Editor’s 3:00 pm EST note: Multiple sources report that CEV Project Manager Skip Hatfield is being replaced by Deputy Constellation Program Manager Mark Geyer. Awaiting PAO confirmation. Editor’s 5:19 pm EST update: In response to an inquiry made by SpaceRef.com/NASA Watch.com, NASA Public Affairs says that Orion Project Manager Skip Hatfield is going to become the Special Assistant to the Program Manager for Technical Integration in the International Space Station […]

Campaigns Should Support Space Exploration, Aerospace Industries Association“Presidential campaigns should publicly express their support of NASA’s Constellation Program to ensure America’s leadership in space exploration as well as boost education, AIA President and CEO Marion Blakey said. The exploration program, which will return astronauts to the moon and explore Mars and beyond, should not be delayed under any circumstances since there is already a manned spaceflight gap looming.”

National Space Society Space Settlement Art Contest“The National Space Society is sponsoring an art contest in which artists are to create visions of a spacefaring future – a future of space settlement, be they on the Moon, on Mars, on asteroids, or orbiting independently in space. Twelve winning entries will be chosen to illustrate the NSS 2008 Space Settlement Calendar. Judges include space artists Don Davis and David Robinson. Artists […]

NASA Honors Legendary Flight Director Gene Kranz“NASA will honor Eugene Francis “Gene” Kranz with the presentation of an Ambassador of Exploration Award for his involvement in the U.S. space program. Kranz will receive the award during a ceremony at 2 p.m. CST on Dec. 6 at the Central Catholic High School.”

Appeals Court Hearing on Injunction Restricting Background Investigations of JPL Employees“Attorneys and Plaintiffs will be available for media interviews following the hearing A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear arguments Dec. 5, 2007, on an injunction pending appeal in the case of 28 Caltech employees at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who filed suit to prevent unreasonable personal background checks. The JPL employees — all of […]

Editor’s note: Last night a Mars Society member (and Hukabee supporter) managed to get a video question inserted into the Republican Presidential debate. Yet, as of 2:00 pm EST neither Planetary Society, the National Space Society, the Coalition for Space Exploration, the Space Exploration Alliance, or even the Mars Society has any mention whatsoever of this question being asked last night. Gee, I had something online 10-20 minutes after the […]

Editor’s note: Looks like NASA is going to get a special award at the Jules Verne Festival: “NASA, the 50th Anniversary with spectacular presentation of the Jules Verne Award for Human and Historical Achievement!”

Grading NASA’s Solar System Exploration Program: A Midterm Review,Committee on Assessing the Solar System Exploration Program, NRC“The Committee on Assessing the Solar System Exploration Program has reviewed NASA’s progress to date on implementing the recommendations made in the National Research Council’s (NRC’s) 2003-2013 solar system exploration decadal survey, New Frontiers in the Solar System, and in its Mars architecture report, Assessment of NASA’s Mars Architecture 2007-2016.”

House Committee on Science and Technology Chairman Reacts to GAO Report on NASAs Planned Ares I Crew Launch Vehicle“GAO’s assessment is a mix of good news and not-so-good news,” said Gordon. “On the one hand, GAO has concluded that NASA is taking steps to demonstrate that the Ares I project is achievable within the constraints that the project faces. On the other hand, GAO has identified a number of significant […]

Mr. B’s Big Plan, Air & Space“Having pledged five times that much–more than half his net worth–to build inflatable space habitats using technology pioneered, then abandoned, by NASA, Bigelow, with a company of roughly 125 employees, is aiming even higher. His goal is to send people to a larger, habitable module called Sundancer by 2010. By 2012, he hopes to place a full-size, 330-cubic-meter (11,700-cubic-foot) module, the BA 330, in […]