September 7 News Items

Kazakhstan Wants Right to Ban Launches Over its Territory (Source: RIA Novosti)
Kazakhstan wants the right to ban rocket launches from its Baikonur spaceport, which Russia rents, in situations where the Kazakh president is located near the launch. "If the president is on a visit, and a rocket is being launched, then we should have the right to stop everything immediately," Prime Minister Karim Masimov said Friday. The Proton-M rocket came down in the central Kazakh steppe, 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of the town of Zhezkazgan.

Can You Write a Better Slogan for NASA? (Source: WIRED)
In early August, NASA internally released its latest marketing campaign, designed to show its relevance and value to the American people. Its new slogan? “NASA explores for answers that power our future.” The campaign now seems to be aborted, but it did get me thinking, could we do any better? I am no marketing genius, but I think that we could. I mean North Face’s has much more zing, “Never Stop Exploring.” Even Dow Chemicals did better, “The Human Element.” Visit http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2007/09/can-you-write-a.html#more to view information on the contest.

Japan Aims for Space-Based Solar Power by 2030 (Source:SciFiTech)
Putting solar collectors into space circumvents the biggest problems facing the environmentally sound energy source -- namely night-time and cloud cover that keeps the sun's rays from reaching earth-bound collectors. Japan's space agency, JAXA, has plans to put solar collectors in orbit and then beam 42% of the collected energy to Earth via lasers. The agency hopes to have the system in place by 2030.

Fear May be NASA Problem (Source: Florida Today)
NASA needs to improve internal communications and chip away at its image as an institution where fear of ostracism and retribution routinely hush potential critics, lawmakers told agency leaders. During a congressional hearing, lawmakers questioned steps the agency has taken to address concerns aired in an independent review about astronaut health. A panel reported two alleged cases involving excessive astronaut preflight drinking. The reports stem from interviews conducted with employees volunteering information, cloaked by the promise of anonymity. In its own investigation, NASA failed to find any corroborating evidence of such drinking incidents -- or that NASA supervisors dismissed concerns expressed by a flight surgeon in the matter. "It almost seems like we're hearing about two different organizations," said Rep. Mark Udall, the Colorado Democrat. The chairman of the independent panel defended his committee's findings, suggesting the difference in the two reports might stem from fear of professional retribution among those within the agency since NASA's internal review did not provide anonymity to those interviewed.

Editorial: It's Called AWOL (Source: Florida Today)
When the shuttle fleet retires in just three years, the result could be 3,500 to 5,000 fewer workers at Kennedy Space Center, making every day critical in recruiting entrepreneurs and creating the business-friendly climate necessary for a 21st-century spaceport. That's why the Brevard County Commission held the second of two workshops Wednesday to launch a strategy, a meeting that drew leaders from around the Space Coast. But Space Florida was an inexcusable no-show, AWOL at a moment it should be in the forefront of reaching out and helping build consensus. The failure reflects major problems with the Cape Canaveral-based agency that should be fixed with a hard push from Brevard's state lawmakers and Gov. Charlie Crist. Visit http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070907/OPINION/709070325/1004 to view the editorial.

Ukraine to Strengthen Cooperation with Russia on Space Science Research (Source: Xinhua)
Ukraine will strengthen cooperation with Russia on space science research projects. The two countries reached agreements on boosting space science cooperation on the sidelines of Ukraine's and Russia's economic cooperation committee meeting. During the meeting, the two countries discussed the feasibility of using Ukrainian technology in a Russian research project to explore the Moon and Mars. The two sides will also jointly build the ground infrastructure for a global satellite navigation system covering Ukraine, Russia and parts of Europe for the 2012 Ukraine European Football Championship and the 2014 Russia Winter Olympic Games. Ukraine and Russia also decided to resume regular meetings between the two countries' aeronautics and space departments and academies of science.