July 22 News Items

Craze Wanes, But Experts Don't Expect Space Interest to Disappear (Source: The Northwestern)
There likely will always be youth and adults enraptured by the Great Beyond, but some local experts say today's fascination with the Final Frontier doesn't reach nearly as high as it did during the Space Race craze of more than 40 years ago. When the Russians launched Sputnik I in 1957, "it unleashed a wave of panic in the U.S.," said Dr. Stephen Kercher, associate professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. What followed was an obsession with space exploration during the 1960s, fueled by political circumstance and NASA campaigns aimed to convince Americans the United States needed to win the Space Race, Kercher said.

"If you asked any child in 1963, any boy, what they wanted to be when they're grown up, there was a very good chance they'd say 'astronauts,'" he said. "It's a very deeply romantic notion of the greatness humans can achieve in space, beyond the atmosphere. And it also been a powerful idea for Americans that there's another frontier out there." But as years passed, so did the heightened interest in sending man to the moon. Kercher said recent research points to NASA's public relations machine in showing proof that interest has declined in recent years. "People started to ask whether it really was worth it for the U.S. government to fund a program that had such limited tangible benefits," Kercher said. "NASA would counter by saying this scientific discovery will yield great benefits to consumers. But what did we get? We got Tang, right? We received some benefits, surely, but not to the extent that they'd promised."

Analysts: Shortage of Pilots Critical (Source: AP)
Analysts say a worldwide shortage of experienced pilots is starting to affect flight safety. The shortage is the result of extraordinary air traffic growth in the Persian Gulf, China and India; the rise of lucrative low-cost carriers in Europe and Asia; and the sustained recovery of the U.S. airlines from the industry recession caused by the Sept. 11 attacks. "There is a giant sucking sound, luring pilots to rapidly expanding airlines such as Emirates and Qatar and the budget carriers," said the had of the Flight Safety Foundation. When experienced pilots leave developing countries in Asia and Africa for the Gulf, those countries must hire replacements fresh out of flight school, he said. And poaching pilots and mechanics is expected to intensify as Asian markets like China and India burgeon.

In the United States, where thousands of veterans were laid off after Sept. 11 and left the industry, regional carriers have been giving jobs to first officers with considerably less experience than would have been required 15 years ago. At some airlines, such as Northwest Airlines, pilot shortages have led to record-breaking flight cancellations in recent months. In the last full week of June, it canceled about 1,200 flights, or about 12 percent of its flight schedule, because it could not provide sufficient pilots to replace those who were grounded after reaching maximum allowed hours.

India`s First Space University to Start Next Month (Source: Zee News)
India's first space university is all set to take wings next month seeking to groom tailor-made experts to fuel the country's satellite and rocket programs. "August middle is our target", said G Madhavan Nair, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, which is setting up the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology (IIST) and expected to meet the high technology requirements of ISRO. The institute, which offers technically tuned courses in space science and technology, has already attracted some of India's bright minds encouraging India's space agency.