Space Shuttle
Citizens lobby for NASA: Brevard group heading to DC to make case for increased funds
Florida Today
Lawmakers in Washington will be visited by 30 Brevard County residents who will talk up the space industry and urge better funding for NASA.
The Japan Times has an editorial today in which it discusses the major changes in Japanese space activities that will result under the government’s new space plan: (more…)
Canada looks to build next moon rover
Canwest News Service
Canada is quietly putting together a proposal to build NASA an all-Canadian moon rover – a vehicle with a pressurized air cabin that astronauts could use without wearing bulky helmets and air tanks.
Pluto and its moon, Charon (credit: NASA)
Venetia Phair Dies at 90; as a Girl, She Named Pluto
The New York Times
Frozen and lonely, Planet X circled the far reaches of the solar system awaiting discovery and a name. It got one thanks to an 11-year-old British girl named Venetia Burney, an enthusiast of the planets and classical myth.
Mining the moon, they hope: Canadian miners aim to regain lost ground as resourceful innovators
Financial Post
Experts say this is not nearly as far-fetched as it sounds. NASA is considering a US$100-billion-plus program to establish a permanent base on the moon by 2020, and mining technology could play a key role. Part of the moon would have to be essentially dug up so a base can be installed. Moon ice would also need to be mined for water, and many other materials would need to be procured and processed to build and maintain the station….
Florida Senator Bill Nelson says he expects a blue ribbon panel to endorse human trips to the moon and to recommend that NASA stay with its Ares rocket and Orion capsule.
International Space Station
ESA began the search for new astronauts in 2008, calling for applications from talented European citizens who wished to join the European Astronaut Corps to conduct future missions to the International Space Station, and one day to the Moon and beyond.
PRESS RELEASE
Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne’s PWR-9221FJ dual-mode ramjet engine successfully completed its first ground test at Mach 4 flight conditions at Arnold Engineering Development Center, Tullahoma, Tenn. A dual-mode ramjet engine is a key technology for developing reusable hypersonic vehicles. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE:UTX) company.
Artists conception of WhiteKnightTwo and the SpaceShipTwo space tourism vehicle. (Credit: Virgin Galactic)
Commercial space travel: what it might feel like
Sunday Star Times
It’s a good thing Ron Stroeven is not worried about having to wait until SpaceShipTwo is pronounced fit to take paying guests to experience the trip into space just as the test pilots have. It could be 2010, when the flamboyant founder of Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson, will turn 60. But it will probably be 2011. The company expects to do up to 18 months of test flights before taking people into space. White Knight Two made its debut flight just before Christmas last year.
Searching for Canadians with right stuff
The Whig
It comes with crazy work hours, grinding travel and decent though not exceptional pay, but this job is definitely out of this world.
After an intensive year-long recruitment program, the Canadian Space Agency is set to announce two new astronauts who will be part of the world’s next generation of orbital explorers.
Our views: Fixing the damage
Florida Today
Gov. Charlie Crist should act at once to reorganize the agency, naming a space industry expert to the leadership post. He should also consider other reforms and is under growing pressure to do it, with Nelson saying Friday, “It’s time to clean house at Space Florida and move ahead with an aggressive schedule for a commercial space industry in Florida.â€
Artists conception of SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft in orbit
NASA Approves Partial Privatization of the Space Program
Taylor Dinerman
Fox News
Our government space program has become over-burdened with too many objectives, and not enough cash,” says William Watson, executive director of the Space Frontier Foundation, a Houston-based group promoting commercial space activities. Watson said that allowing private companies to handle routine orbital duties could free up NASA to focus on returning to the moon and going to Mars.
