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LATEST NEWS ON THE STS-107 ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION
NASA Headquarters: http://www.nasa.gov/columbia/
Johnson Space Center:
http://www.spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/investigation/index.html
Kennedy Space Center: http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/columbia/
Breaking news collected at Google.com:
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&q=Space+Shuttle+Columbia+STS-
107&btnG=Search+News
In the wake of the tragic loss of the Space
Shuttle Columbia, some
critics are calling for the end of human space exploration. The National
Space Society wants to ensure that our national leaders know the depth of
public resolve to continue exploring space, so please show your support by
signing a petition at http://www.nss.org/petition
U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon (R-FL), U.S.
Rep. Bud Cramer (D-AL), The
Honorable Bob Walker, Hugh Downs, U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), and Apollo
veteran Al Worden have all signed the petition. Please join them today! We
will deliver this petition to key leaders in the coming months as we debate
the future of our space program.
Also, you can add a link to the
petition to your business,
organization, or personal home page. We encourage you to do so after
signing
it yourself.
Show your support for our efforts to
explore the universe by signing
the NSS petition today so that the White House, Congress, and NASA know that
public support remains strong.
NASA LAUNCHES NUCLEAR POWER INITIATIVE
For
the first time in a decade, NASA has been given the go-ahead to
say the “N” word – nuclear power for space. The White House-backed
NASA
budget for fiscal year 2003 includes a major nuclear systems initiative that
sets the stage for faster trip times by spacecraft exploring the solar system
and powering human outposts on distant worlds.
Full story on Space.com : http://www.space.com/news/nasa_nuclear_020205.html
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/oped-03c.html
NASA Space Science: http://spacescience.nasa.gov/missions/prometheus.htm
NASA 2004 Budget Information: http://www.nasa.gov/about/budget/
NSS ISSUES U.S. SPACE TRANSPORTATION POLICY
RECOMMENDATIONS
Safe,
reliable, and low cost space transportation is vital to all
aspects of the exploration, development, and eventual settlement of space. In
light of the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia, the United States will be
reassessing its space transportation policies, and the National Space Society
recommends the following key tenets as a foundation of that policy:
- To ensure the investment in the International Space Station (ISS) is not
jeopardized, the U.S. should arrange for additional Soyuz and Progress
flights to provide critical services for the International Space Station
until the Shuttle fleet returns to service.
- Congress should provide additional resources to NASA to ensure the existing
Space Shuttle fleet is returned to service as quickly and safely as possible,
and provide funds for infrastructure and vehicle upgrades to improve safety
and reliability during the remaining assembly of ISS.
- The U.S. should separate crewed space flight requirements from large cargo
requirements for development of future launch vehicles.
- NASA should accelerate development of the Orbital Space Plane in order to
increase the crew complement of the ISS to 7 people as soon as possible.
- NASA should provide additional funding and a renewed emphasis on next
generation space transportation technologies to foster development of low
cost access to space. The next generation program should include X-vehicle
test beds to strengthen the experience base of industry and NASA in the
development, integration and flight of space vehicles.
- U.S. space transportation policy should provide reliable markets and engage
the private sector to the maximum extent possible.
- The U.S. should clarify that the long-term goal of our nation’s space
exploration and development efforts is the human settlement of space.
Consistent with that goal, NASA should place a priority on the development of
robust core space transportation systems that enable a broad mix of missions,
including a return to the moon to fully explore and utilizes its resources
and exploratory missions to Mars and nearby asteroids.
- NASA should invest in long range technologies that could reduce the mass to
orbit required to support crewed space flight. Such technologies include
electric propulsion, electrodynamic tethers, use of in-situ resources, and
closed loop life support systems.
FARTHEST KNOWN PLANET OPENS DOOR FOR FINDING NEW
EARTHS
Astronomers from the
Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
(CfA) in Cambridge, MA, announced they have detected the most distant
extrasolar planet (OGLE-TR-56b) ever found in the constellation Sagittarius
using a new method that could lead to the discovery of Earth-like worlds
around nearby stars. Their achievement establishes the transit technique as
the most accurate tool available to astronomers today with the potential for
finding Earth-like planets in the future.
Complete Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics press release:
http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/press/pr0301.html
SPACE ON EARTH: HOW TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BENEFITS
HUMANITY
We've all heard that technology
developed for the space program has
affected our lives. But ask ten people on the street what advancements in
space technology have had the most impact on Earth-bound humans, and many
will likely recall commercials for an orange-flavored breakfast drink. A
few
more may remember other commercials for ballpoint pens that can write upside
down.
For the last 15 years the job of
acknowledging these direct benefits
of space exploration has belonged to the Space Technology Hall of Fame
http://www.spacetechhalloffame.org/.
Jointly run by the non-profit Space
Foundation and NASA, the Hall of Fame has inducted 38 different technologies
since 1988. The Hall of Fame is currently scrutinizing another roster of
hopefuls for its 15th annual induction ceremony, and will announce the
winners in April of 2003.
Read the full story on Space.com:
http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/technology/tech_hallofame_030101-
1.html
NASA URGED TO FOCUS ON ASTEROID THREAT
NASA
should be assigned to lead a new research program to better
determine the population and physical diversity of near-Earth objects that
may collide with our planet, down to a size of 200 meters, according to the
final report of a workshop on the scientific requirements for the mitigation
of hazardous comets and asteroids.
The workshop’s report also
recommends that the U.S. Department of
Defense (DoD) work to more rapidly communicate surveillance data on natural
airbursts of smaller rocky bodies, and it concludes that governmental policy
makers must "formulate a chain of responsibility" to be better
prepared in
the event that a threat to Earth becomes known.
National Radio Astronomy Observatory press release:
http://www.noao.edu/outreach/press/pr03/pr0303.html
MARTIAN POLAR CAPS ARE ALMOST ENTIRELY WATER
ICE
For
future Martian astronauts, finding a plentiful water supply may
be as simple as grabbing an ice pick and getting to work. California
Institute of Technology planetary scientists studying new satellite imagery
think that the Martian polar ice caps are made almost entirely of water ice--
with just a smattering of frozen carbon dioxide, or "dry ice," at the
surface.
Complete California Institute of Technology press release:
http://pr.caltech.edu/media/Press_Releases/PR12342.html
EUROPA SURFACE MISSIONS NECESSARY STEP IN
EXTRATERRESTRIAL SEARCH
Scientists have long considered Europa, the smallest of the four
Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter, as a prime candidate for life outside Earth
because it is one of the few places in the solar system where liquid water
may be found. Any future Europa exploration should focus on the
identification of sites where signs of past or present life can be found and
studied, says Ron Greeley, an ASU geology professor.
Complete Arizona State University press release:
http://www.asu.edu/asunews/sci_tech/europa_021403.htm
SPEED OF GRAVITY MEASURED FOR THE FIRST TIME
For
the first time, scientists have measured the speed of gravity,
one of the fundamental constants of Albert Einstein’s 1916 general theory of
relativity. Led by Sergei Kopeikin, a physicist at the University of Missouri-
Columbia, a team of scientists took advantage of a rare cosmic alignment on
Sept. 8 to show that gravity’s propagation speed is equal to the speed of
light within an accuracy of 20 percent.
NASA press release: http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/whatsnew/pr/030107A.html
NSS CALENDAR OF EVENTS
April 6-8, 2003 -- NSS Washington Legislative
Conference
May 2003 -- International Space Development Conference in San Jose, CA
