April 5 News Items

Yuri's Night Celebration Planned at Cocoa Beach Pub (Source: NSS)
Local members of the National Space Society will sponsor a Yuri's Night celebration on April 12 from 6:00 - 11:00 p.m. at Paddy Cassidy's Irish Pub in Cocoa Beach. The party will include live music, food, live feeds from other parties around the world, plus a raffle for over $1000 in prizes. Yuri's Night celebrations worldwide will comemmorate the 45th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic launch into space. Visit http://www.nssflorida.org for information.

Provisional Ballots to be Tallied by Friday (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
The public should get a better idea soon about the outcome of Tuesday's Doña Ana County spaceport tax election. The election results remain up in the air, pending the tabulation of 541 provisional ballots, set to begin today. Those ballots are the last chance for tax opponents to gain ground in the election. Of 17,358 early, absentee and election-day ballots, tax proponents have a 204-vote advantage over those against the measure. Tax opponent and County Commissioner Oscar Vásquez-Butler has his eye on provisional vote outcomes. "Overcoming a 204-vote deficit might be difficult, but with 541 (provisional ballots), it's a possibility," he said.

Provisional votes in a typical election have a high rate of disqualification, but that didn't prove true during a review Wednesday. 8,781 (50.6%) voted in favor of the tax. 8,577 (49.4%) voted against it. 541 provisional ballots have yet to be counted.

Russia to Launch Three Comsats in 2007, Two in 2008 (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russia will put three new communication satellites into orbit this year and another two next year, the acting director of a state-run satellite communications company said. An Express-AM33 comsat will be launched in September and another two satellites, Express-AM44 and Express-MD1, in December. Another two satellites, Express-AM4 and Express-MD2, will be sent into space next year. A total of 15 new communications satellites will be launched before 2015 under a new Federal Space Program to provide mobile communications for the president and government, and digital TV and radio broadcasts for the majority of remote regions in Russia and the CIS. Last year, Russia lost its Express AM11 satellite when it apparently collided with space junk, causing it to spin and leave its orbit.