October 20 News Items

Space and the Financial Crisis (Source: Space Review)
The ongoing turmoil that has rocked financial markets around the world has some asking what this crisis means for the space industry. Jeff Foust looks at some potential implications to government and big aerospace efforts, as well as how entrepreneurial ventures hope to weather the storm. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1236/1 to view the article. (10/20)

China's BX-1 Microsatellite: a Litmus Test for Space Weaponization (Source: Space Review)
A small satellite launched with China's latest manned mission has raised speculation that it might have been used to test ASAT technology. Brian Weeden examines the information known about the satellite and argues that such appearances might be in the eye of the beholder. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1235/1 to view the article. (10/20)

All Things Old are New Again (Source: Space Review)
A number of launch vehicle failures over the years have been linked to the same problems that caused failures years or even decades ago. Wayne Eleazer discusses some examples of this trend and its implications for the future. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1234/1 to view the article. (10/20)

The Sputnik Singularity (Source: Space Review)
Just before Sputnik inaugurated the Space Age, science writer Willy Ley discussed the status of America's missile programs. Dwayne Day looks back on this essay as a window into the culture of an era just before spaceflight began. Visit http://www.thespacereview.com/article/1233/1 to view the article. (10/20)

Astrotech Awarded ATK Ares I-X First Stage Processing Contract (Source: Business Wire)
Spacehab's Astrotech subsidiary located in Titusville, Florida was awarded a $1.17 million contract from Alliant Techsystems in support of ATK’s planning and assembly of Ares I-X first stage hardware to be flown during the 2009 test flight for the development of NASA’s Ares I launch vehicle. The ATK contract specifies that Astrotech will provide facilities, facility operations personnel and related facility infrastructure, including services required to transport hardware to Kennedy Space Center. (10/20)

Mississippi Space Industry Launches Relationship with ‘Japanese NASA’ (Source: Spatial News)
A delegation representing Mississippi’s space industry recently traveled to Tokyo, Japan to meet with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) following the delegation’s participation in the 2008 Japan International Aerospace Exhibition in Yokohama. Craig Harvey, COO of NVision Solutions; John Henry Jackson of the Mississippi Development Authority (MDA); and Mark Lanoue, CEO of Emerging Technologies LLC discussed Mississippi’s role in global space technology markets with JAXA officials. The Japan Office of MDA provided logistical support.

Harvey described the commercial interest in Mississippi as a prime environment for aerospace technology startups and established companies to do business. Harvey also presented the benefits of the NASA Technology Transfer Program using NVision’s history with the program over the last five years as a case study. Harvey focused on NVision’s HazNet Emergency Management Server as a product of NVision’s relationship with NASA. (10/20)

Honeywell Profits Rise (Source: AIA)
Honeywell is braced for "recessionary conditions" next year, despite a 16% rise in third-quarter profits. Quarterly sales were up 6.2% companywide, though aerospace sales were flat at $3.1 billion. CFO Dave Anderson said Honeywell is "planning conservatively" and predicted fourth-quarter earnings will fall below Wall Street estimates as the economy continues to weaken. (10/20)

Water Data Boosts Odds For Life (Source: Aviation Week)
The Oct. 8 plunge of the Cassini spacecraft to within 15 mi. of Enceladus as both orbited Saturn a billion miles from Earth is providing new data on the water and dust jets firing from the moon of Saturn 300 mi. into space. The deluge of new water-related findings from the fleet of multinational spacecraft exploring Saturn and Mars is increasing the odds that habitable conditions for alien life exist now, or did earlier, in the Solar System. (10/20)

Simulating Survival in Space (Source: Astrobio.net)
Cabin Fever – the phrase invokes grisly stories of claustrophobia and backwoods murder. If close confinement tends to provoke intense emotions and even violence over time, then how will humans cope on a long voyage to Mars? While it’s obvious that the future explorers of Mars will need protection from the stress of space travel and the harsh martian environment, they also may need protection from each other. The astronauts will have to spend a very long time in very close quarters. The trip to Mars takes six months, and a human mission will likely stay for at least 500 days on the planet’s surface before making the long trek back home.

The spacecraft and habitat in which the astronauts will pass much of their time will be small due to restrictions of transporting mass from one planet to another. There’s no point in sending them out, however, if they kill each other before they set foot on Mars. A Russian experiment conducted nearly ten years ago points to the potential for catastrophe. In 1999, the Russian Institute of Medical and Biological Problems isolated people for 110 days to study group dynamics during space voyages. The experiment began in the summer, with four Russians confined to three rooms connected by tunnels just large enough to crawl through. In December they were joined by another Russian, men from Japan and Austria, and 32-year-old Judith Lapierre from Canada. Click here to view the article. (10/20)

Congress Takes First Step to Funding ISS to 2020 (Source: Flight International)
NASA has until July 2009 to produce a plan to extend the life of the International Space Station to 2020, according to new US legislation. The ISS was to be used until 2016 and then deorbited, but the NASA Authorization Act 2008 updates the 2005 Authorization Act requiring an ISS National Laboratory plan. The new report must include a budget plan, extension-related hardware and maintenance issues, and cargo requirements. A key issue NASA must resolve is access to the ISS following the 2010 retirement of the Space Shuttle. (10/20)

Pentagon Postpones TSAT Satellite Contract Until 2010 (Source: Reuters)
The Defense Department has decided to postpone a decision in a multibillion dollar satellite communications competition between Lockheed Martin and Boeing until fiscal year 2010. The Pentagon's Defense Advisory Working Group (DAWG) decided on Saturday to terminate the current competition for the Transformation Satellite (TSAT) program, and put off awarding a contract until the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, said a source. (10/20)

Virgin Galactic's WhiteKnightTwo is Prepared for Flight (Source: Flight International)
Photographed for the first time since its 28 July roll out, on 17 October Virgin Galactic's prototype WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) mothership was rolled onto the apron at Mojave air and space port for engine and wing work by its developer Scaled Composites. While Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn told Flightglobal at the end of September that flight tests could occur "possibly within the next few weeks", they are expected to occur in November following Sir Richard Branson's comments reported by Forbes.com on 17 October. (10/20)