September 1 News Items

Editorial: Congress Needs to Maintain U.S. Access to Space Station (Source: Orlando Sentinel)
Congress is understandably eager to punish Russia after its forces invaded neighboring Georgia. But if lawmakers don't grant a waiver soon to let NASA keep paying to use the Russian-built Soyuz capsule after 2011, the United States could suffer more than Russia. Poor planning and tight budgets have left the U.S depending on Russia to ferry astronauts to the station. NASA is stuck with this deal until the launch of its next manned vehicle, currently set for 2015. This was a disturbing prospect long before Russian troops rampaged through Georgia. Russian strongman Vladimir Putin has been dismantling democracy at home while becoming more belligerent abroad. (9/1)

Eyeing Storm, NASA Plans Shuttle Rollout to Pad (Source: Florida Today)
Kennedy Space Center crews are preparing Pad 39A today for the rollout overnight of the space shuttle Atlantis for its mission to Hubble Space Telescope. The shuttle stack, including tank, boosters and orbiter, is ready to move. The goal is to start the hours-long crawl to the launch pad at 12:01 a.m., weather-permitting. NASA managers are working with weather forecasters too, making sure that Tropical Storm Hanna's slowly shifting track won't bring unacceptable conditions to the KSC area during rollout or once the shuttle is on the pad. Right now, it does not appear that Hanna will prevent rollout, but the storm's track has shifted almost every day. (9/1)

Hurricane Hanna Delays Rollout (Source: Florida Today)
Fears of tropical storm or hurricane like conditions have caused NASA to delay rollout of the space shuttle Atlantis at least 24 hours, from Tuesday to Wednesday. The earliest start for rollout is now 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. NASA aims to launch the shuttle and seven astronauts on a mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope on or about Oct. 10 or 11, depending on how quickly shuttle and payload processing go. Right now, the mission remains on track for an early October launch. (9/1)

NASA's Stark Choice: Extend Shuttle or Buy Russian (Source: CBC)
If the space shuttles retire in 2010 as planned, NASA won't have an autonomous means of getting astronauts to the International Space Station until at least 2014. NASA is looking into extending its space shuttles past their planned 2010 withdrawal from service, according to an e-mail made public over the weekend. The move comes as the U.S. space agency faces a dilemma.

If it retires the shuttles as originally scheduled, it won't have an autonomous means to get astronauts or cargo to the Space Station until at least 2014, when its next generation of spacecraft, the Orion, is slated to enter service. NASA would have to rely on Russia allowing U.S. astronauts and payloads to piggyback on its launches, or — the current stopgap plan — it could buy Russian spacecraft and launch them itself. The frost that has chilled U.S.-Russian relations during recent events in Georgia has made both of those alternatives unpalatable. So NASA is launching a study to determine how it might extend shuttle service. (9/1)

North Korea Touts Rocket Launch Anniversary (Source: UPI)
Pyongyang celebrated the tenth anniversary of its Taepodong-1 rocket and Kwangmyoungsong satellite by saying it can do space launches whenever it chooses. The original technology was taken from a Scud rocket and allegedly also can serve as a nuclear delivery system, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported. But North Korea is touting its peaceful technological advances. "Our country's technology has advanced to the level where we can freely launch a working satellite at any time," Radio Pyongyang said in a Seoul monitored commentary. "The Kwangmyoungsong was successfully launched at that time in the face of imperialists' attempt to isolate our country and repeated outbreak of natural disasters." (9/1)

Editorial: Japan's Vision on Space Must Be Clear, Concise (Source: Yomiuri Shimbun)
The basic law on space came into effect late last month, finally providing a system that allows the nation's political leaders to promote Japan's space policy. The government's headquarters for space development strategy serves as a control tower for the pursuit of this goal. We hope the headquarters will provide a clear vision on how to best utilize space and proactively promote space development as part of a national strategy. The basic space law was enacted in the last ordinary Diet session, and the headquarters that was set up in late August is headed by Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, and all other Cabinet ministers participate in it.

By spring, the headquarters will compile a basic space development plan that will include an outline of the government's position on space development and utilization, as well as the policy measures it believes should be implemented. It also will establish a "space bureau" within the Cabinet Office that will play the sole role in managing all government policies related to the nation's space administration. The two major pillars of the basic space law are the lifting of a ban on the military use of space and industrial promotion related to space development. (9/1)