March 19 News Items

SpaceX Falcon 1 May Launch Today (Source: Aero-News)
With the memory of last year's failed launch attempt still fresh on their minds, the gang at SpaceX is taking no chances. According to Elon Musk, an initial review of the data showed that the rocket functioned almost perfectly. The only remaining concern is that the GPS portion of the guidance system showed an anomaly about 15 minutes *after* the static fire. Falcon 1 is designed to achieve its target orbit purely on inertial navigation, so the GPS, while helpful for improving orbit inseration accuracy, is not flight critical. There will be a total of 12 cameras looking at the rocket on launch day, including two thermal imaging and two vehicle cams.

China Bans Firm From Selling Land on the Moon (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
A Chinese company has been banned from selling plots of land on the moon. The company, Lunar Embassy to China, had sold a total of 49 acres (20 hectares) to 34 customers before authorities acted. In 2005 the company had its business licence revoked and was fined 50,000 yuan (6,450 dollars) by commerce authorities. It sued but the court ruled against the firm. On Friday, the Beijing intermediate court rejected its appeal, saying no individual or country could claim ownership of the moon.

Lunar Dust 'May Harm Astronauts' (Source: BBC)
Scientists are investigating the possible threat posed to astronauts by inhaling lunar dust. A study suggests the smallest particles in lunar dust might be toxic, if comparisons with dust inhalation cases on Earth apply. Teams hope to carry out experiments on mice to determine whether this is the case or not. NASA has set up a working group to look into the matter ahead of its planned return to the Moon by 2020. A team at the University of Tennessee (UT) in Knoxville is also looking at ways of using magnets to filter dust from the living environments of lunar bases and spacecraft.

Loral Eyes Satellite Plant Expansion (Source: Space News)
Loral is weighing a $150 million expansion of its satellite manufacturing facility in California to meet expected strong demand for large, high-power commercial telecommunications satellites.

Democrats Urge White House To Beef Up NASA’s 2008 Budget (Source: Space News)
Key congressional Democrats said they are willing to approve extra funding for NASA, but called on U.S. President George W. Bush to request the additional money his own space agency chief acknowledged is needed to keep delivery of the space shuttle’s replacement system on track for 2014.

NASA Weighs Shuttle Atlantis Fuel Tank Repair Options (Source: Space News)
NASA engineers and mission managers are weighing their options on how best to fix thousands of hail dings in the foam-covered fuel tank of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. Engineers remain hopeful that they can repair Atlantis’ fuel tank in time for a late April or early May launch from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. But switching the damaged tank with a pristine one — which NASA has said would push the planned space shot to June — is not off the table.

Goddard Reopens Bidding for Engineering Support (Source: Space News)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center is taking a little longer than planned to decide which company will get a $400 million engineering support services contract it awarded to SGT Inc. of Greenbelt, Md., in December only to rescind the award six weeks later following a protest by the contract’s longtime incumbent Swales Aerospace.

Ariane 5 Designers Studying Use of Russian Upper Stage (Source: Space News)
Designers of Europe’s Ariane 5 rocket are studying the use of the Russian-built Fregat upper stage, now used on Russia’s Soyuz launch vehicle, as an upper stage for Ariane 5 for missions that require multiple restarts in orbit. European government and industry officials said Fregat, which has its own guidance and navigation system and can be restarted up to 20 times in flight, could be an option to launch part of future satellite constellations, including the Galileo navigation and timing constellation of satellites now under development. European governments have agreed to fund research and early development of Vinci, a made-in-Europe restartable upper stage for Ariane 5, but this motor is unlikely to enter service before early in the next decade.