April 2, 2012

North Korea's Rocket Technology Explained (Source: Space.com)
North Korea says it is gearing up to launch a satellite to orbit this month, a move that has drawn widespread international condemnation. The satellite launch is expected to take place between April 12 and April 16 aboard an Unha-3 rocket, from a new site called Tongchang-ri in the northwest part of the country. Officials in the United States, South Korea, Japan and other nations view the liftoff as a thinly disguised military missile test.

The concern stems in large part from North Korea's famous unpredictability, along with its status as a nuclear-armed nation. And the unease is heightened by North Korea's secrecy, which makes it hard for the West to figure out just what the country is up to, and what it's capable of. Analysts believe a two-stage Taepodong-1 rocket could deliver a 1-ton payload up to 1,500 miles (2,500 km) away. But additional modifications could bring more distant targets into range.

"Some analysts speculated that a reduced-payload configuration could deliver a 200 kg warhead into the U.S. center and a 100 kg warhead to Washington D.C., albeit with poor accuracy," missile defense specialist Steven Hildreth wrote in a 2009 Congressional Research Service report. North Korea has developed another missile called the Taepodong-X, which is also called the Musudan. Little is known about this rocket because it apparently hasn't been tested publicly, but Western observers suspect that its maximum range may be around 2,000 miles (3,300 km) or so. (4/2)

Obama, Romney and the Politics of the Space Coast (Source: TIME)
In the run up to Florida’s Republican primary, a lot of pixels were spilled on Newt Gingrich’s lunar flight of fancy, a proposal to permanently colonize the moon by 2020. Even with the poor state of federal balance sheets, this kind of pandering to the Space Coast is par for the course. But in light of a gut-wrenching look from 60 Minutes at the current plight of laid-off workers in Brevard County, home of the Kennedy Space Center, it’s worth revisiting what Mitt Romney, the presumptive nominee, has said about the space program and whether he’ll be able to make an issue of it when the campaign returns to Florida in the fall.

In short, Romney hasn’t explicitly promised to bring back the manned space program Constellation, the shuttle’s intended successor that Obama canned, or anything else for that matter. “In the politics of the past, to get your vote in the Space Coast, I’d come here and promise hundreds of billions of dollars,” Romney told voters on Cape Canaveral back in January. “I know that’s something that’s very attractive, very popular, but it’s simply the wrong thing to do.”

Brevard County already leans Republican: McCain won it by 11 points in 2008; Bush won it by 16 in 2004 and by 8 in 2000. But as an anecdote of economic hardship in a key swing state, the Space Coast story is a compelling one for Romney to seize upon. Obama said in 2008 that he’d ensure “all those who work in the space industry in Florida do not lose their jobs when the shuttle program is retired.” Not all have, but there are clearly enough in pain to make it a point of contention in the general election. Click here. (4/2)

We Can Survive Killer Asteroids — But It Won’t Be Easy (Source: WIRED)
The chances that your tombstone will read “Killed by Asteroid” are about the same as they’d be for “Killed in Airplane Crash.” Solar System debris rains down on Earth in vast quantities — more than a hundred tons of it a day. Most of it vaporizes in our atmosphere, leaving stunning trails of light we call shooting stars. More hazardous are the billions, likely trillions, of leftover rocks — comets and asteroids — that wander interplanetary space in search of targets. Click here. (4/2)

Alabama Lawmakers Consider Spaceport (Source: Birmingham News)
A nine-person committee would decide whether to recommend creation of an Alabama Spaceport Authority, under resolutions that three lawmakers said today they would file in the Legislature Tuesday. "This is a great opportunity," said one of the lawmakers, Sen. Gerald Dial, R-Lineville. He noted that Alabama has a long history with rockets and space flight, with NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center and the Army's Redstone Arsenal, both in the Huntsville area.

"This is going to happen somewhere. It's going to happen in the Southeast. Why not us?" Dial asked. A state authority eventually could apply for a license from the Federal Aviation Administration and, if it got one, oversee construction and operation of a launch site for commercial orbital or suborbital flights for people or for satellites or other cargo.

Dial said a spaceport in Alabama could operate free of some of the restrictions he said Spaceport Florida faces by operating at a military base. Dial and Rep. Jim McClendon, R-Springville, and Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Capshaw, said they would sponsor joint resolutions that, if approved by the Legislature and Gov. Robert Bentley, would create the study committee. (4/2)

South Africa, Australia in Celestial Spat for New Telescope (Source: Reuters)
Deadly rivals on the rugby field, cricket pitch and in the underground mining sector, South Africa and Australia are now squaring off in a new contest: to win the right to host the world's most powerful telescope. The duo are finalists in a tender to host the device, known as the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), which will be 50 times more sensitive and 10,000 times faster than any other telescope on the planet, according to the international consortium funding the 2 billion euro ($2.66 billion) project.

The fight has turned nasty, with South Africa accusing Australia of dirty tricks and Australians raising security concerns about building such an expensive project in South Africa, which has high rates of violent crime. South Africa has even accused Australia of "selectively leaking" data about what are supposed to be secret deliberations in order to boost its own bid. (4/2)

60 Minutes Highlights Obama's Broken Space Promise: Paging Bill Nelson... (Source: Miami Herald)
When then-presidential candidate Barack Obama came to the heart of the nation's space program, Brevard County, he promised that he'd protect space-industry jobs in the face of NASA budget cuts under President Bush. Obama namechecked one-time astronaut and current Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson as an ally in Congress to ensure it all got done.

Take a look around today, and you'll see the results didn't match Obama's rhetoric. "Fifty years of liftoffs are becoming eight months of layoffs. Have a look around Brevard County. It's shrinking. Lots of people are moving away, taking businesses down with them," 60 Minutes' Scott Pelley intoned last night in a segment called "Hard Landing." "The 7,000 layoffs at the space center triggered 7,000 more in the community. Unemployment has been close to 11 percent."

Pelley goes on to note that, in 2010, Obama cancelled NASA's Constellation program and "then, Congress dealt another blow, by cutting the funding for the Obama plan in half." That's a sign this was a bipartisan deal. And it also goes to show that, despite the Republican talking point that government spending doesn't create jobs, it does. And its absence costs them. (4/2)

Inside the Smithsonian's Meteorite Lab (Source: Boing Boing)
This is a very cool, behind-the-scenes peek at how researchers at the Smithsonian deal with the problem of studying meteorites without contaminating said meteorites. We study meteorites to learn things about what has happened and is happening outside our own planetary system. If, in the process of that, we end up covering the samples with the detritus of Earth, then the message gets muddled. If you're studying a meteorite, you want to be reasonably sure that you're not accidentally studying dust or bacteria from this planet. Clean rooms like the one in this video make it easier to examine these samples in a way that is less destructive. Click here. (4/2)

Morpheus Coming to KSC (Source: Project Morpheus)
The words "hazard field" certainly never were associated with the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. To the contrary, the goal was to keep the runway area free of any hazards that might endanger the shuttle and crew during landing. But that is about to change when, in the not-too-distant future, the facility will offer a prototype space vehicle the kind of landing hazard field necessary for realistic testing.

An area near the runway will be turned into a field of hazards as part of the next phase of tests for the Project Morpheus lander, which integrates technologies that someday could be used to build future spacecraft destined for asteroids, Mars or the moon. The lander has been undergoing testing at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for almost a year in preparation for its first free flight. During that flight testing, it will rise almost 100 feet into the air, fly 100 feet laterally, and then land safely. (4/2)

Editorial: Should Safety Be the Top Priority? (Soure: Moon and Back)
One of the things that really strikes you about all the conversations between NASA and Congress about NASA’s attempt to help, you know, follow its charter and “seek and encourage, to the maximum extent possible, the fullest commercial use of space” by funding commercial development of crew transport vehicles is the emphasis on safety. Shuttle ended up killing two crews out of 135 flights, which is actually about what you’d expect to get from flying crews on EELV-class vehicles without a launch escape system of any sort, yet in almost every Congressional hearing, you hear a ton of hand-wringing about whether these vehicles will be safe enough for NASA’s astronauts. Click here. (4/2)

Eric Anderson, Extraterrestrial Outfitter (Source: Michael Belfiore)
Eric Anderson pioneered the commercial space flight industry, before anyone knew it could be a real business. His company, Space Adventures, brokered the deal that launched the first citizen to pay his own way into space. Before Dennis Tito headed for the International Space Station in 2001, the whole idea of commercial space flight seemed absurd to most of the presumed experts.

Human space flight was for major governments only. Eric Anderson and Space Adventures changed the way we think about space and opened the door to today’s burgeoning commercial space flight industry. Never mind whether the technology exists or can be developed, there is no business without a market. Anderson and company established that market, allowing capital to flow into the commercial space ventures that followed. Click here. (4/2)

Phoenix Company Kicks Off Fundraising for Commercial Spaceplane (Source: Parabolic Arc)
"We are developing the Hermes Spacecraft: a reusable suborbital spacecraft that will take passengers and payloads into space. We want to provide the ultimate joyride, a thrilling ride to space where passengers can experience zero gravity, see the curvature of the Earth below and the star-filled black sky above. Our mantra is “Space for All”, and we want to provide affordable spaceflight for all future astronauts waiting to go!"

We have a full scale prototype of the Hermes structure already created. We've also made great progress on several other subsystems. We need your help to create a full size prototype of our rocket motors. The Hermes Spacecraft will be using a hybrid rocket system for it's main propulsion. It’s easier to handle, build, acquire, and most importantly, safer to fly on and better for the environment. Click here. (4/2)

Barney Frank Argues Against Human Mission to Mars (Source: Huffington Post)
The question is not whether America as a society can afford it. It is whether the America of today, with a very large public debt that needs to be reduced -- although not immediately because that would damage our economic recovery efforts -- and very difficult decisions to be made about how much of our national wealth is to be committed to other national priorities, can afford to spend a very large chunk of money over the next several years on a project that is justified more in philosophical and even spiritual terms than scientifically.

I very much favor and have voted for funds for the scientific exploration of Mars, as part of a space program dedicated to the advancement of science. But the addition of human beings to the program adds astronomically to the expense, with very little compensation in scientific knowledge. The arguments for manned space travel have always involved notions of both building national character and of exhibiting our strengths, although during the Cold War period, there was clearly an element of military competition as well. Click here. (4/2)

Seeking Direction for Space Exploration (Source: Space Review)
NASA has long-term goals for its human space exploration program, including missions to Mars in the 2030s, and is working on some of the key elements needed to achieve those goals. Yet, as Jeff Foust reports, some are losing sleep over a lack of clear direction and detail on where to go and how to carry out those plans. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2056/1 to view the article. (4/2)

Ushering in the Final Frontier (Source: Space Review)
The month of April includes a number of major anniversaries in the history of spaceflight, several of which fall on the same day, April 12. Ayodele Faiyetole describes why those coinciding anniversaries, and the changing nature of human spaceflight, provides an opportunity to educate and celebrate. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2055/1 to view the article. (4/2)

To Infinity and the Mall (Source: Space Review)
The latest addition to the National Air and Space Museum is a toy, albeit a toy that spent more than a year in space. Jeff Foust looks at the inclusion of a Buzz Lightyear figure into the museum's collection and why it may be more than just recognition of the toy's role in an educational project. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/2054/1 to view the article. (4/2)

Editorial: Milking Commercial Crew Is the Wrong Answer (Source: Space News)
U.S. lawmakers seeking more funding for programs they believe are being shortchanged in NASA’s 2013 budget request should not view the agency’s Commercial Crew Program as their cash cow. Unless, of course, their goal is to lengthen the period during which the United States is dependent on Russia to ferry astronaut crews to and from the international space station.

During separate hearings in March, Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), who chairs the House Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) suggested that narrowing the field of commercial crew competitors sooner than the agency plans would free up 2013 funding that could be redirected to robotic planetary exploration and to the heavy-lift SLS and Orion deep-space capsule, respectively. Wolf asked about the feasibility of merging the proposals of companies competing to provide crew taxi services into a single “all for one and one for all” project.

Sen. Hutchison argued that NASA should reduce the number of commercial crew competitors, ostensibly by selecting a winner sooner than currently planned. That’s also worth exploring. The notion that the market can sustain two operational crew transport providers simply isn’t realistic, and while an extended competition would enable NASA to select a winner with more confidence, the agency might not have that luxury. Click here. (4/2)

Letter: Commercial Crew is Science’s Friend, Not Enemy (Source: CSF)
Recent congressional hearings on the NASA FY-2013 budget request have revealed a flawed and dangerous hypothesis by some members of Congress — that NASA’s Commercial Crew Program has robbed funding from its planetary exploration efforts. This conclusion is factually flawed. The 2013 budget request for commercial crew is no higher than the 2013 request made last year as a part of the Obama administration’s fiscal 2012 five-year NASA budget projection — before this year’s significant and misguided cuts to planetary exploration.

What’s worse in this hypothesis and suggestions of cuts to the Commercial Crew Program is that commercial crew is a friend of science. Why? Because it enables more international space station (ISS) research, because it reduces the cost of ISS access (thereby removing a threat to NASA’s other science budgets), and because it opens a budget wedge for human exploration of asteroids, the Moon and Mars that will have tremendous positive value to planetary exploration.

We hope that congressional appropriators — both members and staffers — will come to agree with us that cuts to commercial crew would be damaging to both science and human exploration at NASA, and would be the wrong way to restore NASA’s planetary exploration budget. (4/2)

Proposed Law Would Encourage Off-Planet Development and Settlement (Source: Transterrestrial Musings)
150 years ago in 1862, amidst the bloodiest war in our nation’s history, the Lincoln administration had the foresight to pass two historic pieces of legislation: the Pacific Railway Act and the Homestead Act. The first opened up the American West for potential settlers by encouraging railroads to build from coast to coast. The second offered title to 160 acres of land to anyone who was willing to homestead and farm it for five years.

Together, after the war, these acts resulted in an explosion of economic growth of the young nation, and the opening of vast new resources for America and the world. But half a century after the first human went into space, that new frontier remains barren, despite the wealth of potential resources available. Current international policy actively discourages the settlement of space.

Today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute released a new study by Adjunct Scholar Rand Simberg: Homesteading the Final Frontier: A Practical Proposal for Securing Property Rights in Space. Simberg argues that the U.S. should recognize transferable off-planet land claims under conditions such as those outlined by the proposed Space Settlement Prize Act, which Simberg renames the Space Homesteading Act. Click here. (4/2)

SAFE and OCP Agree to Promote Safety in Commercial Human Spaceflight (Source: OCP)
The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) has entered into an agreement with the Orbital Commerce Project (OCP) “to promote safety in the Commercial Human Spaceflight industry through excellence in training and education.” The two organizations will team up on initiatives that include working with the FAA Office of Commercial Space Transportation to develop the framework for spaceflight educator certification. They will also develop recognized levels of achievement and spaceflight educator proficiency, create courses and teaching materials to advance spaceflight education, promote “safety through training” to the Commercial Human Spaceflight Industry, and develop unusual attitude and G-tolerance courses.

"Our desire to create the most comprehensive and highest quality flight educators for the burgeoning Commercial Space Flight Industry will provide SAFE members and the flying public the assurance that this new generation of Commercial Space Pilots are the best trained and therefore the safest in the skies.” OCP has been involved in the Commercial Human Spaceflight industry since 2004 and their subsidiary Black Sky Training is currently in the final stages of FAA approval for a rocket powered type rating and offers the premier training center for spaceflight pilots, crew and participants. SAFE represents nearly 700 of the industry’s top aviation educators, including numerous local, regional, and national General Aviation Awards winners. (4/2)

Space University Program's Popularity Grows (Source: Florida Today)
A prestigious International Space University program being held this summer at Florida Institute of Technology and NASA's Kennedy Space Center already is near capacity and organizers are considering starting a waiting list or expanding the number of people who can attend. Held in a different location each year, the International Space University's Space Studies Program is coming to Florida's Space Coast between June 4 and Aug. 3 as NASA celebrates the 50th anniversary of Kennedy Space Center, which is July 1.

The intense nine-week course will provide at least 130 post-graduate university students and professionals with a comprehensive education covering all aspects of space programs and enterprises, including space physical sciences, space systems engineering, policy and law, business and management, space and society, satellite applications, space life sciences and human space exploration. (4/2)

Bus-Sized Asteroid Hurtles Past Earth - So Close it Flew UNDER the Moon (Source: Daily Mail)
Earth had a near-miss on Sunday from an 150-foot asteroid that was detected only two weeks ago, it was revealed today. The space rock, 2012 EG5, flew past earth closer than the moon, at a distance of just 143,000 miles. The asteroid has a diameter of around 150 feet - and would have exploded with the force of an atomic weapon had it hit our planet.

Nothing is known about its likely composition. The asteroid flew past Earth on Sunday at 9.32am GMT. An impact with an asteroid of that size would not cause a planet-wide disaster similar to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago - but would hit Earth's surface and explode. The asteroid was spotted by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope in Hawaii on March 13 this year. (4/2)

Mars Debate: Should U.S. Green-Light Manned Mission To Red Planet? (Source: Huffington Post)
When it comes to Mars exploration, the U.S. has been there, done that—with robotic rovers. But while many proposals have been put forth for sending astronauts to the Red Planet, none has gotten the green light. Yet. That’s fine with Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)—-he’s been an outspoken critic of plans to send astronauts to Mars. But others-—including Dr. Robert Zubrin-—say the time has come for humans to make their way to our planetary neighbor. What’s your position? Before you pick a side, have a look at what Frank and Zubrin have to say in our online debate. Then decide whose case is more persuasive, and cast your vote. Click here. (4/2)

Video Contest: Why Explore Space? (Source: Coalition for Space Exploration)
Do you have “The Right Stuff” to make an inspirational and thought provoking video with “Deep Impact” about the critical importance of why America must continue to explore space? Could YOUR vision for why space matters, coupled with your storytelling capabilities create the next “Space Odyssey?” Will your video excite the American public about space exploration and how it makes our lives exponentially better each day? Click here. (4/2)

Europe Nears Consensus On ATV Barter Element (Source: Aviation Week)
It is the most sophisticated piece of space hardware Europe has ever launched, a massive cargo vessel capable of docking automatically at the International Space Station with a precision of better than 6 cm (2.4 in.) and boosting the station to a higher orbit. But with three of the Automated Transfer Vehicle’s (ATV) five missions now behind it, the European Space Agency (ESA) is looking for an opportunity to advance its already cutting-edge platform—along with a means to pay for it.

One opportunity ESA is weighing would evolve the 20,000-kg cargo capsule, built by EADS Astrium, into a multimission platform capable of in-space servicing and removal of orbital debris. The plan, backed by France and other ESA member states, would cover about $593 million in shared operating costs that ESA expects to owe NASA for continued ISS participation later this decade. Dubbed the Versatile Autonomous Concept (VAC), the platform could ultimately serve as a robotic explorer capable of visiting Mars. The problem is, NASA does not really like the idea. Click here. (4/2)

ATV Production Terminated as Decision on Follow-On Nears (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
Confronted by parts obsolescence and waning political support, the European Space Agency has shut down subsystem production lines for the Automated Transfer Vehicle as member states debate how they will contribute to future international space exploration efforts, according to top spaceflight officials. The huge cargo freighters, weighing more than 20 tons fully loaded, will stop flying in 2014 when the fifth resupply craft delivers equipment to the International Space Station.

ESA member states decided to discontinue the program after briefly considering redesigning the throwaway cargo craft to return hardware in a hardened re-entry capsule. Three ATVs have launched since 2008, including a spacecraft now docked to the orbiting outpost. Two more spacecraft are due to launch in 2013 and 2014, and assembly of those vehicles has progressed enough to allow officials to shut down vendor production of the ATV's subsystems. (4/2)

Europe's Moon Mission Ambitions Boosted by Landing Rocket Test Success (Source: Flight Global)
European Space Agency plans for a robotic Moon landing have been boosted by successful testing of a rocket motor which ESA engineers plan to use to control the lander's descent on the 2018 expedition. The thruster is the same unit as used on ESA's Automated Transfer Vehicle, selected to save development cost and for its known reliability - as demonstrated on International Space Station resupply missions. But specific testing at EADS Astrium's facility in Lampoldshausen, Germany to simulate a lunar descent and touchdown in a vacuum has convinced ESA the ATV thruster will do the job. (4/2)

Trees Tell Their Own Story to Satellites (Source: ESA)
Communications via satellite are changing the way the forest industry harvests trees. A new approach being tested by ESA combines satcoms and cellular services to relay important information almost immediately so that fewer trees are used to produce more timber. Irish company Treemetrics, in cooperation with ESA, is developing Satmodo, a new system that provides realtime communications with the harvesting machines and their drivers. (4/2)

NASA's Top Official Downplays Cooperation with China (Source: Aerospace Daily
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden is tempering expectations about a possible partnership with China on the International Space Station. Europe and China are discussing cooperation on the space station, but the U.S. would need approval from Congress. "We've got to discuss it through the interagency process and find out, OK, what is it that they want to do, if and when they come on board," Bolden said. "I'm just not ready to do that yet. We don't have a need to do it." (4/1)

Space Camp Worker Took von Braun Into Space (Source: Huntsville Times)
Scott Hancock was working his way through college, helping develop the flight simulator at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. "It was my job," he would later write on his webpage, "to share the dream of space travel to all who came." He never expected to share it with the biggest dreamer of them all. Hancock and his co-workers were ordered to report to work earlier than usual on a gray Sunday morning in 1972. A special guest was to arrive "under a cloak of secrecy." It was Dr. Wernher von Braun. Click here. (4/1)

Commercial Space Business on Fast Track (Source: Gulf News)
As space travel picks up steam, the commercial space business is evolving rapidly, according to Virgin Galactic's chief. "The changing roles of national space agencies and the rapid maturation of technology have opened the door for a number of new players to have an immediate impact on the industry," said George Whitesides, President of Virgin Galactic, who is due to address a panel at the Global Aerospace Summit to be held in Abu Dhabi on April 16 and 17.

The summit will comprise global industry leaders across the aerospace, aviation and space sectors aiming to promote cross industry thought leadership. Abu Dhabi investment company, Aabar, and Richard Branson's Virgin Group in 2009 announced a strategic partnership under which Aabar paid $280 million for a 31.8 per cent stake in Virgin Galactic's holding company. Aabar then boosted its stake in Virgin Galactic 37.8 per cent in October 2011. "As companies like Virgin Galactic demonstrate the ability to successfully complete missions and deliver returns to investors like Aabar, this sector is sure to become even more exciting and high profile," Whitesides told Gulf News in a statement. (4/2)

India to Launch Home-Made All-Weather Satellite on April 20 (Source: Xinhua)
India is to launch its home-made all-weather satellite on April 20 from the southern spaceport of Sriharikota, sources said Monday. "The satellite, RISAT-1, a Radar Imaging Satellite, is slated to be launched on April 20. It has the capability of taking images of the Earth during day and night, and weighs around 1,850 kg," the sources said. The Indian Space Research Organization's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle will carry the satellite into a 536-km orbit, they said. (4/2)

NASA Lands $75,000 in Patent Auction (Source: WIRED)
The market can be cruel, but it doesn’t lie: Software development algorithms are worth more than cool nanotechnology swarming technologies. That’s what NASA found out this week when it tried to auction three lots of its Goddard Space Flight Center software patents at an event run by the ICAP Patent brokerage. The software development patents sold for $75,000. With a starting price of $50,000, nobody bid on the nanotechnology stuff. And they also steered clear of a bargain-basement $30,000 NASA patent that covered a fancy way of reporting a broken smoke detector. The lot of seven patents that NASA sold cover ways of generating software specifications and even computer code from spoken words. (4/2)

Astronaut Visits UNM, Urges Passion for Science (Source: Daily Lobo)
A former astronaut came to UNM to pitch the benefits of jobs in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. Retired NASA astronaut Danny Olivas was chosen to be an astronaut in 1998 and is one of 13 Hispanics who have participated in NASA’s astronaut program. Olivas encouraged students to maintain passion as they pursue their careers in various fields, but especially careers in STEM fields. (4/2)

Orbital Celebrates 30th Anniversary of Company's Founding (Source: Orbital)
Orbital Sciences Corporation celebrated the company’s first three decades in the space business today as it completed 30 years of operations since the enterprise’s founding on April 2, 1982. At anniversary events at the company’s Dulles, Virginia headquarters and at other sites in Arizona, California, Maryland and Virginia, Orbital executives thanked employees and customers for making possible the company’s successes to date, and for providing exciting opportunities for future achievements. (4/2)