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January 2005

Space Watch
Week of January 9 - January 14, 2005

Welcome to Space Watch. This is a weekly update compiled by The Eisenhower Institute of the most significant news items in civil, military and commercial space.

If you are interested in receiving a weekly email update version of Space Watch, please send an email to spacewatch@eisenhowerinstitute.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. Space Watch will be sent out every Friday.

Civil Space

NASA Uses New Budgetary Authority to Shift Funds to Exploration Vision
NASA, utilizing a newly granted authority from Congress to shift allocated funds between programs, has stated its intention to put their resources behind the space exploration priorities outlined by President Bush in his Jan. 14th, 2004 space exploration speech. This is despite recent Congressional attempts to cut NASA's proposed 2008 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission and direct those funds towards a Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. NASA intends to allocate only $175 million of the congressionally-proposed $290 million towards the Hubble effort. Though NASA received its entire $16.2 billion budget request for 2005, many questions still exist concerning its operating plan and program budgeting.
(Berger, Brian. Space News: International, 1/10/05)

Brazil to Propose $10 Million Space Station Contribution
The president of Brazil's space agency, Sergio Gaudenzi, has reaffirmed his country's commitment to contribute $10 million over the next four years to the International Space Station program. Originally, in 1997, Brazil had pledged nearly $120 million worth of hardware over five years for the space station effort. A series of economic setbacks has forced the country to pull back from its initial commitment. Gaudenzi, hoping to maintain Brazilian crew privileges aboard the space station, has expressed his desire to meet with NASA's administrator early this year in order to come to a new agreement on Brazilian involvement in the International Space Station program.
(Braun, Frank. Space News: International, 1/10/05)

Hubble Takes Photo of Planet Beyond the Solar System
Astronomers are highly confident that they've taken the first photograph of a planet outside our solar system. Using the Hubble Space Telescope, astronomers have confirmed the presence of a possible planet that was originally documented at the European Southern Observatory. The "planet," nearly 225 light-years away, is much more massive than the largest planets in our own system at nearly five times the mass of Jupiter. It appears to orbit around a failed star known as a brown dwarf. If confirmed, this would represent a significant landmark in astronomy and could lead to finding and photographing planets around other stars. Glenn Schneider, a University of Arizona astronomer leading the new study, remarked, "Stay tuned for the final confirmation, but it's looking pretty good."
(Britt, Robert Roy. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/aas_exoplanet_050110.html, 1/10/05).

Global Space Cooperation for Disaster Relief
The recent South Asian tsunami tragedy has highlighted the importance of international cooperation in Earth observation space data. The International Charter on Space and Major Disasters (2000), implemented to ensure the ready access of Earth observation data, was activated immediately after the first tsunami struck by India, the UN office of Outer Space Affairs, and the French Civil Protection Agency. The Charter allowed an immediate assessment of the extent of damages in areas difficult to access. The disaster, however, also detailed the need for improved communications and in-situ data, as full use of the space data was unable to be utilized.
(ESA, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/disaster-management-05b.html, 1/11/05)

Astronomers Observe Milky Way Full of Black Holes
An ongoing study led by UCLA postdoctoral fellow Michael Muno has revealed that the center of our Milky Way Galaxy is loaded with black holes, as astronomers have predicted in recent years. The center, dominated by one super-massive black hole which has a mass of nearly 3 million suns, is extremely difficult to document because the region is shrouded in dust. Visible light cannot escape the region. Muno and his colleagues are searching the inner 75-light-years of the galaxy with NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory, whose visual capabilities are unaffected by interstellar dust. "The observed high concentration of these sources implies that a huge number of black holes and neutron stars have gathered in the center of the galaxy," Muno said. The finding suggests that as m any as10,000 black holes orbit near the galaxy's center.
(Britt, Robert Roy. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/aas_galactic_center_050111.html, 1/11/05)

ISS to Get a Boost
According to Valery Lyndin, Mission Control Center spokesman, the height of the International Space Station's orbit will be increased by eight and a half kilometers on January 15th. In order to compensate for insufficient "push" due to an error in the thruster fuel supply, the ISS thrusters will give a single boost to the station, bringing it to its planned altitude. The correction of the orbit is a planned operation to prepare the ISS for docking with a scheduled transport space vehicle. According to Lyndin, another correction of the orbit will take place prior to the vehicles launching.
(http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=5297620&startrow=1&date=2005-01-11&do_alert=0, 1/11/05)

Russian Instrument on US Satellite Detects Gamma Radiation Burst
According to Roskosmos, the Russian Space Agency, the KONUS gamma ray burst detector on board a US satellite has spotted a gigantic burst of gamma radiation. Gamma ray bursts are a rare and puzzling astrophysical phenomenon first studied in depth in 1979 on board a Soviet Venera-series spacecraft. Gamma ray burst are brief flashes of gamma radiation coming from outer space.
(http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=5297027&startrow=21&date=2005-01-11&do_alert=0, 1/11/05)

Deep Impact on Course for Comet Collision
NASA's Deep Impact spacecraft blasted off today on its 6-month, 431 million km mission to smash a crater into a passing comet. The spacecraft will fire an 820-lb copper probe designed to impact the passing comet, Tempel 1, on July 4th of this year. The 23,000 mph collision will theoretically hit with enough force to cause a crater on the surface of the comet spraying its internal composition into space. The comet, nearly nine miles long and three miles wide, will be 80 million miles from earth at the time of impact and will cause no threat to the Earth. Closely observing the collision will be the spacecraft's own on-board telescope, the most powerful to ever be sent into deep space, as well as NASA's Hubble, Chandra, and Spitzer space telescopes. In detailing the nature and composition of this comet, scientists hope to more concretely answer questions about the formation of our own solar system.
(CNN Online, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/01/12/deep.impact.ap/index.html, 1/12/05)

Russian Launch Site Said to Cause Sickness in Children
According to a yet unpublished study, toxic rocket fuel released near Baikonur, Kazakhstan is causing serious illness among people living nearby. According to the study, led by epidemiologist Sergey Zykov, several gallons of unburned fuel are sprayed over several square kilometers of land every time a rocket is launched from the Baikonur space base. The study stipulates that levels of endocrine disease and blood disorder in the area are twice the regional average and is especially affecting children. In response, Vyacheslav Davidenko, an official spokesman for Roskosmos, suggests that there is no evidence that space and rocket activities at the Baikonur center has a direct effect on human health. Davidenko says that it "would be wrong to link [these problems] only to space and rocket activities."
(AFP, http://www.spacedaily.com/2005/050112180111.fijxwfx4.html, 1/12/05)
(http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=5302050&startrow=1&date=2005-01-12&do_alert=0, Ria Novosti, 1/12/05).

Astronomers Establish Unit of Measurement for Expanding Universe
Two international teams of scientists have drawn the largest map of the universe to date and have established an accurate way of measuring its expansion. The study demonstrates that the Big Bang, the cataclysmic explosion which created the universe, has caused a series of ripples in the otherwise flat universe. By observing and charting these ripples, the two international teams can measure the universe's rate of expansion and can map the thousands of galaxies in the universe. The teams have thusfar mapped some 260,000 galaxies.
(AFP, http://www.spacedaily.com/2005/050112091313.oy85149e.html, 1/12/05)

Russians to Launch Six Spaceships to ISS in 2005
According to Russian Space Agency Press Secretary Vyacheslav Davidenko, Russia intends to launch two manned Soyuz spaceships and four Progress cargo spaceships to the International Space Station this year. The first manned flight, scheduled for April, will bring NASA astronaut, John Phillips, and Russian cosmonaut, Sergei Krikalvov, to the station. The first Russian cargo flight is scheduled for April.
(Interfax, http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/0/28.html?id_issue=10738883, 1/13/05)

Huygens Successfully Lands on Titan
Early Friday morning EST, the Huygens probe landed on Titan and sent signals back to waiting scientists on Earth through Cassini, the spacecraft on which it hitched a ride to Saturn. After entry into Titan's atmosphere, the probe deployed three parachutes, landed, and sent back signals to Earth for about an hour and a half until Cassini passed out of contact. Scientists are now working to interpret and study the data transmitted.
(Michael Coren, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/01/14/huygens.titan/index.html, 1/14/05)

Commercial

Mobile Satellite Ventures, Inmarsat Take Signal Interference Dispute to FCC
Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV) is urging the FCC to reject a request by its competitor, Inmarsat, to restrict MSV's use of ground-based power boosters for its next-generation mobile satellite service. Inmarsat is claiming that MSV's use of these boosters will disrupt Inmarsat's future mobile satellite data-transmission service, scheduled to begin in 2006, rendering its capabilities useless. Rejecting this notion, MSV President Carson Agnew claims that there is no evidence to suggest that the ground-based boosters, called ancillary terrestrial components, will interfere with any of Inmarsat's operations. The FCC, originally granting approval to MSV to install the components, has been asked by Inmarsat to amend its November 8th decision. An FCC decision is pending.
(de Selding, Peter B. Space News: International, 1/10/05)

New U.S. Space Transportation Policy Emphasizes EELV Rockets
In support of the two rocket families developed under the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program (EELV), a new U.S. Space Transportation Policy, released on January 6th, directs the Defense Department to keep Boeing's Delta 4 and International Launch Services' Atlas 5 in business for the foreseeable future. The new initiative keeps afloat the two EELV operations while opening the door for future, alternative competition if someone were to develop a new, suitable vehicle. The Pentagon must pay the annual fixed costs for both rocket makers, but calls for a revisiting of the funding arrangement by the year 2010.
(Bates, Jason. Space News: International, 1/10/05)

Surrey Satellite Technology Sells Stake To SpaceX
Surrey Satellite Technology has announced the sale of a ten percent stake to the California-based commercial rocket company, SpaceX. The transaction allows the two companies to work jointly in order to meet the growing market demand of microsatellite and minisatellite technology. These new developments have created potentially huge international markets in low-cost Earth Observation, navigation, and communications, and the sale allows SSTL, the pioneer in smaller satellite missions, to work more closely with SpaceX which specializes in low-cost rocket design and technology.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/microsat-05a.html, 1/13/05)

Military Space

Japan's Missile Defense to Only Act If National Threat
Japan has decided that it will not use its missile defense system, deployable in 2007, in order to intercept missiles that pass over Japan or target other countries. Tokyo will only engage threatening missiles targeted directly at Japan. Targeting missiles headed for other targets would be construed as collective self-defense, defies its pacifist constitution.
(AFP, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-05c.html, 1/9/05)

New DOD Policy Stresses Commercial Satellite Use
According to a new DOD policy, the Pentagon must begin to make commercial satellite services a formal part of its overall military communications network. Linton Wells, assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration, states, "Currently...DoD owned and operated satellites cannot satisfy all of the DoD telecommunications requirements." More than 80% of DoD's satellite communications during Iraqi Freedom have been supplied by commercial operators, sometimes at premium prices. Industry officials have cautioned against this impending contingency, but David Cassova, executive director of the Satellite Industry Association, welcomes the new policy stating, "DoD will finally start thinking strategically about incorporating commercial satellites permanently into its communications architecture."
("News Briefs," Space News: International, 1/10/05)

DOD Eyes Lower Funding for T-Sat, Missile Defense
According to an internal Pentagon budget document signed by Depute Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, the U.S. Air Force is planning to spend less money than previously anticipated on T-Sat, a next-generation satellite communications system, while also looking into the possibility of cutting funding for the space-based missile warning system which is well into its developmental phase. The budget decision calls for significant cuts of nearly $55 billion in weapons programs over the next six years in order to address budgetary strains caused by the U.S. budget deficit and the increased costs of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The document indicates a $400 million cut in allocation for the T-Sat program, which is intended to develop a laser-linked satellite constellation to help ease the Pentagon's bandwith crunch beginning around 2013.
(Ratnam, Gopal and Singer, Jeremy. Space News: International, 1/10/05)

U.S. Missile Test Failure Called Minor Glitch
The U.S. Missile Defense Agency said that the first flight test of the ground-based missile defense system in two years failed because of a "very minor software glitch." President Bush had expected to put the missile defense system on alert by 2005, but the system's failure has indefinitely postponed this goal. Lieutenant General Henry Obering said that the Pentagon plans to repeat the test in mid-February. No other concrete dates were suggested. Obering states that the "glitch," an anomaly in the interceptor missile, is being fixed and expected to pose no further problems.
(AFP, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/bmdo-05c.html, 1/12/05)

Op-Eds

Under the Moon
In his January 13th New York Times piece, David Grinspoon, a planetary scientist at the Southwest Research Institute, details the questions surrounding Saturn's mysterious moon, Titan, and the answers that may come to pass as the Huygens probe begins its descent to Titan's surface. As one of the few celestial bodies resembling a primordial earth, Titan is the only clouded, gas-enshrouded solid world within our technological reach. Grinspoon describes tomorrow's probe landing as "the last time we will first burst through the clouds of an unknown planet, parachute to the ground and see, during the descent, the approach and - if we're lucky - after the landing, the secret vistas of another alien place."
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/13/opinion/13grinspoon.html?oref=login, 1/13/05)

Credits

Compiled by Chad Kreikemeier
Edited by Suzanne Vogel

Civil Space

Commercial

Military Space

Op-Eds

Credits

Compiled by Chad Kreikemeier
Edited by Suzanne Vogel

Space Watch
Week of January 31 - February 4, 2005

Welcome to Space Watch. This is a weekly update compiled by The Eisenhower Institute of the most significant news items in civil, military and commercial space.

If you are interested in receiving a weekly email update version of Space Watch, please send an email to spacewatch@eisenhowerinstitute.org with the word "subscribe" in the subject line. Space Watch will be sent out every Friday.

Civil Space

Russia to Build Satellite for Iran
Russia and Iran have agreed on a deal in which the Russian firm, Avia Export Company, would build a $132 million dollar telecommunications satellite, called the Zohreh (Venus) satellite for Iran. The launch, tentatively scheduled to be within the next 30 months, further cements Iran's goal to be the first Islamic country into space. Iran expects to also produce its own satellite, called the Mesbah, to be launched in 2005 and be used for weather forecasting and locating natural resources.
(MosNews, http://www.mosnews.com/money/2005/01/31/iransatellite.shtml, 1/31/05).

GAO Warns of NASA Contract Management
The latest Government Accountability Office (GAO) report has given NASA low marks for its ability to manage contracts. The "High-Risk Series" report, generally updated every two years, uncovers those government agencies that are vulnerable to waste and abuse. Although given poor marks again (NASA has made the list every time since 1990), the GAO has noted some marked improvement in some areas. The main problem for NASA has been the difficulty in using a single financial management system for all ten of the U.S. space agency field centers, making it difficult to estimate costs and track performance. Also on the GAO's list are eight Defense Department accounts.
(Berger, Brian. Space News, 1/31/05, p8).

NASA Confirms Plan to Return Shuttle to ISS This Year
At a meeting in Montreal with the heads of five space agencies this week, NASA has confirmed its intention to return the U.S. Space Shuttle to orbit by the end of the year. They hope to conduct test launches in the spring and summer with a tentative Shuttle flight in December. The five agencies have proclaimed that they are confident that the International Space Station's assembly would be complete by the end of the decade despite mounting costs and the recent two-year shutdown of U.S. Shuttle activity. NASA also stressed its commitment to remove the Shuttle from service by 2010 and performing "the fewest number of flights" needed to meet the space station construction obligations.
(de Selding, Peter. http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/01/28/nasa.iss.Shuttle/index.html, 1/31/05).

Several Experts Warn NASA about Shuttle Models
Experts have warned NASA about relying to excessively on computer models in determining the safety of new Shuttle modifications. They suggest that the models may be too conservative in its assessment of possible heat shield failures during Shuttle re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. The expert panel, headed by former astronauts Thomas Stafford and Richard Covey, suggest that models, though useful, should not be substituted for actual testing and hard data. NASA is attempting to certify the safety of the Shuttle in order to end the Shuttle grounding instituted after the Columbia disaster. The Discovery Shuttle hopes to be launched sometime in May or June.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/shuttle-05h.html, 2/1/05).

Mounting Space Debris Begins To Concern Some
In the January issue of The Orbital Debris Quarterly News, nearly 9,233 objects large enough to be tracked by the US StratCom Surveillance Network have been catalogued. Nick Johnson, head of the NASA Orbital Debris program suggests that a significant number of debris objects have been newly created from possible break-ups in space. An example is the recent fragmentation of the Russian Proton Block DM motor that broke apart and added more than 60 pieces of debris to the scene. Johnson also suggests that there is a huge backlog of tracked but un-catalogued debris due to bureaucratic issues. Fast-moving debris can cause major problems for satellites, Shuttles, or rockets in space. Each and every take-off into space is said to produce at least some space debris, adding to the already cluttered outlook.
(David, Leonard, http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/orbital_debris_050202.html, 2/2/05).

Lawmakers Divided About Best Course of Action for Hubble
After a recent House Science Committee meeting with local scientists, lawmakers are split as to the next course of action for the Hubble Telescope. Some have decided that the cost of repair (nearly $2 billion) may be too steep to repair a 14-year old telescope. Many worry that the exorbitant cost may be inhibitive towards other programs that may be of more benefit to science. The Hubble is expected to fail sometime between mid-2007 and 2010 if no repair mission is sent. Many other lawmakers suggest that the mission is simply too dangerous in light of the recent Columbia disaster. If nothing else, NASA has decided that it will use a robotic spacecraft to, at the very least, direct the Hubble into the ocean on its flight down into Earth.
(AP, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/02/02/hubble.debate.ap/index.html, 2/2/05).

German Robot Recently Installed On ISS Not Functioning
A robot recently installed on the International Space Station has been deemed unable to pick up signals from Earth. The German robotic device, called Rokviss, is supposed to test the ability of robotic joints to operate in space. It was installed last week during a scheduled ISS spacewalk. Apparently, the device is able to send signals to Earth, but is currently incapable of receiving them. The robotic arm is supposed to be commanded by operators on the ground at the German Space Operations Center. The mission crew will continue to attempt to turn the device on and off in order to stimulate functionality.
(UPI, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/iss-05o.html, 2/3/05).

Russian Proton Successfully Launches AMC-12 Satellite
The Russian Proton/Breeze M launch vehicle took off today from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and placed the Americom-12 (AMC-12) satellite into geostationary orbit. The satellite, built by Alcatel Space on a new generation platform called the Spacebus 4000, is expected to be operational sometime in April. The satellite is designed to expand television and telephone services and for increasing the ability to create corporate networks.
(Interfax, http://www2.interfax.ru/eng/news/politics/050203/85812/story.html, 2/3/05).

Russian Cosmonaut Declares ISS Unfit for Refuge
Sergei Krikalev, a Russian cosmonaut and veteran of three long-duration space flights and two Shuttle missions, believes that the International Space Station is not prepared to serve as a shelter for Shuttle astronauts in the case of damage or an accident, as NASA currently plans. He is primarily concerned with supplies of air, food and water, as well as the stress of 9 people living in such a small area. Krikalev, along with astronaut John Phillips are the next scheduled crew of the ISS, with a launch planned for mid-April.
(http://www.mosnews.com/news/2005/02/04/issrefuge.shtml, 2/4/05)

Commercial

Zeus Holdings and Intelsat Come to Terms on Acquisition
Intelsat has announced that Zeus Holdings has completed its acquisition of the satellite communications company. Zeus is expected to pay a total of $5 billion dollars for the company, including the assumption of $2 billion dollar in existing debt. The value, surprisingly, is unchanged from the deal that was announced last year. Intelsat has had two recent satellite failures resulting in complete or partial loss of the system.
(Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A46036-2005Jan28.html, 1/28/05).

Two Consortia Competing To Run Europe's Galileo Navigation System
The two competing consortia contending to run Europe's Galileo System as a private business have submitted their final bids, each totaling nearly $2.6 billion a piece. A European government body is currently evaluating the bids and is expected to endorse a winner on February 15th. The two consortia consist of a vast number of banks, industrial bankers, and private companies. iNavsat is comprised of the Thales Group, Inmarsat, ING Bank, EADS Space, and others while the Eurely consortia consists of Alcatel of France, Finmeccanica of Italy, and Deutsche Bank, among others. Boeing, Co. and the Russian Federal Space Agency are members of both consortia.
(de Selding, Peter. Space News, 1/31/05, p4).

Malaysia Could Be Hot Spot for Space Travel
Malaysia, according to a leading space authority, could be the next new focal point for space travel. Malaysia's central location makes it an attractive option for private commercial space travel companies and those interested in space exploration business, such as the Zero G Corporation and the Florida Space Authority. A 35-member Florida business delegation is scheduled to take a trip to Malaysia near the end of the month in order to look into investment and business possibilities.
(Fernandez, Johan. http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2005/1/31/nation/10039197&sec=nation, 1/31/05).

New Race for Old Launching Pads Begins
This week's launch of the Atlas 3 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Complex 36 will be the last at that site. Expected to acquire and maintain the pads located at that site is the private commercial company, SpaceX of El Segundo, California. SpaceX, which plans to sell rocket rides from the launch pads, has recently successfully fired its Falcon's rocket engine, Merlin. SpaceX has already taken over an abandoned Atlas pad on the west coast and plans to make a bid on the two launch pads opening up at Complex 36. The Air Force has confirmed its efforts to lease the sites for the launching of SpaceX's Falcon 1 and Falcon 5 rockets. SpaceX has its eyes on a $50 million prize offered by Bigelow Aerospace to be the first to ferry five people to orbit the planet twice aboard a re-usable spacecraft and repeats the feat within 60 days.
(UPI, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/launchers-05k.html, 2/1/05).

Lunar Transportation Systems Set To Develop Earth-Moon Highway
The recently formed Lunar Transportation System Corporation is determined to finance, build, test, and operate a new Earth-Moon transportation system. The system would initially be used by the government and later by newly opening commercial markets. The goal has been spurred on by the new White House Space Transportation Policy, which promotes the facilitation of commercial space activities. The new concept will be like the equivalent of a two-way highway from the Earth to the Moon.
(SPX, http://www.spacedaily.com/news/rocketscience-05d.html, 2/2/05).

Military Space

French Military Agency Pushes Space as Top Defense Priority
The French Defense Ministry has ordered its arms-procurement agency, the DGA, to make military space investment its top priority. The DGA expects to implement this new policy with the help of France's European partners. To date, French efforts at procuring a multi-national military space investment policy has failed; however, DGA chief Francois Lureau has stated his intention to meet with Germany in the coming weeks in order to attempt to garner support for DGA efforts.
(de Selding, Peter. Space News, 1/31/05, p7).

Air Force Plans Satellite Radar Tracking Mission
The United States Air Force plans to demonstrate the ability of space-based radars to track moving targets on the ground regardless of weather conditions. They are planning to employ this satellite mission in 2008 and hope to demonstrate the program's capabilities along with validating cost estimates for the satellites.
("News Briefs," Space News, 1/31/05, p3).

Pentagon Conducts Exercise to Deal with Counter-Satellite Operations
The Pentagon has begun to conduct exercises in order to increase its ability to deal with counter-satellite operations. A three-year program called the Joint Space Control Operations-Negotiation (JSCO-N) will apparently support the acquisition of counter-satellite capabilities and for increased training in dealing with those who might use those capabilities. The JSCO-N effort will be focused primarily on "negation," military jargon for disrupting or destroying enemy satellite capabilities. This information may be a cause for concern for many foreign governments and think tanks that might be opposed to weapons in space.
(Singer, Jeremy. Space News, 1/31/05, p16).

Air Force Conducts Space War Game Set in 2020
The United States Air Force is set to conduct its third major space war game to take place February 5-11 at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. The game, set in the year 2020, will be attended by several civil agencies, including NASA and the Commerce Department, and foreign countries such as Great Britain, Canada, and Australia.
("News Briefs," Space News, 1/31/05, p3).

NASA and NRO Set to Jointly Develop Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
In an on-going series of collaborations between NASA and the National Reconnaissance Office, the two have agreed to jointly develop a lunar spacecraft set to begin its mission in 2008. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is expected to be the first in a series of robotic probes designed to pave the way for future human exploration missions. The NRO, which is already teaming with NASA to develop smaller sized radar sensor technologies on its spy satellites, expects to apply the technology used on the joint spacecraft development to future military satellites. The collaborations between the Pentagon and NASA are expected to continue due to the recent U.S. Space Transportation Policy signed by President Bush in December that calls on the two to jointly develop a heavy lift rocket for space exploration.
(Singer, Jeremy. Space News, 1/31/05, p8).

Atlas Rocket Launches NRO Satellite into Space
An NRO spy satellite was launched into space successfully today on board an Atlas 3 rocket. The launch was the sixth and final mission for the Atlas 3 rocket series and also marks the last launch from Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral. The Atlas rocket is expected to be replaced by the Atlas 5, and several private investors have looked into renting the Complex 36 launching pads. Atlas and NRO officials have refused to detail the cost of the mission or the functions of the inserted satellite.
(AP, http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/space/02/03/rocket.launch.ap/index.html, 2/3/05).

Op-Eds

Op-Ed: Why Do We Have a Space Program Anyway
In his opinion piece, Richard Godwin, the National Space Society's Ad Astra Editorial Liaison, outlines a number of reasons why investing in the space program is a worthwhile process. He asks us to think about Christopher Columbus standing in the middle of Times Square or Neil Armstrong on the moon looking at the enormous structures that will someday exist on it. He considers space the "next big step that we have to take." To do otherwise, he suggests, will result in "stagnation and our eventual demise." Considering the current scarcity of our resources, the technological breakthroughs that space science has thusfar provided, and the economic impact of new products and services in the race to sustained spaceflight, space exploration and advancement is a worthwhile endeavor.
(Godwin, Richard. http://www.space.com/adastra/adastra_whyspace_050127.html, 1/27/05).

Op-Ed: NASA Needs a Tough Leader
The Space Frontier Foundation is calling on President George Bush to appoint a tough NASA Administrator in light of the forthcoming resigning of the current administrator, Sean O'Keefe. The Foundation is suggesting that the new administrator must be able to dramatically transform the agency by changing its culture and relationship to the private sector. They want a leader who "can take the next steps, cut the fat, transform the agency in a lean, mean, exploration machine, and enable the American people to get out there themselves." They hope that the White House's recent mandate to open up the space frontier and a hopefully emerging commercial industry will lead to a "new space age," but only if NASA invests in "the future, not the past."
(The Space Frontier Foundation, http://www.space-frontier.org/PressReleases/2005/20050131nasaleader.html, 1/31/05).

Credits

Compiled by Chad Kreikemeier
Edited by Suzanne Vogel