February 12 News Items

Experts Discuss U.S. Space Plan (Source: New York Times)
At Stanford University on Tuesday, 50 space experts and advocates from NASA, industry, academia and advocacy groups are gathering to ask whether the United States is on the right track in its plans to reach the Moon by 2020, build a long-term lunar base there and eventually send humans to Mars. Louis Friedman of the Planetary Society said one reason for the meeting was that a new president and Congress would be coming to Washington next year. “There are new political forces coming in that are not wedded to the vision for space exploration” put forth in 2004 by President Bush.

Dr. Friedman, a host of the meeting, said that with the tight budget for space exploration, it was a good time to hash out ideas to prepare for the transition. Early coverage of the meeting suggested that those attending were ready to recommend scrapping proposals for a long-term lunar base and moving on quickly to explore asteroids. That coverage generated controversy and startled the hosts. One host insisted that the slate for the meeting was clean and that it was intended to address specific proposals and the overall drain of science resources from fields like aeronautics and Earth observation science.

The workshop has clearly rankled Michael Griffin, NASA’s administrator, who issued a response last month arguing that “the questions to be raised at this conference have been asked and answered.” Many voices, he said, were heard in the planning of the program, which Congress finalized in 2005. John Logsdon, of George Washington University, said re-examining the four-year-old vision for space exploration was “perfectly appropriate” since “this is not setting the course for the next decade, it’s setting the course for the next century and beyond.”

Astronaut Mum on What Ailed Him (Source: AP)
The German astronaut who was too sick to perform a spacewalk refused to say what ailed him, but insisted he's feeling great—albeit a little anxious—for Wednesday's outing. Hans Schlegel will float outside the linked space shuttle Atlantis and international space station two days after sitting out the flight's first spacewalk, which involved installing Europe's new Columbus science lab. Schlegel said he backed NASA's decision to pull him off the first spacewalk because his illness. "Nobody could have been happier than me when we finished (Monday's spacewalk) with the major objectives all done," he said in a series of broadcast interviews. "So that's all I want to say because medical issues are private."

Air Force Allows ATK to Receive New Government Contracts (Source: Bloomberg News)
Alliant Techsystems Inc., the only maker of reusable solid-rocket motors for the U.S. space shuttle fleet, can receive new government contracts for its launch-systems group after the Air Force ended an 11-day-old ban. The ban, which began Jan. 31, was lifted Monday, said Air Force spokesman Capt. Tom Wenz, in a statement. He declined to comment on the reasons the ban was terminated. The Air Force issued the ban as part of its lawsuit against Alliant, based in Edina, Minn., over the sale of $100 million in illumination flares used in search-and-rescue operations, which the service called defective. Alliant denies those claims and filed a motion in federal court to dismiss the lawsuit.

John Glenn Endorses Clinton (Source: AP)
In 1962, Glenn, a Marine pilot, was the first American to orbit the Earth, becoming an instant national hero. In 1998, shortly before retiring from Senate after 24 years, he became the world's oldest astronaut, returning to space aboard the Shuttle Discovery at age 77. Glenn briefly sought the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984. "I am deeply honored to have the support of Senator Glenn, a true American hero," Clinton said. "With his help, we'll bring our message of change across Ohio.