International Space Station
The Government Accountability Office has found that after spending a quarter century planning and building the International Space Station, NASA may not be able to fully use the facility for space research because of a lack of transportation, funding and organization.
LunaTrex name now defunct: Court orders team members to cease using logo
The Herald Bulletin
A federal judge ordered that members of a team competing to send a rover to the moon could not use the group’s originally trademarked name, LunaTrex.
Use of the LunaTrex name and logo was at issue since members of the group, which was competing for the Google Lunar X Prize, had a “falling out†in June, according to a court opinion written by Circuit Judge David F. Hamilton.
Congressman Parker Griffith speaks during a subcommittee hearing.
Congressman Parker Griffith – who represents Huntsville, Alabama – announced his decision to switch from the Democratic Party to the Republican Party today.
The conservative first-term Congressman had been increasingly at odds with the liberal Obama Administration and his fellow Democrats on health care, spending, defense and space. In his statement, he specifically referred to disagreements over NASA spending:
NASA's LADEE spacecraft
NASA PRESS RELEASE
NASA has selected Space Systems/Loral, Palo Alto, Calif., to receive a contract for the propulsion system for the Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft. The contract has a maximum value of $8.86 million.
This is a firm fixed price 15-month long contract that begins Dec. 21, 2009.
Russia will begin work on nuclear rockets for human Mars missions in 2010.
Ares I-X lifts off from the Cape.
Report that Obama decided on space policy may be premature
Orlando Sentinel
A report by a respected science publication that said President Barack Obama has decided on a new space policy for NASA may be premature, according to Write Stuff sources.
Space shuttle Atlantis lands on runway 33 at NASA Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility concluding the STS-129 mission. Photo credit: NASA Jack Pfaller
Rep. Suzanne Kosmas Press Release
December 18, 2009
(Washington, DC) – Today, Congresswoman Suzanne Kosmas (FL-24) responded to comments made about human spaceflight by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. Earlier this week when asked about increased funding for NASA’s human spaceflight program, Speaker Pelosi said that she is not “a big fan of manned expeditions to outer space, in terms of safety and cost,†and that “a judgment will be made as to what it does in terms of job creation,†(Florida Today, 12/17/09).
In response to the comments, Kosmas sent a letter to the Speaker outlining the numerous economic benefits of human spaceflight and highlighting the thousands of jobs that depend on a strong space program.
ESA's ExoMars rover. (Courtesy of ESA)
Europe’s Mars missions get final go-ahead
BBC News
The Council of Esa has given the green light to a two-mission endeavour that would see the launch of an orbiter in 2016 and a rover in 2018.
The exploration projects will be undertaken in partnership with the US space agency (Nasa).
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
Conflict of interest? Congresswoman staunchly backs Constellation — and is wed to astronaut
Orlando Sentinel
For nearly two hours last September, members of a House science committee hammered Norm Augustine, the head of a White House panel reviewing NASA’s space plans. U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., led the charge, attacking the panel’s suggestion that the agency ditch its Constellation moon-rocket program.
“I don’t see the logic of scrapping what the nation has spent years and billions of dollars to develop,” complained Giffords. Backed by fellow House science committee members from Texas and California, states with big NASA centers, she blamed Augustine’s group for “losing ground” and accused him of providing Congress with recommendations that “look almost like cartoons.”
Artists conception of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in orbit
New Course for Space Exploration Promotes Private Firms
Wall Street Journal
The Obama administration appears set to chart a new course for U.S. space exploration by promoting the use of private companies to ferry astronauts into orbit, according to people familiar with the matter.
Former astronaut Ed Lu – now program manager for advanced projects at Google – contrasts the way NASA and Silicon Valley launch projects in an op-ed in The New York Times:
In Silicon Valley we have a saying: launch early, launch often. It’s an acknowledgment that successful, innovative companies are the ones that rapidly try new ideas, see what works, improve their products and repeat. Businesses that launch frequently are also able to take advantage of economies of scale to make launchings faster and easier. In many ways, the key to innovation is speed of execution.
