December 18 News Items

Florida Man Captures Cosmic Event (Source: WINKNews.com)
Local space photographer T.L. Fox in Lee County, shortly after midnight, aimed his telescope straight up into the night sky to capture a brief moment in time when an asteroid, know as 219 Thusnelda, crossed in front of a distant star at least 500 light years away. The four seconds he captured, at the equivelant of 26,000 frames per second, could open up a world of the unknown for the NASA scientists who contacted Fox to capture the cosmic event. "We can get a better idea of how old it (the star) is, how much longer it has left, if it's still burning mainly hydrogen or has it gone into the helium," explained Fox.

Those details will help tell scientists how old the star is, only known as HIP 38140. But, the moment he's hoping to capture could reveal planets believed to be orbiting this distant star and what they're made of. "By the time NASA gets through with it, who knows we might be able to find there might be a planet close to it we may find that might be earth-like, we just don't know," said Fox.

Russian Sspace Program Will Become More Ambitious (Source: InterFax)
The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) has received an order from the government to adjust its 2009 -2015 space program making it more ambitious. "By guaranteeing macroeconomic stability and high development rates in recent years, Russia has secured an opportunity to consider strategic goals, including in the space industry," Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov said in an interview published on the Roscosmos web site. Russia has long-range projects on the development of the Moon and Mars, as well as plans to build a manned spacecraft and a carrier with higher capacity to launch it, while a new Russian spaceport - Vostochny -will be built in the Amur region, Perminov said.

Final Preparations for First Human-Rated Spacecraft From Europe's Spaceport (Source: ESA)
For the first time in 40 years of space activities, a silent revolution is taking place at the European launch site in Kourou. Jules Vernes, the first human-rated spacecraft to be launched from Europe's Spaceport, is being prepared for launch. The 48 m3 pressurised module of the largest, most complex automated spacecraft ever developed in Europe has been inspected and closed, fulfilling the most stringent rules of human spaceflight. Three days later, the two halves of the 20-ton Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) – the avionics/propulsion module and the pressurised cargo carrier – were mated ready for its launch, scheduled for Feb. 2008, to re-supply the International Space Station.

Dead Batteries May Put Shuttle at Risk (Source: KVUE)
The space shuttle is the world’s most complex machine. At $1.7 billion dollars apiece, it’s the most expensive, too. So it is a little surprising to learn it carries AA batteries. You’ll remember tests proved a suitcase size piece of foam smashed a hole in Columbia’s wing leading edge, which resulted in the orbiter’s fiery crash in 2003. That led to the installation of sensors inside the wing. NASA installed 132 of them. Devices so sensitive, they can measure tiny taps or heavy hits during ascent or on orbit.

For the first time though, something happened. The sensors are not working on Atlantis, which is scheduled to launch Jan. 10. NASA says they don’t matter. It can still launch Atlantis without them. All the sensors in the wings’ leading edge work fine. The problem is the device that transmits the data to the flight deck doesn’t work. The reason? Dead AA batteries.

Death Star 'Could Be Wiping Out Alien Life' (Source: Telegraph)
In a burst of galactic violence recorded by astronomers in NASA's ground and space-based observatories, the black hole of a "death star" is seen shooting the jet of radiation into the adjacent galaxy. The jet is so powerful that it wipes out any life in its path. "This jet could be causing all sorts of problems for the smaller galaxy it is pummeling," said Dan Evans, who led the research team making the discovery.

Weldon: Keep Space Shuttle Alive (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon on Monday unveiled his plans to keep the space shuttles flying beyond their scheduled retirement in 2010, calling it a vital matter of national security that presidential candidates need to address. The plans, part of a bill he expects to introduce in Congress in coming days, propose giving the agency an additional $3.7 billion to make up for past funding shortfalls -- enabling NASA to accelerate development of the Constellation rocket system that aims to return Americans to the moon. It also calls for giving NASA "such sums as may be necessary" to add at least two space-shuttle missions per year until the moon rocket is ready for launch.

"It is about our leadership in space and a very important policy issue: Are we going to put our space program into the hands of the Russians for such a long period of time?" Weldon is trying to make the space program a presidential issue, especially before the Florida primaries next month. He said he plans to write all presidential candidates asking them to support at least his bill's objectives. He then criticized his fellow Republicans running for president for their lack of a NASA policy. "The best person with a space policy -- actually, the only candidate with any kind of substantial space policy on their Web site -- is Hillary [Clinton]," he said. "The Republican candidates need to wake up and smell the coffee."

Louisiana Funds $40 Million Facility for Michoud (Source: Times-Picayune)
Plans for a multi-million dollar building to be unveiled Tuesday call for the first major new construction project at the Michoud Assembly Facility in decades. The $40 million office building will be called the Research and Development Administration Building. It will offer 120,000 square feet of space for administrative offices, a conference center and collaborative research and development space for NASA's partners in the space program. The facility will be paid for by the state of Louisiana through the University of New Orleans Research & Technical Foundation and the Louisiana Office of Economic Development as part of a long-term partnership agreement with NASA.

Hypersonic Rocket-Plane Program Inches Along (Source: Defense Industry Daily)
The path toward a hypersonic space plane has been a slow one, filled with twists and turns one would expect given the technological leap involved. Speeds of Mach 8+ place tremendous heat and resistance stresses on a craft. Building a vehicle that is both light enough to achieve the speeds desired at reasonable cost, and robust enough to survive those speeds, is no easy task. Despite the hurdles, the potential of a truly hypersonic aircraft for reconnaissance, global strike/ transport, and low-cost access to space make DARPA's FALCON HTV program a compelling goal on both engineering and military grounds. Visit http://www.defenseindustrydaily.com/hypersonic-rocketplane-program-inches-along-0194/ to view the article.

GPS Satellite Poised For Liftoff From Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Space Daily)
The fifth in a series of eight modernized Global Positioning System Block IIR (GPS IIR-M) satellites built by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Air Force is ready for launch aboard a Delta II rocket on Dec. 20, from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. The spacecraft, designated GPS IIR-18M, is a modernized version of the Block IIR series designed to enhance the GPS constellation for military and civilian GPS users around the globe.