May 6 News Items

NASA to Boost Full-Time Space Station Crew to Six from Three (Source: AIA)
NASA and its partners will soon staff the International Space Station with a full-time crew of six people, double the current crew of three. NASA said the six-person crew will be able to make full use of the station's laboratories. (5/6)

Aerospace Firms See Strong Growth in Exports (Source: AIA)
The aerospace industry appears to be bucking the trend of outsourcing prevalent in other areas of the economy. The Aerospace Industries Association said aerospace industry exports rose 14% in 2007. "The sustained growth in aerospace trade is a good sign not only for our industry, but the U.S. economy as a whole," AIA President Marion Blakey said. "Our industry's track record as a major net export earner for the United States helps to offset the nation's chronic trade deficit." (5/6)

Man Pushes Creation of Panel to Prepare City for Space Aliens (Source: Rocky Mountain News)
Jeff Peckman wants to ask voters to create a commission dealing with space aliens. "It is important because if you're driving down the highway and you saw a crash of a small spaceship and a car or a bus full of kids, you really wouldn't know what to do," Peckman said Thursday. "Do you wait for the hazardous materials experts to show up because of potential contaminants from another solar system? What do you do? People really don't know." Peckman, 54, who is single and lives with his parents, has submitted to the city a draft of the proposed ordinance, which would require the creation of an Extraterrestrial Affairs Commission. As required, the city is holding a "review and comment" meeting on the proposed ballot initiative with Peckman on Thursday. (5/2)

Space Florida Board Plans Public Meeting on May 15 (Source: Space Florida)
Space Florida's Board of Directors will hold a public meeting on May 15 at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Center for Space Education. The meeting will start at 2:00 p.m. Contact Juanell Kirkendoll for more information at mailto:jkirkendoll@spaceflorida.gov. (5/6)

Report on NASA Ignites Call for Credit Card Crackdown (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Congressional supporters of a bill meant to curb government credit card abuse called Monday for stricter sanctions — including termination and jail time — against employees who misuse the cards at NASA, as well as other agencies. Texas Congressmen John Culberson and Mike McCaul both decried purchase card abuse after a Houston Chronicle report Sunday that revealed potentially inappropriate spending at NASA.

The report showed that NASA employees have at times purchased seemingly personal items — including iPods, jewelry and a Christmas tree — and have used the cards in ways that violate competitive bidding rules. The problems have persisted despite at least five internal reports issued since 1997. (5/6)

Tallahassee Students Get a Glimpse of Space Life (Source: Tallahassee Democrat)
It's not every day you see a space expert comes to town, but some middle-schoolers at Deerlake, Fairview and Swift Creek got a visit from former NASA astronaut Don Williams. According to NASA, Williams became an astronaut in August 1979 and qualified for assignment as a pilot on future Space Shuttle flight crews. He's had various support assignments, including working at the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory as a test pilot, and at the Kennedy Space Center participating in Orbiter test, checkout, launch and landing operations. (5/6)

Brevard County Braces For Space Race End (Source: American Thinker)
The Brevard County Commissioners and several of Florida's congressional representatives recently met to discuss the end of the Shuttle program and the impact NASA's uncertain future may have on the Cape Canaveral and Kennedy Space Center area. That future could be ugly for Florida's economy, and non-existent for the U.S. manned space program.

Senator Bill Nelson (D. FL) noted that, in two years, the U.S. will have no access to the International Space Station (ISS) in which the nation has invested $100,000,000,000. The U.S. will soon be paying high fees to Russia to have U.S. astronauts transported to the ISS by their Soyuz space craft. (5/6)

Candidates' Space Ideas Lack Launch Pad (Source: Marketplace)
As they campaign in the state that is home to Purdue University, which has graduated 22 astronauts, a look at the candidates' plans for the final frontier. Plans may be a strong word. Maybe we should go with initial thoughts. Obama wants to use NASA money "to train engineers and scientists who are going to be able to take us to those next new frontiers." McCain has hinted at a continuation of the Bush space policy, which has been criticized as under-funded. Clinton, according to an advisor "would encourage more international cooperation, more commercial development, and if it requires more money, she would support that."

In a campaign that many complain has spent too much time on side issues and gaffes, space policy now has bigger down-to-earth competition for the candidates' attention: high food prices, oil prices and foreclosure rates. It seems those with billions staked on the next president's space policy will just have to wait and hope. Visit http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/05/05/space_policy to view the article. (5/5)

Water and Space (Source: Washington Post)
Of all the things to worry about in a glass of tap water -- rust from old pipes, giardia and that strange, recurring mossy taste -- perhaps the last thing that comes to mind is the possibility of rocket fuel and aircraft-engine cleanser. Yet America's commitment to flight, space exploration and intercontinental missilery has had a trickle-down effect. Perchlorate, a major ingredient in rocket fuel, has been found in the water supply in at least 35 states and in the Colorado River -- a source of irrigation water for many of America's winter crops.

The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee is holding a hearing on the chemicals' presence in the water supply, and on the lack of Environmental Protection Agency standards governing it. The hearing will take up legislation designed to protect pregnant women and children from the chemicals, and comes in response to majority staff concerns that the White House and Pentagon have been pressuring the EPA, slowing the development of federal safety standards. (5/6)