September 25 News Items

SpaceLand Plans Record-Setting Zero-G Flight from Cape Canaveral Spaceport (Source: SpaceLand)
A group of Italian flight participants will experience Lunar, Martian, and Zero Gravity conditions during a Sep. 28 flight aboard G-Force One at Kennedy Space Center. Among the fliers will be an 11-year-old boy, the youngest ever to fly on such a mission. the SpaceLand group will support multiple biomedical & bioinformatics experiments. SpaceLand has flown multiple missions with Zero-G Corp. from Florida over the past several years.(9/25)

Federal Funding of R&D Falls Again (Source: SGPB)
Federal funding of academic science and engineering R&D failed to outpace inflation for two consecutive years, according to the latest annual survey by the National Science Foundation. The decline in two consecutive years has never occurred before in the survey's 36-year history. The survey presents fiscal year 2007 data obtained from 672 universities and colleges that expended at least $150,000 in science and engineering R&D in the survey period. In current dollars, federally-funded academic R&D expenditures rose 1.1 percent to $30.4 billion. After adjusting for inflation, the spending represents a 1.6 percent decline from fiscal year 2006 and a 0.2 percent decline from 2005.

While funding for R&D from federal government continued its decline, academic R&D financed by non-federal sources rose substantially. Industry-funded expenditures grew by 11.2 percent in 2007. Although the private sector support is good news, it traditionally targets much later-stage research--research that is closer to market. See the information in Universities Report on Continued Decline in Real Federal S&E R&D Funding in FY 2007 at http://www.nsf.gov/statistics/infbrief/nsf08320/nsf08320.pdf. (9/25)

Space Tourist Wants $25 Million Refund (Source: News.com)
A Japanese businessman who trained for a 10-day flight aboard the International Space Station has sued to get his money back, claiming he was defrauded of $21 million by the US firm that arranged the venture. Daisuke Enomoto, 37, had completed training in Russia and planned to fly to the station aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule in September 2006. But he was pulled from the three-member crew a month before liftoff, opening a seat for Dallas businesswoman Anousheh Ansari to fly instead.

Mr Enomoto filed suit last month in the US District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, against Virginia-based Space Adventures, the space tourism company that plans to send its sixth paying passenger to orbit next month. In the lawsuit, which was posted on the Internet by Wired magazine, Mr Enomoto says the medical condition cited for his removal from the crew -- kidney stones -- was well known by Space Adventures and the doctors who had monitored his health and suitability for space flight throughout the training. (9/25)

Obama Releases Detailed Science Policy, Wins Support of Nobel Laureates (Source: Boston Globe)
Barack Obama's campaign today laid out a detailed science policy, including a commitment to double funding for major science agencies over the next decade. The campaign also announced that 61 Nobel laureates are endorsing Obama. Calling the Bush Administration's science policy "disastrous," MIT professor and Nobel laureate Robert Horvitz joined a conference call to speak in support of Obama's science policy, which includes elevating the role of White House science adviser to a senior-level position and reversing the ban on using federal funds for human embryonic stem cell research on cell lines created after August 9, 2001. (9/25)

House Passes Extension of NASA INKSNA Waiver (Source: SpaceToday.net)
The House of Representatives passed a spending bill on Tuesday that includes a provision allowing NASA to continue to purchase Soyuz and Progress spacecraft from Russia, a move NASA deems to be critical to the future of the station. The bill is a continuing appropriation that funds a number of government agencies, including NASA, at their fiscal 2008 levels until early March 2009 or until a final fiscal year 2009 budget is passed. One provision in the bill, though, extends NASA's waiver to the Iran, North Korea, and Syria Nonproliferation Act (INKSNA), allowing the space agency to purchase Soyuz and Progress spacecraft. Worsening relations with Russia in the wake of that country's incursion into Georgia last month had put any INKSNA waiver in jeopardy. (9/25)

China's Third Manned Space Mission Blasts Off (Source: Reuters)
China's third manned space mission blasted off from a remote desert site on Thursday on a trip expected to include the technologically ambitious nation's first space walk. The Shenzhou VII shot up into a chilly, inky black sky at the Jiuquan launch center in the northwestern province of Gansu at exactly 9:10 pm (9:10 a.m. EDT) carrying three astronauts in a take-off broadcast live on state television. (9/25)

Iran to Launch Satellite with Own Rocket to Space (Source: AP)
Iran plans to launch a satellite into space soon using an Iranian-made rocket, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said. Iran has in the past launched satellites using rockets built by other nations, but this was the first announcement of such a launch with an all-Iranian made rocket. Ahmadinejad said the rocket will have 16 engines and will take a satellite some 430 miles into space. The satellite will likely be a commercial one for communication or meteorological research purposes. Iran has never announced plans to launch military satellites.

But the country has long pursued the goal of developing a space program, generating unease among world leaders already concerned about its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. The same technology used to put satellites into space can be used to deliver warheads, which will likely further raise concerns over Tehran's advances in rocketry, especially in Israel. (9/25)

What's Driving China Space Efforts? (Source: BBC)
China may want to send a message to the world. The launch of Shenzhou-VII by China is another reminder of the country's growing confidence and capability in space. It delivers a message to the traditional space powers: after a slow start, China is rising fast. This mission is a critical step in a "three-step" human spaceflight program aimed at docking spacecraft together to form a small orbiting laboratory and, ultimately, building a large space station. (9/25)

U.S. Scientist Charged with Illegally Selling Technology to China (Source: Pilot Online)
A Newport News physicist has been charged with violating federal arms-control laws by selling rocket technology to China that's now being used in that country's space program. Quan-Sheng Shu, 68, a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Shanghai, was arrested Wednesday morning. Selling defense and space technology to China or other prohibited countries without a license is a violation of the federal Arms Export Control Act. Shu operates Amac International Inc. at the Applied Research Center in the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility in Newport News. (9/25)

Space Grant Results Reach New Heights (Source: ASU)
Appalachian State University gained membership three years ago into the North Carolina Space Grant Consortium, an organization promoting space-related science, and today several students and faculty are immersed in space-oriented research. Anthony G. Calamai, College of Arts and Sciences interim dean and North Carolina Space Grant executive board member said the process for receiving grant funding is very competitive, and is a result of an overwhelming amount of work and effort from students and faculty. (9/25)

Russia Puts 3 Glonass Satellites Into Orbit (Source: RIA Novosti)
Russia has put into orbit three Glonass navigation satellites after a successful launch from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan. Glonass - the Global Navigation Satellite System - is the Russian equivalent of the U.S. Global Positioning System, or GPS, and is designed for both military and civilian use. Both systems allow users to determine their positions in terms of longitude, latitude and altitude to within a few meters. (9/25)

Embry-Riddle Continues Spaceflight Fatigue Research with Italian Microgravity Mission (Source: SpaceLand)
Italy's SpaceLand group plans a Sept. 28 microgravity research flight from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport aboard Zero-G Corp.'s G-Force One aircraft. The flight will include Italian fliers who, in addition to supporting other experiments, have volunteered to participate as test subjects in a long-term study by an Embry-Riddle researcher. Dr. Jon French's project focuses on whether the "vestibular disorientation" experienced by many people during weightlessness can cause acute fatique that could hinder the success of government and commercial space missions. (9/25)

NASA Postpones Shuttle Mission to Hubble by Four Days (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
NASA announced Wednesday that it has postponed the shuttle Atlantis' repair and upgrade mission to the Hubble space telescope for four days, until October 14 at the earliest. The Atlantis is now scheduled for a night lift off 10:10 pm from the Kennedy Space Center. (9/24)

Closing In On New Astronauts (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Following a first stage of psychological testing, there are now only 192 highly talented individuals still in with a chance of becoming the new astronauts in ESA's European Astronaut Corps. This first stage of computer-based psychological testing finished at the end of August and consisted of tests to evaluate the cognitive capabilities of the candidates. (9/24)