February 1 News Items

Stop the Madness! - USAF/NASA Red Tape Cancels Launch of Model Rockets (Source: NASA Watch)
The planned launch of 50 Juno I model rockets from Cape Canaveral to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Explorer I launch has now been canceled by the station's wing commander. Although the CCAFS has no qualms launching Deltas, Atlas and other massive rockets, they go into a complete tither when it comes down to launching a 12-inch model rocket made of balsa wood and paper weighing just under 2 oz. The intended launching was to be used as a fund raiser for the CCAFS Museum with each of the rockets being armed with the smallest engine they can carry, an A8-3. This engine would have propelled each of these 2 oz. Juno I replicas to a computer calculated altitude and or range of only 239 feet and each is recovered with a 12 inch parachute.

The Air Force, however, upon discovery of the planned flights felt that these rockets could pose a hazard to the nearby Delta pads- which are made of concrete and steel and are more than 10 times farther from the model's launch site than the rockets can fly. With that as their reason, the Air Force started the red tape machine. Soon the USAF JAGs got involved and wanted a hold-harmless form signed by everyone near the launch site. Next, a USAF person decided to contact NASA and tell them that the rockets would be firing from the actual Explorer I launch site, which was on their property. Now enters the NASA red tape machine, which demanded a full safety review (keep in mind that kids have been flying such rockets since before NASA was even created). With this red tape storm in full swing, the Air Force wing commander's office had heard enough and scrubbed all 50 launches.

Thus, all over America on January 31, 2008 school kids and adults will celebrate the the day that the US Army launched Explorer I into space by launching model rockets. In spite of the winter conditions, the launches will take place in parks and school yards and back yards all over the United States- every place EXCEPT for Cape Canaveral. In 1958, the US Army restored the nation's pride following Sputnik, but it seems that in 2008, the Air Force and NASA cannot even get out of their own red taped way to launch a simple rocket made of balsa wood and paper.

Atlantis Tentatively Cleared for Launch Next Week (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Exhaustive testing shows the low-level fuel sensor problem that derailed two attempts to launch the shuttle Atlantis in December has been resolved, NASA managers said Wednesday. But a decision on whether to press ahead with a third launch try Feb. 7 was put off to Saturday pending results of last-minute troubleshooting to assess the health of a kinked flex hose in the ship's coolant system.

Orbital Traffic Jam Looms for Space Station (Source: Space.com)
The maiden flight of an unmanned European cargo ship is just one of several of tightly-packed arrivals and departures coming up for the International Space Station (ISS). The European Space Agency's (ESA) first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) is set to launch toward the space station as early as Feb. 22 between a pair of U.S. shuttle missions hauling new modules to the orbital laboratory. Before the ATV spacecraft lifts off, astronauts aboard the space station must cast off a spent Russian cargo ship on Feb. 4, then welcome fresh one on Feb. 7 — the same day NASA's shuttle Atlantis is due to haul the ESA's Columbus lab toward the ISS. The ATV, christened Jules Verne, has a narrow window to dock at the ISS between Atlantis' 11-day mission and the planned March flight of the shuttle Endeavour to deliver the first segment of Japan's Kibo laboratory.

ULA Cuts Into Boeing Space Earnings (Source: SpaceToday.net)
The formation of the United Launch Alliance (ULA) reduced Boeing's space-related revenues and earnings in 2007, the company reported this week. Boeing's Network and Space Systems unit reported earnings of $295 million on $2.89 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, compared to earnings on $467 million on $3.41 billion in revenue for the same quarter of 2006. For the full year of 2007, the unit had earnings of $891 million on $11.7 billion in revenue, compared to $952 million in earnings on $11.9 billion in 2006. The company said the formation of ULA at the end of 2006 caused the drop in revenues and earnings, since the Delta program is no longer included in Boeing financial reports.

Next Race: Making More Engineers than China (Source: Huntsville Times)
It's not certain that people will be able to apply for a mining job on the moon in the next 50 years, or that they will be able to buy a commercial ticket for a ride around another planet. But one thing is for sure about the future of space exploration: Mars needs engineers. That means the U.S. will need a lot more engineers, Tim Pickens said. The U.S. is graduating about 60,000 a year, far fewer than India or China. That may be the heart of our next space race, said Leonard David, author and senior space writer for SPACE.com.

Move Over Canaveral, There’s Another Cape in Town (Source: National Post)
A proposed spaceport for Cape Breton, Canada, may get a major boost next week. The company behind the proposal, PlanetSpace, will find out as early as Feb. 7 if it's the successful bidder on a $175 million contract to take crews and cargo to the space station for NASA. If it is, PlanetSpace could then move further ahead with its plans to build the spaceport, which would also be the takeoff point for rockets to bring tourists to the edge of space. The first test launches could come by the end of 2009. As unlikely as it sounds, Cape Breton makes sense for a spaceport because a rocket taking off from there is right on target for the space station orbiting some 400 kilometres overhead.

The project began to regain some momentum in November when PlanetSpace teamed with industry heavyweight Lockheed Martin, the Bank of Montreal and ATKLaunch Systems, which is also developing the first stage for NASA's Ares 1 launcher, which will send future U.S. astronauts into orbit. BMO Capital Markets is on board as PlanetSpace's financial adviser, while Lockheed is developing its orbital transfer vehicles. Adding strength to the bid is the man behind PlanetSpace -- its chairman, Dr. Chirinjeev Kathuria, who was one of the people behind MirCorp, which put the first space tourist in orbit in 2001. Mr. Kathuria, who emigrated to the U.S. from India as a child, is a one-time candidate for the U.S. Senate and lieutenant-governor of Illinois.