May 18 News Items

Survey To Barriers To Entry and Sustainability in the Space Industry (Source: CSA)
The National Security Space Office (NSSO) invites aerospace companies to respond to a survey. The study is posted and easily downloaded with instructions to complete at the Aerospace States Association (ASA) website at http://aerostates.org/events (scroll down). The data from this survey is valued in understanding and making recommendations to improve opportunities in the space industry. An explanatory letter from Joseph Rouge is available posted on the web site. (5/18)

North Carolina Students Win National Team America Rocketry Challenge (Source: AIA)
A team from Enloe High School in Raleigh, North Carolina, won the national Sixth Annual Team America Rocketry Challenge Saturday, beating out 99 rivals for the title. The 10-member team rose to the top of squads of middle and high school-aged students facing off in the final round of the world's largest rocket competition held today outside of Washington, D.C. Mulberry Grove (Illinois) High School took second place, while Kickapoo High School from Springfield, Missouri, placed third.

The contest, sponsored by the Aerospace Industries Association and the National Association of Rocketry, is designed to encourage students to consider careers in aerospace, as almost 60 percent of the U.S. aerospace workforce is 45 or older, according to AIA statistics. The next stop for the winning team is a trip to the Farnborough International Airshow and a fly-off against the winners of the UK Aerospace Youth Rocketry Challenge from Horsforth Secondary School in Yorkshire. (5/18)

If We Really Want to Explore Space, Maybe We Should Sell It To the Highest Bidders (Source: Boston Globe)
It the past few years have taught us anything, it is to not underestimate the intoxicating allure of property. Real estate, it turns out, brings out the adventurer in all of us. It's unsurprising, then, that a few enterprising thinkers are hoping to harness that power in a more exotic neighborhood: space. No one, of course, owns space - not even the relatively tiny portion of it within humankind's reach. Recently, however, there's been growing interest in changing that. In the small community of people who think seriously about space exploration, a few are arguing that exporting the idea of private property into space is exactly what we need to do to launch a bold new space race. Visit http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/05/18/my_space/ to view the article. (5/18)

This Time, 'Mission Control' is in Tucson (Source: Arizona Daily Star)
Though the University of Arizona scientists and engineers leading the Phoenix Mars Lander mission are millions of miles from the spacecraft, they might as well be stepping onto the rust-colored planet themselves. Much like the lander, which officials hope will explore new territory and expand understanding of Mars, the UA-led team is breaking new ground in space exploration, becoming the first university to run a mission's day-to-day scientific research. From a nondescript adobe-and-brick building just off the UA's main campus, researchers and students with the UA will call the mission's shots daily, telling the lander what to do and analyzing the results as it digs into Mars' northern polar region in search of signs of water. (5/18)