The York University newspaper Excalibur has an article on the future of space exploration, which it sees in the form of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo and other tourist vehicles.
“Popular opinion sees space flight as a sidebar to human development. Even NASA, with their use of aging, decrepit and obsolete shuttles, appears to believe the same. But fear not, for our savior has arrived in the form of a virgin. Well, the Virgin Galactic program that is. Virgin has taken the initiative in commercializing space travel as a luxury for those who can afford it,” Brent Rose writes.
An eclectic group of residents composed of birders, boaters, nudists and former NASA employees pleaded with the space agency not to build private launchpads near a world-renowned wildlife refuge, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
“That you would even consider it boggles my mind,” Wes Biggs of Orlando told NASA representatives during a public hearing. “The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge isn’t just another refuge. It’s one of the jewels of the federal wildlife system, and it is known worldwide.”
NASA wants commercial companies to build new launch facilities at Kennedy Space Center. It is considering several possible locations. Residents urged agency officials to make use of an abandoned Air Force range for the project. However, agency officials said it would be difficult to obtain the land from the military.
Florida Today also has a story about the public hearing.
Alex Howerton has an interesting op-ed piece at The Space Review looking at the present and future state of American space exploration and doesn’t find much to feel confident about. Inadequate funding, weak political support and an apathetic public are all dragging down the U.S. effort. A change of administration next year may well doom the human moon program.
Howerton has a solution, however: go back to the future. He proposes resurrecting the 1986 National Commission on Space report, Pioneering the Space Frontier. Dubbed the Paine Report after its chairman, Dr. Thomas O. Paine, it is an excellent road map for future space exploration, Howerton says.
You can read his full commentary here.
Leonard David has a report on the National Aerospace Training and Research Center (NASTAR), which is helping to train pilots and passengers for upcoming suborbital tourism flights. The Pennsylvania center has state-of-the-art equipment, including a centrifuge. It counts Virgin Galactic as one of its clients.
Space Florida Press Release
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Feb. 20, 2008) – Space Florida is actively engaged with dozens of commercial space companies who have expressed an interest in expanding existing operations, or bringing new business to Florida, and state officials are confident in their ability to support these entrepreneurial ventures.
Continue reading ‘Space Florida Actively Engaged in Growing State’s Aerospace Economy’
Kennedy Space Center’s proposed commercial launch facility has generated some concern among one group - local fishermen, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
The fishermen are worried that a new launch complex would permanently close Mosquito Lagoon south from Haulover Canal. The fishing spot is known sas the Redfish Capital of the World.
NASA officials say they are considering two sites, one of which is near Mosquito Lagoon. They will be holding a series of public hearings to obtain input from the public.
New Mexico is looking for taxpayer support to build a facility designed where Virgin Galactic will send wealthy space tourists on suborbital flights.
New Mexico Spaceport Director Steve Landeene recently made a pitch to the Sierra County Commission for a quarter-cent gross receipts sales tax, the Las Cruces Sun-News reports.
“This tax really holds the key to unleashing world history right here in Sierra County,” said Landeene, who estimated that the spaceport would generate $1 billion in economic development and 2,250 jobs during its first five years.
Sierra County residents will vote on the new tax on April 22.
Here is a roundup of news stories about Indiana-based Team LunaTrex, one of the entrants in the Google Lunar X Prize competition:
IndyStar.com: Skies are prize for spacey Anderson biz
Heard Bulletin: Anderson company pursuing $30 million lunar exploration prize
WSBT Channel 2: Anderson company to help in bid for $30 million lunar prize
The Huntsville Times has an op-ed by David King, director of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, in which he promotes space exploration as the key to American global leadership.
“Continuing an aggressive space exploration policy is essential to maintaining and advancing the technological superiority that is critical to our nation’s prosperity and security in an increasingly competitive and dangerous world,” King writes.
Science fiction writer Ben Bova has a commentary in the Naples Daily News in which he calls for an overhaul of existing space law in order to encourage private ownership of extraterrestrial resources. He blames outdated laws for blocking space settlement, including that 1967 Outer Space Treaty.