April 18 News Items

Buzz Aldrin Plans Spaceflight Raffle (Source: Space.com)
Former Apollo astronaut Buzz Aldrin is drawing up plans for a lottery-like contest, with space experiences for prizes, in hopes of making orbital spaceflight available to more than just wealthy entrepreneurs. Billed as the ShareSpace Stakes, the contest is envisioned to function as part of Aldrin’s ShareSpace Foundation, a firm designed to promote interest in human spaceflight and science education. “It’s something akin to a sweepstakes or a raffle,” Aldrin said Tuesday during the Space Investment Summit here, adding that many details remain to be determined. “We have yet to set up the rules and regulations.”

Bruce Willis to Rock KSC (Source: Florida Today)
Bruce Willis and his band will be rocking the rocket garden at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 2. Tickets will be available to the public at a date to be announced later. About 5,000 people are expected to attend the show. The blues performance is part of the Netflix LIVE! On Location series of concerts and will be followed by an outdoor screening of Willis' flick "Armageddon," which features a space mission to save Earth from an asteroid. Parts of "Armageddon" were filmed at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport.

Rocketplane Kistler Signs Transportation MoU with Japanese Company (Source: Flight International)
Rocketplane Kistler (RpK) could transport Japanese astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) under a memorandum of understanding it has signed with the Japanese Manned Space Systems corporation (JAMSS). RpK expects to have demonstrated a crew transportation system early in the next decade using its Kistler-1 launcher, which it is developing under the NASA Commercial Orbital Transportation Services demonstration program.

Space Tourism May Not Generate Excessive Noise in Central Florida (Source: Florida Today)
Tests to determine the amount of noise that space tourism may generate led to promising results Tuesday. Sonic booms created by tests of a F-104 fighter jet flying over the Atlantic Ocean could not be heard at Kennedy Space Center. Officials hope that private spacecraft are able to launch tourists into space from KSC before the end of this decade.

NASA Rethinks Plan to Close Robotics Office (Source: Birmingham News)
NASA is reconsidering plans to close a lunar robotics office in Huntsville, a decision announced Tuesday evening, a few hours after two members of Alabama's congressional delegation escalated their dispute with the space agency. Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., in a morning speech said he was counting the days until NASA Administrator Michael Griffin lost his job. And Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, in an afternoon interview questioned whether Griffin misled him about the future of the Lunar Precursor Robotics Program, based at Marshall Space Flight Center.

Lunar Mission Might Save Glenn (Source: Columbus Dispatch)
It's a little like the 1960s again at the NASA Glenn Research Center, where engineers are once more up to their eyeballs in manned space projects. And it's the moon once more that's driving the missions. NASA Glenn has key roles in developing hardware to deliver astronauts to the moon by 2020 and perhaps to Mars. Glenn's biggest coup is winning the job of designing the service module for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. But the center also has other jobs associated with the moon-Mars project, dubbed Constellation. The center could use all the help it can get. NASA Glenn has lost 200 of its 1,900 civil-service jobs and is expected to lose 300 more. It also has lost 500 of its 2,000 contractor jobs.

Second Rocket Launch at Wallops Delayed (Source: DelMarVaNow.com)
A rocket launch Saturday from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport — the second liftoff in a series — has been postponed until Monday, most likely because of strong winds in the area. Keith Koehler, a NASA-Wallops Flight Facility public affairs officer, said the postponement was announced Sunday. He said he didn’t know the official reason for the delay, but knew that a lot of testing could not be done until high winds from the weekend storm diminished.

EU to Target Satellite Observation in Space Race (Source: EU Observer)
Europe's plans to become a space power will see it install a fully-functioning global observation system consisting of 30 satellites by 2014. This system, known as Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES), will supply the EU with independent environment, climate change and security information reducing the bloc's dependence on outside sources for information. Once up and running, GMES will be able to detect information such as illegal clearing in rain forests or the exact number of people in need of aid in a refugee camp.

Thales Alenia Space Italy Wins GMES Contract (Source: Space News)
The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected Thales Alenia Space Italy to be the prime contractor for a C-band radar Earth observation satellite called Sentinel-1 to be launched in 2011 under a manufacturing contract valued at $309 million, according to European government and industry officials. Thales Alenia Space Italy bested a competing bid from Astrium Satellites’ German division for the contract, which will be the first spacecraft built for Europe’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) program.

Former Astronaut's Trial Set for Early Fall (Source: Houston Chronicle)
The trial of a former astronaut accused of attacking a romantic rival has been set for early fall. Trial for Lisa Nowak, 43, will begin Sept. 24 in an Orlando courtroom with Judge Marc Lubert presiding. Nowak has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping, burglary with assault and battery. She will have a status hearing June 29 and a pretrial conference July 17. Nowak's attorney, Donald Lykkebak, had requested more time to evaluate his client's mental health.