November 24 News Items

Want to Run NASA? Then Answer These Questions (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
There is no question that NASA sits “at a crossroad,” noted the Government Accountability Office in a report released today by the federal watchdog group. The space agency is trying to retire the space shuttle, finish the International Space Station and build a new manned spacecraft – all on a budget of about $17 billion. So its next leader –- that is, if President-elect Barack Obama decides to oust NASA Administrator Michael Griffin –- must be able to answer several key questions about NASA’s future. Click here to read the article. (11/24)

SECAF: U.S. Can Retain Space Leadership Role (Source: USAF)
Solid leadership and the coordination of resources will enable the United States to retain its leadership in space, Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley said Nov. 21 during the Air Force Association's Global War Symposium in Los Angeles. Strong government and collaboration among leaders also will be required, said Secretary Donley, who described Airmen as "the connective tissue" across the national security space enterprise. "Space is an interagency domain, and for decades, the United States, and Airmen in particular, have sought to be good stewards of (it)," he said. (11/24)

Space X Changing Rocket Test Policy (Source: KCEN)
Space X administrators say they will no longer test at night and they'll notify all media in advance. A spokesman for 'Space X' says the rocket test started Friday afternoon and carried over into Saturday night. Cloud coverage on Saturday night helped carry light and sound for miles outside of McGregor, Texas. (11/24)

Rennselaer Opens Center to Search for Extraterrestrial Life (Source: Schenectady Gazette)
Organic molecules float abundantly among the interstellar clouds. Researchers have long speculated that the existence of these simple amino acid compounds — the building blocks of life — could spawn life in other corners of the universe. Now a collaboration of faculty at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, the University at Albany and Syracuse University will investigate how the conditions that created life on earth may have given rise to organisms in other corners of the universe. NASA awarded RPI a five-year, $7.5 million grant that will allow the college to further nearly a decade of research on the campus focusing on the origins of life. The New York Center for Astrobiology will incorporate many of the same researchers who contributed to the New York Center for the Studies on the Origins of Life, a NASA-funded program that concluded in 2006. (11/24)

Wanted: Ideas for Clearing Space Debris (Source: Space.com)
Human-made clutter jamming up the orbital byways is a troublesome issue. Launchspace, a training organization for space professionals is keen on trying to find new ways to battle the bits of space flotsam. They've been asking for suggestions on how to solve the space trash problem. So far, ideas submitted have fallen into two main categories: limiting new debris through such means as de-orbiting mechanisms integrated into the design of future satellites; and eliminating existing space debris. Visit http://www.space.com/news/081124-space-trash-ideas.html to view the article. (11/24)

Small Company Tackles Big Problem of Space Debris (Source: a.i. solutions)
a.i. solutions configured it’s commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) FreeFlyer to
perform in a clustered, high performance computing (HPC) environment. The analysis shows that China's Fengyun ASAT debris continues to remain a threat to the Earth Science Constellation (ESC) missions in the near future. In fact, the number of conjunction threats the ESC missions experience is predicted to triple by the year 2027. Further analysis shows that even after 100 years, over 20% of the ASAT debris could still be in orbit. a.i. solutions has several white papers on the analysis available for download from their website, www.ai-solutions.com. (11/24)

California Small Businesses and Universities Win NASA SBIR, STTR Contracts (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded contracts for 382 "Phase-One" Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) projects that address critical research and technology needs for the agency. Eighty-two of the projects include California companies or universities (75 SBIR companies and seven STTR university projects). Click here to view the SBIR list, and here to view the STTR list. (11/24)

SAIC Wins KSC Project Management Contract (Source: KSC)
NASA has selected Science Applications International Corp. to provide project management support services at Kennedy Space Center. SAIC will provide engineering and technical services, project and business management and administrative support to KSC's Ground Operations Project Office in support of NASA's Constellation Program. The contract begins on Feb. 1, 2009, with a two-year base period and three one-year options to extend performance. The contract has a maximum potential value of approximately $69.3 million. The contract is a cost-plus-fixed-fee contract and has a total potential core value of $59.3 million if all options are exercised. An additional indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract line item is included with a possible ceiling of $10 million. (11/24)

Florida Small Businesses and Universities Win NASA SBIR, STTR Contracts (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded contracts for 382 "Phase-One" Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) projects that address critical research and technology needs for the agency. Fifteen of the projects include Florida companies or universities (eight companies and two universities). Florida SBIR companies/projects include: Prioria, Inc. of Gainesville for Multi-Platform Sensor Surveillance Network for Range Control; Zyberwear, Inc. of Ocoee for Multi-layer Far-Infrared Component Technology; United Materials and Systems of Orlando for Low Cost Light Weight Polymer Derived Ceramic Telescope Mirror; Eclipse Energy Systems of St. Petersburg for Thermal Control Nano-Sat; Sol-gel Solutions of Gainesville for Photocatalytic and Adsorptive System for Odor Control in Lunar Surface Systems Using Silica-Titania Composites; and Aeronix of Melbourne for Radiation Tolerant 802.16 Wireless Network.

Among the STTR universities and companies are: University of Florida (with Alabama's cFD Research Corp.) for High-Fidelity Gas and Granular Flow Physics Models for Rocket Exhaust Interaction with Lunar Soil; Keystone Synergistic Enterprises of Port St. Lucie (with Mississippi State University) for Thermal Stir Welding of High Strength and High Temperature Alloys for Aerospace Applications; Streamline Numerics of Gainesville (with Mississippi State University) for Advanced Simulation Framework for Design and Analysis of Space Propulsion Systems; University of Central Florida (with Maryland's Intelligent Automation Inc.) for HPC Benchmark Suite NMx; University of Florida (with Massachussetts' Aerodyne Research Inc.) for Non-Dispersive Atomic Absorption System for Engine Health Monitoring; University of Florida (with New Jersey's NEI Corp.) for High Capacity and High Voltage Composite Oxide Cathode for Li-ion Batteries; and University of Florida (with Pennsylvannia's Combustion Research and Flow Technology) for Integrated Component and System Analyses of Instabilities in Test Stands. (11/24)

Europe's Manned Space Plans Could Affect Italian Facility (Source: Space News)
The large Thales Alenia Space Italy plant here is looking to two events in the coming weeks to determine whether a facility built to provide infrastructures for manned space flight needs to find some other line of work to survive. Company managers said decisions expected Nov. 25-26 on how Europe will develop its own manned spaceflight program, including further contributions to the international space station (ISS), will be crucial to the company's space infrastructures and transportation division. The employees at the facility here are particularly interested in seeing whether these governments are willing to start Europe down the long road toward its own manned space program. (11/24)

NASA Extends Shuttle Endeavour Mission By a Day (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Facing technical problems with its new water treatment unit, NASA decided on Monday to extend the shuttle Endeavour's mission to the international space station by one day. Endeavour now is scheduled to leave the station the day after Thanksgiving and land back at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport on Sunday at approximately 12:55 P.M. EST. The extra time will be used to try to fix the treatment unit which is supposed to turn space station residents' urine and perspiration into clean drinking water, a vital step to being able to expand the station crew from three to six next year. (11/24)

Delta 4 Launch Delayed Until Dec. 16 (Source: Florida Today)
The launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 Heavy rocket carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office has been rescheduled until Dec. 16. The launch from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, once planned in late-July, most recently had been targeted for Nov. 16. A National Reconnaissance Office spokesman said the launch was pushed back so the agency could address technical problems with the payload. The launch window has not been released, but is expected to be early in the morning. (11/24)

SpaceX Falcon 9 Test-Firing Proves System (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX successfully conducted a full mission-length firing of its Falcon 9 launch vehicle's first stage at its McGregor Test Facility in Texas, on Nov. 22. At full power, the rocket's nine engines generated 855,000 pounds of force at sea level. In vacuum, the thrust increases to approximately one million pounds or four times the maximum thrust of a 747 aircraft. The test consumed over half a million pounds of propellant. All nine engines fired for 160 seconds, then two engines were shut down to limit the acceleration and the remaining seven engines continued firing for 18 more seconds, as would occur in a typical climb to orbit.

The test firing validated the design of SpaceX's use of nine engines on the first stage, as well as the ability to shut down engines without affecting the functioning of the remaining engines. This demonstrates the ability of Falcon 9 to lose engines in flight and still complete its mission successfully, much as a commercial airliner is designed to be safe in the event of an engine loss. Like an airliner, the Falcon 9 engines are enclosed in a protective sheath that ensures a fire or destructive loss of an engine doesn't affect the rest of the vehicle.

The Falcon 9 will be the first vehicle since the Saturn V and Saturn 1 to have the ability to lose any engine/motor and still be able to complete its mission without loss of crew or spacecraft. Engine out reliability proved crucial to mission success on two of the Saturn V flights. “The full mission-length test firing clears the highest hurdle for the Falcon 9 first stage before launch,” said Elon Musk, CEO and CTO of SpaceX. “In the next few months, we will have the first Falcon 9 flight vehicle on its launch pad at Cape Canaveral, preparing for lift-off in 2009.” (11/24)

Imagine Reconnecting NASA (Source: Space Review)
NASA continues to do great things, but hasn't captured public
imagination in the same way it did decades ago. Alan Stern argues
that the agency needs to combine its exploration efforts with new initiatives in Earth sciences, aeronautics, and commercialization to become more interesting and relevant. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1258/1 to view the article. (11/24)

Lessons From the 2008 Space VidVision Contest (Source: Space Review)
Earlier this year several organizations partnered to sponsor a contest for videos about the future of American human spaceflight. Greg Zsidisin discusses the results of, and lessons learned from, the contest, and shows the winning videos. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1256/1 to view the article. (11/24)

Space Solar Power and the Khyber Pass (Source: Space Review)
Space solar power has attracted the interest of parts of the US military, who see it as a way to get energy to remote bases. Taylor Dinerman describes how the same technology can similarly help poor landlocked countries who are dependent on other nations for access to energy supplies. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1255/1 to view the article. (11/24)

Planetary Astronomer Plans Embry-Riddle Lecture (Source: ERAU)
On Dec. 1, Embry-Riddle's Honors Program Distinguished Speakers Series will feature Dr. Mike Brown, internationally renowned planetary astronomer from Cal Tech. Dr. Brown is best known for his discovery of Eris, which resulted in Pluto being demoted from planetary status (and thus being "booted out" of the solar system). Dr. Brown will offer his talk "How I Killed Pluto, and Why It Had It Coming" at 7:00 pm in the IC auditorium. This event is free and open to everyone, though seating is of course limited. (11/24)

Editorial: NASA Spending Out of Control (Source: New York Times)
A former associate administrator at NASA says budget overruns have become a "cancer ... overtaking our space agency." From the Mars Science Lab to the James Webb Space Telescope, projects routinely go over budget by billions of dollars, writes Alan Stern, delaying or killing other projects that managed to stay within their spending limits. "In an era of unpopular, costly government bailouts, Americans have every right to demand that NASA cease bailing out its own errant projects and make cost increases rare, rather than routine," he says. (11/24)

India Aims for Manned Missions to Earth Orbit, Moon (Source: The Hindu)
India is aiming to send a manned mission into the space after the success of its first unmanned mission to the moon. "The (manned) moon mission is a tough task and to achieve that our first task is to send an Indian astronaut on a manned mission to space, who will orbit the earth and return. For this, the sanction of the government has to come. We plan to achieve this by 2015," ISRO's cheif said. "The next moon mission by the US and China is fixed for 2020 and our target is that we also should be ready by then," Nair added. (11/24)

Another Direct Exoplanet Image (Source: Sky & Telescope)
Last week two teams of astronomers, one using the Hubble Space Telescope and the other using giant ground-based scopes with adaptive optics, released what they called the first direct images of extrasolar planets orbiting other stars; see our article. Not to be outdone, a French team today released their image of a tiny but definitely real speck glowing in the infrared 0.4 arcsecond from Beta Pictoris, a young star 63 light-years away. The speck is just inside the inner edge of Beta Pic's enormous, famous debris disk — a wide platter of dust that we see nearly edge-on. (11/24)

Arizona Rocket Maker Expanding with Taurus (Source: East Valley Tribune)
An expansion project for Orbital Sciences Corp. in Chandler will give the company more room to develop and manufacture a new, more powerful rocket to supply the international space station and launch other payloads for commercial and government customers. The medium-class Taurus II is three times bigger than the biggest launch vehicle offered by Orbital today and will be the key to the company's growth, said Orbital's CEO. "It will double the potential market size that we can serve in the next two to three years." Orbital already has about 100 engineers working on the Taurus II design in Chandler, and that number is expected to double in the next year, he said. The first prototype of the two-stage rocket will be launched in 2010 from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. (11/24)

Spacewalking Hopes Dashed, Businessman Sues Space Adventures (Source: Washington Post)
Daisuke Enomoto wants his $21 million back. The Japanese businessman is suing Space Adventures of Vienna, saying the company used his health problems as a pretense for denying him a 10-day orbital vacation and intergalactic walk on the International Space Station after he refused to pay $10 million on top of what he had already shelled out. Enomoto, according to court documents, believed he was racing to be the first private citizen to conduct such a space walk but did not want to go through with the trip if he could not complete one. The company, in its argument to dismiss the case, said that because Enomoto has kidney stones, which are potentially dangerous in space, his money was not refundable. (11/24)