December 10 News Items

FAA Space Officials Visit Embry-Riddle
(Source: ERAU)
FAA officials representing the agency's space transportation and air traffic divisions visited Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University last week to discuss potential collaborations to support ongoing federal efforts to integrate spaceflight requirements into the National Airspace System. Working with Space Florida, Embry-Riddle is pursuing state support for a multi-university space transportation R&D initiative that would focus on various technical challenges facing the commercial space transportation industry. (12/9)

Proton-M Rocket with Canadian Commsat Launched from Baikonur (Source: RIA Novosti)
A Proton-M carrier rocket with a Ciel 2 Canadian telecommunications satellite on board was launched on Wednesday from the Baikonur spaceport Russia leases from Kazakhstan. The Ciel 2 has been produced by Thales Alenia Space (France) on an order from Ciel Satellite Group - a new Canadian satellite communications operator. International Launch Services Inc. signed a contract to launch the Ciel 2 using a Proton-M carrier rocket. ILS's controlling stake is owned by the Khrunichev center. (12/10)

SpaceX Thruster to Provide Precise Control of Dragon's Approaches to Space Station (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX marked another significant advance with the performance of its smallest rocket engine, Draco. Known as a "thruster," the new engine fired continuously for ten minutes in a specially constructed vacuum test chamber that simulates the space environment. After a ten-minute thermal soak period, Draco was restarted for an additional minute, simulating its typical use in space. SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft uses a total of 18 Draco thrusters for maneuvering, attitude control, and to initiate the capsule's return to Earth. (12/9)

South Florida Man Sues NASA Contractor: Breach at KSC Ruined Credit (Source: Florida Today)
David Welch panicked when he started getting unsolicited e-mail and phone calls about car loans and credit cards from sources who said they got his information from an online loan application. Someone had gotten his personal information and posted it on a subscriber list for companies selling things such as cell phones and satellite dishes. It was as if Welch had dropped off a loan application at 150 stores simultaneously, and they all started checking his credit history.

And with each check, his credit score dropped, tumbling from nearly 700 to the low 500s in a matter of months, he said. That raised red flags at banks where Welch had revolving credit lines and had applied for loans. Suddenly, Welch's thriving legal-staffing business in Broward County couldn't make payroll or pay taxes and utility bills. He had to put the opening of a long-planned court-reporting business on hold.

NASA investigators confirmed that a computer in cubicle 2140S on the second floor of the Joint Base Operations Building was used to fill out an online loan application. That computer was assigned to Kevin Landivar, a 33-year-old software engineer with high-level security clearance who worked for NASA contractor Space Gateway Support. The state attorney has charged Landivar with one count of identity theft, a third-degree felony that carries a five-year maximum prison sentence and up to $5,000 in fines. Landivar, Space Gateway Support and its parent companies, Northrop Grumman and Wackenhut, also are named in a federal civil suit filed by Welch. (12/10)

Russia to Take Indian Astronaut on Space Mission in 2013 (Source: The Hindu)
An Indian astronaut will embark on a mission to space in a Russian spacecraft within the next five years, nearly three decades after Rakesh Sharma undertook the historic flight. This mission, tentatively scheduled for 2013, will be the precursor to Indian Space Research Organization's (ISRO) maiden human spaceflight planned to be launched in 2015. (12/10)

Illuminating a Black Hole (Source: LA Times)
American and European researchers put together the most thorough look yet of the mass at the heart of the Milky Way. They have compiled the most complete portrait of the gigantic black hole at the galaxy's center, plotting its gravity-bending mass as being equivalent to a staggering 4 million suns. The researchers from Germany and UCLA also pinpoint the distance to the center of the galaxy at 27,000 light-years. Neither figure differs markedly from previous estimates of the black hole's size and distance, but it is the most conclusive proof to date that our galaxy of billions of stars is indeed centered on an object of such tremendous power that it gobbles all light and matter that dares to venture into its neighborhood. (12/10)

Ambitious Plan for African Satellite (Source: FM Tech)
Africans will supply 90% of the funding, with Intelsat providing the experience and credibility to get the project done. The main local backer is Convergence Partners, an investment fund chaired by a former director-general of the communications department. The Oppenheimer family is also investing, while Nedbank Capital and the Industrial Development Corp. have pledged debt financing. Though the New Dawn satellite will only switch on in 2011, half its transmission capacity has already been sold to Vodacom, Gateway Communications, Zain Nigeria and Gilat Satcom. Those deals guarantee an income of $350 million, and Intelsat vice-president Ed Berger believes 90% of its capacity will be sold before it launches. (12/10)