June 10 News Items

L-3 to Support NASA Astronaut Training (Source: SpaceRef.com)
L-3 Communications was awarded a five-year $49 million contract by NASA to provide space systems domain expertise to enhance space training for NASA engineers and astronauts. Under this new contract, known as Simulation and Software Technology (SST), L-3 Enterprise will focus on robotics; dynamics; guidance, navigation, and control; avionics; electrical power systems; and ground systems technologies. (6/10)

June 23 Space Rally Update (Source: ERAU)
Organizers are hoping for large crowds to show support for preserving Florida's space industry during a June 23 rally at Port Canaveral. The event is planned around a space-focused U.S. Senate hearing at the Canaveral Port Authority's Maritime Center. The hearing will begin at 9:00 a.m. (6/10)

Mikulski: Wallops Could Become Space Station Cargo Hub (Source: Delaware Online)
Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski says the decision by Orbital Sciences to base a rocket program at Wallops Island means the lower Eastern Shore site could eventually become a cargo hub for the International Space Station. Mikulski says Wallops is already a major employer for Eastern Shore residents with about 35 percent of its NASA employees living in Maryland. The Baltimore Democrat says if the new rocket program is successful, more jobs and economic development could be coming to the lower Eastern Shore. (6/10)

Embry-Riddle Students to Conduct Fuel-Slosh Experiment on NASA Aircraft (Source: ERAU)
NASA has selected a student team from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University to fly an experiment of their own design in the annual Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program (RGSFOP). The team’s experiment, titled Project FuSSION (Fuel Slosh Simulation of Induced Oscillatory Nutation), investigates the prediction of liquid behavior in fuel tanks that can cause destabilization of spinning spacecraft. Over the course of six months, the team members have been developing and testing their experiment in preparation for their flights on NASA’s modified C-9 aircraft. During the program, which runs July 10-19, the team will be based at Ellington Field near Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The fuel-slosh experiment is a continuation of a previous Embry-Riddle project that flew in the NASA program in 2006, NESST (Nutation Experiment Slosh Simulation Test). NESST team leader James Ristow, who is now a NASA engineer, remarked, “It’s good that this topic is being revisited. There’s much more that can be investigated.” In fulfillment of the educational outreach requirement of the NASA program, the team is partnering with Embry-Riddle’s TeachSpace program and with the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Daytona Beach to give presentations to local students of all ages to inspire them to pursue careers in science and technology. (6/10)

Alliant Techsystems to Combine Units (Source: St. Paul Business Journal)
Alliant Techsystems Inc. will combine its launch systems and space systems groups into a single business unit. The newly combined unit - Alliant Space Systems - will operate more efficiently and bring a broader customer base to its technology portfolio, according to a company statement. The company said that the new unit will be the world's largest solid rocket launch systems provider, with approximately 6,600 employees in 10 states. It expects that revenues for the group for 2009 will be greater than $1.6 billion. (6/10)

Northrop Grumman Teams with NASA and University Partners on Hyperspectral Imager (Source: Northrop Grumman)
Northrop Grumman, NASA's Ames Research Center and several university science partners recently completed a flyover of the Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve (SMER), collecting valuable test data that will enable scientists to obtain a close-up view of environmental changes and support critical decision-making efforts. Along with an instrument supplied by NASA's Ames Research Center, HATI was integrated onto a Piper Navajo aircraft to fly over the 4,344-acre SMER, a research field station of San Diego State University (SDSU). (6/10)

SpaceX to Fly Celestis Memorial Payload on Falcon 1 on June 23 (Source: Celestis)
Launch of the next Celestis memorial payload (carrying cremated remains of 208 participants) is projected to occur at 7:00 pm EDT on June 23 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 1 launch vehicle from Kwajalein atoll in the Marshall Islands. Visit http://www.memorialspaceflights.com/explorers.asp for information. (6/10)

Sun Goes Longer Than Normal Without Producing Sunspots (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
The sun has been laying low for the past couple of years, producing no sunspots and giving a break to satellites. That's good news for people who scramble when space weather interferes with their technology, but it became a point of discussion for the scientists who attended an international solar conference at Montana State University. (6/10)

Orbital Closes Sale Of Transportation Management Systems Unit (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Orbital Sciences has completed the sale of its non-core Transportation Management Systems (TMS) unit to Affiliated Computer Systems (ACS) for $43 million. TMS is a leading integrator of software-based systems that combine satellite navigation and wireless communications to enable municipal transit and other fleet operators to better manage and dispatch public transit and highway service vehicles and commuter light rail systems. (6/10)

Voids Found in Flame Trench Wall (Source: Florida Today)
More hidden weak spots have been found by tap-testing the flame trench's concrete walls near places where the pad 39A mound structure was ripped open during the last shuttle launch. NASA suspects the cause is erosion. An investigation team is expected to present a repairs plan at a June 19 meeting. NASA plans a methodical and complete approach, but doesn't expect the fix to delay the next shuttle launch in October. The shuttle's 6 million pounds of thrust blasted fire bricks and rubble beyond and through a perimeter fence at 1,800 feet. The cleanup has been slowed by the presence of rope-like asbestos bits that were used as filler between bricks. (6/10)

Tom Feeney's Statement on Orbital's Decision to Launch in Virginia (Source: Feeney)
"While I'm disappointed with Orbital's decision to launch out of Wallops in Virginia, I look forward to sitting down with Orbital for a briefing on Florida's strengths and weaknesses from a launch industry perspective...I thank Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp and Space Florida CEO Steve Koehler for putting together an incentive package to lure Orbital to the Space Coast. Today's disappointing announcement highlights Florida's need to redouble our efforts to attract space business to Cape Canaveral."

"On the bright side, the NASA Reauthorization Bill that I cosponsored as Ranking Member of the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee, passed the full Science and Technology Committee last week and included a requirement that NASA study future commercial launch ranges to be located near current federal ranges. I plan to continue to fight to complete a vision for Florida's Space Coast to become a 21st century international aerospace and space epicenter," said Feeney. (6/10)

Spacehab Announces Stock Purchase Agreement (Source: Spacehab)
Spacehab has entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement for the purchase of 1,329,786 shares of the Company’s common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $625,000. The Company will use the proceeds for general corporate purposes. The Company anticipates that the transaction will close by June 13, 2008. (6/9)

India Moon Mission Launch in September (Source: Times of India)
The wait for Mission Moon just got a little longer. A crucial meeting of the senior scientists at ISRO's Satellite Center has decided that the moon mission could blast off in September. Weather conditions will also determine the precise launch date. A 32-meter diameter antenna at Byalalu is being tested to receive signals from deep space. As India does not have deep space satellites, it has sought services of such satellites from a third country. (6/9)

Editorial: Don't Complicate New Mexico Spaceport Tax Plan (Source: Las Cruces Sun-News)
Supporters of the spaceport were pleased when voters in Sierra County agreed to a local tax to help fund the project. Those same supporters were disappointed Thursday when a deadline passed and Sierra and Doña Ana counties had not completed a contract for the creation of a spaceport tax district. This means — barring a miracle — there will be a six-month delay in the implementation of the sales tax. Doña Ana County commissioners were scheduled to consider a spaceport district contract May 28, but it was pulled from the agenda because negotiations were not complete.

We can understand each side's concerns. Sierra may fear insufficient board representation due to its much smaller population. But they — rightly — believe they should have fair representation since the spaceport would reside in their county. Doña Ana feels it should have fair representation because its citizens will be putting up — by far — the bulk of the money. The Spaceport Authority wants statewide representation because it is a huge project, it does belong to the state of New Mexico, and it will be receiving significant state money.

And don't forget Otero County, whose citizens are expected to vote on the issue in November. Should it pass there, that would add a third entity to the tax district. Here's one way to speed the plow. Simplify life. Make the tax district a seven-person board. Two members are from Doña Ana, chosen by county commissioners. Two are from Sierra, chosen by county commissioners. The other three persons are at-large positions from anywhere in the state (not excluding Sierra and Doña Ana), chosen by the Spaceport Authority. If Otero passes the tax, one of the three at-large position comes from there, chosen by county commissioners. (6/9)

Scientists to Set Lunar Health Standards (Source: Space.com)
The alien and perilous dust on the moon has prompted scientists to ponder lunar health standards that would be set before astronauts go there again. A diverse team that includes flight surgeons, industry air quality experts, toxicologists, lunar geologists, and even an astronaut is examining how harmful lunar dust could be to humans.

Members of the Lunar Airborne Dust Toxicity Advisory Group (LADTAG) have some concerns about the toxicity of the chemically reactive lunar dust grains, which also contain nano-particles of natural metal and glass shards formed from a combination of chemical reactions, meteorite impacts and solar wind bombardment. LADTAG will help NASA set health standards for astronaut exposure to the dust — a necessary step for designing the spacecraft, rovers, and habitats that will return humans to the moon. (6/10)

Hints of Structure Beyond the Visible Universe (Source: New Scientist)
Colossal structures larger than the visible universe – forged during the period of cosmic inflation nearly 14 billion years ago – may be responsible for a strange pattern seen in the big bang's afterglow, says a team of cosmologists. If confirmed, the structures could provide precious information about the universe's earliest moments.

In the first instant after its birth, the universe is thought to have experienced a rapid growth spurt called inflation. During this period, space itself expanded faster than the speed of light. Inflation solves some cosmological puzzles, such as why relic radiation from the big bang, released when the universe was less than 400,000 years old, is relatively uniform. Visit http://space.newscientist.com/article/dn14098-hints-of-structure-beyond-the-visible-universe.html to view the article. (6/10)

Gamma-Ray Telescope Built by University of California Physicists to Launch (Source: UCSC)
NASA s new Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, which is slated to be launched Sunday, will gather data about black holes, dark matter and gamma-ray bursts. UCSC physicist Robert Johnson and adjunct professor of physics Bill Atwood led the UCSC team that helped develop the telescope. The product of more than 14 years of hard work by a UC Santa Cruz-led team will lift off from Cape Canaveral this week in the form of NASA's new Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope, which, scientists hope, will help to gather data about some of the little-known sources of gamma-rays, like black holes and dark matter. (6/10)