News Summaries for December 18

The Long-Term Future of the ISS (Source: Space Review)
Most of the current attention given to the International Space Station is focused on completing the orbiting outpost. Taylor
Dinerman takes a long-range view, and sees how the station could continue to operate for potentially decades to come. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/769/1 to view the article.

Embry-Riddle Plans Aviation & Space Crew Resource Management Symposium (Source: ERAU)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University will convene the 2007 Crew Resource Management (CRM) symposium from Feb. 27-Mar. 1, 2007 in Daytona Beach. The symposium will be a series of workshops designed to chart the future of CRM for the aviation and space industries. CRM is a management system that makes optimal use of all available resources – equipment, people and procedures – to promote safety and enhance the efficiency of flight operations. It combines communications, decision making, problem solving, situational awareness, and teamwork.

“The future of CRM may be different for each corner of the aerospace industry,” says event co-chair Tim Plunkett. “CRM training for a VLJ pilot may show little resemblance to that of an A-380 flight attendant or the astronauts on the new CEV.” For more information or to register for the 2007 CRM Vectors Symposium, visit http://www.erau.edu/crm.

NASA Partners with Google (Source: NASA)
NASA Ames Research Center and Google have signed a Space Act Agreement that formally establishes a relationship to work together on a variety of challenging technical problems ranging from large-scale data management and massively distributed computing, to human-computer interfaces. Google and Ames will focus on making the most useful of NASA's information available on the Internet. Real-time weather visualization and forecasting, high-resolution 3-D maps of the moon and Mars, real-time tracking of the International Space Station and the space shuttle will be explored in the future. NASA and Google intend to collaborate in a variety of areas, including incorporating agency data sets in Google Earth, focusing on user studies and cognitive modeling for human computer interaction, and science data search utilizing a variety of Google features and products.

NORAD Ready to Track Santa (Source: NORAD)
In advance of its 51st season of tracking Santa Claus on his annual journey around the world, the North American Aerospace Defense Command has activated its “NORAD Tracks Santa” Web site. The program began in 1955 when an errant phone call was made to NORAD’s predecessor, the Continental Air Defense Command Operations Center by a local child who dialed a misprinted telephone number in a local newspaper advertisement. The commander who answered the phone that night gave the youngster the information he requested – the whereabouts of Santa Claus – and thus the tradition of NORAD tracking Santa began. Visit http://www.noradsanta.org to follow Santa.

Florida Retains Clout in Congress (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Democrats may have won control of Congress, but the Republican-dominated Florida delegation will still wield power as some of its youngest and newest members move into key committee assignments. Florida's battleground status has helped the 16 Republicans and nine Democrats win important assignments because both parties want inroads in the state. John Mica of Winter Park and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami might not chair committees next year, but they will be the top-ranking minority Republicans on the committees for transportation and for international relations, respectively. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, will also sit on the transportation committee.

Rep. Kendrick Meek, D-Miami, joins the Ways and Means Committee and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, will sit on the Appropriations Committee. Incoming freshman Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, will sit on the Rules Committee, which controls the agenda on the House floor. Florida already has three members on that 13-person committee: Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami; Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow; and Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Miramar.

Both of Florida's senators will be active next year in committees involved in the nation's strategy and tactics in Iraq and on other military topics. Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson will join the Senate Intelligence Committee. He already sits on the Armed Services and Foreign Relations committees. Republican Sen. Mel Martinez sat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but will switch to the Armed Services Committee. Martinez will continue on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, the Energy Committee and the Aging Committee. He also will be heading the Republican National Committee.

Harris Sells $100M in Satellite Antennas (Source: Florida Today)
It's been a busy year for Melbourne-based Harris Corp.'s satellite antenna business. The company announced today that it has reached the $100 million mark for unfurlable antenna orders for commercial satellites this year. The antennas have been ordered by satellite manufacturers in the United States and Europe. They are used on satellites to transmit voice, radio and television broadcasts worldwide. Harris has a team of more than 200 engineers dedicated to supporting its spaceborne unfurlable mesh antenna programs. The company has numerous buildings with clean rooms to support the design, manufacture, integration and testing of the antennas at its facilities in Palm Bay.

The Other Rising Asian Space Power (Source: Space Review)
While many in the US have focused on the rise of the Chinese space program and how the US might cooperate with it, India's space efforts have recently become more ambitious as well. Jeff Foust reports on the future directions of the Indian space program and the potential for increased cooperation with the US. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/768/1 to view the article.

Loral, Canadian Fund to Buy Telesat Canada (Source: SpaceToday.net)
Satellite operator Loral and Canada's Public Sector Pension Investment Board pension fund will acquire Canadian satellite operator Telesat Canada for nearly $2.8 billion plus the assumption of about $150 million in debt. As part of the deal Loral will transfer its current Loral Skynet satellite holdings to a new Canadian company called simply Telesat, combining it with Telesat Canada's existing fleet of communication satellites.

Japan Launches Experimental Communications Satellite (Source: SpaceToday.net)
An H-2A rocket launched a large Japanese experimental communications satellite on Monday. The H-2A lifted off from the Tanegashima spaceport and released the Experimental Test Satellite (ETS) 8 spacecraft. The spacecraft, also known as Kiku 8, will test a pair of large deployable reflectors that will provide high-powered communications services, including directly to handsets and other mobile devices. The launch had been planned for Saturday but was postponed two days by poor weather.

PC Players in Hyped Race to Reach Space (Source: The Inquirer)
The Inquirer sums up the growing list of computer/tech moguls who are now gung ho for space, including Charles Simonyi, Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Greg Olsen, Anousheh Ansari, Paul Allen, John Carmack, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos. Visit http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=36415 to view the article.

Russian Rocket with German Satellite Readied at Plesetsk Spaceport (Source: Interfax)
The Russian Space Forces have started preparing the Kosmos-3M launch vehicle for launching at the Plesetsk spaceport. "In the morning of December 18 the Russian launch vehicle Kosmos-3M together with the Sar-LUPE (Germany) satellite was transported from the assembly tower to the launch site," said an official. The launch is slated for Tuesday.

International Deals to Mold Lunar Base Use (Source: Huntsville Times)
NASA plans to build moon camp 'anybody can use.' Even though a planned NASA lunar base is more than a decade away, international agreements and other legal groundwork laid today will shape how nations use the moon before the first shovel of lunar dirt is turned, space experts say. NASA announced plans last month to build a lunar base camp by 2024 that could be used as part of an international presence on the moon.