October 2 News Items

United Launch Alliance to Pursue COTS Funds (Source: Flight International)
United Launch Alliance's Lockheed Martin Atlas V rocket could feature in a bid for money from NASA's COTS funds if Rocketplane Kistler departs as expected in October. Constellation Services International has made a deal with ULA to explore launching CSI's LEO Express cargo cannister by an Atlas V for International Space Station resupply and other missions. The COTS program is supposed to provide ISS resupply services after NASA's shuttle fleet is retired.

Mojave: Edge of the Final Frontier (Source: LA Times)
Stuart Witt, a former test pilot who runs the air/space port in this weathered desert town, was working at his desk when he heard the explosion. His assistant suggested it was a sonic boom, a frequent occurrence in the desert airspace near Edwards Air Force Base. But Witt knew better. Sonic booms come in pairs. This was one loud explosion, so powerful it was heard in Palmdale, 30 miles away. The blast, which killed three men and injured three others, occurred during a fuel-flow test in July at Scaled Composites, the famed aerospace company that is building a suborbital rocket plane for Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space line. For this desert hamlet of 3,700, it was a space-age wake-up call.

Fifty years after the Soviets launched the satellite Sputnik 1 into space, Mojave has found itself at the center of a private space race that boosters say is as important -- and risky -- as the nationalistic race between the Soviets and the United States. This time, a group of ambitious entrepreneurs is leading the competition to launch regular Janes and Joes into space. "Mojave is the place to be," said Jeff Greason, a co-founder of Xcor Aerospace Inc. Half a dozen companies, from big-time operations like Scaled Composites to lemonade-stand-scale business with a handful of engineers working in stifling warehouses, dot the barren landscape around the Mojave Air & Space Port. Each company has its own remote testing site in the midst of the chaparral.

"The same things bring people to Mojave that brought Orville and Wilbur to Kitty Hawk," Witt said. "Freedom from encroachment, industrial espionage, the press and a steady breeze." Dave Masten, the head of Masten Space Systems Inc., a bootstrap firm with five employees, has another explanation for the rocket boom in Mojave. The vastness of the landscape has inspired a high level of tolerance for dreamers and wayfarers. Click here to view the article.

Ultimate Leap of Faith in 2009 (Source: Spaceports Blog)
Xtreme Space is planning to launch a human to over 20-miles or 120,000 feet into the atmosphere by 2009 in an attempt to break the long-held record of USAF Captian Joseph W. Kittinger II of 102,000 feet free fall that took him over Mach 1 above the New Mexico desert. The ultimate plan is to ride a glass top rocket to over 60-miles into space and then eject and fly back to Earth in just the spacesuit and a parachute sometime in 2011 in the record breaking event.

Embry-Riddle Opens Berlin Campus (Source: ERAU)
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is launching its new Berlin Campus on Oct. 12. The campus will offer the Master of Aeronautical Science in class with other degree programs in aviation maintenance management, technical management, professional aeronautics, integrated logistics, and project management. This new campus is one of over 130 operated by the university's "Worldwide Campus" division.

European Business Ideas For Space Technology (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
The European Space Agency (ESA) is calling for proposals from entrepreneurs with new ideas on how space technology can be turned into business opportunities in non-space sectors. The deadline for the last round of proposals for this year is 31 October for the Business Incubator at ESTEC, the Netherlands. To date, more than 50 entrepreneurs have been hosted at one of ESA's three Business Incubation centers to start their companies. ESA's support has led to new businesses providing innovative solutions in non-space fields based upon space technology and satellite supplied services.

Prelim Injunction in NASA ID Case (Source: AP)
A federal judge on Monday said he planned to temporarily bar NASA from asking workers at one of its research centers during background checks whether they had ever used drugs. The drug use question was only a small part of a lawsuit filed by 28 scientists, engineers and staff at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena who claimed the new security measures invaded their privacy. U.S. District Court Judge Otis Wright said he wanted to balance workers' rights with national security. Wright's written order was expected later this week. He set an Oct. 19 hearing to decide whether to grant a broader injunction preventing NASA from asking other personal questions. JPL employees have until Friday to fill out forms authorizing the background checks. Those who don't will be barred from JPL and be "voluntarily terminated" as of Oct. 27.