9/11/12 news

  Tuesday, September 11, 2012   JSC TODAY HEADLINES 1.            Watch the Departure of the Japanese HTV-3 on NASA TV Tomorrow 2.            Sign Off to Endeavour! 3.            100 YSS Plenary Session - Salute to 50 Years of Human Spaceflight and JSC 4.            Student Biology Investigations Streamed Live from Station 5.            Out & Allied @ JSC ERG Meeting 6.            This Week at Starport -- Get Your Curiosity Shirts Now 7.            Volunteers Needed for Open House 8.            Learn Ways to Manage Your Manager 9.            AIAA 2012 Honors and Awards Nominations 10.          Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting Today 11.          Looking Forward to Safety and Health Day 12.          EWB-JSC Fruit Dryer Work Overview 13.          Space Available - Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics 14.          Software Design That Spans Desktop PCs to Parallel Super Computers ________________________________________     QUOTE OF THE DAY “ Be glad of life, because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars. ”   -- Henry Van Dyke ________________________________________ 1.            Watch the Departure of the Japanese HTV-3 on NASA TV Tomorrow NASA TV will provide live coverage of the departure of the third Japanese "Kounotori3" H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV-3) cargo ship from the International Space Station in two broadcasts tomorrow, Sept. 12. The first, covering unberthing, will begin at 5:30 a.m. CDT; and the second, covering release, will begin at 10:30 a.m.   HTV-3, launched by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) July 21, arrived at the orbiting laboratory July 27 with several tons of supplies and experiments. Its departure, originally planned for Sept. 6, was delayed to accommodate a second spacewalk by Expedition 32 Flight Engineers Sunita Williams of NASA and Akihiko Hoshide of JAXA on Sept. 5.   Hoshide and fellow Expedition 32 Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA will be at the controls of the station's Canadarm2 robotic arm to unbolt and disengage the cargo craft from the station's Harmony module. A few hours later the astronauts will release the cargo craft, which will move a safe distance away from the complex.   JAXA flight controllers later will fire the spacecraft's engine, initiating its destructive entry back through Earth's atmosphere.   JSC employees with wired computer network connections can view NASA TV using onsite IPTV on channels 404 (standard definition) or 4541 (HD) at http://iptv.jsc.nasa.gov/eztv/   If you are having problems viewing the video using these systems, contact the Information Resources Directorate Customer Support Center at x46367.   For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station   JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111   [top] 2.            Sign Off to Endeavour! Stop by the cafés (Buildings 3 and 11) on Wednesday and Thursday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. this week to sign the Endeavour "Best wishes" banners! For those who are off site, the banners will be available at the Gilruth Center lobby on Friday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Your signature and a sign-off message are welcome.   Susan H. Anderson x38630   [top] 3.            100 YSS Plenary Session - Salute to 50 Years of Human Spaceflight and JSC Former Astronaut Mae Jemison is hosting the 100 Year Starship 2012 Public Symposium at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in downtown Houston from Sept. 13 to 16. The purpose of the symposium is to galvanize public and private industry and create grassroots support for human travel beyond our solar system and to another star. As part of the symposium, a JSC Tribute Plenary Session highlighting the successes and challenges of America's human spaceflight program will be held on Friday, Sept. 14, from 5:30 to 7 p.m.   JSC has secured a limited number of tickets for this event and would like to offer them to the JSC community on a first-come, first-served basis. Limit two tickets per person.   If you would like to reserve a ticket(s), please contact Hallie Frazee at 281-792-7929 or: hallie.frazee@nasa.gov   For more information about the 100 Year Star Ship Symposium, please visit: http://symposium.100yss.org/about-100yss   Hallie Frazee 281-792-7929   [top] 4.            Student Biology Investigations Streamed Live from Station Several young researchers were incredibly excited when the latest Japanese cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station in late July. Along with the usual food, clothing and science investigations, the spacecraft delivered the two global YouTube Space Lab winning entries.   Dorothy Chen and Sara Ma (from Troy, Mich.) and Amr Mohamed (from Alexandria, Egypt) won this opportunity to do research in the orbiting laboratory's microgravity environment -- while attending high school.   Read more about their amazing work featured in our orbiting lab at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/news/livestream.html   The student experiments are scheduled to stream live via video from the space station on the YouTube Space Lab website -- http://www.youtube.com/user/spacelab/spacelab -- on Sept. 13 at 9:30 a.m. CDT. Don't forget to tune in!   JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111   [top] 5.            Out & Allied @ JSC ERG Meeting The Out & Allied @ JSC Employee Resource Group (ERG) will be holding the next monthly meeting tomorrow, Sept. 12. The Out & Allied @ JSC team consists of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender employees and their allies. This month we'll discuss fall recruiting, ally training and our level of openness. Please join us! Those interested in participating can confidentially contact the ERG chair via the link below to be provided with the meeting location and time.   Steve Riley x37019 http://collaboration.ndc.nasa.gov/iierg/LGBTA/SitePages/Home.aspx   [top] 6.            This Week at Starport -- Get Your Curiosity Shirts Now MARS shirts have landed! Visit the Starport Gift Shops in Buildings 3 and 11 to get yours now. Limited supply. Adult small to XL are $15; 2X to 3X are $17; and youth sizes are $12. Come see what the CURIOSITY is all about!   Last chance for discounts on the "Swinter" sale at Starport Gift Shops! Sale ends Sept. 14, so come take advantage of the 10- to 50-percent savings on summer inventory being cleared out.   NASA Night at the Ballpark is this Friday as the Astros take on the Phillies. Visit http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/Events/ for discount ticket pricing and purchase information.   Shelly Haralson x39168 http://starport.jsc.nasa.gov/   [top] 7.            Volunteers Needed for Open House Ballunar and Open House are just around the corner! This unique weekend of fun takes place at JSC from Sept. 28 to 30. The center transforms into the location of the RE/MAX Ballunar Liftoff Festival and JSC's Open House. It's a one-of-a-kind tribute to human flight -- from the beauty of mass hot air balloon ascensions to the high-tech world of modern spaceflight. In addition to open tours and exhibits at NASA buildings, astronaut autograph sessions are scheduled in the Ballunar area on Saturday, Sept. 29, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Volunteer staffing shifts for sign setups/takedowns are: Friday, Sept. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday, Sept.30, from noon to 2 p.m. Volunteer staffing shifts for the information booths and education booths are: Saturday, Sept. 29, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30p.m. and noon to 4 p.m. Please contact Hallie Frazee at hallie.frazee@nasa.gov or x27929 with the dates and times you are interested in volunteering for.   Hallie Frazee 281-792-7929   [top] 8.            Learn Ways to Manage Your Manager Please join the JSC National Management Association (NMA) for a free professional development discussion for administrative officers and support professionals.   If you've ever wondered how to manage your manager as an administrative-support professional more effectively, please attend this JSC NMA Brown Bag designed to share lessons learned and best practices.   On Sept. 19, this interactive discussion will be available at two different sessions to choose from -- 11 a.m. to noon and noon to 1 p.m. -- in the newly renovated Building 12, Room 253.   Please submit information you'd like to discuss about this topic in advance to Heather Williams at heather.d.williams@nasa.gov no later than Sept. 12.   This opportunity is open to all JSC team members and civil servant and contractor administrative professionals.   For additional information and for onsite badging, please contact Carolyn Fritz at x32017.   Carolyn Fritz x32017   [top] 9.            AIAA 2012 Honors and Awards Nominations The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) Houston Section is soliciting nominations for several awards that have deadlines approaching within the month, and we would like to have as many nominees from the Houston section as possible. The following links detail how to submit a nomination:   Link to AIAA Honors and Awards (includes FAQ, nomination links and membership upgrades on right-hand menu): https://aiaa.org/secondary.aspx?id=230   Award descriptions (please read full description before submitting a nomination): https://aiaa.org/HonorsAndAwardsList.aspx?id=5859   Direct link to nomination form (requires login): https://www.aiaa.org/IframeOneColumn.aspx?id=3411&returnURL=https%3a%2f%2faia...   There are other awards offered with deadlines later in the year. These can also be found at the award description link above.   If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at honors2012@aiaahouston.org with "AIAA 2012 Awards" in the subject line.   Further information will be available shortly at: http://www.aiaahouston.org/   Jennifer Wells, AIAA Houston Section Honors and Awards 2012 281-336-6302   [top] 10.          Space Serenity Al-Anon Meeting Today "How important is it?" is a slogan Al-Anon members use to put BIG and small things in perspective. Our 12-step meeting is for co-workers, families and friends of those who live with the family disease of alcoholism. We meet today, Sept. 10, in Building 32, Room 142, from 11 to 11:50 a.m. Visitors are welcome.   Lorraine Bennett x36130 http://sashare.jsc.nasa.gov/EAP/Pages/default.aspx   [top] 11.          Looking Forward to Safety and Health Day It won't be long now, so start making plans.   JSC's annual Safety & Health Day will be a half-day stand-down event on Thursday, Oct. 11 -- a time to highlight safety and health activities, in-house training and education. A special emphasis is being placed on disability awareness. You may be surprised at what you don't know.   Besides activities in your own directorate, you will have an opportunity to hear a special speaker in the Teague Auditorium, get your annual flu shot, take part in booths, displays and demonstrations, and be a part of the health run/walk at the Gilruth Center in the afternoon.   Start thinking now about how to fill your day and make the most of it! More details to come.   Angel Plaza, S&H Day Co-chair x37305   [top] 12.          EWB-JSC Fruit Dryer Work Overview The JSC Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is traveling to Rwanda to visit L'Esperance Children's Aid Orphanage for a site assessment, where a fruit-dehydration system that the chapter is designing and testing will be built in the summer of 2013. The chapter is currently building the test article of the dryer and will begin testing in the coming months. Stop by tomorrow, Sept. 12, in Building 7, Room 141, from noon to 1 p.m. to see the design and photos of the team building the test article, along with information on how you can get involved. No RSVP required.   Angela Cason x40903 http://ewb-jsc.org/index.html   [top] 13.          Space Available - Fundamentals of Computational Fluid Dynamics This introductory course will prepare you for a career in the rapidly expanding field of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This course is supported extensively with textbooks, computer programs and user manuals. You can use the computer programs to develop your own code, or you may modify the existing code for assigned applications.   A fundamental knowledge of computer programming and familiarity with a basic graphic package are required. This course is designed for engineers, scientists and technical managers who are interested in learning the fundamentals and principles of CFD.   This course is available for self-registration in SATERN and is open to civil servants and contractors on a space-available basis.   Dates: Thursday to Friday, Sept. 13 to 14 Location: Building 12, Room 144   Zeeaa Quadri x39723 https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHED...   [top] 14.          Software Design That Spans Desktop PCs to Parallel Super Computers Date/Time: Tomorrow, Sept. 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 a.m. Location: Building 1, Room 620   You are invited to JSC's SAIC and Safety and Mission Assurance (S&MA) Speaker Forum featuring Lee Morris Taylor, Ph.D., vice president, TeraScale Division, ANATECH Corporation.   Software effectiveness will be illustrated through real-world examples of impact dynamics by the NEi Explicit code distributed by NEi Software of Westminster, Calif. Examples will include 3-D aircraft impact on large pre-stressed concrete structures. The size and complexity of nonlinear analysis models and the necessity to perform multi-physics simulations is a challenge for the mechanics community. The demand from the analyst is for easy-to-use, cost-effective, time-efficient analysis tools for these complex problems. This talk will describe the ANATECH parallel computational framework that facilitates rapid algorithm development and testing.   Della Cardona 281-335-2074   [top]   ________________________________________ 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: ·                     11:50 am Central (12:50 pm EDT) – Expedition 32 interview with NASAWatch ·                     5:30 am Central WEDNESDAY (6:30 EDT) –  HTV-3 unberthing coverage (set for 5:55 CDT) ·                     10:30 am Central WEDNESDAY (11:30 EDT) – HTV-3 release coverage (set for 10:50 CDT)   Human Spaceflight News Tuesday – September 11, 2012     HEADLINES AND LEADS   NASA's commercial trio: Winning strengths outlined   Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com   NASA cited SpaceX's flight experience with the Dragon spacecraft and Boeing's methodical approach to designing a crew capsule in its decision to award the companies $900 million to develop a human-rated commercial spaceship, according to a document released last week. Proposals by Boeing and SpaceX were the strongest received by NASA in the commercial crew competition, which bypassed a bid submitted by rocket-builder ATK and selected Sierra Nevada Corp. for a partial award of $212 million, according to a selection statement posted on a NASA website. The 21-month agreements with Boeing, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada were signed to fulfill NASA's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability, or CCiCap, phase of the commercial crew program, which aims to develop a privately-owned human space transportation system to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017.   Boeing, Sierra Nevada and SpaceX bite into first milestones   Zach Rosenberg - FlightInternational.com   The three companies selected by NASA for its commercial crew integrated capability (CCiCap) programme - Boeing, Sierra Nevada and SpaceX - are beginning to reach their initial development milestones, which will see them receive the first tranche of funding under the scheme. CCiCap is designed to stimulate the development of crew transportation capabilities to low Earth orbit and each of the three companies involved in the programme has a set of targets to hit in order to receive payment from the space agency.   Q&A with Paul Kostek How private spaceships will inspire future generations   Denise Chow - Space.com   As a new fleet of private spaceships prepare to take flight by 2015, the age of commercial spaceflight may be just around the corner. With the idea of space vacations no longer the stuff of science fiction, the rise of commercial spaceflight could be a crucial game changer for the aerospace industry. NASA is expecting to purchase seats aboard private space vehicles to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station. This type of high-profile paradigm shift may be just the kind of excitement that is needed to inspire the next generation of engineers, scientists and space explorers, according to Paul Kostek, former president U.S. division of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE-USA), a professional society dedicated to furthering engineering and technological innovation.   NRC Urges Greater Collaboration On Orbital Debris Tracking   Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily   U.S. Air Force Space Command should adopt a policy of greater transparency and encourage wider participation in the development of the algorithms and computer systems it relies on to track the growing amount of orbital debris and the threat it poses to functioning satellites, according to the National Research Council. USAF, through U.S. Strategic Command and the Joint Space Operations Center, is primarily responsible for the tracking and warning apparatus.   Endeavour to visit Houston area   Erin Mulvaney - Houston Chronicle   En route to its final destination in Los Angeles, the space shuttle Endeavour will soar about 1,500 feet above spots in Houston, Clear Lake and Galveston next week and make a stop at Ellington Airport. The shuttle, which completed 25 missions, spent 299 days in orbit and circled the Earth 4,661 times, will be carried atop NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, from Florida to California starting next Monday.   Space shuttle Endeavour will fly low over South on way to Los Angeles   Lee Roop - Huntsville Times   Space shuttle Endeavour will make a low flight over parts of the Deep South next week as it heads for its new home in Los Angeles. The shuttle will also spend a day and night near the Johnson Space Center in Houston, a town angered when it was passed over as the permanent home of one of the retiring shuttles. Missing from the itinerary, however, is a fly-over of Huntsville, Alabama, home of the team that managed the shuttles' engines, solid rocket boosters and external tanks.   Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority pursues shuttle strip Owner of 3 airports seeks county's support   Dave Berman - Florida Today   The owner of three local general-aviation airports now wants to take over operations of Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility as part of a two-pronged approach to attract more space-related companies to the area. The Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority tonight will seek Brevard County Commission support in its bid to operate the Shuttle Landing Facility, a 15,000-foot-long runway that opened in 1976. It is asking the County Commission to approve a resolution to indicate that the authority “is the logical choice to be the entity responsible for assisting NASA in repurposing the Shuttle Landing Facility as a multiuser spaceport.”   From the Farm to Space Astronaut-Turned-Congressional Candidate Tells Story in New Book   Clara Moskowitz - Space.com   Jose Hernandez's career path may be unique. The native of Stockton, Calif., spent his childhood traveling between Mexico and the United States working as a migrant farmer with his family. In 2004 he was selected as a NASA astronaut, and he flew on the space shuttle in 2009. Now retired from the space agency, Hernandez is running for Congress in California as a Democrat.   America’s Most Important Warplane Is Old, Ugly … and Flown by NASA   David Axe - Wired.com   They’re 49 years old, ugly and owned by NASA, not the Pentagon. But two modified WB-57F Canberras are now among America’s most important warplanes. With anonymous-looking white paint jobs, the Canberras have been taking turns deploying to Afghanistan carrying a high-tech new radio translator designed to connect pretty much any fighter, bomber, spy plane and ground radio to, well, pretty much any other fighter, bomber, spy plane and ground radio. That makes the former Air Force reconnaissance planes, originally transferred to the space agency for science missions, essential hubs of the American-led war effort. With the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node system, or BACN, the WB-57s act as Star Trek-style universal translators, passing data between planes and troops and finally bringing to life the Pentagon’s decades-old dream of speedy, information-propelled, networked warfare.   SpaceX founder guides vision for rising company   Charlene Vandini - Valley Morning Star   SpaceX is the third component of The Future According to Musk. In a 2007 interview with Inc. magazine, which had named him its entrepreneur of the year, Elon Musk identified three areas that would affect the future of humanity: the Internet, sustainable energy and space exploration. Musk, the 41-year-old founder, CEO and chief designer at Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is a player in all three. His net worth is estimated at almost $2 billion, but he draws an annual salary of $1. He believes SpaceX will land astronauts on Mars within 10 years, 15 to 20 years at the most.   FAA takes environmental look at SpaceX plan   Ryan Henry - Brownsville Herald   SpaceX may be setting its sights on humankind’s final frontier — the cosmos — but the proposal to build a rocket launch site in Cameron County is raising questions among environmentalists about the fate of our original frontier — the Earth. For a proposal that presents the hope of economic progress for the region, conservationists likely could generate the biggest source of opposition, perhaps even its demise. Or, they could play a decisive role in influencing and refining the proposal so that it addresses environmental concerns and alleviates the potential impact to nearby wildlife refuges, bays, tidal flats, beaches and ocean ecologies.   Why launch near wildlife refuges?   Ryan Henry - Brownsville Herald   According to SpaceX, rocket launch sites require insulation from urban development, just as wildlife habitats do. Building in the middle of a ref-uge protects the launch site from encroaching development, which would threaten future operations. For example, during launches SpaceX must guarantee that a 1.5-mile radius around the rocket has been cleared of all unauthorized people, for safety. That radius translates to a little more than 7 square miles, or 4,522 acres — though perhaps about a quarter to a third of that zone appears to extend into the Gulf of Mexico, according to a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department map.   State records don't provide complete picture   Ryan Henry - Brownsville Herald   At the proposed SpaceX launch site at Boca Chica Beach, animal and plant species are not always well accounted for in state records. In a letter to the FAA on the SpaceX project, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department expressed concern about 31 species. Yet in the same document, the agency linked just five animals and one plant to a footnote that explains only those six have been shown by the state database to have been documented at or within 5 miles of the Boca Chica site. The animals are the jaguarundi, ocelot, piping plover, green sea turtle and peregrine falcon. The flower, lila de los llanos, is listed as a species of concern, but it is not endangered.   Rocket fuel is nontoxic, expert says   Ryan Henry - Brownsville Herald   Many have wondered if, among the potential risks to the environment, the rockets’ plumes of smoke would be toxic to wildlife at Boca Chica. According to SpaceX, its Falcon 9 rocket features a different, safer fuel than some of the more familiar launch vehicles, such as NASA’s retired fleet of space shuttles. The Falcon 9 uses a refined kerosene-type fuel called RP-1, or rocket propellant 1, which SpaceX and the astronautics industry describe as nontoxic.   What about sea turtles?   Ryan Henry - Brownsville Herald   Sea turtles have something in common with Elon Musk’s SpaceX: They’re both drawn to the night sky. A newly hatched turtle expends large amounts of energy to dig free of its launching pad, a nest buried deep in the coastal sands of Boca Chica or South Padre Island. Once on the surface of the beach, the young turtle is drawn to the cosmos, wriggling toward the boldest light in the heavens, usually the moon or the rising sun, which reflects on the surf and leads it to the Gulf of Mexico. __________   COMPLETE STORIES   NASA's commercial trio: Winning strengths outlined   Stephen Clark - SpaceflightNow.com   NASA cited SpaceX's flight experience with the Dragon spacecraft and Boeing's methodical approach to designing a crew capsule in its decision to award the companies $900 million to develop a human-rated commercial spaceship, according to a document released last week.   Proposals by Boeing and SpaceX were the strongest received by NASA in the commercial crew competition, which bypassed a bid submitted by rocket-builder ATK and selected Sierra Nevada Corp. for a partial award of $212 million, according to a selection statement posted on a NASA website.   The 21-month agreements with Boeing, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada were signed to fulfill NASA's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability, or CCiCap, phase of the commercial crew program, which aims to develop a privately-owned human space transportation system to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017.   "It is a capability that includes the spacecraft, the launch vehicle, the ground operations, as well as the flight operations," said Ed Mango, NASA's commercial crew program manger, during the Aug. 3 announcement of the CCiCap winners.   The selection document, which details the strengths and weaknesses considered in NASA's decision, was signed by Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for the space agency's human exploration and operations directorate.   "I find SpaceX's ability to leverage its existing Falcon/Dragon cargo system with incremental targeted design upgrades reduces the overall scope of the development effort going forward," Gerstenmaier wrote.   SpaceX plans up to 25 flights of the Falcon 9 rocket before the launcher's first crewed mission. Nine unmanned Dragon cargo flights are scheduled before astronauts fly in the capsule, according to SpaceX.   According to the selection document, the flight heritage of Falcon 9 and Dragon is a "strong technical advantage" and will reveal what parts of the spacecraft and ground systems need additional work.   The Boeing proposal was marked by a "comprehensive approach" for the development of the CST-100 crew capsule, including incremental design milestones leading to a critical design review - when the spacecraft's design will be frozen - in April 2014.   "This approach did a good job of tying the milestones to completion of certification and qualification activities and will allow for greater review and understanding of technical products prior to advancing to later development milestones," Gerstenmaier wrote.   Boeing and SpaceX received agreements worth up to $460 million and $440 million, respectively. NASA will make payments upon the completion of predetermined design and testing milestones.   In the statement, Gerstenmaier wrote that SpaceX's proposal had the lowest overall development cost of the winning bids, and Boeing's corporate investment was less than any of the firms.   NASA's strategy for commercial crew development focuses on cost-sharing between the government and private industry.   Boeing's agreement includes 19 milestones with significant progress in the CST-100 capsule's propulsion system, avionics and wind tunnel testing.   SpaceX will work on the Dragon capsule's side-mounted abort system, test the abort system with on-pad and in-flight demonstrations, upgrade the Falcon 9 rocket with more powerful engines, and culminate in a critical design review. The SpaceX agreement includes 14 milestones.   SpaceX is targeting a mid-2015 crewed Dragon test flight, and Boeing's schedule calls for a piloted CST-100 demo mission in late 2016.   Sierra Nevada's agreement features nine milestones to advance the design of the company's Dream Chaser lifting body spacecraft, including risk reduction work on propulsion, attitude control, and other subsystems.   Sierra Nevada will also conduct atmospheric landing tests of a Dream Chaser test article.   In his decision to award Sierra Nevada less than half the amount received by the other CCiCap winners, Gerstenmaier highlighted the complexity and risk of the Dream Chaser's design, which could cause delays and cost growth.   But NASA kept Sierra Nevada in the program due to the unique Dream Chaser concept. The winged lifting body would return to Earth for a runway landing, giving crews and science payloads a smoother ride than capsules.   CST-100 and Dream Chaser flights would blast off aboard United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rockets from Cape Canaveral, Fla.   All three systems approved for government funding would carry up to seven astronauts on each flight.   In addition to the Liberty proposal by ATK, NASA received bids from Spacedesign Corp., American Aerospace Inc. and Space Operations. Those three proposals were not considered because they were late or did not meet fundamental criteria set for the competition, according to the selection statement.   Boeing, Sierra Nevada and SpaceX bite into first milestones   Zach Rosenberg - FlightInternational.com   The three companies selected by NASA for its commercial crew integrated capability (CCiCap) programme - Boeing, Sierra Nevada and SpaceX - are beginning to reach their initial development milestones, which will see them receive the first tranche of funding under the scheme.   CCiCap is designed to stimulate the development of crew transportation capabilities to low Earth orbit and each of the three companies involved in the programme has a set of targets to hit in order to receive payment from the space agency.   For its part, Sierra Nevada has completed a programme implementation plan review, which will bring it $30 million under the terms of its space act agreement with NASA. The next milestone, worth as much as £213 million, will be for work on its Dream Chaser winged lifting body, which is currently undergoing preparations for drop tests.   "We agreed to the plan for accomplishing a significant amount of hardware development, testing and the reviews necessary to advance the Dream Chaser toward orbital flight," says Jim Voss, Sierra Nevada's vice-president for space systems.   Boeing, too, is nearing completion of its first programme checkpoint, worth $50 million. "We had the integrated systems review last week, and that went extremely well," says John Mulholland, Boeing's programme manager. "We have a good plan. We have a detailed schedule to support each of these near-term milestones," he adds. "The first four will essentially bring us through the calendar year and into the next, and we're on track to complete those on schedule."   Boeing is developing its CST-100, a more traditional capsule-style vehicle, and stands to receive up to $460 million for completing all its CCiCap milestones.   While SpaceX's has not officially reached its initial CCiCap, the company had two scheduled for completion in August: the CCiCap kickoff meeting, at which the company presents its plans to accomplish all the base period milestones, and a financial and business review to verify the company's ability to do so.   NASA earlier announced that SpaceX had completed the commercial orbital transportation services (COTS) contract, a trial mission to shuttle cargo to and from the International Space Station. With COTS finished, the company has moved beyond the testing phase and plans to launch in October the first of twelve commercial cargo flights to the ISS under a commercial resupply service contract.   Q&A with Paul Kostek How private spaceships will inspire future generations   Denise Chow - Space.com   As a new fleet of private spaceships prepare to take flight by 2015, the age of commercial spaceflight may be just around the corner.   With the idea of space vacations no longer the stuff of science fiction, the rise of commercial spaceflight could be a crucial game changer for the aerospace industry. NASA is expecting to purchase seats aboard private space vehicles to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station.   This type of high-profile paradigm shift may be just the kind of excitement that is needed to inspire the next generation of engineers, scientists and space explorers, according to Paul Kostek, former president U.S. division of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE-USA), a professional society dedicated to furthering engineering and technological innovation.   SPACE.com recently spoke to Kostek, who is currently the president of the IEEE Aerospace & Electronics Systems Society, about how commercial spaceflight could boost interest in the so-called STEM careers (ones in science, technology, engineering and math), and why this is all good news for society.   SPACE.com: What do you see as the greatest possibilities for the commercial spaceflight industry? What excites you the most about these changes?   Paul Kostek: The positive thing that I see about commercialization is that it's bringing back a level of excitement that the space program hasn't had in a very long time. Take SpaceX for example, this is not really a garage operation — there's a lot of money involved — but it's their own money.   I think that's the type of thing that will attract young people to the aerospace industry, because this is something exciting. It's the type of Silicon Valley excitement, where people look at companies like Facebook and go: this is huge, and I could have an impact. I think that's the type of excitement that will bring people into the aerospace industry.   SPACE.com: How do you think commercial spaceflight will affect STEM education?   Kostek: Once SpaceX's Dragon missions start going, and once Richard Branson's [Virgin Galactic] group starts doing actual flights, these types of things will bring people into the STEM field. Even if they don't end up directly in the aerospace world, it will generate that type of excitement.   Back when we landed on the moon, I was a 12-year-old kid, and now I've gotten to be a part of this world. This is what we're going to have over the next few years: that excitement level where people look at this and go: I want to be part of this. This is kind of what's been missing.   I think even with the space shuttle, it flew up and went to the space station, but there wasn't really a sense of: where is this going to go next? The commercial side is really wide open. Once they start traveling with tourists, they can build off of that, and it allows NASA to focus on longer-term projects. Altogether, it will feed into getting people excited again about the cool things that people can do out there in the STEM world.   SPACE.com: What are some misconceptions with STEM education that you see?   Kostek: You have to look at engineering from its simplest description, which is problem solving. Once you define a problem, the second challenge is to solve it. But, some of the biggest problems and needs in the world are not always the super complex things.   I'm involved in a lot of projects where people are going to places in Africa and India to work on projects, like how to get a village power, running water or electricity. There are lots of simple things that people can use their skill base to make a difference.   SPACE.com: What's the most challenging thing about promoting STEM education?   Kostek: People are intrigued by space, but I think sometimes, like anything else, it's about how you keep it exciting. How do you keep it interesting? My associates in the space world would say: it just is. But for the average person, there's a lot going on in life.   But we've seen over the years that space intrigues people. We have rovers on Mars that people are just fascinated by. There's still an urge to know more about what's going on outside the realms of our own planet, so space still attracts people.   SPACE.com: What do you find are the greatest barriers for young folks interested in pursuing STEM careers?   Kostek: It's always perceived as hard, and maybe people like to sell it that way. There's this sense that if you don't understand mathematics, you're doomed. But most people are smart enough to figure out the math.   Sometimes we make it sound so hard, and it makes some people think that they can't possibly do it. It's almost a question of telling people that this can be fun, that they shouldn't be scared of it. Sure, there are challenges with studying mathematics and sciences, but you can make it work.   NRC Urges Greater Collaboration On Orbital Debris Tracking   Mark Carreau - Aerospace Daily   U.S. Air Force Space Command should adopt a policy of greater transparency and encourage wider participation in the development of the algorithms and computer systems it relies on to track the growing amount of orbital debris and the threat it poses to functioning satellites, according to the National Research Council.   USAF, through U.S. Strategic Command and the Joint Space Operations Center, is primarily responsible for the tracking and warning apparatus.   “The modelers and algorithm developers who support the JSpOC (Joint Space Operations Center) mission have developed an internal community that lacks sufficient two-way interaction with the larger research and user community,” says the 82-page report, which was compiled by a 14-member NRC study panel. “Their limited contact with the broader astrodynamics research community has resulted in a lack of knowledge of new algorithms whose implementation could potentially provide significant improvement to the current system.”   The study, released Sept. 6 and initiated at the request of the Air Force Space Command in early 2011, recommends wider participation by NASA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Air Force Materiel Command, as well as experts from the aerospace industry and academia in the development and review of tracking algorithms and essential computer systems.   The Air Force Research Laboratory would coordinate the security-sensitive process, which also would make greater use of peer-reviewed publications to disseminate the work, according to the panel.   The study was prompted by the February 2009 collision between the Iridium 33 and Russian Cosmos 2251 commercial and military   The study was prompted by the February 2009 collision between the Iridium 33 and Russian Cosmos 2251 commercial and military communications satellites as well as China’s January 2007 anti-satellite weapons test. These two incidents greatly increased the debris collision threat to functioning satellites on which developing and developed nations rely for national security, communications, commerce and Earth observations.   The NRC panel’s eight recommendations point to two primary limitations on the U.S.’s ability to track a debris population that is forecast to grow to 100,000 from 20,000 objects as already planned U.S. tracking assets come on line. The limitations involve the quantity and quality of sensor-tracking data as well as an understanding of the effects of the Earth’s atmosphere on debris and the ability to model the complex influences.   The recommendations stress the need for a greater use of automation in meeting the workload posed by the tracking needs of the U.S. and more than 100 other nations. Personnel recruiting and retention practices should be assessed as well, the panel says.   Endeavour to visit Houston area   Erin Mulvaney - Houston Chronicle   En route to its final destination in Los Angeles, the space shuttle Endeavour will soar about 1,500 feet above spots in Houston, Clear Lake and Galveston next week and make a stop at Ellington Airport.   The shuttle, which completed 25 missions, spent 299 days in orbit and circled the Earth 4,661 times, will be carried atop NASA's 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, from Florida to California starting next Monday.   For those hoping to catch a glimpse of the shuttle in the Houston area, the tentative schedule has the shuttle arriving on Monday about 9 or 10:30 a.m. after visiting the Mississippi Gulf Coast and eastern New Orleans.   Weather-permitting, the aircraft and shuttle plan to fly near three major airports - Bush Intercontinental, William P. Hobby and Ellington - the downtown skyline, the San Jacinto Monument and NASA's Johnson Space Center.   Kyle Herring, a NASA spokesman at the Johnson Space Center, said that timing depends on the weather and other operational constraints. He said it's possible the schedule could be off by hours or even days.   With that said, the landing at Ellington, where the public can view the shuttle from 100 feet away, is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. near the NASA Hangar 990 pedestrian gate. The viewing will continue until 7 p.m.   "It is definitely something worth seeing - in flight and on the ground," Herring said.   The shuttle is scheduled to leave Ellington at sunrise on Sept. 19 and will arrive at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 20.   It will have a permanent display in Los Angeles. NASA will provide social media updates about the shuttle's cross-country flight with the hashtags #SpotTheShuttle and #OV105.   Space shuttle Endeavour will fly low over South on way to Los Angeles   Lee Roop - Huntsville Times   Space shuttle Endeavour will make a low flight over parts of the Deep South next week as it heads for its new home in Los Angeles. The shuttle will also spend a day and night near the Johnson Space Center in Houston, a town angered when it was passed over as the permanent home of one of the retiring shuttles.   Missing from the itinerary, however, is a fly-over of Huntsville, Alabama, home of the team that managed the shuttles' engines, solid rocket boosters and external tanks.   Endeavour will leave the shuttle landing strip at Kennedy Space Center in Florida at dawn on Sept. 17. It will be riding atop NASA's modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, and this is the last time a shuttle will ever fly this way.   After low passes over the space coast including the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Patrick Air Force Base, the shuttle flies west. It will make a low pass over NASA's Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.  When it reaches the Texas Gulf Coast area, the shuttle will fly low over Houston, Clear Lake and Galveston before landing at Ellington Field. Weather permitting, NASA says Endeavour will stay at Ellington the rest of Sept. 17 and all day Sept. 18.   The stop in Houston will allow Houston-area residents a last chance to see Endeavour up close in Texas, but that probably won't cool the Texas-sized anger that erupted when NASA announced where its retiring shuttles would go. Few questioned NASA's decision to leave a shuttle at Kennedy or to put one at the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. But NASA messed with Texas by skipping Houston and putting the last two shuttles in the big media markets of New York and Los Angeles. Especially Los Angeles.   On Sept. 19, Endeavour goes Hollywood, but it'll take a while. Flyovers are planned of the White Sands Test Facility near Las Cruces, N.M., and NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in California, before landing around mid-day at Dryden.   On the morning of Sept. 20, the shuttle carrier takes Endeavour for "low-level flyovers of northern California, passing near NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif., and various landmarks in multiple cities, including San Francisco and Sacramento," NASA says. The aircraft will also fly over "many" Los Angeles sites before landing about 11 a.m. PDT at LAX.   Beginning Oct. 30, the shuttle will be on display in the California Science Center's Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion.   Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority pursues shuttle strip Owner of 3 airports seeks county's support   Dave Berman - Florida Today   The owner of three local general-aviation airports now wants to take over operations of Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility as part of a two-pronged approach to attract more space-related companies to the area.   The Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority tonight will seek Brevard County Commission support in its bid to operate the Shuttle Landing Facility, a 15,000-foot-long runway that opened in 1976. It is asking the County Commission to approve a resolution to indicate that the authority “is the logical choice to be the entity responsible for assisting NASA in repurposing the Shuttle Landing Facility as a multiuser spaceport.”   Kennedy Space Center is seeking applications by Sept. 24 to operate and maintain the landing site and surrounding facilities, and could decide on a governmental or commercial operator by next spring. The new operator could take over as early as October 2013.   Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority Board Chairman Jerry Sansom said being selected by KSC to operate the Shuttle Landing Facility would work well in conjunction with the authority’s separate ongoing effort to have its Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville designated a spaceport by the Federal Aviation Administration. Sansom said he expects FAA approval by the end of next year.   “Certain operators require facilities to have a spaceport license to carry out their operations,” Sansom said.   For example, Rocket Crafters, a Utah-based company that recently decided to establish operations at Space Coast Regional Airport, is hoping to demonstrate that its project to provide high-speed, point-to-point air transport could operate from a conventional airport, Sansom said. It would be able to take off and land from Space Coast Regional Airport if that airport gets a spaceport license.   At the Titusville airport, Rocket Crafters plans to design, test and launch suborbital spacecraft — powered by jet engines and hybrid rockets — that eventually could travel to Europe, South America, Africa and other international hubs as part of a point-to-point transportation system.   Other companies, meanwhile, might want to operate both from a commercial airport like Space Coast Regional and a specialized facility like the Shuttle Landing Facility, Sansom said. When Space Coast Regional gets spaceport designation and if the airport authority gets approval to run the nearby Shuttle Landing Facility, he said, it would clear up logistical issues of companies dealing with two entities.   He said the airport authority has gotten interest from potential partners, including financiers and developers, but added that he could not elaborate.   A conventional airport operator like the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority could qualify for certain federal and state transportation grants for upgrades to the Shuttle Landing Facility, grants not available to a commercial entity.   County Commissioner Robin Fisher, whose district includes KSC and Space Coast Regional Airport, called the proposal “a great idea. I think they’re a natural fit” to operate the Shuttle Landing Facility.   While saying it would be premature to quantify the potential job impact of taking over the Shuttle Landing Facility, Sansom said it would enhance “the capabilities of North Brevard and Brevard as a whole” to attract aerospace businesses and jobs.   The authority also is going through a process to seek spaceport designation from the FAA. Sansom said it will cost the authority up to $500,000 for the license itself and various required studies. The cost is being funded out of authority reserves and other local funding sources. “We think it will be a good return on investment,” Sansom said.   In addition to Space Coast Regional Airport, the Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority operates Arthur Dunn Airpark in Titusville and Merritt Island Airport.   From the Farm to Space Astronaut-Turned-Congressional Candidate Tells Story in New Book   Clara Moskowitz - Space.com   Jose Hernandez's career path may be unique.   The native of Stockton, Calif., spent his childhood traveling between Mexico and the United States working as a migrant farmer with his family. In 2004 he was selected as a NASA astronaut, and he flew on the space shuttle in 2009.   Now retired from the space agency, Hernandez is running for Congress in California as a Democrat.   Jose Hernandez details his journey so far in his new book, "Reaching for the Stars: The Inspiring Story of a Migrant Farmworker Turned Astronaut" (Center Street, September 2012).   "I started out as what I would categorize as a typical migrant farm worker," Hernandez told SPACE.com in a recent interview. "Even though I was born here in the United States, I was born to immigrant parents. We would go back for three months at a time [to Mexico] and then we would spend nine months here in the United States following the harvest of the crop in the San Joaquin Valley of California."   When Hernandez's second-grade teacher told his parents that he and his siblings needed to stay in one spot to get a good education, the family made Northern California their full-time home.   Hernandez was old enough to catch the tail end of the Apollo program as a child. He watched the last manned moon landing mission, Apollo 17, on television in 1972.   "I remember quite vividly Gene Cernan walking on the surface of the moon," Hernandez said. "I was hooked after seeing that. I said, 'This is exactly what I want to be, I want to be an astronaut.'"   He doggedly pursued that goal, obtaining bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering before applying to NASA in 2001. Though he wasn't chosen as an astronaut, he was invited to work at the Johnson Space Center in Houston as an engineer.   Hernandez studied up on the qualifications of those who had made the cut as astronauts in the previous round, and followed their example, becoming certified in SCUBA diving and learning some Russian. During the next astronaut selection round in 2004, he was successful.   "That was the best call I've ever received," Hernandez said of the day he learned he would be an astronaut.   Hernandez trained for years, and finally flew to space in August 2009 on the STS-128 mission of the space shuttle Discovery. During his flight, he and six other astronauts visited the International Space Station, delivering a new module called Leonardo filled with supplies and science equipment.   After that flight, the spaceflyer retired from NASA in 2011, returning to California's Central Valley to find it much changed. The mortgage foreclosure crisis had hit the community hard, and the area had an unemployment rate twice the national average, he said.   "And yet our folks in Congress were not doing a single thing to provide relief to our community," he said, adding that when people started suggesting he run for office, he decided to "throw my hat in the ring."   Hernandez is running for election as a Representative in California's 10th District. If elected, he plans to focus on bringing manufacturing jobs to his district and improving the prospects of his constituents. He would also love to help set U.S space policy, he said.   "As far as the space program, you can't get a bigger cheerleader in Congress than a former NASA astronaut who's flown on the shuttle," he said. "You can bet your mortgage that I'm going to be fighting for NASA, fighting for investment in science and technology, and fighting for investment in education, because those are the things that are going to move our country ahead in the future."   America’s Most Important Warplane Is Old, Ugly … and Flown by NASA   David Axe - Wired.com   They’re 49 years old, ugly and owned by NASA, not the Pentagon. But two modified WB-57F Canberras are now among America’s most important warplanes. With anonymous-looking white paint jobs, the Canberras have been taking turns deploying to Afghanistan carrying a high-tech new radio translator designed to connect pretty much any fighter, bomber, spy plane and ground radio to, well, pretty much any other fighter, bomber, spy plane and ground radio. That makes the former Air Force reconnaissance planes, originally transferred to the space agency for science missions, essential hubs of the American-led war effort.   With the Battlefield Airborne Communications Node system, or BACN, the WB-57s act as Star Trek-style universal translators, passing data between planes and troops and finally bringing to life the Pentagon’s decades-old dream of speedy, information-propelled, networked warfare. “It orbits high up and basically receives various platforms’ datalink data, then translates all that data and redistributes it in a fused manner back to different platforms in the operating area,” Aviationintel’s Tyler Rogoway told ace aerospace blogger David Cenciotti.   “BACN bridges the gaps,” manufacturer Northrop Grumman boasted.   The old NASA recon planes — the only two of their kind not yet consigned to museums — aren’t the only gap-fillers. Since 2005 the Air Force has slowly been assembling its own hodgepodge fleet of BACN planes. And yes, that’s pronounced “bacon.” In addition to the two NASA WB-57Fs, the Air Force possesses three EQ-4B Global Hawk drones fitted with the radio translator plus four similarly equipped E-11A Bombardier business jets, the most recent of which was handed over on Thursday.   The different planes boast varying speeds, ranges and payloads, but what they have in common is the ability to fly very high for hours at a time, lending their electronic receivers and transmitters the maximum possible coverage. NASA’s old WB-57s might even be the highest-flying of the lot, with a top altitude of around 70,000 feet, high enough that the pilots have to wear pressure suits.   It costs no less than $100 million a year to keep the BACN planes flying. They split their time between tests and war games in the U.S. and overseas deployments, with occasional down time to tweak their systems. The WB-57Fs are frequent visitors to Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. There’s also apparently at least one E-11 in Afghanistan at any given time. The EQ-4s have been spotted in Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan, where one crashed last year, and in the United Arab Emirates, apparently helping translate for F-22s temporarily based there to deter Iran.   It’s hard to over-state the importance of the BACN jets. Owing to sporadic funding and technical hurdles, the Air Force — to say nothing of the rest of the military — has never managed to get all its weapons to speak the same electronic language. The flying branch had hoped to replace most of its frontline aircraft with an all-stealth fleet using just one special datalink. But that hope died years ago, and today the Air Force uses no fewer than seven different types of digital links — a “dog’s breakfast of different datalinks,” is how Lt. Gen. William Lord put it last year.   Newer F-16s use one version of Link 16 and older ones another; A-10s and F-15s also each use different editions of Link 16 that aren’t always compatible. F-22s are the worst offenders, using the Intra-Flight Data Link that allows it connect only to other F-22s. Add the Army, Navy and Marines — oh, and allied militaries, as well — and the confusion only grows.   Since the early 2000s the Pentagon has made several attempts to tear down this electronic Tower of Babel. BACN, co-developed by the Air Force, Northrop and NASA — hence the space agency’s continued involvement — is the one that worked the best. It’s the only deployed system that can sort through much of the radio garble, translating message formats back and forth to get warplanes communicating with each other and with troops on the ground. It’s networked warfare in a single box, albeit an improvised one.   And that’s how net-centric warfare is finally becoming a reality across the U.S. military, 14 years after two officers coined the term and nearly a decade since the Iraq war proved the concept’s flaws. The grand, over-arching systems such as the Army’s Jitters radio and the Air Force’s all-stealth datalink have collapsed under their own weight. From the wreckage, the Army is cobbling together a network of upgraded radios and combat smartphones. And NASA and the Air Force have their sometimes-ancient BACN jets with their universal translators, orbiting over war zones making sure everybody can talk to each other.   SpaceX founder guides vision for rising company   Charlene Vandini - Valley Morning Star   SpaceX is the third component of The Future According to Musk.   In a 2007 interview with Inc. magazine, which had named him its entrepreneur of the year, Elon Musk identified three areas that would affect the future of humanity: the Internet, sustainable energy and space exploration.   Musk, the 41-year-old founder, CEO and chief designer at Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is a player in all three. His net worth is estimated at almost $2 billion, but he draws an annual salary of $1. He believes SpaceX will land astronauts on Mars within 10 years, 15 to 20 years at the most.   Now, SpaceX is eyeing the Boca Chica Beach area of Cameron County for the site from which it will launch its rockets over the Gulf of Mexico and into space. County and Brownsville city officials actively are courting the company, which it sees as the engine that that could drive the region’s economic development and put the Rio Grande Valley on the map.   Musk’s journey to Mars began when he left his native South Africa in 1988 at age 17 and obtained a Canadian passport based on his mother’s Canadian citizenship. He enrolled at Queen’s University but transferred two years later to the University of Pennsylvania on a full scholarship. He earned his bachelor’s degree in economics from the Wharton School there. A year later, he earned a second bachelor’s degree, this one in physics.   Part one of his vision – the Internet – came in 1995. He enrolled in Stanford University’s graduate pro-gram for applied physics but dropped out after two days. With his brother Kimbal, he started Zip2, a company that provided software for online publishing. Four years later, he sold Zip2 to a division of Compaq Computer Corp. for $307 million in cash and $34 million in stock options.   His next online venture, in 1999, was a global online payment system that became known as PayPal. Fueled by the growing e-commerce segment of the economy, PayPal was sold in 2002 to eBay for $1.5 billion in stock.   Musk, with a stake of about 12 percent, was PayPal’s largest shareholder.   Moving from the Internet, Musk embarked on the second pillar of his vision: sustainable energy. He launched Tesla Motors, to design, manufacture and market electric cars. The company is named for Serbian-American Nikola Tesla, an inventor, electrical and mechanical engineer, and futurist, who developed the alternating current. Tesla became reclusive and died penniless in 1943, and gained a reputation as “mad scientist.”   Tesla Motors already has built more than 1,500 Tesla Roadsters, which Musk described in a December 2011 Wall Street Journal interview as “cool” and “beautiful.” The Roadster can travel 250 miles on a single charge and can accelerate faster than any gas-powered car. It sells for $110,000. Musk drives one. Actor George Clooney has one, too.   Forbes magazine estimates the worth of Musk’s 32 percent stake in Tesla at about $1 billion.   Musk, in that same WSJ interview, said another Tesla, the Model S full-size sedan, will sell for $50,000 and will be in production this year. It can fully recharge in 45 minutes, and if it is charged by electricity that is generated by a coal-fired plant, it still is better for the environment than if run by fossil fuels, he said.   In expanding his sustainable energy vision, Musk is the largest shareholder and chairman of the board of directors of Solar City, which designs and installs solar power systems. He told Inc.’s Max Chafkin in September 2008 that Solar City could turn out to be his most profitable venture. It already is the largest provider of solar energy in California and is poised to expand across the United States.   STARGAZING   More than a decade ago, Musk envisioned the Mars Oasis: landing a greenhouse on Mars and growing food plants. But he realized the project was impeded by the lack of rocket development. That realization became the seed from which SpaceX grew.   He has called this his passion: space exploration with an eye toward economical space travel and, ultimately, the colonization of Mars. He has invested $100 million of his personal wealth in the venture.   This, from a man who was born in 1971 and has no memory of 1969 and the first moon landing.   SpaceX in 2008 was awarded a $1.6 billion NASA contract to service the International Space Station af-ter the last space shuttle was taken out of service, leaving NASA with no way to supply the orbiting laboratory. SpaceX is now a contender for a government contract for manned space flight.   Its manufacturing headquarters is in Hawthorne, Calif., in a large building where Boeing once built commercial jet fuselages. SpaceX has 1,400 workers there.   Musk took CBS News’ “60 Minutes” reporter Scott Pelley on a tour of the site, where Pelley observed that metal goes in one end and a rocket emerges from the other, a process Musk called more economical and efficient than multiple manufacturers at several locations building components to be assembled at yet another site.   MUSK AND McGREGOR: COMMUNITY PARTNERS   SpaceX has another installation, its rocket test site, in the small Central Texas city of McGregor, about 18 miles southwest of Waco.   Officials there who have come to deal with SpaceX gush about the company as a “corporate citizen” of their city and school district.   McGregor schools Superintendent Kevin Houchin easily can list examples of SpaceX’s largesse: All students from kindergarten to eighth grade are given backpacks, and the 20 science club students who participate in science fairs and competitions are given T-shirts, courtesy of SpaceX.   The company sponsors the high school rocketry program, which was started four years ago. It has built a team from a cross section of students: boys and girls, some of whom Houchin fondly described as the “nerds” and “geeks” who write the code, working with teammates who are the mechanics who translate the code into actual rockets.   “SpaceX has gotten our kids excited about science,” Houchin said. “We have a kid right now at (the University of Texas) in the aeronautical engineering program with the sole purpose of coming back to McGregor and work at SpaceX.”   He cites another example of SpaceX’s place in the community. When the high school held an enchilada dinner to raise money for the annual drug-free graduation party, SpaceX bought 200 dinners that were delivered to the company’s workers.   Houchin called the company “our biggest and most important partner,” and said the corporate generosity is not limited to McGregor ISD, but extends to other nearby school districts.   Musk comes to McGregor several times a year, Houchin said, describing the young billionaire as “dynamic” and “low key.” Other adjectives he uses are unpretentious, personable, very approachable – a “down-home guy” who is genuinely interested in the school district.   Dressed in jeans and a golf shirt, Musk mingled with the community at a well-attended annual picnic. “I bet there were a couple thousand people there,” Houchin said.   Gilbert Salinas, executive vice president of the Brownsville Economic Development Council, was at that picnic, too. He remembers Musk posing for photographs with residents and their children, talking with them. Genuine and down-to-earth, is how Salinas describes him. The picnic included a stage and music. When Musk was called to the stage and introduced, there was resounding applause for him, a corporate rock star.   Kevin Evans, the city manager in McGregor, said SpaceX “has done everything they’ve said they were going to do.”   Explaining how SpaceX found McGregor, Evans said the city’s 9,000-acre industrial park is a former military site that was returned to the city in 1998 when the Defense Department declared it surplus.   Beal Aerospace came in and wanted to compete with NASA. It built a large tripod test stand, and went bankrupt, Evans said.   “Then along comes Elon Musk, who decided to form a partnership with, yet independent of, NASA, and we had this tripod,” Evans said. SpaceX leases 600 acres there.   The community has embraced SpaceX since it arrived.   “We love having something unique, creative and ‘green,’” Evans said, noting the company’s commitment to the environment.   Jon Mark Smith, director of the McGregor Chamber of Commerce, speaks about SpaceX workers and their enthusiasm.   “When you see them sitting around at lunch, they’re all 21 to 31 years old,” Smith said. “They have the education and the ability to soak up the changes of developing technology.”   About half of SpaceX’s 150 workers at the McGregor installation are natives of the area, many of whom enrolled at Texas State Technical College’s Waco campus and took that education and training directly into the aerospace business in McGregor, Smith said.   Now, SpaceX is “heading toward 200” workers in McGregor, Evans said. The other half of the SpaceX workforce is made up of young engineers, “some right out of college,” whom SpaceX recruited and brought to McGregor.   This infusion of industry has sparked growth from other businesses, as well. Evans mentions the new Ace Hardware store that recently opened, adding that SpaceX encourages its workers to patronize local businesses. The city’s sales tax receipts have increased 18 percent since the company put down roots in Central Texas.   “All of the attention we’re getting is because of SpaceX, but we have other industries. By the end of the year, we’ll have 6,000 jobs,” Smith said.   The city has a population of only 5,000 people, Evans said, but it is situated in an 11-county area that in-cludes the cities of Waco, Killeen, Temple and “lots of tiny communities” with a combined population of about 850,000.   EYES ON CAMERON COUNTY   McGregor officials heard 18 months ago that SpaceX was looking at land in Cameron County, Smith said.   “There has been interest in Brownsville for a very long time,” he said, and expressed confidence that Brownsville will be selected as the SpaceX launch site.   “I have no doubt in my mind that, if it was left up to SpaceX, they’d go to Brownsville,” he said.   “Only something regulatory” – such as the federal environmental impact study currently under way – would keep it out of Brownsville, he said. “I don’t know that the other options are that much more attractive.”   Cape Canaveral, a contender for the launch site, comes with higher transport costs.   “McGregor to Brownsville is so much easier, and (SpaceX) is about cost savings and safety. They want space travel to be less expensive.”   McGregor City Manager Evans also is supportive of Brownsville, and confident that it will be chosen.   “We’ve got the exciting part with the test launches,” he said, “but down there, you get the really fun part. We get the tests, but you get the real launches.”   In Brownsville, County Commissioner Sofia Benavides recalled her visit in April to SpaceX’s corporate headquarters in Hawthorne.   Musk spent 15 minutes with the Brownsville delegation and its presentation for a potential site here. She called Musk and his lieutenants “professional, careful and serious.” At the same time, she said, the company’s headquarters are laid back.   Her first reaction to SpaceX’s plans is that it was development that might affect a fragile ecosystem, she said, but SpaceX staffers have addressed her concerns and apprehensions about the environment.   They explained that the Boca Chica area is similar to both the Cape Canaveral and Vandenburg Air Force Base sites, where SpaceX has tested its rockets.   “They weren’t trying to sell us,” Benavides said. “They laid out their plans and were very sensitive to our concerns.   “If they can thrive in that environment (in California), and Cape Canaveral, I’ll be on board once the environmental impact study is completed,” she said.   She already is satisfied that SpaceX can coexist with the environmental issues and recreation uses of Boca Chica.   “It is time now that our people start to have the opportunity to better themselves. If the environmental review comes back favorable, I believe the (anti-development) mindset is different now. Not that we want to jeopardize the birds, but it’s time to improve this area as a whole,” she said. “Our kids get a future. They go to college and there’s nothing for them here. Large companies don’t usually look our way.”   Border security, too, has been discussed because the launch site is just 3½ miles from the border with Mexico. SpaceX is coordinating with federal agencies and their counterparts in Mexico.   “We could probably end up being the most secure section of the entire border,” Benavides said.   FAA takes environmental look at SpaceX plan   Ryan Henry - Brownsville Herald   SpaceX may be setting its sights on humankind’s final frontier — the cosmos — but the proposal to build a rocket launch site in Cameron County is raising questions among environmentalists about the fate of our original frontier — the Earth.   For a proposal that presents the hope of economic progress for the region, conservationists likely could generate the biggest source of opposition, perhaps even its demise.   Or, they could play a decisive role in influencing and refining the proposal so that it addresses environmental concerns and alleviates the potential impact to nearby wildlife refuges, bays, tidal flats, beaches and ocean ecologies.   As Space Exploration Technologies Corp. casts its eye to Boca Chica Beach as a possible location to build a launch site for its rockets, area officials are citing the overwhelming economic potential of such a partnership. However, the project is far from a certainty and, for now, some of the biggest questions remain unanswered.   Officials with the company are unable to elaborate at this time, but SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Brost Grantham does offer re-assurances that the company is acutely aware of the environment and the need to protect habitat.   “SpaceX is very experienced in ensuring that our sites have a minimal environmental impact,” she said.   While the Federal Aviation Administration prepares an environmental impact statement on SpaceX’s Boca Chica proposal, the company may not speak to the media or the public at large about the project. The FAA — which can grant or refuse SpaceX its license for a Cameron County launch site — solicited comments from various state and federal environmental agencies, nonprofits, citizens and others during a scoping period that ended May 30. Those comments now are guiding a study to examine any potential environmental impact posed by a SpaceX launch site at Boca Chica Beach.   Based on the study’s findings, the FAA could clear SpaceX to continue with its licensing application, or the agency could refuse to grant the license, according to the Federal Register, which provided notice of the scoping period.   “The successful completion of the environmental review process does not guarantee that the FAA would issue launch licenses and or experimental permits to SpaceX. The project must also meet all FAA safety, risk and indemnification requirements,” the register states.   FAA officials will not answer questions concerning ongoing environmental impact studies — nor do they reveal who submitted comments or even how many comments were received.   “The study is being conducted as we speak right now, so I really can’t talk about it in terms of what the FAA will do in the study because we don’t want to skew any of the results,” said Hank Price, an FAA spokesman.   The agency will release information about public comments and the findings of the environmental impact study in December, Price said.   However, county and municipal officials already have progressed from the dreaming phase to cautious optimism and planning.   “This area is embracing the thought of having SpaceX come to Cameron County,” said Sofia Benavides, a Cameron County com-missioner whose precinct includes the Boca Chica area.   More than 500 people attended the FAA’s public scoping meeting in Brownsville, with 74 people speaking in favor of the project. Among the others who commented, one was opposed and another was neutral.   Many local conservationists support the spirit of the SpaceX project, if not the proposed location. Several say they are withhold-ing opinion until they learn more.   “We’re very interested in the issue,” said Jim Chapman of the Frontera Audubon Society. “Basically, we’re in favor of the project, but we would like it to be somewhere else in Texas — because putting a rocket launch facility in an area that is surrounded by a wildlife refuge and is almost immediately adjacent to a beach where endangered sea turtles nest doesn’t seem like a wise idea.”   Brost Grantham, the SpaceX spokeswoman, stresses the fact that the company’s existing launch sites balance operations in areas with similarly delicate environmental profiles.   “Almost all launch sites (including SpaceX’s launch sites at Vandenberg Air Force Base and the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station) are on environmental preserves or habitats,” she said.   Still, local conservation groups other than Audubon are cautious, as well.   “The Sierra Club is withholding judgment on the project until its impacts are fully examined,” writes Scott Nicol, conservation co-chairman for the Lower Rio Grande Valley Sierra Club. “For the time being, we are working to ensure that thorough, accurate studies are undertaken so that the general public and the politicians that are supposed to represent us can make a well-informed decision.”   The club has a range of concerns about what effects construction and operations could have on the local environment.   “At the heart of the Sierra Club’s concerns is the location chosen for the launch site,” Nicol wrote on behalf of the club in com-ments sent to the FAA.   He explains how the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge is home to more than 1,100 plant species and some 700 animals that include 484 bird species.   “Of the original habitat that once supported this enormous diversity, less than 5 percent currently remains, so every acre that is lost is important.”   WIDESPREAD INTEREST   With the environmental impact study under way, the debate is no longer just a local matter, and not all comments have been directed to the FAA. Some people instead have petitioned SpaceX directly.   Opposition to the Boca Chica launch site proposal has been ignited in Austin, where Luke Metzger, founder and director of advocacy group Environment Texas, hopes to convince the masses — including people outside the state — to persuade SpaceX to abandon Cameron County and “find suitable land elsewhere.”   His reasoning is purely environmental, he said.   “I love the space program as much as, if not more than, anyone,” Metzger said in a press release when the group announced its opposition to the SpaceX proposal. “But launching big, loud, polluting rockets from the middle of a wildlife refuge will scare the heck out of every creature within miles and spray noxious chemicals all over the place. It’s a terrible idea and SpaceX needs to find another place for their spaceport.”   Online, Environment Texas offers a web form with a letter addressed to Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, that can be partially customized but must begin: “Dear Mr. Musk, we strongly oppose SpaceX’s attempt to build a spaceport on land surrounded by Boca Chica State Park and the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge.”   The customizable portion suggests: “This area is home to endangered sea turtles, falcons and ocelots and is not appropriate for your project. According to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, ‘noise, heat, vibration, fencing and hazardous material spills’ could harm these species and diminish the value of the park and refuge. Please find suitable land for your project elsewhere.”   As of Friday, the Environment Texas site had produced 838 emails and letters of opposition — all sent directly to SpaceX, Metzger said.   However, Metzger told The Brownsville Herald that he has never actually been to the proposed site or seen the area he claims is in jeopardy.   “But others here have,” he said.   TEXAS PARKS & WILDLIFE   Metzger says his opposition to the project is based on questions raised by state wildlife officials. On May 29, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department sent a 58-page letter to the FAA regarding the SpaceX launch site proposal.   However, Environment Texas in its petition drive fails to clarify that the TPWD letter is simply intended to raise questions to help guide the FAA study, not to provide conclusions.   Tom Harvey, TPWD’s media communications director, in an email to The Brownsville Herald, clarified the agency’s role in the SpaceX process.   “We want to make sure you understand TPWD does not have a general position on the SpaceX project or on the suitability of the currently proposed project location in South Texas,” Harvey wrote. “Our agency role is to provide the best science-based information possible to SpaceX and relevant authorities about potential impacts to fish and wildlife and public lands.”   He said TPWD is a “commenting” agency — “meaning our role is to submit information and make recommendations, not make decisions about whether to grant project permits.”   In TPWD’s comments to the FAA, officials expressed concern for 31 wildlife species and three plants that could be affected by the construction and activities of a launch site — “if suitable habitat is present.”   In the report, that last phrase was italicized for emphasis, and means that the SpaceX project could be halted if construction or development would threaten the supporting habitat of any endangered species found on that site.   The sticking point is that it is not clear yet which of the species are on the site.   Harvey clarifies: “As noted in TPWD’s May 29 letter, TPWD’s records show that some of these species may be present in Cameron County. However, TPWD doesn’t have specific information about the presence of these species on the specific proposed project site property and is not commenting on whether the habitat on the specific proposed project site is, in fact, suitable. For these reasons, TPWD is recommending further study.”   The responsibility to conduct “further study” currently sits with the FAA and its environmental impact statement, or EIS.   NO MAN’S LAND   Technically, Environment Texas is incorrect in its petition when it characterizes the SpaceX site as being in the middle of a wild-life refuge. That gives the impression the SpaceX site is like the hole in a donut, surrounded by habitat on all sides and requiring roadways through the brush to get to the launch site.   But the group’s description isn’t far wrong, either. The site is bounded by refuge property on all sides except to the east, where its neighbor is Boca Chica Beach, an area of coastal parkland where beachgoers can sunbathe, camp, picnic and enjoy the surf. People may even drive their vehicles off-road, over the same sands where sea turtles nest and plovers forage along the waterline.   If approved, the 5-acre launch site would be developed within a 50-acre private tract that sits tight against the existing State Highway 4 and along the eastern edge of an approximately 200,000-acre network of state, federal, nonprofit and private conservation lands that comprise the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Corridor, which extends west toward Falcon Lake along the final 275 miles of the Rio Grande.   From east to west, the wildlife corridor faces numerous threats of habitat loss and degradation — whether from urban develop-ment, roadways or border security. All of these complications are familiar to those who have fought to build and preserve the corridor since the 1970s.   However, a rocket site is a highly novel undertaking for the region, and many local conservationists worry they don’t know enough about what monthly rocket launches could mean for the environment.   “On the backside of that (proposed launch site) are a lot of tidal flats that are dry much of the time,” said Audubon’s Chapman. “Then during storms or exceptionally high tide, they flood. Those areas, while they look desolate and useless, actually produce a huge amount of algae when they’re flooded. So they’re actually of more value ecologically than the casual observer sees.”   Essentially, that area is a prime nursery at times for shrimp, crabs and young fish, and the variety of wildlife that feed on the algae that blossom in the water, starting a food chain that supports migrating birds. It is a large, wild area that groups like Frontera Audubon have championed since at least the mid-1980s.   Without further study, it is difficult to understand any possible impacts, TPWD’s Harvey said in an email to The Herald.   “Now, I have no experience with rocket launching sites,” Chapman said. “There certainly are things that would impact it worse than that, but we would like to see it essentially remain an undisturbed area.”   A MAJOR SPECTACLE   Some critics of the SpaceX project maintain that potential threats to surrounding wild places would not be limited to rocket launches: Public interest in the launches also could pose a threat to habitat.   Along with tidal flats, the project site and surrounding area along State Highway 4 are covered with grasslands and mixed thorn-scrub habitats, sensitive ecologies susceptible to wildfire. TPWD worries that a rocket launch mishap — even a careless spectator with a cigarette or an idling engine — could accidentally trigger the burning of protected lands.   “TPWD is concerned with the potential significant impacts of spectators parking along the sides of SH 4, driving off-road through the tidal flats, and leaving litter along the roads,” its report states. “Additionally, TPWD has concerns that spectators may attempt to view launches by entering the very shallow South Bay Coastal Preserve in boats and impacting sensitive sea grass meadows.”   In the shallow waters of South Bay, motorized boats sometimes chop through the sea grasses that form the bottom of a thriving underwater ecosystem, and propeller scars can have devastating effects.   Conscientious bay travelers, like many fishermen at present, move slowly through the bay, sometimes drifting or using long push poles to get to deeper water before engaging the motor. The concern is that spectators entering South Bay for a closer look at a rocket launch might not take the same level of care.   This raises questions: During rocket launches, would the bay be closed to boaters? Would the state take steps to protect the valu-able sea grasses if SpaceX gets cleared for takeoff?   “TPWD has been closely monitoring sea grasses in Texas bays for many years,” spokesman Harvey said. “At one spot on the coast, Redfish Bay near Rockport, TPWD established a state scientific area regulation where it is illegal to uproot sea grasses with boat propellers.”   For the most part, the agency has emphasized public education about the importance of sea-grass conservation over any restrictions to the use of South Bay.   “We have not proposed limiting boat traffic in the lower Laguna Madre to protect sea grass, and we don’t envision such a proposal at this time,” Harvey said. “We do remain concerned about the health of shallow-water sea-grass meadows, which have declined in many areas on the Texas coast. Sea grasses are among the world’s most productive marine habitats, next to coral reefs, salt marshes and mangroves.   “They serve as nurseries for juvenile game fish, crabs and shrimp. They also provide food for sea turtles, shorebirds and water-fowl, help prevent erosion, and play a biological filtering role to improve water quality.”   Why launch near wildlife refuges?   Ryan Henry - Brownsville Herald   According to SpaceX, rocket launch sites require insulation from urban development, just as wildlife habitats do.   Building in the middle of a ref-uge protects the launch site from encroaching development, which would threaten future operations. For example, during launches SpaceX must guarantee that a 1.5-mile radius around the rocket has been cleared of all unauthorized people, for safety.   That radius translates to a little more than 7 square miles, or 4,522 acres — though perhaps about a quarter to a third of that zone appears to extend into the Gulf of Mexico, according to a Texas Parks & Wildlife Department map.   Had all that preserved habitat not existed, SpaceX well may have been forced to buy all the sur-rounding land just to enforce a “no-man’s land” around the launch pad. However, it also might be highly unfeasible, if not impossible, for a private company to acquire enough land to create a proper buffer zone clear of populated areas without also being near protected habitat.   Part of the FAA’s environmental impact study looks at compatible land use, such as the effect SpaceX operations would have on sur-rounding land. For the Boca Chica proposal, the nearby land includes wildlife refuge property, the South Bay Coastal Preserve, a state highway and public beaches. Of course, the more insulated a pro-posed launch site, the better.   More southerly sites are sought so that rockets can fire closer to the equator, providing additional speed as the earth rotates and creating a slingshot effect that saves fuel.   Also, the Boca Chica site would allow rockets to blast eastward over the unpopulated waters of the Gulf of Mexico.   Regardless, environmentalists are not questioning whether SpaceX’s 50-acre lease would benefit from the insulation pro-vided by the refuge. What they want to know is whether the 10,680 acres of adjacent refuge property will be sufficiently isolated from SpaceX and its rockets, at least enough to preserve the integrity of the wildlife habitat.   Seen from SpaceX’s perspective, the Boca Chica proposal actually allows the site to operate with a “small, eco-friendly footprint,” according to a company document dated May 2. About 5 acres will be developed on the 50-acre tract, and the surrounding area will be “left untouched and, like Cape Canaveral, provides an excellent wildlife habitat,” the company states. Furthermore, according to SpaceX, its Boca Chica site will be powered by solar panels and batteries. SpaceX founder Elon Musk also owns a solar panel installation company, Solar City, as well as electric car company Tesla Motors.   After the FAA releases its draft environmental impact statement for the proposed launch site, per-haps in December, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service will better under-stand the next steps involving its refuge mission.   “We did send comments to the FAA during the scoping period,” said Jennifer Owen-White, spokes-woman for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s South Texas Refuge Complex. “We’re just waiting for this draft environmental statement to learn what action is being pro-posed (by the FAA).”   WILDLIFE AND LAUNCH SITES: CAN THEY COEXIST?   Because the economic benefits of a SpaceX installation in Cameron County are all but indisputable, many who want to protect the environment also are wonder-ing if development like the launch site can, in fact, exist alongside a healthy environment.   Almost all launch sites in America can be found alongside environmental preserves or habitats, SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Brost Grantham points out, including locations where the company operates its own rock-ets.   Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket in May for a mission to the International Space Station, connects northward to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, an overlay of the John F. Kennedy Space Center. It’s the positioning of Merritt Island and Cape Canaveral that illustrates how wildlife habitat can handle rocket launches under the proper management.   The Kennedy Space Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, having been established in 1962 with the purchase and condemnation of the surrounding territory. Although the area was mostly rural, communities were uprooted and erased in the proc-ess to build a buffer zone de-signed to further isolate the space center from urban populations.   “It had towns up here, little communities with restaurants, all kinds of things. They came in and took buildings down, moved people out, tore down houses and all that. It wasn’t heavily developed. It was still rural, but they did come in and move a lot of people to create this buffer zone,” said Layne Hamilton, refuge manager of Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. “What they also did at the same time was to protect the largest un-felled area along the east coast of Florida.”   A year later, in 1963, following calls from Florida residents and organizations like the National Audubon Society, the U.S. government agreed to let the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service jointly manage the property with NASA.   “It’s now 141,000 acres,” Hamilton said. “The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge was created as an overlay, so we overlay the exact same boundaries as the Kennedy Space Center. We are the same as Kennedy Space Center.”   And Cape Canaveral Air Force Station conducts military launches — and even commercial launches — adjacent to but out-side the Merritt Island refuge. (SpaceX’s launch area is on the cape.)   Hamilton acknowledges the environmental impact there of launching rockets and space shuttles from the middle of wild-life habitat.   “There were direct environ-mental impacts, actually,” Hamilton said.   The space shuttles’ propellant created one of the most obvious problems. The now-retired fleet used a solid fuel that when cured “looks and feels like a hard rubber typewriter eraser,” according to NASA. In comparison, SpaceX’s modern rockets burn a safer, nontoxic liquid fuel known as RP-1.   “When you see pictures of shuttle launches, you’ll see big white plumes. I know I always thought that was steam coming off: That’s sulfur,” Hamilton said.   Sulfur-oxide, precisely.   “It’s one of the byproducts, and they didn’t even realize it was going to happen. But when they go to launch, one of the first things they do — a split second before the engines start firing — is there’s usually a water tower that dumps into the launch basin, instantly. It’s a sound-deafening device. Otherwise, they would break every window in the com-munities around here when they launched some of the larger rockets,” Hamilton said. “The byproduct of the ignition of the fuel combined with water created a sulfur cloud. That was kind of unexpected.”   NASA officials would track the sulfur cloud and make announcements on loud speakers to warn people about its direction and location as it was carried in the wind, Hamilton said.   For decades, the wildlife refuge there weathered the effects.   Concussive blasts of sound.   Toxic plumes.   Heat and vibrations.   “It’s because of the potential impacts to the environment that a lot of funding for the shuttle program included environmental work,” Hamilton said. “NASA has an environmental section that works on all the environmental issues at the Kennedy Space Center, and they’re obviously a big partner with us. They’re very conscious of the fact that the launches and associated work — the fuel and all the things that go with supporting the launches — have a potential environmental impact. So they have an entire environmental arm that tracks that.   “In fact, anything NASA does out here, we usually know about it because they have to do an environmental assessment or an environmental impact study. There is a lot of coordination with us,” he said.   SUCCESSFUL MITIGATION   After a 50-year history, Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge has preserved coastal dunes, saltwater estuaries and marshes, bodies of freshwater, scrub, pine flatwoods, and additional habitat for more than 1,500 species of plants and animals, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.   In fact, 14 federally listed threat-ened or endangered species use the refuge and include the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, Atlantic green turtle, piping plover and eastern indigo snake. The refuge also has one of the healthiest remaining populations of the Florida scrub jay.   “We have an amazing refuge,” Hamilton said. “And one of the reasons for that is NASA’s commitment to the resources here.”   The coexistence of rockets and wildlife habitat is not unique to the Florida space center. On the California coast, SpaceX has launch operations at Vandenberg Air Force Base, a nearly 100,000-acre property owned by the Department of Defense that includes the Santa Ynez Estuary and other habitat.   The base is described by the Na-tional Audubon Society as land that “could easily qualify as a national park with its spectacular scenery and rich natural resources.”   The base includes areas of coastal forest, riparian woodland, and, like Boca Chica, tidal areas.   “It also protects several plant and animal taxa found nowhere else on earth, including an endemic California plant community, Bur-ton Mesa Chaparral, found wholly within its borders,” Audubon writes on its website.   “However, as a DoD installation whose primary mission is military preparedness (and not resource conservation), the resources on Vandenberg will probably remain somewhat threatened for the fore-seeable future,” Audubon writes.   Still, Audubon reports that habitat for federally threatened and endangered species is “totally protected.” Examples of those species include the peregrine falcon, least tern and snowy plover.   Hamilton said it might be possible to have similar success at the Boca Chica area, though it’s a completely different situation.   “It will be interesting to see the environmental impact statement,” Hamilton said of the SpaceX pro-posal.   “It’s a different situation in many ways there (at Boca Chica) because you’re looking at a spot leased to SpaceX,” Hamilton said. “It will be about finding out what’s going to be the impact beyond that 50 acres and developing a relationship with SpaceX that allows you to have a partnership.”   State records don't provide complete picture   Ryan Henry - Brownsville Herald   At the proposed SpaceX launch site at Boca Chica Beach, animal and plant species are not always well accounted for in state records.   In a letter to the FAA on the SpaceX project, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department expressed concern about 31 species. Yet in the same document, the agency linked just five animals and one plant to a footnote that explains only those six have been shown by the state database to have been documented at or within 5 miles of the Boca Chica site.   The animals are the jaguarundi, ocelot, piping plover, green sea turtle and peregrine falcon. The flower, lila de los llanos, is listed as a species of concern, but it is not endangered.   “As noted in TPWD’s May 29 let-ter, TPWD’s records show that some of these species may be present in Cameron County,” Har-vey explained. “However, TPWD doesn’t have specific information about the presence of these species on the specific proposed project site property and is not comment-ing on whether the habitat on the specific proposed project site is, in fact, suitable. For these reasons, TPWD is recommending further study.”   The TPWD letter explains, “Absence of information in an area does not imply that a species is absent from that area. … These (Texas Natural Diversity Data-base) data are not inclusive and cannot be used as pres-ence/absence data. They represent species that could potentially be in your project area. This information cannot be substituted for on-the-ground surveys.”   “TPWD has not conducted an on-the-ground biological survey of the specific property, and is unaware whether other entities have con-ducted such surveys,” Harvey told The Herald.   In comments to the FAA, TPWD recommended that areas affected by SpaceX be surveyed for the presence of rare plants — a needle-in-a-haystack search that would require a qualified botanist with expertise in the rare plants of Deep South Texas.   Two Valley residents literally wrote the book on such rare plants. Dr. Alfred Richardson, professor emeritus at the University of Texas at Brownsville, and Ken King, a naturalist in Weslaco, researched and coauthored “Plants of Deep South Texas: A Field Guide to the Woody and Flowering Species,” which details native plants across nearly 3 million acres in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.   What is King’s assessment? He does not know of a single endangered plant species in that area.   “As far as one species that you can point to and say this is on the EPA list and so we can’t destroy these species? Well, no those plants are not present there,” King said.In the state’s report, three plants were listed as “species of concern,” which means they are important in state conservation efforts but not protected by the Endangered Species Act.   “Species of concern” is a state designation intended to prevent the decline of a species that would place it on the federal threatened or endangered lists. Such a listing does not necessarily mean that plants like the Bailey’s ballmoss, Green Island echeandia or the lila de los llanos could not halt the space project, but any argument to block SpaceX because of such plants — if they are ever found to exist there — would have to prevail through political and popular influence rather than rely upon legal protections provided by the Endangered Species Act, King said.   “These are ‘species of concern,’ so you can’t use them to fight a legal battle to say you’re going to be breaking this law,” King explained. “It’s unfortunate that we have this legal system in place that the only thing that we can use to keep an area from being destroyed is if it has an endangered species (living there) — because the eco-system as a whole is what is important. That’s what is in danger, and that’s what is unique.”   King is concerned that the region is losing its wild, green spaces.   “The greatest danger, as far as I’m concerned, is the infrastructure that goes in all around that stuff,” he said. “We’re going to have an explosion of development in the marginal areas that are absolutely not within the refuge system. All those vacant areas nobody has developed yet, but they’re excellent habitat. They’re serving their purpose as wildlife habitat, but they’re all going to be prime property — and it’s all going to go.   “I’m glad we have an Endangered Species Act, but it would be really nice if overall we could preserve endangered habitat and endangered green space.”   WILD CATS   Under the Endangered Species Act, land can be protected when it is linked to a threatened or endangered animal, such as the ocelot or jaguarundi.   So, the question remains: Is the 50 acres and adjacent area on the salt flats at Boca Chica on which SpaceX wants to build considered “suitable habitat” for either of these cats?   And, would a space launch site jeopardize their habitat enough for the FAA to rule such operations would pose a significant impact?   “I’ve seen enough documents to know that a lot of the wording is just transferred from one potential project to another,” said Jim Chapman of the Frontera Audubon Society. “In that area there is not a lot of brush and trees. There are some species that would be impacted, but there are some species that are mentioned (by TPWD) that will not be impacted because they’re not there.   “Ocelots and jaguarundi are not going to be on those salt flats.”   Yet the refuge property there is being conserved as a corridor, in theory creating pathways that connect various habitats that are more ideal for wild cats.   “That is part of the area that we protect as part of the Lower Rio Grande Valley National Wildlife Refuge,” said Jennifer Owen-White, spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s South Texas Refuge Complex. “That’s part of the area that we look at as our wildlife corridor, which is a large swath of habitat that we’re protecting for ocelots and jaguarundi, as well as for migratory birds and other species. It’s definitely something that we work on, and ocelots are a priority for us.”   A small population of ocelots is well documented and monitored at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, about 20 miles to the northwest of the proposed Boca Chica launch site. Between the two sites are wildlife refuge areas and bays, but also highways, communities, a county airport and other developments that could threaten the elusive predator, which also lives in Mexico.   “We do have a (tracking) pro-gram at the Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge; we’re work-ing with ocelots there,” Owen-White said. “There’s not a jaguarundi tracking program right now, but there’s research being done out of our offices at the South Texas Refuge Complex and Laguna Atascosa.”   However, there is no tracking program in place to follow either of those ocelots or jaguarundis near Boca Chica.   According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the ocelot’s original territory has been so altered across the nation that the wild cat can now only be found in Deep South Texas, where fewer than 50 cats remain. Even so, this strong-hold already has lost more than 95 percent of its habitat to ranching, agriculture and urban development.   Ocelots prefer large thorn forests, which are increasingly rare. The cats are sometimes forced to encounter roads or development in search for mates, food or shelter. When they do, disaster is often present, with the majority of their deaths caused by vehicles.   “Anytime you have a wild area that’s infiltrated with development, the surrounding area is degraded,” King said. “You have inroads for invasive species, for example, invasive grasses and birds and things that are associated with human development and distur-bances. They come into these natural areas that way.”   Rocket fuel is nontoxic, expert says   Ryan Henry - Brownsville Herald   Many have wondered if, among the potential risks to the environment, the rockets’ plumes of smoke would be toxic to wildlife at Boca Chica.   According to SpaceX, its Falcon 9 rocket features a different, safer fuel than some of the more familiar launch vehicles, such as NASA’s retired fleet of space shuttles. The Falcon 9 uses a refined kerosene-type fuel called RP-1, or rocket propellant 1, which SpaceX and the astronautics industry describe as nontoxic.   “Basically, it’s a hydrocarbon fuel, and hydrogen is typically about 13 to 14 percent of its mass. Being a hydrocarbon fuel, (combustion primarily) produces carbon dioxide and water vapor,” said Ashwanit Gupta, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Maryland who has more than 35 years of experience in combustion engineering.   Like other combustion processes, the exhaust might also include amounts of other elements, such as toxic carbon monoxide, carbon-2, carbon-hydrogen, cyanides, cyan radicals, and oxides of nitrogen like NO2.   “Now, when you’re pushing this discharge from the rocket engine, you might also have a discharge of other materials, which are used in the rocket engine,” Gupta said. “Things like aluminum, cadmium, copper, nickel and iron — all in trace amounts, not large amounts. And that’s true with your engine vehicles that run on the road.   The only difference, he said, is that with rocket fuel, the amount would be greater, depending on the size of the rocket.   He explained that once the rocket takes off, the discharge “goes into the air and doesn’t get concentrated at the ground level — only in the close vicinity — and then it dissipates, just like a power plant where you have a stack that goes way up and then pushes it into the surrounding air. In the case of a rocket, once it’s gone 1 or 2 kilometers, you don’t see (the exhaust) at the ground level.”   “The initial discharge will be there, but it’s a small concentration — it’s not percentages, but fractions of percentages,” Gupta said. “We need to bring biologists the picture that it’s trace amounts, and a rocket launches at a very high speed, so within a second, it’s gone 2 kilometers up. … So by the time the plume comes to the ground, it’s basically very diluted. It doesn’t have much of an impact.”   Gupta does not believe there should be much concern about potential ground or groundwater contamination from the launches.   “In the immediate area — maybe close to the pad — there might be some very minor concerns (with ground contamination), but not 200 feet away or even 100 feet away. It’s minimum.”   In the end, RP-1 is better refined and cleaner than jet fuel, according to a SpaceX document, which further distinguishes its fuel from toxic propellants used on “many other launch vehicles” in the industry.   “Toxic propellants are not used on the launch vehicle,” the SpaceX document states.   However, the rockets will be very loud and the sound could carry for miles. On this subject, the Texas Parks & Wildlife Depart-ment insists on further study be-fore commenting.   The best estimate is that a rocket launch would be audible for about three minutes.   The rocket’s fiery blast certainly would not extend far beyond the launch pad and flame duct, accord-ing to Gupta and videos of Falcon 9 launches elsewhere. In fact, a hangar, office and workshop will be built nearby on the same property as the launch pad, though safely away from the rocket thrust.   “Now, you might find that with the wildlife that’s around there that the noise may be of concern,” Gupta said. “But that’s like any-thing else, test and go.”   What about sea turtles?   Ryan Henry - Brownsville Herald   Sea turtles have something in common with Elon Musk’s SpaceX: They’re both drawn to the night sky.   A newly hatched turtle expends large amounts of energy to dig free of its launching pad, a nest buried deep in the coastal sands of Boca Chica or South Padre Island.   Once on the surface of the beach, the young turtle is drawn to the cosmos, wriggling toward the boldest light in the heavens, usually the moon or the rising sun, which reflects on the surf and leads it to the Gulf of Mexico.   Turtles evolved this behavior over eons in a pristine environment, void of any artificial lights that can easily overpower the moon.   Today, however, the biologically hardwired instinct that should lead them safely to the ocean can misdirect them toward the headlights of a fisherman’s pickup or the constant glow from the lights of a condominium — or a space launch complex.   Adult Kemp’s ridley females nest during the day, so interns and staff from Sea Turtle Inc., a non-profit organization on South Padre Island, patrol Boca Chica Beach in the morning during the nesting season. Because of the turtle’s endangered status, workers trans-fer eggs from any discovered nest to the safety of Andy Bowie Park on the Island roughly 12 miles to the north of the SpaceX proposed site.   Hatchlings then are released un-der controlled conditions, eliminating the dangers of artificial lights.   In total, nine nests are the most ever found in a single season on Boca Chica Beach, according to Jeff George, executive director of Sea Turtle Inc.   He stresses that the nonprofit has not taken an official stance in the debate over whether SpaceX should be permitted to build a launch site in Cameron County.   Sea Turtle Inc. might not ever take a position, he added, because the group often tends to avoid entering political debates.   In theory, a nest could exist on the nearly 8-mile stretch of Boca Chica Beach, undiscovered by the environmental group’s patrols. SpaceX has noted plans concerning lighting and fencing “designed to alleviate the impact to sea turtles.”   The company’s environmental mitigation might include what is known as “light-shielding” devices, which minimize light pollution at night.   But light is light, and the SpaceX facility would not be the only light in the nighttime sky. To the north, South Padre Island’s street lamps and high-rise condominiums shine without shielding devices.   As long as sea turtle nests are being actively managed by groups like Sea Turtle Inc., the lights have not created a disruption to sea turtle reproduction. A time could come when the turtle populations are no longer “endangered” and nest management strategies could change. The nests could be left to incubate naturally in the wild, with hatchlings starting life under less supervised situations.   “When the species is down listed to threatened and the nests are no longer relocated, the entire state might have to deal with light-shielding issues (in coastal com-munities),” George said.   For its part, SpaceX has experience with sea turtles.   At the launch site on Omelek is-land at the U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll in the Central Pacific about 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, the Kwajalein Hourglass reported in July 2009 that SpaceX engineers noticed a nesting Hawksbill sea turtle, a critically endangered species.   Working with the Kwajalein Range Services Environmental Safety and Health Department, SpaceX agreed to monitor the nest at the launch site, even blacking out the facility’s lights at night to pre-vent hatchlings from clustering around lamp posts.   As a result, the Hourglass re-ported, 101 hatchlings were esti-mated to have safely reached the sea.   END