January 4 News Items

Kentucky University Space Program Taking Off (Source: Lexington Herald-Leader)
Standing nearly 69 feet tall, the giant structure on the hill overlooking Morehead State University's campus might look to some as simply an oversize satellite TV dish. But to those involved with the university's Space Science Program, the dish — which is actually a space tracking antenna system that can control satellites and measure celestial masses — remains a beacon for a program that's traveled light-years from its days in a garage apartment.

Faculty and staff are helping engineer and launch Kentucky's first satellite. They're using their 3-year-old $3 million antenna to measure energy from the moon and even, accidentally, a black hole. And they're about to move into a $15.4 million state-of-the-art new home this spring. over the next five years they hopes to double the number of full-time faculty members to 12 as well as the number of students. This year, Morehead has 24 students in space science — one of just five such bachelor's degree programs in the country — and 10 students in astrophysics. (1/4)

Richardson Withdraws Bid to be Commerce Secretary (Source: AP)
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson on Sunday announced that he was withdrawing his nomination to be President-elect Barack Obama's commerce secretary amid a grand jury investigation into how some of his political donors won a lucrative state contract. Richardson's withdrawal was the first disruption of Obama's Cabinet process and the second "pay-to-play" investigation that has touched Obama's transition to the presidency. The president-elect has remained above the fray in both the case of arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the New Mexico case. (1/4)

Will Brain Waves Help Pilot Future Space Ships? (Source: USA Today)
NASA's plans to ship people to the moon and some day Mars are very much up in the air these days, with debate over Barack Obama's plans for the space agency a hot topic in the aerospace industry. Budget battles aside, one new study asks, how should these future astronauts steer their way around our solar system? Brain waves, suggests an Acta Astronautica report. (1/4)

Editorial: Virginia Delegation Must Fight for Science Dollars (Source: Hampton Roads Daily Press)
Our congressional delegation must do everything to prevent NASA Langley Research Center and NASA Wallops Flight Facility from being "BRAC-ed." Where a real impact could be made, in addition to the appropriations committees, of course, would be for one member of Virginia's delegation to seek a seat and be determined to lead on the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee or on the House Science and Technology Committee. These committees have responsibility for NASA and its programs.

With the horrible state of our economy and talk of huge national investments in science and technology as it applies to health care, energy, the environment, the automobile industry, etc., we cannot think of a better place for Virginia to be represented, except for the appropriations committees (and armed services committees, too). Other states with strong aerospace and aeronautics companies and research organizations, such as Florida, California, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, etc., have at least one member on these committees. They are leaders in the scientific and aeronautics congressional caucus, too. (1/4)

Historic Langley Wind Tunnel Facility Soon To Go (Source: Virginian-Pilot)
It was the biggest wind tunnel on Earth, and it remains among Langley's most visible structures: 434 feet long and 10 stories tall, the Full-Scale Tunnel looms a spectral gray-white over its neighbors on the Back River shore, its every cubic inch devoted to producing a clean, constant column of air and to measuring the effects of that blast on whatever is placed in its path.

It was deemed a national historic landmark in 1985, for its cavernous test chamber has witnessed a procession of legends. Orville Wright and Howard Hughes. The Lightning, Corsair and Mustang. The first modern submarine, its shape more plane than boat. Some of the greatest minds in aeronautics manned its controls. And now, 77 years after it opened, NASA wants to tear it down.

Citing its obsolescence and declining condition, the agency plans to demolish the tunnel starting in late August--just after the expiration of a lease to Old Dominion University, which has used the building as an aerospace laboratory since 1997. The ODU professor who manages the facility says he'd welcome a chance to extend the lease. It isn't likely to happen. "Unfortunately, a number of these engineering marvels from 80 years ago have to fall by the wayside. Structurally, the facility is falling apart. It's an eyesore." (1/4)

Study Links Mammoth Extinction, Comets (Source: USA Today)
A swarm of comets that smacked North America 12,900 years ago wiped out the wooly mammoth and early Native American cultures, according to a soil study released Thursday. The report in the journal Science focuses on tiny "nanodiamonds," crystals tied to past comet impacts, at six sites across the continent in a soil layer dated to the start of a 1,300-year-long ice age. (1/4)