December 18 News Items

NORAD Prepares for 50th Year Tracking Santa (Source: AFNS)
Among North American Aerospace Command's diverse and challenging missions, none is more gratifying -- or as downright fun -- as tracking Santa Claus each year for children around the world, the NORAD commander said this week. "It is the most wonderful experience you can ever imagine to talk to children from literally all over the world who want to know where Santa is and 'When is he going to be at my house?'" Gen. Victor E. Renuart said. Visit http://www.noradsanta.org/ to follow Santa on Christmas Eve. (12/19)

Bridging the Gap in California STEM Education (Source: CSA)
The California Science Technology, Engineering, and Math(STEM)Inventory is a website that hosts a listing of STEM education programs that exist in California. The inventory is a great way for STEM education stakeholders to become aware of K-Grey STEM education programs, events and professional development programs in CA. It is our hope that this inventory will become the central location for all STEM education programs in California, creating statewide STEM community. Visit the CA STEM Inventory today at www.csewi.org/stem. (12/18)

Virtual Mentors Needed for California University Students! (Source: CSA)
Aerospace professionals needed for a university student mentoring program hosted by the California Space Education & Workforce Institute (CSEWI) Mentor students conveniently through a virtual mentoring website requiring up to only 1 hour of your time per week. Please visit www.icouldbe.org/CSEWI to register as a CSEWI mentor today. For more information please contact mailto:teresa.henderson@csewi.org. (12/18)

XCOR Aerospace Completes Lynx Engine Test at California Space Port (Source: CSA)
XCOR Aerospace has successfully completed its first test fire of the rocket engine that will be used to power its Lynx suborbital launch vehicle to the edge of space. The new engine, designated the 5K18, produces between 2500-2900 lbf thrust by burning a mixture of liquid oxygen and kerosene. The engine was fired Dec. 15 at XCOR's rocket test facility located at the Mojave Air and Space Port. The first test of the engine was performed using pressure-fed propellants whereas the final version of the engine will be fed using XCOR's proprietary cryogenic piston pump for liquid oxygen and a similar piston pump for kerosene. (12/18)

First Lockheed Martin SBIRS HEO System Achieves U.S. STRATCOM Certification (Source: CSA)
The first Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO-1) payload and ground system, built by a Lockheed Martin team, has been certified for operations by U.S. Strategic Command. SBIRS is designed to provide early warning of missile launches, and simultaneously support other missions including missile defense, technical intelligence and battlespace awareness. (12/18)

Vandenberg Small Business Conference & GPC Vendor Faire Planned Mar. 18-19 (Source: CSA)
The two day event is set to present a variety of events. The GPC Vendor Faire will be for contractors and vendors to meet cardholders. The 2008 event included Speed Dating Mini-Marketing Meetings, a wine tasting and Tech Brew social, exhibits, opportunities to meet small business owners in plenary sessions, and educational seminars. Call 805-605-7265 for information. (12/18)

Majel Roddenberry, 'First Lady of Star Trek,' Dies (Source: AP)
Majel Barrett Roddenberry, the widow of "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry, has died. She was 76. Roddenberry, an actress who appeared in numerous "Star Trek" TV shows and movies, died Thursday of leukemia at her home in Bel-Air, Calif., her representative said. At Roddenberry's side were family friends and her only son, Eugene Roddenberry Jr. Gene Roddenberry died in 1991. (12/18)

Presidential Science Advisor and NOAA Choices Anticipated (Source: NASA Watch)
Multiple sources report that John Holdren will be President-Elect Obama's science adviser. Word has it that this signals how some additional science and technology agency appointments are going to be made and what the Obama Administration is going to be focusing on. Holdren is a professor of Environmental Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. He earned a bachelor's degree from MIT in 1965 and a PhD from Stanford in 1970. His work has focused on global environmental change, energy technologies and policies, nuclear proliferation, and science and technology policy.

Also, the Washington Post reports that Obama has tapped Oregon State University professor Jane Lubchenco, one of the nation's most prominent marine biologists, to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Lubchenco, a conservationist who has devoted much of her career to encouraging scientists to become more engaged in public policy debates, is also a vocal proponent of curbing greenhouse gases linked to global warming. The transition team could not be reached for comment, but several sources confirmed today that Lubchenco had been picked and was headed to Chicago for the upcoming announcement. (12/18)

Sirius Ending 2008 with 22 Percent Less Staff (Source: AP)
Sirius XM Radio Inc. said Thursday it will have trimmed 22 percent of its work force by year-end, as the satellite radio provider moves to slash costs in order to stay on track and post its first-ever adjusted profit next year, even amid slumping car sales. The company will have cut 458 people from its staff, going down to 1,600 people from the 2,058 it employed before its July acquisition of XM Satellite Radio. Sirius expects the job cuts and other cost-reduction measures to save $425 million next year. The company also forecast a smaller-than-expected adjusted loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $200 million this year, down from $300 million as previously expected. (12/18)

Worldwide Governments Spend 62 Billion Dollars On Space Programs (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Euroconsult has announced that world government space program expenditures are at a historical high of more than $62 billion dollars in 2008, with planned satellite launches in the next ten years to increase 38% over the previous decade. Governments have clearly entered a new phase of investment, committing to the development of a new generation of programs worldwide. Furthermore, government space program expenditures worldwide are expected to grow at 4.5% per year through 2012, reaching nearly $70 billion. Manned Spaceflight represents the largest space budget item worldwide with $11.6 billion invested in 2007, an 8% increase over 2006. Click here to view the article. (12/18)

Falcon 9 First Stage Flight Tank Arrives at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX's Falcon 9 first stage flight tank has arrived at the company's newest launch site, Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. Arriving as scheduled, delivery of the Falcon 9 first stage fulfills SpaceX's commitment to having Falcon 9 hardware at the Cape by year-end. In preparation for the launch vehicle's maiden flight in 2009, all Falcon 9 elements and ground support hardware have departed SpaceX's manufacturing facility in Hawthorne, California. The hardware is currently making its way across the United States on a dozen big rigs which will converge at the launch site over the next two weeks. (12/18)

Defense Unit Seen as Key to Boeing's Growth Plans (Source: AIA)
Despite a global recession and a power shift in Washington, Boeing Co. still believes it can increase defense sales by up to 5% over the next five to 10 years. Jim Albaugh, head of Boeing's Integrated Defense Systems unit, told the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit that the growth in defense sales will help make up for declining commercial numbers caused by a two-month machinists strike. Albaugh also said the company is focused on boosting foreign sales to 20% of total. (12/18)

Florida Needs to be Nicer to Angels (Source: Miami Herald)
With banks and even venture capitalist firms being more cautious about financing, entrepreneurs are having an even tougher time finding the money to fund their new ideas. Yet it's the people with bright ideas for new businesses who can really help innovate us out of this current downturn. Can government do more to help those innovators? Barbara Boxer thinks so. Boxer, whose Women Angels supports young women-owned companies, is floating a proposal for the state to offer tax credits to investors who finance companies at the earliest stages of their development. These are the companies that aren't even established enough to get the attention of a venture capital firm or a bank.

Her idea, which she's discussed with local universities, is modeled after a similar program in Wisconsin that Boxer helped start in 2005. Wisconsin's Act 255 gives 25 percent income tax credits to angel investors and certain venture capital funds that invest in early-stage technology businesses. It also gives grants and loans directly to the businesses themselves. Since Act 255, the number of angel networks in the state more than tripled, and Wisconsin has seen an estimated 43% growth in dollars going to early-stage companies. Such an initiative would have the added benefit of luring more VCs and angels into Florida. "It'll just explode," she says. "We don't have many VCs in this area, so this is really to create an industry." (12/18)

Blakey: Chinese Will Be Next to Set Foot on the Moon (Source: AIA)
"The next boots on the moon are probably going to be Chinese," said AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey on Wednesday at the Reuters Aerospace and Defense Summit, adding that such competition could encourage U.S. space efforts in the midst of an economic downturn. "I do not believe the American people will trade off the importance of exploring what clearly is the next frontier in the middle of short-term economic duress," she said. (12/18)

SpaceX Names Gwynne Shotwell Company President (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX has announced the appointment of Gwynne Shotwell as President, effective immediately. In her new position, Shotwell will be part of the Office of the Chairman and CEO and report to Elon Musk, CEO and CTO. As President, she will focus on the operational activities of SpaceX, including sales, marketing, manufacturing, launch operations, legal, government relations and finance. Ms. Shotwell joined SpaceX in 2002 as Vice President of Business Development. In 2004, she was elected to the California Space Authority Board of Directors and currently serves on its Executive Committee. She has served as chairperson of the AIAA Space Systems Technical Committee and as an officer of the AIAA Los Angeles Chapter. (12/18)

Man Gets 7 Months for Threatening NASA Plant (Source: KATC)
A 21-year-old suburban New Orleans man is going to federal prison for seven months for making a false bomb threat. Authorities said Byron George Freas, of Destrehan, threatened the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans from where he had been fired as a security guard. Freas pleaded guilty to conveying a false threat in September. He was also ordered to undergo mental health treatment during three years of supervision that will follow the prison term. (12/18)

Moon May Hold Water for Astronauts (Source: UK Press Association)
The darkest reaches of the moon could be holding the means to a manned space base there, scientists have said. Lunar ice could be hidden in the moon's polar craters, untouched by the sun's rays. The findings mean the moon could provide a source of water for astronauts using the moon as a base for further exploration of our solar system. A team of scientists at Durham University analysed data from a space probe sent to the moon by NASA in 1998. They found high concentrations of hydrogen on polar craters, where temperatures are colder than minus 170 degrees Celsius. The hydrogen could have combined with oxygen present in moon rock to make water. (12/18)

Russia to Make 39 Space Launches in 2009 (Source: RIA Novosti)
The Russian space agency will make 39 space launches next year from the Baikonur and Plesetsk space centers. The launches would be made as part of the Federal Space Program, the Glonass federal program, an international cooperation program, and a number of commercial projects. Four Soyuz manned spaceships and five Progress freighters will be launched from Baikonur to the International Space Station. Proton rockets will put into orbit two Express communication satellites, two Glonass satellites, 17 communication satellites, two weather and ocean monitoring satellites, one emergency situations monitoring satellite, and six astrophysical satellites to study planets within the solar system. (12/18)

SSTL Acquisition Approved by European Union (Source: Space News)
The European Union has approved the sale of British small-satellite manufacturer Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL) to Europe's biggest aerospace conglomerate, EADS, the European Commission announced Dec. 18. (12/18)