February 11 News Items

Apollo 13 Flight Controller to Speak at Embry-Riddle (Source: ERAU)
A former NASA flight controller will speak about his dramatic experiences in the Apollo lunar program Wednesday, Feb. 20, at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The main focus of Sy Liebergot’s presentation will be the survival story of Apollo 13, in which the failure of a cryogenic oxygen tank nearly cost three astronauts their lives. The event, which is free and open to the public, will be held 4-6 p.m. in the Willie Miller Instructional Center auditorium on Embry-Riddle’s Daytona Beach campus.

CCTS Plans Annual Engineers Week Banquet at Florida Tech (Source: CCTS)
The Canaveral Council of Technical Societies will host its Annual Engineers Week Banquet on Feb. 22 at the Florida Institute of Technology's College of Engineering, in Melbourne. The guest speaker will be Dr. Hector Gutiérrréz, who will discuss Electromagnetic Launch Using Superconducting Sled and Transverse Magnetic Fields. The lecture will be followed by a CCTS Awards Ceremony. For information and to RSVP, call 321-674-6162 or mailto:johnsont@fit.edu by Tuesday, Feb. 19. Proceeds will benefit Florida Tech engineering students.

Defense Budget Continues to Grow, Surprising Some Observers (Source: AIA)
The defense spending proposal made by the Bush administration last week will fund some of the nation's largest weapons programs, and it indicates that defense firms will continue to post strong profits this year. "The expectation has been that it can't continue to increase as it has," Phil Finnegan, a defense analyst at the Teal Group. "But it has surprised everyone to see how long this increase has continued. This budget was a great budget for all defense contractors."

India and the US: Partners or Rivals in Space? (Source: Space Review)
India's space program is evolving from one focused strictly on practical benefits to one that supports exploration and, perhaps, human spaceflight. Jeff Foust reports on Indian officials see the future of their space program, and what effect that will have on relations with the US. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1056/1 to view the article.

Space Policy Optimists and Others (Source: Space Review)
The next president will have the opportunity to continue, alter, or terminate NASA's current exploration effort. Taylor Dinerman describes discussion on this topic at a recent forum and its implications for human spaceflight in general. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1055/1 to view the article.

Endeavour Readied for Next Shuttle Launch (Source: Florida Today)
The orbiter Endeavour is in the Kennedy Space Center Vehicle Assembly Building after a move this morning from its shuttle processing hangar. The orbiter will be hoisted above a mobile launcher platform and then connected to an external tank with attached solid rocket boosters. The fully assembled shuttle is scheduled to roll out to launch pad 39A a week from today. Endeavour and seven astronauts are scheduled to launch March 11 on a mission to deliver a two-armed Canadian robot and the first section of the Japanese Kibo science research facility to the International Space Station.

US Space Shuttle, Delta-IV Secrets 'Were Given to China' (Sources: Telegraph, AFP)
Four people have been arrested in the United States accused of spying for China to acquire trade and state secrets, including details of the Space Shuttle program. The Justice Department said that a Boeing engineer was arrested on charges of stealing trade secrets relating to the Shuttle and other aerospace programs and passing them to officials in "the motherland". Dongfan "Greg" Chung, 72, who worked on US defense and space projects for more than 25 years, was arrested by FBI officers and NASA investigators at his home in California. Chung, a Chinese-born naturalised US citizen, who was indicted last week on charges of espionage, is accused of stealing economic secrets, conspiracy and other offences.

The engineer was employed by Rockwell International from 1973 until its defense and space unit was acquired by Boeing in 1996 and held a secret security clearance to the Shuttle program. He retired from the company in 2002, but in 2003 returned to Boeing as a contractor, a position he held until September 2006. According to a 14-count set of charges against Chung, he took and concealed Boeing trade secrets relating to the Space Shuttle, the C-17 military transport aircraft and the Delta IV rocket with the intention of benefiting China.

In another case, Pentagon official Gregg William Bergersen, Chinese citizen Yu Xin Kang and Taiwan-born US citizen Tai Shen Kuo were held for allegedly passing classified information to China, mostly pertaining to US military sales to Taiwan, according to Justice Department officials. Bergersen, 51, is a weapons systems policy analyst at the Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which implement's the US Defense Department's foreign military sales program.

Indian Space Agency Was a Terror Target (Source: Hindustan Times)
A day after six LeT militants were arrested for their alleged involvement in the January 1 attack on the CRPF camp in Rampur, the special task force of Uttar Pradesh police on Monday arrested two more suspected militants – Gulab Khan and Mohammad Kausar – in this connection. According to the police, Khan had offered his motor garage for storing weapons used in the attack in which eight persons, including seven security personnel, were killed. Police claimed the six ultras had plans to target the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) at Bangalore before attacking the Indian Institute of Science (IISc). The police learnt of the ISRO plan after the arrest of Gulab Khan from Bareilly on Monday.

Indian Agency Plans More Israeli Spy Sat Launches (Source: Defense News)
India plans to launch more Israeli spy satellites from Indian territory, say sources in the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), despite domestic political opposition. Last month, India launched an Israeli spy satellite from the Sriharikota space center in east India, prompting strong condemnation from the Communist Party, which supports the ruling United Progressive Alliance and whose support is necessary for the government to remain in power. Iran also has objected to the launch of Israeli satellites from Indian soil. ISRO sources say Israeli satellites will be launched aboard Indian rockets, adding that ISRO intends to earn additional revenue from rocket launches in the future. The launch of future Israeli satellites could come close to general elections slated in 2009 and may not be politically popular, said a source in the Indian Defense Ministry.

Norwegian Satellite Put in Geostationary Orbit by Russian Proton (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
A Proton rocket carrying a Norwegian communications satellite blasted off from the snow-covered plains of Kazakhstan Monday, delivering its $217 million cargo to orbit more than nine hours later. The 184-foot-tall rocket began the marathon mission with a fiery launch from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan.

Bills Will Help Virginia Aim for the Stars (Source: Roanoke.com)
The General Assembly is considering legislation it hopes will launch Virginia's fledgling space industry into orbit. Both the Senate and House of Delegates unanimously passed bills last week to exempt companies involved in commercial space flight from paying corporate income tax. The idea, dubbed "Zero-G, Zero-Tax," is to make Virginia a player in the space industry. Del. John Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, who is sponsoring the House version of the bill, said the federal government wants to give the private sector a larger role in jobs such as replacing satellites and resupplying the international space station. "The government can't be doing all of this, especially just out of Florida, when there's so many other things that require national attention," Cosgrove said. "They're going more and more towards commercial opportunities. ... What we're trying to do is attract those companies into Virginia."

Raytheon Wins $75 Million Air Force Satellite Communications Contract (Source: Raytheon)
Raytheon has won the U.S. Air Force's competition to upgrade a satellite communications system that provides protected communications to warfighters around the world. The contract, valued in excess of $75 million, is for development and production of the Minuteman Minimum Essential Emergency Communications Network program upgrade, or MMPU. Raytheon began work on the current MMP solution for the Air Force in 1999 as part of a study contract.

Iran Says to Launch Two More Rockets in Space (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Iran is to launch two more rockets into space in the next few months, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced on Monday, after a firing of a rocket earlier this month sparked international concern. "Two other rockets will be launched so that we can then send a satellite into space," Ahmadinejad said at a rally in Tehran broadcast live on state television. "Iran's first home-produced satellite will be launched in the summer," he added, reiterating a prediction made by other Iranian officials who said the satellite would be launched in May.

Space Tourism Insurance to Be Expensive (Source: Space News)
The personal spaceflight business — also known as space tourism — will face high hurdles from the insurance business in its early years, according to several industry experts. Policy costs will be extremely high until companies fly without incident at least three times. And a string of early failures may well doom startups to business failure, one of three insurance experts on a panel about the subject said during a panel discussion at the Federal Aviation Administration's annual Commercial Space Transportation Conference. Early failures, whether by one company or by several, could make it almost impossible for the new industry to get insurance.

Atlas V Pad at Vandenberg AFB Ready (Source: Aviation Week)
It’s been a hurry-up-and-wait situation for United Launch Alliance’s refurbishment of the nearly half-century old Space Launch Complex-3 here, but a strengthened new pad is now ready to debut Atlas Vs on the Pacific Coast. The first mission liftoff, scheduled on Feb. 26, is for the National Reconnaissance Office using an Atlas V in a 411 configuration—a 4-meter (13.1-ft.)-dia. payload fairing, one Aerojet solid rocket booster (SRB) motor and a single Pratt & Whitney RL10 Centaur upper stage. Although classified, mission L-28 is believed to be a signals intelligence satellite bearing an attached Space-Based Infrared System Highly Elliptical Orbit payload for missile defense.