January 24 News Items

Editorial: We Aimed for The Stars...Until We Stopped (Source: Space News)
If you were alive and aware 40 years ago, you will likely never forget the Christmas of 1968. We had lived through a year of epic tragedy — a war going badly, mass protests, political assassinations and deadly race riots in the streets of many of our cities. But this calamitous year ended in a way that few would have dared to predict: a remarkable worldwide television broadcast of three men taking turns reading the biblical account of creation as they orbited another world. In an instant we had created a new world for ourselves — and a year of sadness ended with a moment of great joy and inspiration.

Our country has been pulling the rug out from under NASA ever since Apollo. Really, the agency is running on fumes from rocket fuel that was purchased (on a credit card no doubt) in 1961. Click here to view the article. (1/24)

Space-Tourism Deal Spurs State Investigation (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Last year, Brice Harris, an employee in Gov. Charlie Crist's tourism and economic-development office, shepherded a deal to give a Panhandle sports-medicine clinic a $500,000 contract to train tourists for the rigors of spaceflight... Then in August, shortly after the project had been provisionally approved by agencies that included Brevard-based Space Florida, Harris resigned his $70,000-a-year state job -- to take a job overseeing the project for the company he had helped get it.

State ethics laws prohibit government employees from taking a job with a company if they were involved in any way with negotiating a contract with the company. After Harris quit, a high-ranking member of the governor's staff wrote that his involvement with the company would lead to a "disaster" if exposed... The investigation is almost certain to bring greater scrutiny to Space Florida, the state's 2-year-old aerospace development body that kicked off the deal. Click here to view the article. (1/24)

Race To Orbit Gets Underway With Ares-1-X Tests (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
NASA is using powerful computers and software programs to design the rocket that will carry crew and cargo to space after the space shuttle retires. But those computers will have their work checked the old-fashioned way with the first of several uncrewed demonstration launches beginning in 2009. Ares I-X, the first Ares I test rocket, will lift off from Kennedy Space Center, Fla. in the summer of 2009. It will climb about 25 miles (40.2 km) in a two-minute powered test of Ares I first stage performance and its first stage separation and parachute recovery system. A less obvious - but no less critical - test will be of overall vehicle aerodynamics. Is the design safe and stable in flight? This is a question that must be answered before astronauts begin traveling into orbit and beyond. (1/23)

Huntsville Attorney Retains Role as Congressional Adviser on Space (Source: Huntsville Times)
A local lawyer and space expert has been reappointed to a key role advising Congress on science issues. Mark McDaniel was reappointed as an adviser on space by Rep. Bart Gordon, D-Tenn., to the House Committee on Science and Technology, which Gordon chairs. McDaniel has advised Gordon for the past four years. He also served on the NASA Advisory Council from 2000-2005.

"As NASA once again works to put a man on the moon, people with the background such as (McDaniel) are able to offer sound counsel to me and my staff," Gordon wrote in the appointment letter. "Your experience with the NASA Advisory Council as well as your continued relationship with the leadership of Marshall Space Flight Center will provide insight ..." McDaniel said he looked forward to working on space and science issues related "to not only Huntsville but agency-wide." (1/24)