Transportation Industry

Company Watch - NASA

AirGuide Business, Oct 13, 2008

Oct 13, 2008

NASA says more shuttle workers will find Constellation jobs NASA officials told lawmakers Wednesday that the end of the space shuttle program will cost 4,500 jobs at Kennedy Space Center -- not 6,400, as originally feared. The agency says more workers than expected will find jobs with Constellation, the next major space program, though some analysts call the new projections overly optimistic. The five-year lag between the last shuttle mission and the first Orion launch is expected to cause deep economic pain in Central Florida, and Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama is proposing a $2 billion boost to NASA's budget to help preserve some of those jobs. Orlando Sentinel (Fla.) (10/9) Oct 9, 2008

NASA shuffles launch schedule following shuttle delay An electronics failure on the Hubble Space Telescope has postponed a rescue mission by space shuttle Atlantis until at least February 2009, forcing an extensive schedule shuffle in the waning days of the shuttle program. The uncertainty surrounding future shuttle launches could delay tests of the shuttle's replacement, the Ares I, because launch pads cannot be renovated for the new rocket until no longer needed by the shuttle program. Aerospace Daily & Defense Report (10/8) Oct 9, 2008

NASA has awarded 18-month research contracts worth a total of $12.4 million to six industry teams. The teams will study advanced concepts for subsonic and supersonic commercial transport aircraft that could enter service in 25-30 years. The contracts are for research into subsonic ultra-green aircraft, small efficient and quiet air transport, advanced concept studies for supersonic and subsonic commercial transport and technology for "N 3", which is NASA's reference to future aircraft that are considered "three generations" ahead of today's fleets. The end of these contracts will see companies propose a second phase of research on technologies identified during the first phase. Oct 8, 2008

Flagship Mars rover faces cancellation, delay. After spending $1.5 billion on the Mars Science Laboratory, scheduled for launch next year, NASA officials could decide this week whether to pull the plug due to spiraling costs. The chief of the agency's Mars exploration program said the new rover is expected to go at least 30% over budget, a threshold that would make it subject to congressional review. Analysts fear the huge cost overruns will force cuts in other missions. "The magnitude of the increases has been mind-boggling," said a Brown University geologist. "It has sent a shock wave to the Mars program and beyond to the planetary community." Oct 7, 2008

NASA's Ares I-X flight mission team does not expect its test rocket to be launched before June 2009 after the US space agency announced on 29 September an indefinite delay for the Hubble space telescope's fourth servicing mission (SM4) planned for 14 October. The launch of the Ares I-X, a rocket representative of NASA's Constellation programme's Ares I crew launch vehicle (CLV), was to have taken place on 15 April from Kennedy Space Center's pad 39B. Its ascent will give NASA data on the dynamics of the "stick", as Ares I is known, an unusually long and thin vehicle that will launch the Orion crew exploration vehicle. Oct 7, 2008

NASA officials expected to begin receiving photos of Mercury's surface Tuesday morning after the Messenger spacecraft flew within 125 miles of the planet on Monday. A mission spokesman said navigational photos used to position the spacecraft already had team members "oohing and aahing," over "a variety of faults and some large impact structures" that have never been seen before. Oct 7, 2008

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