July 7, 2010

USRA Welcomes First UAE Student Interns to NASA Program (Source: Earth Times)
The Universities Space Research Association (USRA) recently took great pleasure in welcoming the first contingent of students from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to NASA's Education Associates Program (EAP). Managed by USRA, the EAP is a unique workforce development program that offers students, post-docs, and faculty the opportunity for hands-on work with NASA scientists and engineers. Under a 3-year agreement between NASA and the non-profit Arab Youth Venture Foundation (AYVF), up to 12 UAE students per year will be participating in the EAP. The initial group of three students arrived in mid-June to begin a 10-week internship at NASA's Ames Research Center. The students will be working on a variety of projects including the space shuttle and International Space Station, deep space missions, solar system exploration, and aeronautics research. (7/7)

Aerospace Industry Growth Expected to Move Into Holding Pattern (Source: AIA)
After four years of rapid expansion, the aerospace industry is heading into a period of slow growth as governments cut back on their defense budgets and airlines work to get their finances back in line, according to Alix Partners consulting firm. Activity in recent years has grown by 15% to 18% annually, but slowed to just 2% last year, and growth should stabilize this year. (7/7)

California Model Rocket Club is Launching Pad for Aerospace Interest (Source: AIA)
Model rocket building is being kept alive and well through the Livermore Unit of the National Rocketry Association, in California. The model rocket club is the largest in the U.S., and its members have assisted local youth in the prestigious Team America Rocketry Challenge. "I'm into trying to get kids educated and motivated to learn something beyond the normal math and science they're learning in school," said David Raimondi, the club's president. "This is aerospace in miniature." (7/7)

Air Force Delays Launch of Space-Junk Cam from California (Source: MSNBC)
The launch of a new U.S. Air Force space surveillance satellite has been delayed due to a software problem in a rocket similar to the one that will lift the satellite into orbit. The Space-Based Space Surveillance satellite was scheduled to lift off Thursday from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. No new launch date has been set.

Air Force officials said Tuesday that tests revealed a software problem on another Minotaur IV rocket. No other details have been released. The satellite is designed to give the Air Force its first full-time, space-based surveillance of satellites and debris in Earth orbit. (7/7)

Rocket Tank Enroute to Virginia Spaceport (Source: DelMarVaNow.com)
A huge tank that will hold liquid oxygen for Orbital Sciences' Taurus II rocket is making its way from Mexico City, where it was made by a company called Envases, to the launch site on Wallops Island. The 56-wheeled vehicle transporting the tank was entering Georgia as of Tuesday afternoon and is expected to arrive at Wallops by mid- to late July, according to Orbital Sciences' launch site manager Norm Bobczynski. The 80,000 gallon tank weighs more than 200,000 pounds and is 125-feet-long and 13 feet in diameter. (7/7)