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[maywillow] 26/2/2007 20:18

US says 'no evidence' of Iranian space launch claim


WASHINGTON (AFX) - The US military has no evidence to corroborate an Iranian
claim that it fired a rocket into space and suspects that the event never
happened, a US defense official said.
Iranian space officials said Sunday they launched a "sounding rocket" into
space for research purposes, reaching an altitude of 150 kilometers. They said
the rocket did not go into orbit.
"We have no indication that that's true," a US defense official told AFP,
speaking on condition of anonymity. "Nothing we've come up with would indicate
that's happened."
The official said it was highly unlikely that such a space shot would have
gone undetected by the North American Aerospace Defense Command, which monitors
missile launches worldwide.
"Even our training launches are recorded," the official said. "There was
nothing on this one."
"The intelligence assessments points to that the event didn't happen," the
official said.
Iran's state television announced what it said was Iran's first successful
space launch.
"The rocket was carrying material intended for research created by the
ministries of science and defense," Mohsen Bahrami, the head of Iran's aerospace
research center, told the channel.
The Fars news agency quoted Ali Akbar Golrou, deputy head of the center, as
saying the "sounding rocket" reached an altitude of 150 kilometers but fell back
to earth without going into orbit.

[frank spencer] 26/2/2007 10:27

And yesterday. He really gets about.

[waldron] 25/2/2007 12:09

Last Updated: Sunday, 25 February 2007, 10:50 GMT

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Iran 'launches rocket into space'

Iran has successfully fired its first rocket into space, Iranian state television has announced.
It gave few details about the rocket or its range, but said that it had carried cargo intended for research.

Iran already has a civilian satellite programme but so far has relied on Russia to put its satellite into orbit.

The launch - if confirmed - comes at a time of mounting tension between Tehran and the West over Iran's controversial nuclear programme.

"The first space rocket has been successfully launched into space," Iranian TV said.

It quoted the head of Iran's aerospace research centre, Mohsen Bahrami, as saying that "the rocket was carrying material intended for research created by the ministries of science and defence".

Concerns

In 2005, Iran's Russian-made satellite was put into orbit by a Russian rocket.

But soon afterwards Iranian military officials said they were preparing a satellite launch vehicle. Last month, they announced they were ready to test it soon, the BBC's Frances Harrison in Tehran says.

The ballistic technology used is believed to be an extension of Iran's long-range Shahab-3 missile, our correspondent says.

She says that military experts believe that if Iran has sent a rocket into space it means scientists have mastered the technology needed to cross the atmospheric barrier.

In practice, they say, that means there is no technological block to Iran building longer range missiles now, something that will be of great international concern.

Our correspondent says the timing of this announcement is clearly confrontational - just as the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany are about to meet to discuss the possibility of more sanctions over the nuclear issue.

[ariane] 23/2/2007 10:00

Eads(Euro Aeronautic Arianespace sees FY sales stagnating near 1 bln eur after 2005 surge


PARIS (AFX) - European satellite launch company Arianespace, in which EADS
is a key shareholder, expects to post full year 2006 sales of close to 1 bln
eur, against 1.068 bln in 2005 when sales rose 60 pct from the previous year,
director general Jean-Yves Le Gall said.
Arianespace aims to move into the US market for satellite launch services in
the next two to three years, he told Agence France-Presse on the sidelines of an
industry event in Washington.
"There's the potential for very strong demand here, that will be driven by
demand for high-definition television," he said, adding that Arianespace would
compete aggressively to deliver new satellites to meet this demand.
He is also pinning high hopes on the next generation of cell phones,
including Apple's bid to roll out the iPhone, which may eventually offer
internet services as well as television shows to consumers wanting to buy the
latest technology.
Arianespace is unable to compete for US government satellite launches as the
Buy American Act restricts foreign involvement in this activity.
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afp/mjs/cmr

[waldron] 22/2/2007 12:00

st Updated: Wednesday, 21 February 2007, 17:11 GMT

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MPs urged to back space tourism

Flights are planned for 2008
Space company Virgin Galactic has urged the government to allow it to launch passenger flights from the UK.
It said if the government failed to support the project with the necessary legislation, then "we will lose a massive opportunity".

MoD bases in Scotland and Cornwall would be suitable sites, it said.

Virgin Galactic, part of entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson's empire, plans to start commercial flights as early as 2008 after testing this year.

THE VIRGIN SPACESHIP
The vehicle will have room for five passengers
A week's pre-flight training will be required
Three-hour trip; three minutes of weightlessness
Flights to leave from Mojave Desert, initially
Tickets to cost about £100,000, perhaps less

Initial flights are due to takeoff from the Mojave desert, US.

Virgin Galactic president Will Whitehorn told MPs on the Commons Science and Technology Committee that RAF Lossiemouth, Scotland, would be the "ideal location" or St Mawgan in Cornwall.

"We need to have a legislative background in the UK that would allow this type of flight to take place here or we will lose a massive opportunity," he said.

The US has passed such legislation and Sweden is committed to investigating flights from one of its sites.

"We would like to operate here but at the moment there is no body and no locus to allow us to do it."

He said the "biggest challenge" of flying from the UK was the weather.

Operating from Lossiemouth during summer would be possible because it has a very long runway and cleared military air space above the Moray Firth necessary for the spacecraft's re-entry.

Two hundred people, including 35 Britons, had paid a "deposit and signed up" to a £100,000 ticket for training and a three hour flight, which amounted to about 10% of the £200m investment needed.

Brief weightlessness

Mr Whitehorn said that "within five years we can get the cost down to $75,000 and eventually down after nine years to $50,000, which is £25,000".

"That will allow people to get up into space with three days training and see the planet Earth.

"They won't stay there for very long, they'll only experience weightlessness for a few minutes, but the most important thing is that they will understand this planet a lot better in doing it."

NASA had also agreed to buy seats on the flights as part of "early astronaut training", and had also lent staff to the company to help develop the space craft Mr Whitehorn said on Wednesday.

He said the environmental effect of getting six people into space would be less than the cost of a business class ticket from London to New York.

However, the environmental impact was questioned by Aviation Environment Federation.

The federation's Jeff Gazzard said the project was "a play thing" of multi-millionaires - a claim dismissed by Mr Whitehorn who said most of the early passengers were scientists.

[waldron] 22/2/2007 07:44

NASA, Virgin Galactic sign agreement


MOFFETT FIELD, Calif. (AP) - NASA and Virgin Galactic signed an agreement
Wednesday to explore the possibility of working together to develop new space
suits, hybrid rocket motors and other space technology.
Under the two-year memorandum of understanding, neither the NASA Ames
Research Center nor Virgin Galactic would have to pay fees or fund the
exploratory collaboration.
The deal is the latest in a string of public-private partnerships that the
space agency has made with players in the infant space tourism industry.
Virgin Galactic, founded by British entrepreneur Richard Branson, plans to
test-fly a vehicle being built by famed aerospace designer Burt Rutan next year
and fly commercially by 2009. Rutan's SpaceShipOne made history in 2004 when it
became the first privately funded manned rocket to reach space.
The pact will allow NASA and Virgin Galactic to explore possible avenues of
technology research that would make use of the Ames facilities. Some of the
possible collaborations include developing protective heat shields for
spaceships and vehicles that can travel at least five times the speed of sound.
Earlier this month, NASA entered in a deal with PlanetSpace Inc. to share
technical information as the company attempts to develop a rocket ship to ferry
tourists. Last year, the space agency awarded $500 million in seed money to two
private companies to develop and test launch new spacecraft with the idea they
would one day deliver cargo to the international space station.

[ariane] 15/2/2007 19:10

Friday launch for NASA satellite mission


CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - So many satellites. Just one rocket.
Five NASA satellites stacked like a wedding cake are set to launch on a
single rocket Friday, part of a mission to figure out the source of powerful
geomagnetic substorms in the Earth's atmosphere.
These storms can damage communications satellites, disable power grids and
shoot high levels of radiation down on spacewalking astronauts and airplane
passengers flying over northern latitudes. Scientists believe they also
periodically intensify the spectacular light shows seen in the northern lights,
or aurora borealis.
"It affects satellites in space. It affects humans. It has radiation," said
Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California, Berkeley, principal
investigator for the Themis mission. "We want to know more about it to protect
our assets in space."
Just what unleashes these powerful energy bursts, blown by solar winds, is a
mystery, one to be unraveled by Themis.
"I call it the Holy Grail of space physics, the oldest unanswered question
in space physics today," Angelopoulos said.
Themis, both an acryonym and the name of the Greek goddess of order and
justice, will cost $200 million.
For NASA, it's the most probes ever launched on a single rocket; scientists
needed at least four to study the substorms. However, last year a joint venture
of Taiwan and the U.S. National Science Foundation launched six weather
microsatellites on one rocket.
The Themis probes had to be free of magnetic charge, invincible to
radiation, able to survive wild temperture swings, and extremely lightweight.
Each satellite weighs 282 pounds.
"This was a very difficult mission to implement," said project manager Peter
Harvey of the University of California, Berkeley. "Every time you added a gram
to a satellite, you added 5 grams to the vehicle's launch to orbit."
Engineers also had to devise a way to separate the satellites from the Delta
2 rocket more than an hour after launch without crashing into each other. A
single satellite will first break free of the rocket, followed three seconds
later by the other four probes.
Each satellite will magnetically map North America every four days for about
15 to 20 hours in tandem with 20 ground stations. The satellites won't be in
proper position until the fall and won't be collecting their primary data until
next winter.
Based on information provided by the five satellites, scientists and
engineers hope to create models for the substorms that could be used to forecast
their disruptions, much like meteorologists predict when and where hurricanes
strike.
At stake, also, are the bragging rights of scientists over two competing
theories.
The first camp holds that the substorms are triggered about 50,000 miles
above Earth's equator, about a sixth of the way to the moon, when
electromagnetic turbulence disrupts the flow of intense space currents.
The other theory is that the substorms start about 100,000 miles above the
equator with the spontaneous conversion of magnetic energy into heat. Particle
acceleration then triggers the substorm energy.
To test each theory, two satellites will be lined up a sixth of the way to
the moon, and two others will placed respectively about a third and halfway to
the moon. The fifth satellite will be on hand "to replace a brother or sister if
they get into trouble," said Angelopoulos.

[ariane] 15/2/2007 18:35

Eads(Euro Aeronautic EADS Astrium plans to hike production of Ariane 5 rockets to 8 per year


BERLIN (AFX) - EADS Astrium, a subsidiary of European aeronautical group
EADS, said it will extend production of its Ariane rockets to deliver up to
eight units of the Ariane 5 model per year.
The unit said it has signed an agreement with Arianespace in Bremen,
northern Germany, to supply seven rockets per year, with the option of one more,
instead of the five previously agreed to.
According to an EADS Astrium spokesman, this will lead to a 10 pct increase
in the company's workforce in Germany, where the group currently employs 1,000
staff at three sites.

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afp/har/lam

[waldron] 10/2/2007 08:28

Branson defends space trips at eco-prize launch
By Steve Connor, Science Editor
Published: 10 February 2007
Sir Richard Branson yesterday defended his plans to offer £100,000 trips into space while at the same time setting up a £12.8m prize for scientists to devise a way of absorbing carbon dioxide released in the atmosphere.

He was speaking at the launch of the Virgin Earth Challenge, which offers a $25m reward for the invention that most successfully removes significant quantities of carbon dioxide over a period of 10 years without harming the environment.

Sir Richard was asked how he could justify such a prize when he owns an airlineand has set up a separate space tourism company. "Let's confront the airline question," he said. "I have an airline. I can afford to ground that airline today. My family have got businesses in mobile phones and other businesses, but if we do ground that airline today, British Airways will just take up the space. So what we are doing is making sure we acquire the most carbon dioxide-friendly planes. We're making sure that 100 per cent of profits we make from our transportation businesses are put back into things like the prize."

Virgin Galactic, his space-tourism company, will use hybrid rocket motors and turbo-fan engines that will be "almost" environmentally benign, he said, and the cost of a space ride could come down to the price of an economy-class ticket.

Flanked by Al Gore, the former American vice president, he said he was offering the biggest scientific prize in history to stimulate interest in the technology of capturing and storing millions of tonnes of man-made carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas.

The five-man judging panel will also include Jim Lovelock, the inventor of the Gaia theory, Jim Hansen, a leading American climatologist, Tim Flannery, an Australian zoologist, and Sir Crispin Tickell, the former British ambassador to the UN.

If the judges believe a project should win, Sir Richard will pay $5m at the time of their decision and $20m at the end of 10 years - if the goals are achieved. He said he had no idea whether the prize would ever be won but that unless we could devise a way of curbing carbon dioxide levels we faced a major extinction of life.

"We will lose half of all species on Earth, including the polar bear and the walrus, we will lose the coral reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef, 100 million people will be displaced due to rising sea levels, farmlands will become deserts, rainforests wastelands," Sir Richard said.

Mr Gore said the prize should not deflect from other attempts at curbing emissions. "It should not be seen as a substitute for, or distraction from, the main aim, which is to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide ," Mr Gore said. "We are now facing a planetary emergency and things that would not have been considered in the past ought now to be considered."

Tony Juniper, director of Friends of the Earth, welcomed the initiative but warned that more should be done to encourage more environmentally friendly forms of travel. "Many of the ways of tackling climate change, such as energy efficiency and renewables, already exist, and it is essential that these are implemented as soon as possible. We cannot afford to wait for futuristic solutions which may never materialise," Mr Juniper said.

"Sir Richard must also look at his business activities and the contribution they make to climate change. The world will find it very difficult to tackle climate change if air travel continues to expand and space tourism is developed," he added.

[waldron] 04/2/2007 14:32

US says reviewing space cooperation after China's anti-satellite test


WASHINGTON (AFX) - The US said it is reevaluating possible space cooperation
with China, including joint moon exploration, following Beijing's recent
anti-satellite weapon test.
China's test of a satellite-killing missile last month was "inconsistent"
with an agreement between US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu
Jintao to forge cooperation in the civil space area, the State Department said.
"Any future civil space cooperation with China will need to be evaluated
within the context of China's ASAT (anti-satellite) test," department spokesman
Edgar Vasquez told Agence France-Presse.
Washington has protested the test both to China's ambassador in Washington
and to the foreign ministry in Beijing and asked for an explanation of exactly
what occurred.
It was concerned that the test, which destroyed one of China's own orbiting
satellites with a ballistic missile, had scattered debris in space that could
endanger the manned International Space Station or other orbiting satellites.
Vasquez said that during Hu's visit to the US last April, he and Bush agreed
to explore the possibility of some cooperation in the civil space area, such as
in lunar space exploration.
"Immediately following China's ASAT test, the concerns we raised with China
included our view that the test was inconsistent with the two presidents'
agreement to seek cooperation in the civil space area," Vasquez said.
afp/rc

[ariane] 30/1/2007 07:04

Eads(Euro Aeronautic EADS, Finmeccanica in talks on tying up space launcher ops - report


PARIS (AFX) - EADS and Finmeccanica are discussing a possible tie-up between
their space launcher businesses, la Tribune quoted various unnamed sources as
saying.
EADS operates the commercial launcher Ariane 5 while Finmeccanica holds 15
pct of Avio. It also holds a call option on the Italian engine manufacturer's
space assets.
Finmeccanica chairman Pier Francesco Guarguaglini had expressed interest in
such an alliance back in September.




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jms/jlw

[frank spencer] 28/1/2007 18:47

I saw Thierry Henry today, on the telly.

[grupo guitarlumber] 17/1/2007 10:12

Last Updated: Wednesday, 17 January 2007, 09:10 GMT


Dwarf planet 'becoming a comet'
By Paul Rincon
Science reporter, BBC News



Artist's impression: 2003 EL61 is a strange object
An unusual dwarf planet discovered in the outer Solar System could be en route to becoming the brightest comet ever known.

2003 EL61 is a large, dense, rugby-ball-shaped hunk of rock with a fast rotation rate.

Professor Mike Brown has calculated that the object could be due a close encounter with the planet Neptune.

If so, Neptune's gravity could catapult it into the inner Solar System as a short-period comet.

"If you came back in two million years, EL61 could well be a comet," said Professor Brown, from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena.

"When it becomes a comet, it will be the brightest we will ever see."

Cosmic oddball

2003 EL61 is a large object; it is as big as Pluto along its longest dimension. It is one of the largest of a swarm of icy objects that inhabit a region of the outer Solar System known as the Kuiper Belt.

But it is extremely unusual: spinning on its axis every four hours, it has developed an elongated shape.

2003 EL61 is apparently composed of rock with just a thin veneer of water-ice covering its surface. Other Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) contain much more water-ice.

Professor Brown's computer simulations show that the object is on a very unstable orbit and set for a close encounter with Neptune.

The eighth planet's gravitational force could either sling the icy rock ball into the inner Solar System as a comet, out into the distant Oort Cloud region, or even into interstellar space.

Orbits of Kuiper Belt Objects tend to be very stable, but the region is thought to be a reservoir for short-period comets.

Occasionally, some of these objects must get tossed inward to become the fizzing lumps of ice and dust that criss-cross our cosmic neighbourhood.

Shedding surface

Mike Brown and his colleagues have come up with a scenario to explain 2003 EL61's physical characteristics and behaviour.

About 4.5 billion years ago, the object that became 2003 EL61 was a ball, half composed of ice and half of rock - like Pluto - and about the same size as Pluto.

Some time early in its history, it was smacked, edge on, by another large KBO. This broke off much of 2003 EL61's icy mantle, which coalesced to form several satellites.

As expected, the satellites seem to be composed of very pure water-ice.

Professor Brown suggested that some of 2003 EL61's mantle may already have made it into the inner Solar System as cometary material.

The oblique impact also caused 2003 EL61 to spin rapidly. This rapid rotation elongated 2003 EL61 into the rugby ball shape we see today.

"It's a bit like the story of Mercury," Professor Brown explained.

"Mercury got hit by a large object early in the Solar System. It left mostly a big iron core, with a little bit of rock on the outside. This is mostly a rock core with a little bit of ice on the outside."

Mike Brown outlined details of his work during a plenary lecture at the recent American Astronomical Society meeting in Seattle.

[waldron] 11/1/2007 07:30

Eads(Euro Aeronautic EADS space unit FY sales rise 14 pct to 3.2 bln eur; 10 pct rise seen for 2007


PARIS (AFX) - Full-year sales at EADS space unit Astrium rose 14.3 pct to
3.2 bln eur from 2.8 bln in 2005, and a 10 pct rise is projected for 2007, unit
chief executive Francois Auque said in an interview with the daily La Tribune.
Full-year orders were 4.3 bln eur, bringing the order book at year-end to
around 12 bln. Orders of 3.3 bln are expected in 2007, resulting in the year-end
order book figure being little changed.
The full-year operating margin was 4 pct, with targets of raising this to 5
pct in 2007 and 6 pct in 2008.
[e-mail]
mjs/har

[ariane] 23/12/2006 09:04

What's the story with . . . hibernation?

MARISA DUFFY December 23 2006

This week marked the winter solstice – the darkest morning of the year and the hardest day on which to wrench yourself from your cosy bed. During these dark days, the idea of hibernating – spending a solid couple of months beneath the duvet – is an appealing one for many.
Until now, it was believed impossible for humans to hibernate. Yet, according to reports from Japan, one man has done just that: he has emerged, unharmed from a three-week period of hibernation.
Mitsutaka Uchikoshi, 35, went missing in the mountains of western Japan back in October after attending a barbecue. While the rest of the party had opted to take the cable car back from the popular hiking area of Mount Rokko, Uchikoshi decided to hike home alone. After falling and breaking his pelvis, he was unable to move and survived for a couple of days by eating the half-finished bottle of barbecue sauce he was carrying, before falling into a cold-induced coma.
When he was discovered, unconscious, 24 days later, his body temperature had dropped to 22 degrees celsius, 15 degrees below normal.
Doctors claim that he had slipped into a form of hibernation in which his body shut down to preserve energy for the brain. Scientists have always maintained that while small animals such as rodents and squirrels were capable of hibernation, humans were not. But that may not be true after all. When animals hibernate, their pulse and breathing rates drop, as does the body's core temperature – which is what apparently happened to Uchikoshi.
Dr Shinichi Sato, head of the emergency unit that treated the man, said: "I believe that his brain capacity has recovered 100%."
The man spent two months in hospital being treated for severe hypothermia and multiple organ failure, and finally left hospital on Tuesday, apologising for the fuss he had caused. He said: "I want to get better quickly and return to work."
Other cases of suspended animation have occurred without long-term damage but for much shorter periods of time. Individuals who have stopped breathing and whose hearts have stopped beating for several minutes, have made full recoveries.
In nearly all the cases, the individuals had been subject to low, although not freezing, temperatures.
The possible benefits of human hibernation are significant. Astronauts could undertake considerably longer journeys in space by remaining in a state of suspended animation and preserving energy. It could have an impact on the survival rate of patients suffering from previously fatal brain haemorrhages. Doctors could hibernate the patient without risk of brain damage while they operated.

[ariane] 08/12/2006 12:20

Alcatel-Lucent EU launches consultations on Galileo satellite project


BRUSSELS (AFX) - The European Commission said it has launched consultations
on satellite radio navigation system Galileo.
In a document, the commission said the adoption of its green paper on the
project will lead a "discussion on what the public sector can do" to create a
policy and legal framework for the development of satellite-based technology.
Results from the consultations, analysed by the commission in September next
year, will be used as a basis for proposals presented to the European Parliament
and EU member state governments in 2008.
EU vice-president and transport commissioner Jacques Barrot said: "The real
value linked to the costs and efforts undertaken to bring Galileo into orbit is
that it presents a unique opportunity for new applications, economic growth and
job creation in the European Union. These economic returns are many times higher
than the costs of the system itself."
Galileo, a joint project by the EU and the European Space Agency, is seen to
increase the EU's strategic independence, with the technology positioned as a
rival to the US GPS system.
It is scheduled to be operational by 2009 and 2010, with services starting
in 2011.
Unlike GPS, which is controlled by the US military, Galileo will stay under
civilian control.
A second test satellite is to be launched at the end of next year and four
permanent satellites will be sent into orbit in 2008.
Eight contractors are involved in its development, including EADS, Alcatel,
Thales and Finmeccanica SpA.
The EU executive said the concession contract should be signed during 2007.
The commission said that Galileo's development and deployment costs, which
includes the construction and launching of thirty satellites, is estimated at
3.2 bln eur.
During the operation phase, the company appointed to manage the whole system
will receive both royalties on the software used to equip the receivers and
income from businesses harnessing protected signals for services.
In addition to the EU's agreement concluded with the US in 2004 to ensure
the interoperability of the European and American systems, cooperation
agreements have been concluded between the EU and China, Israel, Ukraine and
South Korea.
Similar agreements have been initialed with India and Morocco.
Other agreements are being prepared with Norway and Argentina, and
discussions are under way with Switzerland, Canada, Australia, Saudi Arabia and
Brazil.
The commission said the satellite navigation market is forecast to be valued
at 400 bln eur by 2025.



[e-mail]
sz/cml

[waldron] 04/12/2006 14:01

Alcatel Alenia Space's Globalstar satellite order confirmed; totals 661 mln eur

PARIS (AFX) - Alcatel and Finmeccanica SpA unit Alcatel Alenia Space said
Globalstar Inc confirmed its preliminary order for a new network of 48
satellites, and said the deal is worth 661 mln eur.
In October, Globalstar had announced it awarded Alcatel Alenia Space a
preliminary 'Authorization to Proceed' contract worth 7.7 mln eur to study the
construction of a new network of 'Low Earth Orbit' satellites.
Alcatel Alenia Space said delivery will start in 2009, in batches of six to
eight units and that the satellites will have a lifetime of 15 years.

[e-mail]
jc/mrg/cmr

[waldron] 26/11/2006 15:50

Thales pledges restraint in satellite mkt activity to get EU OK on Alcatel deal

PARIS (AFX) - Thales has pledged to not use its dominant position in
electronic conduits to distort competition in the satellite market, in exchange
for getting European Union approval for its acquisition of the 67 pct of Alcatel
space unit Alcatel Alenia Space, industry sources said.
EU competition authorities have until Tuesday to approve the acquisition or
proceed to a more detailed inquiry, according to an EU spokesman.
The deal between the companies also called for Thales to acquire Alcatel's
33 pct stake in Telespazio, and for Alcatel's stake in Thales to rise to 21.6
pct from 9.5 pct.
Italy's Finmeccanica holds the other 33 pct of Alcatel Alenia Space and the
other 67 pct in Telespazio.
[e-mail]
mjs/rw

[grupo guitarlumber] 23/11/2006 07:21

Lockheed Martin-Built NASA Stardust Selected for Aviation Week 2006 Program Excellence Award

PRESS RELEASE
Date Released: Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Source: Lockheed Martin Corporation






NASA's Stardust program has received the 2006 Aviation Week Program Excellence Award. Lockheed Martin designed and built the Stardust spacecraft under contract to NASA. The award was recently announced at the publication's Aerospace and Defense Conference in Phoenix, Ariz. The Stardust mission, managed by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL ), provided scientists with the first comet samples and interstellar dust grains ever returned to Earth from a known comet. In addition to building the Stardust spacecraft, Lockheed Martin built the sample return capsule, provided joint spacecraft operations working in concert with JPL, and designed and implemented the capsule's recovery in the Utah desert ear lier this year. "Stardust was an amazing mission; one of intrigue, innovation and determination, not to mention a couple world records," said Jim Crocker, vice president of Civil Space at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "This award is another testament to our remarkable program team at NASA JPL, Lockheed Martin and the University of Washington." On Jan. 2, 2004 Stardust flew through the coma of comet Wild 2 and cap tured cometary dust particles. The spacecraft also collected interstellar dust during its seven-year, 3.2-billion mile voyage. Stardust's sample return capsule gently returned these samples to Earth on Jan. 15, 2006. As a result, scientists are already rewriting the text of how the solar system was formed.

"I was thrilled to represent our Stardust team for this award because it recognizes the breadth and depth of its accomplishment," said Joe Vellinga, Stardust program manager at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company. "Aviation Week's team of aerospace and defense experts culled through more than 300 programs to find those that did what they set out to do, on schedule and within cost. To win out of the entire industry is extremely flattering."

Lockheed Martin's Atlas launch vehicle program won the second of only two 2006 Aviation Week Program Excellence Awards.

The Program Excellence Award is judged by a panel of industry experts according to a comprehensive set of criteria that includes quality program management. Programs are evaluated on how they create value for the parent corporation and customers, establish organization and leadership processes, address complexity and use metrics to measure performance.

The Stardust program was also a recent recipient of the 2006 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award. Stardust was one of eight innovations recognized in the Science & Invention category and featured in the October 2006 issue.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs, develops, tests, manufactures and operates a variety of advanced-technology systems for national security, civil and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; launch vehicles, fleet ballistic missiles; and missile defense systems.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2005 sales of $37.2 billion.

For more information about the Stardust program go to:

For additional information, visit our website:

CONTACT: Gary Napier, [phone]; [e-mail]

[ariane] 09/11/2006 07:21

NASA picks Alcatel Alenia for $1.5B deal
WASHINGTON (AFX) - NASA on Wednesday awarded satellite systems manufacturer
Alcatel Alenia Space a $50,000 rapid spacecraft development contract that has a
potential value of $1.5 billion.
Rapid II is a multiple award contract for core spacecraft systems and
nonstandard services. Baseline work includes fabrication and testing of the
spacecraft with mission specific design modifications, instrument integration,
shipment to launch site, launch vehicle support and on-orbit checkout, according
to NASA.
Alcatel Alenia Space is a joint venture of French telecommunications maker
Alcatel SA and Italy's Finmeccanica Spa.
The initial Rapid II contracts were awarded in January 2000, but new vendors
are periodically added if qualified, according to NASA.
Alcatel's American depositary shares rose 7 cents to $13.22 in afternoon
trading on the New York Stock Exchange.