June 5 News Items

NASA Awards 13 University Research Grants (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded more than $8.5 million to colleges and universities nationwide to conduct research and technology development in areas of importance to NASA's mission. Recipients are from Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Tennessee, Vermont, and Wyoming. Winning proposals were selected through a merit-based, peer-reviewed competition. The average award is $750,000 for a 3-year period. The selections are part of NASA's Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research, or EPSCoR. The program is designed to assist states in developing partnerships between NASA research assets, academic institutions and industry. Enhancing the nation's academic research enterprise benefits states' economic viability and development, and contributes to the agency's research priorities. (6/5)

University of Mississippi Law Program is Unique (Source: Daily Mississippian)
The University of Mississippi School of Law will offer space law through the National Center for Remote Sensing, Air and Space Law, the only aerospace law curriculum in the nation since 2002. During the upcoming academic year, the University of Nebraska's Space and Telecommunications program will begin, thereby creating the second space law program in the U.S. Internationally, one program exists in each of Holland, Germany, Canada and Lapland. Students interested in the law program should be aware of scholarships available to applicants. In 2007, the center awarded three scholarships to first year students upon submission and approval of the student's proposals of future legal research in space law. The scholarships are for one year of in-state tuition. (6/4)

Moon Dust Could Be Used to Build Lunar Lodgings (Source: Space.com)
A team of astronomers has cooked up an out-of-this-world recipe for lunar concrete that could be used to build homes on the moon. The innovative recipe of carbon, glue and moon dust could also be helpful in building other structures on the moon, including giant telescopes and solar power arrays, according to a researcher at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. To arrive at the concrete recipe, the team mixed small amounts of carbon nanotubes and epoxies (glue-like materials) with simulated lunar dust, or crushed rock that has the same composition and grain size as dust on the moon. (6/5)

Kosmas, Feeney Spar Over NASA Funding (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Thousands of workers at Kennedy Space Center are expected to lose their jobs when NASA retires the space shuttle in 2010, a local economic disaster that Democrat Suzanne Kosmas puts at the feet of her rival, U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo. In response, Feeney said Kosmas' comments showed "amazing naivete" and that he has spent his entire career pressuring Congress and the White House to give NASA more money. Which candidate wins the space debate could be a major factor in a potentially close November election. Each candidate has more than $500,000 in campaign funds, and the Capitol Hill publication Roll Call recently ranked the race as a "tossup."

"It doesn't take a lot of voters," said Roger Handberg, a University of Central Florida professor who specializes in space and politics. A small "group of informed voters tied to the space program" could influence the outcome if either candidate emerges as a better choice for NASA. The key may be Feeney's space record -- as the candidates differ little in their plans. Each wants to give NASA more money and generate more jobs for the Space Coast. (6/5)

House Committee Votes to Extend Shuttles' Life (Source: Florida Today)
A bill that would allow NASA to add a new shuttle mission and eliminate President Bush's 2010 deadline for retiring the fleet won approval Wednesday from a key House committee, sending the measure to the full chamber. The House Science and Technology Committee unanimously approved the bill. The bipartisan support sends "a strong message to the next administration...that Congress believes that NASA is important and worthy of the nation's support," said Rep. Bart Gordon, the Tennessee Democrat who heads the panel. NASA would gain a mission to deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station. The agency canceled that mission after the 2003 Columbia disaster. (6/5)

SpaceX and NASA to Improve Mission Critical Software Systems (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX and NASA’s Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) Facility haved signed an agreement to advance the state of the art in mission- and safety-critical software that will be used for sending SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS). Specifically, NASA’s IV&V Facility will provide an additional layer of assessment and mission assurance, including a full analysis of the system software for a SpaceX-developed UHF communications unit. The system provides low-cost, high reliability space-to-space communications directly between Dragon and ISS. The Dragon spacecraft also utilizes NASA’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), the Global Positioning System (GPS), and the Iridium commercial satellite telephone system for maximum flexibility and performance. (6/5)

Canada Lagging Behind G8 In Space Capabilities (Source: CNW)
The Canadian Auto Workers union and the Rideau Institute released a report that outlined key investments for Canada to rebuild its lagging space capabilities. "This report outlines investment opportunities that could yield significant economic return to Canada, and ensure the sustainability of our high tech space sector," said Carol Phillips, assistant to CAW national president. "We have tremendously talented workers in this country who are producing state-of-the-art space technology. We need to ensure those jobs stay in Canada." (6/4)

Glitch Delays First Scoop of Mars Soil by Phoenix Lander (Source: Tucson Citizen)
The planned Thursday delivery of the Phoenix Mars Lander mission's first scoop of Martian soil to a scientific instrument for analysis has been delayed at least a day by a communications glitch. Phoenix scientists Wednesday had ordered the craft's robotic arm to scoop a sample of surface soil, move the arm's scoop to a position poised above the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA, and take images of the arm scoop's contents. The Phoenix team learned Wednesday afternoon that NASA's Odyssey orbiter, which relays mission data 170 million miles back and forth between the Lander and Earth, had entered a "safe mode" that prevented Wednesday's instructions from reaching the Lander. (6/4)

Google to Pay $3.66M Yearly for New High-Tech Campus on NASA Property (Source: San Jose Business Journal)
Google Inc. and NASA plan to develop a new high-technology campus at NASA Ames Research Center. Under the terms of the 40-year agreement, Mountain View-based Google will pay NASA an initial base rent of $3.66 million per year and will lease 42.2 acres of unimproved land in NASA Research Park at Ames to construct up to 1.2 million square feet of offices and research and development facilities. Google also plans to construct company housing and amenities for dining, sports, fitness, child care, conference and parking for its employees, as well as recreation and parking facilities and infrastructure improvements for NASA's use.

NASA will use the rent payments from Google to cover the full cost of the lease and the balance for maintenance, capital revitalization, and improvements of the real property assets at Ames. The 40-year lease provides for periodic escalations and adjustments of rent. Google may extend the lease for three 10-year terms. After that, NASA and Google may agree to extend the lease two additional 10-year terms. If all extensions are exercised, the lease term will be a total of 90 years. (6/4)

Space Tourism May Hold Key To Making 'Space Faring' A Reality (Source: Radio Free Europe)
More than 1,000 people gathered in Washington, D.C., to explore the idea that the future of the human race is not confined to this world alone. They came together for the 27th-annual International Space Development Conference (ISDC), sponsored by the National Space Society (NSS). The vision of the NSS is "people working and living in thriving communities beyond the Earth, and the use of the vast resources of space for the dramatic betterment of humanity." As the Russian space pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky wrote, “Earth is the cradle of mankind, but one does not stay in the cradle forever.”

Traveling to other worlds, however, will require that the cost of access to orbit be radically reduced. Today, its costs about $15,000 to lift 1 kilogram of payload into Low Earth Orbit (LEO), often defined as between 150 to 800 kilometers above the Earth's surface. LEOs are used by the International Space Station and by most environmental and intelligence-gathering satellites. The launch vehicles in this price range include the European Ariane, the Russian Proton, and the U.S. Atlas and Delta rockets. The costs for NASA’s fleet of space shuttles are much higher.

So far, only five individuals have paid their own way into space. All have traveled via Russia’s reliable, but aging, Soyuz rocket and capsule combination. Visit http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/06/d849b78d-8350-4b44-8f1f-e2cd29df2dd2.html to view the article. (6/5)

NASA'S Griffin: Space is Not an Election Issue (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
In a quick interview before Discovery was set for liftoff on Saturday, NASA Chief Mike Griffin dismissed the notion promoted by many political strategists in Florida that space was an election issue. He also said he was confident that the successor to the shuttle program would survive the change of administration next year. "Space is not an election issue," Griffin said. "Iraq is an election issue. The economy is an election issue. The deficit is an election issue. But space is not an election issue and they [the candidates] are not focused on it, and I don't expect them to be."

His blunt assessment runs contrary to efforts being made by space supporters on Capitol Hill to make NASA and money for human space flight an election issue, especially in Florida. Leading the charge is Florida's democratic senator Bill Nelson, who earlier this week told the Washington Space Business Roundtable that space will be critical to winning Florida, and thus the White House. Click here to view the article. (6/2)

Alabama Congressman Pulses Obama on Space (Source: Birmingham News)
U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer, D-Huntsville, said he's been talking to both the Clinton and Obama campaigns about missile defense and space exploration -- two critical economic issues for the Huntsville area. "I had a terrific meeting with Barack Obama a few weeks ago," Cramer said. "I was very impressed with Barack Obama ... I think he's likely to be the nominee and I want to continue to be a voice to his campaign about space and missile defense."

Cramer said Obama had positions about space exploration and how far along the space agency was in funding a return trip to the Moon and on to Mars. He said Obama made it clear that the exploration program was not just a signature of the Bush Administration, but one that many congressmen had wanted for years. "I wanted them to look at the issues more thoroughly ... I just got a commitment that they would," he said. (6/3)

NASA Chief Backs Proposal for European Spaceship (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
NASA chief Mike Griffin threw his weight behind calls for Europe to build its own manned spacecraft. The experience of the US shuttle, to be retired in 2010, highlighted the need for multiple systems to provide backup for the International Space Station (ISS), Griffin told reporters in Paris. Griffin praised a robot European freighter that carried out a maiden automatic docking with the ISS in April, and said he was deeply enthusiastic about proposals to transform it into a crew transporter. "I think it's a great idea. I would love to Europe to do that," he said. (6/5)

Delta 2 Launch Delayed Until Next Week (Source: Florida Today)
The planned launch Saturday of a Delta 2 rocket with a NASA astronomical telescope is being pushed back to the middle of next week so engineers can swap out a faulty battery on a system that would be used to destroy the vehicle if it veered off course. The 13-story rocket and its payload -- NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope -- had been slated to blast off from complex 17 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport between 11:45 a.m. and 1:40 p.m. EDT Saturday. But the rocket's Flight Termination System battery failed during routine prelaunch testing Wednesday. (6/5)

Europe's Thales Alenia Space Wins Nilesat-201 Satellite Contract (Source: Thales Alenia)
Thales Alenia Space signed a contract with Nilesat, the Egyptian satellite company, to provide the Nilesat-201 broadcasting communication satellite and associated services and ground stations. As prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space will be in charge of the design, manufacturing, test and in-orbit acceptance of the satellite. In addition, Thales Alenia Space will provide satellite and mission control system for the Nilesat stations in both Cairo and Alexandria. (6/5)

China Likely to Beat U.S. to Moon (Source: Lexington Herald-Leader)
Chinese astronauts are on schedule to beat the United States back to the moon by two or three years, the head of NASA's lunar exploration program said. "If they keep on the path they're on, they can" land before Americans do, said Rick Gilbreth, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems. The goal of NASA's Constellation program is to return astronauts to the moon by 2020, as proposed in President Bush's Vision for Space Exploration. Gilbreth said the Chinese could accomplish that by 2017 or 2018. The Chinese lead will be even longer if the U.S. schedule slips, as some space experts predict. (6/5)

North Carolina Professors Shoot For The Moon (Source: WNCN)
Almost four decades after man first landed on the moon, there’s a chance the North Carolina State University Wolfpack could be next. Some triangle business leaders have teamed up with NCSU professors in a worldwide competition to land a vehicle on the moon. The contest is sponsored by Google and the X PRIZE Foundation, a California-based group that offers huge prizes to spur innovation in a variety of fields. The prize is $30 million and the landing must happen by 2012. Teams can hire a company to launch the vehicle, but they’re on their own figuring out how to get the vehicle to the moon. (6/5)

Angara Named as Possible Spacecrew Transport Launcher (Source: Flight International)
Russia's Khrunichev State Space Research and Production Center's in-development Angara rocket could launch the proposed Russian-European Space Agency Crew Space Transportation System (CSTS) spacecraft, according to the head of Russia's Federal Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov. Of the Angara family of rockets, which uses a common core booster (CCB) design, only the Angara A5 heavy booster would be capable of launching the four- to six-crew CSTS conical capsule and its service module. A test firing of the first CCB is expected this year.

The delayed Angara's development was to have seen a first CCB launch this year. The CSTS test flight is expected in 2015. Other candidate launchers for CSTS have been an improved Samara Space Center Soyuz rocket, notionally called Soyuz 3, and in the longer term a man-rated EADS Astrium Ariane 5. However, Ukraine's Yuzhnoye Design Bureau's Zenit launcher has also been considered. (6/5)

Astronauts Attach Japanese Lab to Space Station (Source: AIA)
Astronauts on Wednesday secured Japan's Kibo laboratory module to the International Space Station. The process took more than six hours. Also, NASA said experts have decided that no additional inspections are needed for four spots on the shuttle that were dinged during an earlier shuttle maneuver. (6/5)

NASA and Google Announce Lease at Ames Research Center (Source: SpaceRef.com)
NASA and Google Inc. Wednesday announced plans to develop a new high-technology campus at NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, Calif. Under the terms of the 40-year agreement, Google will lease 42.2 acres of unimproved land in NASA Research Park at Ames to construct up to 1.2 million square feet of offices and research and development (R&D) facilities in a campus-style setting. (6/5)

Astronomers Suggest Looking for Aliens That Have Already Found Us (Source: WIRED)
Just as human astronomers can only find planets that are lined up just-so with our telescopes, prospective aliens from across the galaxy would have the same problem. By searching the thin elliptical slice of the sky where hypothetical alien astronomers could have easily detected earth and its habitability, a Johns Hopkins astronomer argues that we're more likely to find signals from alien civilizations.

"...those civilizations ... that inhabit star systems that lie close to the plane of the Earth's orbit around the sun will be the most motivated to send communications signals toward Earth because those civilizations will surely have detected our annual transit across the face of the sun, telling them that Earth lies in a habitable zone, where liquid water is stable. Through spectroscopic analysis of our atmosphere, they will know that Earth likely bears life."

Applying the empathetic approach to the search for alien life could focus human efforts on a mere 3 percent of the sky. Working with this smaller set of targets, Henry, with colleagues at SETI, hope to use the new Allen Telescope Array to search more effectively for signals beamed across the universe by civilizations that stumbled upon the earth and realized our potential. (6/5)