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Sunday’s CSExtra offers a new report on shuttle safety concerns, as workers with critical skills and unusual loyalty stay on the job though facing eventual unemployment. More on the high stakes development of the James Webb Space Telescope, the successor to Hubble. NASA gets an early start on a new technology initiative. Engineers, scientists, and astronauts head to Arizona soon for an annual field test of the latest exploration technologies.
1. From Florida Today: An early exodus of skilled workers poses one of the greatest risks to shuttle safety, according to a Florida Today report on the issue. With two more scheduled flights remaining, safety experts worry about what could happen with an early exodus. As it stands, 800 workers are facing an Oct. 1 lay off. . Another 3,000, at least, will lose their jobs in April. If the White House and Congress approve another mission in mid-2011, the layoffs will only be postponed. Nonetheless, worker surveys suggest shuttle workers are intensely loyal to their jobs, even though their employment futures seem bleak.
http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20100822/NEWS02/8220331/Layoff+anxiety+top+risk+to+shuttle
2. From the Orlando Sentinel: An editorial calling on NASA and Congress to ensure the success of the James Webb Space Telescope, the Hubble’s more capable successor. Scheduled for a 2014 launching, the Webb is three years behind schedule and an estimated $1.5 billion over budget. The editorial follows a deeper look at Webb’s troubles by the Sentinel.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/fl-nasa-space-telescope-editorial-af-20100820,0,3689550.story
A. From Aviation Week & Space Technology: The National Research Council has urged NASA to consider a new infrared observatory that could survey a wide area of stars for signs of planets as well as investigate the effects of Dark Energy on the evolution of the universe. The NRC recommends a 2020 launching date.
http://www.aviationnow.com/aw/generic/story_generic.jsp?channel=awst&id=news/awst/2010/08/23/AW_08_23_2010_p39-249335.xml&headline=NRC%20Pushes%20$1.6-Billion%20Infrared%20Telescope
3. From Space News: NASA jump starts the Space Technology Program, with $36.5 million in 2010 spending on eight projects. With congressional approval, the space agency got the initiative under way, though it’s a key piece of NASA’s proposed 2011 budget. The 2011 spending plan has yet to receive full approval in the House and Senate. NASA has partnered with the Defense Advanced Projects Agency for some of the work, including horizontal launch technologies, in orbit servicing and power beam propulsion, according to Space News.
http://www.spacenews.com/civil/100820-nasa-jumpstarts-technology-program.html
4. From Universe Today: NASA is preparing for its 14th Desert Rats campaign. This exercise will take 100 engineers, scientists and astronauts to Arizona for a two week test of exploration technologies, including rovers and habitats. Desert Rats will get under way Aug. 31.
http://www.universetoday.com/71691/desert-rats-on-the-move/#more-71691
5. From Discovery.com: Addressing an Internet hoax: Mars will not loom as brightly in the sky as the moon on Aug. 27.
http://news.discovery.com/space/mars-hoax.html
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