News Summaries for January 12

NASA Funds Scripps Instrument For Probing For Life on Mars (Source: SpaceRef.com)
NASA announced $750,000 in funding for development of an instrument to detect signs of life on Mars proposed by a scientist at Scripps in San Diego. The instrument is designed to provide the most rigorous analysis possible for the past and present existence of biological compounds on Mars' surface.

Rep. Allen Named to Space Florida Board (Source: Florida Today)
Brevard lawmaker Bob Allen returns to the board of the newly reconstituted Space Florida. House Speaker Marco Rubio this week appointed Rep. Allen, R-Merritt Island, to the state's space economic development agency. Allen replaces Rep. Thad Altman, R-Melbourne, who was appointed under former House Speaker Allan Bense. House and Senate appointees to the board -- non-voting members -- serve at the pleasure of the current leader of that chamber.

Expensive New U.S. Spy Satellite Not Working: Sources (Source: Reuters)
U.S. officials are unable to communicate with an expensive experimental U.S. spy satellite launched last year, a defense official and another source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Thursday. Efforts are continuing to reestablish communication with the classified satellite, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars, but "the prognosis is not great at this point," said the defense official. The official said the problems were substantial and involved multiple systems, adding that U.S. officials were working to reestablish contact with the satellite because of the importance of the new technology it was meant to test and demonstrate. The other source said the satellite had been described to him as "a comprehensive failure."

Moon Base All About Control of Space (Source: Press & Sun Bulletin)
Make no mistake about it. Putting a permanent base on the moon isn't about science or the betterment of humankind. It's about the control of space. It's about establishing a spatially-based, back-up defense station for the earth-based Star Wars program, whereby the United States would not only have control of outer space, but all nations on earth as well. A moon base would also serve, much as the medieval toll taker did on a forest road, as a controller on the edge of the universe. There is no other reason or descriptive word for such a venture, but control!

One Flight Left for Atlantis,Then Off to Chop Shop (and On With Job Reductions) (Source: Huntsville Times)
NASA is one step closer to shutting down the space shuttle program by setting a target date to retire a shuttle orbiter. NASA plans to retire the Atlantis orbiter in September or October 2008, after its mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope, which NASA managers plan no earlier than Sept. 11, 2008. The remaining orbiters - Discovery and Endeavour - will have seven International Space Station missions to fly by July 2010. The plan is for Atlantis parts to be used as spares for the remaining orbiters.

NASA managers at Kennedy Space Center in Florida also are scheduled to begin work converting one of the shuttle's two launch pads in the coming months, Beutel said. Launch pad 39-B would be modified to test the new Ares rockets NASA plans to send to the International Space Station and to the moon. If converted smartly, the launch pad could still be used to launch a shuttle if there is an emergency during the Hubble mission. NASA Watch's Keith Cowing said Atlantis' retirement should be a reasonable indicator of when shuttle workers might "start being either shifted to other work, retired or possibly laid off.

Atlas 5 Rocket Set for its First U.S. Military Launch (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
After a quiet 2006 that saw just two launches and a whole lot of waiting for payloads, the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket program is preparing for a flurry of flights over the next several months. History books will show 2006 as one of the slowest times for Atlas in years, but 2007 promises to get the new-generation launcher back in action, buoyed by the first wave of missions for the U.S. Air Force. The Air Force has targeted a Feb. 22 liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport to deploy a cluster of experimental satellites.