July 8 News Items

Scientists 'Astonished' by Signs of Water on Mercury (Source: Scripps Howard News Service)
A flyby by a NASA probe has settled a decades-old debate among scientists about Mercury's surface and led to a startling discovery about the planet. The trip has provided scientists with evidence that lava flows and other volcanic activity helped shape the planet's surface and revealed the possible existence of water. (7/8)

More Money Likely Won't Close the Gap (Source: Florida Today)
The manager of the NASA's Constellation Program, Jeff Hanley, said he is encouraged by a movement in Congress to increase NASA's funding, however, he doubts increased funding can accelerate the program. Hanley said increased appropriations would not significantly narrow the gap between the end of the shuttle program in 2010 and the first crewed Constellation flight in 2014, a time when the U.S. will have no manned spaceflight program. (7/8)

Artists Get Creative in Vomit Comet (Source: CBS News)
Three British artists tried Tuesday to make art in zero gravity - one used the cat and a mouse for a performance piece - aboard an aircraft used to train cosmonauts, but only one completed his work. The other two artists felt ill. Visit http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/07/08/tech/main4242885.shtml to view the article. (7/8)

NASA Extends Space Station Cargo Delivery Contract (Source: NASA)
NASA has awarded Lockheed Martin Integrated Systems Inc. in Houston, a one-year contract extension valued at $42 million to provide integration services for cargo delivery to and from the International Space Station. Lockheed Martin has held the station's cargo mission contract since January 2004. The one-year extension will bring the total value of the contract to $338 million. (7/8)

Orlando Rocket Firm Wins Air Force Sounding Rocket Contract (Source: L-3 Coleman)
L-3 Coleman Aerospace has won an Air Force contract for the Sounding Rocket Program-3 (SRP-3). Coleman will support the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC), Space Development and Test Wing for this follow-on to the existing SRP-2 program. The contract will be performed over a seven-year period beginning in March 2008.

Coleman will provide launch systems and services for sub-orbital ballistic trajectories in support of U.S. Air Force and other government customer experiments that are limited to a “down range” capability of less than 5,500 km. Launches may occur from any government or commercial range worldwide and may be land, air or sea based. Coleman Aerospace will provide development, acquisition and delivery of missile guidance and control systems, payload systems, launch vehicle instrumentation systems, flight software, reentry vehicle configurations, test range support and associated launch services necessary to accomplish the SMC mission. (7/7)

Coleman Also Wins Contract to Support THAAD Intercept Mission (Source: L-3 Coleman)
L-3 Coleman Aerospace has been awarded a task order from the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center Space Development and Test Wing for a Long Range Air Launch Target (LRALT) and mission management services in support of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) program. Coleman is supporting the THAAD program with two Short Range Air Launch Targets and has conducted 13 previous target
missions in support of THAAD. (7/7)

Sea Launch Transitions to new Leadership (Source: Sea Launch)
The Sea Launch Board of Directors has appointed Kjell Karlsen as President and General Manager. Karlsen replaces Robert A. Peckham, who will be pursuing other opportunities within The Boeing Company. Kjell Karlsen joined the Sea Launch team in 1999, as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He has been overseeing finance, accounting, taxation, contracts, pricing, insurance, customer finance, and enterprise and partner services. (7/8)

Spending Plan Appeases UK Physicists (Source: Nature News)
The United Kingdom's Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), met to discuss the plan for dealing with a large hole in the UK physics budget. The STFC is the main funding body for astronomy, nuclear- and high-energy physics in Britain. In December 2007, the STFC shocked the physics community by announcing an £80 million (US$158 million) cut to both budgets and involvement in international programs. Since then, work has been done to re-arrange the available funds in a way the might better suit all. The result seems to be a grudging acceptance of a new plan that protects funding for Jodrell Bank program. (7/8)

India and French Space Agencies Ink Pact (Source: The Hindu)
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and the French Space Agency Center, National d’Etudes Spatiales (CNES), have recently signed an agreement on the policy for distribution of data received from Megha Tropiques, an Indo-French collaborative satellite for tropical weather monitoring scheduled for launch during 2009. (7/8)

What Makes Earth Special Compared to Other Planets? (Source: Space.com)
Earth is one special planet. It has liquid water, plate tectonics, and an atmosphere that shelters it from the worst of the sun's rays. But many scientists agree our planet's most special feature might just be us. The fact that Earth hosts not just life, but intelligent life, makes it doubly unique. And the planet's intelligent life (humanity) has even developed rockets that enable travel beyond the planet. Visit http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080708-st-special-earth.html to view the article. (7/8)

India Advances Capsule Work (Source: Flight International)
The Indian Space Research Organization has carried out a feasibility study for an orbital vehicle for up to three crew launching to a 400km (248 miles) low-Earth orbit. ISRO has budgeted Rp1 billion ($23 million) for initial work. With Indian government approval considered imminent, the program could start by the year's end. An Indian capsule would be launched using the country's MkIII three-stage geosynchronous satellite launch vehicle, which is capable of placing 10,000kg (22,000lb) into LEO and expected to be ready by 2010. (7/8)

NSF Grant Helping UA to Transform Astronomy Education (Source: UA)
The University of Arizona’s Steward Observatory Center for Astronomy Education has been awarded the National Science Foundation’s largest undergraduate education grant – the Phase 3 Course, Curriculum, and Laboratory Improvement grant. The center's team received $2 million in funding from the NSF to develop its Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars, or CATS, program. (7/8)

Space Foods (Source: Discovery Channel)
These days, eating food in space is not only an art form, but a science. Aside from canned goods, most items are dehydrated to extend shelf life and can be revived with a special machine -- nothing you'd find in Star Trek, but it gets the job done. With no refrigerator and no freezer aboard the International Space Station, space cuisine is a bit of a challenge. Not that anyone's complaining -- the ambiance of orbital dining apparently more than compensates for lackluster meals. But astronauts have a few standby favorites as well as the occasional special treat. Visit http://dsc.discovery.com/space/top-10/space-10-space-food.html to view the article. (7/8)