October 26 News Items

Britain Threatens Plan for Climate Satellite (Source: The Observer)
A major European program to monitor climate change from space could be in jeopardy after it emerged that the British government is poised to slash funding for the project. Climate scientists and campaigners have expressed deep concerns over the likely cut to the £128m promised to the Kopernikus program, which came to light just days after the government stepped up its commitment to reducing carbon emissions. "The worry from the scientists is that it is essential to understand and monitor this change globally and it's not clear at this stage whether we're going to have the essential measurements to do that," said Paul Monks, an atmospheric chemist at the University of Leicester. (10/26)

Astronauts Endorse, Obamanauts Plan Events (Source: Obamanauts)
The McCain campaign has attracted the support of Apollo astronaut Walt Cunningham, who spoke on McCain's behalf at a recent space conference, and a couple others are said to be publicly supporting McCain. Meanwhile, astronauts John Glenn and Bill Nelson have long endorsed Sen. Barack Obama, and last week, shuttle astronaut Dr. Dan Barry signed on as an "Obamanaut" to show his support. Obamanauts are volunteer space supporters who have been calling undecided voters to promote Obama's space policies. The Obamanauts are planning events in the remaining two weeks before the election on Florida's Space Coast. Visit http://www.obamanauts.org for information. (10/25)

Is NASA's Ares Doomed? (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Bit by bit, the new rocket ship that is supposed to blast America into the second Space Age and return astronauts to the moon appears to be coming undone. First was the discovery that it lacked sufficient power to lift astronauts in a state-of-the-art capsule into orbit. Then engineers found out that it might vibrate like a giant tuning fork, shaking its crew to death. Now, in the latest setback to the Ares I, computer models show the ship could crash into its launch tower during liftoff.

The issue is known as "liftoff drift." Ignition of the rocket's solid-fuel motor makes it "jump" sideways on the pad, and a southeast breeze stronger than 12.7 mph would be enough to push the 309-foot-tall ship into its launch tower. Worst case, the impact would destroy the rocket. But even if that doesn't happen, flames from the rocket would scorch the tower, leading to huge repair costs.

NASA says it can solve -- or limit -- the problem by repositioning and redesigning the launchpad. Engineers say that would take as much as a year and cost tens of millions of unbudgeted dollars. In addition, huge expenditures on the rocket could bankrupt the agency's moon plans and prompt a new president to halt the program, delaying America's return to space. Visit http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/space/orl-ares2608oct26,0,561055.story to view the article. (10/26)

Honeywell Protests NASA Contract Award to ITT (Source: Space News)
Honeywell Technology Solutions of Columbia, Md., protested its loss of a contract potentially worth $1.26 billion to ITT Corp.'s Herndon, Va.-based Advanced Engineering and Sciences division. ITT defeated Honeywell and Stinger Ghaffarian Technologies, Greenbelt, Md., to win the five-year Space Communications Network Services (SCNS) contract to maintain and operate NASA Space and Near Earth Networks. The award to ITT was announced Oct. 8. (10/25)

Europe Finishes Test of Vega's 3rd Stage Motor (Source: Space News)
The redesigned third-stage motor of Europe's Vega small-satellite launch vehicle has successfully completed the first of two planned test ignitions at an Italian military facility in Sardina, the European Space Agency (ESA) announced Oct. 24. (10/25)