News Summaries for February 23

Astronaut Gives Lessons About Space Exploration (Source: Tallahassee Democrat)
Ninth-graders at Florida High on Thursday learned about space exploration from a real astronaut and got to share their experience with other students around the globe. They took part in the fourth annual Megaconference Jr., an international videoconferencing event put together by teachers Cathy McQuone and Linda Jones with Susan Borland of the Challenger Learning Center. The highlight was a personal visit by Dr. Norman Thagard, who flew on five space missions in his career as a medical doctor, pilot, engineer and astronaut. Thagard, who's retired as an astronaut but serves as associate dean of the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering and executive director of the Challenger Learning Center, told about life as an astronaut.

Defense Firms to Compete on Satellites (Source: AP)
Lockheed Martin and Boeing will vie this spring for a multibillion-dollar contract to supply the Air Force with up to 32 next-generation global positioning satellites. The Air Force will replace 24 satellites in orbit with a new system, dubbed Global Positioning System III, that is intended to improve navigation by air, land and sea, and be more difficult for enemies of the U.S. military to disable. Both Lockheed and Boeing already supply the Air Force with satellites in use.

Florida Minority High School Students Sought for Engineering Summer Camp (Source: UH)
The Mentoring and Enrichment Seminar in Engineering Training (MESET) program is a NASA-supported two-week residential engineering-introduction program in Houston for students. It will take place from June 3-15, 2007. The program is limited to 50 students. Participants stay on the University of Houston campus in a dormitory. UH engineering students will be their mentors and counselors. MESET costs only $200 per camper. This covers housing, meals, field trips, transportation, and supplies for the two-week program. Applications are due by April 15. Visit http://www.egr.uh.edu/promes/?e=camps for information.

Bigelow Looks to the Moon (Source: MSNBC)
Even as Bigelow Aerospace gears up for launching its second prototype space station into orbit, the company has set its sights on something much, much bigger: a project to assemble full-blown space villages at a work site between Earth and the moon, then drop them to the lunar surface, ready for immediate move-in. Robert Bigelow confirmed that his company has been talking about the concept with NASA – and that the first earthly tests of the techniques involved would take place later this year. The scenario he sketched out would essentially make Bigelow a general contractor for the final frontier.

That role would be a good fit for Bigelow, who made his fortune in the real estate, hotel and construction business and is now focused on developing inflatable modules (or as he prefers to call them, "expandable systems") that can serve as the building blocks for orbital living complexes. Bigelow would turn L1 into a construction zone. Inflatable modules would be linked up with propulsion/power systems and support structures, and then the completed base would be lowered down to the moon's surface, all in one piece. Once the moon base has been set down, regolith would be piled on top, using a technique that Bigelow plans to start testing later this year at his Las Vegas headquarters. The regolith would serve to shield the base's occupants from the harsh radiation hitting the lunar surface.

Space Day Planned in Tallahassee on March 21 (Source: Space Florida)
Florida Space Day, an annual event for elected officials to feature Florida's space-related businesses and programs, is being held in Tallahassee on March 21 during the Florida Legislative Session. Representatives from Florida aerospace businesses and federal and state agencies will meet with Florida legislative leaders to discuss the space industry and its statewide impacts.

Texas County's Spaceport Effort Likely Over (Source: The Facts)
The Gulf Coast Regional Spaceport might have reached its final frontier. Brazoria County Commissioners are set to discuss at their meeting Tuesday the dissolution of the Gulf Coast Regional Spaceport Development Corp.

Young Researchers Face NASA Budget Realities (Source: Science)
Last year, NASA administrators caused an uproar in the space-science community when they announced cutbacks to many of their science programs. These cutbacks led to delays for some projects, such as WISE and SOFIA. Other projects were downsized, and a few, such as Nustar and the Terrestrial Planet Finder, were put on hold indefinitely. Some space scientists looked to the future, seeking salvation in FY-2007. But after months of wrangling on Capitol Hill, the 2007 budget handed to NASA last week made it clear that NASA's science programs will continue to hemorrhage for at least another year.

The result, say some senior scientists, is that the backbone of America's space-science enterprise--research and analysis, in which many young researchers get their start--is losing ground. And young space scientists, who rely on funding from NASA grants and fellowships, confirm that the budget turmoil has them in survival mode.

Architect of ITAR Update Expresses Regret (Source: Space News)
One of the architects of the U.S. regulations restricting the export of U.S. satellites and components now says the rules need a thorough overhaul because they are damaging U.S. industry with no corresponding benefit to U.S. national security.