October 9 News Items

SES Orders New Sirius 5 Satellite From Loral (Source: SpaceDaily.com)
Luxembourg (SPX) Oct 10, 2008 - SES S.A. has announced that a new multi-mission satellite for the SES group, Sirius 5, has been procured by SES' leasing company, SES Satellite Leasing Limited in the Isle of Man, from the satellite manufacturer Space Systems/ Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space and Communications. (10/9)

State House Candidates Set Space Priorities (Source: ERAU)
Florida's House District 32, which includes the Cape Canaveral Spaceport, will be a closely contested race on November 4. Legislators in Tallahassee look to the member from this district to provide expertise on space issues. First-term incumbent Tony Sasso (D-Cocoa Beach) and challenger Steve Crisafulli (R-Merritt Island) have staked out positions in support of the state's space industry. The candidates hope to build on the accomplishments of 2008, when over $15 million was appropriated for space-related programs. Rep. Sasso, an engineer, is the sole Democrat in the Brevard County legislative delegation. Mr. Crisafulli is a fourth-generation Brevard County resident and businessman.

Steve Crisafulli - "[Will] work to utilize the trained scientists and existing facilities at the Space Center to research and develop new alternative fuels." "I feel that the Space Center is one of the most important issues in this race. The countdown is literally on for the jobs of up to 6,400 local people who could be displaced by the retirement of NASA's space shuttle program. Unless we are prepared with new industries to take the place of the shuttle program, the impact could be devastating on our community. The representative in this district has no greater responsibility than working on this problem, as well as supporting every effort made by others."

Tony Sasso - "One issue I'm particularly interested in...is the need to diversify our space industry to include new research and technology development programs. Our economy has relied too much on the launch industry, and we suffer when launch programs end or are delayed. Meanwhile, other states like Colorado, California, Arizona, Texas and Alabama, having prudently invested in university R&D capabilities, are developing the high-value satellites, space probes, and rockets that we only launch here in Florida...I am committed to working closely with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to protect, expand, and diversify our state's role in space." (10/9)

Google-Sponsored Satellite Sends First Image (Source: AFP)
A Google-sponsored satellite has beamed its first picture back to Earth in a successful test of a camera that will supply images for the Internet giant's free online map and navigation services. The high-resolution color image from GeoEye-1, which was launched September 6 from California, was of a university campus in Pennsylvania, satellite operator GeoEye Inc. said in a statement. The Dulles, Virginia-based company provided a link to the image at its website: www.geoeye.com/CorpSite/gallery/Default.aspx. The picture of the Kutztown University campus was taken on Tuesday while the satellite was in a 423-mile-high (681 km) orbit over the East Coast of the United States, GeoEye said. (10/9)

Asteroid Affirms Prediction Program at Hawaii University (Source: Hawaii News)
Asteroids routinely hit the Earth's atmosphere but the impact by one over northern Africa Monday was the first time astronomers saw one coming and accurately predicted the time and place it would hit, a University of Hawaii astronomer said. That successful prediction bodes well for a Maui-based system in development to warn against potentially hazardous space rocks. The impact occurred at 4:46 p.m. Hawaii time Monday over northern Sudan. A colleague compared the asteroid, called 2008 TC3, with the size of a Volkswagen. "It was the first opportunity to really test the whole impact-prediction software system on a real object," he said, adding that it was 100 percent accurate. (10/9)

China’s Ambition – Eclipse America in Space (Source: Family Security Matters)
Beijing's space ambitions are an indicator that China is serious about becoming a "peer competitor" to the United States. Some commentators have belittled the Chinese effort as being far behind the achievements of the America space program. Yet, no one else besides the Russians - not even the supposedly more advanced Japanese or Europeans, has accomplished these feats. Nor should Americans be very smug about their early lead in space exploration, given how they have let that advantage wane. (10/9)

Rocket to the Top with Kettering University’s New Aerospace Engineering Concentration (Source: Houston Chronicle)
Unlike other institutions, Kettering University’s (Flint, Mich.) new Aerospace Engineering concentration trains engineers in unique areas of propulsion and aerodynamics using technological resources and software that are usually unavailable at other institutions for undergraduate students. This is of particularly importance, based on results of an “Aviation Week” workforce study published in the Aug. 8, 2008, edition. According to the study, in the past 10 years U.S. aerospace, defense and government leaders have expressed concern about impending retirements of engineers and scientists and the decreasing number of college enrollments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs. For Kettering officials, this program helps respond to the national need to encourage more students to consider STEM programs and aeronautical engineering as a career field. (10/9)

L-3 Coleman Contract for Longer-Range Missiles Will Boost Central Florida Employment (Source: AIA)
Orlando-based L-3 Coleman Aerospace recently received a contract to make a longer-range ballistic missile target for the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System. The company now plans to add 40 jobs in Florida as a result of the contract, which is worth up to $36 million. (10/9)

Responding to the Aerospace Workforce Challenge (Source: AIA)
Alarmed over the critical need to develop the next generation of workers for America's aerospace industry, AIA's member companies have committed to an agenda to strengthen the work force of the future in a new report titled "Launch into Aerospace." The report identifies the goals and actions industry will take to address the work force challenge. AIA is developing a second work force report that will take a closer look at the issue and detail industry's actions and recommendations. Click here to view the report. (10/9)

India: Moon Mission is Not Expensive (Source: Hindu News Service)
Dismissing suggestions that Chandrayaan-1 was an expensive mission, ISRO today said the moon odyssey will enable India to upgrade technological expertise for the exploration of outer space and ultimately help in setting up a base on the earth's natural satellite. "[The] Moon mission cost is less than Rs 400 crore, which is just ten per cent of annual budget of ISRO spread over many years," said an ISRO spokesman, countering critics who questioned the need for such a venture when other countries have already explored the moon. (10/9)

Biden Criticizes McCain Space Plans (Source: WKMG)
During a visit last week to Central Florida, Vice Presidential Candidate Joe Biden made a pointed remark on Sen. John McCain's plan to freeze spending for non-military, non-veterans programs. "...look what John wants to do with the space program. He wants to essentially put it on ice. I think it is clear, Florida is hurting." (10/9)

Planetarium Project: Pork or Imperative? (Source: Wall Street Journal)
The transformation of the Adler Planetarium, a 78-year-old cultural landmark on the shore of Lake Michigan, occurred when GOP presidential hopeful John McCain was making a dig at Democratic rival Barack Obama’s spending habits. “While we were working to eliminate pork-barrel earmark projects, he voted for nearly $1 billion in pork-barrel earmarks, including $3 million for an overhead projector at a planetarium in Chicago.” the Arizona senator said. “My friends, do we need to spend that kind of money?” McCain pounced on the projector project again Wednesday, telling an audience in Bethlehem, Pa...“Coincidentally, the chairman of that planetarium pledged to raise more than $200,000 for Sen. Obama’s campaign. We don’t know if they ever discussed the money for the planetarium, and no one has asked Sen. Obama. But even the appearance of this kind of insider-dealing disgusts Americans. I’m going to put a stop to that, my friends, if I’m president.”

Frank Clark, CEO of a Chicago-based utility company, was chairman of the Adler Planetarium until May 2008. According to a company spokesman, Clark never pledged to raise a specific amount for Obama, but he did hold a fund-raiser after the senator announced he would run for president. The Obama campaign said in a statement that the candidate “is firmly committed to enhancing our nation’s science education programming, and he joined a bipartisan coalition of Illinois Member of Congress including Senator Durbin and Congressmen Kirk, Jackson Jr., Davis, and Emanuel in requesting funding to enhance and restore the Planetarium. Before leveling dubious charges against this science programming again, John McCain should check his own record – he voted for $200,000 in funding for the Adler Planetarium.” (10/9)

China Lost in SE Asian Space (Source: Asia Times Online)
While much has been made of the bold new steps taken by China's space program, the country has still failed to transform these accomplishments into meaningful and profitable private sector applications. This failure is most evident in its inability to crack the Southeast Asian satellite communications market. China has yet to complete a true commercial satellite transaction, and still relies on government-to-government exchanges for the limited amount of business it has conducted. While the US and Europe boast powerhouse companies working on space technology - such as Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, EADS Astrium, and Orbital Sciences - China still has only one commercial satellite enterprise, China Great Wall Industry Corp. Visit http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/JJ10Ae01.html to view the article. (10/9)