October 30 News Items

NASA Managers Delay Hubble Servicing Mission (Source: NASA)
NASA managers have announced that they will not meet a February 2009 launch date for the fifth and final shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. The decision comes after engineers completed assessments of the work needed to get a second data handling unit for the telescope ready to fly. The unit will replace one that failed on Hubble in late September, causing the agency to postpone the servicing mission, which had been targeted for Oct. 14. (10/30)

NASA to Hold Small Business Symposium (Source: NASA)
NASA will host the inaugural Small Business Symposium and Awards Ceremony Nov. 17-18 in Washington. Participation in this symposium is open to industry, academia and domestic small businesses. The deadline to register for the symposium is Nov. 3. To register for the symposium, visit http://acquisition.jpl.nasa.gov/boo/2008sbsym/index.asp. (10/30)

Embry-Riddle Visits to KSC (Source: ERAU)
An Embry-Riddle-hosted national meeting of Naval ROTC universities culminated last week with an up-close tour of Kennedy Space Center. And on Friday, a group of eight Embry-Riddle undergraduate students visited KSC and Space Florida to discuss their plans for developing balloon payloads that will be released from Embry-Riddle's campus in Daytona. (10/30)

Two Florida Firms Among NASA SBIR Phase-2 Winners (Source: NASA)
NASA has selected 142 proposals for negotiation of Phase 2 contract awards in the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. NASA will award the contracts to 121 small high-technology firms in 27 states, including two firms from Florida. The Florida-based companies/projects include: Rini Technologies (Orlando) for a "Lightweight and Energy Efficient Heat Pump;" and Design Interactive, Inc. (Oviedo) for "CogGauge (A Cognitive Assessment Tool)." (10/29)

Diamandis Backs Obama (Source: Obamanauts.org)
“I am seriously concerned that the United States has been losing its leadership in this strategic industry. Our antiquated State Department export policies and the lack of ambitious and inspiring programs are causing a steady erosion in our share of the commercial launch industry. The rest of the world is catching up fast, and their space capabilities may one day challenge our national security. Obviously, the next president will have a full plate of issues to deal with, and space may not be at the top of their list. However, one candidate, Senator Barack Obama, seems to understand the challenges we face in space, and has put forward a policy that is refreshingly broad and specific.

Responding largely to concerns voiced by Florida’s voters, Senator Obama has offered an unambiguous pledge to right-size NASA’s budget. But his space policy is not devoted solely to NASA; it points to an Obama Administration’s support for space commercialization, space workforce retention, space research and technology development, national security space programs, space-based environmental monitoring, and using space to inspire our nation’s youth to excel in math and science. For space-minded voters like myself, there really is only one choice in this presidential election: Senator Barack Obama. I hope Floridians will agree, because their votes are key in this tightly contested race.” (10/30)

We're Obamanauts Too! - Nye, Diamandis and Levin Sign-Up (Source: Obamanauts.org)
The list of Obama space supporters is growing! On the heels of Sally Ride and Rusty Schweickart's endorsements of Senator Obama, science advocates like Bill Nye (the science guy!) have joined the Obamanauts movement, as have space industry entrepreneurs like Peter Diamandis (co-founder of Zero-G Corp., the X-Prize Foundation, International Space University, etc.) and Lon Levin (co-founder of XM Satellite Radio and other satellite ventures). (10/30)

NASA Feeling Pressure to Speed Manned Ares Launch (Source: AIA)
NASA announced Wednesday it will push back the first test flight of its Ares I rocket, even as officials at the space agency study ways to speed development of the new rocket due to political pressure. Both presidential candidates have vowed to boost NASA's budget by $2 billion, but even with the extra money, an official says it will be difficult to shave more than 12 to 18 months from the planned target date for Ares' first manned flight in March 2015. (10/30)

Korea Taps NASA on Space Program (Source: Korea Times)
Government officials have secured a commitment from NASA to help the country's ambitions for a presence in space technology and to become more involved in international space research projects. The agreement signed between Korea's Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and NASA, Friday, calls for expanding exchange in technological advancements and further cooperation on a wide range of projects such as lunar exploration and manned space flights. "The ministry and NASA will established a communication network to exchange data and research material and discuss the direction of our cooperative efforts, which will be included in a report that will be jointly produced about eight months from now." The potential areas of cooperation could include space exploration, planetary science, lunar exploration, manned space flight and aerospace engineering. (10/30)

The Sky is Not a Limit to Ccolorado Satellite Company (Source: Colorado Springs Gazette)
Colorado Springs-based Braxton Technologies, at a time when many companies are hunkering down and trying to survive, is focused on growth. Helping fuel that growth: a role on an ITT team recently awarded a massive contract by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to provide operations support for its space and ground communications networks. (10/30)