June 3 News Items

Retirement Seems Likely for Delta II (Source: Decatur Daily)
The Air Force will discontinue its use of the Delta II in 2009. A cosmic workhorse with a central place in the Decatur, Alabama, the Delta II has dominated the race to earth’s orbit since 1989. But don’t write the epitaph yet, warns United Launch Alliance, which builds the rockets at its Decatur facility. ULA's Julie Andrews said no decision has been made to halt the program. “Right now there has been no decision made to end the product line,” Andrews said. “We’re providing a lot of data to our NASA customer to examine a number of options, but there is no final decision from NASA to stop using Delta II.” As of now, Andrews said, Boeing Launch Services is still marketing the Delta II to commercial customers.

Even if discontinued, she said, ULA does not expect it to impact employment levels in Decatur. “So they’re going to be humming in the next couple years,” Andrews said. “The Delta II really does not have a significant impact on Decatur.” Previously located in Pueblo, Colo., the Delta II production facility moved to Decatur in July 2004. Whether the Delta II program survives the loss of its Air Force customer depends largely on its other main customer. NASA is evaluating whether it will continue using the Delta II or, like the Air Force, switch to the more expensive Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicles.

Security Scrutinized After Lockheed Theft (Source: Florida Today)
Lockheed Martin is promising a security review after burglars stole a control system for a military helicopter weapons system from a facility near Orlando International Airport last week. The Apache helicopter targeting system — called TEDAC — was recovered from bushes near the Lockheed Martin facility shortly after the Wednesday theft, police said. Burglars cut a hole in a door to break into the business. Police said surveillance tapes show two men stealing televisions from another nearby business on the same night. It is unclear why the Apache system, which has a 5-by-5-inch screen and controllers to aim and fire helicopter weapons, was dumped.

New College President Featured at Space Club Luncheon (Source: NSC)
The National Space Club's Florida Committee will feature Brevard Community College President James Drake at its June 12 luncheon. Dr. Drake will discuss ways to predict the success or failure of new technologies. The event will start at 11:30 a.m. at the DoubleTree hotel in Cocoa Beach. For information and to RSVP by June 7 contact LaDonna Netterer at 321-867-0895.

Orbiters Feel Pains of Aging (Source: Florida Today)
NASA is moving to protect ground crews, astronauts and VIPs from potential disaster, closing shuttle Atlantis' launch pad to all but essential personnel even before a three-day countdown starts Tuesday. No up-close-and-personal tours will take place at Kennedy Space Center's launch pad 39A this week after NASA finishes pressurizing helium and nitrogen tanks aboard the 22-year-old spaceship. The precaution is being taken to reduce the risk created by aging pressure vessels in the orbiter that could burst, triggering a rocket fuel fire or explosion that might injure or kill workers and seriously damage the launch pad.

Hawaii Launching Itself Into the Space Business (Source: Honolulu Advertiser)
Hawaii literally plans to reach for the moon. In one small step for the state, the Legislature has passed a bill that would revitalize a state space office that hasn't had funding for more than a decade. The office doesn't have big money — just $500,000 to start with — but it does have big dreams, like helping the U.S. colonize the moon and Mars.

If Gov. Linda Lingle signs Senate Bill 907 into law, the first priority will be PISCES, the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration, a facility on the Big Island that would include simulated moon outposts on volcanic terrain. "This 'simulation facility' would serve as a test and training area for systems and technologies to be used on the moon and would be supported by academia, industry and government," according to Michael Duke, a professor at the Center for Space Resources, at the Colorado School of Mines.

NASA Should Make Lunar Lander Part of Competition (Source: Houston Chronicle)
The Lunar Robotics Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville will be staying put, at least for another six years at $20 million a year. The office was originally slated for closure by NASA as part of a cost-cutting move. Unfortunately, Griffin did not reckon on the wrath of Sen. Richard Shelby, Alabama's senior senator. Shelby, working with other senators and representatives of both parties, successfully prevented the closure.

The office is currently managing two lunar orbiter projects. An over-budget lunar lander project had been cancelled and is now said to be under review. Unless the lunar lander mission, which was originally slated to launch in 2011, is restored, the Lunar Robotics Office will have little to do after the orbiter missions have concluded. But if the lunar lander is restored in the same form it was when it was cancelled and NASA's budget outlook remains the same, some very hard choices will have to be made.

There is one way, though, to make the stress on NASA's budget that would result from the restoration of the lunar lander a little easier. That would be to make the lunar lander a part of the Centennial Challenge competition. The Centennial Challenge is an innovative program run by NASA in which teams of people compete to build and demonstrate various technologies that would be useful in the exploration of space for cash prizes.

Union at KSC Urges Strike (Source: Florida Today)
A union representing about 570 United Space Alliance space shuttle program workers at Kennedy Space Center is recommending that the workers vote today to authorize a strike. The bargaining team for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 2061 believes that the company's latest contract offer is "substandard," in relation to contracts at other aerospace companies. The company's proposals related to health care and retirement benefits are among the provisions the union doesn't like.

Officials Seeking $5M for Spaceport Workforce Retraining (Source: Florida Today)
The Brevard Workforce Development Board is seeking a $5 million federal grant to help workers at Kennedy Space Center find new jobs in the area as NASA plans to phase out the space shuttle program in coming years. The organization has applied a U.S. Department of Labor and award announcements are expected sometime this month. The money would be used for job-training and placement services. The number of people working at KSC is expected to drop dramatically when NASA ends the shuttle program, with potential job loss estimates ranging from 5,000 to 10,000. Last month, KSC Director Bill Parsons told community leaders that new business will have to be lured to the area to keep the Space Center's workforce at its current level when the shuttle program ends.

NASA Considering Future of Delta II Rockets (Source: Space News)
NASA expects to complete by July an internal study that will help the U.S. space agency decide what role, if any, Delta 2 rockets have in its launch plans beyond 2010. The companies that make and market the Delta 2 anticipate a decision from NASA by year's end.

Starsem Role to Evolve After Soyuz Arrives at French Guiana (Source: Space News)
The French-Russian Starsem joint venture, which markets Russia's Soyuz rocket, expects to conduct at least two more launches this year and one in 2008 from Baikonur before ceding its business to an all-European operation using Soyuz from Europe's French Guiana spaceport in 2009. Starsem, which since its creation in 1996 has conducted 18 launches for government and commercial customers, is likely to evolve into an exchange forum to permit European and Russian companies and space agencies to exchange rocket-related data, Starsem Chief Executive Jean-Yves Le Gall said.

Europe's ATV Readied for November Launch to Space Station (Source: Space News)
Europe's Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is scheduled to be shipped by boat to the Guiana Space Center launch site in July in preparation for a November launch to the space station. The ATV, whose current cost is estimated at about $1.34 billion, will be part of a shipment of some 50 crates weighing 300,000 kilograms to be loaded onto the Toucan transport ship in Rotterdam for the 12-day voyage to the French Guiana spaceport.

To Placate Congress, NASA Agrees to Fund Lunar Office at Marshall (Source: Space News)
NASA will keep open a lunar robotics office at its Alabama field center, fund its West Virginia software testing facility at last year's level, spend more money on education efforts than it would prefer, and pay for a Maryland lab to study a flagship-class Solar Probe mission the U.S. space agency does not expect to be able to afford any time soon. All these decisions were made last month at the behest of key U.S. lawmakers who had objected to NASA's first stab at a detailed spending plan for 2007. NASA is required by law to inform Congress of any significant departures from its approved spending requests.

Lockheed Must Relinquish Michoud Operations Contract in 2008 (Source: Space News)
Wary of a potential conflict of interest, NASA intends to replace Lockheed Martin as the primary support contractor at its Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans by 2008. The NASA-owned plant has been operated and maintained since 1983 by Lockheed Martin, which uses the facility to build the space shuttle external tank. While NASA says it has no complaints about the way Lockheed Martin has managed Michoud, the company will not be permitted to bid on the Michoud operations and support contract the agency intends to award no later than October 2008.

Space Shuttle Workers Vote to Strike (Source: AP)
A union representing 570 space shuttle program workers at the Kennedy Space Center voted to strike Saturday, less than a week before the planned launch of the shuttle Atlantis. The International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers, which represents the United Space Alliance employees, rejected the company's contract offer Saturday morning. The union could strike as early as June 9, a day after NASA officials plan to launch Atlantis. It was unclear Saturday whether the vote to strike could affect the launch schedule. The union's negotiating team felt the company's offer was "substandard," said Lynn Beattie, a member of the group and former Local 2061 president. Both sides have agreed to a five-day cooling off period.