September 18 News Items

ATK Plans to Hire 70 at Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: Florida Today)
Agreements that Alliant Techsystems recently signed will create 70 jobs in Brevard County during the next few months. ATK is prime contractor for the first-stage of NASA's Ares I launch vehicle. In addition to its offices at Kennedy Space Center, ATK will expand into space at Port Canaveral and in Titusville, the company said. ATK was recently sued by prime shuttle contractor United Space Alliance for luring its employees away. (9/18)

With Helium-3 on Mind, India Gets Ready for Lunar Mission (Source: Economic Times)
Indian space scientists expect to map the lunar surface for the helium-3 (He-3) mineral to fuel nuclear power plants and frozen water as they make final preparations for India’s mission to the moon, expected to blast off next month. Non-radioactive He-3 is scarce on earth but believed to be abundant on earth’s natural satellite and is seen as a promising fuel for advanced fusion reactors to generate power. The Chandrayaan-I mission is tentatively scheduled for launch between October 19 and 28.

The 575-kg spacecraft will be transported to the moon by a modified version of India’s main rocket, the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle. “The mission will help us locate He-3, which has the potential to produce a large amount of energy. It is expected that in a few years we can transport it from the moon to run nuclear plants and generate electricity,” the director of the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) satellite center T K Alex said. (9/18)

Okla. Space Industry Group Has Trouble Quieting Rocket Trials (Source: Journal Record)
Bill Khourie, executive director of the Oklahoma Space Industry Development Authority, had an unusual predicament. The Rocket Racing League, based in New York, was conducting test flights of a reusable rocket-powered vehicle at the Oklahoma Spaceport – a significant win for the agency. But company officials had asked him to keep the event low-key. The league successfully conducted seven test flights of its Bridenstine DKNY Rocket Racer, which uses an engine manufactured by Texas-based Armadillo Aerospace. But one cannot test a rocket-powered vehicle quietly. The company decided to extend an invitation to the press at the very end of the testing event.

But the real news is how well the relationship between the league and the spaceport has developed. “The Oklahoma Spaceport and its staff have proven to be a highly valuable asset to the Rocket Racing League,” said Michael D’Angelo, Rocket Racing League chief technology officer, in a statement prepared for the press. “We’ve made great progress in rapidly moving from static engine tests, to powered taxis, and now, through collaboration with OKSP, we’ve successfully completed our R&D up-and-away flights of the Bridenstine DKNY Rocket Racer.” (9/18)

Framingham State Space Center Ggains $3m Lift (Source: Boston Globe)
It almost looks like it should be orbiting Earth. The space station mock-up features work areas that bear names such as life support, probe, and remote. A glove box encased in a plastic dome lets would-be astronauts conduct special experiments. This is the Christa Corrigan McAuliffe Center for Education and Teaching Excellence at Framingham State College, and it offers elementary and middle-school students programs in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics, and provides professional-development opportunities to teachers throughout Massachusetts. Now the state has set aside $3 million to expand the center, which was founded in 1986 to honor McAuliffe, a Framingham State graduate and teacher/astronaut who was killed in the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. (9/18)