February 7 News Items

NASA Selects Florida School to Fly Project on 'Weightless Wonder' (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected South Plantation High School of Plantation, Fla., to fly a student-designed experiment aboard the agency's reduced-gravity aircraft, the "Weightless Wonder." South Plantation will join 13 other NASA Explorer School teams selected for this unique learning experience to test science and math concepts in a weightless laboratory aboard the Weightless Wonder this month. The modified McDonnell Douglas DC-9 jetliner will fly a series of parabolic maneuvers -- steep climbs followed by sharp descents. Each climb will produce about 30 seconds of hyper gravity, ranging from 1.8 to 2 G's. When the C-9 "noses over," each free fall will produce 18 to 25 seconds of weightlessness. The teams will fly about 32 parabolas.

The school's immediate mission is to finalize the concept of its experiment and work with a NASA mentor to get the experiment flight-ready. The team decided which educators will execute and accompany the experiment aboard the aircraft. They traveled to NASA's aircraft facility at Ellington Field and the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "The goal of the NASA Explorer School Program is to equip the next generation of explorers. These flights are an illustration of how NASA can connect space, math and science to classrooms on Earth," said Rob Lasalvia, program manager.

Cash Woes Ground Japanese Rocket Project (Source: Yomiuri Shimbun)
Not all systems are go, at least funding-wise, for the private end of a joint public-private project for developing the country's first midsize rocket, as one firm involved requested Tuesday that the government step in to help it keep its part of the project flying. The GX Launch Vehicle is a two-stage midsize rocket. Work on its development began in 2003 with the private sector taking charge of producing the rocket's first stage and designing the whole system. One of the companies involved, IHI Corp., is now proposing the government become part of the private end of the project.

IHI (formerly Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries Co.) submitted the proposal at a performance evaluation subcommittee meeting of the Education, Science and Technology Ministry's Space Activities Commission. The project has faced substantial delays, with the planned first launch having been pushed back from fiscal 2005 to fiscal 2011, due mainly to engine trouble in the rocket's second stage. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has been in charge of developing the engine. At the meeting, it was discovered that JAXA had not reported some of the problems to the Space Activities Commission.

France Says Iranian "Rocket" Cannot Work in Space (Source: Reuters)
France said on Thursday an Iranian rocket Tehran says is intended to put a satellite into orbit is in fact a missile that cannot navigate in space, and added to concerns that the technology is aimed at making weapons. Washington, Iran's arch-foe, reacted by saying Tehran's missile-testing was unfortunate. Russia, which has closer ties, said the launch raised the suspicion that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons, an allegation that Tehran denies.

Atlantis Launches, Safely Reaches Orbit (Source: Florida Today)
The space shuttle Atlantis and seven astronauts safely reached orbit after a perfect countdown and launch from Kennedy Space Center. The crew and their spaceship are now in orbit moving toward a rendezvous with the International Space Station. The orbiter and astronauts will deliver a European science laboratory to the outpost, completing a vision decades in the making. Commander Steve Frick and six crewmates are scheduled for an 11-day mission that could be extended to 12 days if needed. Three spacewalks are planned to deliver and install the module.