July 30 News Items

NASA Lunar Science Institute Names First International Partner (Source: NASA)
NASA's Lunar Science Institute at Moffett Field, Calif., has announced its first international affiliate partner for conducting lunar science activities. Canada's University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, will represent the Canadian lunar science community as part of the newly established Canadian Network for Lunar Science and Exploration. (7/30)

Colonizing Venus With Floating Cities (Source: Universe Today)
Geoffrey Landis, a scientist at NASA's Glenn Research Center who writes science fiction in his spare time, recently shared his ideas about colonizing Venus. Yes, Venus, our hot, greenhouse-effect-gone-mad neighboring planet with a crushing surface pressure that has doomed the few spacecraft that have attempted to reach its surface. Venus' surface itself is pretty much out of the question for human habitation, but about 50 kilometers above the surface, Landis says the atmosphere is the most Earth-like environment, other than Earth itself, in the solar system. What Landis proposes is creating floating cities on Venus where people could live and work, as well as study the planet below.

50 km above the surface, Venus has air pressure of approximately 1 bar and temperatures in the 0°C-50°C range, a quite comfortable environment for humans. Humans wouldn't require pressurized suits when outside, but it wouldn't quite be a shirtsleeves environment. We'd need air to breathe and protection from the sulfuric acid in the atmosphere. "Because the atmosphere of Venus is CO2, the gases that we live in all the time, nitrogen and oxygen, would be a lifting gas," he said.

So, create a bubble, fill it with Earth-like atmosphere, and it would float on Venus. The biggest challenge would be using a substance resistant to sulfuric acid to form the outer layer of the bubble; ceramics or metal sulfates could possibly serve in this role, but of course, you'd want to be able to see outside, as well. "Just think of the great pictures you could get," said Landis. (7/16)

Space Shuttle's Birthplace is Getting Demolished (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
It is but a taste of the ending to come; a symbol that the space shuttle program - adored by some, loathed by others - is fast coming to a dramatic close. The six-story maintenance stand once used to build and repair the orbiters at Palmdale, California, was demolished on July 14. The stand was destroyed as efforts to dispose of surplus shuttle equipment and facilities around the country are stepped up. It is just the beginning. NASA and external tank contractor Lockheed Martin are preparing to lay off workers and rip out tooling equipment at the tank manufacturing plant at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans sometime next year. Some of the demolition work in New Orleans could start this fall, according to NASA officials. (7/30)

Space Coast Legislator Promotes Space to Obama Campaign (Source: ERAU)
Representative Tony Sasso, a state legislator from Florida's Space Coast, met on Monday with Barack Obama campaign officials to discuss the importance of a strong space policy platform for the presumptive democratic nominee. Rep. Sasso was advised that an Obama team is currently working to refine the campaign's space policy. (7/28)

Boeing, Air Force Will Launch Unmanned Space Plane in November (Source: Aviation Week)
The Air Force and Boeing are preparing for the first flight test of an unmanned military space plane. Launch of the first mission of the USAF/Boeing X-37B space maneuvering vehicle is scheduled for liftoff from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in November on an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle. A landing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., would follow. The mission concept has been under development for decades as a way to broaden U.S. military space access with a winged vehicle that could perform a multitude of missions before returning to Earth for a runway landing. The vehicle is about 27 feet long with a 15-foot wingspan. (7/30)

Air Force Accelerates Work on Satellite Imaging Radar (Source: Aerospace Daily)
The Air Force Space Command is speeding up upgrade work for the Haystack Ultra-wideband Satellite Imaging Radar. The upgrade, which would be completed in fiscal 2012, will give the DOD the ability to characterize microsatellites earlier than previously planned. An additional $10 million requested in fiscal 2008 would allow for the accelerated work on the project. (7/30)

Northrop Grumman 2Q Profit Beats Forecast (Source: Forbes)
Northrop Grumman Corp. said its second-quarter profit rose 8 percent as sales jumped 10 percent on strong performance in its shipbuilding and aerospace segments. The Los Angeles-based company reported net income of $495 million in the quarter ending June 30. That compares to earnings of $460 million in the year-ago period. Revenue rose nearly 10 percent to $8.63 billion from $7.88 billion, led by double-digit growth in its shipbuilding segment. The latest results beat Wall Street's forecast of $8.28 billion. (7/30)

NASA Still our Best Space Hope (Source: Huntsville Times)
Late-comers are unlikely to get us to the moon. NASA's plans to use the new Ares launch vehicles to return to the moon and on to Mars have some questioning this decision. Buzz Aldrin, Apollo 11 astronaut and moon walker, is the most recent to question NASA's plans for the future. I have been reminded recently by other Apollo astronauts and moon walkers that this is shades of the Saturn Apollo era. NASA Marshall had to add an additional F-1 engine to the Saturn V booster to lift the necessary payload to the moon's surface. As Gene Cernan mentioned in his book, "Last Man to Walk on the Moon," they had pogo problems in the Saturn V (that means the spacecraft is shaking so much the astronauts can barely read the instruments) on Apollo 10, but Huntsville fixed it. (7/30)

NASA to Study Old Sites for Launches (Source: Florida Today)
Within a month, NASA will announce how it will study some of the 30 or more vacant launch sites at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station that could be considered for a commercial launch pad. NASA looked to launch sites at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station after hearings in February when citizens protested against development of two proposed commercial launch sites at Kennedy Space Center that would disturb pristine areas. The direction of the study will be refined next month, but NASA won't decide which unused launch sites at Cape Canaveral are acceptable for development.

In the search for a commercial launch site, NASA is working with state agency Space Florida, which holds $14.5 million in state-appropriated money for building the complex, and which has bonding authority to help private enterprise borrow money for the site. No launch company, however, is publicly urging NASA to build a site to launch commercial rockets. (7/30)

EADS 2Q Profit Up 46 Percent on Cost Savings (Source: AP)
EADS, the parent company of planemaker Airbus, said its profit surged in the second quarter as cost savings and higher deliveries offset a big charge for delays to its groundbreaking A380 jumbo jet and further woes from the falling dollar. Net profit for the three months to June rose 46 percent to 118 million euros ($185.32 million) compared with 81 million euros a year earlier. Revenue advanced 5 percent to 9.89 billion euros ($15.53 billion). (7/30)

Glenn Calls Bush Vision an Unfunded Mandate (Source: Space News)
Former U.S. Sen. John Glenn (D-Ohio), the first American to orbit the Earth, criticized President George W. Bush for directing NASA to set a course for the Moon and not following through with the promised funding. (7/30)

U.S. Air Force Opts to Move Ahead on T-Sat (Source: Space News)
After evaluating potential alternatives to its Transformational Satellite (T-Sat) communications system, the U.S. Defense Department has opted to go forward with the program as planned and intends to award a $15 billion prime contract to Boeing or Lockheed Martin by this winter, according to a U.S. Air Force spokesman. (7/30)

Giant Lake Confirmed on Saturn's Moon Titan (Source: Space.com)
A giant, glassy lake larger than North America's Lake Ontario graces the south pole of Saturn's largest moon Titan, new research confirms. "This is the first observation that really pins down that Titan has a surface lake filled with liquid," said lead researcher Robert Brown of the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory in Tucson. Called Ontario Lacus, the lake extends 150 miles (235 kilometers) and covers an area of about 7,800 square miles (20,000 square kilometers). The lake structure is filled mostly with methane and ethane, hydrocarbons that are gases on Earth but liquid on the bone-chilling surface of Titan. (7/30)

Russian Rocket to Orbit European GOCE Satellite on Sept. 10 (Source: RIA Novosti)
The launch of a Russian Rockot carrier rocket bearing Europe's first GOCE satellite has been scheduled for September 10. The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite will measure the Earth's gravitational field. The Rockot launch vehicle is a modified version of the Russian RS-18 (SS-19 Stiletto) intercontinental ballistic missile. It uses the two original lower stages of the ICBM in conjunction with a Breeze-KM upper-stage for commercial payloads. The launch will be carried out by Russia's Space Forces from the Plesetsk spaceport in northwest Russia and will put the GOCE satellite into a low earth orbit (LEO) of 270-300 km (170-186 miles). (7/30)

League Makes Test Run at Several Hundred Feet (Source: New York Times)
A small rocket-powered plane streaked across the sky Tuesday, trailing a bright yellow plume of flame and kicking off what its sponsors hope will be the next Nascar — but with its tracks in the sky. The demonstration of the first plane at the EAA AirVenture air show was a debut of sorts for the fledgling Rocket Racing League, which will fly its racer several times this week. It plans to hold further demonstrations and the first exhibition races at air shows later this year in Nevada and in New Mexico. (7/30)

NASA: Moon Expeditions by 2020, Mars in 25 Years (Source: The Northwestern)
Following its 50th anniversary, NASA is looking at more expeditions to the Moon and Mars. That's what NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said at the AirVenture grounds in Oshkosh. "If we can stay on track and on target with our elected leaders...within the next 15 years, we can have a base on the Moon," he said. Griffin said he sees NASA working on the moon in the early 2020s, as long as the space agency can maintain its current budgets and policy. He said bases similar to those in Antarctica could be feasible. He added that a Mars expedition could be feasible in 25 years. (7/30)

Korea to Take Part in US Lunar Project (Source: KBS)
Korea will participate in NASA’s joint project to build science bases on the surface of the moon. NASA said that it signed an agreement Tuesday with eight countries for its joint exploration project. NASA said in a statement that it discussed the details of the space collaboration in a meeting last year in which it set principles for next-generation lunar exploration. The project called the “International Lunar Network” will build between six and eight scientific bases on the surface of the moon. NASA will set up two lunar modules in 2013 and 2014 as part of the endeavor. The project was created after the National Research Council affirmed that the moon offers "profound scientific value" and "lunar activities apply to broad scientific and exploration concerns." (7/30)

NASA's Altair Engine Faces Landing Abort Challenge (Source: Flight International)
NASA's Altair lunar lander ascent engine is facing the challenges of not having enough propellant tank pressure for an emergency start if the astronauts decide to abort a landing, but too much pressure long before the end of the planned 210 day lunar base missions. The engine, expected to be a development of the Apollo program's Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-18, uses liquid methane (LCH4) and liquid oxygen that is fed at about 22.4bar (325lb/in2). Click here to view the article. (7/30)

Let Us Be 'Dazzled' by NASA, Says Nelson (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The 50th birthday wishes keep on coming for NASA. Here's the latest from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Florida: "Mr. President, it was Ronald Reagan who, in his 1986 Challenger address to a mourning nation, noted that we are accustomed to wonders in this country. He rightly observed: 'It’s hard to dazzle us.'
But, Mr. President, America’s space program has been doing just that – and, for 50 years now; even in times of loss, even in times of tragedy. It’s hard to believe, but it was 50 years ago today that Dwight Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, creating America’s space agency, NASA. It’s equally hard to believe, but it was just a few short years after that - that John F. Kennedy presented a bold challenge before a joint session of Congress: Send a man to the moon and return him safely to Earth by the end of the decade." Click here to view the article. (7/30)

McCain: Explore Space and Not Just by ‘Hitching a Ride’ (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
U.S. Sen. John McCain took one small step -- but not a giant leap -- toward outlining his NASA policy by announcing his support for the agency’s moon-Mars program in a release that commended NASA on its 50th birthday. “As President, I will act to make ensure our astronauts will continue to explore space, and not just by hitching a ride with someone else. I intend to make sure that the NASA constellation program has the resources it needs so that we can begin a new era of human space exploration,” said the Republican presidential candidate in a statement.

The impact was perhaps diminished somewhat by the statement's failure to capitalize "Constellation." Meant to replace the space shuttle, set to retire in 2010, the Constellation program aims to send astronauts to the Moon, and eventually Mars, aboard a series of new rockets and capsules. Its first mission is scheduled for 2015, but financial and technical concerns have raised questions about the feasibility of that date. (7/30)

Obama Says He'll Support NASA Programs (Source: Gannett)
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged his commitment to NASA in a statement his campaign released congratulating the agency on its 50th anniversary. The declaration may surprise many NASA supporters. Earlier in his campaign, the Illinois senator said he would rather see money budgeted for Constellation, the program to replace the aging shuttles, go instead toward education reform. Yet, Obama said he would support the agency if elected this fall. “I believe we need to revitalize NASA’s mission to maintain America’s leadership, and recommit our nation to the space program, and as President I intend to do just that,” he said. Obama took aim at the current Washington establishment — and the Bush administration — for failing to give NASA the sufficient support it has needed. (7/30)