July 27 News Items

Nukes Are Not the Best Way to Stop an Asteroid (Source: WIRED)
Nuclear weapons could be used to stop earth-bound asteroids, but in most instances, they are not the best option, said Apollo astronaut Rusty Schweickart during a public lecture. The venerable scientist explained that all but the largest heavenly bodies can be redirected by rear-ending or towing them with an unmanned spacecraft. But last year, NASA issued a report stating that using nukes is the best strategy to prevent a catastrophic collision with earth.

Schweickart feels that NASA issued the misleading statement under immense political pressure. It was a nefarious excuse to put nuclear weapons in space. His own organization, the B612 Foundation, intends to use gentler tactics to alter the course of an asteroid by 2015. Right now, humans are not tracking most of the objects that could cause serious damage to earth, but in the next century, as powerful new telescopes come online, we will begin watching many of them. When that day comes, we will know which ones stand a chance of hitting earth, and it will be time to make some tough decisions. (7/27)

McCain is Onboard for Bush's Space Mission; Obama May Be More Down to Earth (Source: LA Times)
We know how John McCain and Barack Obama are polling in the red states, the blue states, Europe, the Middle East, China and around the world. But how are the presidential candidates polling on Mars? Red Planet policy turns out to be one of the areas in which McCain and Obama present bright, clear policy differences. In short, McCain supports the vision for space exploration that President Bush articulated in 2004, with a vaguely defined ambition to send astronauts on to Mars before 2050. And the Democratic contender? Earlier this year, in a 15-page position paper detailing his ideas for education, Obama sneaked in the following line at the end: "The early education plan will be paid for by delaying the NASA Constellation program for five years."

Who's right? There's something to be said for pulling the plug on Constellation. The space agency should take a fresh look at its goals and practices, possibly even giving up its role as a driver in human space exploration and becoming a paying passenger on vehicles built and operated by foreign and private-sector organizations. This would leave NASA with more funds for the robotic exploration that has brought such vast rewards on a relatively small budget (and without risk to life and limb).

Fiscal realities and NASA's commitment to keeping its $17-billion budget flat already seem to be putting a limit on Constellation, but Bush's, and now McCain's, vision nicely balances realism and ambition. Yet it's Obama who is sounding like the more realistic, market-oriented candidate. His campaign said recently that Obama hopes to enhance NASA's role "in confronting the challenges we face here on Earth, including global climate change" and "to reach out and include international partners and engage the private sector to increase NASA's reach and provide real public economic benefits for the nation." (7/23)

Orion's Max Launch Abort System Test Set at Wallops Island, Virginia (Source: Spaceports Blog)
The Orion space capsule now being designed as NASA's next human spacecraft may have a new launch escape system if tests now underway at NASA Wallops Flight Facility this year prove positive. The Max Launch Abort System (M-LAS) tests will provide data to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center which is charged with evaluating a potential alternate design for the launch abort system of NASA's Orion crew exploration vehicle. The M-LAS concept will be validated by conducting an unmanned pad-abort test at the NASA Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia this fall 2008. (7/24)

Soyuz Launches Russian Military Satellite (Source: SpaceToday.net)
A Soyuz 2 rocket placed a classified Russian satellite into orbit late Saturday. The Soyuz 2-1b rocket, a modernized version of the workhorse Soyuz vehicle, lifted off from the Plesetsk spaceport in northern Russia and placed the payload, Kosmos 2441, into a sun-synchronous orbit. The spacecraft is believed to be the first in a new generation of reconnaissance satellites called Persona. The launch, not announced in advance, was delayed a day because of software problems. The launch is the fifth for the Soyuz 2 family and the second of the 1b variant, which uses a new engine in its upper stage. (7/27)

International Space Race Heats Up as More Players Jump In (Source: Fox News)
As NASA's space-shuttle program nears its official end in 2010, space exploration has become an increasingly global competition. The Europeans, Russians, Chinese and others are competing for bragging rights to develop the next generation of manned spacecraft. NASA’s Constellation program, designed both to replace the space shuttle and get America back to the moon and on to Mars, has gotten a lot of publicity — and a lot of flak — as it threatens to go over budget and behind schedule. Meanwhile, the Europeans and Russians have teamed up to create their own platform, the Chinese are continually upgrading their vehicles and the Japanese and Indians are mulling their own manned space flights. Visit http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,391480,00.html to view the article. (7/25)

India Signs Agreement with US to Carry out Lunar Exploration (Source: Press Trust of India)
India, along with seven other countries, has signed a landmark agreement with the United States to carry out lunar exploration. The agreement was signed at NASA's Ames Research Center. Apart from India, the countries which signed the pact with the US are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and South Korea. The agreement, which lays the groundwork for a new generation of lunar exploration, will see a multinational fleet of robot spacecraft returning to the moon in coming years, with countries like India, Germany and South Korea playing key roles. It also allows NASA to share costs. While the United States has budgeted money for four lunar spacecraft, scientists want up to eight landers on the surface. (7/27)

Rep. Cramer A Staunch Supporter for Defense and Space (Source: Huntsville Times)
Over his 18 years in Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer says his connection to defense, NASA and the Space Station has been huge. "In the early years, I had constant battles in defending the Space Station and with protecting NASA," Cramer says. "We won those battles, but it took going member to member asking for votes. It meant building support to preserve the station. One of those victories was won by one vote." In defense, early issues with the Redstone Arsenal arose with the base military realignment - or BRAC - rounds. The congressman says he immediately sought to tell the "Redstone story," often by showing its cooperatives with BRAC. (7/27)

Chile Reaches Deal With EADS-Astrium To Buy Satellite (Source: Wall Street Journal)
The Chilean government signed an agreement with European aerospace group EADS-Astrium to buy a satellite valued at $70 million. (7/27)

New Space Race Heats Up with Unveiling of Aircraft (Source: AP)
Aerospace engineers have been holed up in a Mojave Desert hangar for four years, fashioning a commercial spaceship to loft rich tourists some 62 miles above Earth. Now the wraps come partially off the top-secret project. British billionaire Sir Richard Branson and American aerospace designer Burt Rutan are due Monday to show off their mothership, which is designed to air launch a passenger-toting spaceship out of the atmosphere.

The rollout — a year after a deadly accident at Rutan's test site — marks the start of a rigorous flight test program that space tourism advocates hope will climax with the first suborbital joy rides by the end of the decade. More than 250 wannabe astronauts have paid $200,000 or put down deposits for a chance to float weightless for a mere five minutes. (7/27)

Editorial: Shorten the Gap (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Don't allow the United States to be out of the human spaceflight business for five or more years. The last shuttle mission is scheduled for launch May 31, 2010. The shuttle Endeavour will leave Launch Pad 39A and carry vital spare parts to the International Space Station. When Endeavour returns, U.S. astronauts must depend on Russian space capsules to reach and return from the space station. One Soyuz capsule recently plunged to the ground hundreds of miles from the landing zone, casting doubt on the aging design's reliability.

NASA scientists and engineers have developed a long and apolitical rapport with their Russian counterparts. But continued cooperation is at the whim of anti-Western Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Perhaps unlikely, the risk is that Putin could play the space station card and force the United States to make an unwanted concession. Complicating the matter, the Government Accountability Office notes that NASA faces cost overruns and design difficulties with Constellation, the shuttle's replacement program. The GAO raised doubts whether NASA had enough money to fix design flaws in the Ares rocket and Orion crew capsule. (7/27)