May 11 News Items

Payloads Lost in Mountains After Trip to Space (Source: Space.com)
The search for the UP Aerospace payload of experiments and the cremated remains of some 200 people - including "Scotty" of Star Trek fame, as well as pioneeering NASA Mercury astronaut, Gordon Cooper - continues within rugged New Mexico mountain landscape. After a successful blastoff from New Mexico's Spaceport America on April 28, the UP Aerospace SpaceLoft XL rocket and its payload nosed into space on a suborbital trajectory. As part of launch operations, the rocket was tracked by specialists at the neighboring White Sands Missile Range.

While all went well with the flight, the rocket components parachuted into rough and tumble terrain. Repeated searches within the landing zone have come up empty. Jerry Larson, President of UP Aerospace, said the general location of the rocket hardware is known within some 1,300 feet or so. But given the dense vegetation on the side of the mountain being searched, along with equipment available to the search team, pinpointing the exact locale has proven a tough assignment. Yet another trip up on the mountain is slated next week, Larson said.

DRS Tech Fourth-Quarter Profit Rises (Source: MarketWatch)
DRS reported fourth-quarter earnings of $45.5 million, up from a year-ago profit of $28.8 million. Revenue rose 24% in the latest three months to $798.9 million from $645.7 million a year earlier. Looking ahead, the supplier of military products (with operations in Melbourne, FL) said it sees earnings of $3.10 to $3.20 a share in fiscal 2008 on revenue of between $3 billion and $3.05 billion.

Mannheim Steamroller Heads to KSC (Source: Florida Today)
Mannheim Steamroller is scheduled to play a concert at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex at 8 p.m. May 26. The concert follows the debut of the $60 million Shuttle Launch Experience shuttle simulator attraction, which opens May 25 at the visitor complex. Manheim Steamroller recorded sound from the last space shuttle liftoff at Kennedy Space Center, and that will be incorporated into its music. There is no extra charge to attend the concert, beyond the admission to the Visitor Complex.

NASA Clears Atlantis' Tank for Rollout (Source: Florida Today)
NASA managers cleared shuttle Atlantis for rollout to the launch pad next week. The announcement came after a review of the repairs to an external tank badly damaged by a freakish hail storm in February. Work to repair the tank is all but complete, shuttle program manager Wayne Hale says. Contractor technicians are putting the finishing touches on the tank. Mounted atop a mobile launcher platform in the Vehicle Assembly Building, the shuttle and its repaired tank are set to roll to launch pad 39A on Wednesday morning. The 3.5-mile trip would take about six or seven hours to complete.