January 10 News Items

KSC IMAX Plans Advanced Screening of New Space Film (Source: DNPS)
On Jan. 19 at 6:00 p.m., the KSC Visitor Complex's IMAX Theater will show an advanced screening of a new film titled: "The Wonder of It All". The event will benefit the Space Walk of Fame’s Apollo Monument in nearby Titusville. Also included will be special appearances by the filmmakers and Apollo Astronaut Edgar Mitchell, and signed movie posters. Advanced tickets are highly recommended! Visit http://www.thewonderofitallfilm.com for information.

Origin of Antimatter Cloud Discovered (Source: UPI)
U.S. astronomers said the origin of a giant cloud of antimatter surrounding the galactic center of the Milky Way has been traced to binary stars. The findings, published in the journal Nature, said observations from the European Space Agency's Integral satellite shows an imbalance that matches the distribution of a population of binary star systems that contain black holes or neutron stars. Scientists said the finding suggests the binaries are churning out at least half of the antimatter.

ATK, Northrop Moves Boost Space Industry in Maryland (Source: Maryland Daily Record)
The Baltimore region got an economic boost this week when Alliant Techsystems Inc. became the second defense contractor to announce it would locate its newest business group in the area. On Tuesday, ATK said it entered into a deal to purchase the Information Systems and Geospatial Information Services divisions from Canada-based MacDonald, Detwiler and Associates for $1.32 billion. If the deal closes, ATK will combine its existing space business with the acquired MacDonald, Detwiler businesses to form ATK Space Systems. The deal would add 1,900 employees and an estimated $500 million in revenues for fiscal year 2009. The MacDonald, Detwiler divisions specialize in space robotics, satellite systems and space-based radar systems.

News of the ATK deal came one day after Northrop Grumman Corp. announced it was combining two of its existing businesses into a new division, Space & ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance). Northrop Grumman spokesman Tom Delaney confirmed the new division would be located at the company’s Electronics Sector headquarters in Linthicum. Considering that many of the jobs created will be higher-paying skilled positions such as engineers, news of the decisions was welcomed by Baltimore area business groups.