May 2 News Items

Honeywell Still Protesting NASA Space Network Deal (Source: Space News)
Honeywell Technology Solutions has filed a second protest with the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) over a $1.26 billion space network services contract NASA awarded to ITT's Herndon, Va.-based Advanced Engineering and Sciences division. Columbia, Md.-based Honeywell filed a new protest April 24, two weeks after NASA awarded the Space Communications Network Services (SCNS) contract to ITT for a second time. NASA selected ITT last fall to maintain and operate NASA's space and near Earth networks for the next five years, after a source selection board rated ITT's past performance on similar contracts better than Honeywell's. (5/2)

Rocket Falls Short of Altitude Goal at New Mexico Spaceport (Source: KVIA)
A rocket carrying experiments launched Saturday from Spaceport America, but failed to reach its target altitude of 75 miles. Spaceport director Steve Landeene says the UP Aerospace SpaceLoft XL rocket landed on within spaceport's target zone. The remote area had been off limits to people during the launch. Landeene says the 20-foot-tall, 10-inch-diameter rocket appeared to have had a successful launch in front of students, parents and other onlookers. Landeene says he doesn't know why the rocket didn't reach space. From an educational standpoint, he says the students, who are studying rocketry as part of their curriculum, will still learn from the experience. (5/2)

Education Launch a Success (Source: Spaceport America)
Saturday’s successful launch of the UP Aerospace SpaceLoft XL rocket for the SL-3 Education launch is another successful step in developing the world's first commercial spaceport. Spaceport America and the New Mexico Space Grant Consortium created history with this first annual Education Launch that provided New Mexico students the opportunity to design and launch scientific experiments into space. (5/2)

NASA's Rich History on Virginia's Eastern Shore Includes Bright Future (Source: WDBJ)
Virginia's Eastern Shore has been a center of aerospace research for decades. NASA has launched more than 16,000 rockets from Wallops Island over the last 60 years, but could space tourism also be part of its future? The Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport is preparing for a satellite launch next week, and state leaders hope many more missions will follow. While no one expects those flights to include people any time soon, the director of the state's commercial space flight authority says it's possible.

"Now the question is from here? You bet. We're wide open to it. Virginia has taken the lead if you will, setting up what is needed to support that industry," says Billie Reed, with the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority. Virginia offers tax incentives to companies that use Wallops Island as their gateway to space. Virginia and Maryland have joined forces to bring new commercial, government and academic projects to the the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport. (5/2)

Japan To Launch Military-Purpose Satellites (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Tokyo, Japan (KNS) May 01, 2009 - The Japanese government could launch an early warning satellite that can detect missile launches abroad by 2013. It also wants to increase the number of reconnaissance satellites from the current three to four. The Strategic Headquarters for Space Policy of the Japanese Cabinet Office finalized a five-year space policy plan Monday. (5/2)

More Astronauts Join Hall of Fame at KSC (Source: Florida Today)
George "Pinky" Nelson is one of only a handful of people who have strapped on a Buck Rogers-style rocket backpack and flown untethered -- without a lifeline -- in outer space. Today, he and two others will be inducted into another exclusive club: the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. Nelson and two colleagues -- Bill Shepherd and Jim Wetherbee -- will join the ranks of pioneering explorers like Neil Armstrong, John Glenn and Sally Ride as they are inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame during a ceremony at Kennedy Space Center. (5/2)