July 12 News Items

Workforce Agency Chief Predicts 7,000 Jobs Lost (Source: Florida Today)
Florida Today interviewed Lisa Rice, president of the Brevard Workforce Development Board Inc. She spoke of the progress in helping the shuttle workforce transition as the program approaches a planned retirement next year, when thousands of jobs will be lost at Kennedy Space Center. Asked how bad job losses will be, Rice said job losses could reach 7,000 and the time for job recovery could lengthen to seven years. "With the new NASA administrator, we're not sure what kinds of goals he's going to set," said Rice. Several years ago Rice and other officials estimated 3,500 jobs would be lost, even with Kennedy Space Center getting important parts of the Constellation program.

"What we're hearing is that a lot of those work packages are not coming to Florida," Rice said. "That's a huge loss. You can't keep people on for that time frame." Talk of bringing the lunar lander the KSC has become less firm. "At this point that is not on the table as coming to KSC," Rice said. Editor's Note: Former NASA Administrator Mike Griffin at one time indicated that the Altair lunar lander would be assembled at KSC to help mitigate Shuttle program workforce losses. NASA later revealed that it would not dictate which location would be used for Altair assembly. (7/12)

It's Rocket Science — Lots of Opportunity (Source: Denver Post)
On June 18, ULA's Atlas V rocket launched two lunar missions, and on June 27, a NASA/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration GOES satellite was launched on a Delta IV. The launches were ULA's No. 27 and No. 28 — with eight of those coming this year. Question: ULA has had an impressive record of launches in the 2 1/2 years that it has been a joint venture between Lockheed Martin and Boeing Co. What has it been like melding the two cultures and what lies ahead? Click here to view the interview with ULA's Michael Gass. (7/12)

Britain's Space Policy Decline (Source: BBC)
Giles Dilnot looks at why Britain, which 50 years ago was at the forefront of the space race, has fallen to the back of the pack. Visit http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8146403.stm to view the video. (7/12)

Saturn V, Apollo's Thunderous Rocket, Would be a Spacefaring Dinosaur Today (Source: Arizona Daily Star)
Since the last manned lunar mission, Apollo 17 in 1972, mankind has taken one giant leap backward. Neither the United States nor any other country currently has the means to send a manned mission to the moon, said Michael J. Drake, director of the UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. Detailed designs of the Saturn V rocket no longer exist, Drake said. And even if they were recovered, they'd be obsolete because they wouldn't meet current safety standards — which the U.S. deemed acceptable in the 1960s as it scurried to beat the Soviets to the moon. The designs would also be too archaic to work with modern computers and communications systems. "Technology has moved on," Drake said. (7/12)

University of Arizona Dreams Stretch from Moon to Mars (Source: Arizona Daily Star)
For as long as our species has been able to look skyward, humans have dreamed of touching the moon. Forty years ago, the University of Arizona helped make that happen. Without continued investment in Arizona's universities by the state, such achievements could become a thing of the past. The challenge to create the technology, the spacecraft and the systems that allowed Armstrong, Aldrin and Michael Collins to reach the moon — and come back safely — was monumental. Tucson should be proud of the part the UA played in lunar exploration. The UA's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, or LPL, was created by Gerard Kuiper around 1960 as a place to study the moon and planets. The LPL was originally housed in a Quonset hut and was dubbed the "Loony-Lab," a moniker of affection for scientists working there, but also used not-so-affectionately by others who derided the academic pursuit. (7/12)

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