May 3 News Items

Four Former Astronauts Enter Hall Of Fame (Source: CFL-13)
NASA honored its best and brightest during the 2008 U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame induction ceremony. The event took take place at KSC's Apollo/Saturn V Center following a day full of astronaut encounters with the public. Joining the Hall of Fame this year are former astronauts John Blaha, Loren Shriver, Bryan O'Connor, NASA's chief of Safety and Mission Assurance at NASA Headquarters in Washington, and Bob Cabana, center director of NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi.

The four men join the ranks of space pioneers such as Neil Armstrong, John Glenn, Alan Shepard, Sally Ride and John Young. More than 25 Hall of Fame astronauts attended, including Scott Carpenter, John Young, Robert Crippen, Al Worden, and Walt Cunningham. (5/3)

Discovery Arrives at Launch Pad (Source: Florida Today)
Less than a month from launch, Discovery has been moved to its launch pad, taking a nearly six-hour trip from the Vehicle Assembly Building. The orbiter will receive its payload on Monday--the 32,500-pound Japanese Kibo laboratory, which will be added to the International Space Station during a 13-day mission.

The launch is scheduled for 5:02 a.m. on May 31. Work in the VAB went so well that crews now have seven contingency days in the schedule. They started with no schedule padding after bad weather delayed the arrival of the external tank and the launch about a week. (5/3)

House Panel Second Guessing NASA's Zero-G Contract (Source: Space News)
Congressional investigators are scrutinizing NASA's decision to give Zero Gravity Corp. a shot at conducting the type of weightless flights for researchers and astronauts the agency traditionally has conducted with its own C-9 aircraft. The House Science and Technology subcommittee opened an investigation in April after Democratic staffers traveled to JSC for a briefing on NASA's parabolic flight program. [Editor's note: From the outset, NASA program managers at JSC have seemed inclined to oppose any plans to privatize their parabolic flight program.]

Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.) sent letters to NASA Administrator Mike Griffin requesting materials related to the Zero-G deal. The letters included multiple allegations disputed by Zero-G, among them that the company conducted a flight for a "Girls Gone Wild" video. Zero-G has long denied any association with "Girls Gone Wild" and Mantra Films said the featured flight was conducted from Moscow and not by Zero-G. The letters also question whether paying Zero-G for parabolic flights is a better deal for NASA than flying the C-9, and whether Zero-G is sufficiently committed to serving NASA.

A document review by subcommittee staff should be completed this week. In a May 1 statement, Zero-G CEO Peter Diamandis said Zero-G is investing $1 million to modify its 727 for NASA flights this summer. Although the total potential value of NASA's contract with Zero-G is $25.4 million, the agency is technically committed only to a single week's worth of Zero-G flights for around $300K. Diamandis was confident that investigators will find that flying with Zero-G is a good deal for NASA. (5/3)

Price Drove General Dynamics Satellite Contract Win (Source: Space News)
General Dynamics underbid its competitors to win a $116 million fixed-price contract to build the spacecraft for the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM), securing its first major piece of new NASA business in nearly six years. The Arizona-based unit beat out offers from three other firms, among them Colorado's Ball Aerospace, which appeared well-positioned for such contracts (Ball will still build a key LCDM instrument).

But the job of building the host satellite platform and integrating Ball's instrument onto it is going to the General Dynamics team, which put forward what NASA judged to be the best deal. According to a NASA official, Ball and California-based Loral had stronger technical proposals and better overall track records, but General Dynamics offered a "significant price advantage"

NASA, however, was forced to overhaul its LDCM acquisition plans in 2006 to appease U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who wanted to see Goddard take a more hands-on role in the high-priority mission. In place of a single fixed-price contract for the entire mission, NASA adopted an approach in which LDCM was broken into three separate contracts: one for the instrument, one for the satellite, and a third, yet to be awarded, for mission operations. Virginia-based Orbital Sciences Corp. also bid on LCDM, but its price was "significantly higher than all other offers," NASA's decision document said. (5/3)

ATK Tests Oldest SRB To Verify Safety Model (Source: Space News)
Alliant Techsystems successfully test-fired a space shuttle reusable solid-rocket motor May 1 in the Utah desert. The test verified that the ATK-built boosters remain safe to use for shuttle launches up to five years after the propellant has been cast. The seven year old booster was the oldest space shuttle solid-rocket motor ever fired.

Another main objective of the test was to gather data to aid in the development of the Ares 1 crew launch vehicle ATK is helping NASA build. More than 20 microphones were installed at the test site to collect information that will help engineers predict the lift-off acoustics of the Ares 1, which will use a longer version of the solid-rocket booster (SRB) for its main stage. (5/2)

XM, Sirius Extend Deadline For Concluding Merger Deal (Source: Space News)
XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio have agreed to begin extending their merger agreement in two-week increments if the U.S. Federal Communications Commission fails to approve the merger before the initial deal expires May 15, the companies announced April 30. (5/2)

Space Issues Pass in Florida Legislative Session (Source: ERAU)
The Florida Legislative Session came to an end Friday and a flurry of space-related bills were passed with broad support. Included were a Spaceflight/Informed Consent bill, a Qualified Space Contractor Tax Refund bill, $14.5 million for launch infrastructure modifications at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, $4 million for Space Florida operations, $500K for a suborbital spaceflight research and training program, $1.25 million for an aerospace workforce training initiative, and a $40 million Reusable Space Vehicle Industry Prize Program (matching $20 million from the state with $20 million in private investments).

Left for next year was the Space Technology & Research Diversification Initiative (STRDI), which aimed to establish a multi-university space research effort that would move the state beyond its economic reliance on launch-related programs. STRDI was passed by the House but did not clear a Senate committee in time. (5/3)

Senate Panel Adds $350 Million for T-Sat, Shifts Missile Defense Priorities (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee added $350 million to the president's request for the Transformational Satellite (T-Sat) communications system and shifted missile defense funding toward fielded systems at the expense of developmental programs in its markup of the 2009 Defense Authorization bill April 29. (5/2)

Prospect of US Science Debate Wanes (Source: Physics World)
Organizers of ScienceDebate 2008 are “disappointed” but “not surprised” that the three main US presidential candidates have ignored invitations to participate in a public debate on science that was scheduled to take place May 2. John McCain, the likely Republican nominee, declined the invitation for a debate at any time in early May. Hillary Clinton, one of the two remaining Democratic candidates, told the organizers that the invitation had gone to her “scheduling” department, while Barack Obama, the other Democratic candidate, acknowledged receipt of the invitation but did not confirm whether he would attend. (5/2)

Lack of Government Vision is Hurting Canada's Space Industry, Observers Say (Source: CBC)
Hailed as a triumph for Canadian sovereignty, the federal government's decision to block the proposed sale of key units of MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates could signal a turning point for Canada's space industry. What direction the industry moves in from here rests largely with the government, say industry observers. "What we need is a top-down national space policy," said one former space agency official. (5/2)