May 2006

Space Watch
Week of May 1 - May 5, 2006

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

 

First Woman Commander to Retire
NASA has announced this week that Astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to stand as the commander of a US space ship, has decided to retire from the space agency. Collins will retire after four trips on board the space shuttle in order to pursue other interests. In 1995, Collins became the first woman shuttle pilot, and four years later was given her historic command. She has been in space for over 872 hours, and her last mission was on board the Discovery flight of 2005, the first after the Columbia disaster in 2003. "I leave the astronaut job with great memories but also great expectations for our country's future in space," says Collins.
(AP, http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/05/01/shuttle.collins.resigns.ap/, 5/1/06).

ISS Astronauts to Test MIT's Mini-Satellites
ISS astronaut Jeffrey Williams is slated to deploy the first of three, miniature, free-flying satellites in the next several weeks. The satellite, no bigger than the size of a volleyball, is designed to hunt out a target for docking in space. The craft is a part of the MIT SPHERES project which is attempting to develop a network of mini-satellites capable of formation flying. The tests will give engineers a good idea of how more sophisticated systems might work in the future. The hope is to have mini-satellites that could do such things as refuel satellites in orbit or rendezvous with moving spacecraft systems. These satellites were supposed to reach the ISS in 2004, but due to the Columbia disaster was postponed until this month.
(Malik, Tariq. http://space.com/businesstechnology/060503_techwed_spheres_iss.html, 5/3/06).

NASA Announces Next ISS Crew
The NASA space agency has announced the next three-person astronaut crew of the International Space Station. Two of the crew's members are expected to launch in September of this year on board a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. The Expedition 14 crew mission will be commanded by veteran astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria. The two other astronauts will be Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin and American Sunita Williams. Sunita will be making her first trip into space and will be joining the crew in December after launching during the STS 116 shuttle flight. This will mark the end of the three year, two-person crew model and the return to the original three-person astronaut crew.
(Malik, Tariq. http://space.com/missionlaunches/060502_exp14_crew_announce.html, 5/2/06).

China Welcomes Space Cooperation, Asks US to be More Open
A senior Chinese aerospace executive, Zhang Qinwei, president of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, suggested that China is looking forward to cooperating with the United States in space, commenting specifically on the upcoming trip by NASA Administrator Michael Griffin to China by the end of the year. Zhang also expressed the hope that the exchanges between the two countries would be more "normal" and "reciprocal." The suggestion was directly related to the fact that China has opened its doors to US visitors in terms of space, but yet, Chinese space officials have often been denied visas in the US. Zhang suggested that several areas of cooperation were available including deep space exploration, commercial launches, and manned flights.
(Xinhua, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/04/content_4508339.htm, 5/4/06).

Sand Dunes Found on Titan
Recent radar observations from the Cassini spacecraft have revealed that sand dunes are highly prevalent on Saturn's moon, Titan. The dunes are quite similar to ones found on Earth, but scientists suspect that the dunes on Titan are actually made of water ice or organic particles. The dunes reportedly cover hundreds of square kilometers on the moon, and rise nearly 150 meters above the surface. "It shows the full range of processes that modify the Earth's surface seem to be active on Titan, too," said Cassini team leader, Ralph Lorenz. Though scientists were surprised by the finding, they are still unsure of what the dunes are made of. Data images from an imaging spectrometer on the spacecraft should offer a better picture of the composition of the dunes.
(McKee, Maggie. http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn9112-colossal-dunes-swathe-saturns-giant-moon.html, 5/4/06).

National Research Council Finds NASA Money Shortage
According to a new National Research Council report released this week, NASA has too many tasks and goals and not enough money to adequately pursue them while also maintaining its vigorous science program. The Council is most concerned about the shortfall in funding for smaller science missions and for basic research and technology. "There is a mismatch between what NASA has been assigned to do and the resources with which it has been provided," said the Chairman of the Council's Space Studies Board. The Council released this finding after being tasked by Congress to investigate the budgeting situation at the space agency. The Chairman stipulated that the smaller missions that have been cut the most are those that are crucial to developing technology for the larger missions and in training younger engineers for future programs.
(Leary, Warren. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/05/washington/05nasa.html?_r=1&oref=slogin, 5/5/06).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commercial

 

 

Rutan Criticizes NASA and Others
Burt Rutan this week, in a speech to the International Space Development Conference, warned the US government about regulations that might "stifle creativity and breakthroughs" in space technologies. Rutan, the leader of the team that designed SpaceShipOne, the first privately funded suborbital rocket plane, had harsh words for the NASA Crew Exploration Vehicle program, the ship designed to take NASA back to the moon. "They are forcing the program to be done with technology that we already know works. They are not creating an environment where it is possible to have a breakthrough," says Rutan. "It doesn't make sense." He also suggested that new FAA regulations about space transportation may be overly regulative. Rutan is currently working on a fleet of suborbital spaceliners with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic company.
(David, Leonard. http://space.com/adastra/adastra_isdc_rutan_060504.html, 5/4/06).

NASA Asks for Private Help With Lunar Program
In the hopes of landing a manned mission on the moon by 2018, NASA has begun looking to the private space industry for help. The agency is launching a competition beginning today which will attempt to find someone to design one of its needed space vehicle designs. The competition and the prize are being sponsored by the X-Prize Foundation, the group that helped set up the original $10 million X Prize competition won by Burt Rutan's Scaled Composites. The most difficult challenge this year will be to design the vehicles NASA will use on the moon, and the prize will be $1.25 million for the best design. The competition will last from October 20th to the 22nd. Richard Branson is considering entering his Virgin Galactic company in the competition.
(Randerson, James. http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/story/0,,1768276,00.html, 5/5/06).

 

 

 

 

 

Military

 

 

Space Laser Cause for Concern for Those Against Weaponizing Space
According to the New York Times, the Bush administration is seeking to develop a laser weapon that could possibly be used to destroy enemy satellites in orbit. The weapon is being developed at an unclassified New Mexican observatory called Starfire. Some Congressmen and women have suggested that the program is tantamount to a possible anti-satellite program. Last week, Republicans and Democrats on a House Armed Services subcommittee hearing cut research money for the project. Some have suggested that this represents bipartisan support against the weaponization of space. The program costs only $20 million, with planned increases reaching to $30 million by 2011. It is unclear whether the entire House of Representatives will back the Armed Services Committee, but in the mean time, DOD officials are defending the program as the US needs to have the "ability to protect our assets" in space. Some are suggesting that the program and others like it are merely an outgrowth of the 1996 Clinton directive which called for "countering, if necessary, space systems and services used for hostile purposes."
(Broad, William. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/03/washington/03laser.html, 5/3/06).

Russia Launches Spy Satellite
Russian military forces launched a classified military payload into orbit on Wednesday. The craft is widely rumored to be a new spy satellite which will serve the Russian defense ministry. The likely satellite was launched on board a Soyuz rocket from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia. The satellite has been officially called Kosmos 2420 by Russian authorities. Rumors are suggesting that the payload would likely have been a Yantar or Kobalt-class spy satellite intended to bolster Russia's waning military space intelligence presence.
(Clark, Stephen. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0605/03soyuz/, 5/3/06).

 

 

 

Opinion

 

 

Op-Ed: Florida Today, NASA Should Reconsider Shuttle Decision
In a recent editorial piece, Florida Today argued that the decision to proceed with a July shuttle launch despite continued concerns over its foam issue is a mistake. NASA senior officials have decided to proceed despite strong dissent from some of its engineers and safety officials. They have decided to fly the Discovery shuttle without one large piece of foam from the external fuel tank, yet other potentially dangerous pieces remain in place. According to the newspaper, NASA "intends to fly Discovery with a known problem that could cripple the ship, strand a crew in orbit and force a rescue mission rather than take the extra time to fully resolve the problem." They suggest that NASA should stick to its original pledge to not launch Discovery unless they're certain it's as safe as possible.
(Florida Today, http://www.floridatoday.com/apps//1004, 5/2/06).

 

Space Watch
Week of May 8 - May 12, 2006

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

 

Indian Space Agency Wants Lifting of US Sanctions
This week, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) made a public plea to the United States to get them to lift sanctions on three of its operations. The ISRO would like to get more high-tech imports to two programs in the Kerala state and one in Andhra Pradesh. The appeal for a relaxation of sanctions came soon after a deal was reached between India and the US which allows India to carry two US payloads on its Chandrayaan-1 Moon mission in 2008. The moves come as relations between the two countries have begun to thaw. The aforementioned sanctions have been in place since 1998 when New Delhi tested a series of nuclear weapons.
(New Scientist, http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn9137-indian-space-agency-urges-us-to-lift-sanctions.html, 5/9/06).

European Venus Probe Locked Into Orbit
The European probe sent to the planet Venus has finally placed itself into its final orbit around the planet. The Venus Express craft, which arrived to the planet in April, has reached the orbit which will take it as close as 250 km at its closest and 66,000 km away at its furthest. Project engineers are now beginning to turn its instrument on one by one with the hopes of beginning its science investigations in early June. The craft will orbit Venus for 500 days to study its atmosphere. Scientists hope that the findings will help us to understand our own atmosphere and the causes and consequences of runaway global warming.
(BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4756201.stm, 5/9/06).

India and US Reach Space Cooperation Deal
In a deal signed between India and the United States this week, the NASA space agency will provide high-tech scientific instrumentation for India's 2008 moon mission. The mission, named Chandrayaan-1, will be the emerging space power's first unmanned moon mission. The deal marks yet another cooperative endeavor between the two countries. In March 2006, President Bush and India signed a landmark civilian nuclear power deal. The space cooperation will allow NASA two include two high-tech devices on board the Chandrayaan-1 mission. The devices, a mini synthetic aperture radar and a moon mineralogy mapper, were selected from 16 other proposals received from around the world. Though the cooperation is substantive, India is still upset that the US has not made room for an Indian astronaut in any of NASA's upcoming space missions.
(Johnson, Jo. http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1577604a-e03e-11da-9e82-0000779e2340.html, 5/10/06).

NASA Chooses Its Finalists for Space Contracts
NASA has reportedly decided on several finalists for its $500 million commercial contest to provide transport to the International Space Station. The contest, called the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program, is an attempt to induce the private community to help NASA finish its ISS requirements for as little money as possible. Three of the companies that are considered finalists have publicly indicated their involvement. Spacehab, of Texas, Rocketplane Kistler, and SpaceX Technologies are all finalists for the NASA contract. The contest winner will represent NASA's best chance at filling the gap between the expected shuttle phase out date of 2010 and the later date of 2011-2014, when the new Crew Exploration Vehicle is set to enter service. The CEV contract is also being sought by private industry. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing are all involved in that contract.
(Boyle, Alan. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12706352/, 5/10/06).

Weather Satellite System in Trouble
The newest, high-tech weather satellite system designed to replace older US weather craft is reportedly behind schedule, billions of dollars over budget, and dangerously close to cancellation, according to Representative Sherwood Boehlert, Chairman of the House Science Committee. The system, the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS), was proposed in 1994 and is designed to replace the quickly debilitating civilian and military weather satellites that circle the equator. The NPOESS was supposed to save money because it eliminated the need for both civilian and military weather satellites. Originally priced at $6.5 billion for six spacecraft, the program is at least $3 billion over budget and could be as much as 3 years behind schedule. Chairman Boehlert stipulated that the program could be canceled, and the US could see a gap in weather coverage if the program is not quickly fixed.
(Leary, Warren. http://www.nytimes.com/.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin, 5/12/06).

Delay Warns that NASA Won't Reach $18 Billion Goal
Representative Tom Delay (R-TX) told a space industry group this week that NASA will probably not get the $18 billion that President Bush and fellow congressmen authorized for them this year. Due to tighter budgets across the board, Congressman Delay said that "everyone is going to have to work hard to...eke out as much as we can." Congress had originally authorized $17.9 billion for NASA in 2007, but Delay thinks that the final appropriation won't be as high as this. The NASA budget has been a cause for concern lately for many lawmakers, some deriding the cuts NASA expects to make in the science and technology programs.
(Levine, Samantha. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/3858144.html, 5/12/06).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commercial

 

 

Sea Launch Gets Another Contract
A consortium company which includes US, Russian and Ukrainian companies has signed yet another launch contract, this time for a US telecom company in 2007. The Sea Launch consortium was created in 1995 by Boeing, the Russian company Energia, and others. It is the only company in the world which launches payloads from a sea platform in the Pacific Ocean. The sea launch allows it to launch heavier systems than other platforms. Sea Launch made four successful launches last year and has one under its belt already this year.
(Ria Novosti, http://en.rian.ru/world/20060509/47892936.html, 5/9/06).

 

 

 

 

 

Military

 

 

Pentagon Backs Space-Based Missile Defense
The Pentagon's top weapons buyer, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, told Reuters this week that he is supportive of the creation of a space-based missile defense test bed. The test-bed, as the Missile Defense Agency calls it, is a small number of space-based interceptor missiles designed to shoot down ballistic missiles aimed at the United States. The test bed would be the first step in a space-based missile defense layer. The MDA is looking to acquire $45 million to start the process in fiscal year 2007. The ballistic missile defense program as a whole has been spending nearly $10 billion a year for the past several years. The space-based test bed would involve just one or two small interceptors with little to no offensive capability, says Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, head of the MDA. Others, however, say that the test bed is the first step in the weaponization of space, and states like Russia and China are reticent to supporting this endeavor the by the US.
(Wolf, Jim. http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/060510/arms_space_usa.html?.v=2, 5/10/06).

 

 

 

 

Opinion

 

 

Mutual Assured Access: The Rational Approach to Space Security
In his opinion piece in the recent Space News, Wayne A. Ellis argues that the focus on space superiority and the enormous capabilities gap between the United States and its potential enemies has created a situation in which the only recourse for American enemies is to engage in asymmetric warfare against US space assets. This, according to Ellis, is similar to the MAD-era stability issues. In the Cold War, it was understood that when gaps in nuclear capabilities existed, there was a feeling of instability, and this lesson now applies to the current situation in space. Ellis argues for a new rational approach: that of Mutually Assured Access as an answer to this problem. To develop this type of stable environment the US needs to "change its attitude with respect to space control and superiority," drop its export controls which only hinder access for other countries, and encourage more internationally-oriented space surveillance programs. "This is a chance for the United States to demonstrate true leadership to which it pledges to forgo offensive action in space, thereby reducing anxiety created by its current space control doctrine."
(Ellis, Wayne. Space News, 5/8/06).

 

 

Space Watch
Week of May 22 - May 26, 2006

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

 

Space Shuttle Placed on Launchpad
Space shuttle Discovery was rolled out onto the Kennedy Space Center launchpad this weekend for its hopeful July 1st liftoff. There is a growing sense of optimism among launch officials that the launch will still take place on schedule. Despite this fact, questions still persist regarding the safety of the shuttle's external fuel tank. NASA officials completed a wind tunnel test for the tank, and researchers are now studying the results of that test. "I have a good degree of confidence it will all come out good, or we wouldn't have rolled the vehicle out," says Wayne Hale, the shuttle program manager. A final decision on the launch will be made on June 7. Hale is also hopeful that NASA could launch two more shuttle missions in August and December.
(Cabbage, Michael. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/space/orl-shuttle2006may20,0,2752852,print.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-space, 5/20/06).

Sled Could Be Launcher of the Future
Developers at the private space technology firm, LaunchPoint Technologies of Goleta, California, have begun the design of a new system that could launch microsatellites into orbit without the help of launchers and at a fraction of the cost. According to Launchpoint, the system design is one that utilizes a levitating sled that whirls around a giant magnetic ring at increasing speeds. Once it reaches it desired speed, the circular accelerator apparatus would release a small satellite onto a ramp at 10 kilometers per second. The program, being funded by the US Air Force, uses much less energy than conventional linear accelerators, such as rockets. Launchpoint thinks they could eventually fire hundreds of miscrosatellites into space each day.
(New Scientist, http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/mg19025526.400-magnetic-sled-could-hurl-objects-into-orbit-.html, 5/22/06).

ISS Astronauts Test Micro-satellites
According to Russian news sources, NASA astronaut Jeffrey Williams this week tested a micro-satellite on board the International Space Station. The satellite, one of the pilot systems for the SPHERES program (Synchronized Position Hold Engage Reorient Experimental Satellites), could eventually be used at the ISS to monitor the exterior of the station and to transmit radio signals. The satellite was designed at MIT and measures eight inches wide and seven pounds. It is the first of three proposed pilot micro-satellites and it will eventually pave the way for autonomous helper robots on the ISS.
(Interfax, http://www.interfax.ru/e/B/politics/28.html?id_issue=11520240, 5/22/06).

Galileo Over Budget
The head of Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system said this week that the program is well over-budget. Rainer Grohe, director of the Galileo Joint Undertaking, says that the system, designed to be a competitor with the American Global Positioning System controlled by the US military, is nearly $500 million over budget in its very first phase. Most of the overrun, according to Grohe, is due to cost miscalculations for the design, construction, and launching of the first two test satellites. The second of these satellites is set to be launched into space by the end of 2006. The entire program envisions the launching of nearly 30 satellites into orbit by the year 2010.
(NewScientist.com, http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn9210-galileo-navigation-satellites-hugely-over-budget.html, 5/23/06).

Golf Shot Pulled from Spacewalk
NASA officials have scrapped the space golf shot that they had planned to do during next week's planned spacewalk. According to the plan, International Space Station commander Pavel Vinogradov was set to hit a golf ball into orbit outside the space station during a June 1st spacewalk. The event was to have been part of an agreement between Russia's Federal Space Agency and the Canadian golf equipment firm Element 21 Golf Company. Agency officials are reporting that the golf shot is being pushed to the next spacewalk in November. Russian officials are not releasing a specific reason for the postponement. The swing is a part of the golf company's publicity campaign marking the 35th anniversary of astronaut Alan Shepard's Apollo 14 golf antics.
(Malik, Tariq. http://space.com/missionlaunches/060524_exp13_spacewalk_golf.html, 5/24/06).

Sun Observation Spacecraft Extends its Mission
After finding new funding for the project, NASA and European Space Agency officials have decided to extend the mission of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft. The jointly operated mission was launched back in 1995, and it was originally planned to cease operation in 2007. However, after securing alternative funding, the project will be extended until at least 2009. "There is a lot of valuable work for this spacecraft still to do," says Bernhard Fleck, SOHO's project scientist. The SOHO craft has been observing and investigating the sun for the last decade in space, and its findings have produced at least one scientific paper publication every working day for the past two years.
(Young, Kelly. http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn9225-solar-spacecraft-gets-new-lease-of-life.html, 5/25/06).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Commercial

 

 

Senator Calls for Larger Private Sector Role in Space
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) this week called for the private sector to play a larger role in space exploration. Senator Hutchison, the chair of the Senate panel in charge of NASA's budget, made her remarks in front of an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC. Her call follows closely the view of NASA officials over the last several months. Senator Hutchison is worried about the retirement of the space shuttle in 2010 and the gap between the shuttle's retirement and the introduction of its replacement, the crew exploration vehicle, scheduled for 2014. Hutchison hopes the private sector could help fill this critical gap. "It is a simple fact that NASA cannot do this alone," says Hutchison.
(Levine, Samantha. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/3883956.html, 5/24/06).

Delta 4 Rocket Successfully Launches
This week, a Delta 4 rocket successfully launched a set of government weather satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Delta 4 launch is its first success since December 2004. The Boeing launcher has been sidelined for the last several years due to a variety of technical problems, bad weather, and even a machinist strike last year. The weather satellite, the GOES-N, is the newest in the family of Geostrationary Operational Environment Satellites and will help in accurately predicting and pinpointing storms throughout the world. The Delta 4 is set to have a busy summer of launching activity if things continue to operate successfully.
(Kelly, John. http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060525/NEWS02/605250332/1007/news02, 5/25/06).

 

 

 

 

Opinion

 

 

Op-Ed: Whither Presidential Space Policy
In his Space Review op-ed this week, Jeff Foust argues that even if the Bush administration would release its own version of the US space policy, as most presidents have done since President Eisenhower, it would make little difference. He argues that not since President Kennedy's Apollo policy decision in 1961 has there been any substantive space policy that set the agenda for the entire community. Despite the lack of coherent policy statements on the subject, Foust argues that there is no indication that this is hindering current space efforts, especially at NASA. "I don't think NASA administrator Mike Griffin has to look to the White House for what he needs from a policy standpoint," says Richard Buenneke, a senior policy analyst with the Aerospace Corporation. Foust says that it might be going too far to call a national space policy something of an anachronism; however, "the fact that the current administration hasn't yet issued its own policy...doesn't seem to be hindering current efforts, nor causing people inside the Beltway to lose much sleep."
(Foust, Jeff. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/627/1, 5/22/06).

 

 

Space Watch
Week of May 29 - June 2, 2006

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

 

 

ISS Crew Conducts Successful Spacewalk
The two-person crew of the International Space Station spent more than six hours outside of the station yesterday in their successful attempts to repair a clogged oxygen generator, retrieve external science experiments and replace a faulty video camera. The space walk was the first for the American and Russian astronauts. The only momentary glitch occurred when Russian cosmonaut Vonogradov lost a portion of the device that restrained his feet. Moscow mission control quickly fixed the problem, however, and the long outing continued. Noticeably absent from the spacewalk was the originally scheduled marketing event whereby one of the astronauts would have hit a golf ball off of a tee into outer space. The Russians have postponed the gimmick for the time being.
(Carreau, Mark. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/space/3921890.html, 6/2/06).

Japanese Probe Determines Composition of Asteroid
According to findings released this week, the asteroid named Itokawa is composed of a loosely packed pile of rubble that has collected over many millions of years. The findings have resulted from the relatively successful mission of the Japanese Hayabusa probe which has sent data from the surface of the asteroid in November of last year. The probe also collected samples from the space rock, but there is some question as to whether or not mission managers will be able to return the spaceship to Earth. They will attempt to do so in 2010. The most fascinating finding is that the asteroid is not a monolithic rock, but rather made up of debris from countless past collisions held loosely together by its own gravity. "Everything we suspected about it turned out to be wrong," says Erik Asphaug, a planetary scientist from the University of California.
(McKee, Maggie. http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn9257&print=true, 6/1/06).

NASA Switches its Rocket Strategy
NASA officials this week have decided that they will no longer be looking to utilize shuttle engines to power a new large rocket to the moon. Instead, officials are opting for a cluster of five modified Delta 4 rocket engines to launch the massive boosters which will be used to propel cargo for a future moon landing and exploration. The Delta 4 design was finally decided on as officials began to see that the shuttle-derived system originally called for would be much too expensive. "Right away, we will be saving $100 million a flight just on the cost of engines," says Dan Dumbacher, a deputy director of the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
(Halvorson, Todd. http://www.flatoday.com/605290326/1007, 5/29/06).

Satellite Could Test for New Dimension
The theory of the existence of a fourth spatial dimension has been bounced around theoretical physics for years. A new satellite set to launch in 2007 might help test that theory. According to scientists, a new fourth dimension would give rise to thousands of mini-black holes within our own solar system. When the NASA satellite called the Gamma Ray Large Area Space Telescope (GLAST) is launched in August 2007, scientists may be able to determine whether smaller black holes do indeed exist, giving credence to the theory of a fourth dimension. The GLAST mission will attempt to search for these black holes within Pluto's orbit. If successful, the program could "open the door to studying the fourth dimension."
(McKee, Maggie. http://www.newscientistspace.com/article/dn9240-satellite-could-open-door-on-extra-dimension.html, 5/30/06).

NASA Contemplates Air Bags Versus Retro Rockets for CEV
NASA officials are attempting to evaluate several different landing systems for the Crew Exploration Vehicle, the vehicle that will attempt to take the place of the shuttle program after 2010. Though NASA has thusfar focused on retro-rockets as a means for landing the CEV, they have recently put out two $250,000 contracts for airbag development. One of the companies involved in the airbag system is the firm ILC Dover which helped develop airbags for the Mars Pathfinder, Spirit and Opportunity rovers. The evaluation is likely to continue until September 2007 when the CEV's preliminary design review is scheduled to take place in September 2007.
(Flight International, http://www.flightglobal.com/Articles+bags+versus+retro+rockets.html, 5/30/06).

European Laboratory Set for ISS
A European space science laboratory set to be launched to the International Space Station will be arriving at the Kennedy Space Center this weekend. The lab, called the Columbus lab, is the European Space Agency's largest contribution to the ISS project and it is set to launch in late 2007. The lab will be delivered to the US on board one of the largest cargo air plans in the world, a Beluga craft, Europe's super transporter. The lab will be docked to the US section of the ISS and is capable of housing up to 10 experiment racks the size of telephone booths.
(Halvorson, Todd. http://www.flatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060531/NEWS02/605310360/1007, 5/31/06).

July Space Shuttle Flight is a ‘Go'
NASA officials have cleared the way for a space shuttle flight to take place in early July, according to a recent statement by the space administration. The decision comes even though officials admit that there is still a risk of dangerous foam debris possibly complicating a shuttle flight. Program officials have determined that enough modifications have been made to the tank, and they are confident that the risk is extremely minor and "acceptable." Wayne Hale, the manage of the shuttle program, said that no matter how hard they try, the shuttle missions will always entail some small amount of risk. The space shuttle Discovery will attempt to launch sometime between July 1st through July 19th. The Atlantis shuttle, on the other hand, is scheduled to roll out on its launching pad on July 25th for a late August mission launch. NASA is hoping to fly at least three shuttle missions before the end of the year. The launch in July will be the first since the missions were grounded by NASA officials.
(Leary, Warren. http://www.nytimes.com/.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin, 5/31/06).

 

Commercial

 

 

 

Major Space Merger Increases Size of Space Adventures
Space Adventures, the major space tourism company from Vienna, Virginia, is set to buy the launch vehicle technology firm, Space Launch Corporation from California for an undisclosed amount of money. The merger will allow Space Adventures to dip its hand in the space tourism launch vehicle enterprise. "While Space Adventures will remain focused on the marketing of spaceflights as a space travel company, the acquisition of Space Launch will enhance our access to, and in-depth knowledge of cutting edge aerospace technology," says Space Adventures President and CEO, Eric Anderson.
(Nyez-Conner, Jennifer. http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2006/05/29/daily1.html, 5/29/06).

 

 

 

Opinion

 

 

Eric R. Hedman: Is NASA Afraid to Take Risks?
In Eric Hedman's recent opinion piece in The Space Review, he argues that America in general, and NASA in particular, have become to reluctant to take chances in the development and acquisition of new technologies and new advancements. He suggests that the US of the past and the China of today have been spurred on to new advances because of a sense of "unlimited possibility." He argues that this sense of open frontiers has not been passed on between generations here in the United States. This is especially evident at NASA, where the space administration is attempting to carry out its aggressive Vision for Space Exploration using only tried-and-true technology. It isn't pushing the envelope with regards to space advances, and as a result, might be doomed to stagnation and a lack of creativity.
(Hedman, Eric. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/631/1, 5/30/06).

Christopher Stone: Orbits Strike Constellations: The Future of Space Supremacy
In his recent opinion piece in the Space Review, Christopher Stone argues that the US should develop a global strike capability from space, using constellations of orbital strike platforms. Arguing that the policy which considers space a sanctuary free for all nations might actually be a weakness in long-term strategic security interests for the United States, Stone suggests that space based weapons should be developed regardless of how controversial these space weapons platforms may be to the rest of the world. He cites the inherent vulnerability of the nation's space assets and quotes General Lance Lord, former Commander of the Air Force Space Command saying that we "cannot assume that space is benign and that we'll never be challenged in that environment."
(Christopher Stone, http://www.thespacereview.com/article/628/1, 5/30/06).