Closures & Layoffs (Oct. 26-Nov. 1): Fortune 500s Sharpen Their Axes, CoStar Group “While news of layoffs across the financial services spectrum have become commonplace from the implosion of Wall Street investment banks this year, the past week has produced a stunning array of new cutbacks across the rest of corporate America. … Perotsystems is laying off 58 employees on Nov. 5 at Building 233a M/S 233-1 NASA Ames Research […]
For Ex-N.F.L. Star, a Dream of Sports in Space, NY Times “The game would be called Float Ball. It would combine elements of basketball, football and the Lionel Richie video for “Dancing on the Ceiling” into a sort of free-for-all, compelling weightless players to bounce off walls, obstacles and one another while herding weightless balls of various colors to either end of the playing space, which would be placed inside […]
Kid Climber Scales World’s Highest Mountains, ABC Nightline “At 17,000 feet above sea level, where the wind is a biting 20 below zero, an unlikely mountain climber nears his goal of ascending the world’s tallest peaks. Jordan Romero, 3,000 feet away from tackling Alaska’s Mount McKinley, has already conquered four mountains — and he’s 11 years old. “I’ve climbed Mount Aconcagua in South America, in Argentina, which is 22,834 feet. […]
Nasa defends rocket to Moon that could shake astronauts to death, Times Online “Ares is meant to be the rocket that will launch a new era of lunar exploration. Instead it is in danger of crashing into its own launch tower or of shaking its astronauts to death. … The space agency admits that in certain conditions Ares could blast off into its own launch tower, and that other potential […]
Viewing NASA’s Mars Budget with Resignation (Letter by Alan Stern), Science “”I would like to clarify several points in the News of the Week story (26 September, p. 1754) by A. Lawler, “Rising costs could delay NASA’s next mission to Mars and future launches.” When the National Research Council’s Planetary Science Decadal Survey recommended the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission for priority funding, it assigned a cost level of $650 […]
Astronaut Rusty Schweikart, Obamanauts To Launch Weekend Canvassing, GOTV Efforts “On Saturday, November 1, former Apollo crew member Rusty Schweickart will launch final canvassing and Get Out the Vote efforts for the Obama-Biden campaign. Schweikart will then join the Obamanauts – Space Coast residents who support Barack Obama – along with hundreds of volunteers from every corner of the state to knock on doors this weekend to personally contact thousands […]
NASA Mars Phoenix Mission Status Report 30 October 2008 “Phoenix communicated with NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter Thursday. The communication reinforced a diagnosis that the spacecraft is in a precautionary mode triggered by low energy. Mission engineers are assessing the lander’s condition and steps necessary for returning to science operations.” MarsPhoenix Twitter: “Take care of that beautiful blue marble out there in space, our home planet. Ill be keeping an eye […]
Private U.S. Company to Partner with NASA for Lunar Lander Development “Odyssey Moon Ventures LLC, a U.S. company developing commercial systems for lunar exploration, announced today that it has partnered with NASA for the development of a robotic lunar lander. The unique public-private partnership will combine NASA expertise with innovative approaches to commercial space systems, resulting in new industrial capabilities for the company and benefits to the American space program. […]
NASA Gives GO For Space Shuttle Launch on November 14 “NASA managers completed a review Thursday of space shuttle Endeavour’s readiness for flight and selected the official launch date for the STS-126 mission. Commander Chris Ferguson and his six crewmates are scheduled to lift off to the International Space Station at 7:55 p.m. EST on Nov. 14. Endeavour’s STS-126 flight will feature important repair work to the station and prepare […]
NASA Managers Delay Hubble Servicing Mission “NASA managers have announced that they will not meet a February 2009 launch date for the fifth and final shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.” NASA Updates Thursday’s Hubble Servicing Mission And Space Shuttle Readiness Review Briefing Time Telecon notes: The ground spare to replace a defective unit aboard Hubble will not be ready to support a February 2009 launch so a new […]