November 17 News Items

Ex-NASA Workers Sentenced (Source: Florida Today)
Two former NASA employees who embezzled thousands of dollars from the space agency were ordered to prison. U.S. District Judge Anne Conway ordered Judith Lynna Frisbee, 46, of Titusville to serve 16 months and pay back the $127,029.37 she defrauded from NASA contractor Space Gateway Support by falsifying records and inflating expense reports between 2001 and 2005. She pleaded guilty in August and faced up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Elizabeth Ann Osborne, 52, received an 18-month sentence for using her government credit card to make $157,394.21 worth of electronics, furniture, jewelry and other purchases for herself. She had faced up to 10 years in prison plus a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to the charges.

Editorial: How Can We Not Forge Ahead? (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
The Nov. 9 "Friday Forum" question was, "Should we go to the moon and Mars?" The answer for me is unequivocally, "YES!" I pose a follow-up question: Why wouldn't we, and how can we not? I agree that a "been there, done that" mentality to further exploring the moon is like saying there was no need for Lewis and Clark to return to the Mississippi River once they had been there. Furthermore, it's like saying there was no need to explore beyond the Mississippi River. Thanks to their vision and commitment, we know what would have been lost had westward exploration halted. Imagine the same scenario for space exploration. Going back to the moon will allow us to create a lunar outpost for exploration, with missions generating from the moon rather than Earth. This outpost will serve as a learning laboratory like no other.

Spaceport Sheboygan Caught in Federal Budget Battle (Source: Sheboygan Press)
Rep. Tom Petri is hoping federal funds earmarked for several major state projects, including $100,000 for Spaceport Sheboygan, can be saved from presidential veto. Petri, R-Fond du Lac, got to tout $1.1 million in special project money for three projects in his district when the House passed the 2008 spending bill for the departments of Transportation and Housing and Urban Development on Wednesday. But those earmarks — $600,000 for an engineering study of a bridge across the North Fond du Lac rail yard, $400,000 for the reconstruction of State Highway 44 in Oshkosh and $100,000 for the Sheboygan Development Corporation's Great Lakes Aerospace Science and Education Center project – are caught up in the tug-of-war between President Bush and the Democratic-controlled Congress.

From Delaware to the Moon? (Source: Philadelphia Inquirer)
If NASA makes good on its promise, when astronauts land on the moon again around 2020, they won't just walk around, they'll camp out for days or even weeks, eventually constructing a permanent moon base. To do that they will need a shelter that protects them from radiation, 600-degree temperature swings, and the occasional pebble flying by at 17,000 miles an hour. This week, a small Delaware company unveiled an early prototype - a garage-size inflatable building. Over the next few days, engineers at ILC Dover will deflate it and ship it to Antarctica, where it will be tested under 100-m.p.h. winds and temperatures of minus 60 degrees. But that's mild compared with conditions on the moon. Because the moon is well beyond Earth's protective magnetic field, it is bombarded by deadly particles and light radiation from the sun and from deep space.

SeaLaunch Launch Scheduled for November 18 (Source: RIA Novosti)
The delayed sea launch of a Zenit-3SL rocket with a Thuraya-3 communications satellite is scheduled to go ahead on Nov. 18. A SeaLaunch consortium spokesperson said the launch had been delayed indefinitely due to poor weather conditions. The consortium, established in 1995, is owned by Boeing, Norway's Kvaerner ASA, Ukraine's Yuzhmash, and Russia's RSC-Energia, and is the only company which launches its vehicles from the equator, allowing the rockets to carry heavier payloads than from other latitudes.

India Crosses Rocket Science Milestone (Source: Hundustan Times)
Indian space scientists have reached a new galaxy with the successful test of the indigenous cryogenic stage which powers the gigantic Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV). Indians have joined an exclusive league of scientists — from the US, Russia and Europe — who have the capability to design and build cryogenic engines which are critical for hoisting communication satellites as well as manned missions to space. This development creates an entirely indigenous launch vehicle development capability in India, removing the nation's reliance on suppliers from other nations.