News Summaries for January 31

Northrop Reports Strong Q4 Profit (Source: AIA)
Higher sales and stronger margins help Northrop Grumman post a 37% increase in fourth-quarter profits. The company earned $453 million in the quarter and raised its earnings guidance for 2007. CEO Ronald Sugar says Northrop will wait until the Air Force issues its final request for proposals for an airborne fuel tanker upgrade program before deciding whether it will bid on the contract.

Bigelow and Lockheed Advance Planning for Manned Atlas Launches (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
United Launch Alliance has recommended to Bigelow that their space station should be launched into a 264nmi circular repeating ground track orbit at 41 degrees inclination, providing daily launch opportunities. The repeating ground track would bring the station over the same locations on the Earth every day, and would provide crew landing opportunities four times per day at the Utah Test Range or Edwards AFB with minimal cross-range requirement.

The Atlas V 401 can launch manned payloads of up to 20,300 lbs without any "black zones". An Atlas 402 with two Centaur engines, can easily close Black Zones with even larger payloads. A "black zone" is a time period during launch when the crew would be unable to safely escape or abort in the event of a failure of the launch vehicle. The 41 degree orbital inclination helps to avoid the potential for aborts into the North Atlantic or the Swiss Alps, which can be a significant concern for higher inclination orbits.

NASA's Exploration Systems Architecture Study (ESAS) last year cited the inability of the Atlas V in its heavier configurations to close "black zones" while meeting CEV requirements as one concern in their elimination of EELV's for human flight in favor of the Ares I. However, the CEV capsule mass requirements for the ESAS study were more than double the capsule mass that ULA and Bigelow are studying.

Weldon: Democrat Leadership Raids NASA Budget (Source: SpaceRef.com)
In a fiscal year 2007 budget released today, the new Democrat majority proposed sweeping cuts to NASA's budget that could jeopardized the future of space exploration. Congressman Dave Weldon, who represents many workers from NASA and Kennedy Space Center, called the cuts draconian, saying the Democrat leadership is using NASA and our nation's space program as a piggy bank for other liberal spending priorities. "The raid on NASA's budget has begun in earnest. The cuts announced today by House Democrat leaders, if approved by Congress, would be nearly $400 million less than NASA's current budget," said Weldon.

Much of the proposed cuts would come from NASA's Exploration budget, which includes funding for the new Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), the future replacement for the current shuttle fleet. According to Weldon, these particular cuts would jeopardize thousands of jobs in Florida, Alabama, and Texas. Weldon today led a bi-partisan group of colleagues, including Reps. Ralph Hall (D-TX), and Tom Feeney (R-FL), in offering two amendments to the bill that would restore NASA's funding.

House Committee Approved Reduced NASA Budget (Source: SpaceToday.net)
The House Appropriations Committee approved a funding resolution Tuesday for the remainder of the 2007 fiscal year that would leave NASA a half-billion dollars short of what the space agency expected to receive. The resolution would give NASA $16.25 billion for the full 2007 fiscal year, approximately the same amount the agency received (less money for Hurricane Katrina repairs) in 2006, but less than the $16.8 billion the Bush Administration has requested for NASA in 2007. Nearly all of the cuts hit the agency's exploration program, potentially jeopardizing development plans for the Ares 1 launch vehicle and Orion spacecraft. The full House is expected to approve the resolution today, while the Senate will take up the bill next week. Meanwhile, the FY2008 budget proposal will be released on Monday.

KSC To Host Inaugural 'World Space Expo' (Source: Aero-News)
NASA's Kennedy Space Center will host the inaugural World Space Expo on Nov. 3-11, 2007, featuring an Aerial Salute by the United States Air Force Thunderbirds during the opening weekend. World Space Expo will feature one of the largest space artifact and hardware displays ever assembled. It will be coupled with renowned aerospace personalities to celebrate the past, showcase the present and provide a look at the future of space exploration.

The primary venues for World Space Expo will be Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex -- the gateway to a working space center and one of Florida's most popular destinations with more than 1.5 million visitors annually -- and the Apollo/Saturn V Center. Attendees will also be able to experience the new Shuttle Launch Experience, the most authentic simulation of a launch ever created, scheduled to open this May. The US Astronaut Hall of Fame featuring the world's largest collection of astronaut memorabilia, plus interactive simulators, displays, and tributes to the heroes of Mercury, Gemini, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs. Visit http://www.worldspaceexpo.com for information.

Boeing Profit Up Sharply (Source: Reuters)
Boeing's fourth-quarter profit more than doubled, as it delivered more commercial aircraft than in the year-earlier quarter. Boeing reported quarterly profit of $989 million, compared with $460 million in the year-ago quarter.

America Can't Afford to Lose Latest Space Race (Source: Chicago Sun-Times)
It's easy to take American military invincibility for granted. On land, at sea and in the air, no force can match us -- a situation that has prevailed since the Soviet Union collapsed. But we have to avoid complacency and remain vigilant. We must be especially wary about protecting the final frontier: space. Falling behind there would jeopardize all our other forces. After all, our planes, ships and even warriors on the ground depend on precise information from our observation and communications satellites. If we lose our eyes in the sky, we could find ourselves losing battles on the Earth. This could happen swiftly. Recently, China used a ground-based ballistic missile to destroy one of its own obsolete weather satellites -- proof that Beijing is perfecting weapons able to wipe out orbiting objects.

Satellite Test Recalls Need for Space Treaty (Source: Embassy)
The world's reaction to the Chinese destruction of one of its own weather satellites has been a mix of irritation, bafflement, and fear the Chinese may be starting an arms race in space. Such an arms race is a very real danger, but to hold the Chinese responsible misreads the problem. Anti-satellite (ASAT) tests are not regulated by treaty. Both the United States and the former Soviet Union conducted similar tests in the 1980s. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prohibits placing nuclear weapons in space, and calls for "consultation" on any activity in space that might affect its peaceful use by others. In practice, this has meant little...

The need for a treaty to protect satellites against attack is obvious. In the Geneva-based Conference on Disarmament (CD), efforts to launch negotiations banning weapons in space and limiting ground-based threats go back to 1982 under an agenda item, "the prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS)." Despite their recent test, the Chinese have been amongst the most vociferous advocates of a PAROS treaty, and have consistently refused to approve a CD work program that does not include PAROS. Even the European Union last year declared PAROS "an essential condition for strengthening strategic stability and for... the free exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes by all states."

Paradoxically, the world leader in satellite technology has opposed a PAROS treaty, and has consistently refused multilateral solutions to the ASAT problem. The U.S. opposes creating a working group even to discuss the issue of banning weapons in space, abstaining on the annual vote in the UN General Assembly. In 2005 the U.S. became the only nation to vote against the call for a ban on weapons in space, relying instead on unilateral dominance.

Embry-Riddle Issues Call for Papers for Space Tourism Conference (Source: ERAU)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the University of Central Florida, the Space Tourism Society, and Space Florida are sponsoring the first International Space Tourism Conference on June 28-30, 2007, at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management in Orlando. The organizers have issued a call for papers, with a deadline for submission of abstracts on March 1. The deadline for paper submission will be June 1, 2007. Visit http://www.internationalspacetourism.com for information.

MIT and Georgia Tech Announce 'Gold Star' Teacher Contest (Source: MIT)
Is there a teacher who fired your passion for science and technology? Sparked your career in business or art? Send your teacher into space! - Or at least fly her name among the stars. Students at MIT and Georgia Tech are offering space on the side of their ground-breaking research satellite to honor inspirational teachers. The student-led YourNameIntoSpace project is encouraging people around the world to submit nominations in the form of essays, videos, songs or other creative media. The winning teachers will receive a total of $16,000 worth of prime space on the satellite to display images or messages of their choice. The customized pieces of flight hardware will be returned to them after the mission flies. Entry forms are available at http://www.YourNameIntoSpace.org/teacher.php and must be electronically submitted or postmarked no later than May 15.

Failure of SeaLaunch Zenit 3SL With Explosion on Launch Platform (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A Sea Launch Zenit 3SL rocket exploded upon liftoff late Tuesday, destroying the launch vehicle and its communications satellite payload. The Zenit 3SL was scheduled to launch the NSS-8 satellite for SES New Skies from the Odyssey Launch Platform on the Equator in the Pacific Ocean. However, the rocket exploded immediately upon liftoff, enveloping the launch platform in a fireball. The explosion destroyed the rocket and satellite, but the status of the launch platform is now known. In a brief press release Sea Launch said that it experienced "an anomaly today during launch operations", but provided no other details other than it would create a failure review board to investigate the accident. The launch was the first of six planned by Sea Launch this year. The failure is the second for Sea Launch since it began operations in 1999.

Click here to see a video of the explosion.

Aerospace States Association to Conduct Hearing on FAA Reauthorization (Source: ASA)
The Aerospace States Association (ASA) will conduct a hearing on March 13 in Washington to understand the issues surrounding the reauthorization of the FAA and to develop a resolution to the Congress on behalf of the States. ASA Chairman Vermont Lieutenant Governor Brian Dubie says, “The States are the end users of the FAA’s services, so it is critical that we understand all the issues involved in keeping the existing aviation system functioning safely and efficiently while we transition to the next generation system. We are particularly interested in understanding the issues surrounding funding of the aviation system. The hearing will include presentations by members of Congress, the administration, and representatives of the affected user community. Contact ASA Executive Director Charles Huettner at mailto:asa52@erols.com for information.

China to Launch Two Satellites for 2008 Olympic Games (Source: Reuters)
China will launch two satellites this year dedicated to broadcasting television and radio coverage of the 2008 Olympic Games it is hosting in Beijing. They will be sent into orbit in June and October, the report said, quoting the China Satellite Communications Corporation -- which is also providing weather, navigation and traffic monitoring services for the Games. China launched a dedicated Olympic forecasting satellite last December, and plans to have another two in orbit by the time the games kick off, giving a cloud map of the country every 15 minutes.

Fly from India to US in 45 minutes? (Source: CNN-IBN)
From New York to Mumbai in 45 minutes—an American company has developed an aircraft that it claims can do that in a years time. The Silver Dart hypersonic glider, developed by Chicago-based PlanetSpace, will be used to commercialize space travel and revolutionizing air travel. Potentially, this would mean that the daylong journey between, say, New Delhi and New York could be cut down to under an hour on the Silver Dart, which functions like a space shuttle. PlanetSpace's Chirinjeev Kathuria has prior experience in similar ventures. He was the Founding Director of MirCorp when it sent Denis Tito as the first space tourist on April 4, 2000. Tito paid 20 million dollars for the privilege.

Hey, Let's Build a Satellite! (Source: Colorado Daily)
The University of Colorado at Boulder has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research to design and build a small student satellite to study variations in Earth's atmosphere and its effects on spacecraft. CU-Boulder was one of 11 universities in the nation selected to receive $110,000 over two years to design and build student satellites as part of the AFOSR's University Nanosatellite Program. One or two of the 11 satellites will likely be selected for flight in 2009, according to the director of the Colorado Space Grant Consortium Chris Koehler, who led the winning proposal.

Harris Profit More than Tripled (Source: Florida Today)
Melbourne-based communications equipment maker Harris Corp. reported quarterly profit more than tripled, led by strong demand for its military radios and other government contracts. The announcement boosted Harris' stock price by 75 cents a share in after-hours trading. Profit rose to $94 million in its fiscal second-quarter ended Dec. 29, up from $30 million in the second quarter a year earlier. Sales rose 21 percent to $1.02 billion in the last quarter, up from $841.6 million a year earlier.

U.S. House Throws Science a Lifeline (Source: ScienceNOW Daily News)
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to pass a belated 2007 spending bill that treats research much more favorably than science advocates had dared hoped--and avoids budget cuts that many had feared. While freezing spending across most of the federal government, the legislation gives a shot in the arm to research at the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The National Institutes of Health (NIH) gets a small increase rather than a cut, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) budget holds steady in the face of a threatened reduction. The legislation may even offer some relief to NASA's beleaguered space science budget. And while science advocates say it's premature to declare "mission accomplished"--the bill next goes to the Senate--they are extremely gratified that legislators have embraced their arguments about the importance of basic research to the nation's economy.

Small Businesses Shoot for Moon (Source: Huntsville Times)
Another trip to the moon and beyond will likely mean big opportunities for small businesses working with Marshall Space Flight Center over the next several years. That message was delivered by David E. Brock, small-business specialist for Marshall Space Flight Center. Brock was among the early speakers Monday in the first session of the STTR/SBIR Small Business Conference at Alabama A&M University. The conference focuses on helping small business expand their technology offerings and find government contracts to further their business and aid in overall innovation.

ISS to operate until 2025, only Russia to orbit crews by 2015 (Source: RIA Novosti)
The International Space Station will likely remain operational until 2025, the head of the Russian spacecraft manufacturer Energia said Tuesday, adding that by 2009-2015, Russia will be the only country able to deliver crews to the station. "No one is going to sink or drop the ISS, as all countries realize that the station is becoming a full-scale industrial facility in space. Although it is scheduled for decommissioning in 2015, its operational life could be prolonged until 2025," he said.

He said Energia has proposed making the station permanent. "If we terminate its existence, it would be hard for mankind to implement such a project anew," he said. Spaceships destined for the Moon and Mars could be built near the ISS from prefabricated modules sent into orbit by Russian Soyuz, Progress and other booster rockets. He said that Energia is designing a shuttle to link the Earth, the ISS and the Moon, and that by 2009-2015 Russia would be the only country able to send crews to the station.

House Budget Proposal Could Delay Shuttle Replacement (Source: Space News)
The U.S. House of Representatives is poised to pass a binding spending resolution Jan. 31 that NASA says would jeopardize the agency’s chances of fielding a space shuttle replacement by 2014.

Space Station May Get Support Past 2016 (Source: AP)
NASA may fly its next-generation space vehicle to the international space station through 2020, four years longer than the agency had originally planned to fly to the outpost. NASA is now building the capsule-shaped Orion with the assumption that the spacecraft will visit the space station twice a year through 2020 to rotate out crews or service the orbiting lab. "We're going to assume that the station carries on," said Jeff Hanley, manager of NASA's Constellation Program, which is developing the vehicle and rockets to go to the moon and later to Mars. No decision has been made to extend the space station's operation past 2016, but NASA wanted to make sure Orion could fly to the station past that year in case the outpost remains in use.

Lockheed Martin Readies for Orion At KSC (Source: Lockheed Martin)
In another milestone marking steady progress on the Orion crew exploration vehicle program, the Lockheed Martin team accepted responsibility today for the Operations & Checkout (O&C) Building at Kennedy Space Center. Lockheed Martin will use the historic facility to process Orion, America’s next-generation human spacecraft. Final assembly, checkout and acceptance testing of Orion for both the Crew Module and Service Module will be performed in the O&C Building at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Changes will include retrofitting of the existing Altitude Chamber to create a Thermal Vacuum Chamber for combined environment testing of Orion. Utilities such as power, nitrogen, housekeeping vacuum, compressed air and imagery cameras will be installed to support nine new Orion specific workstations. Included in outfitting those new workstations will be three new modular clean areas to provide a 100,000 class clean room environment, as well as creation and outfitting of a Refurbishment Area to support post-flight processing of the crew module for re-use.

Spaceports Spring Up All Over (Source: Nature)
What is a spaceport anyway? Any facility that can launch craft into space, technically 100 km up. Traditionally, such places have been monopolized by the state — for example, Kennedy Space Centre in Florida or the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan — with a focus on heavy-lift, orbital rockets. But recently, the buzz has been about commercialization and space tourism, using smaller vehicles and minimal infrastructure. Why the sudden interest? The space-tourism industry was kick-started in 2004, with the winning of the X-prize — a competition to build a reusable, private spaceship that could carry passengers to the edge of space. The winning technology (Burt Rutan's SpaceShipOne) was quickly licensed to Richard Branson, who founded Virgin Galactic — a company dedicated to space tourism. Virgin Galactic expects to begin test flights of a larger spaceship in 2008 from Mojave in California and Spaceport America in New Mexico.

Where's my nearest private spaceport? If you live in the USA, there are six licensed spaceports to choose from. So far, only Mojave, scene of the X-prize flights, has launched humans. But licenses have been granted to sites in California, Florida, Virginia, Alaska and Oklahoma, all of which have hangers, airstrips and the other basic essentials for suborbital transport. Ohio and Wisconsin have also declared an interest. And then there's Spaceport America, which can't get an official license until they have built enough of the facility to prove that it will be safe. Outside the United States, a company called Space Adventures are planning additional sites in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

Can spaceports be located anywhere? Noise, pollution and the risk of rocket explosion do not sit comfortably above family homes, so most spaceports are built in isolated areas — like old US airbases. This has to be balanced against locations with convenient facilities to attract and accommodate staff and tourists. The planned spaceport in Ras Al-Khaimah, in the United Arab Emirates, was selected for this reason. "Dubai, which is only 45 minutes from the site, is a real hub of tourism," says Eric Anderson, chief executive office of Space Adventures. The proposed Swedish spaceport would be close to an existing tourist highlight — the famous Ice Hotel. This is all fine and good for low altitude tourist missions. But if you want to launch satellites or people into orbit, you need to be more picky. "Part of the strategy in choosing Dubai and Singapore for our spaceports was their closeness to the equator," says Anderson. "This would allow us to expand into orbital operations if we desired."

SpaceDev Expands Production Capability in Colorado (Source: MarketWire)
SpaceDev has signed a lease on a new 72,000 square foot development and manufacturing facility located in the Colorado Technology Center in Louisville, Colorado, for its subsidiary, Starsys, Inc. Starsys will be relocating from its facility in Boulder, Colorado in March 2007, as its current lease expires.

Sens. Voinovich and Brown Voice Concern Over NASA Glenn Funding (Source: SpaceRef.com)
In anticipation of budget cuts, U.S. Senators George V. Voinovich (R-OH) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) today sent a letter to Senate appropriators urging them to provide the funding needed to enable NASA to fulfill its multi-faceted missions. The bipartisan letter expresses concern over proposed funding levels for NASA and the negative impact these funding levels could have on Cleveland's NASA Glenn Research Center. Employing 1,850 people in northeast Ohio, NASA-Glenn contracts with an additional 1,300 service providers making it one of the region's largest employers. The center also is a leader in research and development of the nation's aeronautics program. The administration's FY2007 budget request would cut NASA-Glenn funding by $189.4 million, or 21 percent, over FY2006 levels.

Russia's Putin, India Call For 'Weapons Free' Space (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called Thursday for a "weapons free outer space", after China staged a satellite-destroying weapons test. "The fundamental position of the Russian Federation is that outer space should be absolutely weapons free," Putin told a joint news conference in New Delhi.

Explorers Wanted: Space Generation Congress Applications Open 22 January (Source: SGAC)
The Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) is pleased to announce the 2007 Space Generation Congress (SGC) from September 20-22, 2007, in Hyderabad, India. Organizers are requesting that interested university students and young professionals 18-35 years of age who have a passion for space and the ambition to act on it visit http://www.explorerswanted.com. There they can begin participating in the various online project groups, which will build over the next several months and culminate at the Congress in Hyderabad. In addition to onsite workshops and relevant speakers, training, and networking with top space professionals, several cultural events are also being planned to spotlight the host location in India.

Space Club Seeks Debus Award Nominations (Source: National Space Club)
The Florida Chapter of the National Space Club is inviting nominations for the annual Dr. Kurt H. Debus Award, to be presented at the annual Debus dinner on April 28. More details to come about the dinner in the near future. The nomination deadline is February 21. Contact LaDonna Netterer at mailto:Ladonna.J.Neterer@boeing.com for information.