April 27 News Items

Space Florida Welcomes SpaceX (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida welcomed the decision by the Air Force to provide a license to SpaceX to utilize Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. SpaceX plans to operate its fleet of Falcon space launchers at the spaceport, a development that is anticipated to bring new jobs to the state. Space Florida was instrumental in bringing SpaceX to Florida, providing technical and liaison assistance to facilitate their use of the Eastern Range. According to Steve Kohler, president of Space Florida, "This is yet another important milestone in our effort to promote and develop Florida's space industry. SpaceX will have a positive impact on the state's economy."

Florida Delegation Pulls Together to Support SpaceX Request (Source: ERAU)
Florida’s four primary supporters of space issues in Congress played an active role in working with SpaceX and encouraging the Air Force’s assignment of LC-40 for the company’s use. Senators Bill Nelson and Mel Martinez, and Representatives Dave Weldon and Tom Feeney understood the importance of SpaceX’s commercial launch initiative and conveyed their support to the Air Force for accommodating the program at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport.

NASA Yields to Shelby’s Pressure (Source: NASA Watch)
After NASA halted (at least temporarily) plans to shut down a Marshall lunar robotics office due to pressure from members of Alabama’s Congressional Delegation…”Word has it that they are celebrating at MSFC...When Congress (i.e. Sen. Shelby) starts to micromanage NASA to this extent, they totally compromise their credibility when they question why NASA manages other programs the way it does.”

Lawmaker Accuses NASA Chief of Destroying Meeting Tapes (Source: Florida Today)
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin is being accused of improperly destroying tapes of a meeting he held with the agency’s inspector general. Griffin held the April 10 meeting with members of the inspector general’s office as well as its chief, Robert Cobb, a controversial figure because of his management style and criticism over how he has performed his duties. If true, the actions appear "on its face to be nothing less than the destruction of evidence,” wrote Congressman Brad Miller (D-NC), chairman of the Science and Technology subcommittee on investigations and oversight. According to Miller, five compact discs containing video of the meeting were delivered to the office of NASA’s general counsel with orders to be destroyed. Miller said he believes there may still be a recording of the event somewhere and he ordered that such contents be handed over to his panel.

Hawking Leaves Wheelchair Behind (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
One of the world's foremost scientists slipped free from his wheelchair Thursday to float in zero gravity in the skies above the Atlantic Ocean. Stephen Hawking, a renowned British astrophysicist who is stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease, experienced about four minutes of simulated weightlessness aboard a modified Boeing 727 jet operated by the Zero Gravity Corp. The flight -- part philanthropy, part space tourism, part publicity stunt -- departed from Kennedy Space Center's shuttle runway while a throng of international media looked on.

Hawking told reporters at a news conference before takeoff that he wanted to demonstrate that anyone could take part in the experience. Unable to move his limbs or speak, he communicated with a computer-synthesized voice controlled by a headset that measures small facial movements. "I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space," Hawking said. "I have long wanted to go into space, and the zero-gravity flight is a first step toward space travel."

New baseline for Heavier, Taller Ares V (Source: NasaSpaceFlight.com)
A new optimized form of the huge Ares V Cargo Launch Vehicle (CaLV) has been revealed in an updated graphic and data baseline. The Ares V is a vital component of NASA's 1.5-launch architecture that will return NASA astronauts to the moon at the end of the next decade, and is the largest vehicle the agency will construct since the Saturn V. Compared to the August 2006 baseline, the vehicle is now 6,150 lbs heavier and some 6.6ft taller. Insertion altitude is up from 78nmi to 122nmi - and the final orbit in now 120nmi circular instead of 30x160nmi. Payload using the 1.5 launch scenario has changed from 65.4mt to 63.4mt, and gross LSAM (Lunar Surface Access Module) mass from 45.4mt to 43.2mt. The core stage carries 9,782 lbs more propellant, while the EDS (Earth Departure Stage) carries 8,259 lbs (3745 kg) less. The EDS is six feet longer, but carries less propellant.

By far the most important change is the reduction of loiter time in LEO (Low Earth Orbit) from 90 days to just 14. However, the plan is to launch the crew the day after the LSAM/EDS stack. A window opens every four days after that, so there will be three chances before the propellant in the EDS 'boils off.' The changes are part of an early - ongoing - process, which is receiving only a small amount of work, as NASA concentrates its limited Constellation budget on the Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle (CLV), which is required primarily for US manned access to the International Space Station (ISS), before becoming the manned vehicle that will return NASA astronauts to the moon. Meanwhile, Ares I is continuing to undergo large scale evaluations through its design cycles, which is next due for a design/program review which will take place on May 23. This will be followed by a two week program-wide stand-down.

Alien Stowaways are Potentially Disastrous (Source: New Scientist)
When the Genesis space capsule began its re-entry into Earth's atmosphere in 2004, mission controllers at NASA got ready to celebrate. Genesis had spent three years in deep space collecting particles from the solar wind and was on course for a soft landing. Unfortunately, the capsule's parachutes failed to deploy, and it smashed into the Utah desert floor. The impact shattered Genesis's casing, exposing its delicate cargo of solar dust to terrestrial contamination. As it turned out, a fair proportion of the probe's samples remained usable. Nevertheless the rupturing of the Genesis probe is now paraded as an awful warning by those opposed to the idea of bringing samples back from Mars or beyond.

Kennedy Space Center Internships Available Under Florida Partnership (Source: Space Florida)
A partnership between NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Space Florida and the Florida Space Grant Consortium will provide summer internship opportunities for 15 Florida undergraduate students. The 10-week internship will involve real-world research and on-the-job training during the summer of 2007. The students will intern at companies at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Visit http://www.spaceflorida.gov/internship.html for information.

Space Florida Microgravity Center Named for Stephen Hawking (Source: Space Florida)
On the day of Dr. Stephen Hawking's historic weightless flight. Space Florida announced the renaming of a planned microgravity education and research center to honor the acclaimed cosmologist and theoretical physicist. The Stephen Hawking Microgravity Education and Research Center will facilitate Florida education and microgravity research projects aboard ZERO-G's G-Force One aircraft.

EU Demands Progress on Galileo Satellites (Source: Business Week)
The European Parliament has pressured a consortium that is building and running the EU's new satellite navigation system to make progress, saying delays would raise the overall cost. The Galileo project -- Europe's rival to the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS -- has already seen major delays because the eight companies in the consortium are arguing over how to divide the workload. The satellite system is supposed to be launched and operational in orbit by 2011, beaming radio signals to Earth so users can pinpoint their exact locations. The EU gave the consortium the go-ahead in 2005 to construct Galileo, on condition they sign an operations agreement to split the work across EU nations.