August 28 News Items

Science Teachers Take Flight in Zero-Gravity with Northrop Grumman Program (Source: SpaceRef.com)
The Northrop Grumman Foundation kicked off the second year of its Weightless Flights of Discovery Program today, flying 57 teachers in Dallas, with another 58 scheduled to fly in New Orleans on Aug. 30. These are the first of the flights in eight cities planned as part of the company's program to inspire the next generation of scientists, mathematicians and engineers -- critical areas where the U.S. has fallen behind globally. Visit http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.nl.html?pid=23414 for information.

NASA's Centennial Challenges to Advance Technologies (Source: NASA)
From Oct. 19 to 21, more than 20 teams from across the nation and around the world will compete for a total of $1,000,000 from NASA for the development of cutting-edge technologies. The Beam Power Challenge and Tether Challenge, two of NASA's seven Centennial Challenges, will take place at the 2007 Space Elevator Games at the Davis County Event Center in Salt Lake City.

Disoriented Satellite Regains Bearings But Not Vision (Source: New Scientist)
NASA's Swift satellite has regained its bearings following a glitch that prevented it from taking observations. But it will likely be several more weeks before it can resume studying cosmic explosions called gamma-ray bursts. Launched in November 2004, Swift studies brief bursts of gamma rays caused by the deaths of massive stars and collisions between dense stellar corpses. A key to Swift's success is that it is able to rapidly swivel to train its instruments on the source of each fleeting burst. But on 10 August, Swift lost its bearings while turning to observe a new target. It could no longer tell which direction it was pointing in the sky, a crippling problem for an astronomical satellite.

Boeing Selected to Build NASA's Upper Stage for Ares I (Source: Boeing)
Boeing has been awarded a NASA contract valued at approximately $514.7 million to produce the upper stage of the Ares I crew launch vehicle. This element provides the navigation, guidance, control and propulsion required for the ascent of the second-stage Ares I into low -Earth orbit. The Ares I launches the Orion crew exploration vehicle which will be joined with other elements of NASA's Constellation program to help propel astronauts to the moon by 2020.

Space Florida Plans Academy Program in September (Source: Space Florida)
Would you as an undergraduate like the opportunity to experience what it is like to work and be involved in the space program? Space Florida's next Space Academy will be held at the Kennedy Space Center, commencing Sep. 14. The Program is FREE to accepted candidates. The Academy will be held on four succeeding Fridays. Visit http://www.spaceflorida.gov/EducationPrograms.shtml for information.

Asia Dives Into Moon Race (Source: Asia Times)
With the Chinese and Japanese making plans to establish moon bases, can India be far behind? "Global players have declared that by 2020, they will have their bases on the moon," Madhavan Nair, chief of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), declared. "I don't think India can afford to be lagging behind in that." Nair said ISRO is defining technologies needed for India's first manned space mission in an Indian space vehicle scheduled for 2015. India is expected to invest $1.5 billion over the next five years to develop technologies for a manned space flight by 2015 and a moon flight by 2020. Most of the designing, research and technical jobs are to be completed by 2012.

Lockheed, Boeing Vie for GPS Satellite Deal (Source: AP)
Lockheed Martin and Boeing are rival bidders for the first phase of a military contract worth up to $2 billion to build a next-generation global satellite system. The Air Force is replacing the 24 GPS satellites currently in orbit with a new system dubbed Global Positioning System III, designed to improve navigation by air, land and sea, and be more difficult for U.S. enemies to disable. The first phase of the contract, according to the Air Force, is for eight satellites to be delivered by 2013. The deal will be awarded by year-end.

Ares 1 Contract Set to be Awarded (Source: Huntsville Times)
NASA is expected to award a major contract to one team of aerospace companies to build the upper stage for its Ares 1 rocket. The contract could bring up to 400 jobs between contractor and federal positions to Huntsville over the next decade. Although the total jobs will fluctuate over time, the award is expected to bring from 100 to 200 contractor jobs and provide work for around 200 NASA employees. Teams headed by ATK Launch Systems and Boeing are bidding for the project. The next major Ares contract is the instrument unit, which is the flight computer. That contract is expected to be awarded by early December.

In late 2006, ATK Launch Systems, Lockheed Martin Inc. and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne formed a joint venture called Team Ares to seek the NASA contract. Boeing's team of suppliers includes Hamilton Sundstrand, a subsidiary of United Technologies, Moog, Northrop Grumman, Orion Propulsion Inc., SUMMA Technology Inc., United Space Alliance and the United Launch Alliance.