 18-28 squirrel monkeys with a “single shot that simulates months of exposure” to cosmic radiation that astronauts could experience during a months-long mission to Mars, a future goal of NASA. (11/5)

Space Tourism a Reality by 2012 (Source: Fox News)
The latest trend in eco-tourism is completely out of this world ... and right around the corner. Routine commercial travel to outer space may be the norm as soon as 2012, as the next generation of spacecraft — designed by private sector firms like Virgin Galactic, Orbital Sciences Corp., Space Exploration Technologies Corp. and others — transport adventure-seeking civilians into low-Earth orbit.

There, they can see the sun rise many times a day, and experience the breathtaking curve of planet Earth that only NASA astronauts such as Neil Armstrong or Buzz Aldrin have previously seen. If they want to extend their stay, they can check in to the solar system’s first orbiting hotel, The Galactic Space Suite Hotel, set to open in three years. (11/5)

Success, Frustration in Space Elevator Competition (Source: AP)
A laser-powered machine has zipped thousands of feet up a cable dangling from a helicopter in a competition to develop space elevator technology. LaserMotive of Seattle qualified for at least $900,000 in the $2 million NASA-backed Space Elevator Games, which began Wednesday at the Dryden Flight Research Center on Edwards Air Force Base.

LaserMotive's vehicle climbed 2,953 feet (nearly 1 kilometer) in just over four minutes and then repeated the feat. The Kansas City, Mo., Space Pirates went first. Their vehicle was too slow to qualify for a prize but apparently was only about 160 feet short of the top when it had to stop.

Theoretically, space elevators are a way to reach space without using rockets. They would use a cable stretched between the Earth's surface and a platform in geosynchronous orbit. The highly technical contest brought teams from Missouri, Alaska and Seattle to Rogers Dry Lake in the Mojave Desert, most familiar to the public as a space shuttle landing site. (11/5)

NASA Juggles Manifest for Future Ares Test Flights (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
One week after the first major flight test of the agency's new Ares 1 rocket, NASA is closer to cancelling a demonstration launch called Ares 1-Y, potentially replacing it with a new, still undefined test flight in 2012 or 2013.

During a meeting last week, managers agreed to re-evaluate the proposed suborbital Ares 1-Y flight most recently scheduled for March 2014. NASA spokesman Grey Hautaluoma said Ares 1-Y had slipped too late in the development of the Ares 1 rocket to be valuable to engineers. Originally planned for 2012, the Ares 1-Y launch date had slipped until 2014, just one year before NASA says it will fly the first crewed Orion capsule on top of an Ares 1. (11/5)

Giant Galaxy Graveyard Grows (Source: Science News)
The largest known galactic congregation is bigger than astronomers thought—and its inhabitants are all dead or dying. A gigantic galactic graveyard lurks in the distant universe, and the death toll is growing. New observations establish a supercluster centered on the cluster CL0016+16 as the largest galactic congregation ever found, astronomers report in Astronomy & Astrophysics. The supercluster extends even farther than previously thought, and it’s drawing in more and more galaxies.

CL0016+16 lies about 6.7 billion light-years away from Earth. That cluster was first observed in 1981, and later observations hinted that it might be just one of a cluster of clusters. Observations by David Koo of the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1996 pointed to a large structure extending from the main cluster. (11/5)