April 12 News Items

Spacehab to Focus on Space Based Manufacturing (Source: Spacehab)
Spacehab plans to develop a new company division that will focus on manufacturing pharmaceuticals and materials in space for distribution into the commercial marketplace. With a 22-year heritage of processing and transporting over a thousand experiments to low Earth orbit, Spacehab plans to leverage the company's deep understanding of microgravity science and payload processing into a new focus towards on-orbit manufacturing for both intercompany initiatives and as a service provider for other customers.

"The microgravity environment provides a unique, yet generally unexploited, manufacturing platform for the production of various life-altering pharmaceuticals and materials. Spacehab's entrepreneurial energy and unique capabilities bring to the equation exactly what is needed to make the leap from science to the manufacturing of valuable products that have the potential to save and improve lives," said CEO Thomas Pickens. Spacehab plans to release more information on the selected life science products to be manufactured in space at the Space Investment Summit in New York on April 16.

Orion to Create Hundreds of Jobs in Arizona (Source: AIA)
Honeywell Aerospace says the Orion crew exploration vehicle will create more than 500 engineering jobs in Arizona and generate hundreds of millions of dollars for the state's economy. The company is the largest subcontractor on the Orion program.

Harris Corp. Forms Team to Pursue $455 Million Air Force Satellite Network Program (Source: Harris)
Harris Corp has formed a team to compete for a six-and-a-half-year, $455 million contract to provide operations and maintenance support to the 50th Space Wing's Air Force Satellite Control Network at locations around the world. Harris is leading a team composed of Lockheed Martin Information Technology, L-3 Communications Titan Group, Faith Enterprises Incorporated, ASRC Aerospace, Arctic Slope World Services, Nortel Government Solutions and Günther Douglas to pursue the Network and Space Operations and Maintenance (NSOM) contract, which is expected to be awarded in late 2007.

Air Force Awards RLV Design Contract to XCOR Aerospace (Source: XCOR)
The Air Force has awarded XCOR Aerospace a Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase 1 contract to design and analyze a rocket-powered vehicle which will reach 200,000 feet altitude and supersonic speeds. The contract is part of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Air Vehicle Directorate's Operationally Responsive Space (ORS) Access Mission. Using government and private funding, XCOR plans to construct a simple, all-rocket powered vehicle that will fly low suborbital demonstration missions.

Northrop's Florida Plant Awaits Decision on Funding, Contracts (Source: AIA)
A number of jobs at Northrop Grumman's Melbourne, Fla., plant depend on funding decisions from the Air Force and two large contracts. The plant currently employs 1,900 people, and many of the positions at stake are engineering jobs.

Raytheon, Northrop, Lockheed Submit Bids for Satellite System Contract (Source: AIA)
Raytheon has submitted a bid for a contract to make systems that will allow the Air Force to communicate with satellites. Northrop Grumman and Lockheed also are competing for the $160 million contract.

Northrop Grumman Selected for Alternative Satellite R&D Effort (Source: Northrop Grumman)
Northrop Grumman has been selected by the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center for a contract worth up to $21.9 million for the Alternative Infrared Satellite System (AIRSS) Program Research and Development Announcement (PRDA) effort. AIRSS is a risk reduction initiative to develop requirements and a viable design that will enable the government to prepare a procurement package for both an AIRSS demonstration system and the subsequent AIRSS objective system. Under the terms of the contract, Northrop Grumman's Electronic Systems sector will provide planning for mission integration and software development approaches for the ground-based processing segment of an AIRSS flight demonstration system.

NASA Shows Future Space Telescopes Could Detect Earth Twin (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
For the first time ever, NASA researchers have successfully demonstrated in the laboratory that a space telescope rigged with special masks and mirrors could snap a photo of an Earth-like planet orbiting a nearby star. This accomplishment marks a dramatic step forward for missions like the proposed Terrestrial Planet Finder, designed to hunt for an Earth twin that might harbor life.

Water Detected in Exoplanet Atmosphere (Source: SpaceToday.net)
An astronomer has detected the first evidence of water in the atmosphere of an extrasolar planet. Travis Barman reported the discovery of water in the planet HD209458b, a "hot Jupiter" that orbits close to its parent star, 150 light-years from Earth. The discovery was made possible through visible and infrared observations collected by the Hubble Space Telescope as the planet transited across the disk of the star: because of water absorption the planet blocks more starlight at infrared wavelengths than visible ones. Some scientists have expressed skepticism about the discovery, though, arguing that the data could also simply be instrument noise.

NASA Predicts Non-Green Plants on Other Planets (Source: NASA)
NASA scientists believe they have found a way to predict the color of plants on planets in other solar systems. Green, yellow or even red-dominant plants may live on extra-solar planets, according to scientists whose two scientific papers appear in the March issue of the journal, Astrobiology. The scientists studied light absorbed and reflected by organisms on Earth, and determined that if astronomers were to look at the light given off by planets circling distant stars, they might predict that some planets have mostly non-green plants.

China Launches Oceanographic Satellite (Source: SpaceToday.net)
China launched its second ocean sciences satellite Wednesday. A Long March 2C lifted off from the Taiyuan spaceport and placed the Haiyang 1B satellite into low Earth orbit. The satellite is designed to perform oceanographic research, monitoring ocean conditions and supporting utilization of oceanic resources. The spacecraft replaces China's first oceanographic satellite, Haiyang 1A, which was launched in 2002 and failed in orbit in 2004. After the launch Chinese officials said they plan to launch five more oceanographic satellites in the "near future", although the next is not scheduled for launch until 2009.

Space Symposium the Biggest Yet (Source: Aviation Week)
This year's National Space Symposium attracted more than 7,000 registrants from 14 countries. Exhibits by more than 140 companies were on display. "The Symposium is becoming more like the Paris Air Show for space," said Space Foundation president Elliot Pulham. Missing this year: China's space leadership.

Space Program Needs to Pick Up Pace (Source: UF Independent Alligator)
The Earth is a treadmill - and NASA isn't helping. For the past 25 years, our space program has been running in place. We've been sending space shuttles on expensive missions of questionable purpose for too long. On Tuesday, the first shuttle launch of 2007 was delayed yet again, this time due to hail damage. The astronauts were slated to fold up the International Space Station's solar panels and eat freeze-dried Neapolitan ice cream. Tragically and predictably, space science has been underfunded and undervalued. China is pouring money into space science and technology. How do we propose to keep up?

UF astronomy graduate student Mark Keremedjiev sees research and development investments as our best bet. "In this country we've sold the shop. We don't build anything anymore," he said. "We don't really design anything. We just sell things back and forth to each other. As a result, pure research is one of the few things we have left to cling to as a strength." If we don't start research and development now, by the time 2010 comes around, we'll have nothing to show for it.

Colorado's Space Economy Booming (Source: Rocky Mountain News)
Colorado's already healthy space economy appears to be in acceleration mode. Industry executives from aerospace companies big and small in Colorado report they are hiring more employees, particularly various types of engineers. Executives credit new business and a need to prep for additional contracts that will be up for grabs in the future.

They also say high-profile deals and headlines are contributing to the bullish local business climate. In particular, executives single out Lockheed Martin Space Systems' $8.2 billion contract to design and build NASA's new Orion spacecraft and the new Lockheed-Boeing joint rocket venture headquartered in Colorado. Visit http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/airlines/article/0,2777,DRMN_23912_5479200,00.html to view the article.

Trying to Rekindle Love Affair with NASA (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
When I was a boy in New York, I was fascinated by astronauts. As NASA launched rocket after rocket into space, I collected newspaper clippings and looked at them by the glow of a flashlight, imagining myself drifting in space as I drifted off to sleep. After my first visit to the Kennedy Space Center, I started to collect mission patches, and I couldn't get enough of the space program. While most kids wanted to go to Disney World, I wanted to go to KSC. Sadly, most Americans notice the space program only when there is an accident to showcase or when one of its stars has its wings clipped and falls from the celestial legion. Americans choose to see these fearless, brilliant people only when they're at their worst, ignoring their amazing feats as they cross earthly boundaries.

Congressman Floats Idea Of Advertising In Space (Source: AP)
Industry leaders and advocates urged attendees at the National Space Symposium to push Congress to fund initiatives in space, with one lawmaker floating the idea of raising money through space advertising. "Not all members of Congress find space exploration awe-inspiring and an integral part of keeping our nation globally competitive. This is a severe problem, especially for human space flight," said California Republican Rep. Ken Calvert. Calvert said he planned to introduce legislation to authorize space advertising to reward revolutionary ideas for NASA. He said he would recommend creating a commission to list criteria for appropriate advertising. "By no means do I envision bumper stickers on the Mars Rover or a blinking neon sign on the International Space Station," he said.

Workforce Shortages Threaten Aerospace Industry (Source: KOAA.com)
Aerospace is a $9.8 billion business in Colorado. But what will it take to convince local youngsters to study hard and create the next generation of robots or satellites? Colorado ranks fourth in the nation in the number of engineers and scientists, but the country is slipping. "There's going to be a crucial gap down the road," said NASA's Leslie Williams. "We'll be recruiting from other countries if we have to."

Countries around the world would gladly fill the job gaps and move businesses to their soil, so agencies like the Colorado Space Coalition are becoming more aggressive. "One of our primary objectives is how do we fill the pipeline and attract students to both engineering and scientists," said coalition co-chairman Ralph Christie. Colorado is actively trying to hold its position as number three in the country in aerospace dollars. Close to 165,000 Coloradans have space related jobs.

Orbital Sciences Selected for Ares Abort System Testing (Source: Orbital)
Orbital Sciences Corp. has been selected by NASA and the Air Force Space Development and Test Wing to design and build the next-generation NASA Orion Abort Test Booster (ATB). The contract was awarded under SDTW's Sounding Rockets Program 2 (SRP-2) contract, which allows the use of surplus government boosters to reduce launch vehicle cost for U.S. Government-sponsored missions. The contract is valued at approximately $35 million and also includes $45 million of options for additional test flights and spare vehicles.

Lockheed Lands $135 Million Trident Missile Deal (Sources: AIA, ERAU)
Lockheed Martin has won a $135 million contract to continue upgrade work on the Navy's Trident II ballistic missile program. The missiles will be used on the Ohio-class submarine. Lockheed performs some of its Trident work for the Navy at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport.

NASA's Funding for Earth Science Programs Declines (Source: AIA)
A new study finds funding for earth and climate science may continue to fall as NASA shifts its focus to the manned space program. The National Academy of Sciences report says funding for climate research has dropped 30% since 2000. "It certainly was very alarming what was happening to the earth science programs," says Ed Browell, a senior scientist at NASA Langley. "It really looked like we were losing ground very rapidly."

Northrop to Forge Satellite Partnership with Israeli Firm (Source: AIA)
Northrop Grumman announced a partnership with Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. focusing on building lighter, more flexible spy satellites for the U.S. military and intelligence agencies. The partnership is part of Northrop's push to become a prime contractor for government space systems.

Raytheon Emphasizes New Generation of Small Satellites (Source: AIA)
Raytheon is focusing on developing a new generation of small, experimental satellites, a move that it hopes will grow its defense business and edge out competition. The company plans to launch two mini-satellites designed for imaging later this year.