Fwd: Human Spaceflight News - January 2, 2013 and JSC Today

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From: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Date: January 2, 2013 6:58:52 AM GMT-06:00
To: "Moon, Larry J. (JSC-EA411)" <larry.j.moon@nasa.gov>
Subject: FW: Human Spaceflight News - January 2, 2013 and JSC Today

Hope you can join us tomorrow, Thursday – January 3^rd, at Hibachi Grill for our monthly NASA Retirees Luncheon at 11:30.

 

 

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

 

JSC TODAY HEADLINES

1.            Call for JSC Exceptional Software Awards -- Deadline Extended to Jan. 11

2.            Carlos Dominguez -- The TechNowist

3.            Free Health-Related Fitness Course (Jan. 7 to March 27)

________________________________________     QUOTE OF THE DAY

" Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right. "

 

-- Oprah Winfrey

________________________________________

1.            Call for JSC Exceptional Software Awards -- Deadline Extended to Jan. 11

This is the 2013 call for software award nominations at JSC. Nominees will be considered for the following awards:

o             JSC Exceptional Software Award: $8,000 total award

o             JSC nominee for NASA Software of the Year Award: Up to $100,000 total award possible

o             JSC software nominees for Space Act Awards: Variable amount up to $100,000

o             NASA Exceptional Technology Achievement Medals

The JSC Exceptional Software Award is designed to recognize software that has demonstrated outstanding value to accomplishing the JSC mission.

Apply online using the Web nomination form and to find out other information.

Directorates and individuals must provide their nominations by close of business Jan. 11 via the form link listed. Questions can be sent to Lynn Vernon or Tondra Allen.

Lynn R. Vernon x36917 http://jscexceptionalsoftware.jsc.nasa.gov/SOY_nominate/

 

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2.            Carlos Dominguez -- The TechNowist

The Human Health & Performance Directorate is pleased to welcome Carlos Dominguez, senior vice president at Cisco Systems and technology evangelist, as our next Innovation Lecture Series speaker! Dominguez speaks to and motivates audiences worldwide about how technology is changing how we communicate, collaborate, and especially, how we work. He gives humorous, highly animated presentations full of deep insight into how technology and the right culture can create winning companies.

All are encouraged to attend! Register now in SATERN https://satern.nasa.gov/learning/user/deeplink_redirect.jsp?linkId=SCHEDULED_... to receive Human Systems Academy credit.

Event Date: Friday, January 11, 2013   Event Start Time:2:00 PM   Event End Time:3:30 PM

Event Location: Teague Auditorium

 

Add to Calendar

 

Carissa Vidlak 281-212-1409 http://sa.jsc.nasa.gov/

 

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3.            Free Health-Related Fitness Course (Jan. 7 to March 27)

Free to all members of Starport, this course connects the brain with the body by combining education and prescribed exercise. Classes meet for an hour on Mondays and Wednesdays starting at 4:15 p.m. Each class includes a 15- to 20-minute lecture on such topics as training principles, caloric expenditure, weight control, environmental effects and the role of exercise in disease. Individualized exercise programs are based on assessments of body fat, strength, endurance, flexibility and aerobic power. Programs progress gradually to optimize improvements without injury. Records on thousands of graduates show significant improvements on each fitness component. Instructors have advance degrees in exercise science and certifications from the American College of Sports Medicine. To enroll and schedule pre-class fitness testing, contact Larry Wier or Greta Ayers at x30301 or x30302.

Larry Wier x30301

 

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________________________________________

JSC Today is compiled periodically as a service to JSC employees on an as-submitted basis. Any JSC organization or employee may submit articles. To see an archive of previous JSC Today announcements, go to http://www6.jsc.nasa.gov/pao/news/jsctoday/archives.

 

 

 

NASA TV: 10 am Central (11 EST) - E34's Tom Marshburn with WFMY-TV, Greensboro & WCNC-TV, Charlotte

 

Human Spaceflight News

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

 

HEADLINES AND LEADS

 

Private Space Travel to Make Giant Leaps in 2013

 

Rob Coppinger - Space.com

 

Private companies building new spaceships to soar through orbital and suborbital space are looking forward to an action-packed year in 2013, with new flight tests, launches, wind tunnel tests and rocket technology trials all planned during the new year. Of the many spacecraft being developed only one has already flown in space, the Dragon capsule built by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) in Hawthorne, Calif. The unmanned cargo ship has flown in space three times so far, and carried supplies to the International Space Station twice in 2012 — first in May during a test and then again October.

 

Is NASA Lost in Space or Aimed at Asteroid?

 

Leonard David - Space.com

 

A report this month from the National Research Council (NRC) has called NASA's overall trajectory into question. It pointed out the national disagreement over the U.S. space agency's goals and objectives, a disparity detrimental to the organization's planning and budgeting efforts. The 12-person blue-ribbon study group observed that the White House should take the lead in forging "a new consensus" on NASA's future in order to more closely align the agency's budget and objectives and remove restrictions impeding NASA's efficient operations.

 

Space Radiation May Accelerate Alzheimer's in Astronauts

 

Charles Choi - Space.com

 

Radiation in space might harm the brains of astronauts in deep space by accelerating the development of Alzheimer's disease, a new study on mice suggests. The research reveals another risk that manned deep-space missions to places such as Mars or the asteroids could pose, scientists added.

 

Study: Space Radiation Could Cause Alzheimer's

Iron radiation particles may cause the disease to develop, and NASA currently doesn't have a way for astronauts to avoid them

 

Jason Koebler - US News & World Report

 

Scientists have found a new potential hazard to space travel: Exposure to radiation in space could cause brain damage and may cause astronauts to develop early-onset Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study released Monday. Animals exposed to iron radiation particles that are similar to those caused by exploding stars in space showed neurodegeneration much earlier than would be expected, and the animals' brains showed plaque associated with Alzheimer's disease. The radiation levels were similar to levels an astronaut would experience while traveling on a mission to Mars. Unlike many types of space radiation, the particles associated with iron are able to penetrate a spacecraft's walls.

 

Long space missions could boost Alzheimer's risk: NASA study

 

Adam Edelman - New York Daily News

 

Could traveling out of this world make you a little, well, "out of it"? The answer, according to a new provocative study, may be yes. Scientists at NASA, writing in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, have found that space travel may present serious risks to brain health. In particular, the eight-year study found that the cosmic radiation astronauts would be exposed to on certain long missions could accelerate the onset of Alzheimer's.

 

Does Deep Space Travel Cause Alzheimer's?

 

Joseph Stromberg - Smithsonian Magazine

 

NASA has big plans for manned travel in deep space. Although missions haven't been officially announced yet, experts speculate that the agency plans to establish a space station on the far side of the moon sometime in the next decade, a stepping stone towards landing on an asteroid in 2025 and potentially trying to reach Mars sometime around 2033.

 

Kennedy Space Center technology may save miners

 

James Dean – Florida Today

 

Miners responding to an explosion or fire might one day grab the same life support packs Kennedy Space Center crews use while rescuing astronauts or loading spacecraft with hazardous fuels. Funded by a federal office that seeks to improve mine safety, a KSC-led team of engineers is working to develop and make more widely available systems that rely on super-cold liquid air instead of traditional compressed gas. "It certainly has the potential to revolutionize the fire-rescue world," said David Bush, lead engineer in KSC's Biomedical Engineering and Research Laboratory.

 

Florida pursues studies on new commercial launch complex

NASA considers providing property

 

James Dean - Florida Today

 

The state is pressing forward with studies related to the commercial launch complex it has proposed establishing at the north end of Kennedy Space Center, while awaiting word on whether NASA will make the property available. Space Florida recently asked interested companies to describe launch and recovery operations they might pursue at the proposed "Shiloh" complex, named for the citrus community located there before NASA seized the land to support Apollo program moon missions. That information will inform environmental studies of impacts to roughly 150 acres that fall within the Merritt Island Wildlife National Refuge near the Brevard-Volusia county line.

 

NASA seeking to lease or sell space-shuttle facilities

 

Scott Powers - Orlando Sentinel

 

Does anyone need a 15,000-foot landing strip? How about a place to assemble rocket ships? Or a parachute-packing plant? An array of aerospace tracking antennas? A launchpad? Make us an offer, says NASA, which is quietly holding a going-out-of-business sale for the facilities used by its space-shuttle program. The last shuttle flight ended in July 2011, when Atlantis made its final touchdown. That orbiter, like its sisters Discovery and Endeavour, is now a museum piece. As soon as some remaining cleanup and wind-down are finished at Kennedy Space Center, the shuttle program will be history.

 

House passes bill to rename NASA facility for Armstrong

 

SpaceflightNow.com

 

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill that would rename NASA's aeronautics facility at Edwards Air Force Base in California after Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon. Under the House bill sponsored by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, NASA's Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, would be redesignated as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center. The House passed the measure 404-0. But the Senate has to act before the renaming moves forward.

 

Is this the year private space travel finally has lift-off?

Why 2013 could be one giant leap for tycoons' out-of-this-world ambitions

 

Mario Ledwith - London Daily Mail

 

For fans of all things astronomical, 2013 could mark the year when their dreams of travelling to space become a reality. Pioneering companies championing 'space tourism' are planning to send their spaceships into the skies and fine tune their equipment over the next 12 months. Companies, including Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, are seeking to send ordinary members of the public into space for the very first time. Suborbital flights could see passengers taken to beyond the earth's atmosphere, providing views only ever experienced in person by trained astronauts.

 

Spaceport America — Hanging By a Perverbial Thread

 

Doug Messier - Parabolic Arc

 

The Save Our Spaceport (S.O.S.) Coalition is up and running with a website to support for an extension of the informed consent law for Virgin Galactic and other future tenants of Spaceport America. So, after lengthy negotiations, years of construction, extravagant promises of new jobs and businesses by politicians and a British billionaire, and the investment of $209 million in taxpayer's money, New Mexico faces the following stark choice in the new year:

__________

 

COMPLETE STORIES

 

Private Space Travel to Make Giant Leaps in 2013

 

Rob Coppinger - Space.com

 

Private companies building new spaceships to soar through orbital and suborbital space are looking forward to an action-packed year in 2013, with new flight tests, launches, wind tunnel tests and rocket technology trials all planned during the new year.

 

Of the many spacecraft being developed only one has already flown in space, the Dragon capsule built by Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) in Hawthorne, Calif. The unmanned cargo ship has flown in space three times so far, and carried supplies to the International Space Station twice in 2012 — first in May during a test and then again October.

 

SpaceX's next cargo flight to the station is set for May 2013. But a new astronaut-carrying version of Dragon is also in the works. The crewed capsule will be different from its robotic predecessor in several key areas, with SpaceX set to advancing technology for the new ship in 2013.

 

SpaceX's new Dragon

 

"Dragon Version 2 won't look like [today's Dragon]. I think it looks pretty cool. Dragon one, we didn't really know what we were doing so that's why Dragon looks similar to things that have happened in the past," SpaceX founder Elon Musk told an audience during a talk at the UK's Royal Aeronautical Society in London on Nov. 21. Musk described Dragon version 2 as having "legs that pop out" and added that it uses parachutes and its eight SuperDraco thrusters for a "propulsive landing".

 

The SuperDraco thrusters, located around the base of the Dragon, also act as the pusher launch abort system to move the capsule (and crew) clear of its rocket during a launch emergency.

 

While Musk was unavailable for to discuss SpaceX's plans for 2013, company officials did provide SPACE.com details on its expected activities.

 

In March the company will review its Dragon pad abort test that is planned for later in the year December; in May SpaceX will perform its human certification plan review for the capsule; in June the crewed Dragon on-orbit and entry design review is expected to occur; July would then see an in-flight abort test review;

 

A safety review is slated for October; and before the December pad abort test, November will see a flight review of an upgraded version of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, which launches Dragon capsules into orbit.

 

NASA needs private space taxis

 

SpaceX is developing the seven-person Dragon 2 capsule to compete for NASA's International Space Station (ISS) crew transportation contract. NASA's commercial crew program is helping industry develop competing space transportation systems to win this ISS contract. Ed Mango is the commercial crew program manager.

 

"2013 will be a huge year for us. In the first couple of months we'll kick off work for our certification contract and we'll award that shortly," Mango told SPACE.com.

 

Companies selected for the certification contract will get $10 million each and have 15 months to demonstrate, with data, that their rockets and spacecraft can be considered for the space station transport mission. "The [contract winners] are not just making spacecraft and launch vehicles they are also doing it to meet a NASA mission, our mission to the [ISS]," Mango said.

 

In the second half of 2013, NASA will start the bidding process for its commercial crew contract that will lead to the certification of one transportation system to take astronauts to the space station. That contract will not be awarded until early 2014, and a few years later NASA astronauts could travel to the station on the successful launch system.

 

Private spaceship contenders

 

In theory, while any U.S. company can bid for those two contracts, Mango suggested that the three companies that have won funded space act agreements under the commercial crew program will be the likely contenders. Those three companies are: SpaceX; Boeing; and Sierra Nevada Corporation.

 

Boeing's spacecraft is the Commercial Space Transportation 100 (CST-100) capsule and is designed to launch atop the Atlas 5 rockets built by the United Launch Alliance's (ULA). The CST-100 capsule can carry up to seven astronauts and, like Dragon 2, it is expected to land on land. Its design includes airbags to cushion landing, as well as a pusher abort system.

 

Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser space plane is based on NASA's HL-20, a spacecraft the agency studied 25 years ago. It is also designed to launch on an Atlas 5 rocket.

 

In 2012 a Dream Chase prototype was used for a captive carry flight test using a helicopter. In the first half of 2013 an unmanned Dream Chaser will fly low speed approaches and landing tests at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Centerin California.

 

"These flight tests are similar to the approach and landing tests that NASA conducted on the Space Shuttle prior to the first launch of the Shuttle.  The [Dream Chaser] program is also continuing significant hardware testing throughout 2013 to continue to advance the design of our subsystems," John Roth, Sierra Nevada Space Systems vice president of business development told SPACE.com.

 

Because the Atlas 5 is the launcher for CST-100 and Dream Chaser, the rocket's provider ULA is heavily involved with the Boeing and Sierra Nevada work.

 

"We're contracted to support Boeing and Sierra Nevadato support their milestones, we're directly supporting almost all of them," George Sower, ULA's Human launch Services vice president, said in an interview.

 

In 2013, ULA will be continuing to develop the dual engine Centaur upper stage its Atlas 5 needs for launching these manned spacecraft. For satellite launches, the unmanned Atlas 5 has only used a single engine powered Centaur. In April and May, ULA will test ducting to provide propellant for the new Centaur's two engines. ULA is also planning wind tunnel tests to understand the different aerodynamics of having Boeing's capsule and Sierra's winged Dream Chaser on top of the Atlas 5.

 

Rise of suborbital space planes

 

While the orbital commercial human spaceflight providers are aiming for operational missions after 2015, the suborbital tourism companies are seeking revenue flights well before then. These suborbital spacecraft are designed to launch beyond the Earth's atmosphere, but not to enter orbit around the planet. Instead, they will return to Earth to be readied to fly again.

 

In 2013, XCOR Aerospace is building its Lynx I, which will not fly beyond the 62-mile (100 kilometers) border line between the atmosphere and space. This Lynx rocket plane is a prototype for the planned Lynx Mark 2, which will fly into suborbital space.

 

"We're looking at 2013 as the time for our test flight program and in early 2013 we'll get started. For the Lynx Mark 1, our prototype craft, we'll be doing test fights throughout the year from early 2013 and then go into commercial flights," XCOR spokesman Bryan Campen told SPACE.com.

 

After 2013, the Lynx Mark 2, which will fly higher than 62 miles, will be manufactured in Florida at or near the Kennedy Space Center, XCOR officials said. The company is also setting up its new headquarters and research center in Midland, Texas.

 

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo

 

After 22 gliding tests between October 2010 and August 2012, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo has been edging closer to having its hybrid solid rocket motor added and making its first rocket powered flight. In May 2012 Virgin Galactic was awarded an experimental launch permit by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees commercial human spaceflight. At the time Virgin Galactic was anticipating a rocket-powered SpaceShipTwo flight by the end of the year.

 

By Sept. 20, the SpaceShipTwo rocket motor had been fired on the ground 17 times. On Oct. 19, Virgin Galactic released an image of the oxidizer tank being fitted to the first SpaceShipTwo, called the VSS Enterprise.

 

The oxidizer flows through the hollow center of the solid fuel rocket and when ignited will burn with the fuel to generate thrust. The first rocket-powered SpaceShipTwo flight is now expected in 2013.

 

Is NASA Lost in Space or Aimed at Asteroid?

 

Leonard David - Space.com

 

A report this month from the National Research Council (NRC) has called NASA's overall trajectory into question. It pointed out the national disagreement over the U.S. space agency's goals and objectives, a disparity detrimental to the organization's planning and budgeting efforts.

 

The 12-person blue-ribbon study group observed that the White House should take the lead in forging "a new consensus" on NASA's future in order to more closely align the agency's budget and objectives and remove restrictions impeding NASA's efficient operations.

 

For one, the NRC study team took aim at a lofty directive to NASA by President Barack Obama when he spoke at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in April 2010:

 

"Early in the next decade, a set of crewed flights will test and prove the systems required for exploration beyond low-Earth orbit. And by 2025, we expect new spacecraft designed for long journeys to allow us to begin the first-ever crewed missions beyond the moon into deep space. So we'll start…we'll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history. By the mid-2030s, I believe we can send humans to orbit Mars and return them safely to Earth. And a landing on Mars will follow. And I expect to be around to see it."

 

Dubious destination

 

While the NRC study team did not undertake a technical assessment of the feasibility of an asteroid mission, it was informed by several briefers and sources that the current planned asteroid mission has significant shortcomings.

 

"A current stated interim goal of NASA's human spaceflight program is to visit an asteroid by 2025," said Albert Carnesale, chancellor emeritus and professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who chaired the NRC committee that wrote the report.

 

"However, we've seen limited evidence that this has been widely accepted as a compelling destination by NASA's own work force, by the nation as a whole, or by the international community. The lack of national consensus on NASA's most publicly visible human spaceflight goal along with budget uncertainty has undermined the agency's ability to guide program planning and allocate funding."

 

The NRC report added that there appears to be continued enthusiasm for a mission to the moon but not for an asteroid mission, although there is both U.S. and international interest in robotic missions to asteroids.

 

But the view that a manned flight to a near-Earth object (NEO) is a dubious destination doesn't settle well in some quarters.

 

Bring the asteroid to the astronauts

 

"I agree with the findings in the NRC report that NASA has a long way to go to fulfill the Obama goal of an asteroid mission by 2025," said former astronaut Tom Jones, author of the upcoming book, "Mission: Asteroid."

 

Jones told SPACE.com that NASA has not taken any major steps, starting with a search for near-Earth asteroid (NEA) targets, necessary to achieve that goal. The agency has so little money that it can't afford its own asteroid search program, relying instead on a private asteroid-hunting telescope commissioned by the B612 Foundation. NASA's Orion deep-space vehicle and large booster programs won't fly with a crew until after 2020, given current budgets and schedules, he said.

 

"The best way for NASA to reach both its asteroid goal and to launch humans into translunarspace — beyond the moon — is to use a robot spacecraft to retrieve and return to a safe lunar orbit a small, 500-ton asteroid," Jones said. "Near the Earth-moon L2 point, astronauts and robot probes can explore and dissect this asteroid for science and commercial-scale resources … water being the most valuable."

 

Bringing the asteroid to the astronauts, Jones said — as described by the Keck Institute for Space Studies team in 2012 — "could jump-start an entire industry between the Earth and the moon, using the energy and raw materials of space to enable everything from robotic probes to the planets, to eventual moon and Mars surface exploration," he said.

 

Foundation of self-sustainability

 

"U.S. strategic goals for human space activity need to be long-term. We should have continuous operational reach in near-Earth space, regular access to the surface of the moon, and regular access to Mars," said Mark Sykes, director of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Ariz. He is also the chair of NASA's Small Bodies Assessment Group.

 

"All of this requires building space-based infrastructure on a foundation of self-sustainability. Accessing and utilizing resources available on near-Earth objects, particularly water for fuel, life-support and shielding, is the cornerstone and is critical to achieving any of these goals," Sykes told SPACE.com.

 

Sykes said it would make sense to send a piloted mission to oversee the automated emplacement and startup of a resource recovery facility on a near-Earth object.

 

"This could help guarantee the successful deployment of many untended facilities to other targets in the future by bringing what humans do best: dealing with the unexpected and improvisation," Sykes said. "In the meantime, great science could also be achieved, but this is strictly bonus…not a rationale."

 

This could be done on the timescale envisioned by President Obama, Sykes said, with some initiative and little additional cost, and far less total cost than any other option.

 

Live off the (space) land

 

Existing Discovery mission proposals are on the table to fly a Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer-class spacecraft that would identify many NEO resource targets in orbits that would afford low-energy, short-duration missions, Sykes said.

 

Additionally, resource recovery experiments could be undertaken on the International Space Station using meteorite samples and other analog materials, Sykes said.

 

"Apollo taught us that doing something once or even a few times is no guarantee that it will ever be done again. If we want a permanent American presence in space, we need to learn to live off the land," Sykes said.

 

"Near-Earth objects are our best opportunity to accomplish this cost-effectively," he concluded.

 

Asteroids within reach

 

There's no lack of asteroids to focus upon, said Lindley Johnson, NEO Observations Program Executive at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C.

 

Johnson noted that he doesn't speak for NASA's Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and not in a position to be able to say anything about the priorities for piloted/human spaceflight missions.

 

"I just know HEOMD has a great challenge to be able to build the basic capabilities needed for future human spaceflight with the budget prospects they've been given," Johnson told SPACE.com.

 

"But we also know there are a lot of near-Earth asteroids out there between here and Mars and we still see them on the horizon for the future of exploration. Maybe somewhat beyond this next hill we must climb, but they are still out there for us to reach for," Johnson said.

 

Space Radiation May Accelerate Alzheimer's in Astronauts

 

Charles Choi - Space.com

 

Radiation in space might harm the brains of astronauts in deep space by accelerating the development of Alzheimer's disease, a new study on mice suggests.

 

The research reveals another risk that manned deep-space missions to places such as Mars or the asteroids could pose, scientists added.

 

"This study shows for the first time that exposure to radiation levels equivalent to a mission to Mars could produce cognitive problems and speed up changes in the brain that are associated with Alzheimer's disease," study author Kerry O'Banion, a neuroscientist at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said in a statement.

 

Space is filled with radiation that can harm people. While Earth's magnetic field generally protects the planet, once astronauts venture beyond low-Earth orbit, they are constantly bombarded by a shower of dangerous particles known as cosmic rays. The longer an astronaut is in deep space, the greater the risk, which is especially of concern given NASA plans for manned missions to an asteroid in 2025 and to Mars by about 2035 — the round trip to the Red Planet alone could take at least two years.

 

For more than 25 years, NASA has funded studies to see what the potential dangers of space travel might be. For instance, past research analyzed the potential impact of cosmic rays on the risk for cancer and potential problems with the cardiovascular or musculoskeletal systems.

 

Now scientists have for the first time examined the effects space radiation might have on neurodegeneration — in particular, the biological processes in the brain linked with the development of Alzheimer's disease, which typically involves progressive mental decline over several years. They found "galactic cosmic radiation poses a significant threat to future astronauts," O'Banion said.

 

Perils of space radiation

 

O'Banion and his colleaguesinvestigated a specific kind of space radiation known as high-mass, high-charged (or HZE) particles. These particles zip through space at very high speeds, likely the result of exploding stars and other deep-space catastrophes from elsewhere in the galaxy. Unlike cosmic rays consisting just of hydrogen nuclei, which solar flares generate, the mass and speed of HZE particles allow them to punch through solid objects such as a spacecraft, or any astronauts inside.

 

"Because iron particles pack a bigger wallop, it is extremely difficult from an engineering perspective to effectively shield against them," O'Banion said. "One would have to essentially wrap a spacecraft in a 6-foot (2 meters) block of lead or concrete."

 

The scientists focused on the impact of iron HZE particles generated by particle accelerators at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. Mice were dosed throughout their body with levels of radiation comparable to what astronauts might receive during a mission to Mars.

 

The mental function of the mice was tested with a series of experiments — for instance, they had to recognize places linked with unpleasant electric shocks to their feet — and rodents dosed with radiation were far more likely to fail at these tasks. The brains of the mice also showed signs of inflamed blood vessels, and possessed abnormally high levels of beta amyloid, a protein that accumulates as one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.

 

"These findings clearly suggest that exposure to radiation in space has the potential to accelerate the development of Alzheimer's disease," O'Banion said. "This is yet another factor that NASA, which is clearly concerned about the health risks to its astronauts, will need to take into account as it plans future missions."

 

Space radiation vs. astronaut

 

It remains uncertain why these HZE particles might have this effect on the brain.

 

"This is, of course, the $10 million question," O'Banion told SPACE.com. The fact the researchers saw a blood vessel response, but not clear evidence of brain inflammation "suggests the possibility that the radiation effects are actually in the body of the mice, and that changes there might be affecting amyloid deposition."

 

O'Banion did caution "we gave the radiation all at once — the mice experienced over a few minutes what astronauts will experience over three years. We have no idea whether the biological effects of HZE particles will be the same when given at low dose rates. Many would argue that ours is a worse-case scenario, and that the changes are likely to be entirely different since the body might adapt to small chronic dosing."

 

In the future, O'Banion and his colleagues will examine the effects the brain experiences from exposure to radiation elsewhere in the body. They also plan to see whether space radiation might influence development of Parkinson's disease.

 

"I would add that there are at least three other laboratories pursuing similar studies," O'Banion said. "The nice thing about this is that we will soon know if our results hold up in other labs."

 

The scientists detailed their findings online Dec. 31 in the journal PLOS ONE.

 

Study: Space Radiation Could Cause Alzheimer's

Iron radiation particles may cause the disease to develop, and NASA currently doesn't have a way for astronauts to avoid them

 

Jason Koebler - US News & World Report

 

Scientists have found a new potential hazard to space travel: Exposure to radiation in space could cause brain damage and may cause astronauts to develop early-onset Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study released Monday.

 

Animals exposed to iron radiation particles that are similar to those caused by exploding stars in space showed neurodegeneration much earlier than would be expected, and the animals' brains showed plaque associated with Alzheimer's disease. The radiation levels were similar to levels an astronaut would experience while traveling on a mission to Mars.

 

Unlike many types of space radiation, the particles associated with iron are able to penetrate a spacecraft's walls.

 

"It is extremely difficult from an engineering perspective to effectively shield against [iron particles]," Kerry O'Banion, a researcher at the University of Rochester Medical Center and lead author of the study, said in a released statement. "One would have to essentially wrap a spacecraft in a six-foot block of lead or concrete."

 

The finding is the latest to suggest that space may not be as habitable as scientists had once hoped. A study of 27 astronauts published in March found that nearly all of them had eye and brain abnormalities after returning from space. The abnormalities are believed to be caused by increased pressure on the brain caused by space's lack of gravity. Previous studies have also suggested that radiation in space could cause cancer.

 

"Galactic cosmic radiation poses a significant threat to future astronauts," O'Banion said. "This is yet another factor that NASA, which is clearly concerned about the health risks to its astronauts, will need to take into account as it plans future missions."

 

Long space missions could boost Alzheimer's risk: NASA study

 

Adam Edelman - New York Daily News

 

Could traveling out of this world make you a little, well, "out of it"?

 

The answer, according to a new provocative study, may be yes.

 

Scientists at NASA, writing in the scientific journal PLOS ONE, have found that space travel may present serious risks to brain health.

 

In particular, the eight-year study found that the cosmic radiation astronauts would be exposed to on certain long missions could accelerate the onset of Alzheimer's.

 

The study, conducted by a team from NASA's Space Radiation Laboratory at Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, looked at a potential three-year mission to Mars and discovered significant, consistent cosmic radiation might make those predisposed to Alzheimer's even more prone to it.

 

Alzheimer's causes serious cognitive deterioration.

 

"Galactic cosmic radiation...poses a significant threat to future astronauts," wrote Dr. M. Kerry O'Banion, a professor of neurobiology and anatomy at the University of Rochester Medical Center and a senior author of the study.

 

Scientists exposed mice genetically engineered with a predisposition to Alzheimer's to simulated cosmic radiation equal to what astronauts would receive on a Mars mission.

 

They found that some of the mice showed "decreased cognitive abilities" -- a symptom of Alzheimer's -- after receiving the treatment.

 

"It's just another example of how the environment can influence diseases. The mice had a genetic predisposition, and you have added an environmental injury -- an insult to their system. And now they show exacerbation of the disease," O'Banion told ABCNews.com

 

While the findings are valuable to understanding how space travel could hurt brain health, NASA remains dozens of years away from sending an astronaut to Mars.

 

Does Deep Space Travel Cause Alzheimer's?

 

Joseph Stromberg - Smithsonian Magazine

 

NASA has big plans for manned travel in deep space. Although missions haven't been officially announced yet, experts speculate that the agency plans to establish a space station on the far side of the moon sometime in the next decade, a stepping stone towards landing on an asteroid in 2025 and potentially trying to reach Mars sometime around 2033.

 

Getting to Mars, though, would require astronauts to endure a round-trip (or possibly one-way) journey that could be as long as three years—which could be particularly worrisome given the results of a study on the health effects of cosmic radiation published today in PLOS ONE. Although we've known for some time that the radiation experienced by space travelers could pose problems over the long term, this new study is the first to establish a link with an increased chance of Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

 

The researchers, a group from NASA and the University of Rochester, came to the finding by testing a specific type of cosmic radiation—high-mass, high-charged (HZE) iron particles—on mice. This kind of radiation is of particular concern, because its high speed (a result of the force of the exploding stars it's originally expelled from, light-years away) and large mass mean that it's tricky to protect against.

 

Here on Earth, we're largely protected from it and other types of radiation by our planet's atmosphere and magnetic field, but even a short time in deep space means much higher levels of exposure, and we haven't yet figured out how to construct a shield that effectively blocks it. "Because iron particles pack a bigger wallop it is extremely difficult from an engineering perspective to effectively shield against them," M. Kerry O'Banion, the paper's senior author, said in a statement. "One would have to essentially wrap a spacecraft in a six-foot block of lead or concrete."

 

After producing radioactive particles that generate this type of radiation using a particle accelerator at the Brookhaven National Laboratory on Long Island, the researchers exposed the mice to varying doses of the radiation, including levels comprable to what astronauts would experience on a mission to Mars. The breed of mice they used has been the subject of numerous studies on dementia and Alzheimer's, so scientists have a relatively good understanding of how rapidly the disease and related symptoms develop over time.

 

But when the researchers put the mice through a series of behavioral tests—seeing if they were capable of remembering objects or specific locations—those that had been exposed to greater levels of radiation were far more likely to fail, demonstrating signs of neurological impairment far more early in life than is typical in the breed. Additionally, autopsies of these mice revealed that their brains contained higher levels of beta amyloid, the "plaque" considered a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease.

 

This result doesn't mean we have to abandon dreams of deep space travel—or even that this kind of radiation definitively leads to accelerated neurological degeneration—but it does show that cosmic radiation is going to be a graver concern the longer space missions get. Ingenious engineering has addressed many of the difficulties of space flight, but this remains a problem to be solved.

 

"These findings clearly suggest that exposure to radiation in space has the potential to accelerate the development of Alzheimer's disease," O'Banion said. "This is yet another factor that NASA, which is clearly concerned about the health risks to its astronauts, will need to take into account as it plans future missions."

 

Kennedy Space Center technology may save miners

 

James Dean – Florida Today

 

Miners responding to an explosion or fire might one day grab the same life support packs Kennedy Space Center crews use while rescuing astronauts or loading spacecraft with hazardous fuels.

 

Funded by a federal office that seeks to improve mine safety, a KSC-led team of engineers is working to develop and make more widely available systems that rely on super-cold liquid air instead of traditional compressed gas.

 

"It certainly has the potential to revolutionize the fire-rescue world," said David Bush, lead engineer in KSC's Biomedical Engineering and Research Laboratory.

 

The so-called cryogenic life support technology is nothing new at Kennedy and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, where it has been used for decades for space-related operations.

 

Suits worn by teams that load toxic propellants carry liquid air devices providing two hours of breathing capability.

 

The closeout crews that strapped astronauts into their seats for launch, and search and rescue teams that would attempt to save astronauts at the pad or runway, were equipped with backpack-sized liquid air packs offering one hour of life support.

 

"We are probably the biggest user of cryogenic life support technology certainly nationally, but possibly globally," Bush said.

 

KSC makes liquid air by mixing liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen, or by simply cooling and condensing air. It is stored in tanks at roughly minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit, at much lower pressure than compressed gas.

 

After heating and expanding, it is breathed as 55-degree air.

 

The technology could extend the breathing time available to miners caught in an atmosphere compromised by carbon monoxide and dust, or enable firefighters to battle a blaze longer before rotating with a fresh crew.

 

The systems, however, are not certified for wider industrial use by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

 

One problem: If the liquid air supply ran low and the user could not stand upright, the air supply could be lost.

 

In the past, Bush said, cryogenics also were considered expensive and harder to obtain, limiting their commercial development for life support.

 

Now, NIOSH's Office of Mine Safety and Health Research wants to explore improvements, and has funded the $1.3 million first phase of a what could become a $4 million, three-phase project. Officials were not available for comment this week.

 

KSC could help develop 11 technologies including two-hour life support packs for miners that work in any orientation; refilling stations designed to prevent the chilled air from boiling off; and similar systems for small chambers in which a group of miners might shelter.

 

Bush's team has partnered on the project with BCS Life Support, a DeLand-based small business.

 

A flexible tube the company designed that resembles a small Slinky could solve the problem of lost air supply in certain positions.

 

The goal is to demonstrate cryogenic life support systems that meet NIOSH certification standards, which companies could then produce commercially.

 

"I think they're starting to recognize the potential this has to shake up the life support community, so we've been getting a lot of interest from outside companies as well," Bush said.

 

Local space operations would also benefit. The liquid air packs long used at Kennedy have not been updated since 1984 and were deemed obsolete after the shuttle's retirement.

 

"Once we get back to flying humans, we're going to need a new solution," Bush said.

 

Florida pursues studies on new commercial launch complex

NASA considers providing property

 

James Dean - Florida Today

 

The state is pressing forward with studies related to the commercial launch complex it has proposed establishing at the north end of Kennedy Space Center, while awaiting word on whether NASA will make the property available.

 

Space Florida recently asked interested companies to describe launch and recovery operations they might pursue at the proposed "Shiloh" complex, named for the citrus community located there before NASA seized the land to support Apollo program moon missions. That information will inform environmental studies of impacts to roughly 150 acres that fall within the Merritt Island Wildlife National Refuge near the Brevard-Volusia county line. "We'll initiate our environmental assessments around the kind of operating launch profiles, the concepts of operations that we receive back from industry," Space Florida President Frank DiBello said.

 

The state requested title to the land from NASA last September, citing market demand for a launch complex that operated near but independently from existing Cape facilities controlled by NASA and the Air Force's Eastern Range. SpaceX is known to be pursuing such a site in locations across the country, including Texas and Georgia.

 

NASA has said it is reviewing the proposal.

 

The state's request for information, released Dec. 14, adds some detail to what has previously been outlined about the Shiloh site, including:

 

·         It is expected to house launch and processing facilities "for one, and potentially two, commercial launch providers operating dedicated pad areas independently."

·         The complex would serve "existing and emerging" rockets with only liquid-fueled primary boosters, in the class of SpaceX's Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy; United Launch Alliance's Atlas V, Delta IV and Delta IV Heavy; and Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Antares.

·         The requested 150 acres are still undefined and may not be contiguous to accommodate sensitive wildlife or cultural resources.

·         The state may secure about 75 acres for an initial operator and reserve a similar amount for a potential future development by a second operator.

·         According to a map, the "proposed site evaluation area" straddles the county line west of State Road 3.

 

In responses due Jan. 23, companies were asked to include information about their plans for rockets, facilities, flight paths, flight rates and any booster recovery operations envisioned at the site. Environmental assessments could begin in the first quarter of this year, concurrent with NASA's deliberation about the property, and take 12 to 18 months.

 

Overall, DiBello said early dialogue with environmental, political and aerospace stakesholders has been encouraging.

 

The state thinks commercial and natural interests can be satisfied "with a very, very small fraction of the property that's up there, and without disturbing in any major way the environmental sanctity that's appropriate to the area," he said.

 

NASA seeking to lease or sell space-shuttle facilities

 

Scott Powers - Orlando Sentinel

 

Does anyone need a 15,000-foot landing strip? How about a place to assemble rocket ships? Or a parachute-packing plant? An array of aerospace tracking antennas? A launchpad?

 

Make us an offer, says NASA, which is quietly holding a going-out-of-business sale for the facilities used by its space-shuttle program.

 

The last shuttle flight ended in July 2011, when Atlantis made its final touchdown. That orbiter, like its sisters Discovery and Endeavour, is now a museum piece. As soon as some remaining cleanup and wind-down are finished at Kennedy Space Center, the shuttle program will be history.

 

That has prompted NASA to advertise a long list of KSC facilities and equipment as available for use, lease or, in some cases, outright purchase by the right business.

 

Among them: Launch Pad 39A, where shuttles were launched; space in the Vehicle Assembly Building, the iconic 526-foot-tall structure first used to assemble Saturn V-Apollo rockets; the Orbiter Processing Facilities, essentially huge garages where the shuttles were maintained; Hangar N and its high-tech test equipment; the launch-control center; and various other buildings and chunks of undeveloped property.

 

A lot of the stuff needs to be transferred by the end of 2013, when federal maintenance money will run out. When it does, machinery will start to rust, and buildings will deteriorate in the harsh coastal-marsh environment of Cape Canaveral.

 

"We have a lot of things in discussion, realizing that these major facilities have been funded by the space-shuttle program," said Joyce Riquelme, NASA's director of KSC planning and development. "And the facilities out here can't be in an abandoned state for long before they become unusable. So we're in a big push over the next few months to either have agreements for these facilities or not."

 

The process is mostly secret, because NASA has agreed to let bidders declare their proposals proprietary, keeping them out of the view of competitors and the public. NASA has at various times published official notices seeking proposals and spelled out that the proposals should be space-related, though the agency will consider alternative uses under certain circumstances.

 

But information about who wants to do what may not come until agency officials actually select finalists for negotiations.

 

"The first deals should start coming together in the next six months. We look at what's available, the prospects for commercial space businesses moving into Kennedy facilities and the possible effects on the space center," Riquelme said.

 

Space Florida, the state's public-private space agency, has made proposals for some of the facilities. Its president, Frank DiBello, thinks the most attractive facilities are those that can support launches that don't use the existing pads at KSC and adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

 

DiBello said that value will be set by the marketplace. And NASA's success will be driven by whether there is an economically viable future for commercial space, as he hopes there is.

 

"Anything that still has cleaning capabilities or satellite-processing capabilities, the parachute facility, the tile facility, the OPF, all three of them, they have real value to the next generation of space activity," DiBello said.

 

But some facilities, such as the launchpads, might not attract interest, he said. Companies may prefer to build their own, tailored to their own rockets.

 

"The facilities are not the end game; the market is," DiBello said. "If the infrastructure helps you reach market, then it has value. If it doesn't, then it's just a building, it's just a launchpad, and nobody wants it."

 

Space Florida wants to play go-between, bringing commercial space companies to KSC, so it has put together proposals for some of the facilities, including the shuttle landing strip — the world's longest runway.

 

NASA already has partnered with Space Florida and Boeing, which is leasing one of the shuttle garages. Boeing, under a Space Florida contract, intends to assemble and refurbish its planned CST-100 capsules that might be used to take up to seven astronauts to the International Space Station. Boeing also has a partnership with Bigelow Aerospace, which is seeking to build and launch its own space stations.

 

NASA also has opened a commercial-research park.

 

"I think if you look at what happened in the last three years, you can be excited about the opportunities for the future," said Lynda Weatherman, president and chief executive officer of the Economic Development Commission of Florida's Space Coast.

 

House passes bill to rename NASA facility for Armstrong

 

SpaceflightNow.com

 

The U.S. House of Representatives on Monday passed a bill that would rename NASA's aeronautics facility at Edwards Air Force Base in California after Neil Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon.

 

Armstrong, who piloted the Eagle to the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969, passed away in August after complications from cardiovascular surgery. He was 82.

 

One of the most famous men of the 20th century, Armstrong was born August 5, 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He was a naval aviator in the Korean War, flew the X-15, served as command pilot for Gemini 8 in 1966 and led Apollo 11 in 1969.

 

Under the House bill sponsored by Rep. Kevin McCarthy, NASA's Hugh L. Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, would be redesignated as the Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center.

 

The House passed the measure 404-0. But the Senate has to act before the renaming moves forward.

 

The site supported 54 space shuttle landings and currently manages the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) program, which is a collaborative project between NASA and the German Aerospace Center to fly a telescope aboard a Boeing 747 aircraft.

 

NASA also performs its aeronautical research and development activities at the center, which is located at the expansive Edwards Air Force Base. The associated range would be redesignated as the Hugh L. Dryden Aeronautical Test Range under the House bill.

 

Dryden was a revered engineer who led aeronautical research at NACA before the agency became NASA, then served as its first deputy administrator before his death in 1965.

 

Rep. McCarthy's California district encompasses the center. He was joined by seven co-sponsors, Reps. Ken Calvert, Buck McKeon, Dana Rohrabacher and Adam Schiff of California, Ralph Hall and Lamar Smith of Texas, and Steven Palazzo of Mississippi.

 

Is this the year private space travel finally has lift-off?

Why 2013 could be one giant leap for tycoons' out-of-this-world ambitions

 

Mario Ledwith - London Daily Mail

 

For fans of all things astronomical, 2013 could mark the year when their dreams of travelling to space become a reality.

 

Pioneering companies championing 'space tourism' are planning to send their spaceships into the skies and fine tune their equipment over the next 12 months.

 

Companies, including Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, are seeking to send ordinary members of the public into space for the very first time.

 

Suborbital flights could see passengers taken to beyond the earth's atmosphere, providing views only ever experienced in person by trained astronauts.

 

Virgin Galactic - billed as the world's first commercial 'spaceline' - has carried out successful test flights on its ship SpaceShipTwo, but it is yet to fly any tourists into space.

 

Hundreds of keen adventures have already paid a refundable deposit to secure their place on the $200,000 flight.

 

In 2012, Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo underwent significant testing with its first rocket-powered flight expected this year.

 

Developers of the ship have overseen 22 gliding tests between October 2010 and August 2012.

 

Virgin Galactic hopes it can now begin 'powered tests' using the hybrid rocket that will propel the vehicle into space after a launch permit was issued by the US Federal Aviation Administration last May.

 

The rocket has been added to the prototype and fired on the ground 17 times.

Another space tourism pioneer XCOR Aerospace is also building a vehicle known as the Lynx I this year.

 

The spaceship will be the prototype for the Lynx Mark 2, which it is hoped will eventually fly passengers into suborbital space.

 

XCOR spokesman Bryan Campen told SPACE: 'We're looking at 2013 as the time for our test flight program and in early 2013 we'll get started.

 

'For the Lynx Mark 1, our prototype craft, we'll be doing test fights throughout the year from early 2013 and then go into commercial flights.'

 

Private companies are also hoping to further develop new commercial spacecraft.

 

Space Exploration Technologies has already flown its unmanned Dragon capsule three times but is planning an astronaut-carrying version of the craft.

 

The company is among those battling it out to win a transportation contract from NASA to transfer crew to the International Space Station.

 

Spaceport America — Hanging By a Perverbial Thread

 

Doug Messier - Parabolic Arc

 

The Save Our Spaceport (S.O.S.) Coalition is up and running with a website to support for an extension of the informed consent law for Virgin Galactic and other future tenants of Spaceport America.

 

So, after lengthy negotiations, years of construction, extravagant promises of new jobs and businesses by politicians and a British billionaire, and the investment of $209 million in taxpayer's money, New Mexico faces the following stark choice in the new year:

 

Sign away all the rights of passengers and their heirs to sue for injuries or deaths aboard space vehicles except in cases of gross negligence or intentional harm

 

or

 

Face the prospect of having an empty spaceport miles from anywhere with no discernible use when Virgin Galactic picks up and goes elsewhere and no one else will move in.

 

This would be funny (or even farcical) if it didn't involve so much public money.

 

At issue is the extension of an existing informed consent law that now protects spacecraft operations (Virgin Galactic) to include spacecraft manufacturers (also Virgin Galactic) and their suppliers.

 

Specifically, the measure would protect a company run by a billionaire (Sir Richard Branson) and backed by billionaire investors (Abu Dhabi's government) to the tune of almost $490 million from being sued by passengers,  most of whom are millionaires and billionaires. More generally, it would also protect other companies that don't have such deep pockets.

 

New Mexico officials say the extension is required to keep Spaceport America's anchor — and, so far, only — tenant (Virgin Galactic again)  from going to another state that has such protections. Officials also say it's needed to attract other tenants so the spaceport can recoup its operating expenses and remain viable.

 

To date, New Mexico's legislators have rejected extending the protections, preferring to leave passengers with some rights. We'll see what happens when the next legislative session opens on Jan. 15.

 

Sample letters and talking points from the website are reproduced below.

 

SAMPLE LETTER

Use these ideas, but put them in your own words.

 

Dear Representative or Senator ___________________________,

 

As the CEO of the ____________________, located in __________________, I am writing to urge your support of the Space Flight Informed Consent Act coming before you this legislative session. This act will make a small change to New Mexico's liability laws. It will provide protection to the manufacturers and suppliers of parts for commercial space travel, or space tourism. Unlike Texas, Florida, Colorado and Virginia, New Mexico currently does not protect these manufacturers and suppliers from lawsuits. As a result, space companies like mine are locating to other states instead of New Mexico, threatening the Spaceport's ability to attract tenants and survive as a hub of space industry.

 

This act is crucial to my company's success in New Mexico. We send experiments into space by attaching them to rockets. This process is expensive because often times we have to launch outside of New Mexico. If the Spaceport begins launching commercial space flights, we could attach our experiments to these flights and save thousands of dollars. What's more, we could hire additional people in New Mexico to facilitate these launches. But, we won't launch at the Spaceport if we aren't protected from lawsuits. And, we're not the only ones. There are hundreds of companies like ours that will hesitate to launch in New Mexico if a law is not passed to protect them.

 

The Spaceport could fail if we don't change the space flight liability laws. This change in law

won't cost New Mexico taxpayers a dime. It doesn't affect the rights of anybody who's not

involved in space flight. It is purely an issue of the informed consent of passengers themselves. Our laws must be as competitive as other states otherwise we'll see the

commercial space industry go elsewhere. That would be a major loss for the Spaceport, New

Mexico and my company.

 

Please help us keep the Spaceport alive by voting in favor of the Space Flight Informed Consent Act.

 

Sincerely,

 

Henry Adams

CEO, _____________________

Address, City, State

XXX-XXX-XXXX

 

TALKING POINTS

Use these talking points for your letters and visits, but put them in your own words.

 

New Mexico's future as the hub of commercial space flight is in serious jeopardy due to its

space flight liability laws. Unlike four other competing space states, New Mexico does not

protect space flight manufacturers and suppliers from lawsuits. This deficiency could cause

space companies to locate to other states.

 

Other states have changed their laws to steal the commercial space industry from our state.

Colorado, Texas, Florida and Virginia have passed laws in the last two years to remove

liability from manufacturers and suppliers in addition to operators.

 

It is imperative for the competitiveness and success of the Spaceport that in the next

legislative session, New Mexico's law be brought into parity with its main space competitors.

 

The impact is no longer theoretical. Over the past year, several leading space companies

have, after considering Spaceport America, chosen to locate their operations or

manufacturing facilities in other states – sending investment and jobs elsewhere that should

have gone to New Mexico.

 

We need the Spaceport to thrive, to have operators like Virgin Galactic and Armadillo

Aerospace operating there, plus new space manufacturers and suppliers. We need other

companies to locate in state in order to make it a hub of tourism, space travel, education

and commercial ventures.

 

After a huge $209 million investment by New Mexico in the Spaceport, it needs a change

in law to thrive. We have come so far, and now we need to ensure the success of the

Spaceport with this new law.

 

The Spaceport could die without this change with the law. Help us keep the Spaceport

alive!

 

Please support the Space Flight Informed Consent Act.

 

END