December 2 News Items

Russia Building Missiles to Counter US Space Defenses (Source: Space Daily)
Russia is developing missiles designed to avoid being hit by space-based missile defense systems that could be deployed by the United States, a top Russian general was quoted as saying Monday. "Development is now under way on the combat outfitting of missiles whose flight falls outside the range of space-based missile defense systems," Nikolai Solovtsov, the commander of Russia's missile forces, told Interfax news agency. Solovtsov called the project a countermeasure to what he described as US plans to deploy weapons in space, according to Interfax. (12/2)

Obama Vows US Will Maintain "Strongest Military on the Planet" (Source: Space Daily)
US President-elect Barack Obama vowed Monday to ensure the US military remains the strongest force "on the planet" despite the economic challenges facing the country. "To ensure prosperity here at home and peace abroad, we all share the belief we have to maintain the strongest military on the planet," Obama said as he unveiled a heavyweight national security team to serve when he takes office on Jan. 20. "We also agree the strength of our military has to be combined with the wisdom and force of diplomacy, and that we are going to be committed to rebuilding and restrengthening alliances around the world to advance American interests and American security," he said. (12/2)

China/U.S. Space Relations: A Fresh Start or a Protracted Showdown? (Source: Asia Times)
United States president-elect Barack Obama has some tough choices to make with respect to how he will deals with China in space. He might prefer to proclaim the advantages of cooperation with China in terms of space exploration and other activities, but the execution of any plan where the US is perceived as letting its guard down is going to draw a lot of criticism from conservatives, a wing of the US Congress which has been deeply suspicious of the Chinese space program from the start. Visit http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China/JL03Ad01.html to view the article. (12/2)

California Rocket Firm Has First Space Tourist (Source: AP)
A Danish adventurer is first in line to ride aboard a privately funded, two-seat rocket ship designed by a California rocket maker to fly about 37 miles above Earth. Xcor Aerospace said that Per Wimmer, an investment banker based in London, will be the first passenger aboard Lynx, a space tourism vehicle designed to take off and land like an airplane. He's also an investor in the Mojave, Calif.-based company. Wimmer hopes his flight will come in 2011, after a series of test flights. Officials said tickets are selling for $95,000 each and reservations have been made for 20 flights. Xcor's main competitor is building SpaceShipTwo, an eight-seat craft that will take passengers some 62 miles above Earth for $200,000 each. (12/2)

Iran to Send Animals Into Space (Source: RIA Novosti)
Iran plans to send exploratory rockets into space with live animals on board, paving the way for manned space flights, a space research official said on Tuesday. Mohammad Ebrahimi, deputy head of Iran's Aerospace Research Institute, said Iran plans to send Kavoshgar (Explorer) 3 and 4 rockets into space in the near future. The Kavoshgar 2 was successfully launched on Wednesday. The rocket consisted of a carrier, space-lab and restoration system. (12/2)

Mitsubishi Wins ST-2 Satellite Contract (Source: Space News)
Mitsubishi Electric Corp., fulfilling a long-held ambition, has won its first order for a commercial satellite outside of Japan with the contract to build the ST-2 telecommunications spacecraft for the joint venture between SingTel of Singapore and Chunghwa Telecom Co. of Taiwan, Tokyo-based Mitsubishi announced Dec. 2. (12/2)

Kazakhstan Admits Losing Satellite (Source: RIA Novosti)
Kazakhstan has lost its first Kazsat-1 satellite, the head of the national space agency said. The KazSat-1 satellite went completely out of control on Nov. 26 and has not responded to any commands. That's it. It's gone," Talgat Musabayev said. The $65 million satellite, Kazakhstan's first, stopped broadcasting to the country's territory on June 8. Its Russian manufacturer said in late October, however, the malfunctioning satellite had been brought back into geostationary orbit. The Khrunichev space research and production center said it had fixed the problem together with Kazakh specialists earlier in October, and the satellite would resume its regular operations once all of its systems had been tested. (12/2)

Russians Deploy New Military Spacecraft Into Orbit (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Russia launched a military reconnaissance satellite Tuesday into an elliptical high-altitude orbit from the country's Plesetsk spaceport. The four-stage Molniya-M rocket, a modified version of the Soyuz booster, was likely carrying an Oko-class early warning satellite to detect U.S. missile launches. Oko satellites circle Earth in egg-shaped orbits with high points about 25,000 miles above the planet. (12/2)

World 'Must Tackle Space Threat' (Source: BBC)
The international community must work together to tackle the threat of asteroids colliding with Earth, a leading UN scientist says. Professor Richard Crowther's comments come as a group of space experts called for a coordinated science-led response to the asteroid threat. The Association of Space Explorers (ASE) says missions to intercept asteroids will need global approval. The UN will meet in February to discuss the issue. In the ASE report, the group of scientists and former astronauts point to the historical record to highlight the dangers of asteroids; an impact 65 million years ago may have wiped out the dinosaurs, and the Tunguska impact in 1908 produced a 2,000 sq km fire in Siberia, big enough to engulf a city the size of New York. (12/2)

Odd Comet Possibly from Another Star System (Source: Space.com)
The bizarre chemical make-up of a comet suggests the blob of ice is an interloper, possibly flung into our solar system from beyond, astronomers now say, adding that the wacky comet is forcing them to create a new category for such objects. The comet, called Machholz 1, was discovered in 1986 by Donald Machholz of Loma Prieta, Calif. Since then, the icy denizen has made a few appearances, including one in 2007. "A large fraction of comets in our own solar system have escaped into interstellar space, so we expect that many comets formed around other stars would also have escaped," said David Schleicher, a planetary astronomer at Lowell Observatory in Arizona. "Some of these will have crossed paths with the sun, and Machholz 1 could be an interstellar interloper." (12/2)

Next NASA Administrator a Political Mystery (Source: Huntsville Times)
Trying to figure who will take the reins of NASA under the next White House is about like guessing what is on the surface of Pluto - the one place in the solar system never visited by a research probe. Predicting the next administrator of the space agency would just be a stab in the cold dark, said Keith Cowing, a former NASA employee and founder of the Web site NASAwatch.com. "To guess with all the names floating about would just be futile, and it would flame the rumor mill," Cowing said. "There have been so many names out there and each one says they are not interested...It's really a job nobody wants." (12/2)

Out-of-This-World Ideas (Source: Arizona Republic)
Arizona students descended on ASU West on Monday to compete in the 10th Honeywell Fiesta Bowl Aerospace Challenge for a chance to win an appearance at the 38th Annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and a trip to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Fifth- through eighth-graders brought in their best and most creative models of a new-generation International Space Station. The models feature solar panels, recreation rooms with basketball courts and hydroponic chambers for growing food. (12/2)

Orbitec Seeking Investors for Expansion (Source: Journal Sentinel)
Wisconsin's Orbital Technologies Corp. (Orbitec) is seeking investors to embark on its next stage of expansion. "We have products and technologies that are ready to launch," said Thomas M. Crabb, president of the privately held aerospace group. Orbitec started off mainly with propulsion, rockets and robotics technologies and strong ties to NASA. In more recent years, its investments in R&D have yielded so many diverse spin-offs that it reorganized itself in October into five separate operating groups. Each of the five has applications that are ripe for commercialization, Crabb said. "We're taking the top of our R&D crop that have potential in the marketplace and investing in them so they become accepted into the market," Crabb said. (12/2)

SpaceX Adds DragonLab Launches to Florida Manifest (Source: SpaceX)
SpaceX announces the addition of two DragonLab missions to its manifest, as a result of demand from a successful workshop held at SpaceX headquarters on Nov. 6 to introduce the new DragonLab product. The first two flights are scheduled for 2010 and 2011 respectively from the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch site at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. DragonLab is a free-flying, reusable spacecraft capable of hosting pressurized and unpressurized payloads to and from space. It is the newest commercial offering from SpaceX. DragonLab launches to orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle. (12/2)

NASA Selects Lockheed Martin for GOES-R Development (Source: NASA)
NASA, in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has selected Lockheed Martin to build the next series of weather satellites for NOAA's Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, or GOES-R, Program. The basic contract is for two spacecraft. Two options each provide for one additional spacecraft. The total estimated value of the basic contract including options is $1.09 billion. (12/2)

NASA Extends Russian Contract for Space Station Transport Services (Source: NASA)
NASA has signed a $141 million modification to the current International Space Station contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency for crew transportation services planned through the spring of 2012. The extension covers comprehensive Soyuz support, including all necessary training and preparation for launch, crew rescue, and landing of a long-duration mission for three station crew members. The crew members will launch on two Soyuz vehicles in the fall of 2011. They will land in the spring of 2012. The flights may be used to meet NASA's obligations to its international partners for transportation to and from the station. (12/2)

Florida Teams Invited to NASA Student Launch Initiative (Source: NASA)
NASA has invited 14 groups of ambitious young rocketeers from 11 middle schools, high schools and youth organizations around the country to light up the sky over North Alabama during NASA's 2008-2009 Student Launch Initiative rocketry challenge. Two of the teams are from Plantation High School in Florida. The rocketeering challenge will be held Apr. 15-20, when student teams will converge on NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville for a professional review of their rockets by NASA engineers. Teams are eligible to participate in the program for one or two years. Each new team receives a $3,700 grant, and each returning team receives a $2,450 grant. (12/2)

California Team Invited to NASA Student Launch Initiative (Source: NASA)
NASA has invited 14 groups of ambitious young rocketeers from 11 middle schools, high schools and youth organizations around the country to light up the sky over North Alabama during NASA's 2008-2009 Student Launch Initiative rocketry challenge. One of the teams is from Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood, California. The rocketeering challenge will be held Apr. 15-20, when student teams will converge on NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville for a professional review of their rockets by NASA engineers. Teams are eligible to participate in the program for one or two years. Each new team receives a $3,700 grant, and each returning team receives a $2,450 grant. (12/2)