August 28 News Items

Florida's Ranking in Industrial R&D (Source: SSTI)
NSF figures for 2006 indicate that Florida ranked fourth nationwide in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but was 17th in industrial R&D expenditures ($4.1 billion). Florida's ranking in "R&D Intensity" (ratio of industry-based R&D to GDP) was 36. Leading the nation were California, with $58.4 billion in industrial R&D, followed by Michigan ($16.5 billion), Massachusetts ($15.6 billion), New Jersey ($14.6 billion), and Texas ($13.3 billion). (8/27)

United Paradyne Wins Air Force Space Support Work (Source: DOD)
The Air Force is modifying a contract with United Paradyne Corp. of Santa Maria, Calif., for $6,759,808. This contract is an aerospace support services contract and consolidates of three vital logistical aerospace support services (unconventional propellant support, precision measurement equipment laboratory services, aerospace ground equipment maintenance and transient aircraft maintenance services) into one comprehensive operation and maintenance contract for the 30th Space Wing. This contract supports operational programs, including local airfield operations, U.S. Space Lift programs, the Expeditionary Aerospace Force, and future Aerospace Plane and Space Operational Vehicle activities. Additionally, it provides mission support of test aerospace platforms from domestic and foreign Government agencies (NASA, DoD, NRO, etc), as well as private corporations. This contract encompasses all authorized mission support requirements for programs utilizing the “Western Range and Major Range Test Facility Base” support and Commercial Space activities. (8/26)

Utah University Wins $10 Million Air Force Contract (Source: DOD)
Utah State University Research Foundation, Space Dynamics Laboratory, of Logan, Utah, is being awarded a contract for $9,998,094 for the development and demonstration of new and innovative technologies that provide tactical assets for the battlefield using affordable plug-and-play components. The assets will be designed to provide key actionable intelligence and battlefield situational awareness using information collected from ground, air and space systems. (8/28)

Alaska Spaceport Authority Wins $49 Million DOD Contract (Source: DOD)
The Alaska Aerospace Development Corporation is being awarded a $48,968,854 (maximum) indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity, sole source contract to provide launch services and logistical support at the Kodiak Launch Complex for Missile Defense Agency (MDA) flight tests. The contract base period and one option are expected to be complete by Aug. 2011. (8/28)

KSC, JSC Keep Eye on Two Storms (Source: Florida Today)
Two tropical storms forecast to become hurricanes are being monitored by officials at NASA's space flight centers in Houston and here on the Space Coast. Tropical Storm Gustav could be upon the Gulf Coast, anywhere from the panhandle of Florida to the southern coast of Texas, by Tuesday morning as a dangerous Category 3 Hurricane. And, not far behind in the Atlantic, Tropical Storm Hanna is shaping up as a possible threat to Florida later next week. That storm track is trending toward the eastern coast of Florida. (8/28)

ISS Orbit Adjusted To Dodge Space Junk (Source: RIA Novosti)
The International Space Station's orbit has been adjusted to avoid a cluster of space garbage, Russia's Mission Control Center (MCC) said on Thursday. "Information on a possible collision was received from Russian and American services...and was used by the MCC specialists to perform calculations for an ISS orbit adjustment," mission control said. (8/28)

Orion Budget Hit Looms (Source: Aerospace Daily)
Managers on NASA's Constellation Program expect to know by early next year what the budget hit will be from their decision to slip by one year their target initial operational capability (IOC) for the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Tight funding and a better understanding of technical issues drove the change in Orion IOC from September 2013 to September 2014. The last time NASA changed its Orion IOC - from 2011 to the 2013 date, it wound up adding $384.8 million to its Orion development contract with Lockheed Martin.

Other major changes since the Orion contract was awarded in 2006 are a $59.2 million plus-up to add an International Space Station (ISS) docking adapter to the vehicle, and $62.9 million to add the ISS Common Communication Adapter. Overall NASA has made 38 modifications to the Orion contract, most of them "small low cost modifications ranging from funding updates to below-threshold contract documentation updates." (8/28)

AIA Urges Next President to Modernize Aerospace Capabilities (Source: AIA)
In a report prepared for the incoming president, the Aerospace Industries Association said "chronically deferred" modernization of warplanes and other aerospace systems threatens the ability to protect U.S. interests around the world. The report, entitled "Defense Modernization: Today's Choices for Tomorrow's Readiness," calls on the next president to launch a decade-long investment in the "arsenal of democracy." Marion Blakey, AIA's president and CEO, said Russia's invasion of Georgia proves that the U.S. "can't predict where future conflicts will arise, but our national security strategy should be based on full-spectrum dominance." (8/28)

Weightless Flights Aim to Motivate Science, Math Teachers (Source: San Jose Mercury News)
Seeking to breed enthusiasm for science and math education, the Northrop Grumman Foundation is offering teachers the chance to participate in its Weightless Flights of Discovery program. In cooperation with Zero Gravity Corp., the program takes middle school teachers on a plane called the G-Force One for a series of 15 parabolas reaching altitudes of up to 32,000 feet. Each time the plane drops into a controlled descent at the top of a parabola, teachers experience about 30 seconds of weightlessness. More information and application materials are available online at www.northropgrumman.com/community/weightless.html. (8/28)

Alabama Senators Backing Request to Extend Space Shuttle Program (Source: Huntsville Times)
Alabama's senators support a call to extend the space shuttle program by one year that was launched this week by a trio of U.S. senators - including Republican presidential-hopeful John McCain - but only if the money is not taken from other vital Marshall Space Flight Center programs, they said. Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, and David Vitter, R-La., along with McCain, R-Ariz., sent a letter to the White House asking for at least a one-year extension to the space shuttle program to keep the United States from hitching rides on Russian Soyuz capsules. The letter cited the recent Russian aggression against Georgia as a threat to the NASA-Russian Space Agency partnership.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, said there could be no additional shuttle flights if additional NASA money didn't follow the request and without a budget boost Marshall's Ares program would suffer. "If the Bush administration intends to propose additional shuttle flights, then we must have a corresponding increase in the NASA budget request," Shelby said. "Otherwise, I would oppose any such effort that will undercut our research and development of America's next generation of space flight." Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, agreed with the letter's intent and called for a cessation of Russian hostility to its neighbors. He said he fears the 15-year-old joint U.S.-Russian space station agreement could end if relations continued to slide. (8/28)

E'Prime Aerospace Stuck in Neutral (Source: Raging Bull)
James Oldham, the investor who had hoped to bring troubled E'Prime Aerospace to the launch pad, has stepped down as chairman and president of the company. He was replaced by board member Nick Herren. Oldham acquired controlling interest in the company in 2006 from founder Bob Davis, who subsequently took Oldham to court for breach of contract. Oldham filed a counter-suit charging that Davis misrepresented the status of E'Prime's launch vehicle assets. Both cases remain in litigation, and the company's auditors recently resigned due to non-payment of fees.

E'Prime has the distinction of conducting the first commercial launch (of a small suborbital rocket) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in 1988. The company planned to build upon this success with a family of Eagle orbital rockets, based on military Peacekeeper missile technology. However, use of this technology caused some of Eagle rockets to fall under international treaty restrictions that barred their use for commercial satellite launches. Oldham claims that Davis misrepresented the treaty restrictions during his sale of company shares. The Department of Defense announced earlier this year that the restrictions no longer apply, but it may be too late to resurrect E'Prime's business case. E'Prime last year announced plans to launch from Virginia's spaceport, moving its headquarters from Florida to Washington DC. (8/28)