July 7 News Items

NASA Sets Dates for Remaining Shuttle Launches (Source: NASA)
Following a detailed, integrated assessment, NASA selected target launch dates for the remaining eight space shuttle missions on the current manifest in 2009 and 2010. The manifest includes one flight to the Hubble Space Telescope, seven assembly flights to the International Space Station, and two station contingency flights, planned to be completed before the end of fiscal year 2010. The dates are: Feb. 12. 2009; May 15, 2009; July 30, 2009; Oct. 15, 2009; Dec. 10, 2009; Feb. 11, 2010; Apr. 8, 2010; and May 31, 2010. (7/7)

College Students Design Future Aircraft in NASA Competition (Source: NASA)
Sixty-one students from 14 colleges and universities around the globe have imagined what the next generation of airliners and cargo planes may look like. Fourteen teams and two individual students submitted their designs in the annual competition sponsored by NASA's Fundamental Aeronautics Program, part of the agency's Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate. The highest scoring graduate team was from Georgia Tech in Atlanta. Undergraduate team honors went to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. (7/7)

South Dakota Scientist Lands NASA Grant to Link Satellite Data, Internet (Source: AIA)
Scientists at South Dakota State University have received a NASA grant that will help them develop a way to make satellite data easier to use and access through the Internet. The scientists will collaborate with the Center for Earth Resources Observations and Science, the main federal repository for satellite images. (7/7)

Where's My Rocketship? (Source: Space Review)
Four years after SpaceShipOne soared into space, the promise of a vibrant suborbital space tourism industry remains unrealized as vehicle development plans are delayed or fail outright. Jeff Foust studies the current state of the industry and looks for common factors that could explain the delays. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1165/1 to view the article. (7/7)

Two Satellites in Orbit After Good Ride on Ariane 5 (Source: SpaceFlightNow.com)
An Ariane 5 rocket roared out of its jungle launch base Monday to put Arab and Asian commercial communications satellites into space, marking yet another successful ascent for the heavy-duty booster. (7/7)

Before Mars We Should Remember Wasted Efforts Finding North Pole (Source: History News Network)
A century ago, the North Pole remained one of the last unknown regions of the planet, a place that burned in the hearts of dozens of explorers. Walter Wellman’s heart burned brighter than most. In the 1890s, this Chicago newspaperman led two ill-fated expeditions in the Arctic, where ice crushed his ships, killed his dogs, and fractured his leg so badly it turned gangrenous. These disasters capped a series of tragic American expeditions to the Arctic, two of which resulted in the deaths of 37 men.

Wellman’s story is worth taking seriously, especially as the United States gears up to replace the aging shuttle fleet. NASA’s course, like Wellman’s, has been shaped by tragic events. The destruction of Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003 brought about much soul searching, and strengthened the agency’s commitment to safety. Yet NASA has focused most of its attention on improving the methods of exploration, rather than assessing its merits. Visit http://www.hnn.us/articles/51386.html to view the article. (7/7)

Lockheed: U.S. Must Pay for Rocket-Test Cleanup (Source: Washington Times)
One of the nation's largest federal defense contractors says the U.S. government should pay the cleanup costs - likely in the tens of millions of dollars or more - from pollutants leaked during the production and testing of U.S. military and space rockets.

Federal policies at one former Lockheed Propulsion Co. rocket plant in California allowed for burning toxic chemical waste in open, unlined dirt pits during the 1970s, according to a lawsuit that Lockheed Martin Corp. filed against the U.S. government. The practice has been linked to pollution in groundwater and soil. (7/7)

India's Space Program Thrives (Source: IT Examiner)
Dr Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme, once said that there are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. Indeed, until recently, India never dreamed of competing with more economically-advanced nations at exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But the space fraternity was always confident about India’s potential in playing a meaningful role nationally and internationally, and now this confidence is bearing fruit, with the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) reaching out to the global market. (7/7)

Space Agency Leaders to Gather in Paris (Source: ESA)
On 17 July ESA will host an ISS Heads of Agency meeting at which leaders of the space agencies participating in the International Space Station programme (ESA for Europe, NASA for the US, CSA for Canada, JAXA for Japan, Roscosmos for Russia) will take stock of the ISS status and decide on future activities. (7/7)

China Almost Done with Map of Moon Surface (Source: Xinhua)
China had collected all the data needed to draw its first full map of the moon surface and was almost done with the mapping work. The Chang'e -1 lunar probe, launched on October 24 last year, was running sound and well. The future of the Chang'e-1, after the end of its one-year stay on the orbit, had not been decided, and each and every system of the orbiter is working normally. (7/7)

For Better or Worse, Sex in Space Is Inevitable (Source: Space.com)
Weddings in space could be right around the corner, and experts figure the inevitable cosmic consummation will be just around the next corner. The Japanese firm First Advantage and the U.S.-based private spaceflight firm Rocketplane Global, Inc., announced last week they will host weddings in space for about $2.3 million (240 million yen) apiece. For all we know, sex in space has already taken place. But NASA officials aren't talking about that much. (7/7)

Saturn Surprises Spur Cassini Mission Reprise (Source: Space.com)
Saturn's rings and moons turned out wilder than any scientist could have imagined, but unknowns remain as the Cassini spacecraft concludes its primary mission and embarks on a new one. "One of the greatest surprises about Cassini's science results is that some of the most extreme predictions have turned out to be correct," said Bob Pappalardo, a geologist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., who recently signed on as Cassini project scientist. (7/7)

Long Wait for Satellite Radio Deal May End Soon (Source: AP)
Sirius Satellite Radio's acquisition of rival XM Satellite Radio Holdings may be cleared by federal regulators this month, and it can't happen fast enough for XM. As the regulatory review drags on, the company is struggling to add enough new listeners to cover its massive operating costs, and slumping automobile sales further dim future prospects. Analysts say lobbying by traditional broadcasters opposed to the deal is one reason the regulatory review is taking so long. (7/7)

UK Mars Rover Hopes Face Set-Back (Source: BBC)
Has a wheel just come off Britain's participation in the biggest European space mission of the next decade? Funding for UK-led experiments on the ExoMars rover and lander is to be cut by 25% in their key development phase. The one-billion-euro mission to search for life on the Red Planet has always been touted as the one project that plays to all of Britain's strengths. Now, unless researchers can find extra funds or reduce costs, some of them are certain to miss the flagship mission. (7/7)