October 26 News Items

Honeywell Profit Up 14.2 Percent (Source: AIA)
Honeywell said its profit rose 14.2 percent amid continued strong demand from the aerospace and commercial construction sectors, but results were slightly below Wall Street's expectations. The world's largest maker of cockpit electronics reported a third-quarter profit of $618 million, compared with $541 million a year earlier. Revenue came to $8.74 billion, up 9.8 percent from $7.95 billion a year earlier. Results at Honeywell, which also makes automation systems for large commercial buildings, have also been driven by strong spending on infrastructure, particularly outside the United States.

Eutelsat Projects 5.5 Percent Annual Growth Through 2010 (Source: Space News)
Satellite-fleet operator Eutelsat expects its revenue to grow by more than 5.5 percent per year on average between now and 2010, a period during which its capital spending on new satellites will average 420 million euros ($598.93 million) per year, Eutelsat said Oct. 23.

Commission Addresses Intelligence Agencies' Use of Commercial Imagery (Source: Space News)
The U.S. government must not become dependent on external sources for the provision of critical satellite intelligence data, a newly released report commissioned by a pair of intelligence agencies concludes.

NOAA Says Cost of Environmental Satellite Still Going Up (Source: Space News)
The projected cost of the U.S. government's next generation of geostationary orbiting weather satellites will likely rise again, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) official.

Bugs on the Menu for Long Space Missions in Future? (Source: Pravda)
First there was astronaut ice cream. Now insects may become the next food frontier for space cuisine. The Space Agriculture Task Force, affiliated with the Japanese space agency, is looking for ways to feed astronauts on extended missions, like on a stint to Mars. A long stay on the Red Planet would require travelers to grow their own food, but a vegetable- and grain-based diet doesn’t efficiently supply fats and amino acids. Bugs reproduce rapidly, so small farms could produce a steady stream of food for humans or other animals. They also efficiently convert material that is inedible to humans—mulberry leaves, wood, waste—into body mass. So bugs like silkworms, drugstore beetles, termites, or hornworms could help fill in nutritional gaps. Japanese researchers have already made cookies from silkworms, a commonly domesticated species.

Union, USA Labor Talks to Resume (Source: Florida Today)
After more than four months on the picket lines, representatives of the Machinists union at Kennedy Space Center and United Space Alliance will head back to the bargaining table. At the behest of a federal mediator, representatives for the company and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 2061 are scheduled to resume negotiations Monday and Tuesday in Cape Canaveral. "We feel the resumption of these negotiations are due to discussions between IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger and United Space Alliance CEO Richard Covey," the union said Thursday on its strike update Web site.

NASA Still Sitting on Union Lawsuit (Source: Florida Today)
The Machinists union is undecided on what will happen with its lawsuit against NASA, calling it "a separate issue that has to be dealt with." The lawsuit, filed in August, charges NASA with interfering in the contract negotiations between the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers Local 2061 and United Space Alliance, NASA's main space shuttle contractor. The suit also accuses NASA of pressuring the company to take hard-line bargaining positions that led to and has continued the union's strike. A federal judge has granted NASA extra time to file a response to the lawsuit, said a union spokesman. NASA representatives declined to comment on the litigation.

EU's Galileo Satnav Scheme Needs Millions More Next Year (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
The EU's troubled Galileo satellite navigation network, meant to rival the US Global Positioning System (GPS), needs millions more euros next year than planned, European MPs warned. Last July, under the European Union's 2008 budget proposals, the amount to be given to the ambitious project was set at 151 million euros ($216 million). But deputies in the EU Parliament, who share budgetary control with the 27 EU member states, deemed this sum grossly insufficient. The problem is that the extra 739 million euros needed would bust the scheme's projected EU funding for the entire 2007-2013 period, thereby requiring some difficult revisions of the bloc's financial plans for the period.

Russia’s Proton Rocket 328th Flight (Source: Khrunichev)
A Khrunichev–made Proton K launch vehicle, carrying three satellites of the Russian government’s GLONASS constellation, was launched from Baikonur on Oct. 26. The launch marks the 328th Proton mission. The rocket performed normally. The launcher has high power capacity and remarkable operational capabilities. Proton is currently used for implementation of national programs and commercial launches of satellites for customers worldwide. The next Proton launch with GLONASS spacecrafts is scheduled for the third quarter of this year.

Three New Race Teams Join Rocket Racing League (Source: RRL)
The playing field of the Rocket Racing League doubles in size and goes international as three new teams announce their acceptance into the League, bringing a total of six teams primed to compete in the Rocket Racing League's inaugural season. Rocket Star Racing, Team Extreme Rocket Racing and Canada-based Beyond Gravity Rocket Racing join existing teams Bridenstine Rocket Racing, Santa Fe Racing and Thunderhawk Rocket Racing. "Our goal has been to bring diverse international teams to the League with highly skilled world-class pilots and flight crews coming from both civilian and military backgrounds," said company co-founder and CEO Granger Whitelaw. "These guys will be competing with each other even on their drive to the quarterly League picnic."

Editorial: Countdown for Shuttle Program Worries Brevard (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
There's a palpable tension at Cape Canaveral, and it has nothing to do with space shuttle Discovery's impending trip back to Earth after its successful launch this week. The stress is linked to the scheduled end of the shuttle program altogether, just three years and 13 missions away in 2010. No one knows for sure what the full extent of the impact of the shuttle's retirement will be on the local and state economies. NASA has yet to reveal how many jobs will be lost -- though estimates put the figure at about 3,000. The second big unknown is how the next phase of human space exploration will play out, which depends more on politics than science as we watch who wins the White House next year and decisions by Congress about NASA's budget.

Ottawa Eyes Funding Cape Breton Space Venture (Source: Globe and Mail)
The Harper government is considering a $45 million boost to a space-tourism project in Cape Breton as one of the regional benefits flowing from a major purchase of military planes. PlanetSpace, the firm that would benefit, has hired Fred Doucet, a senior Conservative official from the Mulroney era, to help seal the deal. The project is related to the Canadian Forces' purchase of 17 Hercules C130J cargo planes from U.S.-based manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corp. To get the plane contract, Lockheed Martin had to promise to spend the equivalent of the $3.2-billion purchase price in the form of regional benefits.

Sources said Lockheed Martin's proposed list of investments, which was submitted to Industry Canada and is awaiting cabinet approval, includes a promise to spend $45 million over six years on PlanetSpace's project. According to its website, PlanetSpace wants to send 2,000 people into suborbital space flights over five years, even though the company has not started accepting reservations for the $250,000 trips. The company has estimated it will cost about $150 million to build a launch pad and rocket on its site in Nova Scotia. It's not clear how much money the company already has or where its funding comes from. The $45 million investment in PlanetSpace would not be a federal subsidy, but it would be the direct result of federal approval of Lockheed Martin's mandatory plan to provide regional benefits from the aircraft sale.

For the First Time, Women Rule in Space (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Altogether 46 women from around the world have been in space in the 50-year history of space exploration. Breaking new ground in the history of space exploration, women are at the helm of the International Space Station and the space shuttle at the same time, as they orbit the Earth. Pamela Melroy, a 46-year-old retired US Air Force colonel, was in the commander's seat when shuttle Discovery blasted off. She is only the second woman in the shuttle program's 26-year history to command the spacecraft. Meanwhile, the ISS crew is led by another American, Peggy Whitson, a 47-year-old scientist and the first woman in charge of the station.

Discovery Docks with International Space Station (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
The US shuttle Discovery docked with the International Space Station on Thursday for a complex construction mission to pave the way for the installation of European and Japanese laboratories. The mission is also making space exploration history as shuttle Commander Pam Melroy, 46, and the station's crew chief, Peggy Whitson, 47, became the first women to hold the reins of the two spacecraft at the same time.

Aerospace Firm Plans 150 New Jobs at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
While many aerospace companies dread the end of the shuttle program in 2010, ASRC Aerospace Corp. is gearing up for the next phase of U.S. space flight. The company this year plans to add about 150 people to its work force of 450 in Brevard County. "We have been hiring electrical engineers," said Pedro Medelius, ASRC Aerospace's associate program manager and chief scientist. Medelius declined to give a total payroll figure. However, he said that with the new positions, ASRC would inject an additional $10 million into the Brevard economy. The company has about 100 projects at Kennedy Space Center.