The Los Angeles Times reports: Firefighters have worked hard to save Mt. Wilson, home to a historic observatory as well as crucial TV and radio transmission towers. Officials said this morning that aggressive water and gel drops from aircraft helped prevent the mountain from taking a direct hit from the flames. But Mt. Wilson is still in danger, and the fight there will continue. Los Angeles County Fire Department Capt. […]
NASA PRESS RELEASE
After nine weeks of intense lessons, robotic and rocket competitions and rubbing elbows with NASA scientists, industry experts and entrepreneurs, students at International Space University (ISU) Space Studies Program (SSP) 2009 and Singularity University (SU) shared their final evening together and participated in their university’s closing ceremonies on Friday, Aug. 28, 2009 at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Richard Garriott
CHALLENGER CENTER PRESS RELEASE
Challenger Center for Space Science Education announced today that astronauts Barbara Morgan and Richard Garriott and aerospace engineer Karolyn Young were elected to its Board of Directors at its recent annual conference held at the Buehler Challenger & Science Center in Paramus, New Jersey.
Barbara Morgan, a retired NASA astronaut, is the Distinguished Educator in Residence at Boise State University, with dual appointment in the colleges of engineering and education. She flew on space shuttle mission STS-118 in 2007 as the first NASA educator astronaut. Morgan was selected as the backup candidate for the NASA Teacher in Space program in 1985, training alongside Christa McAuliffe. She earned a B.A. degree in human biology from Stanford University, and her teaching credentials from College of Notre Dame, Belmont, California.
It’s been a busy summer diplomatically for ESA which has added both Cyprus and Latvia as cooperating states. The Cyprus agreement was signed on August 27 while the Latvian one was completed on July 23.
From the Los Angeles Tmes: “It’s still a very treacherous situation,” said U.S. Forest Service Incident Cmdr. Mike Dietrich. “The fire has a lot of potential, and it’s still a big animal.” It remained particularly precarious atop Mt. Wilson, home to the historic observatory and a complex of communications towers used by nearly 50 radio and TV stations. By mid-afternoon, the fire was making its closest incursion onto the 5,710-foot […]
The Los Angeles Times has a dramatic account of the battle to save the Mount Wilson Observatory from the Station wildfire: Firefighters are setting backfires on the drought-stricken north side of Mt. Wilson to reduce the risk of flames and protect the observatory and communications towers atop the 5,700-foot peak…. It was with this sense of urgency that firefighters, who were ordered off Mt. Wilson Monday morning, returned today with […]
Mitsubishi, IHI to Join $21 Bln Space Solar Project
Bloomberg News
Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and IHI Corp. will join a 2 trillion yen ($21 billion) Japanese project intending to build a giant solar-power generator in space within three decades and beam electricity to earth.
SPACEX PRESS RELEASE
Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) announces delivery of the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) Ultra High Frequency (UHF) Communication Unit to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in preparation for launch on Space Shuttle Atlantis, STS-129. The unit will be delivered by Atlantis to the International Space Station (ISS) and integrated in preparation for SpaceX’s future flights to the orbiting laboratory.
OSC's Taurus II rocket at Wallops Island.
Aerojet Looking to Restart Production of NK-33 Engine
Space News
Aerojet is in talks with Russian propulsion firms to restart production of the Soviet-era NK-33 rocket engine that the Sacramento, Calif.-based propulsion company is modernizing for use on Orbital Sciences’ Taurus 2 medium-lift rocket.
Aerojet’s vice president of space systems, Julie Van Kleeck, said Aug. 27 that the two companies are weighing the benefits of restarting production of the 1960s engine in Russia, initiating a new line in the United States, or possibly doing both.
AIAA PRESS RELEASE
The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) will present the following awards, recognizing key contributions to space science and technology, at a noon awards luncheon on September 16 as part of the AIAA SPACE 2009 Conference & Exposition, September 14, at the Pasadena Convention Center, Pasadena, Calif.
- The Chandrayaan-1 Mission, India Space Research Organization (ISRO), Bangalore, India, will receive the AIAA 2009 Space Systems Award.
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Latest on the Station fire from the Los Angeles Times as of 3:43 p.m. PDT on Monday:
A voracious five-day-old wildfire that has churned through more than 105,000 acres of mountainous brush across northern Los Angeles County showed little sign of slowing down this afternoon as it threatened 12,000 homes in suburban tracts and desert communities, along with a historic observatory and major array of television and radio transmission towers.
Europe looks to buy Soyuz craft
BBC News
The European Space Agency (Esa) has asked Moscow if it is possible to increase the production of the craft from four to five a year.