6/7/12 news

 
 
Hope you can join us today at Hibachi Grill, at 11:30 Bay Area Blvd. for our monthly NASA Retiree luncheon.
 
 
 
Thursday, June 7, 2012
 
JSC TODAY HEADLINES
1.            Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
2.            Bring Our Children to Work Day Registration is Closed
3.            NEEMO 16 Splashdown on Monday
4.            Monthly Test of the JSC Emergency Warning System
5.            Blood Drive June 19 (Ellington) and June 20 to 21 (JSC)
6.            Still Registering for Starport Summer Camp
7.            Financial Wellness Classes Are Back -- Starting Next Week
________________________________________     QUOTE OF THE DAY
“ The doors of wisdom are never shut.”
 
-- Benjamin Franklin
________________________________________
1.            Joint Leadership Team Web Poll
Fooled you on the first question last week. The Lunar Experience is not a Space Center Houston attraction. You should go visit our visitor center again, especially now that they have a new exhibit. The Jack Daniels Distillery won out as the Tennessee attraction I should visit this year. I'm sure the kids will enjoy that vacation.
 
This week it's all about Venus as she transits across the face of the sun, or something like that. Question one tests your knowledge of all things Venus. Question two pays homage to the passing of Richard Dawson. Since a "Family Feud" question would be too easy, I decided to test your knowledge of "Hogan's Heroes" trivia. Let's see if you "know nothing, see nothing, hear nothing!"
 
Hatfield your McCoy's on over to get this week's poll.
 
Joel Walker x30541 http://jlt.jsc.nasa.gov/
 
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2.            Bring Our Children to Work Day Registration is Closed
Due to the overwhelming response to this year's event, we have already exceeded capacity and have filled the 500 spots. Because of safety regulations, we have to close registration. However, if you are still interested, we can put you on a waiting list. If a registrant drops out, we can try to add you to the list so you can participate in all the activities throughout the day. If you would like to be on the waiting list, please send an email to: jsc-eduoutre@mail.nasa.gov
 
JSC Outreach
 
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3.            NEEMO 16 Splashdown on Monday
The 16th NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) begins on Monday, June 11. Follow along with us on Facebook and Twitter and watch as we stream live videos and events!
 
NASA Astronaut Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger is the commander of the six-person crew, which includes European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake; Japan Aerospace and Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui; veteran aquanaut, planetary scientist and NASA Advisory Council Chairman Dr. Steve Squyres; and two professional aquanauts. The crew will live and work in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Aquarius Laboratory that is 3.5 miles off the coast of Florida for two weeks.
 
Don't miss out on this amazing analog field test!
 
Twitter: @NASA_NEEMO
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/NASANEEMO
 
Wendy Watkins x38316 http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/NEEMO/index.html
 
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4.            Monthly Test of the JSC Emergency Warning System
The Emergency Dispatch Center and Office of Emergency Management will conduct the monthly test of the JSC Emergency Warning System (EWS) today, June 7, at noon.
 
The EWS test will consist of a verbal "This is a Test" message, followed by a short tone and a second verbal "This is a test" message. The warning tone will be the wail tone, which is associated with an "All clear" message. Please visit the JSC Emergency Awareness website at http://jea.jsc.nasa.gov for EWS tones and definitions. During an actual emergency situation, the particular tone and verbal message will provide you with protective information.
 
Dennis G. Perrin x34232 http://jea.jsc.nasa.gov
 
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5.            Blood Drive June 19 (Ellington) and June 20 to 21 (JSC)
Summertime typically brings a decrease in blood donations as donors become busy with activities and vacations. But the need for blood can increase due to these summer activities and three major holidays: Memorial Day, 4th of July and Labor Day. Your blood donation can help up to three people. Please take an hour of your time to donate at our next blood drive.
 
You can donate at Ellington Field on June 19. A donor coach will be located between Hangars 276 and 135 for donations from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Note the time change.)
 
You can donate at JSC from June 20 to 21 in the Teague Auditorium lobby or at the donor coach located next to the Building 11 Starport Café from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. You can also donate at the Gilruth Center donor coach located in parking lot on June 21 from 7:30 a.m. to noon. (Note the time change.)
 
Teresa Gomez x39588 http://jscpeople.jsc.nasa.gov/blooddrv/blooddrv.htm
 
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6.            Still Registering for Starport Summer Camp
Some sessions have filled up, but some sessions still have spots available! If you are still looking for fun and exciting activities to keep your children active and entertained for the summer, it's not too late to register for Starport Summer Camp at the Gilruth Center. To check availability, call the Gilruth front desk at x30304. Visit http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/camp/index.cfm for details on the session themes and planned activities.
 
Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/
 
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7.            Financial Wellness Classes Are Back -- Starting Next Week
The JSC Wellness Program is continuing the Financial Wellness Program this summer with an enhanced series of introductory and advanced financial education classes. So, while we can't begin to answer every question, we can get you started on a reliable financial path. Come learn about goal setting, budgeting, debt elimination, insurance, long-term care, investing, retirement, estate planning and taxes.
 
Classes will be offered at lunchtime and in the evening, on and off site.
 
Lunchtime classes will be offered in onsite conference rooms and are open to anyone badged to come on site.
 
Evening classes will be offered nearby and are open to employees and family.
 
If you are not sure what financial wellness is all about, this is a great place to start. See link for details.
 
Jessica Vos x41383 http://www.explorationwellness.com/rd/AE104.aspx?June_Signup.pdf
 
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________________________________________
JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. To see an archive of previous JSC Today announcements, go to http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/news/jsctoday/archives.
 
 
 
NASA TV:
·                     9 am Central (10 EDT) – ISS Expedition 31 In-Flight Event for ESA with Dutch Broadcasters
 
Human Spaceflight News
Thursday, June 7, 2012
 

Enterprise on deck at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum
 
HEADLINES AND LEADS
 
Ad Astra eyes SpaceX commercial model for deep space
 
Mark Carreau – Aviation Week
 
The success of the SpaceX/Dragon resupply mission to the International Space Station has not been lost on Ad Astra Rocket Co., a seven-year-old venture focused on the development of advanced electric plasma propulsion systems for commercial in-space transportation. “That is the proof in the pudding,” says Jared Squire, Ad Astra’s senior vice president for research, of the nine-day SpaceX pathfinder mission nurtured by NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. “That type of relationship works.” Ad Astra envisions a similar NASA initiative to foster the next step beyond orbital cargo missions — the private sector delivery of supplies to the Moon’s L-1 and L-2 Lagrange points, asteroids and to Mars orbit powered by the company’s Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (Vasimr) in support of future human deep-space exploration.
 
Is Space Getting Too Politicized?
 
Jeffrey Marlow - Wired.com
 
Now that the 2012 Presidential field is officially set, the candidates can finally focus on the question that is on everyone’s mind: what would you, as President, do with NASA?  How would you guide the American space program? Ok, so space exploration isn’t exactly a high salience issue for most of the country,  but it does loom large for several swing state constituencies, most notably the Space Coast of Florida.  A couple of excellent articles in the current edition of Space Quarterly Magazine, excerpted on NasaWatch, contemplate the role space policy may have in the 2012 election.
 
Congressman seeks to set the record straight on COTS’s origins
 
SpacePolitics.com
 
We noted here earlier this week that, in a speech last week, Office of Science and Technology Policy director John Holdren may have gone a little too far in taking credit for the recent successful SpaceX Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) test flight.
 
Reps urge renewal of commercial space insurance
 
Ledyard King - Florida Today
 
The Obama administration is asking Congress to continue the federally sponsored insurance program for the nation's growing commercial space industry. The program expires Dec. 31. Administration officials and aerospace industry representatives told a House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee Wednesday it's imperative such indemnification for launch and re-entry of spacecraft be renewed for another five years or the economic benefits of commercial space might fly overseas.
 
Livermore students hook up with space station astronauts
 
Patrick Brown - Contra Costa Times (Walnut Grove, CA)
 
One day before summer vacation, students at Junction Avenue K-8 School got to interact with four astronauts -- one in person and the other three via a live feed from the International Space Station. The whole school had been preparing for Wednesday morning's event by incorporating NASA-related lessons. For instance, first-grade students learned about local former astronauts such as Tammy Jernigan, who was the master of ceremonies at the event. The three astronauts on the overhead projector were dressed casually as they bobbed up and down in zero gravity among a backdrop of gadgets. They each answered questions from the students, letting the mic glide slowly through the air when they passed it.
 
The Last Leg of a Space Shuttle’s Journey to Manhattan
 
Patrick McGeehan - New York Times
 
First, the space shuttle Enterprise came by air. Then, on Wednesday, it arrived again — this time by sea. Six weeks after the Enterprise made its New York City debut on the back of a 747 jet, it completed its oft-delayed journey to Manhattan in appropriately slow motion. The final act was a precise water ballet involving the shuttle, two barges, three tugboats, a huge floating crane and an aircraft carrier.
 
Final Frontier: Shuttle Prototype Enterprise Lands At Intrepid
 
Tara Lynn Wagner - NY1 TV
 
NASA's prototype space shuttle Enterprise made one last journey Wednesday as it was brought over from Port Elizabeth in New Jersey to its new home at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. NY1's Tara Lynn Wagner filed the following report. The Enterprise had quite an entourage as it arrived at its final frontier. But by far the biggest piece of equipment on the Hudson River was not the 137-foot space shuttle prototype but the massive crane that would hoist it onto the flight deck of the Intrepid.
 
Space shuttle Enterprise docks at New York museum home
 
Matthew Murphy - Reuters
 
The space shuttle Enterprise - named after the spaceship in Star Trek - floated past the Statue of Liberty on a barge on Wednesday and docked near its new home at a museum on New York's Hudson River. Crowds of people turned out to see the retired spacecraft make its final approach to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum where it will go on display atop a World War II aircraft carrier. "Did you see the shuttle?!" said a police officer running up to his uniformed colleagues like an excited child.
 
1 space shuttle already at museum, 2 more to go
 
Marcia Dunn - Associated Press
 
The space shuttle prototype Enterprise moved to its new home Wednesday, the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the Hudson River in New York. NASA's three real space shuttles - the ones that rocketed into orbit - also will spend their retirement in museums. One is already on display. The other two will follow by year's end.
 
Enterprise prototype lands on aircraft carrier in Manhattan
 
James Dean - Florida Today
 
Enterprise has landed on the deck of its new retirement home, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. A crane hoisted the prototype shuttle orbiter on to the World War II aircraft carrier docked on Midtown Manhattan’s West Side around 4:15 p.m., completing a nearly seven-week journey from its previous display site at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum. Enterprise left the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center April 19 to make way for Discovery, and was ferried April 27 from Dulles International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport.
 
Space shuttle Enterprise makes final landing
 
CNN
 
The space shuttle Enterprise made its final descent Wednesday, landing at its new home at New York City's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Though it never traveled into outer space, the Enterprise did make its way from a Smithsonian Institute museum near Washington, D.C., above the New York skyline mounted atop a 747 jumbo jet, and up the Hudson River by barge to the museum where it will be displayed for the public. On Wednesday, the shuttle was hoisted by crane and then lowered onto the flight deck of the Intrepid, the decommissioned U.S. aircraft carrier that has been transformed into a museum.
 
Huge Crowds Welcome Shuttle Enterprise to NYC Museum
 
Denise Chow - Space.com
 
Hundreds of eager spectators lined Manhattan's West Side Pier 84 today (June 6), as the space shuttle Enterprise completed the final leg of its journey to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Enterprise arrived at the Intrepid museum at around 12:55 p.m. EDT (1655 GMT), after floating up the Hudson River on a massive barge. Along the way, the shuttle cruised past several iconic city landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center. As Enterprise approached the Intrepid — a retired World War II-era aircraft carrier that has since been converted into a museum — excited onlookers clapped, cheered and snapped pictures of the historic vehicle.
 
Space shuttle Enterprise arrives at Manhattan home
 
Karen Matthews - Huffington Post
 
New Yorkers lined the West Side waterfront to welcome the space shuttle Enterprise as it sailed up the Hudson River on Wednesday to its new home aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. The prototype space shuttle rode a barge from Jersey City, N.J. to the Intrepid, where it was hoisted by crane onto the flight deck. A flotilla of vessels including a police boat, a Fire Department boat and a yellow taxi boat accompanied the Enterprise as it sailed past the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center site and other Manhattan landmarks en route to the Intrepid at midtown.
 
The private space industry has eyes for Texas, but not everyone’s on board
 
Kelly Connelly - State Impact Texas (local public radio collaboration)
 
Maybe you’ve heard of Space X, the private space exploration company that recently docked their first spacecraft at the International Space Station. Now they’re looking to expand their operation in Texas. Space X is undergoing the permit process with the Federal Aviation Administration for a launch pad outside of Brownsville, at the southern tip of the state. A new Space X launch pad could be economically beneficial for the city. Gilberto Salinas of the Brownsville Economic Development Council says Space X could “change the game” in town.  “The jobs that it would bring with it,” Salinas says, “it would bring about 600 [direct] jobs paying extremely well.  It could drop our unemployment by one full percentage point.” But not everyone is happy about the site Space X has chosen.
 
SpaceX and space politics
 
George Leopold - EE Times (Opinion)
 
As if another example were needed, here’s the latest illustration of why Washington is dysfunctional. There was great rejoicing last week over the highly successful commercial space mission to the International Space Station. The successful docking of a cargo ship designed and launched by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, was a great advance in terms of maintaining U.S. access to low-Earth orbit. It was a bit of good news amid the steady stream of bad economic news and man’s inhumanity toward his fellow man and women. Now, a pissing match has erupted over who should get the political credit for the success of the SpaceX mission.
 
SpaceX quickly becomes an out-of-the-world brand
 
Garrett Sloane - New York Post
 
Space is turning into the financial frontier. A Silicon Valley startup that sent its first successful rocket to the International Space Station and is pioneering the commercialization of the solar system, SpaceX, is soaring in valuation, a new report suggests. The company, founded by Elon Musk, is now worth $4.8 billion, double its value from April, according to a research report from PrivCo., expected to be released today.
__________
 
COMPLETE STORIES
 
Ad Astra eyes SpaceX commercial model for deep space
 
Mark Carreau – Aviation Week
 
The success of the SpaceX/Dragon resupply mission to the International Space Station has not been lost on Ad Astra Rocket Co., a seven-year-old venture focused on the development of advanced electric plasma propulsion systems for commercial in-space transportation.
 
“That is the proof in the pudding,” says Jared Squire, Ad Astra’s senior vice president for research, of the nine-day SpaceX pathfinder mission nurtured by NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program. “That type of relationship works.”
 
Ad Astra envisions a similar NASA initiative to foster the next step beyond orbital cargo missions — the private sector delivery of supplies to the Moon’s L-1 and L-2 Lagrange points, asteroids and to Mars orbit powered by the company’s Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (Vasimr) in support of future human deep-space exploration.
 
Squire is not prepared to suggest a figure, but COTS will channel $396 million to SpaceX as a development partner. Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, expects to begin regular cargo delivery missions to the station later this year under a $1.6 billion, 12-flight NASA contract signed in late 2008.
 
“We are thinking of something similar,” Squire says. “If you have the surface-to-orbit capability in a reliable way, now you need an orbital transfer vehicle — a vehicle that can take large payloads and deliver them wherever in space efficiently. Electric propulsion in general has a capability to do that, and in the near term solar-electric has a lot of potential.”
 
In addition to deep-space deliveries, Ad Astra is looking at a Vasimr-powered spacecraft for the removal of menacing orbital debris.
 
The technology is the brainchild of Franklin Chang-Diaz, Ad Astra CEO, who nurtured the project while a grad student in physics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and then as an astronaut at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
 
In late May, Ad Astra and NASA expanded a five-year-old Space Act Agreement (SAA) focused on further Vasimr development to begin the safety, reliability and mission assurance phase of the project. The amendment commits the equivalent of one full-time NASA expert to the safety process in exchange for an agency knowledge gain in the technology.
 
The long-running SAA, which does not involve an exchange of funds, is leading toward the launch of a 200-kw Vasimr prototype to the space station or an independent orbiting free-flyer in the 2015 timeframe for a three-year checkout of performance and reliability, Squire says.
 
The notional launch target has slipped a year and remains vulnerable to NASA budgeting and the future of the station’s status as a national laboratory. While Ad Astra has not committed to a launch provider, Orbital Sciences Corp. appears to provide the best match. Orbital Sciences represents NASA’s second COTS partner, and is developing the Cygnus/Antares system for that mission. A test-flight success similar to SpaceX’s will make Orbital Sciences eligible for $1.9 billion under an eight-flight ISS supply mission agreement with NASA, also awarded in 2008.
 
Like SpaceX, Ad Astra envisions a future role in human space transportation. Theoretically, a nuclear-powered version of Vasimr could speed a human crew to Mars in 39 days, versus 7-10 months with conventional propulsion.
 
The VF-200-1 prototype envisioned for the space station would operate under battery power — perhaps something similar to the battery specified for the sporty electric Tesla roadster, another Elon Musk initiative. Even with vast solar power, the station’s electrical grid could not meet Vasimr’s sustained power demands, Squire says.
 
From there, Ad Astra would look to advanced space solar power for electricity. Vasimr outperforms its chemical rivals by heating a gas fuel to super-high temperatures with focused radio waves. The resulting plasma is contained and directed with a protective magnetic field generated by superconducting magnets.
 
In ground vacuum-chamber testing, Ad Astra has relied on argon as a fuel source. But a switch to heavier krypton, which offers higher thrust at lower specific impulse under power limitations, is being evaluated.
 
Is Space Getting Too Politicized?
 
Jeffrey Marlow - Wired.com
 
Now that the 2012 Presidential field is officially set, the candidates can finally focus on the question that is on everyone’s mind: what would you, as President, do with NASA?  How would you guide the American space program?
 
Ok, so space exploration isn’t exactly a high salience issue for most of the country,  but it does loom large for several swing state constituencies, most notably the Space Coast of Florida.  A couple of excellent articles in the current edition of Space Quarterly Magazine, excerpted on NasaWatch, contemplate the role space policy may have in the 2012 election.
 
Eric Sterner sees an opening for Republicans.
 
“Republicans may sense vulnerability in the Administration’s handling of NASA and the civil space program. During the 2008 primaries, candidate Obama promised to cancel NASA’s flagship human exploration program, Constellation. He reversed himself for the general election, promising to increase support for it, which he did his first year in office, before finally canceling it in 2010 and then muffing the development and roll-out of a new civil space framework.”
 
If President Obama wins a second term, Aaron Oesterle envisions a cautious, under-the-radar approach that would expend little political capital.
 
“Space policy is at best a 3rd tier issue for most people (whether voters or elected officials), and having fought two very bruising battles over space policy, President Obama may want space to pass into the realm of “do no harm” to his other priorities.”
Oesterle’s characterization of Obama’s political calculus reflects a recent trend: despite widespread public support for space exploration, recent polls suggest that the issue is getting increasingly polarized.  The overall percentage of the American population supporting the enterprise remained roughly constant between 2008 and 2010 according to the National Opinion Research Center, but the groups declaring that the government spent “too little” or “too much” both grew by about 5 percentage points.
 
This is an alarming development, because manned spaceflight seems to work best when it’s de-politicized, or, perhaps more accurately, de-partisanized.  Space exploration is a long game: it requires long-term planning and a consistent goal-driven trajectory that builds on previous accomplishments.  It’s difficult to fold this reality into the “what have you done for me lately?” culture of Washington, where failure to hit quarterly benchmarks is grounds for cancellation.  Of course, government-sponsored space exploration also requires public support, and mobilizing enthusiasm without stoking partisanship is a fine line indeed.
 
If space exploration is something that we decide is worthwhile (and apparently it is), then the best policy is often to let previous plans germinate.  As administrations come and go, the long term path will rarely be exactly what current leaders had in mind, but it’s better to make some progress toward a palatable destination than to make no progress toward the ideal one.  This approach runs counter to the political impulse to exert strong opinions on every aspect of public life, the principle that if it’s possible to have an opinion, one should be had, ideally if it’s perpendicular to that of the opposition.
 
Ultimately, constant course corrections waste previous investments, sap institutional purpose and morale, and deliver uninspiring results.  Ironically, in order to make more sustained progress and not be subjected to micromanaging debate, space exploration might be best served by falling off the political radar.
 
Congressman seeks to set the record straight on COTS’s origins
 
SpacePolitics.com
 
We noted here earlier this week that, in a speech last week, Office of Science and Technology Policy director John Holdren may have gone a little too far in taking credit for the recent successful SpaceX Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) test flight.
 
“This represents an entirely new model for the American space program,” Holdren said, “one initiated by this administration.” COTS, of course, got its start in the previous administration, although the current administration has doubled down with its support for commercial crew in addition to commercial cargo.
 
That comment also got the attention of Rep. Steven Palazzo (R-MS), chairman of the space subcommittee of the House Science Committee. In his opening statement at a hearing Wednesday morning about the commercial launch indemnification regime, he took a tangent to bring up Holdren’s comment.
 
“Mr. Holdren’s statement is, at best, misleading,” Palazzo said, citing COTS’s origins in 2005 and the SpaceX COTS award a year later. “Let the record be clear.”
 
Palazzo also emphasized that point in a separate press release from the committee, which included that portion of his opening statement.
 
A bit of irony, though: the release makes multiple references to “Space-X”. The diminutive form of Space Exploration Technologies Corp. is formally spelled by the company as “SpaceX”, not “Space-X”, “Space X”, or even, on one occasion recently in the media, “Space 10?. Let the record be clear.
 
Reps urge renewal of commercial space insurance
 
Ledyard King - Florida Today
 
The Obama administration is asking Congress to continue the federally sponsored insurance program for the nation's growing commercial space industry.
 
The program expires Dec. 31. Administration officials and aerospace industry representatives told a House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee Wednesday it's imperative such indemnification for launch and re-entry of spacecraft be renewed for another five years or the economic benefits of commercial space might fly overseas.
 
“Extension of the indemnification provision would continue to enable the industry to attract and maintain a customer base in the face of international competitors” that carry such coverage, said George Nield, who heads the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation.
 
Congress created the insurance program in 1988, the year before the first commercial launch, when Space Services Inc. fired the CONSORT-1 satellite into orbit from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
 
There have been 206 launches since then, including last month's much-heralded flight by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket that sent the unmanned Dragon capsule to the International Space Station.
 
FAA officials predict 290 commercial launches will take place around the world from 2012 to 2021 to support telecommunications, satellite imagery, missions to the ISS and science payloads, according to the House Science, Space and Technology Committee.
 
Modeled after the insurance system for the nuclear power industry, the indemnification program is comprised of a risk-sharing arrangement between the federal government and the private sector to cover third-party claims in the event of a catastrophic loss during launch or re-entry.
 
A company must buy a fixed amount of insurance for each launch under a formula set by the FAA. The federal government is liable for claims above that amount.
 
The insurance covers injury, loss and damage — usually up to about $500 million. If a successful third-party claim exceeds that amount, the federal government is authorized to pay up to an additional $2.7 billion subject to congressional approval.
 
During the program's 24-year existence, the government has not had to pay a penny in insurance payments, Nield told the committee.
 
The $2.7 billion cap already puts the U.S. at a competitive disadvantage because other countries, notably China, Russia and France, have no such limit, industry representatives say. Discontinuing the program altogether would hurt U.S. companies further, they contend, because those firms would have to pay more for insurance — costs that likely would be passed on to consumers.
 
“Our companies are making their investment decisions ... against strong international competition,” Aerospace Industries Association Vice President Frank Slazer told lawmakers. “The U.S. space launch industry is not seeking subsidies, but it does require a stable and predictable business environment.”
 
Rep. Ralph Hall, R-Texas, chairman of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee, said he'd like to see the insurance program renewed.
 
“It can be done,” he said. “(And) it probably ought to be done.”
 
Livermore students hook up with space station astronauts
 
Patrick Brown - Contra Costa Times (Walnut Grove, CA)
 
One day before summer vacation, students at Junction Avenue K-8 School got to interact with four astronauts -- one in person and the other three via a live feed from the International Space Station.
 
The whole school had been preparing for Wednesday morning's event by incorporating NASA-related lessons. For instance, first-grade students learned about local former astronauts such as Tammy Jernigan, who was the master of ceremonies at the event.
 
The three astronauts on the overhead projector were dressed casually as they bobbed up and down in zero gravity among a backdrop of gadgets. They each answered questions from the students, letting the mic glide slowly through the air when they passed it.
 
"For astronaut Joe: Are you conducting any experiments that will help us here on Earth relating to energy conservation, waste reduction, or other issues?" asked Jessica, a sixth grader.
 
"Well, that's a great question; just living on the space station, we're doing a little bit of both," said Joseph Acaba, the first astronaut of Puerto Rican heritage who answered questions in Spanish and English. "We have solar arrays to get power from the sun. For our water, we recycle. What we might be urinating today, we'll be drinking shortly."
 
Cue student laughter as Dutch Astronaut André Kuipers pulled out his water container and took a swig.
 
"I can assure you that the only people having more fun than the students during this thing was the astronauts," said Jernigan, now the deputy principal associate director of the Weapons and Complex Integration department at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories.
 
Another student asked astronaut Don Pettit about his efforts to grow plants on the station.
 
"We're not using hydroponics; we're using aeroponics," said Pettit, referring to a method of growing plants using bags full of humid air that encompass the roots.
 
The moisture that is injected into the bag is enriched with space compost made from astronaut leftovers. Pettit described how he is growing broccoli, sunflower and zucchini.
 
Other questions posed to the astronauts related to aliens, emergencies, space junk and how being in space affects their families.
 
The feed from space lasted about 20 minutes, and then Jernigan stepped in to field questions from the students about her experience during five space flights from 1991 to 1999. She left NASA in 2001.
 
One student asked her what they do for fun on the space station.
 
"I think one of the most fun things we do on the space station is being able to float," Jernigan said. "Imagine if you could float to school, wouldn't that be cool? We get to eat upside-down, which is not very comfortable at home."
 
Although many other schools applied, Junction Avenue had a boost from the Lawrence Livermore lab. Jernigan and Bill Bruner, a communications specialist at the lab, both used to work for NASA.
 
Bruner said LLNL will continue to look for opportunities to bring together other government agencies for educational outreach.
 
Another program that the lab uses to help encourage students to learn science is "Fun with Science." Nick Williams, a retired engineer from the lab, gave an abbreviated version of the program to the students on Wednesday as they awaited the live feed from the space station.
 
Williams created "elephant toothpaste" by mixing hydrogen peroxide, dish soap and potassium iodide in a graduated cylinder. The exothermic reaction of rapidly expanding foam got the crowd going.
 
He also demonstrated electricity using some student volunteers. The kids were shocked that the electricity passed through them and powered a light without even giving them a buzz.
 
The Last Leg of a Space Shuttle’s Journey to Manhattan
 
Patrick McGeehan - New York Times
 
First, the space shuttle Enterprise came by air. Then, on Wednesday, it arrived again — this time by sea.
 
Six weeks after the Enterprise made its New York City debut on the back of a 747 jet, it completed its oft-delayed journey to Manhattan in appropriately slow motion. The final act was a precise water ballet involving the shuttle, two barges, three tugboats, a huge floating crane and an aircraft carrier.
 
The mission, witnessed by a rapt crowd of several hundred people on piers along the Hudson River, was to pluck the shuttle off the smaller of the barges and hoist it up to the flight deck of the Intrepid, a retired carrier docked on the West Side that is now the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Enterprise, which was built in 1976 and was the prototype for the shuttles that flew in space, will be its star attraction.
 
At 3:45 p.m., about four hours after it arrived in a procession up the river, the crane hoisted the 75-ton shuttle off the barge. When Enterprise was more than 50 feet in the air, the 240-foot boom pivoted into a stiffening breeze and slowly swung the shuttle tail-first over the Intrepid. The crane’s cables sang a shrill tune as Enterprise descended to the deck.
 
At 4:02 p.m., the Enterprise had landed.
 
“It’s somewhat surreal still,” Susan Marenoff-Zausner, the president of the museum, said as she gazed at the giant model spacecraft perched atop the ship, its nose pointed at New Jersey.
 
The Intrepid was not known for its connections to the space program, but Ms. Marenoff-Zausner and her colleagues managed to persuade the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to award one of the shuttles to the museum last year. That decision was criticized in Texas, Seattle and some other hubs of the aerospace industry.
 
The Enterprise had been on display at a branch of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Virginia. When NASA awarded one of the retired orbiters, Discovery, to the Smithsonian, the agency decided that Enterprise would receive the most exposure in Manhattan.
 
All the foundation that runs the Intrepid had to do was pay NASA about $10 million to deliver Enterprise to Kennedy International Airport and then figure out how to get the shuttle onto the ship.
 
After a few days of weather delays, NASA did its part on April 27, with a throng-pleasing flyover of the city. On Sunday, a tugboat towed the shuttle aboard a barge from the airport around Queens and Brooklyn to Jersey City.
Then, after another weather delay, tugs pushed that barge and a much bigger one holding the crane up the Hudson on Wednesday morning. They were saluted by onlookers lining the waterfront and a flotilla that included police boats, ferries, pleasure craft and fireboats spraying water in high arcs.
 
After making U-turns in the river, the tugs parallel-parked the barges near the stern of the retired carrier. Crews of workers in red coveralls and orange flotation vests carefully trussed up the shuttle, attaching a yellow steel sling at four points on the sides of its fuselage.
 
The floating crane, the same one that was used to extricate the US Airways plane that Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger III had landed nearby in the Hudson in 2009, then lifted the shuttle off the barge. About 15 minutes later, the Enterprise was resting atop the ship and workers were welding the brace behind its front wheels to the flight deck as Matt Woods, the museum’s senior vice president for facilities and engineering, watched with relief.
 
“We battled every element: wind, rain, the tides,” said Mr. Woods, who got only four hours of sleep in a trailer next to the shuttle in Jersey City on Tuesday night. But on Wednesday, he said, “Everything went perfect.”
 
By the end of the week, he said, he expected his crew to have erected a nylon tent over the shuttle to serve as its temporary home. The museum’s trustees hope to find a place to erect a building to house Enterprise permanently.
 
But until then, space buffs will have to pay an additional $6, on top of the regular $22 admission, to enter the shuttle exhibit. It is scheduled to open on July 19.
 
Final Frontier: Shuttle Prototype Enterprise Lands At Intrepid
 
Tara Lynn Wagner - NY1 TV
 
NASA's prototype space shuttle Enterprise made one last journey Wednesday as it was brought over from Port Elizabeth in New Jersey to its new home at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum. NY1's Tara Lynn Wagner filed the following report.
 
The Enterprise had quite an entourage as it arrived at its final frontier. But by far the biggest piece of equipment on the Hudson River was not the 137-foot space shuttle prototype but the massive crane that would hoist it onto the flight deck of the Intrepid.
 
"Every minute of this process has been engineered to the 100th degree," said Susan Marenoff-Zausner, the president of the Intrepid Museum. "At the end of the day, when this thing is being lifted, it's like a ballet."
 
That ballet was performed by the same crane and crew that pulled Sully Sullenberger's plane from the Hudson and also transported material from the World Trade Center site after the September 11th attacks. Wednesday, the crane again assisted history as two vehicles with a role in the space program sat along side one another.
 
"In a very direct way, we have space history," Marenoff-Zausner said. "We've brought in two astronauts and space capsules from Mercury and Gemini missions in the 1960s."
 
Once next to the ship, it was another few hours of tying and tightening and then lift off as the shuttle took to the air one last time. Its final flight was a short one from barge to flight deck.
 
"It's a great day for NYC and for NASA and for America," said NASA Deputy Adminstrator Lori Garver. "This is a true icon of the wonderful space shuttle program."
 
For now, the shuttle is out in the open but it won't be that way for long. Museum officials say they'll begin inflating a temporary structure around the shuttle over the next few days, one that will look like a tennis bubble on the outside but promises to be quite impressive on the inside.
 
"We'll have exhibits to tell the story of the shuttle, the space program," Marenoff-Zausner said. "Really challenge our minds about the future of space."
 
"Enterprise helped us test the space shuttle program, which gave us the International Space Station, which today, we have 6 astronauts and cosmonauts living and working permanently in space," Garver said. "So being able to share the shuttle today is a beautiful day for America."
 
The exhibit, which is co-sponsored by NY1's parent company, Time Warner Cable, will open to the public on July 19.
 
Space shuttle Enterprise docks at New York museum home
 
Matthew Murphy - Reuters
 
The space shuttle Enterprise - named after the spaceship in Star Trek - floated past the Statue of Liberty on a barge on Wednesday and docked near its new home at a museum on New York's Hudson River.
 
Crowds of people turned out to see the retired spacecraft make its final approach to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum where it will go on display atop a World War II aircraft carrier.
 
"Did you see the shuttle?!" said a police officer running up to his uniformed colleagues like an excited child.
 
The crowd, from small children to elderly New Yorkers and foreign tourists, applauded as the shuttle settled into place near the crane that will hoist it onto its new floating home.
 
"It's a piece of history there," said 85-year-old Morty Stein, as helicopters circled overhead.
 
For a shuttle that never made it into space, Enterprise has had quite a journey. In April, hundreds of tourists and New Yorkers watched in awe as Enterprise flew over the city piggy-backed on a Boeing 747 Jumbo jet.
 
Enterprise drew more crowds on Wednesday on the banks of the Hudson to watch the NASA spacecraft make its final approach to its new floating home on Manhattan's west side.
 
Despite never flying in space, Enterprise holds a special place in American history having been the first of NASA's space shuttles. In 1977 it was released in mid-air from a Boeing 747 for a series of gliding and landing tests at Edwards Air Force base in California prior to the first shuttle flight in 1981.
 
Enterprise was originally going to be named Constitution in honor of the bicentennial of the U.S. Constitution. But a fierce letter-writing campaign by Star Trek fans convinced the White House to rename it Enterprise after the fictitious spaceship that Captain Kirk and Mr Spock flew to the frontlines of an intergalactic battle with the Klingons on the popular TV show.
 
Experts say Enterprise captured the hearts and minds of many by embodying the best of American ingenuity.
 
In April last year NASA announced it would retire its space shuttle fleet to locations in New York, Virginia, California and Florida. It decided that Discovery would take Enterprise's place at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Virginia and that Enterprise would be brought to New York.
 
Since its joy-ride over the city in April, Enterprise has been kept in a protective de-icing tent at JFK International Airport. On Saturday, the 171,000-pound Enterprise was lifted by crane onto a barge, a process that took about three hours.
 
It toured Queens and Brooklyn on Sunday pulled by a tugboat, passing by Coney Island and traveling under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge before docking in Port Elizabeth, New Jersey.
 
Officials at Enterprise's new home, the Intrepid Museum, which itself is a repurposed former World War II aircraft carrier, expect the space shuttle to be a major attraction for years to come.
 
1 space shuttle already at museum, 2 more to go
 
Marcia Dunn - Associated Press
 
The space shuttle prototype Enterprise moved to its new home Wednesday, the flight deck of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the Hudson River in New York.
 
NASA's three real space shuttles - the ones that rocketed into orbit - also will spend their retirement in museums.
 
One is already on display. The other two will follow by year's end.
 
A quick look at each ship:
 
·         Discovery: Flown in April to Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center near Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, taking the place of Enterprise. Fleet leader with 39 missions. Oldest survivor of the real shuttles. First flight in 1984, 39th and last in February-March 2011. Spent 365 days in space, traveled 148 million miles.
 
·         Endeavour: Still at Kennedy Space Center. Will be flown in September to California Science Center in Los Angeles. Youngest shuttle, built as replacement for the destroyed Challenger. First flight in 1992, 25th and last in May-June 2011. Spent 299 days in space, traveled 123 million miles.
 
·         Atlantis: Still at Kennedy Space Center. Will be transported down the road to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in November. First flight in 1985, 33rd and last in July 2011. Spent 307 days in space, traveled 126 million miles.
 
·         Enterprise: Flown in April from Smithsonian to New York. Prototype shuttle used in five approach-and-landing tests at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., in 1977; dropped off back of modified jumbo jets with two-man astronaut crews and guided to landings. Never flew in space nor was it designed to do so. Used in NASA tests and traveling exhibits, then given to Smithsonian in 1985.
 
Enterprise prototype lands on aircraft carrier in Manhattan
 
James Dean - Florida Today
 
Enterprise has landed on the deck of its new retirement home, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City.
 
A crane hoisted the prototype shuttle orbiter on to the World War II aircraft carrier docked on Midtown Manhattan’s West Side around 4:15 p.m., completing a nearly seven-week journey from its previous display site at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.
 
Enterprise left the Smithsonian’s Udvar-Hazy Center April 19 to make way for Discovery, and was ferried April 27 from Dulles International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport.
 
Starting Sunday, a barge carried Enterprise through New York Harbor and up the Hudson River – a journey that included a scrape with a Jersey City, N.J., railroad bridge that caused minor damage to the right wing.
 
The barge left Jersey City around 10:15 a.m. today, carrying the orbiter past the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan.
 
The Intrepid will build a climate-controlled pavilion around the orbiter -- with its ferry flight tail cone still attached -- on the carrier’s flight deck. A public exhibit is expected to open next month, and fundraising is under way to build a permanent land-based exhibit facility.
 
Enterprise flew approach and landing tests for NASA in 1977 and performed other early shuttle program tasks, like fit checks at a Kennedy Space Center launch pad. It was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1985. It will be displayed at the Intrepid.
 
NASA awarded Enterprise and three retired space-flown orbiters to museums in April 2011. Discovery went to the Smithsonian in April. Later this year, Endeavour is bound for the California Science Center and Atlantis for the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
 
Space shuttle Enterprise makes final landing
 
CNN
 
The space shuttle Enterprise made its final descent Wednesday, landing at its new home at New York City's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
 
Though it never traveled into outer space, the Enterprise did make its way from a Smithsonian Institute museum near Washington, D.C., above the New York skyline mounted atop a 747 jumbo jet, and up the Hudson River by barge to the museum where it will be displayed for the public.
 
On Wednesday, the shuttle was hoisted by crane and then lowered onto the flight deck of the Intrepid, the decommissioned U.S. aircraft carrier that has been transformed into a museum.
 
As the shuttle moved through the waterways of Lower Manhattan, it made an appearance near the Statue of Liberty.
 
A wingtip of the shuttle was damaged slightly on Sunday during its transit from John F. Kennedy Airport to Weeks Marine in Jersey City, New Jersey, where it was held until Tuesday, according to a statement by Intrepid museum officials. It has since been repaired.
 
The shuttle was on display at a Smithsonian Institute museum before taking flight from Virginia's Dulles International Airport on April 27 and making its final flight to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport.
 
Discovery -- the most traveled of the shuttles -- is replacing Enterprise in the Smithsonian facility.
 
Completed in 1976, Enterprise was designed as a prototype test vehicle. Test pilots demonstrated that it could fly and land in the atmosphere like airplanes, but the Enterprise never flew in space.
 
The shuttle was originally to be named the Constitution, but a write-in campaign by fans of the television series "Star Trek" persuaded officials to rename it in honor of the show's main starship.
 
NASA sent the shuttle on a tour of Europe and Canada in 1983, and it appeared at the 1984 World's Fair in New Orleans. The craft made a brief return to service as a ground test vehicle in 1984 before retiring to the Smithsonian's collection in 1985.
 
NASA is preparing to fly space shuttle Endeavour to Los Angeles sometime in the second half of the year. The final remaining shuttle, Atlantis, is being readied for display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida.
 
The other two shuttles in the NASA program, Challenger and Columbia, were destroyed in flight.
 
Huge Crowds Welcome Shuttle Enterprise to NYC Museum
 
Denise Chow - Space.com
 
Hundreds of eager spectators lined Manhattan's West Side Pier 84 today (June 6), as the space shuttle Enterprise completed the final leg of its journey to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
 
Enterprise arrived at the Intrepid museum at around 12:55 p.m. EDT (1655 GMT), after floating up the Hudson River on a massive barge. Along the way, the shuttle cruised past several iconic city landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center.
 
As Enterprise approached the Intrepid — a retired World War II-era aircraft carrier that has since been converted into a museum — excited onlookers clapped, cheered and snapped pictures of the historic vehicle.
 
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity," said Brian Linton, 19, who will be starting his sophomore year at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. in the fall. "Just to experience it and be here in person is amazing. You can always find pictures of everything online these days and you can research anything, but just being here gives you a great firsthand point of view."
 
Linton watched Enterprise's trip up the Hudson River from Pier 84 with his father, Clinton, who said it was important for him and his son to witness the shuttle's arrival in person because it marks an important chapter in the city's history.
 
"I'm a native New Yorker, and I try to teach my sons everything about New York," Clinton told SPACE.com. "I think this is one part of history that is always going to be talked about, and I want to give my kids that full experience."
 
Clinton added that he was especially motivated to see Enterprise today because he regretted not witnessing the shuttle during its flyover of the city more than a month ago. On April 27, Enterprise flew piggyback atop a modified 747 jumbo jet from its former home at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. to New York's John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport.
 
En route, the shuttle and its carrier aircraft flew past some of the metropolitan city's most recognizable landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty and the Intrepid museum.
 
"There are too many 'would've, could've, should've' moments that got by me, so I don't intend to pass up many other opportunities," Clinton said.
 
The shuttle Enterprise never flew in space, but was used by NASA for a series of approach and landing tests in the 1970s. The prototype orbiter was previously on display at the Smithsonian's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, but was awarded to the Intrepid museum in 2011. The Smithsonian was given the space shuttle Discovery, the oldest and most space-flown shuttle in NASA's fleet, in exchange.
 
While New York may not seem like the "spaciest" city to host a space shuttle prototype, that perception is part of the reason why Enterprise will be such an important exhibit here in the city, said Susan Marenoff-Zausner, president of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
 
"I think that's one of the most significant reasons why we wanted to bring the space shuttle to New York," Marenoff-Zausner told SPACE.com. "This is now NASA's largest and probably most important artifact in the entire Northeast region, so this region has never had that representation before, and we're so humbled by it. What it shows us is that we have a responsibility, and that responsibility is to perpetuate our history, but also use this as a platform for furthering education in the sciences."
 
Marenoff-Zausner watched part of Enterprise's ride up the Hudson River in a boat before coming up to the Intrepid museum, and she said watching the shuttle approach the aircraft carrier was a very moving experience.
 
"Seeing the crowds lining up on both the New Jersey and New York sides was just incredibly emotional," she said. "We've just had unbelievable public support since the day it flew into New York. I've never seen so many boats on the Hudson River at one time. It really created this New York moment of everybody coming together for a really good thing. It has just been tremendous."
 
After the barge carrying Enterprise arrived at the Intrepid, workers attached a giant crane to the shuttle and hoisted the 150,000-pound (68,000-kilogram) vehicle onto the museum's flight deck. This process lasted several hours, and while the crowds died down a little bit, many people opted to stick around to witness the unique moment.
 
"It's very impressive," NASA's deputy administrator Lori Garver said about the enthusiasm of the spectators. "It's a great thing to see members of the public see what we in the space program know is such an important part of our history and will lead to an even brighter future."
 
As Enterprise pulled up to the Intrepid under sunny skies, Garver commented on her own enthusiasm for the moment.
 
"This is one of the better days at NASA and I don't think I would ever get tired of it if they made me do this every single day," she said.
 
Space shuttle Enterprise arrives at Manhattan home
 
Karen Matthews - Huffington Post
 
New Yorkers lined the West Side waterfront to welcome the space shuttle Enterprise as it sailed up the Hudson River on Wednesday to its new home aboard the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
 
The prototype space shuttle rode a barge from Jersey City, N.J. to the Intrepid, where it was hoisted by crane onto the flight deck.
 
A flotilla of vessels including a police boat, a Fire Department boat and a yellow taxi boat accompanied the Enterprise as it sailed past the Statue of Liberty, the World Trade Center site and other Manhattan landmarks en route to the Intrepid at midtown.
 
"I've never seen a space shuttle, and I'm looking at one," said Thomas Hoffler, 69, who described himself as homeless. "I'm just spellbound."
 
Fashion photographer Stewart Shining, 47, said his young nephews in California had emailed him to ask if he could see the Enterprise.
 
"I just walked over and had a peep and took some pictures," he said.
 
Multimedia producer Tara Gore also took a break from work to watch the shuttle.
 
"There's so much going on in New York that you can walk out of your office and see the space shuttle floating by," she said.
 
The Enterprise's original move-in date was Tuesday. Organizers said Monday that bad weather had delayed preparation work.
 
The shuttle was towed to New Jersey from Kennedy Airport on Sunday.
 
A spokeswoman for the Intrepid said the shuttle's wingtip sustained light cosmetic damage during the Sunday trip when a gust of wind caused it to graze a wood piling.
 
The Enterprise never went on an actual space mission; it was a full-scale test vehicle used for flights in the atmosphere and experiments on the ground.
 
It comes to New York as part of NASA's decision to end the shuttle program after 30 years. It is scheduled to open to the public in mid-July.
 
Many who watched the shuttle's passage up the Hudson posted photos on Twitter.
 
Maricel Presilla, a food writer, tweeted, "WOW. Space shuttle passes by the Hudson on its way to Intrepid. Big deal to see it on the water."
 
The private space industry has eyes for Texas, but not everyone’s on board
 
Kelly Connelly - State Impact Texas (local public radio collaboration)
 
Maybe you’ve heard of Space X, the private space exploration company that recently docked their first spacecraft at the International Space Station. Now they’re looking to expand their operation in Texas.
 
Space X is undergoing the permit process with the Federal Aviation Administration for a launch pad outside of Brownsville, at the southern tip of the state.
 
A new Space X launch pad could be economically beneficial for the city. Gilberto Salinas of the Brownsville Economic Development Council says Space X could “change the game” in town.  “The jobs that it would bring with it,” Salinas says, “it would bring about 600 [direct] jobs paying extremely well.  It could drop our unemployment by one full percentage point.”
 
But not everyone is happy about the site Space X has chosen.
 
The plot of land is surrounded by Boca Chica State Park – the home of several endangered species, including sea turtles, ocelots, jaguarundi, and piping plovers. Some are worried the launch pad would have a negative impact on the animals in the area.
 
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, in response to a request for data from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said they are concerned about the endangered species known to be in the area nearby. The letter also cites several laws, like the federal Endangered Species Act, that must be considered in the approval of the proposal.
 
Environment Texas, an environmental group, is readying a petition to send to Elon Musk, the head of Space X (as well as the CEO of Tesla Motors, an electric car company, and also a co-founder of PayPal), asking him to look for other land in Texas. The group says they’re all for a space program, just one that isn’t so close to sensitive wildlife. “If they build this space port in the middle of this wildlife refuge we’ll have million pound rockets launched a dozen times a year,” Luke Metzger, the head of Environment Texas, told StateImpact Texas, “causing heat, noise, vibrations, that could scare creatures from miles around and severally impact the survival of these species.”
 
For Space X, Brownsville is an appealing location because of its proximity to the Johnson Space Center and a company testing facility already in operation in McGregor, Texas. “We do a lot of critical work there,” says Kirstin Grantham, spokesperson for Space X. “Every engine that powers the Falcon 9 rocket is tested in McGregor.” Space X needs a location that’s secluded and close to the equator for the strongest possible push into orbit.
 
“We’re working not just to manufacture rockets and spacecraft the way it’s always been done,” Grantham says, “but to we’re looking to advance the boundaries of what is possible. We’re looking to advance the technology of spaceflight.”
 
But Metzger of Environment Texas says that beyond environmental concerns, the effects of the launch pad would also reverberate in Brownsville’s tourist economy. Brownsville is one of the most popular destinations for birdwatchers in the nation – birds that may leave after the space pad is built. Metzger pointed to a study by Texas A&M that found that birdwatching tourism provides over $344 million annually and over 4,400 jobs to the lower Rio Grande Region. “According to the study, the lower Rio Grande Valley is the number 2 most visited birdwatching site in North America,” he says. “It’s in the middle of a migratory pathway that brings people from all over the world.”
 
To insure the facility is environmentally sound, Space X’s proposal to the Federal Aviation Administration hinges on an Environmental Impact Statement. The Federal Aviation Administration declined to comment on the status of Space X’s proposal before the Environmental Review is complete.
 
SpaceX and space politics
 
George Leopold - EE Times (Opinion)
 
As if another example were needed, here’s the latest illustration of why Washington is dysfunctional.
 
There was great rejoicing last week over the highly successful commercial space mission to the International Space Station. The successful docking of a cargo ship designed and launched by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, was a great advance in terms of maintaining U.S. access to low-Earth orbit. It was a bit of good news amid the steady stream of bad economic news and man’s inhumanity toward his fellow man and women.
 
Now, a pissing match has erupted over who should get the political credit for the success of the SpaceX mission.
 
The commercial cargo and crew program under which SpaceX and other competitors operate was created, according to the chairman of the House Science Committee’s space panel, by the Bush administration in 2005. Congress authorized funding for the program, and SpaceX received its contract the following year.
 
Good for the Bush administration, which did not fund a successor to the space shuttle, and the Congress. Point for them.
 
At a hearing on Wednesday (June 6), space panel chairman Steven Palazzo, attacked the Obama administration for taking credit last week for the success of the SpaceX mission. Palazzo charged that John Holden, the White House science advisor, made “misleading” statements in claiming credit for the successful test flight.
 
We’ve got some news for the petty politicians: The credit for the success of the SpaceX first test flight goes to the engineers, designers, technicians, code jockeys, metal benders and managers at SpaceX along with NASA program administrators. If not for the months of testing and retesting, weeks of painstaking validation of the software code needed for spacecraft navigation and communications with the space station, this test flight would not have achieved all of its goals.
 
SpaceX and its visionary founder Elon Musk did what they set out to do. The politicians who control NASA’s budget and profess support for commercial space should drop the partisan crap and provide the funding necessary to build on the success of the first commercial flight to the space station.
 
SpaceX quickly becomes an out-of-the-world brand
 
Garrett Sloane - New York Post
 
Space is turning into the financial frontier.
 
A Silicon Valley startup that sent its first successful rocket to the International Space Station and is pioneering the commercialization of the solar system, SpaceX, is soaring in valuation, a new report suggests.
 
The company, founded by Elon Musk, is now worth $4.8 billion, double its value from April, according to a research report from PrivCo., expected to be released today.
 
The rocket-like success is the afterglow of the first commercial transit to the space station last month, and SpaceX’s lucrative NASA contracts.
 
The PrivCo. report finds shares in SpaceX are listed in private market auctions at an asking price of $18.50.
 
The research firm valued the shares at $20.
 
SpaceX said it is cash flow positive, and the company’s revenue was forecast to jump from more than $400 million this year to about $1.3 billion in 2015.
 
END
 
 


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