July 13 News Items

Scientists Pondering Capacity for Critters on Red Planet (Source: Journal Gazette)
“Is there life on Mars?” future rock star David Bowie asked in a 1971 song. Probably not, came the resounding chorus of scientists. No water, they said. No oxygen. Too cold. They are starting to change their tune. In recent years, U.S. and European spacecraft cameras spied ice on Mars. This summer, NASA’s scoot-around lab known as the Phoenix lander is digging near the Red Planet’s north pole in search of possible signs that life might have existed in the past. Evidence, even if ancient, would certainly astonish Mars’ human neighbors, many of whom have suspected that Earth alone in our solar system – and perhaps the universe – can nurture life forms. (7/13)

Stennis Riding NASA Propulsion Testing Into Future (Source: Sun Herald)
Bob Cabana, the director of Stennis Space Center, has a unique perspective on the space agency's history, current work and future. He's flown in space four times and has served as chief of NASA's astronaut office. Visit http://www.sunherald.com/business/story/680909.html to view a Q&A interview with Cabana. (7/13)

Study: Mars Sample Return Would Take 10 Years, Cost $5 Billion-Plus (Source: Space News)
An international assessment of what it will take to mount a Mars sample return mission concluded that it will take at least 10 years of preparation once the mission is decided and roughly $5 billion to $8 billion or more to carry it out. Designing and selecting sites for sample return facilities, creating a rocket to blast off from Mars to return the samples, technology-transfer barriers and politically motivated national pride add to the financial issues to make such a mission a challenge, the members of the International Mars Architecture for the Return of Samples (iMARS) Working Group concluded. (7/12)

USAF Says Troops Getting Better Satellite Data Access (Source: Space News)
U.S. troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan recently have seen improvements in their access to military space assets as a result of procedural improvements made by the U.S. Air Force, according to a senior Air Force space official. (7/12)

Stakeholders Meet to Ensure Longevity of Space Station (Source: Space News)
With assembly of the international space station nearing completion, the major investors — the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency (ESA), Japan and Canada — are discussing ways to ensure that neither the U.S. Vision for Space Exploration nor the ostensible 15-year design life of some early station hardware forces an early retirement of the multibillion-dollar facility.

At a meeting of the station partners last week, a big topic was the engineering and financial measures that will need to be taken to keep the station operating until around 2020 and perhaps beyond. NASA officials in recent months have sought to reassure their partners that the end of operations of the U.S. space shuttle in 2010, and the increasing budget focus of NASA on lunar and Mars exploration, will not cause the United States to withdraw from the station and leave the partners with the costs of operating the facility. (7/12)