March 14 News Items

NASA Adds 3 More Prizes to Rice Business Plan Competition (Source: NASA)
The Innovation Partnerships Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center has announced the addition of three separate $20,000 awards to one already granted, bringing the total to $80,000, to be presented as part of the 2009 Rice University Business Plan Competition. The three new prizes will be awarded for the best business plans representing an engineering technology that has applications to both the NASA space program and to earth-based activities. The 2009 Rice Business Plan Competition will take place April 16-18. This is the second year for the IPO and the Space Life Sciences Directorate at JSC to be part of the Rice Business Competition, and the first year for JSC’s Engineering Directorate to offer prize money. (3/14)

Taurus Failure Raises Minotaur Concerns (Source: Santa Maria Times)
The Air Force is closely tracking the investigation into the recent failure of a Taurus rocket, a sibling to a Minotaur space booster scheduled for liftoff next month from Vandenberg Air Force Base. “The Air Force is participating in the investigation and will determine how the Minotaur systems may be affected,” a Space Development and Test Wing representative said. “If it is determined that the Minotaur system is at risk, mitigation efforts will be pursued as appropriate to ensure another failure will not happen.” Both the Minotaur and Taurus launch systems are made by Orbital Sciences Corp. The first Minotaur 4 is targeting departure from Vandenberg Air Force Base between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. April 30 to carry a military research satellite. (3/14)

NASA Ames Asks Navy to Consider Paying for Hangar One Siding (Source: San Jose Mercury News)
Faced with the pricey task of putting new siding on Moffett Field's Hangar One in a tough economy, NASA Ames Research Center is asking the Navy to consider paying for the cover in exchange for the federal agency taking over cleanup of the toxic site. The proposal was discussed Thursday at a Moffett Field Restoration Advisory Board meeting. The Navy, which is responsible for cleaning up the federal airfield and Superfund site now owned by NASA Ames, said in January it planned to remove Hangar One's toxic siding and leave the hangar's skeleton. The Navy and NASA Ames are "far apart" on negotiations, wrote an Ames official. (3/14)

Posey Seeks More NASA Funding (Source: Space Politics)
Rep. Bill Posey (R-FL), who won the seat previously held by Dave Weldon, has asked the chairman and ranking member of the House Budget Committee for extra money for NASA for both extending the life of the Shuttle and accelerating Constellation. “Neither the U.S. nor the rest of the world can afford to rely on China or Russia to transport materials into space,” he writes. Posey also notes that he has written to President Obama to ask him to select a nominee for NASA administration “as soon as possible”. “NASA cannot afford to remain without an Administrator at this critical juncture. Major decisions are being made that will greatly affect our nation’s future in space,” he writes in the letter to the president. (3/13)