May 7 News Items

Scientists Test Lunar Breathing System (Source: NASA)
Imagine yourself hip-to-hip, shoulder-to-shoulder, inside a room the size of a walk-in closet for eight hours with five people you just met. Does that make you sweat? Or maybe make your breathing a little more animated? For three weeks, 23 volunteers dedicated time to do just that -- sweat and breathe -- inside a test chamber so NASA scientists at Johnson Space Center in Houston could measure the amount of moisture and carbon dioxide absorbed by a new system being developed for future space vehicles. The system is designed to control carbon dioxide and humidity inside a crew capsule to make air breathable and living space more comfortable. (5/7)

NASA Rolls Out New Artifact Loan Program with Space Shuttle Tires (Source: NASA)
With the help of the space shuttle program, NASA kicks off a new artifact loan program for museums, planetariums, and other organizations. NASA's new Artifact Loan Opportunities Program will help organizations borrow NASA artifacts for education and outreach purposes. The first artifacts available are main landing gear tires from space shuttles. The space shuttle tires, including some flown on missions, are available to proposing organizations that NASA determines best meet the agency's education and public outreach goals. For information visit http://artifacts.nasa.gov. (5/7)

Spacehab Reports Financial Results for Third Quarter (Source: Business Wire)
Spacehab posted a third quarter fiscal 2008 net loss of $834,000, on revenue of $6.6 million compared with a third quarter fiscal 2007 net loss of $1.2 million on revenue of $12.2 million. Spacehab’s net loss for the nine months ended March 31, 2007 was $34.5 million on revenue of $19.5 million, compared to a net loss of $3.1 million on revenue of $39.9 million for first nine months of the prior fiscal year. The Company’s Astrotech Space Operations subsidiary won three fully funded task orders in support of NASA’s Ocean Surface Topography Mission/Jason-2, Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft, and the Orbiting Carbon Observatory mission, all scheduled for launch in 2008. (5/7)

Eight Likeliest Places for Alien Life (Source: MSNBC)
As tantalizing as the prospect of life on Mars is, the Red Planet isn’t the only place where alien organisms may lurk. The universe contains septillions of stars (a septillion is 1 followed by 24 zeros), and scientists suspect any number of them could harbor planets and moons with the right ingredients for life. Visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24470400/?pg=1#ET_science to learn about seven more relatively nearby targets where scientists believe they could find E.T. (5/7)

Reconciling Space Property Rights with International Treaties (SMU Journal of Air Law & Commerce)
Property rights in space and other moons or planets have always been considered a gray area, with conflicting interpretations of international treaties. Now for the first time a law journal article argues it is perfectly legal for a privately funded space settlement to sell deeds to lunar (or Martian) real estate. This is an incredibly important issue because real estate would be a catalyst for privately funded space development. Without the ownership of Lunar real estate there is no economic incentive for private industry to invest the billions of dollars to get there - and stay there. Visit http://www.space-settlement-institute.org/Articles/jal73-1Wasser.pdf to view the paper. (5/7)

Shuttle Destruct Switch...Just in Case (Source: Popular Mechanics)
Each time the space shuttle rises from its launchpad, an Air Force officer waits anxiously for the first 2 minutes to pass safely. If the spaceship were to veer off course and endanger a populated area, this range safety officer would bear the terrible responsibility of flipping a pair of switches under a stenciled panel reading “Flight Termination.” The first switch arms explosives on the shuttle’s two solid rocket boosters. Flipping the second switch would detonate them, destroying the shuttle and crew.

But the danger continues as the craft streaks upward. If a spaceship’s flight controls or engines malfunction, toxic fuel and fast-moving debris could threaten people below. After about 2 minutes, the spent solid rocket boosters drop away, taking the charges with them. After that, problems severe enough to threaten people on the ground would leave the crew with two options: Enter orbit and fly around the Earth for a landing at California’s Edwards Air Force Base, or steer into the ocean. Visit http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4262479.html to view the article. (5/7)

Russia's Energomash to Double Production of Rocket Engines (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Khimki, Russia (RIA Novosti) May 07, 2008 - Russia's Energomash is planning to double the number of engines produced for Atlas and Zenit launch vehicles in the future, the head of the company said on Tuesday. Energomash won tenders on the design and production of 101 RD-180 engines for U.S. Atlas carrier rockets and RD-171 engines for Russian-Ukrainian Zenit rockets in the 1990s. (5/7)

John Glenn: Keep Shuttles Flying (Source: Florida Today)
Mercury and shuttle astronaut John Glenn says NASA should continue flying the current fleet beyond its planned retirement in 2010. “The shuttles may be old, but they’re still the most complex vehicles ever put together by people, and they’re still working very well,” he said. Glenn acknowledged that adding more launches to the current schedule would be expensive. “But it’s also going to be expensive to contract with the Russians to put our people up in space in Russian vehicles to our space station and bring us back. Is that the kind of economy the American people want? I hardly think so,” he said. Glenn also is pushing for the United States to continue working on the space station beyond 2015, when the nation plans to pull the plug on its involvement. (5/6)

Ball Aerospace Wins Three NASA Research Deals (Source: Washington Technology)
Ball Aerospace has won three research contracts from NASA totaling $7.1 million to support Earth science programs and studies. On two of the contracts, Ball will assist the Science Mission Directorate’s Instrument Incubator Program, which fosters the development of Earth science instrument subsystem technologies, including flash arrays to profile vegetation canopies from space, and instruments can accurately measure global tropospheric winds to improve weather forecasting. Under the third contract, Ball will assist a study to develop laser technology for gravity and climate studies. (5/6)

Orbital Wins Contract for Suborbital Launch Vehicle Research and Engineering (Source: Business Wire)
Orbital Sciences Corp. has won a DOD contract for the Theoretical Studies and Engineering Services (TSER) program. Orbital will serve as a prime contractor to support Army, Navy and Air Force R&D programs managed by White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) in New Mexico. The basic term of the indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (IDIQ) TSER contract is for five years, with an option for an additional five years. The total value of the contract is up to $100 million for the full ten-year period. In addition to the TSER prime contract, Orbital is also a member of a separate Northrop Grumman TSER team, with company activities centered at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. (5/6)

Ancient Asteroid Impact Coated Earth in Blanket of Beads (Source: Space.com)
The asteroid linked to dinosaurs' demise 65 million years ago slammed into the Yucatan Peninsula with such force it pulverized Earth's crust. The result was a veil of airborne carbon beads that blanketed the planet, a new study finds. Spanning about 124 miles (200 kilometers), the giant indentation left by the asteroid impact continues to be a treasure trove of clues for scientists piecing together the wipe-out of 70 percent of life on Earth, including non-avian dinosaurs.

Called the Chicxulub Crater, this CSI-site is located just west of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Geologists generally agree an asteroid slammed into Earth at the end of the Cretaceous period; that the catastrophic impact sent molten rock and super-hot ash airborne; and that as the molten material fell from the sky, it ignited flammable flora, sparking forest fires. (5/6)