Wisconsin Spaceport Plans Rocketing Ahead (Source: Sheboygan Press)
Sky-high plans for a sprawling aerospace complex on Sheboygan's lakefront are gaining momentum, as developers pursue donors, line up exhibits and work with schools to develop complementary curriculum. The Great Lakes Aero-space, Science and Education Center at Spaceport Sheboygan is expected to be under construction by next fall and open — at least in part — by the end of 2008, said Gary Dulmes, vice chairman of the board of directors for the planned $21 million complex. Dulmes said developers will not be slowed by the death Wednesday of local businessman Mike Muth, who was a major force in conceiving and driving the project, though he had stepped back over the last six months. The funds committed for the project remain at about $4 million, but that number could grow quickly in the coming months, Dulmes said.
NASA Conducts Second Test of Main Parachute for Ares Rockets (Source: SpaceRef.com)
NASA and industry engineers successfully tested the main parachute for Constellation Program rockets during a drop test Thursday at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Ground near Yuma, Ariz. The parachute system will allow Ares I and Ares V first stage boosters to be recovered and reused. Thursday's test validated the results of an earlier test conducted in September. "Measuring 150-feet in diameter and weighing 2,000 pounds, this is the biggest chute of its kind that's been tested," said Steve Cook, director of the Ares Projects Office.
NASA Would Need $2 Billion to Hasten Shuttle Successor (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
To close the five-year gap between retirement of the space shuttle and the first launch of its successor, NASA would need $2 billion more during the next three years, agency officials said Thursday. The money would allow NASA to advance the launch of the first Constellation mission to September 2013, rather than the current March 2015 projection. But it's uncertain whether NASA allies can find the necessary dollars on Capitol Hill. And even if Congress approves the money, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin acknowledged, it might not prevent the loss of as many as 5,000 workers at Kennedy Space Center after the space shuttle stops flying in 2010.
Sen. Nelson: Job Losses Would Be "Bolt of Lightning" in Florida (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Thousands of post-Shuttle space industry layoffs "hits me like a bolt of lightning and would hit the Kennedy Space Center likewise," said U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., who called Mike Griffin before his Space, Aeronautics and Related Sciences subcommittee. Kennedy Space Center could lose up to a third of its 15,000 workers as NASA transitions from the shuttle to Constellation. The longer the gap, the less likely KSC workers will be retained -- because the facility's primary responsibility is preparing spacecraft for flight.
Diversification Initiative Approved for Post-Shuttle Florida Space Economy (Source: ERAU)
Officials representing statewide interests have come together under a Space Coast-led "Aerospace Career Development Council" to craft recommendations for dealing with the impacts of the Shuttle's retirement. Among five recommendations approved by the Council is a $20 million Space Technology & Research Diversification (STRD) initiative, designed to expand the state's involvement in strategic space research programs that will enable long-term space industry growth. The STRD initiative was also endorsed by the Board of Directors of Space Florida.
Virginia Legislature May Adopt ZeroG ZeroTax Proposal (Source: spaceports blog)
Virginia was the first state in the nation to adopt a space flight liability and immunity law in 2007 and it may become the first state in the nation to adopt its own state version of 'Zero-G, Zero Tax' in 2008. Later this month the Virginia Joint Commission on Technology and Science aerospace advisory panel will hear a recommendation to adopt new state tax law provisions to exclude from corporate state income tax "any gain recognized as a result of the sale of passenger tickets on a suborbital spaceflight conducted by a spaceflight entity as defined in § 8.01-227.8 and "any gain recognized as a result of resupply services contracts entered with the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services division" of NASA. In addition, the tax proposal may exempt from state sales tax "the sale of spaceflight services or activities to spaceflight participants."
The legislation is being designed to boost the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport attract utilization of its launch pads and the NASA Wallops Flight Facility runway. Commercial space launch firms for both NASA ISS resupply flights and subsequent space tourist flights could be attracted to Virginia based upon its liability and immunity act, a potentially favorable tax regime, and outstanding low cost launch and runway facilities. No other state has yet to adopt a similar space liability and immunity act.
Europe Eyes Six Martian Landing Sites (Source: The Register)
The European Space Agency (ESA) has compiled a shortlist of places it would like to look for life (past or present) on Mars. The agency says its ExoMars mission, planned for a 2013 launch, will touch down on some of the red planet's oldest rocks, as these might once have been in contact with Martian water. A region rich in clay minerals would be ideal, the agency said, since these so-called phyllosilicates contain water in their crystalline structure. Planetary researcher Dr Jean-Pierre Bibring, from the University of Paris, told the BBC: "Phyllosilicates are not just regions where we think water must have been. We also think they are places that helped reactions to take place. On the early Earth, all the primordial biochemistry took place in phyllosilicates as well."
The mission is expected to cost of the order of a billion Euros, with half of that money going on the industrial costs of designing and constructing the craft. Initial designs have been approved, but the finer details, such as what kind of rocket it will launch on, are still up for discussion. Whatever form the mission takes, and wherever it lands, it must be a rover capable of roaming over the surface of Mars, drilling two meters into the surface and analysing the soil samples it collects. The pre-launch process will also be complicated, because the craft must be totally sterile before it heads into space, to avoid contaminating the landing site with life from Earth. Spending €1bn to rediscover the common cold would not make for a happy space agency, after all.
Arianespace to Post 'Moderate' Profit Despite Weak Dollar (Source: Thomson Financial)
Arianespace CEO Jean-Yves Le Gall said he expects the company's results to be 'stable' for the fifth consecutive year. Le Gall was speaking after the successful launch of two satellites from Ariane 5. He expects a 'moderate' profit despite the unfavorable dollar/euro exchange which makes life 'difficult', Le Gall said. Arianespace is owned by a European consortium, which includes French shareholders EADS, Safran and Air Liquide.
DIRECTV Offers to Install HD in New Space Station Module (Source: DirecTV)
Congratulating NASA on the completion of a successful shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and the recent unveiling of a new living space aboard the orbital laboratory, DIRECTV is offering the ISS a complete HD makeover – including its industry-leading line-up of national HD channels, the most advanced HD DVR on the market, a 42” flat screen HDTV and a sturdy velcro-wrapped remote control.
If NASA accepts DIRECTV’s offer, the nations #1 satellite TV company is prepared to offer its top engineer to assist in the installation of the familiar satellite dish on the roof of the new module. As a satellite TV service we obviously have a vested interest in space exploration and we’ve certainly benefited from NASA’s many technical and scientific achievements over the years. This is one way we can give a little something back.”
Real-Life Star Wars: The Militarization of Space (Source: AlterNet)
On Jan. 11, 2001, the Commission to Assess United States National Security Space Management and Organization issued a report to Congress. The group, which had been headed by President-elect George W. Bush's Defense Secretary-to-be Donald Rumsfeld, asserted that it's only a matter of time until there's all-out war in the heavens: "We know from history that every medium -- air, land and sea -- has seen conflict. Reality indicates that space will be no different. Given this virtual certainty, the U.S. must develop the means both to deter and to defend against hostile acts in and from space -- and ensure continuing superiority."
The current thinking of military and industry officials was revealed last month at the annual Strategic Space and Defense Conference in Omaha, Nebraska. At that meeting, held in the backyard of the US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). And that strategy includes not just war mongering against countries like China and Pakistan by "space warriors," but it poses a threat to the safety and liberties of all Americans. Visit http://www.alternet.org/audits/67699/ to view the article.
NASA Lifts Brief Ban on U.S. Spacewalks (Source: Space.com)
NASA lifted a brief ban on U.S. spacewalks outside the International Space Station (ISS) Thursday after engineers cleared the orbital laboratory's spacesuits of potential fire-hazards. The decision allows ISS Expedition 16 commander Peggy Whitson and flight engineer Dan Tani to proceed with preparations for two critical spacewalks next week to continue space station construction. NASA temporarily suspended U.S. spacewalks earlier this week after an astronaut smelled smoke inside a U.S. spacesuit during a ground test. While engineers have not completely identified root cause of the Earth-based suit's smoky odor, the leading candidate is the specific canister used to sift carbon dioxide from the EMU's 100 percent oxygen interior.
Apollo Astronaut Presents FWB Native with Scholarship Award (Source: Northwest Florida Daily News)
Edgar Mitchell, an Apollo 14 astronaut and moonwalker, presented University of Central Florida senior Benjamin Corbin with a $10,000 scholarship from the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation in Orlando. A Fort Walton Beach native, Corbin is the second UCF student to receive an Astronaut Scholarship Foundation award during the past two years. The award is one of 19 made available each year through the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. The scholarships are awarded to college students who exhibit exceptional performance, initiative and creativity in the science or engineering field of their major.
Griffin: Spaceflight Gap Unseemly, Unwise (Source: Florida Today)
NASA may possibly cinch the gap between manned space missions from five to three years but only if it gets an extra $2 billion in funding from Congress, agency officials told senators Thursday. But about $400 million of that would need to come in next year's fiscal budget. That's an unlikely scenario given that President Bush has threatened to veto a current effort by the Senate to give NASA an extra $1 billion, specifically to help the agency transition from its retiring space shuttle fleet to its replacement. NASA Administrator Michael Griffin acknowledged that as many as 5,000 employees could lose their jobs at Kennedy Space Center once the shuttle is retired in 2010, although he described that estimate as "on the high side of credible."
Experimental Preparation of Flight to Mars Begins in Moscow (Source: Itar-Tass)
A 14-day experiment to prepare a manned flight to Mars began at the Moscow Institute of Biomedical Problems on Thursday. The director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems, Anatoly Grigoryev, had said that a simulation of manned flights Mars included a 14-day and a 105-day mission. "During 14 days we shall check technical equipment, and then we shall select for the 105-day experiment Russian and European proposals that will be later implemented in the program. He said an international crew of volunteers would be formed for the 105-day experiment that begins in early 2008. Intensive selection of a main crew for the “Martian flight” is going on. It will include four Russians and two Europeans.
Griffin Says $2 Billion Would Speed Development of Shuttle Replacement (Source: Space News)
NASA Administrator Mike Griffin told a Senate panel Nov. 15 that the United States could field the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle and its Ares 1 launcher within three years of the space shuttle's retirement, but meeting that earlier delivery date would require an extra $2 billion over the next couple of years.
Hutchison: Extra $1 Billion for NASA Unlikely This Year (Source: Space News)
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas) said Nov. 15 that the extra $1 billion she and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) have been pushing to give NASA appears unlikely to make it through Congress this year.
Airline Navigation Threatened by Space Weather Plasma Plumes (Source: New Scientist)
Mysterious plumes of plasma at the edge of the Earth's atmosphere are threatening airline navigation by throwing off GPS positioning information by up to the length of a football field. But a poor understanding of how the plumes form means that accurate forecasts of the phenomena – which would allow GPS users to plan around them – are years away. Scientists have long understood that outbursts from the Sun called coronal mass ejections can interfere with communication between Earth-orbiting satellites and the ground.
More recently, they have learned that at least some of the disruptions are due to giant plumes of charged particles, or plasma, that form in response to the solar outbursts in the Earth's ionosphere, a region filled with ions at the boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space. The concentrated plasma in the plumes diverts and delays satellite communications, such as GPS signals. But forecasting these disruptions is difficult because scientists do not know exactly how the plumes form or where the extra plasma they contain comes from.
Incredible Comet Bigger than the Sun (Source: Space.com)
A comet that has delighted backyard astronomers in recent weeks after an unexpected eruption has now grown larger than the sun. The sun remains by far the most massive object in the solar system, with an extended influence of particles that reaches all the planets. But the comparatively tiny Comet Holmes has released so much gas and dust that its extended atmosphere, or coma, is larger than the diameter of the sun. "It continues to expand and is now the largest single object in the solar system," according to astronomers at the University of Hawaii. Separately, a new Hubble Space Telescope photo of the comet reveals an intriguing bow-tie structure around its nucleus.
By Edward Ellegood
LinkedIn Group
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