May 15 News Items

Alaska Spaceport Gets State and Federal Funds (Source: ERAU)
Alaska's spaceport authority is set to receive $15 million in funding under the governor's amended FY-2008 budget for "launch complex infrastructure." Also, "continuing earmarks" of federal DOD funds for the Kodiak Launch Complex (KLC) include $5.5 million for "infrastructure, transportation, and security improvements," as well as $8.9 million in transfers to the Alaska Army National Guard for "telecommunications upgrades at Kodiak Launch Complex." Click here, here, and here for information. The Kodiak Island spaceport has become an important location for military missile defense launch programs.

Embry-Riddle Students Win NASA PR Contest (Source: ERAU)
A plan to help NASA promote science and math among middle and high school students earned first prize for a team of six students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University who created the marketing plan. They developed the plan for the NASA Means Business Competition. Tying Embry-Riddle for the top spot was a combined team of 84 students from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and the Art Institute of Phoenix.

On the first day of the three-day competition, each team presented strategic marketing communication plan. The Embry-Riddle plan, “The Solution for Inclusion,” included 30-second public service announcements in English and Spanish, a print ad campaign, outreach activities, and a web site www.morethanrocketscience.com. At the end of the first day, teams were given 24 hours to create a strategic marketing proposal to get university educators involved in science, technology, engineering, and math projects in middle and high schools. The proposal included storyboards for a 30-second public service announcement, a web site, and a comprehensive strategic plan.

“One of our strengths is that our team is interdisciplinary,” Detore-Nakamura said. “When we did outreach in the community our engineering student could answer youngsters’ questions, because he knew the science.” The Embry-Riddle team will meet this fall with legislators and NASA officials in Washington, DC, and team leader Billon will serve on the advisory board of the Coalition for Space Exploration, which promotes space exploration and the U.S. space program.

Collaborative Space Medicine Program Planned (Source: Wyle)
A comprehensive space medicine resource for the entire civilian spaceflight industry is the focus of a memorandum of understanding signed between Mayo Clinic, the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) and Wyle Laboratories. The partners hope to “provide medical assessment and screening services to people considering space flight in an effort to assure passengers remain healthy and well,” said the director of Wyle’s Commercial Spaceflight Service unit. Medical services including screening, medical management and special environmental testing would be available to spaceflight vehicle operators, suborbital spaceflight passengers, commercial spaceports and other entities involved in the commercial spaceflight industry.