December 2 News Items

NASA Takes Steps to Restore Research Funding (Source: Space News)
When NASA made deep cuts last year to its budget for research grants, scientists whose livelihoods depend on receiving a share of the roughly $175 million in awards the U.S. space agency disburses each year screamed bloody murder. Most NASA-funded scientific disciplines saw their share of the agency's research-and-analysis (R&A) budget drop 15 percent in 2006 with further reductions planned for subsequent years. Astrobiology, a relatively new discipline concerned with the origin and evolution of life, suffered a 50-percent cut. Making matters worse, NASA made all the cuts retroactive, so scientists who thought they had funding lined up for the year suddenly were scrambling for new grant dollars. Alan Stern, the seasoned principal investigator who became NASA's associate administrator for science in April, took office pledging a reinvestment in research and analysis as one of the main thrusts of his strategy for getting more out of the agency's flat science budget.

Strong Canadian Dollar Hurts Com Dev Revenue (Source: Space News)
Satellite-component manufacturer Com Dev International of Canada said it will not make good on its revenue promises this year because of the continued strength of the Canadian dollar. The company also said it has established an independent committee to review Com Dev's history of stock-option grants and ultimately may restate previous financial statements, depending on the committee's findings.

OHB, Surrey Plan Joint-Bid on Galileo Constellation (Source: Space News)
Europe's two most successful small-satellite builders intend to make a joint-bid to build at least a portion of Europe's constellation of Galileo navigation satellites, gambling that a contract that once was closed to them may be thrown open for fresh bidding, the two companies said Nov. 28.

NASA Refuses $1.5B Space Experiment, Riles Sen. Nelson, Others (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
A team of 500 scientists from 16 countries has spent the past decade building a $1.5 billion space experiment to help solve a celestial puzzle: how the cosmos has evolved since shortly after the big bang, more than 13 billion years ago. But there's one hitch. The experiment was designed to work aboard the international space station. But despite earlier agreements, NASA leaders now say they will not transport the device aboard any of the 13 remaining space-shuttle flights -- potentially grounding the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer.

The refusal has sparked repeated congressional questioning, particularly from U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla. The whole purpose of having an international space station . . . is to be able to do these kinds of extraordinary science experiments, such as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer," Nelson said. "It is almost like cutting off our nose to spite our face." NASA contracted 12 years ago to fly the device to the space station. But that contract expired in 2005 -- and the spectrometer won't be finished before late 2008. By then, NASA says, there won't be any room aboard the shuttles, which are scheduled to stop flying in 2010.

Union Raps NASA Chief (Source: AP)
A union representing NASA employees accuses the agency's administrator of unfairly tarnishing agency employees by disparaging and misrepresenting a federal air safety project. NASA weeks ago drew intense criticism for withholding results of the research, fearing it would upset travelers and hurt airline profits. The union disputed Michael Griffin's criticisms of the program, in which thousands of commercial and private pilots were interviewed. It said his comments to Congress at an oversight hearing in October appeared to reflect fears the pilots might report to NASA higher rates of safety problems than are recorded by FAA's own monitoring.

The union said Griffin's testimony before the committee on Oct. 31 was "shocking" and that its own investigation found "no valid scientific basis for the administrator's technical criticism" of the National Aviation Operations Monitoring System. The hearing left the impression taxpayer money was wasted on the $11.3 million project, "an unacceptable conclusion to leave hanging in the air," said Matt Biggs, legislative director of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. The union represents many NASA scientists, engineers and technical employees.

Editorial: Candidates Shouldn't Support Gutting the Space Program (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
With President George W. Bush leaving the White House a little over a year from now, the fate of one of his signature initiatives -- sending U.S. astronauts back to the moon and eventually to Mars -- is in doubt. Few of Mr. Bush's would-be successors in either party have committed to the program. This is a glaring omission for a group ostensibly focused on the future. The program would spur the kind of scientific and technological advances essential to staying competitive in the world economy. Yet Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama recently proposed postponing Constellation's 2015 roll-out by another five years to help finance an $18 billion education plan.

Any candidate who proposes a way to pay for his promises deserves some credit. But it would be counterproductive to finance an education plan by gutting space exploration, a powerful inspiration for students to study mathematics and science. If candidates want to come up with more money for education or other worthy purposes, there are options that make much more sense. They could free up billions of dollars by cutting back on government subsidies or tax breaks for timber, mining, shipping and oil companies, for example. They could phase out payments to prosperous farming operations. They could cancel outdated weapons systems.