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ARCHIVE
Month: November 2006
Another Billion for USA

Space Shuttle and Space Station Operations Support and Shuttle and Station Related Constellation Program Effort – Letter Contract“Contract Award Amount: NTE1131000000 [Not to exceed $ 1,131,000,000]Contractor: United Space Alliance”

  • NASA Watch
  • November 30, 2006
Another Reason Not To Cut Astrobiology

NASA Scientists Find Primordial Organic Matter in Tagish Lake Meteorite“Organic matter in meteorites is a subject of intense interest because this material formed at the dawn of the Solar System and may have seeded the early Earth with the building blocks of life. The Tagish Lake meteorite is especially valuable for this work because much of it was collected immediately after its fall over Canada in 2000 and has been […]

  • NASA Watch
  • November 30, 2006
Looking Over Opportunity's Shoulder on Mars

HiRISE Team Begins Releasing a Flood of Mars Images“The University of Arizona-based team that operates the high-resolution camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, in conjunction with NASA, is releasing the first of what will be a non-stop flood of incredibly detailed Mars images taken during the spacecraft’s two-year primary science mission. The High Resolution Science Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) camera took almost 100 images during the first two weeks of its […]

  • NASA Watch
  • November 30, 2006
More Culinary Goodness From NASA PAO

Rachael Visits the NASA Prep Kitchen, Rachel Ray Show“Watch how science creeps in to prepare Rachael’s Spicy Thai Chicken for a trip into space.”Special delivery for space station crew: Lattes on the way, USA Today“Lopez-Alegria, who’s lived on the station since September, will get 22 packets of instant latte to add to his dwindling stash. Food tends to be an afterthought on space shuttle missions. But NASA officials have slowly […]

  • NASA Watch
  • November 30, 2006
STS-116 Is Go

NASA Gives ‘Go’ For Space Shuttle Discovery Launch“NASA senior managers today unanimously recommended launching the Space Shuttle Discovery on December 7. Commander Mark Polansky and his six crewmates are scheduled to lift off at 9:35 p.m. EST on the STS-116 mission, one of the most challenging flights to continue building the International Space Station. During the 12-day mission and three spacewalks, the crew will work to install a new segment […]

  • NASA Watch
  • November 29, 2006
Problems With ISS Reboost

Discovery launch set for next Thursday, pending ISS issues, Spaceflight Now“Russian engineers must resolve a problem that cut short a space station rocket firing today about three minutes into a planned 18-minute 22-second burn.”

  • NASA Watch
  • November 29, 2006
Why A Lot Of People Have A Problem Believing NASA

A space dilemma: extend missions or start afresh?, Nature“Possible extensions are not mentioned in the initial mission planning stages, so designing missions to last longer than planned is an easy way for mission scientists to buy into future budgets. There’s also the public-relations value in terms of public image, it is better to say a mission will last for five years and then extend its life, than to say it […]

  • NASA Watch
  • November 29, 2006
Errors in Investigation of NASA IG Surface

2 ex-NASA officials take issue with investigation, Orlando Sentinel“Investigators wrote that O’Keefe was “not happy” with the audit, and after discussing the matter with then-Inspector General Roberta Gross, she “subsequently [was] asked to resign.” The report notes “Cobb [was] selected” to replace Gross and “Cobb subsequently terminate[d] the contract with PWC [PricewaterhouseCoopers].” In an interview, O’Keefe said that the chronology in the report omitted several important details and ignored the […]

  • NASA Watch
  • November 29, 2006
A Brilliant Space Design Observation

Court extends detention of Russian space firm chief, RIA Novosti“Analysts say Russian technology may have formed the basis of China’s manned space program, with two successful orbital missions carried out to date.” Editor’s note: DUH – have you folks ever looked closely at a Shenzhou? It sure wasn’t copied from Apollo.

  • NASA Watch
  • November 29, 2006
Space Exploration (Seemingly) Has No part in the Future of American Innovation

AIP FYI #135: New Benchmark Report Raises Caution Flag on Future of U.S. S&T Enterprise“Twenty-one months ago, the Task Force on the Future of American Innovation issued “The Knowledge Economy: Is America Losing its Competitive Edge: Benchmarks of our Innovation Future.” This 18-page report has been credited with helping to raise the awareness of policymakers about U.S. R&D leadership. … The new report, “Measuring the Moment: Innovation, National Security, and […]

  • NASA Watch
  • November 29, 2006