News Summaries for December 25

"Gap" Flight Needed To Resupply Station In 2009 (Source: LaunchSpace)
NASA may need to add a single cargo flight to the International Space Station in 2009 to bridge a gap in resupply missions to the orbiting complex. The proposed April 2009 cargo flight will fill a gap in resupply flights before NASA starts using commercial resupply flights under the agency's new Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. The 2009 cargo flight "is intended to bridge the gap before COTS is ready. It is not intended to replace or duplicate COTS," NASA said in response to questions from companies interested in providing the resupply flight.

Florida Aerospace Teacher Among Seven Nationwide Honored by AIAA (Source: AIAA)
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has selected seven teachers, including Florida's Ricardo Soria of Choctawhatchee High School in Ft. Walton Beach, to receive the 2007 AIAA Foundation Educator Achievement Award. This award is presented to precollege (K-12) educators who have demonstrated exemplary efforts in facilitating the continued study of mathematics, science and related technical studies among America's youth. Soria and a guest will receive a trip to Washington, D.C. where he will be recognized at the Aerospace Spotlight Gala on May 15, 2007.

Russia Launches Communications Satellite (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A Soyuz rocket launched the first of a new generation of communications satellites on Dec. 24. The Soyuz 2-1a rocket lifted off from the Plesetsk spaceport in northern Russia and placed the spacecraft into a highly elliptical orbit several hours later. The launch had been delayed two days because of an unspecified software problem with the launch vehicle. The spacecraft is the first in a new series of communications satellites called Meridian and is designed to provide services to ships, aircraft, and coastal stations in Russia's far northern regions, replacing the older Molniya and Parus series of satellites.

New Space Complex Funds Coming In (Source: Sheboygan Press)
Developers planning to build a $17 million space and science complex on the Sheboygan lakefront have raised $4 million, and expect major donations to push the total to $6 million within a month. Momentum is building for the Great Lakes Aerospace Science & Education Center at Spaceport Sheboygan, but the tentative grand opening date has been moved from March 2008 to May 2009 as money hasn't come in as fast as the group had hoped. The $4 million raised so far — which includes the city's donation of the Sheboygan Armory, valued at $1.5 million — comes from donors within 100 miles of Sheboygan, as will the funds expected within the next month, Muth said.

Developers say the project will transform the Sheboygan Armory, which was built in 1941, into a complex that includes an IMAX theater, planetarium, NASA-affiliated museum and interactive exhibits that allow visitors to experience zero-gravity and simulate landing a shuttle, doing a spacewalk and flying with a jet pack. The complex will sit beneath Spaceport Sheboygan, restricted airspace over Lake Michigan that could one day be used for commercial space flights. Rockets for Schools has used the airspace since 1995. State government has gotten on board, establishing the Wisconsin Aerospace Authority in April to foster development of the aerospace industry in Sheboygan and statewide. Two Sheboyganites have been nominated to serve on the authority.

Mission: Destroy It Before It Gets Us (Source: Times Online)
NASA is drawing up a shortlist of ideas to be unveiled early next year for diverting a 40m-ton asteroid that is on course to pass dangerously close to Earth. The schemes will be presented and discussed at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Fears that the planet may be in danger from asteroids were heightened by the discovery of one orbiting the sun that, on its present path, will pass within 22,000 miles — a hair’s breadth in astronomical terms — in April 2029.