September 4 News Items

Hollywood Monster Maker Designs Suits for Real Travel in Space (Source: Bloomberg)
The 20,000-square-foot warehouse in North Hollywood, California, where Chris Gilman runs Global Effects Inc. is filled with costumes that turned movie actors into monsters, aliens, knights and astronauts. Now Gilman, 47, is moving from reel space to real space. An Oscar winner for inventing a system that keeps costumes cool under hot lights, Gilman is designing spacesuits for Washington-based Orbital Outfitters. The company's first client, XCOR Aerospace, is one of a dozen private businesses racing to make suborbital tourism a new category of luxury travel. The new space racers, including Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, are developing aircraft that will provide views of Earth from 60 miles up (almost 100 kilometers) and a feeling of weightlessness in the cabin. Gilman's suit, which may sell for as much as $20,000, is intended to protect against a loss of pressure that could result in blackouts or death. (9/4)

A Warm Breath of Carbon Dioxide (Source: Astrobiology)
Early in Earth's history, our solar system was a much different place. When the sun was very young, it was faint and provided little heat for the Earth. However, even in its chilly beginnings, the surface of the Earth was ice-free. For years, scientists have proposed theories for this "faint young sun problem". Most of these theories are based on the idea that the early Earth must have had extremely high amounts greenhouse gases like CO2 in the atmosphere in order to warm the planet. According to a team of German scientists, geological evidence of atmospheric CO2 seems to indicate that levels were "far too low to keep the surface from freezing." However, their new study may provide a new answer to the problem. Click here to view the article. (9/4)

Liberty Media Spin-off Could Bid for Full Ownership of DirecTV (Source: LA Times)
Liberty Media Corp. plans to split off its stake in DirecTV Group Inc., a move that may make it easier for Chairman John Malone to acquire the rest of the largest U.S. satellite-TV provider. The new company, Liberty Entertainment Inc., will include almost 50% of DirecTV plus all of cable network Starz Entertainment and Liberty Sports Holdings. Malone could use Liberty Entertainment as a platform to blend DirecTV's distribution with cable and satellite channels. Malone obtained his DirecTV stake in a share swap with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. (9/4)

Interstellar Snowball Could Have Carried Seeds of Life (Source: New Scientist)
Could a star in a distant solar system have thrown the life's building blocks our way? Previous studies into whether material could travel between solar systems predicted that such an exchange would be unlikely, because the speed matter would need to be travelling at to escape one star would mean it was moving too fast to be caught by another. Now researchers at Princeton University have shown that planetary systems in young, densely packed star clusters could throw out rocks at a slower pace. They showed that for rocks in certain orbital positions, the gravitational pull of the central star is equal to the pull of other stars in the cluster. This sends the rocks into chaotic orbits that eventually allow them to wander off at about 0.1 kilometers per second - slow enough for other stars to catch them. (9/4)

Industry Gives Europe Its Exploration Ideas (Source: Flight International)
Industry proposals for orbital complexes, Moon and Mars landers and a rocket capable of putting 50,000kg (110,000lb) into low-Earth orbit have emerged for a European Space Agency exploration reference architecture. At ESA's 7-8 July architecture review meeting European industry detailed ideas that could inform ESA's development of a European strategic plan for space exploration and proposals the agency will prepare for its member states' ministers in November. "These [industrial] studies were made so we could understand what could be elements of a European contribution [to the international exploration of the Moon and Mars]," says Piero Messina, ESA's human spaceflight directorate's co-ordination office head. Click here to view the article. (9/4)

NASA: U.S. Might Have To Abandon Station (Source: Florida Today)
The United States will have to evacuate American astronauts from the International Space Station in 2012 if the Congress fails to swiftly renew a legislative exemption that enables the purchase of Russian Soyuz spacecraft, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said. "If we don't get a renewed exemption, then the last U.S. or international partner astronauts -- by which I mean Canadian, European, Japanese -- have to be down off the station by the end of December 2011," Griffin said. (9/4)

Shuttle Moved to Pad, But Storms May Change Plans (Source: Houston Chronicle)
NASA moved the space shuttle Atlantis to a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center, seizing the opportunity for the lengthy operation after Tropical Storm Hanna steered away from the Atlantic shoreline. The transfer raises the prospects that Atlantis can lift off on Oct. 8, NASA's target date, on an 11-day mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. However, Hurricane Ike, a fierce storm churning well to the east in the Atlantic, could force the space agency to haul the 4.5-million-pound spacecraft off the pad and back to the safety of Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building. Ike is forecast to be near Florida by the middle of next week. (9/4)

Eutelsat W5's Solar Array Motor Malfunctions (Source: Space News)
Satellite manufacturer Thales Alenia Space has determined that the Eutelsat W5 satellite in geostationary orbit above Asia definitively has lost the use of the drive mechanism that turns one of its two solar arrays. The failure will reduce the satellite's planned 15-year service life by between one and three years. (9/4)

Rocket Component Alert Cause Atlas, Delta Launch Rates to Slow (Source: Space News)
The launch rate of U.S. Atlas and Delta rockets is being slowed following an industry-wide alert that numerous components on these vehicles were not sufficiently tested to be cleared for operation. (9/4)

South African Firm Positions Itself for Small Satellite Business (Source: Engineering News)
Small though it might be, specialist Stellenbosch-based enterprise SunSpace & Information Systems (SunSpace) has unquestionably established itself as a player in the global market for satellites. Of the three satellites ordered from SunSpace since its establishment, two are for an overseas customer. And it is expecting another satellite order soon. The company has also exported satellite components to five countries on four continents. Further, it is a partner in an international collaboration to develop a new-generation imager for use on satellites. (9/4)

Dubai Firm to Build Space Center in RAK (Source: Gulf News)
Dubai's Space Investment Company (SIC) has entered into an agreement with the Ras Al Khaimah government through RAK Investment Authority (Rakia) to build a Dh380 million space center in the emirate. A spokesperson from the company said the land deal for the project has been signed. "This is the first project of its kind in the region and will give a major boost to tourism in Ras Al Khaimah," the spokesperson said. The theme park, named SpaceWorld UAE, will contain Space Camp, Aviation Camp, Robotics Center and X-Camp Survival, in addition to a Space Mall and Hotel. (9/4)

Engineering Tomatoes That Save Not Only Astronauts, But Crops, Agriculture (Source: NC State Technician)
To survive a round-trip journey through the Earth's atmosphere and into outer space, astronauts must have with them a few things: gear, food, water and clean air. About four years ago, Amy Grunden, an assistant professor in microbiology, started a project to help them get at least the last two items on that list. She started her project, which she described as "a little complicated," in collaboration with Wendy Boss, a plant biology professor, and a team of students who were or are enrolled in extreme biology courses.

Its main goal was to develop a plant that could live through harsh conditions natural to space travel but that could also provide astronauts with clean air and water. Bioregenerative resource systems provide clean air and water by scrubbing out carbon dioxide and replacing it with oxygen. That sort of life support system is most likely going to be plant based. Click here to view the article. (9/4)