Hope you can make it to our monthly NASA Retirees Luncheon tomorrow at Hibachi Grill on Bay Area Blvd. at 11:30am.
We always have the back left party room reserved for our use at Hibachi Grill.
And then at 2:30 is the NASA Alumni League talk by Boeing on their Commercial Crew Capsule program.
Thursday, May 1, 2014 "Boeing Crew Space Transportation"
Time: 2:30 - 4:00 PM John Mulholland
Gilruth Alamo Ballroom Boeing CST-101 Program Manager
| | JSC TODAY CATEGORIES - Headlines
- Internet Explorer Vulnerability - Do Not Use IE
- Live Music in Space Event
- Destination Station Brings Smiles to Indianapolis
- Morpheus Flies Again Today at KSC
- DICES Upgrade Required
- Recent JSC Announcement - Organizations/Social
- Children's Emotional Health
- How You can Save a Life
- Save the Date: Lynn Sherr Book Signing - June 27
- Starport's Father-Daughter Dance 2014
- Starport Summer Camp - Register Now - Jobs and Training
- HTC Lunch-and-Learn Tomorrow
- Last Performance Closeout Info Sess/Labs-CS Sups - Community
- Volunteer at Rockets Lake Jackson: May 10-11
- Special Olympics Needs Space Center Volunteers
- Co-ops & Interns Needed for Simulated Mars Mission
- Do You Have a Telescope You Don't Know How to Use? |  |
| Headlines - Internet Explorer Vulnerability – Do Not Use IE
The NASA OCIO SOC and JSC IT Security is recommending users not use any versions of Internet Explorer (IE) to access non-agency websites until Microsoft is able to issue a patch for this vulnerability. Once an official patch is released, the threat landscape will be re-assessed to determine whether the patch needs expedited deployment. Users are recommended to use alternate browsers, such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox, to access external websites. - Live Music in Space Event
Mark your calendars for this rare event! Tune in on Friday, May 2, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CDT for a special live International Space Station downlink with International Space Station Commander Koichi Wakata. From the space station, Wakata will perform a piece of the ancient Gagaku music with the sho Japanese instrument. Students from the Pearl Hall Elementary in Pasadena, Texas, will perform songs with astronaut Catherine Coleman, Houston Symphony violinist Sergei Galperin and violinist Kenji Williams. Students from Pearl Hall Elementary and Japan's Tenri University will speak to Wakata and explore the connection between the arts and science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM. The live program will be broadcast on NASA TV and webcast on the DLiNfo Channel. To watch the webcast online, click here. - Destination Station Brings Smiles to Indianapolis
Pediatric patients got a taste of outer space on April 28 when NASA embarked on its latest mission: sending an astronaut and NASA scientist to Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health. The fun and inquisitive questions were all part of Destination Station, NASA's national, traveling awareness campaign designed to shed light on activities and opportunities aboard the International Space Station. Read about the outreach event at the hospital, and see where Destination Station will spread smiles next from July 13 to 20. JSC External Relations, Office of Communications and Public Affairs x35111
[top] - Morpheus Flies Again Today at KSC
Today, the Morpheus/ALHAT team plans another free flight! The Bravo vehicle will ascend approximately 245 meters (800 feet) and, at its apex, will pitch over into a 30-degree glide slope and image the hazard field to determine "safe sites." Morpheus will follow a pre-planned trajectory re-designation to simulate hazard-avoidance maneuvers, travelling over about 406.5 meters (1,300 feet) downrange before descending to a landing within the hazard field after approximately 97 seconds of flight. The test will be streamed live on JSC's UStream Channel. Test firing is targeted for 11:30 a.m. CDT. Streaming will begin about 20 minutes prior to ignition. View the live stream, along with progress updates sent via Twitter, on the website. If on-site, watch live on JSC HDTV (channel 51-2) and IPTV (channel 4512). * Note: Testing operations are dynamic; actual firing time may vary. Follow Morpheus on Twitter for the latest information @MorpheusLander. (Send "follow morpheuslander" to 40404 for text updates.) More information can be accessed here: http://morpheuslander.jsc.nasa.gov - DICES Upgrade Required
For continued service, users of the Mission Operations Directorate-managed DICES application are required to reinstall the application prior to May 13. Current versions of DICES are incompatible with Java 1.7, and Build 55 is scheduled for deployment on this date. Administrative rights are not required to perform the reinstall, and the new release may be used immediately. Following reinstallation, users should run the new version from the desktop shortcut generated by the application's installer. The installer required for this effort may be downloaded here. - Recent JSC Announcement
Please visit the JSC Announcements (JSCA) Web page to view the newly posted announcement: JSCA 14-008: Communications with Industry Procurement Solicitation for the Robotics, Vehicle and Graphics Simulation Services (RVGSS) Contract Archived announcements are also available on the JSCA Web page. Organizations/Social - Children's Emotional Health
Do you know the one essential gift required to promote your child's emotional development? Did you know a child's emotional development lays the foundation for academic performance? A child's emotional health also impacts their mental health and ability to establish successful relationships. Emotional health is one of the most critical predictors in shaping a child's overall success. We will learn how to cultivate your child's emotional health, and also what not to do. We will be providing you resources for learning more about mental health and how vital your impact is to your child's ongoing emotional growth. In recognition of Children's Mental Health Awareness Month, please join JSC Employee Assistance Program counselor Anika Isaac, LPC, LMFT, NCC, LCDC, CEAP, as she presents "Children's Emotional Health." - How You can Save a Life
Intimate partner violence, also referred to as domestic violence, impacts people from all walks of life regardless of socioeconomic status, education, age, religion, race or gender. Incidents can occur as soon as a first dating relationship in high school or as late as the senior years of a person's life. The impact to the workplace is enormous both in terms of stress and danger to the employee and co-workers, as well as the cost of lost work days and productivity. Co-workers often feel uncertain or helpless about how to help in these situations, so they fall back to myths and stereotypes about it being a "personal problem." The reality is that there is much you can do to help. Join Takis Bogdanos, LPC-S, CEAP, CGP, with the JSC Employee Assistance Program, as he addresses the common misconceptions about intimate partner violence and offers strategies to assist a co-worker or loved one. - Save the Date: Lynn Sherr Book Signing - June 27
Starport is proud to host a book signing for Lynn Sherr, award-winning journalist and author of "Sally Ride: America's First Woman In Space," in cooperation with a LGBT Pride Month speech featuring Sally Ride's sister, Bear Ride; her partner, Tam O'Shaughnessy; and author Lynn Sherr. The release of this rich biography is about a fascinating woman whose life intersected with revolutionary social and scientific changes in America, and it comes just in time to celebrate the anniversary of Sally Ride's first spaceflight, STS-7, on June 18. Pre-order your book today in the Buildings 3 and 11 Starport Gift Shops and mark your calendar to hear Sherr, Ride and O'Shaughnessy speak on June 27 in the Teague Auditorium. Watch JSC Today for more details. Also, you can order online. - Starport's Father-Daughter Dance 2014
Make Father's Day weekend a date your daughter will never forget! Enjoy a night of music, dancing, refreshments, finger foods, dessert, photos and more. Plan to get all dressed up and spend a special evening with the special little lady in your life. The dance is open to girls of all ages, and attire is business casual to semi-formal. A photographer will be on hand to capture this special moment with picture packages for you to purchase. One free 5x7 will be provided. - June 13 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Gilruth Center Alamo Ballroom
- Cost is $40 per couple ($15 per additional child)
Register online or at the Gilruth Center information desk. You must register by June 11, and there will be no tickets sold at the door. - Starport Summer Camp - Register Now
Summer is fast approaching, and Starport will again be offering summer camps for youth at the Gilruth Center all summer long. We have tons of fun planned, and we expect each session to fill up, so get your registrations in early! Weekly themes are listed on our website, as well as information regarding registration. Ages: 6 to 12 Times: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Dates: June 9 to Aug. 22 in one-week sessions Fee per session: $140 per child | $125 per sibling Register for all sessions and receive a DISCOUNT! Register online or at the Gilruth Center information desk. Jobs and Training - HTC Lunch-and-Learn Tomorrow
Ever thought about starting your own business? Do you have an idea or technology that you think has potential as a commercial product? Then bring your bagged lunch and join the Houston Technology Center (HTC) in the HTC Conference Center, located on the second floor of Building 35, from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. tomorrow and next Thursday for a series of lectures on how to launch, fund and sustain a new business. Event Date: May 1 Event Start Time: 11:30 a.m. Event End Time: 12:30 p.m. Event Location: Building 35, Conference Room 212 - Last Performance Closeout Info Sess/Labs-CS Sups
Civil servant (CS) supervisors have one remaining opportunity to attend a Performance Closeout Info Session (today, April 30, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. in Building 12, Room 134). During the session, supervisors will receive an overview of the performance management system and discuss performance-closeout tips and best practices. We've also scheduled SPACE live labs for supervisors. During the live labs, supervisors will be able to work on employee appraisals, and Human Resources support will be available to answer any system-related questions. No registration is required. The live lab dates/times are below. SPACE Supervisor Live Labs (all in Building 12, Room 144): - May 7 - 11 a.m. to noon
- May 15 - 9 to 10 a.m.
- May 22 - Noon to 1 p.m.
- May 28 - Noon to 1 p.m.
- June 5 - 9 to 10 a.m.
Community - Volunteer at Rockets Lake Jackson: May 10-11
The SystemsGo Aeroscience High School Program needs volunteers Saturday and Sunday, May 10 and 11, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Location: Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge SystemsGo is an educational nonprofit supporting progressive and innovative STEM programs in high schools throughout Texas. Volunteers are needed to help 19 gulf-coast-area high schools test the project vehicles that they have designed and fabricated to either loft a one-pound payload to one mile or attempt transonic velocity. Volunteers will assist with Stage 2/range safety review, Stage 3/recovery deployment installation, launch pad prep/test, fill/fire control, GPS tracking and more. All volunteers will be trained prior to the launch date. - GPS tracking - one volunteer needed daily
- Pad techs - two volunteers needed daily
- Mission Control - two volunteers needed daily
- Runner - one volunteer needed daily
To volunteer, please visit V-CORPs and contact Joyce Abbey at 281-335-2041 or via email. Event Date: Saturday, May 10, 2014 Event Start Time:7:00 AM Event End Time:4:00 PM
Event Location: Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge
Add to Calendar
Joyce Abbey 281-335-2041
[top] - Special Olympics Needs Space Center Volunteers
The local Special Olympics Spring Games are approaching, and we are in need of volunteers. Space Center Volunteers is the largest group that supports the spring games, so let's not disappoint. The spring games are the largest track-and-field day for the area's special needs athletes, so come out and volunteer with your co-workers, friends and family. The games will take place on Saturday, May 3, at the Clear Creek High School track and field. Volunteer shifts are throughout the day on May 3, and 10 to 15 volunteers are needed Friday, May 2, to help with the setup of the games. Please note that the Friday shift does occur during regular business hours, and no charge number will be provided. To sign up to volunteer, go to V-CORPs and then here. - Co-ops & Interns Needed for Simulated Mars Mission
Gain leadership experience by mentoring a student team as they design a simulated mission to Mars. During High School Aerospace Scholars, you can share your NASA experiences, college advice and help connect our workforce with the brightest Texas high school students. Choose any week(s) to volunteer and enjoy our fun activities. Summer Schedule: - Week 1: June 15 to 20
- Week 2: June 22 to 27
- Week 3: July 6 to 11
- Week 4: July 13 to 18
- Week 5: July 20 to 25
- Week 6: July 27 to Aug. 1
If interested, please: 1. Complete the mentor application here. 3. Review mentor responsibilities. 4. Apply before May 2. - Do You Have a Telescope You Don't Know How to Use?
Do you have a telescope you don't know how to use? Take a class at the George Observatory. We will be offering two classes on May 3. The first class will be how to use a refracting or reflecting telescope, and it starts at 3 p.m. The cost is $25 for Houston Museum of Natural Science (HMNS) members, or $30 for non-members. The second class will be how to use a go-to telescope, and it starts at 5 p.m. The cost is $30 for HMNS members, or $35 for non-members. Note: Park entrance fees apply at $7 per person for everyone over 12 years old. | |
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| JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. Disclaimer: Accuracy and content of these notes are the responsibility of the submitters. |
NASA and Human Spaceflight News
Wednesday – April 30, 2014
HEADLINES AND LEADS
Orbital Sciences, ATK Announce "Merger of Equals"
Peter B. de Selding – Space News
Satellite and rocket builder Orbital Sciences and rocket-motor builder ATK on April 29 said they have agreed to merge their aerospace and defense divisions in a $5 billion transaction that has been definitively approved by both companies.
ATK to merge with Orbital Sciences in $5 billion deal, spin off sports division
Amrita Jayakumar – The Washington Post
There's a new player in Washington's aerospace sector.
ATK, Orbital to merge aerospace businesses
James Dean – Florida Today
Two prominent space industry firms today announced plans to merge.
Budget cutbacks spurring defense mergers
Alliant Techsystems and Orbital Sciences are latest to unite as industry's future dims
W.J. Hennigan – Los Angeles Times
With protracted federal budget cuts at the Pentagon and NASA on the horizon, aerospace companies across the nation are choosing to combine forces as they vie for fewer dollars and brace for the tough times ahead. U.S., E.U. sanctions on Russians amid Ukraine crisis have little impact on the ground
Michael Birnbaum – The Washington Post
The sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle were supposed to roll back the chaos besetting eastern Ukraine. But here in Russia's blossoming capital, such a retreat is nowhere to be seen.
Latest US Sanctions On Russia Threaten Work In Space
Gabriela Baczynska – Reuters
Extensive cooperation in space between Washington and Moscow came under pressure on Tuesday after the United States banned high-tech exports to Russia under new Ukraine-related sanctions.
US wants to drive Russia out of space launch market by sanctions - Russia's Deputy PM
The Voice of Russia
Under the guise of sanctions the United States was trying to push its Russian rivals out of the international space launch market, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister in charge of space and defense industry said Tuesday.
ULA defends 27-rocket 'block buy' contract
William Harwood – CBS News
Responding to claims by aerospace newcomer SpaceX that it was unfairly blocked from competing for lucrative military missions, United Launch Alliance, winner of a sole-source Air Force contract for 27 rockets, said it was the only U.S. company that met stringent Pentagon mission requirements using boosters with a proven track record.
Draft House Bill Recommends $220 Million Next Year for RD-180 Alternative
Mike Gruss – Space News
A congressional defense panel is recommending that the U.S. Defense Department spend $220 million next year to develop an American alternative to the Russian-made RD-180 engine that powers the first stage of United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket, a U.S. government workhorse.
$17.9 billion NASA Budget Proposed by House CJS Appropriators
Dan Leone – Space News
NASA would get $17.9 billion in 2015 under a spending bill the House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider April 30. The bill sets NASA up for a slightly larger budget increase than the White House requested and maintains congressional spending priorities on big accounts including the heavy-lift Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule.
Space Station Research Yields A New Disease Diagnostic Device
Joel Lindsey – Med Device Online
Researchers from Northwestern University and Portland State University have devised a new, sustainable, and highly portable disease diagnostic device that capitalizes on the principle of capillary flow, a concept tested and refined aboard the International Space Station.
Audit: Age, costs challenge NASA's Space Network
James Dean – Florida Today
Aging satellites and budget shortfalls represent "significant challenges" to the NASA network that provides near-continuous communication with the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope and other low-orbiting spacecraft, the agency's internal watchdog reported today.
NASA Wants Ideas for Mission to Jupiter's Icy Moon Europa
NASA is asking the scientific community to help it devise a relatively low-budget mission to Jupiter's moon Europa, perhaps the solar system's best bet to host alien life.
Gov. Jerry Brown approves property tax exemption for space companies
Patrick McGreevy – Los Angeles Times
Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed into law a 10-year exemption from state taxes for certain property used for space flight operations in California.
COMPLETE STORIES
Orbital Sciences, ATK Announce "Merger of Equals"
Peter B. de Selding – Space News
Satellite and rocket builder Orbital Sciences and rocket-motor builder ATK on April 29 said they have agreed to merge their aerospace and defense divisions in a $5 billion transaction that has been definitively approved by both companies.
The new company, to be called Orbital ATK, will count 13,000 employees and in 2013 would have generated $4.5 billion in revenue.
The companies said ATK would be spinning off its commercial sporting-equipment group to ATK shareholders.
The companies described the deal as a "merger-of-equals combination." ATK shareholders will have 53.8 percent the new company, with Orbital investors owning 46.2 percent.
Orbital Chief Executive David W. Thompson will retain his post in the new ensemble, with ATK Aerospace President Blake E. Larson becoming chief operating officer of Orbital ATK. The company will be headquartered at Orbital's Dulles, Va., headquarters.
ATK Chief Executive Officer Mark W. DeYoung said the merger "will generate cost and revenue synergies and create a more streamlined and competitive operator."
Once the merger is completed, the new company is expected to have a net debt of $1.4 billion. By 2016, the companies said, the merger will be generating between $70 million and $100 million in synergies as overlapping capacities are shed, plus between $150 million and $200 million of incremental revenue.
The companies said the merger should clear regulatory approvals by the end of this year.
ATK to merge with Orbital Sciences in $5 billion deal, spin off sports division
Amrita Jayakumar – The Washington Post
There's a new player in Washington's aerospace sector.
Arlington-based Alliant Techsystems is merging its aerospace and defense segments with Orbital Sciences, the Dulles-based commercial space firm, the companies said in a joint announcement Tuesday. ATK is also spinning off its lucrative hunting gear segment into a separate company.
The move is mutually beneficial, company executives said, as ATK looks to bolster its aerospace business and Orbital Sciences hopes to boost the scale of its existing operations as well as gain a foothold in the defense sector.
The separation of ATK's core segments gives it the opportunity to focus on its sporting goods sector, which has grown to a $2.2 billion business through several mergers and acquisitions over the past decade. The company manufactures commercial sporting equipment for hunters, shooters and law enforcement agencies.
Another beneficiary of the merger is NASA, a client of both companies.
Last year, Orbital successfully completed a supply run to the international space station using its Antares rocket and Cygnus spacecraft. Orbital's expansion after the merger will make it a bigger player in the commercial space sector as it competes with the likes of SpaceX, billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk's company, said Howard Rubel, an equity research analyst at Jefferies.
In a call with investors, executives from both companies said they would use the deal to build on existing technological capabilities. ATK is not a stranger to the space sector. The company received a $178 million contract from United Launch Alliance this month to deliver hardware for the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets.
Under the terms of the deal, ATK and Orbital will merge to form a new company named Orbital ATK with a combined revenue of $4.5 billion.
Orbital ATK will be headquartered in Dulles and is expected to employ 13,000 people in 17 states. The hunting-gear company will be based in Utah and employ 5,800 workers in 11 states and worldwide, ATK said.
The companies did not specify how many positions would be eliminated but noted that Orbital ATK expects to save up to $100 million as it streamlines operations. After the merger, which is expected to be completed by the end of 2014, ATK shareholders will own 53.8 percent of Orbital ATK.
The Virginia companies have worked together for more than two decades, making them familiar with each other's capabilities and work culture, Ronald Fogleman, chairman of ATK's board of directors, said in a statement.
"The combination of ATK and Orbital really does bring together two companies that have historically been very innovative in their markets and been focused on affordability," David Thompson, Orbital's chief executive, said in the call.
Fogleman will continue his role for Orbital ATK, while David Thompson will serve as its president. Mark DeYoung, ATK's current president and chief executive, will lead the sporting-goods company.
Shares of Orbital Sciences jumped 16 percent to close at $30.96 while ATK closed up 6.7 percent at $148.22.
ATK, Orbital to merge aerospace businesses
James Dean – Florida Today
Two prominent space industry firms today announced plans to merge.
ATK, the maker of solid rocket motors that helped launch the space shuttle, will combine its aerospace and defense business with Orbital Sciences Corp., a builder of satellites and launcher of cargo to the International Space Station.
The "merger of equals" will employ 13,000 people and generate $4.5 billion in annual sales.
ATK plans to spin off its sporting equipment group and pair its aerospace and defense industry business with Orbital to form the new Orbital ATK, headquartered in Dulles, Va., and led by current Orbital CEO Dave Thompson.
"I am convinced that this merger is the kind of event that is often sought but rarely found," Thompson said during a conference call with investors this morning.
After the deal closes late this year, the combined company expects cost savings of $70 million to $100 million and new revenue of $100 million to $200 million by the end of 2016.
ATK is Orbital's largest supplier, providing parts including the solid upper stage for Orbital's medium-class Antares rocket, which launches cargo to the ISS from Virginia's Eastern Shore.
ATK is developing a longer, five-segment version of the shuttle solid rocket booster for the initial launches of NASA's Space Launch System rocket, which is targeting a first launch from Kennedy Space Center by late 2017.
The companies are also partners on the air-launched rocket being developed for Stratolaunch Systems, which is considering KSC's shuttle runway as a base of operations.
Budget cutbacks spurring defense mergers
Alliant Techsystems and Orbital Sciences are latest to unite as industry's future dims
W.J. Hennigan – Los Angeles Times
With protracted federal budget cuts at the Pentagon and NASA on the horizon, aerospace companies across the nation are choosing to combine forces as they vie for fewer dollars and brace for the tough times ahead. In the first quarter of this year, there were 56 merger and acquisition deals announced, according to Irvine aerospace investment bank Janes Capital Partners. This was a 14% increase from last year.
"We are on the cusp of a major merger wave in aerospace and defense," said Stephen Perry, managing director at Janes. "As budgets decline, it's very logical for these firms to go out looking for ways to combine businesses."
The new company, called Orbital ATK Inc., is expected to employ 13,000 people in 17 states — about 1,000 of whom will be in California.
News of the deal was well received on Wall Street as investors snapped up shares of both companies. Alliant's stock was up 6.8%, or $9.40, to $148.22. Orbital's shares were up 16.5%, or $4.39, or $30.96.
Under the all-stock deal, Alliant shareholders will own about 54% of the combined company. It is to be completed by year's end.
It is the latest chapter of consolidation in the industry as companies look for ways to manage margins and squeeze out profit in an era of budget austerity. In recent years, various companies have been bought and sold in an attempt to boost earnings.
A merger between two iconic California rocket and missile companies, Rocketdyne and Aerojet, was also finalized last year.
As combat operations have come to an end in Iraq and Afghanistan, many in the defense industry believe contractors will be scrambling for work in the coming years.
After the Cold War ended two decades ago, military budgets were slashed. The excess capacity in the defense industry resulted in a barrage of mergers.
In 1993, then-Deputy Defense Secretary William Perry held a dinner, known as the "last supper," in which he warned the defense industry's top suppliers that the budget was going to shrink and that consolidation was essential to their survival.
In the years that followed, the number of aircraft makers dropped to three from eight, and the 13 missile manufacturers were reduced to four.
This time around, consolidation is more likely to involve larger mid-tier suppliers looking for access to new markets and an increase in efficiency, said Tom Captain, principal and vice chairman of the aerospace and defense practice at financial advisory firm Deloitte. "There are too many companies chasing too few dollars," he said. "There's just not enough work to go around."
Captain also expects consolidation on the commercial side of the aerospace industry, but for different reasons. Jet makers such as Boeing Co. and Airbus are increasingly asking for concessions and price reductions from suppliers. To deal with this pressure, the commercial supply chain will consolidate over the next few years, Captain said in Deloitte's 2014 global aerospace and defense industry outlook.
Orbital and Alliant have a 25-year history of collaboration on various programs. The new rocket company will manufacture an array of hardware that includes space launch vehicles, tactical missiles and satellites.
Alliant's aerospace group is a top producer of solid rocket propulsion systems and a supplier of military and commercial aircraft structures. In addition, the company has a stake in NASA's plans to build Space Launch System, a heavy-launch rocket capable of sending astronauts beyond low-Earth orbit by 2025.
Alliant manufactures the five-segment solid rocket boosters. At 153 feet tall, these would be the largest solid rocket motors ever to fly.
But NASA has not provided specifics on where the nation will travel next in the solar system and when exactly it will conduct such missions, which has caused critics to question whether the project will ever get off the ground.
Orbital, based in Dulles, Va., manufactures more than half a dozen small- and medium-class rockets, as well as satellites, and delivers cargo to astronauts aboard the International Space Station in a $1.9-billion contract with NASA.
The merger of the two businesses went beyond budget cuts and will result in a more streamlined company, said David W. Thompson, Orbital's president and chief executive, who will head up the new firm.
For instance, the two companies, operating independently, subcontract about 50% of parts, he said. Through the merger, that number will be cut in half.
"There's wider range we can do together," Thompson said. The new company will deliver "more affordable space, defense and aviation systems to our existing customers and be strongly positioned to expand."
U.S., E.U. sanctions on Russians amid Ukraine crisis have little impact on the ground
Michael Birnbaum – The Washington Post
The sanctions on Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle were supposed to roll back the chaos besetting eastern Ukraine. But here in Russia's blossoming capital, such a retreat is nowhere to be seen.
Some targets of the sanctions are sitting down for softball interviews on Kremlin-controlled TV channels. Moscow's stock market rebounded Tuesday for the second day in a row after the latest round of sanctions turned out to be weaker than expected.
Chaos is spiraling in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian separatists stormed a regional government building in the roiling city of Luhansk on Tuesday. And tens of thousands of Russian troops remain arrayed on Ukraine's border.
Russian officials have acknowledged that the sanctions will affect the economy, particularly the technology and defense sectors. But some of the targets have rolled their eyes, saying the United States and Europe are only inflicting wounds on themselves.
"After analyzing the sanctions against our space industry, I suggest the U.S. delivers its astronauts to the ISS with a trampoline," Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the recipient of a U.S. asset freeze and travel ban, said Tuesday, referring to the international space station. The United States relies on Russian space shuttle flights to launch astronauts into orbit.
Obama administration officials say the impact of the sanctions cannot be measured through stock market gyrations or the defiance of Russian officials. They also say that Putin may be hesitant about a full-blown invasion of eastern Ukraine because of the threat of wide-ranging freezes targeting the banking and energy sectors, which would wreak havoc on Russia's economy.
"We believe that [sanctions] can affect Russia's calculus over time," a senior administration official told reporters in a background conference call this week. The Moscow stock market is down 13.2 percent for the year, and the ruble is down 7.6 percent against the dollar — but those declines started before any sanctions were announced.
The latest U.S. move targeted companies owned by Russian officials and businesspeople already hit by a first round of sanctions, and it expanded the list of Putin confidants whose U.S.-based assets are now frozen and who will not be issued visas for travel to the United States. Exports to Russia of U.S. technologies that could have military uses were put on hold.
The European Union followed Tuesday with sanctions of its own, but it focused on officials tied to the chaos in Ukraine, not on the private sector.
In Moscow, life continues largely as before, a reflection of a sanctions strategy that has largely spared ordinary Russians — except for the sinking value of the ruble. Muscovites took advantage of a gust of warm weather this weekend to flock to parks, where the scent of grilled shish kebab and blooming tulips permeated the air. Workers in bright uniforms carefully applied new layers of paint to winter-blasted buildings and benches.
Ahead of a long holiday that begins May 1 and for many Russians will extend until after Victory Day on May 9, news channels have given as much weight to packed tourist flights heading to the newly Russian-controlled Crimea — an autonomous Ukrainian region until last month — as they have to the sanctions.
Russians "are not really feeling those sanctions, and I think they are not intended to be felt by ordinary citizens," said Grigorii Golosov, a professor of political science at the European University of St. Petersburg. "They are intended and often explained as having a short-term effect, but they can't, and they won't."
Instead, Russian officials have said that pressure from the sanctions would come at a more leisurely pace.
"The gravity of these measures is absolutely obvious to us," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Tuesday in an interview with Gazeta.ru, a news Web site.
He said they were a "revival" of a Cold War sanctions regime in which "countries of the West effectively dropped the Iron Curtain on deliveries of high-technology products to the Soviet Union."
Some targeted officials, meanwhile, appear to be receiving rewards for their black-list status. Gennady Timchenko, who sold his stake in the Swiss-based oil trader Gunvor last month hours before being hit by U.S. sanctions, was appointed head of the Russian half of the Russian-Chinese Business Council on Tuesday, the Izvestia newspaper reported.
The U.S. Treasury Department said at the time that Putin was thought to have access to Gunvor funds, a charge the company denied. The new round of U.S. sanctions includes 11 companies owned or controlled by Timchenko.
Administration officials must also contend with the risk that sanctions that hurt the Russian economy will also affect those of Europe and the United States, yet another limit on the speed and power of the effort.
The Monday listing of Igor Sechin, the head of oil giant Rosneft, will complicate his company's business relationship with Exxon Mobil, which is exploring the Arctic region with the Russian company.
But sanctions targeting individuals rather than industry sectors are unlikely to have a big effect on behavior, said Kirill Rogov, a senior researcher at the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy in Moscow.
"No one will stop buying oil or gas because of these sanctions," he said.
Latest US Sanctions On Russia Threaten Work In Space
Gabriela Baczynska – Reuters
Extensive cooperation in space between Washington and Moscow came under pressure on Tuesday after the United States banned high-tech exports to Russia under new Ukraine-related sanctions.
Russia pledged tit-for-tat measures in revenge for U.S. sanctions it said would hit its space industry, a symbol of national pride and a sphere of fierce competition with the United States dating back to the Cold War.
A deputy prime minister suggested that U.S. astronauts, who depend on Russian rockets to get to the International Space Station (ISS), use trampolines to reach it instead.
However, analysts said Moscow was unlikely to curb its shuttle service to the ISS, for which U.S. space agency NASA pays more than $60 million per person, as it provided essential financing for the cash-strapped industry.
The White House said on Monday the United States would deny export licenses for any high-technology items that could aid Russian military capabilities and revoke existing licenses.
"The seriousness of these measures is absolutely obvious for us," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told gazeta.ru in an online interview, highlighting high-tech cooperation between the two countries, including launching satellites, either American-made or containing U.S. components.
"All this hits at our high-tech enterprises and industries."
Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, responsible for Russia's defense industry and known for anti-Western rhetoric, suggested space may be the next frontier in the standoff over Ukraine, which has taken relations between Washington and Moscow to their worst since the Cold War.
"The United States introduced sanctions against our space industry... We warned them, we will reply to statements with statements, to actions with actions," he wrote on Twitter.
"I propose that the United States delivers its astronauts to the ISS with the help of a trampoline," he added.
RUSSIA SET TO SUFFER
The United States and the Soviet Union were locked in the so-called "space race" for decades. Russia's Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space in 1961 and Neil Armstrong of the United States was the first man on the Moon in 1969.
With the Cold War over, competition gave way to cooperation.
While NASA was banned earlier this month from contacting the Russian government due to sanctions, operation of the space station, a $100 billion research project owned by 15 countries, remains exempt.
But Sergei Oznobishchev, director at the Institute for Strategic Assessments think-tank in Moscow, said many other joint space projects would suffer immediately.
"This is a very sensitive issue since our defense industry was completely unprepared for such developments," he said. "Both sides will suffer but Russia will lose out more in terms of technology transfer."
"For us, this cooperation was largely a technology school."
Analysts said Russia still lagged in production of high-tech electronic components - including microchips for satellites - and that meant its space and arms sectors were overwhelmingly reliant on imports from the West.
Depending on the scale and scope of the sanctions, at stake could be up to five commercial satellite launches contracted by foreign clients by the end of this year at the Khrunichev Center, a state-run Russian spacecraft maker.
"We are ready to carry out all the commercial launches we have planned for this year and we hope that will be the case. We have all the necessary permits to that end," said Alexander Bobrenyov, the Khrunichev Center's spokesman.
But in a sign of market concern over the sanctions, shares in British satellite operator Inmarsat fell on Tuesday despite the company saying the schedule of satellite launches for its new faster broadband network was not affected.
The new satellites are due to be carried on the Russian Proton Breeze M rockets launched from Kazakhstan.
US wants to drive Russia out of space launch market by sanctions - Russia's Deputy PM
The Voice of Russia
Under the guise of sanctions the United States was trying to push its Russian rivals out of the international space launch market, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister in charge of space and defense industry said Tuesday.
"The Americans want to eliminate us from the space services market, to put into question the capability of our companies to produce carrier rockets and put foreign satellites into orbit," Dmitry Rogozin said.
He said the US sanctions against Russia will also affect its partners in Europe, namely the European Space Agency. "In fact, under the guise of fighting against Russia, the Americans are also fighting with their European rivals. Today, they are trying to kill Europe. If the Europeans choose to stagger behind the Americans, they will lose not only their good name and reputation, they will also lose a great deal of their own economic potential," the Russian deputy premier added.
He reiterated Russia's warning that sanctions were "always a boomerang that will fly back and painfully hit the one who had launched it".
"If they [the US] want to make an economic blow to the Russian rocket building industry, then they should consider using a trampoline to deliver their astronauts to the International Space Station," he said.
The Russian Soyuz rocket and spacecraft, widely considered the most reliable manned space launch system in history, are currently the only means of reaching the station following the retirement of the US space shuttle three years ago. Under a contract between Russian space agency Roscosmos and NASA, signed on March 14, 2011, Soyuz spacecraft will take at least 12 US astronauts to the ISS and back until 2016.
ULA defends 27-rocket 'block buy' contract
William Harwood – CBS News
Responding to claims by aerospace newcomer SpaceX that it was unfairly blocked from competing for lucrative military missions, United Launch Alliance, winner of a sole-source Air Force contract for 27 rockets, said it was the only U.S. company that met stringent Pentagon mission requirements using boosters with a proven track record.
"Canceling the contract and terminating the block buy -- which involves hundreds of suppliers and is enormously complex -- would cost billions," ULA said in a statement released late Monday. "Additionally, it could put critical mission schedules at risk that would have impact on operational capabilities and the satellite program costs."
ULA is the only "government certified launch provider" currently operating that "meets all of the unique EELV (evolved expendable launch vehicle) requirements that are critical to supporting our troops and keeping our country safe," the company said.
ULA's comments came on the heels of a formal bid protest filed Monday by SpaceX in the U.S. Court of Federal Appeals that alleges the Air Force violated government procurement law when it awarded the sole-source contract, which the SpaceX complaint called "dangerous, fiscally irresponsible and offensive to American values." SpaceX insists it was qualified to compete for military contracts and should have been included.
United Launch Alliance is a partnership between Boeing, which designed the Delta 4 family of rockets, and Lockheed Martin, designer of the Atlas 5. The two rocket builders initially competed for military and civilian launch contracts, but joined forces as part of an Air Force decision to keep both production lines open to ensure access to space for high-priority national security payloads.
Since the company's founding in 2006, ULA has launched 81 successful missions in a row, including sophisticated spy satellites, military communications stations, weather satellites, navigation beacons and NASA science spacecraft, including the Curiosity Mars rover, the New Horizons probe en route to Pluto and the Juno mission on the way to Jupiter.
But military missions are ULA's core business and the five-year block buy contract for 27 launch vehicles, including four heavy-lift variants of the Delta 4 booster, is valued at some $11 billion. The actual block buy contract originally covered 35 rocket cores after one was moved to another contract. Yet another core later was added to the block buy to push the total back to 36.
SpaceX, founded by internet entrepreneur Elon Musk, builds the Falcon 9 rocket and holds a $1.6 billion contract with NASA to launch at least 12 uncrewed cargo ships to the International Space Station. The Falcon 9 version 1.1 rocket also is used to launch commercial communications satellite. SpaceX claims a manifest with $5 billion in orders.
SpaceX has launched eight Falcon 9 missions, all of them successful, and Musk believes his rockets offer a reliable, lower-cost alternative for military payloads in the Falcon 9's lift capability.
ULA was awarded the block buy contract last December, before SpaceX's upgraded Falcon 9 version 1.1 rocket had met Air Force certification requirements needed to win a military launch contract. SpaceX has since completed the flight requirement -- three successful launchings in a row -- and is in the process of working through the remaining certification paperwork and engineering reviews.
SpaceX was not allowed to compete for any of the rocket cores in the ULA block buy. The Air Force initially said it intended to buy 14 more rocket cores on a competitive bases, but half of those missions later were excluded.
According to an Air Force media roundtable in March, five missions to launch navigation satellites were deferred beyond the current budget horizon, another payload was deemed too heavy for the Falcon 9 and a seventh payload was awarded to ULA as part of the block buy commitment, pushing the total back to 36 cores.
In any case, ULA and the Air Force have said the block buy will result in a savings of $4 billion "while keeping our nation's assured access to deliver critical national security assets safely to space."
"Space launch is one of the most risk-intolerant and technologically advanced components of our national security," the company said. "That is why new entrants must meet rigorous certification criteria of vehicle design, reliability, process maturity and safety systems in order to compete, similar to the process that ULA's Atlas and Delta products and processes have met."
Musk disagrees, telling reporters last week that his company was unfairly excluded from competing for rockets in the block buy contract. A SpaceX spokeswoman said Air Force certification was required to actually win a military contract, but not to compete for one.
Musk also said the $4 billion in savings cited by the Air Force and ULA is misleading and does not reflect the program's actual cost. He says the Falcon 9 can safely carry many single-core payloads at a quarter of the cost of a ULA rocket.
The SpaceX legal challenge claims the block buy is an "exclusive deal" that "was concluded outside of public scrutiny" and includes one rocket, the Atlas 5, that relies on a Russian RD-180 first-stage engine to launch U.S. national security payloads.
As a result, SpaceX argues, the contract "funnels hundreds of millions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to Russia's military-industrial base, including monies that may flow to individuals on the U.S. sanctions list."
"Further, it defers meaningful free competition for years to come, costing taxpayers billions of dollars more," the complaint alleges. "Beyond violating core tenets of government procurement law, the ULA Contract is dangerous, fiscally irresponsible and offensive to American values of open competition and fairness."
The complaint seeks "permanent injunctive relief" to forbid the Air Force from buying single-core rockets for EELV missions without a fair competition while requiring a detailed explanation if a sole-source contract is awarded.
During a news conference late last week, Musk said "the reasonable thing to do would be to cancel the (block buy) contract, wait a few months for (Falcon 9) certification to complete, then conduct a full competition. That would be in the best interest of the American public, not by a small margin, but by a huge one."
During a Senate hearing in March, Musk even suggested the government should consider eliminating the Atlas 5 altogether, relying solely on the Delta 4 and Falcon 9. He did not mention that the Atlas 5 is the launcher of choice for two companies, Boeing and Sierra Nevada, that are competing with SpaceX for NASA contracts to build and launch commercial crewed spacecraft to the space station.
ULA countered Monday that the block buy contract "was the result of a best practice acquisition process" that "saved the government and taxpayers approximately $4 billion while keeping our nation's assured access to deliver critical national security assets safely to space."
As for the RD-180 engine that has powered the Atlas 5 first stage for the past two decades, ULA "has always maintained contingency capabilities if the supply was interrupted to ensure our customers' mission needs are met," the company said. "ULA maintains a two-year inventory of engines in the U.S. and would be able to transition other mission commitments to our Delta rockets if an emergent need develops."
Musk last week singled out Dmitry Rogozin, deputy prime minister of Russia's defense and space industry, saying he is on the U.S. sanctions list in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. In the SpaceX complaint, the company alleged that "under the ULA Contract, the Air Force is sending millions of dollars directly to an entity controlled by Russia and to an industry led by an individual identified for sanctions."
Last week, Rogozin tweeted that people implying he personally profits from U.S. funding for the RD-180 were "morons." Tuesday, he tweeted that "after analyzing the sanctions against our space industry I suggest the US delivers its astronauts to the ISS with a trampoline."
Draft House Bill Recommends $220 Million Next Year for RD-180 Alternative
Mike Gruss – Space News
A congressional defense panel is recommending that the U.S. Defense Department spend $220 million next year to develop an American alternative to the Russian-made RD-180 engine that powers the first stage of United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 rocket, a U.S. government workhorse.
In drafting its portion of the 2015 defense authorization bill, the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee said the development project, to be completed in 2019, would enable "the effective, efficient, and expedient transition from the use of non-allied space launch engines to a domestic alternative for the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program."
The strategic forces subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over U.S. military space programs, released its markup April 29 and plans to review the legislation in a public meeting April 30.
Momentum for developing an RD-180-class engine in the United States has been building rapidly in Congress and elsewhere since Russia's annexation of Crimea and continued threat to the rest of eastern Ukraine.
The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence will also work this year to fund a U.S. alternative to the RD-180, Rep. C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger (D-Md.), that panel's ranking member, told SpaceNews April 17.
The Air Force and Defense Department are already examining the feasibility of developing the new engine, which House staff members have estimated would cost about $1.2 billion and take about four years. Government and industry officials acknowledge that changing to a U.S.-made engine on Atlas 5 would drive up the cost of the program.
The draft defense authorization bill calls for the defense secretary to coordinate with the NASA administrator to ensure the new rocket engine could be used by both agencies.
The RD-180, manufactured by Energomash of Moscow, is powered by a mixture of kerosene and liquid oxygen and generates nearly 1 million pounds of thrust. It is imported and sold to ULA by RD-Amross, a joint venture of Energomash and United Technologies Corp.
ULA currently has 2.5 years worth of Atlas 5 engine inventory on hand at its factory in Decatur, Alabama, and is expected to receive five engines next year and six in 2015.
The space-relation portion of the draft defense authorization bill also includes language directing the Air Force to initiate a competitive procurement next year to launch the second of two refurbished military weather satellites.
The Air Force has spent hundreds of millions of dollars refurbishing and storing the last two satellites in the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program, which for decades has provided global weather data to support military and intelligence-gathering operations. The first of those satellites, DMSP Flight 19, was launched in early April, but the Air Force has been noncommital about launching the second.
The draft bill limits funding for a follow-on weather satellite program until the defense secretary submits to the relevant congressional defense committees a report on the Pentagon's meteorological and oceanographic collection requirements, its use of weather data from outside sources and a launch plan for DMSP Flight 20.
Meanwhile, the draft legislation also requests a report on potential strategies to face counterspace efforts from Russia and China.
In recent months, senior U.S. military and intelligence officials have repeatedly told Congress about the growing threat to U.S. national security space assets. In January, U.S. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that the threat will increase in 2014 and that China and Russia in particular have demonstrated counterspace capabilities.
Finally, the bill directs the Pentagon's top acquisition official to accelerate the use of long-delayed terminals for the Navy's next-generation mobile satellite communications system. The terminals for the Navy's four-satellite Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) are 21 months behind schedule.
The first MUOS satellite launched in February 2012 and a second launched in July 2013. In March, the Government Accountability Office said more than 90 percent of the first satellite's on-orbit capabilities are being underutilized because of delays with the terminal program.
On April 22, General Dynamics announced it had opened a testing lab for the MUOS radios, a move the company said will help get the struggling program back on track.
The lab is one of two to support testing for radio terminals that will connect with the satellites. Army officials have said three companies were expected to begin using the labs in March.
Rockwell Collins began testing its ARC-201 radio at the facility in March, according to the General Dynamics release.
"The MUOS Radio Testing Lab in Scottsdale will help the U.S. military and government to cost-effectively and efficiently add MUOS-capable radios to their communications network," Chris Marzilli, president of General Dynamics C4 Systems of Scottsdale, Arizona, said in the release. "This brings this critical operational capability even closer to being available to military and government personnel."
$17.9 billion NASA Budget Proposed by House CJS Appropriators
Dan Leone – Space News
NASA would get $17.9 billion in 2015 under a spending bill the House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to consider April 30. The bill sets NASA up for a slightly larger budget increase than the White House requested and maintains congressional spending priorities on big accounts including the heavy-lift Space Launch System and Orion crew capsule.
The proposed NASA budget, part of a $52.1 billion Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) appropriations bill, would also relabel the agency's multibillion Cross Agency Support account "Safety, Security and Mission Services." The House Appropriations Committee posted the draft legislation on its website April 29.
Overall, the NASA budget proposed in the CJS bill is nearly 1.5 percent higher than the 2014 appropriation, and nearly 2.5 percent more than the approximately $17.5 billion the White House is seeking.
The House Appropriations commerce, justice, science subcommittee, which drafted the bill, proposes raising NASA's exploration budget, which includes SLS, Orion, and development funds for the Commercial Crew Program, to roughly $4.2 billion — about 1 percent more than the 2014 appropriation and nearly 5 percent more than what the White House requested.
SLS and Orion would get the lion's share of the Exploration total: just about $3.1 billion, according to the draft bill released April 29. That would leave some $1.1 billion for the Commercial Crew Program and a human spaceflight-focused technology development account. The Commercial Crew Program is the White House's signature human spaceflight initiative. The program aims to replace the retired space shuttle's crew-carrying capacity to the international space station with one of three commercially designed systems by the end of 2017.
The draft bill does not specify a funding level for Commercial Crew, but it does suggest that Congress may be willing to give the program even more than the 2014 high-water mark of about $700 million. There would be about $800 million available for Commercial Crew if appropriators hold exploration research and development spending to the roughly $300 million it received for 2014.
Meanwhile, within the nearly $5.2 billion proposed for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, House lawmakers set aside $100 million within the Planetary Science Division to continue studies on a concept mission to Jupiter's moon Europa. That is $20 million more than lawmakers provided in the 2014 omnibus spending bill signed in March.
The White House, in contrast, is seeking just $15 million for Europa preformulation studies. At the same time, the agency is examining whether it could do a Europa mission for about $1 billion, or about half the price of the Europa Clipper concept under study at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md.
Of the nine major NASA spending accounts, House appropriators are proposing spending cuts for four: Safety, Security and Mission Services (the former Cross Agency Support account); Construction and Environmental Compliance and Restoration, which mostly pays for nonmission-specific construction at NASA's national network of field centers; Education; and the Inspector General's Office.
All other major accounts would see their budgets grow relative to 2014 appropriations.
One of those accounts, Space Technology, would see its budget grow 7.5 percent compared to 2014. But the $620 million included in the bill still falls about 12 percent below the White House request. The Space Technology account, a White House priority given its own budget line in 2011, funds some of the technologies NASA needs for its proposed Asteroid Redirect Mission, including high-powered solar-electric propulsion.
The Senate Appropriations commerce, justice, science subcommittee has yet to introduce a NASA spending bill this year. The subcommittee, led by Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) is holding a NASA budget hearing May 1. NASA Administrator Charles Bolden is scheduled to testify.
Space Station Research Yields A New Disease Diagnostic Device
Joel Lindsey – Med Device Online
Researchers from Northwestern University and Portland State University have devised a new, sustainable, and highly portable disease diagnostic device that capitalizes on the principle of capillary flow, a concept tested and refined aboard the International Space Station.
In order to provide a diagnosis, cell samples of bodily fluids, like blood, are placed inside the device, where a specialized enzyme ruptures the cell bodies and releases the RNA and DNA they contain. The RNA and DNA are collected on a small bead, and another solution washes away everything else. The isolated beads of RNA and DNA can then be used to quickly and effectively detect any viruses that might be present.
"You only need fewer than a dozen particles, and you can detect the presence of the virus," David Kelso, a researcher at Northwestern involved with the project, said in a press release published recently by NASA. "It's a phenomenal analytical technique, but it involves four different fluids that have to be moved around."
Kelso and the rest of the research team turned to capillary flow as a way of managing and directing the flow of these various liquids inside the device. According to NASA, capillary flow is an interaction between a liquid and a solid that forces the fluid to flow up a narrow tube. This phenomenon was extensively tested and refined in the low-gravity environment of the International Space Station.
"The capillary flow knowledge is just amazing," said Kelso. "It's a way to move fluids without putting any energy into the device. We were using motors and batteries and all these things that consume power to make the device work. Doing it with capillary action uses much less energy."
It is the device's low-energy capabilities, along with its effective testing results and relative ease-of-use, that researchers hope will make it particularly useful in conducting diagnostic work in remote or economically underprivileged areas.
"There are shortages of health care workers of all cadres, from lab technician to community health care workers, so the less constraint we put on the end user the better," said Kara Palamountain, president of the Northwestern Global Health Foundation. "This wouldn't necessarily require a lab technician or even a lab. It frees up a health care worker."
Researchers involved with the project report that the device may be helpful in diagnosing specific infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. They hope to conduct field experiments in Africa later this year.
Audit: Age, costs challenge NASA's Space Network
James Dean – Florida Today
Aging satellites and budget shortfalls represent "significant challenges" to the NASA network that provides near-continuous communication with the ISS, Hubble Space Telescope and other low-orbiting spacecraft.
Aging satellites and budget shortfalls represent "significant challenges" to the NASA network that provides near-continuous communication with the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope and other low-orbiting spacecraft, the agency's internal watchdog reported today.
Without the Space Network, "space hardware worth tens of billions of dollars would be little more than orbital debris, unable to communicate with Earth," says the report from NASA's inspector general.
Four of NASA's nine Tracking and Data Relay Satellites, or TDRS, now in orbit have been in space for at least 18 years and are nearing the end of their useful lives. Within four years, three more of the satellites will have been operating at least 15 years.
NASA has launched two new-generation TDRS since last year, but has postponed launch of a third up to six years due to lack of funding for a launch vehicle, and passed on an option to buy a fourth at a favorable price.
In addition, upgrades to ground stations located in New Mexico and Guam are now projected to cost 38 percent more than the originally approved price of $862 million, and take at least a year-and-a-half longer than planned to complete, unless plans are revised.
The Space Network faces a $63 million shortfall in the 2016 budget year.
"Taken together, these delays and cost growth increase the risk that the Space Network will be unable to continue to provide adequate communication services to NASA missions and its customers," the report states.
NASA Wants Ideas for Mission to Jupiter's Icy Moon Europa
NASA is asking the scientific community to help it devise a relatively low-budget mission to Jupiter's moon Europa, perhaps the solar system's best bet to host alien life.
The space agency announced Monday (April 28) that it has issued a Request for Information (RFI), officially seeking ideas from outside researchers for a mission to study Europa and its subsurface ocean for less than $1 billion (excluding the launch vehicle).
"This is an opportunity to hear from those creative teams that have ideas on how we can achieve the most science at minimum cost," John Grunsfeld, associate administrator for the NASA Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington, said in a statement.
"Europa is one of the most interesting sites in our solar system in the search for life beyond Earth," Grunsfeld added. "The drive to explore Europa has stimulated not only scientific interest but also the ingenuity of engineers and scientists with innovative concepts."
The deadline to submit ideas under the RFI is May 30, officials said.
At 1,900 miles (3,100 kilometers) wide, Europa is only slightly smaller than Earth's moon. The Jovian satellite harbors a large ocean of liquid water beneath its icy shell, providing a potential habitat for life as we know it.
Further, astronomers announced in December that they had detected a plume of water vapor erupting from Europa's south polar region, suggesting that a mission to the moon may be able to collect samples from the ocean without even touching down.
NASA researchers have developed a number of Europa concept missions over the years, including one called the Europa Clipper that would perform multiple flybys of the moon. None of these are officially on the books, however. (The Europa Clipper may be the frontrunner at the moment, but its estimated $2 billion price tag would have to come down considerably for it to get off the ground, space agency officials have said.)
But the space agency has gotten some money to help develop technologies needed for a Europa mission. Congress appropriated $80 million for this purpose last year, and the White House allocated $15 million more in its federal budget request for fiscal year 2015.
NASA officials have said that they hope to launch a Europa mission in the mid-2020s. If that happens, the mission would follow closely on the heels of Europe's JUpiter ICy moons Explorer mission, or JUICE, which is currently scheduled to blast off in 2022 to study the Jovian satellites Callisto and Ganymede in addition to Europa.
Gov. Jerry Brown approves property tax exemption for space companies
Patrick McGreevy – Los Angeles Times
Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed into law a 10-year exemption from state taxes for certain property used for space flight operations in California.
Assemblyman Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) introduced the bill to help the state retain businesses including Elon Musk's Hawthorne-based SpaceX, which has booked nearly 50 launches on its rockets.
This new law codifies a Board of Equalization advisory opinion that rocket propulsion systems qualify for the business inventory tax exemption. The exemption does not apply to land.
"I introduced AB 777 to support and grow one of the most exciting new industries in California, commercial space flight," Muratsuchi said. "Private companies like Space X are building rocket ships and creating thousands of good-paying manufacturing jobs right here in Southern California."
The property tax exemption through Jan. 1, 2024, he said, "will allow commercial spaceflight companies to continue to invest and grow in our state."
State officials estimate the exemption will result in a reduction of local property tax revenue of $1 million annually. The kinds of property subject to the exemption include an orbital space facility, space propulsion system, space vehicle, launch vehicle, satellite and space station, as well as fuel used for space flight.
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