Virgin Galactic and the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have teamed up to study climate change in the upper atmospheric regions where the space tourism company will fly joy-riding millionauts, The Register reports:
Continue reading ‘Virgin Galactic, NOAA Team to Study Climate Change’
Two leading Florida newspapers have condemned the censorship of climate research at NASA, linking it to a larger pattern of deception and lies by the Bush Administration.
The agency’s Inspector General recently released a report saying that Bush political appointees within the Public Affairs Office misled the public for years about NASA’s global warming work. The report followed the publication of Mark Bowen’s book, Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack on Dr. James Hansen and the Truth of Global Warming, that exposed a government-wide effort to suppress climate science research that conflicted with Bush Administration policies.
Our view: Hiding the truth
Florida Today
“When it comes to lies and manipulation the Bush administration is in a league of its own. The most horrendous example is its distortion of the truth in the run up the to Iraq war, but its polices of deceit have infected many other branches of government including NASA.
“In the Bush administration, extreme ideology has always trumped science much to our nation’s great harm.”
Our position: The NASA press office hurt the program when it withheld material on warming
Orlando Sentinel
“The report from NASA’s inspector general blamed the agency’s headquarters press office. It didn’t find evidence that agency leaders or other Bush administration officials were involved. Yet if the manipulation was indeed limited to NASA press officers, they were following the same political playbook as others in the administration — starting with the president — who disputed or ignored evidence of global warming.”
I’m currently reading a very interesting book about NASA’s work on climate change. “Censoring Science: Inside the Political Attack on Dr. James Hansen and the Truth About Global Warming,” by Mark Bowen, is an eye-opening account of the Bush Administration’s handling of global warming science.
Bowen recounts how that the Administration was determined to distort or censor anything produced by government scientists about global warming that contradicted its official position that more study was required before mandatory carbon caps or other actions could be taken.
Although the book focuses on Dr. James Hansen, a noted climate scientist at Goddard Space Flight Center, the story is much broader. Bowen says this effort was part of a larger, tightly coordinated campaign run out of the White House to censor government climate scientists in NASA, NOAA, EPA and every other agency that deals with climate change. This censorship involved the heavy editing of NASA press releases, the denial of permission to scientists to give interviews to media outlets, threats to people’s jobs, and other coercive measures.
Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo mothership faces rudder problem
Flight International
Virgin Galactic’s WhiteKnightTwo may need to have its rudder and yaw stability improved to counter issues such as the greater fishtail effect that would be expected with a twin fuselage aircraft.
Witnesses to the 21 December maiden flight told Flight International that they noticed some yawing during take-off, indicating [...]
Report: Virgin Galactic Commercial Flights Set for 2011
Virgin Galactic on course to begin commercial space flights in 2011
Zaywa.com
The world’s first and only private space-liner Virgin Galactic will begin its commercial flights into space in 2011 with 300 passengers already booked for the gravity-defying journeys.
Virgin Galactic CEO Stephen Attenborough, who is also Commercial Director of Virgin Group of Sir Richard Branson, during a [...]
More on the Richardson Investigation
Richardson Withdraws Name for Cabinet (with Video)
MSNBC
NBC’s Lisa Myers reported last month: “The allegations now being investigated by a federal grand jury involve whether Richardson as governor steered state bond business to a firm whose founder made substantial contributions to Richardson’s political action committee. Two former state officials involved in the bond deals told NBC [...]
Spacehab to Support MRM1 for International Space Station
SPACEHAB PRESS RELEASE
SPACEHAB Incorporated, a leading provider of commercial space services, reached an agreement in principal with RSC Energia, Russia’s largest manufacturer of aerospace and space equipment, to provide facilities and support services for [...]
Spend $25 Grand to See a Man Boldly Go Where He’s Already Gone Before
Space Adventures Books Junket
Aviation Week
“Space Adventures, the Virginia firm that arranges for well-heeled tourists to fly to the International Space Station on Russian Soyuz vehicles, is booking a “VIP Launch Tour” for slightly less well-heeled tourists who want to see Charles Simonyi off on its second orbital trip. For $16,000-$24,000 a person, the company will [...]
Forgot Someone on the Old Christmas List? Buy Them a Walk in Space for $45 Million
The headline says it all. We now know how much it will cost to become the first private citizen to walk in space. Virginia-based Space Adventures is now advertising spacewalks at ISS for $45-$55 million. Meanwhile, if you just want to go up there for a little vacation, the price tag has soared to $35-$45 [...]
