March 2 News Items

Hughes Switches Spaceway 3 From Sea Launch to Arianespace (Source: Space News)
The Spaceway 3 Ka-band broadband telecommunications satellite owned by Hughes Network Systems (HNS) will be launched as early as August aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, HNS and the Arianespace launch consortium announced March 1. It is the second time in a week that a satellite slated for launch by Sea Launch Co. has been transferred to Arianespace.

Mars Melt Hints at Solar, Not Human, Cause for Warming, Scientist Says (Source: National Geographic)
Simultaneous warming on Earth and Mars suggests that our planet's recent climate changes have a natural—and not a human- induced—cause, according to one scientist's controversial theory. Earth is currently experiencing rapid warming, which the vast majority of climate scientists says is due to humans pumping huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Mars, too, appears to be enjoying more mild and balmy temperatures. In 2005 data from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Odyssey missions revealed that the carbon dioxide "ice caps" near Mars' south pole had been diminishing for three summers in a row. Habibullo Abdussamatov, head of the St. Petersburg's Pulkovo Astronomical Observatory in Russia, says the Mars data is evidence that the current global warming on Earth is being caused by changes in the sun. "The long-term increase in solar irradiance is heating both Earth and Mars," he said.

NASA and NM Environment Department Reach Waste Settlement (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
A $124,297 settlement agreement was reached Wednesday between the New Mexico Environment Department and NASA for alleged improper hazardous waste management practices at the White Sands Test Facility (WSTF), east of Las Cruces. The alleged violations were discovered during inspections at WSTF in 2004 and 2005. Those included: failure to keep adequate records of waste discharged into a waste treatment unit, neglecting to properly maintain and control erosion on covers on closed hazardous waste landfills and exceeding the maximum allowable volume of waste discharged into the treatment unit. "There were things where we were at fault and didn't follow the letter of the law," said John Ira Petty, a NASA spokesman. "But the bottom line here is that there was no pollution released."

Space Adventures' Suborbital Plans Hang in the Balance (Source: Flight International)
Space Adventures' suborbital plans are hanging in the balance a year after it announced deals with the Russian Federal Space Agency (FSA) and spaceport development in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates, worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In February 2006 Space Adventures announced its agreement with the FSA, US investment company Prodea and Russia's Myasishchev Design Bureau to develop the five person Explorer vehicle, to be air launched from its M-55X carrier aircraft.

However in the last year Space Adventures has made no more announcements while a feasibility study was conducted. This completed study is now with Space Adventures' management who are to make a decision in the "next couple of months" on whether to proceed with development of a prototype test vehicle. But the FSA has already decided to opt out of the venture. FSA chief Anatoly Perminov said, "We are not involved in that project." The FSA's role was pivotal because it was to oversee Myasishchev's development of Explorer.

Space Adventures' head of Russian operations Sergei Kostenko says, "Suborbital is not government approved. We will have to get government approval to build Explorer but I think we could build a test vehicle without it". With reported test flights planned in 2009, he also speculated that any decision by Space Adventures to develop and fly a prototype could require up to a year of legal procedures to gain Russian government approval. Last October Anousheh Ansari, a director of Explorer's co-developer Prodea, rowed back from the February 2006 contract announcement and described her company's involvement as a feasibiity study only.

Clean Iraq Spending Bill Should Leave Room for Space (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Congress is under new leadership, but its spending priorities are still out of whack. With President Bush seeking another $100 billion for Iraq, the Democrats now in charge want to pile on $10 billion for unrelated programs and projects. Meanwhile, space-program supporters on Capitol Hill are struggling to make up a $545 million cut in NASA's budget -- a cut that could widen the four-year gap between the retirement of the space shuttle and launch of its successor, Orion.

Earmarking has no place in an emergency military-spending bill. And if the new leaders in Congress are serious about restraining federal spending, a dollar spent on unrelated earmarks is a dollar unavailable for higher national priorities, including the space program. A strong space program is critical for U.S. leadership in science and technology. It's also a key component in national security. Congress needs to pass a clean bill for Iraq. That would leave more money for other measures that address urgent national needs, including the space program.

Kohler Featured at Space Club Luncheon on Mar. 13 (Source: NSC)
Space Florida President Steve Kohler will address the March 13 luncheon meeting of the National Space Club, Florida Committee. The monthly luncheon will be held at the DoubleTree Hotel in Cocoa Beach. Call 321-505-2037 for information and to RSVP.

Florida Hopes Hawking Flight Raises Space Tourism Profile (Sources: Florida Today, AIA)
Physicist Stephen Hawking will take a "zero-gravity" flight out of Kennedy Space Center in April, as part of an effort to draw attention to Florida's space tourism business. Florida and New Mexico are competing to establish space tourism businesses. "Our area is home to space tourism, and this one event will do more to cement our area's future in the industry than any series of ad campaigns could ever do," says Lynda Weatherman, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast.

Space Florida also provided financing for the "Shuttle Launch Experience," the multimillion-dollar shuttle simulation ride opening this spring at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. In addition, Space Florida is trying to develop other space tourism initiatives, but none has progressed far enough to announce, Steve Kohler said. The Hawking flight embodies the type of vacation experience that the tourism industry is turning toward. "He's paying some of his costs to bring his people over here, but the flight is being principally sponsored by Zero Gravity and Space Florida," said Peter Diamandis, Zero Gravity's chairman and chief executive officer. Several charitable organizations will be given two seats each aboard the flight to auction off as a benefit.

Italian Group Flew First Disabled Passenger on ZERO-G Research Flight (Source: SpaceLand)
Italy's SpaceLand group in 2006 flew a physically disabled person aboard a ZERO-G research mission from Kennedy Space Center. SpaceLand researchers worked with the disabled passenger to test human-computer interfaces for future uses in space. SpaceLand is planning another research flight from KSC later in 2007.

Battle for NASA Lunar Plans Needs Aggressive Florida Fight (Source: Florida Today)
In Congress, $500 billion in cuts are forcing a four-to six-month delay in the first planned launch of the new Orion moonship that will replace the shuttle. That shoves back the maiden flight to 2015 and worsens concerns about the impact a long hiatus in human launches -- the shuttles will retire in 2010 -- will have on the spaceport's workforce and Space Coast economy. Meanwhile, it will cost NASA at least $230 billion to get back to the moon and establish a lunar base by 2024 at a time when the federal budget deficit remains out of control and huge new costs are growing.

That means NASA's lunar exploration goals will remain a fat target as the war in Iraq and money to treat wounded veterans, bolster Medicare and fund other programs maintain a higher priority. It also raises the specter of a possible attempt to kill the program outright. As a result, Florida members of Congress and state lawmakers in Tallahassee should get on the offensive and stay there to secure money for the project and its spin-offs. On Capitol Hill, the fight should be led by Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando. We're not seeing enough of that now, and it's critical he continue fostering alliances with senators whose states also stand to benefit from the moon program to keep stable funding.

In Tallahassee, Gov. Charlie Crist must follow-through on his promise to help create a new generation of space jobs through aggressive business incentives. The best way to start is a proposal by Rep. Bob Allen, R-Merritt Island, to create the Florida Energy, Aerospace & Technology Fund that would pool $500 million in matching state and private money to help lure new space and other business. For NASA to return to the moon, it will have to survive a political asteroid belt of four presidential administrations and nine Congresses, making the venture understandably a long shot in the eyes of many observers.

Task Force Urges ITAR Exemptions for NASA (Source: Space News)
A task force chartered by NASA last year to examine threats to the safety of the international space station has urged the U.S. State Department to immediately exempt some NASA contractors from International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) restrictions that are making it more difficult to get ready for the upcoming first flight of the Europe’s Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV).

Origins of Life Might be Found on Europa (Source: WU Record)
There are four large moons of Jupiter that in their character and behavior are more like planets than Earth's moon: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. The last three are icy. All are named after Greek mythological characters. Each differs in the way it can reveal more about planets and how they behave. Io's volcanic hyperactivity is well known, but there are mysteries about the temperature of its magmas and its spectacular mountains and what they might reveal about the satellite's interior processes. As for the exterior moon Callisto, how did it acquire an ocean yet not be deeply differentiated? Ganymede's liquid iron core still is generating a magnetic field, an unpredicted situation that has much to teach about how magnetic fields are generated in the solar system.

Then, there is Europa. "Europa has been recently geologically active, but because Galileo's main antenna did not unfurl, we did not take enough images to catch any active geysering, such as seen on Saturn's itsy-bitsy, icy moon, Enceladus," McKinnon said. "Europa's surface appears very young and there are lots of interesting ice tectonics and surface eruptions with weird colors and spectral signatures whose compositional implications everyone just loves to argue about." The accumulated evidence points to an ocean lying no more than 10 kilometers to 20 kilometers below Europa's icy, airless surface.