June 30 News Items

Progress Made in Atlas-Centaur Investigation (Source: Florida Today)
A faulty valve and the resulting fuel leak in flight caused the Atlas 5 rocket's upper stage to stop firing too soon, leaving a pair of top secret spy satellites shy of their intended orbit after launch from Cape Canaveral earlier this month. A review team has confirmed that a valve did not close completely on the upper stage. The launch vehicle leaked fuel during the coast phase of the flight sometime between the first and second burn of the upper stage engine. The lost fuel caused the Centaur's final burn to end four seconds too soon on a 15-minute burn.

NASCAR Team Tests Car on Shuttle Runway (Source: Florida Today)
A team in NASCAR's elite Nextel Cup Series wrapped up its second visit to Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility on Friday, using the nearly 3-mile-long runway to gauge aerodynamics of its race cars. Evernham Motorsports took a test version of one of its new Dodge Avengers -- the Car of Tomorrow that debuted this season in Nextel Cup -- to the runway for a shakedown. "We're preparing for some COT racing at Talladega. The type of testing we were doing is called straight-line testing. You run up to a certain speed . . . the car is instrumented and you're collecting data. You're seeing what you can get for front or rear downforce and what you can do to take drag away from the car." NASCAR rules limit teams to seven tests on Nextel Cup-sanctioned tracks but there is no limit on how many times a team can test at a nonsanctioned speedway, or anywhere else for that matter.

Private Space Module Has Success (Source: AP)
A prototype of an inflatable space station module has successfully expanded and deployed its solar panels after being launched into orbit. A Russian rocket lofted the Genesis II module, developed by Bigelow Aerospace of Nevada, into space on Thursday. The 15-foot-long module's flexible exterior was folded around an inner core for launch and had to expand from a diameter of about 6.2 feet to 8 feet. The solar panels also had to extend to supply power. Both actions were confirmed. Genesis II also transmitted pictures of itself in orbit.

Daytona Native McKinney Receives NASA Distinguished Service Medal (Source: NASA)
Roslyn McKinney, assistant manager of the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity at Kennedy Space Center, recently received one of the agency's highest awards, the Distinguished Service Medal. She earned the award for identifying and promoting opportunities for KSC's diverse and talented work force. The award is given to any federal service employee who, by distinguished service, ability or courage, has personally made a contribution representing substantial progress to the NASA mission.

Tampa Native Hendriksen Receives NASA Distinguished Service Medal (Source: NASA)
With a Kennedy Space Center career spanning more than 40 years, Deputy Chief Counsel Douglas Hendriksen recently received one of NASA's highest employee honors, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, during a ceremony in Washington, D.C. Hendriksen was recognized "for his extraordinary legal career with the Office of the Chief Counsel" at KSC.

No Extension for Orbital Express Mission (Source: Space News)
The U.S. Air Force will deactivate the Pentagon's Orbital Express satellites the week of July 2, eliminating any chance of NASA using the experimental spacecraft to test robotic techniques applicable to future Mars sample return missions.

Zenit Launches Russian Military Payload, Paves Way for New Commercial Rocket (Source: Space News)
The June 29 launch of a two-stage Zenit rocket from Russia's Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan marks the return to flight of the hardware that caused a Sea Launch Co. failure in January and inaugurates the launch pad and ground facilities that will be used for Sea Launch's new Land Launch offering, according to Sea Launch Co. President Rob Peckham.

Thales Alenia Space Wins Contract To Build Palapa-D Telecommunications Satellite (Source: Space News)
Indonesia's PT Indosat Tbk has selected Thales Alenia Space to build the Palapa-D telecommunications satellite in a contract that includes the satellite's late-2009 launch aboard a Chinese Long March 3B rocket, Indosat and Thales Alenia Space announced June 29.

Report: Panel Agrees Japan Should Shoot Down Missiles Targeting U.S. (Source: Space News)
Japan should use its missile defense systems to shoot down a ballistic missile targeting the United States, most members of a government panel largely agreed Friday, according to media reports.

Sunnyvale Jobs at Stake as Lockheed Lobbies for NASA Cash (Source: San Jose Business Journal)
Aerospace executives are pushing for a $1.4 billion increase in funding for NASA space exploration to put astronauts on the moon and keep Silicon Valley engineers on the job. The NASA space exploration budget was cut last year, delaying the launch of the first Orion six-man space capsule. Companies like Lockheed Martin, which will build the capsule and may also build a section of the rocket that will launch it, worry that a growing gap between the planned retirement of the space shuttles and the first launch of Orion will force experienced engineers and technicians to find jobs outside of the space program.

'Nations Must Team Up to Develop Re-usable Space Vehicle' (Source: The Hindu)
Outlining a roadmap for the world aerospace industry, President Kalam today called for international cooperation for developing a hypersonic, re-usable space vehicle with higher payload efficiency and lower cost which could revolutionise space transportation. "There is a need for all countries to work together to develop a single-stage-to-orbit, fully re-usable launch vehicles which can bring down the cost of the launch from the present $20,000 per kg of payload to $200 per kg," he said. Kalam was speaking after inaugurating a two-day international conference on `high speed trans-atmospheric air and space transportation.'

Space Tourism Prototype on Display (Source: Alamagordo Daily News)
The New Mexico Museum of Space History received a new addition Thursday a rocket that flew one mile above Britain in 2001, according to Starchaser Industries. It was not the rocket that ferried James "Scotty" Doohan's ashes into space in April, which many people present thought was the case. That rocket was fired by another company, Up Aerospace. Starchaser's Nova Four rocket would hold one person. The rocket is a prototype and the company plans to build another version, three times as large, that will hold three people. The company wants to send people into space by 2010.