November 7 News Items

Lockheed Wins NASA Contract for Mission Operations and Training Facilities (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded a $667.3 million contract to Lockheed Martin Corp. of Gaithersburg, Md., to provide integrated support for the hardware, software, data and displays used to train for and execute human spaceflight missions. The new Facilities Development and Operations Contract, or FDOC, combines work previously performed under two separate contracts, and the synergy is expected to augment the efficiency and effectiveness of the human spaceflight operations team. (11/7)

NASA Patent Auction Aims at Ailing Economy (Source: Discovery Channel)
Congratulations taxpayers! multiple patents, developed on your dime by a NASA researcher, were sold at public auction last week in a new effort to parlay innovative technology into commercial goods and services. "It's nice to get funds back that we can pump back into the program, but our primary task is to get these technologies out and create jobs and help the economy," said Darryl Mitchell, a manager in NASA's Innovative Partnerships Programs office. NASA sold a group of 10 NASA patents and a pending application that details methods and systems for analyzing non-stationary signals. The technology, known as the Hilbert-Huang Transform, was developed by NASA researcher Norden Huang, who devised the processes as a way to model ocean waves. (11/7)

Space: Hoping for Change (Source: Discovery Channel)
When President-elect Obama is inaugurated, he will inherit a space agency at a crossroads. Down one path for NASA lies a robust program of exploration, scientific discovery and technological marvel worthy of a superpower. Down the other is a dim shadow of the new frontier envisioned by John F. Kennedy nearly half a century ago. Visit http://dsc.discovery.com/space/my-take/obama-nasa-budget-eric-sterner.html to view the article. (11/7)

Presidential Appointment Prospects Spark Concern Among Space Advocates (Sources: MSNBC, ERAU)
The National Review Online suggests that Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., could be a prospect for transportation secretary in the Obama administration. It's unlikely that the conservative National Review is all that plugged into what the Democrats are up to. Nevertheless, the idea that Oberstar might play a role in commercial space transportation has sparked concern on the part of New Space proponents. It was Oberstar who raised objections to legislation opening the way for suborbital spaceflight experiments, claiming that giving private ventures too much freedom would lead to a "tombstone mentality." Commercial spaceflight will be entering a crucial period during the Obama administration, with the first passenger flights expected in the 2010-2012 time frame. What's more, regulations for the infant industry might have to be rewritten sometime in the next four years.

Editor's Note: Sally Ride for Secretary of Education? America's first woman in space supported the Obama campaign and is a strong advocate for improving K-12 math and science education. She is known to favor using space as an educational inspiration for students and teachers. (11/7)

China Aims to Land Moon-Buggy by 2012 (Source: Reuters)
China aims to put an unmanned buggy on the moon by 2012, laying the ground for its greater ambitions of putting a man on the moon. "China will send a moon-lander and moon-buggy around 2012," the Beijing News said, citing state television. Before the moon-lander, China will send Chang'e-2 satellite to fulfil another circumlunar mission, CCTV added. China said its lunar mission would include three steps of "orbiting, landing and returning", but has not disclosed schedule of any manned moon mission so far. (11/7)

Russian Space Agency to Compensate Siberian Man (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russia's space agency, Roscosmos, has agreed to pay 100,000 rubles (about $4,000) in compensation to a villager in southwest Siberia after a rocket fragment fell on his land. Boris Urmatov, a shepherd in the Republic of Altai, earlier demanded 1 million rubles in compensation for the February 5 incident, when a three-and-a-half-meter (11 ft) fragment from a Proton-M carrier rocket, launched from the Baikonur Space Center, fell near his house.

In April, two villagers sued Roscosmos after rocket parts fell on their property, which is located outside the designated area for falling debris. The local authorities have sent a letter to the space agency requesting it to take measures to prevent rocket fragments falling in populated areas. A second incident occurred on March 11 when a small fragment from another Proton rocket landed in a village in the Altai Republic destroying a shed roof. (11/7)