Clinton Launches Space Position as Other Democrats Orbit From Safe Distance (Source: Washington Post)
The major presidential candidates pummel each other daily on issues ranging from the Iraq war to health care. But when it comes to President Bush's ambitious initiative to send humans back to the moon and on to Mars, Sen. Clinton (D-N.Y.) is all but alone in staking out a formal position. She initially outlined the need for a "robust" human spaceflight program last month, despite being broadly critical of the Bush administration's record on scientific issues.
The question of future manned space exploration took on greater prominence this week when Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) advocated delaying for five years NASA's Constellation program and using the savings to fund a variety of education initiatives. Asked for a response, a Clinton spokesman said, "Senator Clinton does not support delaying the Constellation program and intends to maintain American leadership in space exploration." She also said that in pursuing next-generation programs, she will "capitalize on the expertise of the current shuttle program workforce and will not allow a repeat of the 'brain drain' that occurred between the Apollo and shuttle missions."
Former senator John Edwards (N.C.), who is also vying for the Democratic nomination, said in a statement: "We need a balanced space and aeronautics program. We need to support solar system exploration as an important goal for our human and robotic programs, but only as one goal among several."
PlanetSpace & Lockheed Martin Pitch COTS Plan to NASA (Source: Chronicle Herald)
The company that wants to build a rocket launch pad in Nova Scotia has teamed up with some heavy hitters in the aerospace industry to submit a proposal to NASA. PlanetSpace said that for the past six months, it has been working with partners Lockheed Martin, Alliant Techsystems, and the Bank of Montreal (as a financial adviser), to put together a proposal to demonstrate the capability to deliver cargo and crew to the Space Station. PlanetSpace's consortium has also signed teaming agreements with Space Florida, United Launch Alliance, Wyle Laboratories, Paragon Space, and MEHTA Engineering.
"We have developed an innovative, low-risk business plan and technical approach that can deliver cargo to the International Space Station economically and has the added benefits of providing low-cost launch services to commercial and NASA customers," Chirinjeev Kathuria, chairman of PlanetSpace said Thursday. The release does not specifically mention Cape Breton, but Sarah Levy, a spokeswoman for Nova Scotia Business Inc., the province’s development agency, said discussions with the company about building a launch pad in the province are ongoing.
Republican Positions Vary on Space (Source: Washington Post)
The Republican National Committee criticized Obama on his plans for Constellation. A spokesman said: "It is ironic that Barack Obama's plan to help our children reach for the stars is financed in part by slashing a program that helps us learn about those very same stars." But Republican presidential candidates have also been less than effusive about the Bush space initiative. When asked about their candidates' positions on the moon-Mars project, a spokeswoman for Sen. John McCain did not respond, while one for Rudy Giuliani said, "I'm not sure anything is out there on this subject."
Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney's campaign responded by providing an article from the Florida Today newspaper that said: "During the first campaign visit to the Space Coast by a 2008 presidential candidate, Republican Mitt Romney said he supports Bush's vision for space exploration and has no reason yet to propose a new direction."
Science Advice: Who is Advising the Candidates About Space? (Source: What's New)
It was a jolt to read in the Washington Post that the Democratic front runner supports key aspects of the Bush space plan, hereafter referred to as the Lunacy Program. It calls for a return to the Moon in the multibillion dollar Constellation spacecraft to prepare for a vastly more expensive human mission to Mars to do that which robots do better. Barack Obama would delay Constellation for five years to provide funds for education. We’re all in favor of education, but there are vital science programs in space that are getting squeezed out for this money sink.
Use of 2nd Launch Pad at Baikonur Will Boost ILS Capacity (source: Space News)
International Launch Services (ILS) expects to inaugurate a second commercial Proton-M launch pad at Russia's Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan this summer to assure the company's ability to conduct seven to eight missions in 2008 and in 2009. Now back in action with a successful Nov. 18 Proton-M flight following the September failure, ILS has been assured that the Russian government's own demand for Proton rockets will not create logjams in the ILS manifest.
"We expect that Russian federal missions will account for three to five Proton launches in 2008 and about the same in 2009," said an ILS official. "When you add in the seven to eight ILS commercial missions, Proton will be conducting on average one mission per month. Proton has demonstrated its capacity to perform 14 missions per year in the past, so we feel comfortable about meeting our manifest."
Europe Takes Steps to Reduce Duplication in Military Satellites (Source: Space News)
The European Defence Agency (EDA) slowly is moving into position to help coordinate European Union governments' future military satellite telecommunications and space-based reconnaissance activities to serve the broader goal of avoiding duplicative spending.
Griffin Says MSU Study with Surrey Will Go No Further (Source: Space News)
Responding to a pair of U.S. congressmen upset that Mississippi State University (MSU) is paying Surrey Satellite Technology around $2 million to teach its faculty about small satellite design, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin said NASA has no plans to continue supporting the effort once current funding runs out. Reps. Frank Wolf and Randy Forbes, both Republicans from Virginia, wrote Griffin Nov. 6 complaining that money appropriated for NASA has found its way to a non-U.S. company that has sold satellites to China, something American firms have been barred from doing.
Replacement Satellites Top List of Upcoming NASA Deals (Source: Space News)
The biggest acquisitions NASA has on tap for 2008 are satellite systems being procured largely on behalf of other U.S. government agencies, a circumstance industry analysts attribute in part to the space agency having most of its money already tied up in operations and existing development contracts.
Bezos Sheds Light on Blue Origin Test Efforts (Source: Space News)
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos provided a glimpse of his Blue Origin rocket development venture during a television interview Nov. 19, saying the first test vehicle has made several flights and construction of a second is under way. Bezos said the first development vehicle — the Goddard — has made several low-altitude flights from the company's 80,000-hectare launch complex in western Texas. The tight-lipped Blue Origin group had only publicized the Nov. 13, 2006, first flight of that vehicle.
"We are now working on a second development vehicle," Bezos said. "There will be at least one more development vehicle after that ... at least — I don't know, maybe it'll be more." Dubbed New Shepard in honor of the 1961 suborbital flight of Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, the program is proceeding one step at a time, Bezos said. "We're not in any hurry ... because we're trying to build a very safe, well-engineered vehicle. [I] don't see any reason to rush on this," Bezos said.
China Aims to Increase Longevity of Satellites (Source: Space News)
China is on track to increase the in-orbit service life of its future domestic Earth observation and telecommunications satellites, bringing them closer to U.S. and European standards by 2010. Domestically built Earth observation satellites launched into sun-synchronous low Earth orbit would have an average service life of four to five years by 2010, compared to two to three years currently. China's domestic geostationary telecommunications satellites would have a service life of 15 years by 2010, compared to eight years currently. China has begun developing made-in-China platforms, with two such satellites sold to Nigeria and Venezuela.
Brazil, Argentina Agree to Build Hyperspectral Satellite (Source: Space News)
Brazil and Argentina have agreed in principle to collaborate on the construction and launch of a hyperspectral Earth observation satellite for environmental monitoring and oceanography. The satellite would carry a payload of about 800 kilograms, with about 700 watts of power. The sensor will include between 15 and 25 bands in the visible and infrared spectrum. Final technical specifications are to be decided early in 2008. INPE said the joint work would further the two nations' goal of becoming more independent in space-based sensors and less reliant on foreign suppliers whose products are often subject to export restrictions.
Europe says Galileo Satellite Navigation System Might Be Scrapped (Source: Earth Times)
A planned European satellite-navigation system will have to be scrapped unless national governments resolve their differences over funding within the next five weeks, the EU Commission warned Friday. "If no agreement is reached by the end of the year, we will have to put an end to our efforts because it will be too late," a spokesman for Transport Commissioner Barrot said.
Progress on the so-called Galileo project has been hampered by disagreement on how to fund a 2.4-billion-euro (3.56 billion dollars) budget shortfall. Barrot has proposed diverting unused community funds. But this would require revising the EU's budget for 2007-2013, which governments have already agreed on. Germany also opposes Barrot's rescue plan because of concerns that it might exclude its aerospace industry from the project.
Editorial: Space Program's Gap Until Next Vehicle is Way Too Long (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
It's never a good idea to depend on an unreliable or unfriendly driver for rides. But that's the predicament that America's space program could be facing. Between the retirement of the space shuttle and the first launch of NASA's next manned program -- a gap that could stretch to five years or more -- U.S. astronauts will have to rely on Russian vehicles to reach space and the space station. The U.S. has invested tens of billions of dollars in the station.
Shortfalls in NASA's budget, now $17.3 billion a year, have pushed back the new U.S. program's first launch to March 2015. At a Senate hearing chaired by Florida Democrat Bill Nelson, NASA officials said the agency could move up Constellation's first launch to September 2013 with another $2 billion over three years. But other lawmakers are reluctant to make that investment. Meanwhile, Congress is poised to approve a bill that would dump tens of billions of dollars into subsidies for farms that don't need them. Go figure.
Narrowing the gap between the shuttle and Constellation programs also would make it easier for NASA to hold on to its skilled workforce, including thousands on Florida's Space Coast. It would help the United States keep its lead in space exploration, and the related science and technology that drive economic growth. Congress needs to come up with the funding NASA needs, ideally through other spending cuts or tweaks to the tax code. It's a small fraction of the federal budget that would make a big difference for the nation's space program, economy and security. It's not prudent to depend on Vladimir Putin's Russia any longer than necessary.
Europe Hopes to Salvage Galileo (Source: International Herald Tribune)
The European Commission proposed a new construction plan for its troubled Galileo satellite system meant to ensure the multibillion euro project is not dominated by a single company. The plan responds to concerns by Germany that its industry may be underrepresented in the venture. Under funding proposals by the EU's executive arm, Germany would become the biggest financial contributor to the navigation system, and as such, Berlin wants to ensure its companies get bigger business opportunities from the project. The new plan would divide contracts for Galileo into six segments covering various stages of the project, with no single company able to be the prime contractor for more than two segments.
Interplanetary Exploration Hinges on Ability to Cut Costs (Source: NewIndPress.com)
The future of interplanetary exploration hinges on the ability to cut costs of space transportation, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) director B.N.Suresh has said. Today it costs US $20,000 to put one kg of equipment in space. We should be able to bring it down to US $500 to US $200, Suresh said. Depletion of energy sources, water and minerals on earth has spurred renewed interest in interplanetary missions in the space-faring nations. Also, there has been a tremendous surge in aviation across the globe. This underlines the need to consider various configuration options for space vehicles and aircraft to get optimal benefit, Suresh said.
By Edward Ellegood
LinkedIn Group
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