December 24 News Items

Florida Launch Pad Spared in Governor's Budget Cuts (Source: ERAU)
$14.5 million intended for the refurbishment of Launch Complex 36 at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport was left untouched in a 2008/09 budget reduction proposed by Gov. Charlie Crist to the state's legislature. Space Florida plans to modify LC-36 to support multiple launch vehicles, the largest of which is PlanetSpace's launch vehicle that failed to win a NASA contract to support Space Station cargo missions. The PlanetSpace team (which includes ATK, Boeing and Lockheed) had indicated recently that they may move forward with their launch program even if they did not win the NASA contract. (12/24)

Life on Mars? Let's Look in the Caves (Source: TED)
So the Mars Rovers didn't scoop up any alien lifeforms. Scientist Penelope Boston thinks there's a good chance -- a 25 to 50 percent chance, in fact -- that life might exist on Mars, deep inside the planet's caves. She details how we should look and why in a lecture to TED. Click here to view the lecture. (12/24)

Six-Hour Spacewalk Focuses on Fixing Russian Module (Source: AIA)
A team of American and Russian crewmen from the International Space Station conducted a six-hour spacewalk Tuesday focused largely on troubleshooting a problem with the Soyuz module that carries Russian cosmonauts back to Earth. Engineers believe pyrobolts are failing to detonate on time when the module separates from the space station, causing a rough ride for the crew. (12/24)

GLONASS Launch Update: Satellites on the Launch Pad (Source: GPS World)
A Proton M/DM-2 rocket was transferred to the launch pad Monday, ready to put into orbit three GLONASS-M satellites for the Russian government. The launch will take place from Site 81/24 at the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan on December 25 at 13:43 hours local time. Preparations for the launch weren't slowed by the harsh weather conditions. On Monday morning when the rocket was set on the launch pad, the temperature was a chilly -15 degrees, accompanied by high gusty winds. (12/24)

Virginia Spaceport Will Service International Space Station (Source: DelMarVaNow.com)
NASA announced late Tuesday that Orbital Sciences Corp. has been awarded an eight-year contract beginning Jan. 1 to take cargo to and from the International Space Station. Orbital Sciences, which is based in Dulles, Va., last summer chose the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island as its base of operations for a $45 million space launch vehicle program designed to replace the space shuttle. (12/24)

U.S. Air Force Scales Back T-Sat (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Air Force has officially terminated the current competition to build the Transformational Satellite (T-Sat) communications system and this week will issue a request for proposals for a scaled-down version of the system, according to a Dec. 23 Air Force press release. (12/24)

SpaceX Sees 1,000 Jobs in Brevard (Source: Florida Today)
SpaceX said its new NASA contract could result in the creation of about 1,000 local jobs in launch operations and rocket assembly. "This is a tremendous responsibility, given the swiftly approaching retirement of the space shuttle and the significant future needs of the space station," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said. SpaceX would launch from Launch Complex 40 at the cape. Orbital would launch from Wallops Island, Va. Neither company has a track record of lifting heavy cargo to low orbit, and neither company has performed delicate rendezvous operations at 17,000 mph, the speed of an orbiting spacecraft. (12/24)