May 14 News Items

GeoEye Plans California Launch on Aug. 22 (Source: PR Newswire)
GeoEye, Inc. announced an August 22, 2008 launch date for its next-generation, earth imaging satellite GeoEye-1. Boeing Launch Services and GeoEye finalized this launch date in an amendment to the Launch Service Agreement that was signed on May 7, 2008. (5/14)

Orbital Partners With Thales Alenia to Build Koreasat 6 Satellite (Source: Orbital)
Orbital Sciences Corp. has signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space of France to supply its STAR satellite platform and carry out final spacecraft, payload and system integration and testing for the Koreasat 6 commercial communications satellite to be built for KT Corporation of the Republic of Korea. The spacecraft’s engineering, manufacturing, integration and test activities will take place at Orbital’s satellite manufacturing facility located in Dulles, VA. Thales Alenia Space will act as prime contractor for the project, provide the communications payload and deliver the Koreasat 6 satellite to KT. (5/14)

Russian Cargo Ship Lifts Off for International Space Station (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
A Russian Progress M-64 cargo ship was launched from Kazakhstan Wednesday to deliver supplies to the International Space Station. The spacecraft was launched "as planned" at a little after midnight local time and is due to arrive at the ISS on Saturday. Progress is delivering a three-ton cargo of combustible energy materials, water, oxygen, food and medicine for the three-man ISS crew after a problem with static discharge was identified as coming from solar panels used to run the computers which control oxygen and water supplies on the ISS. (5/14)

Nilesat Selects Thales Alenia for Next Satellite (Source: Space News)
Telecommunications satellite operator Nilesat Co. of Egypt has selected Thales Alenia Space of France and Italy to build the Nilesat 202, which is scheduled to be launched in late 2010 aboard a European Ariane 5 rocket, industry officials said. (5/14)

EchoStar Halts Work on CMBStar Satellite (Source: Space News)
EchoStar Corp. is suspending construction of a satellite that was to have been launched this year to provide video programming to mobile handsets in China pending further assessment of whether the satellite's performance specifications can be met, EchoStar said May 13. The company said it may take a charge of up to $100 million as a result. (5/14)

NC State Astrophysicist Discovers Youngest Known Supernova in Milky Way (Source: NC State)
A North Carolina State University researcher has discovered the youngest known supernova in our galaxy. Estimated at a mere 140 years old, this celestial whippersnapper is at least 200 years younger than the next oldest known supernova, and its discovery may pave the way to a greater understanding of exploding stars. Dr. Stephen Reynolds, an astrophysicist at NC State, led a team of researchers who suspected that a celestial object known as G1.9+0.3 was a very young supernova remnant. They examined images of the object that were taken in 2007 by NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory and compared these images to those taken of the same object in 1985 by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory's Very Large Array radio telescope. (5/14)

Arianespace Reschedules Skynet 5C / Turksat 3A Launch to May 30 (Source: Arianespace)
In order to perform complementary checks on the Ariane 5 launch vehicle, Arianespace has rescheduled the launch of Skynet 5C and Turksat 3A from the original May 23 target date. Liftoff of the Ariane 5 launcher is now set for the night of Friday, May 30. (5/14)

University of Colorado's 8th Continent Project Announces Business Plan Competition (Source: Businesswire)
The 8th Continent Project announced its 2009 Business Plan Competition for university students. Formerly known as Lunar Ventures, the competition focuses on developing viable space-related business plans for technologies that have real-world potential. The 8th Continent Project Business Plan Competition challenges students in business, engineering and science to collaborate in creating business ventures related to space, but with immediate application on Earth. Teams should consist primarily of graduate students, although undergraduate participation is welcome. Prizes for the winner include up to $50,000 in cash and in-kind services. More details about the competition are available at www.8cproject.com/BusinessPlanCompetition. (5/14)

SpaceX Claims Crew Transfer Ability By 2011 (Source: Aviation Week)
If NASA decides by this summer to proceed with the development of crew transfer capability under the agency's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk says his company could be ready to conduct crew flights to the space station by early 2011. NASA is funding SpaceX and Orbital Sciences Corp. to develop cargo capability for the International Space Station (ISS) under COTS, but so far has held off on greenlighting the crew transfer portion of the program, known as "COTS D." Only SpaceX has been actively working on a COTS D concept, with Orbital focused exclusively on cargo at this point. (5/14)

University of Wyoming Creative Writing Class for Extraterrestrials (Source: Christian Science Monitor)
On the windswept campus of the University of Wyoming, spring is struggling to arrive, students are fighting their way through finals, and Jeffrey Lockwood's creative writing class is grappling with how to talk to aliens. And they're not kidding. "So, what this is really about is a cosmic first date?" Professor Lockwood teases the class. "You want to look good, but not fake?" His 11 students, gathered for their final meeting of the semester, are discussing how to describe humanity to other civilizations. Should they put our best collective foot forward, and tell stories that illustrate altruism and romantic love? Should they also explain lying and warfare? There are no easy answers. "I leave here with a headache a lot," says graduate creative-writing student Christina Ingoglia. (5/14)

Russia and Europe May Team Up for Moon Flights (Source: Reuters)
Russia and Europe are teaming up to build a spaceship which will fly astronauts to the moon, Russia said on Wednesday, although the European Space Agency struck a more cautious note. The first test flight is set for 2015 and the first manned flight is planned for 2018, Russian space agency Roskosmos said. "(This would) enable us to carry crews of up to six people to near-earth and lunar orbits." Roskosmos said the craft would allow "expeditions to the moon" but did not say whether landings were envisaged.

Russia's single-use Soyuz, lately prone to risky landings, has borne the brunt of carrying crews to the International Space Station while U.S. space shuttles are set to be retired in 2010. The ESA was more cautious about the plan. "This is factually correct in the sense that indeed this is the outline of the system," said an ESA spokesman. "But we haven't decided upon anything yet ... It's too premature. It's still at the level of studies." (5/14)

Following Finmeccanica Bid, EADS Eyes DRS Technologies (Source: AIA)
Italy-based Finmeccanica's $4 billion bid for DRS Technologies Inc. is being watched closely by EADS, which also finds the U.S. company attractive. "We know that Finmeccanica is on the way to making a final offer," said Louis Gallois, CEO of EADS. "On the other side, it's a very interesting target." (5/14)

Lockheed on Track with Orion (Source: The Gazette)
While the number of privately funded space flights increases, only projects funded mostly by public agencies such as NASA have actually reached the moon. Under a 2006 contract, Bethesda aerospace and defense giant Lockheed Martin Corp. is working on the Orion spacecraft, part of NASA’s Constellation Program, whose goal is to land astronauts back on the moon by 2020. NASA’s Apollo 17 project in 1972 was the last involving humans on the moon. The Orion project is going well and is on schedule, said Joan Underwood, a spokeswoman for Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co., a unit based near Denver. (5/14)

Arizona Team's Mars Mission Gets Ready to Land (Source: Arizona Republic)
The Phoenix Mars Mission has less than two weeks to go before it reaches the Red Planet. For the University of Arizona-led mission to be a success, the spacecraft must survive a difficult, seven-minute journey through the harsh Martian atmosphere. Scientists and engineers call the descent "the seven minutes of terror." They have reason to be concerned. NASA's last attempt at a powered landing, the Mars Polar Lander in 1999, entered the atmosphere and was never heard from again. Visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/videos/phoenix/phx20080327/ to view a video of the landing sequence. (5/14)

MDA Hired for Space Station Work (Source: The Star)
MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd. says its Montreal operation has won a $21 million contract from Boeing Co. to supply communication technology for the International Space Station. MDA will provide two spare sets of communication subsystems for providing voice and data links between the station and the ground. "This solution follows MDA's other mission-critical solutions currently supporting the ISS, which includes most recently the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator," or Dextre, the company said. (5/14)

Korea's First Astronaut Released from Hospital (Source: Telecoms Korea)
Korea's first astronaut has been released from hospital and is ready to resume her research and public duties, the government said Wednesday. The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology said Yi So-yeon has been discharged from a Air Force medical facility and visited Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in Daejeon to examine research data she brought back from space. The 29-year-old bio systems engineer, who had been hospitalized since late April, has been treated for severe back pains caused by dislocation and bruising of the vertebrae caused during her rough return to the Earth from the International Space Station (ISS) on April 19. (5/14)

Opening the Space Frontier, One Tourist at a Time (Source: CNN)
The view will be one unlike any other. Climbing up through the clouds at a rate faster than the speed of sound, the sky will darken to a deep blue and then to black. Below, entire mountain ranges, coastlines and cities will shift into focus as the horizon bends around the curvature of the Earth - the thin veil of its atmosphere shimmering against a backdrop of stars. An emerging space tourism industry may give thousands of travelers this new view of Earth. And then, of course, there will be the feeling of weightlessness.

What was once an almost nonexistent space tourism industry is slowly maturing into what some analysts predict could be a billion dollar enterprise with thousands of passengers by the end of the next decade. "This is just the beginning of the golden age of space flight," said Peter Diamandis, chairman of the X Prize Foundation. Visit http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/04/30/space.tour/?iref=mpstoryview to view the article. (5/14)

Google Lunar X-Prize Contenders Slide Show (Source: CNN)
CNN has assembled a slide show of the current contenders for the Google Lunar X-Prize. Visit http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/space/05/08/lunarx.entrants/ to view the photos. (5/14)

Australia Needs a Space Program (Source: Nine MSN)
Veteran Aussie astronaut Andy Thomas says it is in Australia's economic and scientific interests to start its own space program. The US aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut said the election of the Rudd government last year offered an opportunity for Australia to take a fresh look at space. Adelaide-born Dr Thomas said a space program was inspirational and part of "nation building", bolstered education, produced a highly skilled workforce and encouraged innovation. A satellite program could play a key role in national security, preserving fishing rights and managing crops and mineral resources, he said. (5/14)

EADS Returns to Profit in First Quarter (Source: AP)
Airbus parent EADS returned to profit in the first quarter as the planemaker increased deliveries and the company cut costs, helping offset the weaker dollar. EADS reported a net profit in the January to March quarter of euro285 million ($440 million), compared with a loss of euro10 million a year earlier. In the previous five quarters, EADS has been in the red four times. (5/14)