March 26 News Items

Endeavour Lands at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: ERAU)
The Endeavour orbiter landed at Kennedy Space Center at 8:39 p.m. on Wednesday, ending a 16-day mission. The landing was achieved on the second try, after controllers waved-off an earlier landing opportunity due to cloud cover. (3/26)

Cassini Tastes Organic Material at Saturn's Geyser Moon (Source: NASA)
NASA's Cassini spacecraft tasted and sampled a surprising organic brew erupting in geyser-like fashion from Saturn's moon Enceladus during a close flyby on March 12. Scientists are amazed that this tiny moon is so active, "hot" and brimming with water vapor and organic chemicals. New heat maps of the surface show higher temperatures than previously known in the south polar region, with hot tracks running the length of giant fissures. Additionally, scientists say the organics "taste and smell" like some of those found in a comet. The jets themselves harmlessly peppered Cassini, exerting measurable torque on the spacecraft, and providing an indirect measure of the plume density. (3/26)

Glonass System To Consist Of 30 Satellites (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russia's fully operational Glonass navigation satellite system will consist of 30 Glonass-M and Glonass-K satellites by 2010. "The system will have a total of 30 instead of 24 satellites, with two of them to be used as operating reserves," said the deputy designer-in-chief at Information Satellite Systems. The system currently consists of 18 satellites and is supposed to provide navigation and positioning data covering the whole territory of the Russian Federation. A total of 9.88 billion rubles ($380 million) was allocated for Glonass from the federal budget in 2007, and 4.7 billion ($181 million) in 2006. (3/26)

Falling Rocket Chunk Almost Hits Outdoor Toilet (Source: MSNBC)
A shepherd is suing Russia's space agency for compensation after he said a 10-foot-long chunk of metal from a space rocket fell into his yard, just missing his outdoor toilet. Boris Urmatov, who is asking for 1 million roubles ($42,000) from the Roskosmos agency, lives in a small village that lies underneath the flight path of rockets taking off from the Baikonur launchpad Russia leases in nearby Kazakhstan. (3/26)

Biggest UK Space Impact Found (Source: BBC)
Evidence of the biggest meteorite ever to hit the British Isles has been found by a team of scientists. Researchers from the universities of Oxford and Aberdeen think a large object hit north-west Scotland about 1.2 billion years ago. "The massive impact would have melted rocks and thrown up an enormous cloud of vapour that scattered material over a large part of the region around Ullapool. The crater was rapidly buried by sandstone which helped to preserve the evidence." (3/26)

Brazil to Deepen Space Cooperation with China (Source: Xinhua)
The newly sworn-in head of the Brazilian Space Agency (BSA) Carlos Ganem said Brazil cherishes the ties with China and will deepen cooperation with China in the field of space technology. Ganem also expressed the hope that the Chinese people could know the importance of bilateral cooperation in space and the Brazilians' willingness to increase cooperation with China and to promote the development of bilateral ties through the cooperation in space. (3/26)

Major NASA Projects Over Budget (Source: USA Today)
Two-thirds of NASA's major new programs are significantly over budget or behind schedule, according to the agency's latest report to Congress. NASA's nearly stagnant budget requires the agency to cut projects to make up for unexpected expenses, and cost overruns nearly shut down one of the rovers on Mars — until it got a reprieve Tuesday. They also threaten completion of a climate-change satellite called Glory. Under a 2005 law, the space agency must tell Congress when a major project under development will exceed its budget by more than 15% or fall more than six months behind schedule. Four of the 12 new major projects are over budget, and eight are behind schedule to the point where lawmakers needed to be notified. (3/26)

Hotel Security and Aviation Experts Partner for Space Tourism Industry (Source: PR USA)
Farina and Associates, the leader in security and risk management for the global hospitality and tourism industries, announced a partnership with Planehook Aviation Services to provide security solutions to the space tourism industry. “Threats to the space tourism industry can come in all shapes and sizes including terrorism, criminal, negligence, environmental, sabotage and competition. We are now looking at a combination of internal and external factors that will have dramatic effects on the success of a spaceflight operation.” stated Philip Farina. (3/26)

Economy Fare Lifts Space-Tourism Race (Source: New York Times)
A price war already is brewing among companies seeking to sign up would-be space tourists, years before the first privately financed rocketplanes are scheduled to begin flying. XCOR Aerospace, the latest entrant to the derby to blast thrill-seekers into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, unveiled plans for a rocket-powered vehicle that is substantially smaller, slower and less expensive to build than any of those proposed by rivals. With tickets projected at $100,000 a pop, the low-fare carrier to the heavens would hardly be cheap. (3/26)

Weiler to Replace Stern as NASA Science Chief (Source: Space News)
NASA is recalling Goddard Space Flight Center Director Ed Weiler to NASA's headquarters here to take over the Science Mission Directorate in the wake of Alan Stern's abrupt resignation. Stern, a seasoned planetary scientist who joined NASA in April 2007 to pursue a reform-minded agenda, informed colleagues in an e-mail March 26 that he would be leaving the agency in the month ahead. (3/26)

Event to Focus on Aerospace Workforce, May 13-14 (Source: AIAA)
This year’s Inside Aerospace forum will bring together leaders from the United States and abroad for a candid discussion of all aspects of aerospace workforce development. The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) has partnered with the Aerospace Industries Association (AIA) and the Aerospace Department Chairs Association (ADCA) to sharpen our focus on the aerospace workforce from both industry and academic perspectives. Our theme of “working together” encompasses all segments of the profession, and also brings in international viewpoints as well as those of young professionals, educators, and the legislative arm of the government. Building on the efforts of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Aerospace Workforce Revitalization task force, keynote addresses and panel discussions will focus on every stage of aerospace workforce development. (3/26)

Florida Company Wins NASA Simulation and Software Contract (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded a five-year, $49 million contract to L3 Communications - Titan Group of Niceville, Fla., to provide simulation and software technology support at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The contract provides support to Johnson's Automation, Robotics and Simulation Division in the fields of virtual reality for training and simulation activities, simulation environments, analysis and applications, systems engineering and vehicle subsystem management, and guidance, navigation and control simulation. The work supports the development and operations of the Space Shuttle, International Space Station and Constellation programs. (3/26)

Two-Seat Rocket Planned for Space Tourism (Source: AP)
A California aerospace company plans to enter the space tourism industry with a two-seat rocket ship capable of suborbital flights to altitudes more than 37 miles above the Earth. The Lynx, about the size of a small private plane, is expected to begin flying in 2010, according to developer Xcor Aerospace. The company also said that, pending the outcome of negotiations, the Air Force Research Laboratory has awarded it a research contract to develop and test features of the Lynx. Xcor intends to be a spaceship builder, with another company operating the Lynx and setting prices.

The Lynx is designed to take off from a runway like a normal plane, reach a top speed of Mach 2 and an altitude of 200,000 feet, then descend in a circling glide to a runway landing. Shaped something like a bulked-up version of the Rutan-designed Long-EZ homebuilt aircraft, its wings will be located toward the rear of the fuselage, with vertical winglets at the tips. Powered by clean-burning, fully reuseable, liquid-fuel engines, the Lynx is expected to be capable of making several flights a day, Xcor said. "We have designed this vehicle to operate much like a commercial aircraft," Xcor Chief Executive Officer Jeff Greason said in a statement.

The total flight would last about a half-hour, including a couple minutes of weightlessness. XCOR expects flights to focus primarily on space tourism but also including research and education applications. Lynx is projected to cost $10 million to develop, with ticket prices projected to be about $100,000. (3/26)

ATK and Ad Astra Rocket Company Sign Technology Development Alliance (Source: PR Newswire)
Alliant Techsystems and the Ad Astra Rocket Company of Houston, Texas signed a Technology Development Alliance designed to strengthen the market presence of the two companies and explore future in-space propulsion systems for lunar and planetary missions. ATK is an industry leader in the production and integration of advanced launch systems and solid rocket motors while Ad Astra specializes in advanced plasma propulsion technologies for operation in the vacuum of outer space. The agreement will facilitate the sharing of sufficient cost, technical and programmatic information for future launch vehicle and rocket propulsion projects. (3/26)