News Summaries for December 20

Embry-Riddle Team Wins Spot in NASA PR Contest Finals (Source: ERAU)
In their first try, a team of students studying communication at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University reached the finals in the NASA Means Business Competition, an annual national public relations contest to promote NASA to the next generation. The contest is sponsored by the Texas Space Grant Consortium. The students submitted a 50-page proposal featuring concepts for print media, a website, and community outreach, as well as a commercial storyboard, research analysis, and communication/marketing strategy. As finalists, the students receive a $1,000 cash award, an invitation to ”behind-the-scenes” tours at NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center, and a travel award for one team member. The competition culminates May 7-9, 2007, when the team pitches its finished plan to NASA officials at Kennedy Space Center. If the Embry-Riddle students win the grand prize, NASA will use their commercials on national TV and present their award in Washington, DC in Sept. 2007.

Flying to the moon? Take Wisconsin Tech Along (Source: Wisconsin Tech Network)
No matter where the space program goes from here, Wisconsin science and technology know-how should be strapped in for the ride. Wisconsin scientists, public and private, have the expertise to help get us there and to prepare for what comes next. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison, for example, researchers have: developed remote sensing technologies to study the atmosphere of the Earth and other planets; worked with NASA, academia, and industry to develop and commercialize space technologies, products, and processes; and researched the use of plants for life support on long-term space bases.

Wisconsin scientists have mapped portions of the Milky Way and catalogued millions of stars; designed a third-generation, free-flying robot to help astronauts in a pressurized, weightless environment; and been leaders in researching the mining of Helium-3. And when it comes time to develop that lunar “pick-up truck,” as one NASA official described it, Wisconsin has no shortage of companies with expertise in robotics, control systems, and extreme materials. As improbable as it might seem, Sheboygan is the location of the Midwest's only restricted airspace and “portal to space” as designated by the Federal Aviation Administration.

ATK Moving Unit From to Minnesota to Maryland (Source: Baltimore Sun)
Minnesota-based Alliant Techsystems Inc. (ATK), the world's largest producer of solid-fuel rocket motors for the military and NASA, is moving the headquarters of its Mission Systems Group from Minneapolis to Baltimore in January. Maryland offered tax breaks and job-training incentives to move the firm. The state Department of Business and Economic Development did not return a call seeking comment. ATK wants to establish an engineering lab in Canton where customers and employees can collaborate on technology development, both in person and virtually. He said the company will also look to tap talent at the Johns Hopkins University, in the form of collaborations and recruitment.

Florida Tech Beaming Over Alums (Source: Florida Today)
The people and alumni of Florida Tech are reveling in watching two of their graduates whizzing around the Earth at 17,500 mph the past couple of weeks. The shuttle Discovery's soon-to-end mission to the International Space Station put a pair of Florida Tech alumni in orbit at the same time, a high-profile opportunity to garner some school pride and publicity. "We are extremely proud that this is the first time in history that two women who graduated from the same university are on the same space shuttle mission," said Florida Tech President Anthony Catanese. The two Florida Tech-gear-toting astronauts in question: Discovery mission specialist Joan Higginbotham, who earned a master's degree from Florida Tech in 1992 and space station flight engineer Sunita Williams, who earned her master's degree from Florida Tech in 1995.