July 31 News Items

Space a Potential Fracture Line at Democratic National Convention? (Source: Examiner.com)
When the Democratic National Convention rolls into the Mile-High City, two leaders with widely-varying views on space will symbolize a potential fracture in the Democratic party over space. On the one hand, there's senior party member Sen. Bill Nelson. On the other hand, there's Sen. Barack Obama, who's widely regarded as anti-space, despite this week's spin. Nelson and other space supporters have a tough job ahead as the Space Shuttle phases out in 2010 and new vehicles are developed. Internationally, other nations are creating their own space presence, as America's space program shudders under increasing financial stress.

Into that environment strides Sen. Barack Obama, widely known as not quite a space kind of guy. Six months ago, Obama said that he would chop a third of NASA's budget and move it into education. Now, however, Obama decided to get into the public relations spin of the NASA anniversary. Does Obama's pro-space statement signal a sudden reversal of his position? Space insiders aren't so sure that one small PR step equals a giant leap for potential Obama support of NASA's space program. (7/31)

Embry-Riddle Wins Second Award for Online Course Design (Source: ERAU)
Blackboard Inc., a leading provider of e-Education software applications and services, presented Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with a 2008 Exemplary Course Award. The award recognized excellence in Embry-Riddle’s template-based online course design process, as demonstrated with the university's ENGL 221 Technical Report Writing course. This is the university's second national award this year for online education. Earlier this year, Embry-Riddle won the 2008 Distinguished Distance Learning Course award from the University Continuing Education Association forits WEAX 201 Meteorology I course. Embry-Riddle's courses are largely geared toward students pursuing aerospace careers. (7/31)

Draper Lab May Expand to Florida (Sources: TampaBay.com, ERAU)
Cambridge-based Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, a highly specialized non-profit research group, may open a second Florida-based satellite office. Draper already does a lot of missile and rocket guidance system work with companies like Honeywell in Florida, and they have a small office at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The group is now working with local and state officials to expand into Tampa and St. Petersburg. In addition to $6 million from Hillsborough County, Draper is seeking $4 million from the University of South Florida Research Foundation, and $10 million from the Florida Innovation Incentive Program. The money would go toward turning an unfinished building space at USF into a lab and stocking it with equipment. In return, Draper is expected to create 100 jobs paying $75,000 or more. Draper is also seeking public financial support for a $14 million electronics plant in St. Petersburg. The company would team up with an existing, but unnamed Pinellas County defense contractor to make “multichip modules,” an advanced form of circuit boards. (7/15)

Obama Visits Space Coast (Source: Florida Today)
Barack Obama is confirmed to appear Saturday at the John Henry Jones Gymnatorium on the Brevard Commuity College campus. Obama will highlight his economic plan. He has called for an additional round of rebate checks, affordable quality health and a middle class tax cut of $1,000 per family, covering 95 percent of American working people and their families, according to campaign literature. (7/31)

NASA Spacecraft Confirms Martian Water, Mission Extended (Source: NASA)
Laboratory tests aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander's robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples. "We have water," a University of Arizona scientist. "We've seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted." (7/31)

Glenn Pushes for Money to Extend Shuttle Operations (Source: Houston Chronicle)
The White House blueprint, Glenn said, forced NASA to "cannibalize" existing programs such as the shuttle to finance the new direction. Chris Shank, a senior official at NASA, acknowledged in a telephone interview that NASA had not received additional funding to cover the president's blueprint. NASA also had shouldered unforeseen return-to-flight costs after the loss of the shuttle Columbia on re-entry in 2003. Shank declined to discuss the agency's reaction to Glenn's appeal or apparent effort to shape the space agenda for the next administration. (7/31)

Brazil's Embraer Expected to Show Soaring Q2 Earnings (Sources: AIA, ERAU)
Brazilian aircraft maker Embraer was expected to report strong second quarter earnings on the heels of more economical production practices and an increase in deliveries. With the introduction of a third shift at its principal plant, the company delivered 52 planes in the second quarter, up from 34 planes the same quarter a year ago. The jet maker recently announced plans to develop a production facility on Florida' Space Coast, potentially providing employment opportunities for displaced Space Shuttle workers. (7/31)

Gov. Kaine Veep Speculation and the Prospects for Launch Industry (Source: Spaceports Blog)
Commercial space advocates may be pondering the prospects of having a United States Vice-President that signed into state law the nation's first Space Flight Liability and Immunity Act and the first state 'ZeroGravity, ZeroTax Act' if Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama picks Virginia Governor Tim Kaine as his running mate for the November election. From recent media attention, Kaine appears to be on the 'very, very' short list to be on the 2008 Democratic national ticket as a vice-presidential candidate. The 50 year old Virginia governor has been a strong backer of development of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport and he has supported commercial space launch efforts in Virginia during his tenure. Both Obama and Kaine are Harvard University law graduates. (7/31)

NASA Reaches 50 With Pioneer Spirit Lost (Source: Financial Times)
NASA is celebrating its 50th birthday this summer with an eclectic series of events. They range from air shows to gala dinners, from family picnics at NASA Centers to astronauts throwing ceremonial pitches at baseball games. But sadly NASA can offer no space spectacular to mark the anniversary of its formation in 1958 – in shocked response to the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik, the world’s first artificial satellite.

Yes, the Phoenix Lander is scratching around on the surface of Mars and may make an important discovery about the biochemistry of the red planet. Yes, more Shuttle launches are due, including a potentially perilous autumn mission to service the Hubble space telescope. But NASA has little to offer in the near future that is likely to thrill the public. Forget about matching the excitement of the 1960s Apollo program. There is nothing to match even the pioneering planetary missions such as the 1976 Viking landings on Mars and the Galileo spacecraft that orbited Jupiter in the 1990s. (7/31)

NASA's Constellation Rockets Could be Used Commercially (Source: Flight International)
NASA's Constellation rockets Ares I crew launch vehicle and the cargo carrying Ares V could be modified for future commercial use if proposals were made to the agency. NASA's administrator Michael Griffin raised the prospect of Ares boosters being used for commercial purposes when answering an audience member’s question at the 2008 Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture air show held in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The question referred to the late US president Ronald Reagan’s policy that the Space Shuttle’s external tank (ET) could be used for commercial purposes once it separated from the orbiter and asked if that would be applied to the new Ares rockets. Griffin replied: "The question was can modifications be put in early [for the Ares rockets] to enable re-qualification [for commercial purposes]. In principle yes but only if some one comes forward with a plan." (7/31)