November 14 News Items

Orbital Sciences Wins $29.5M Air Force Satellite Contract (Source: BizJournals)
Orbital Sciences Corp. has won a contract worth up to $29.5 million from the Air Force Research Laboratory to help build nanosatellites. The Dulles-based company, which manufactures small rockets and space systems, will perform work on what's called the Autonomous Nanosatellite Guardian for Evaluating Local Space (ANGELS) satellite program at the Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico. This is the second multi-million contract Orbital has announced since releasing its third-quarter earnings. Last month Orbital Sciences said it won a contract worth $37.9 million from the Navy to build 13 more Coyote missiles.

Demo Orion Heat Shield Completed (Source: Aerospace Daily)
Boeing has completed a long-awaited demonstration heat shield for NASA's Lockheed Martin-built Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), designed to protect the vehicle from extreme heat during re-entry into Earth's atmosphere following lunar and low-Earth orbit missions. The heat shield is made from Phenolic Impregnated Carbon Ablator (PICA) material, which was used successfully on NASA's Stardust spacecraft heat shield. PICA was developed as part of the Block 2 thermal protection system (TPS) for Orion. Five teams worked on Phase I of the Block 2 effort, but Boeing was the only team chosen to move into Phase II. In a nod to risk reduction, NASA concurrently launched an alternative Block 2 TPS program.

Spaceflights Now for Sale; Scary Part is Price (Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer)
Considering space travel on one of Virgin Galactic's new ships? The sales pitch goes like this: The first hour will be relatively painless, a graceful ascent in a spaceship attached to a mother ship. Once the vessels reach 50,000 feet, the ship containing you, five more tourists and two pilots will detach and fall for a moment. Then, the thrusters will propel it up for 90 seconds, traveling three times the speed of sound. All of the spacecraft's fuel will burn away, leaving its tanks empty. The G-forces on your body will push your blood toward your feet. It is hoped that you won't black out, but if you do, you'll come to when you're at zero gravity. Once above the undefined line that delineates Earth from space, your craft will arch to a height of 360,000 feet for about four minutes.

You will be weightless and have stunning views of Earth's curvature, 1,000 miles in any direction. Total approximate time: two hours and nine minutes. All this for only $200,000 -- a lot of money to most folks, but a mere fraction of the millions spent by previous space tourists. Visit http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/339535_spacetourism14.html to view the article.

Sirius, XM Holders Approve Deal But Regulatory Hurdles Remain (Source: Wall Street Journal)
Shareholders of Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio voted to approve the proposed merger of the satellite-radio rivals as expected. The deal now faces the tougher obstacles of receiving regulatory approval by the Department of Justice and the Federal Communications Commission. XM agreed in February to sell itself to Sirius in a deal that has drawn close regulatory scrutiny. Terms call for Sirius to pay 4.6 shares for each XM share. Sirius Chairman Mel Karmazin reiterated in a statement that the companies expect the merger to close by the end of this year. The companies say their market should not merely be defined as satellite radio, since they must compete against all of terrestrial radio, as well as Internet radio, audio from satellite and cable television systems, music download services and other media.

Smoke in Spacesuit Could Delay EVAs, Launch (Source: Florida Today)
Possible fire danger in a JSC-based spacesuit test could delay critical spacewalks at the space station, which must be performed before Atlantis can launch on Dec. 6. Spacewalks on Nov. 20 and 24 might be delayed at the Space Station, possibly setting back the Dec. 6 launch of Atlantis. Late last week a Russian astronaut trainee at JSC smelled smoke in his spacesuit and felt heat on his neck during a test in a pressure chamber. NASA feels the problem will be cleared up and is examining CO2 scrub cans, which have not functioned properly in the past. NASA engineers have been unable to explain or repeat the ominous event. If a spacesuit caught fire during a spacewalk, the astronaut inside, breathing pure oxygen, would likely be killed.

Spacehab Reports Increased First-Quarter Loss (Source: bizjournals.com)
The conclusion of a space mission helped propel Spacehab Inc. into a deeper loss for its 2008 first quarter. The Texas-based commercial space services company reported a net loss of $856,000 on revenue of $8.6 million, for the three months ended Sept. 30, 2007. That compared with a net loss of $32,000 on revenue of $14.9 million, for the same quarter in fiscal 2006. Spacehab said the quarter's results reflected the conclusion of its support to space shuttle mission STS-118 which returned to Earth in August.

NASA Selects USRA and Univ. of Alabama to Support National Space Science/Tech. Center (Source: USRA)
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center has awarded the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) a five-year Cooperative Agreement to provide research and support at the National Space Science and Technology Center (NSSTC) in Huntsville, Alabama. USRA is teamed with the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH), which is a USRA member institution.

Orbcomm Launch Delayed Again (Source: Space News)
The launch of seven Orbcomm two-way messaging satellites, including one featuring a payload for the U.S. Coast Guard, has been delayed again and likely will slip into early 2008 following discovery of a defect on the satellites' solar panels, Orbcomm Chief Executive Jerry Eisenberg said Nov. 13.

New Evidence for Extragalactic Life-Forming Matter (Source: New Scientist)
Tantalizing traces of the building blocks of life have been spotted in nearby galaxies. However, working out the identity of these carbon-containing molecules, and when they became abundant, is proving tricky, say astronomers. Astrophysicists believe that organic molecules were present in the cloud of dust and gas from which our solar system formed, providing the raw materials for life on Earth. Astronomers can see these molecules throughout our galaxy, which is one reason why many believe conditions may also be ripe for life in other parts of the Milky Way, and perhaps further afield.