September 5 News Items

NASA Chief: Odds Grow for Shuttle Catastrophe (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
NASA Administrator Michael Griffin said Thursday that he's examining what it would take to keep the space shuttle flying for five years past its 2010 retirement date. Griffin said NASA is looking at 1-in-8 odds of losing a shuttle and crew if it adds 10 flights after 2010, recalculated from 1-in-12 odds announced in April. (9/5)

Colombia to Have Satellite in Three Years (Source: Columbia Reports)
Colombia hopes to have a satellite in orbit within three years, as part of a multi-agency effort to accelerate the country’s space technology. A satellite would be used for both national defense purposes, like monitoring cocaine crops and tracking armed guerrilla groups, and geological ones, such as speeding weather alert systems and locating possible fossil fuel deposits. The first satellite would be purchased form an international space agency, such as NASA or Japan’s JAXA, who would also assist with launching it into space. But the hope is that the second satellite would be 100 percent Colombian handiwork. (9/5)

Russia's Glonass System to Comprise 30 Satellites by 2011 (Source: RIA Novosti)
The number of satellites comprising Russia's Glonass navigation system will be increased from the current 16 to 30 by 2011, the head of the Russian Space Agency (Roscosmos) said. Glonass (Global Navigation Satellite System) is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), which is designed for both military and civilian use, and allows users to identify their positions in real time. "We will increase the number of navigation satellites to the required 30 by 2011. In all, we plan to launch six satellites by the end of 2008 and six more next year. Therefore, the satellite navigation system will become truly global." (9/5)

Distant Object Found Orbiting Sun Backwards (Source: New Scientist)
An object in the icy Kuiper belt has been found orbiting the Sun backwards, compared to most other objects in the solar system. It may help explain the origin of an enigmatic family of comets typified by Comet Halley. The new object, called 2008 KV42, lies in the Kuiper belt, a ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune. Its orbit is inclined 103.5° to the plane of the Earth's orbit, or ecliptic. That means that as it orbits the Sun, it actually travels in the opposite direction to the planets. Observations suggest it is about 50 kilometers across and travels on a path that takes it from the distance of Uranus to more than twice that of Neptune. (9/5)

Post-merger Strategy: Sirius XM Must Cut Costs and Build Its Case (Source: Knowledge@Wharton)
After a difficult and expensive 17-month struggle to gain the FCC's approval of their merger, satellite radio companies Sirius and XM -- and their hard-charging CEO Mel Karmazin -- now must take on even bigger challenges: Integrate the two companies, stanch the flow of red ink and compete against traditional radio as well as Apple's iPod and other entertainment choices.

To get FCC approval, Sirius agreed to pay $19.7 million in fines for violating FCC rules for locating signal towers in un-approved areas and making radios that exceeded power limits, cap prices for three years at the current $12.95 per month subscription rate, offer a la carte programming with tiered pricing and create new radios that can receive both Sirius and XM satellite signals. Visit http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2042 to view the article. (9/5)

NASA Shifts Targeted Launch Dates for Remainder of 2008 (Source: NASA)
NASA has adjusted the target launch dates for the two remaining space shuttle missions in 2008. Shuttle Atlantis' STS-125 mission to the Hubble Space Telescope is targeted for Oct. 10, while Endeavour's STS-126 supply mission to the International Space Station has moved to Nov. 12. Shuttle managers made the decision after Atlantis was rolled to the launch pad and the effects of Tropical Storm Hanna were beyond NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. That allowed managers to more accurately assess the impacts of recent tropical systems on the launch schedule. (9/5)