February 1 News Items

Does "Project Odyssey" Make Sense? (Source: Lurio Report)
In Florida, accusations have been flying that an employee of the Governor's Office improperly took advantage of his position with the recent creation of “Project Odyssey,” a partnership between Space Florida and the Andrews Institute to create a commercial spaceflight training and screening program. Among other things, Andrews caters to professional athletes trying stretch their performance. But there is a more fundamental question than the ‘scandal’: Was the creation of this partnership a good investment for the state of Florida? Or is it premature and/or redundant?

Virgin Galactic passengers are being screened and trained (including being spun in a centrifuge) at the NASTAR Center in Pennsylvania. Similarly, those flying on XCOR’s Lynx will go through a screening/training program including a session held at an Arizona resort. That process culminates in an acrobatic plane flight which applies g-forces like those experienced on the Lynx. Particularly given the early state of industry development, what added value does the Florida program provide that these programs don’t?

I posed this question to Deb Spicer, a spokesperson for Space Florida. Her basic answer was that the Andrews Institute would be able to go beyond screening and offer a regimen to get people into shape to fly, and Andrews' other high-net-worth clients are in an adventure-seeking demographic so could become spaceflight customers. No private passengers have yet flown on suborbital vehicles, and those vehicles are at least a year or so from starting operations. Sooner or later there may indeed be a market for the suite of services of “Project Odyssey.” I do not have a crystal ball, but for now I remain concerned about the utility of that effort. (2/1)

Time, Like the Rockets, Flies By (Source: Lompoc Record)
Activity at what is now Vandenberg Air Force Base's busiest launch pad was once so slow that an aerospace firm had to hunt hard for other projects to keep workers on the job, some long-time employees recall. Today that's not a concern at SLC-2, the West Coast home of the United Launch Alliance's Delta 2 rocket, which marks 20 years of flight this month. The rocket's first liftoff on Feb. 14, 1989, from Florida was followed by 138 more on both East and West Coasts. Number 140 is scheduled between 2:22 and 2:32 a.m. Wednesday from Vandenberg Air Force Base. (2/1)

Obama Offers NASA $150 Million for NextGen (Source: Flight Global)
NASA's work on the US air transport industry's NextGen air traffic control system could see its annual budget more than doubled if President Barack Obama's fiscal stimulus bill is passed. The 2009 budget was to spend $74.6 million on NextGen. NASA declines to comment on a proposed $150 million addition until the recovery bill becomes law. The space agency co-operates with the FAA on NextGen's development, with publication date for the FAA's new implementation plan set for 30 January. (2/1)

Giant Worlds Collide With Ours in San Diego (Source: San Diego Union-Tribune)
Far, far away is a quartet of planets that rarely attract much sustained public interest – the outer worlds of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Even Pluto – still farther away and technically not even a planet – gets more ink. But that's changing. In this, the International Year of Astronomy, Jupiter and company find themselves much more on the minds of scientists, stargazers and San Diegans, the last able to visit the planets – metaphorically at least – in a new exhibit that opened yesterday at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.

The 3,500-square-foot national traveling show, dubbed “Giant Worlds,” is making its West Coast debut at the Fleet, where it will run through May 3. The local exhibition consists of 20 distinctive elements, including interactive games, models, murals and the latest NASA photography. Nothing is to scale, of course. The subjects are simply too big and too far away. (2/1)

Uncertain Future for Delta 2 (Source: Santa Maria Times)
The Delta 2 rocket has a busy schedule planned for the next two years, but beyond that its launch rate is set to slow down dramatically. The slowdown is blamed on the fact that fewer medium-sized satellites — which Delta 2 rockets carry to space — are being built. “For sure, ULA is in the medium market to stay,” said Rick Navarro, ULA director of Delta 2 programs. “The solution ULA will have to the medium-market needs will be market-driven. Right now, the market forecasts that we’re seeing don’t justify anything other than slowly building and slowly launching the last remaining Deltas. But if the market picks up, we’ll look at other solutions.”

Instead of a launch rate of between four and six missions for medium-size satellites annually, the future so far calls for just one blastoff a year. It comes down to simple economics. Building one rocket a year means the individual booster would cost more than if the manufacturing plant was pumping out multiple vehicles annually. ULA officials dispute reports that the booster will be retired because the Air Force no longer intends to use Delta 2. NASA also remains a potential customer, but Delta 2 would have to compete against future rockets such as the Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus 2 and Space Exploration Technologies Falcon 9. Neither of those new rockets have flown yet, but their manufacturers say they’ll be less expensive than Delta. (2/1)

Apollo 10 Astronauts Come to Santa Rosa (Source: Santa Rosa Press Democrat)
They belong to the rarest of clubs, the handful of people who have flown to the moon and looked back to see the Earth in all its fullness and fragility. More than 650 people gathered to meet Cernan and fellow astronaut Tom Stafford, his commander aboard Apollo 10, at the Charles M. Schulz Museum in Santa Rosa on Saturday. They were there to touch greatness and to reach back through history. “It’s almost beyond words to describe it,” a beaming Erich Reinstadler, 35, a space exploration buff from Petaluma, said after shaking hands with the two astronauts. “Just a huge honor.” (2/1)

SpaceX Gets Environmental OK for Falcon Launches in Florida (Source: Parabolic Arc)
The FAA has given its OK for SpaceX to launch Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 rockets from the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. According to the FAA document, SpaceX is proposing to launch Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 vehicles and the Dragon reentry capsule from the spaceport. Locations in the Atlantic Ocean (off the east coast of Florida), the Pacific Ocean (off the coast of California), and the equatorial Pacific (near the Marshall Islands) are being considered as Dragon capsule recovery zones. Click here to view the article and to read the FAA Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI). Editor's Note: SpaceX has not publicly revealed any plans to launch the Falcon 1 from Florida. (2/1)