National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

Chronology of KSC and KSC Related 

Events for 2012 

Elaine E. Liston 

NASA/TM-2013-217914 

www.nasa.gov 

February 2013 
Chronology of KSC and KSC Related 

Events for 2012 

Elaine E. Liston, 

Abacus Technology Corporation, Kennedy Space Center, Florida 

NASA/TM-2013-217914 February 2013 
FOREWORD 

This 2012 Chronology is published to describe and document KSC's role in NASA's progress. 

Materials for this Chronology were selected from a number of published sources. The document 

records KSC events of interest to historians and other researchers. Arrangement is by date of 

occurrence, though the source cited may be dated one or more days after the event. 

Materials were researched and compiled for publication by Archivist Elaine Liston. 

Comments on the Chronology should be directed to the John F. Kennedy Space Center, Archives, 

Library-E, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 32899. The Archivist may also be reached by e-mail 

at Elaine.Liston@nasa.gov, or (321) 867-1515. 
TABLE OF CONTENTS 

January .................................................................................................................... . 

February.................................................................................................................... 13 

March ....................................................................................................................... 30 

April .......................................................................................................................... 45 

May .......................................................................................................................... · 64 

June .......................................................................................................................... 78 

July ........................................................................................................................... 93 

August ...................................................................................................................... 107 

September ................................................................................................................ 122 

October .................................................................................................................... 140 

November ................................................................................................................ 154 

December ................................................................................................................. 1 71 

Appendix A [Space Shuttle Orbiters Departures] .................................................... 182 

Appendix B [2012 Major NASA Launches] ........................................................... 183 

Appendix C [20 12 Major Launches, Cape Canaveral] ............................................ 184 

Appendix D [2012 Commercial Launches, Cape Canaveral] .................................. 185 
JANUARY 

January 1: NASA in February plans to open·competition for a third round of funding to further 

development of private spacecraft that could taxi astronauts to the International Space Station later this 

decade. The request for proposals will reflect the revised contracting strategy announced in December. 

NASA changed its approach to account for the $406 million its Commercial Crew Program received this 

year- less than half what NASA requested from Congress. The limited funding and uncertain outlook 

for future years raised the likelihood that only one company might emerge to provide a viable crew 

transportation service. That outcome would have undermined program goals to reduce costs and spur a 

market for flights of non-NASA crews. NASA agreed, scrapping its original plan to award 21-month 

contracts this summer that hoped to complete designs for at least two crew commercial systems. Instead, 

in July or August, the program will sign a new set of Space Act Agreements that agree to pay multiple 

companies incrementally as they meet technical milestones over a still undetermined period of time. Such 

agreements guided two previous rounds of funding totaling $365 million, including $316 million split 

among four companies last year. In reverting back to them, NASA sacrificed some technical control in an 

effort to keep more players in the game longer. The fixed-price contracts that were discarded would have 

allowed NASA to dictate some spacecraft design requirements to ensure they met safety standards. But 

Space Act Agreements legally require a more hands-off approach. NASA can only offer advice, 

increasing the risk that companies may pursue designs that need adjustment later, causing delays to flights 

now projected to begin in 2017. Web posted. (2012). [NASA opening competition for space taxi 

development [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, January 1].] 

January 5: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to blast off Feb. 7 from Launch Complex 40 at Cape 

Canaveral Air Force Station, hauling up a Dragon spacecraft on a mission to demonstrate that it can safely 

and reliably dock at the station. If all goes well, the flight will lead to the launch later this year of a 

Dragon spacecraft carrying a full load of cargo to the outpost. SpaceX, based in Hawthorne, Calif., holds 

a $1.6 billion contract to launch 12 cargo resupply missions to the station. SpaceX also is one of several 

companies vying for future NASA contracts to transport astronauts to and from the station. Web posted. 

(2012). [Space station crew excited by visit from Dragon capsule [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, January 5].] 

January 6: Six months before the space shuttle Challenger exploded over Florida on Jan. 28, 1986, 

Roger Boisjoly wrote a portentous memo. He warned that if the weather was too cold, seals connecting 

sections of the shuttle's huge rocket boosters could fail. "The result could be a catastrophe of the highest 

order, loss of human life," he wrote. The night before the Challenger's liftoff, the temperature dipped 

below freezing. Unusual for Florida, the cold was unprecedented for a shuttle launching, and it prompted 

Mr. Boisjoly and other engineers to plead that the flight be postponed. Their bosses, under pressure from 

NASA, rejected the advice. The shuttle exploded 73 seconds after launching, killing its seven crew 

members, including Christa McAuliffe, a high school teacher from Concord, N.H. Mr. Boisjoly's memo 

was soon made public. He became widely known as a whistle-blower in a federal investigation of the 

disaster. And though he was hailed for his action by many, he was also made to suffer for it. Mr. Boisjoly 

died in Nephi, Utah, near Provo, on Jan. 6. He was 73. Web posted. (2012). [Roger Boisjoly, 73, Dies; 

Warned of Shuttle Danger [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nytimes.com/ [2012, February 3].] 

+NASA has turned off the lights in space shuttle Atlantis for the final time. Since the shuttle's landing 

in July, workers have been preparing Atlantis for display. They have now powered it down-- an 

emotional moment for those who worked on the shuttle. The RMS, or robot arm, was one of the last 

things turned off and stowed away. Workers swung in the dish antenna and put cockpit switches in their 

final configuration. Preparing Atlantis for display requires electrical power, so in a way, the shuttle has 

been alive since its last landing. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has big plans to put 

1 
Atlantis on display. It will look like it's in orbit, possibly with the robot arm extended holding a 

spacewalking astronaut. Visitors will be able to get almost, but not quite, close enough to touch it. They 

will also be able to peer in the cockpit windows and look inside the cargo bay. Nearby simulators will let 

you see and feel what it's like to be in a space shuttle on a mission. Web posted. (2012). [NASA Powers 

Down Atlantis [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.wesh.com/ [2012, January 6].] 

+United Space Alliance (USA), the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture created in 1995 to operate 

NASA's now-retired space shuttle, has been barred by its corporate parents from pursuing any new 

business, according to industry sources. The move raises new questions about the future of the Houstonbased company, a major NASA contractor that has struggled to carve out a prominent new role for itself 

in the post-shuttle era. USA's current shuttle operations contract is set to expire in September. Another 

industry source said USA was notified of the Boeing-Lockheed Martin decision during a Dec. 6 meeting 

of the USA advisory board. USA was not represented at a twice-yearly chief executive roundtable with 

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, held Dec. 6 at agency headquarters here, according to attendees. 

The meeting was attended by the heads ofNASA's largest contractors, including Boeing Network and 

Space Systems President Roger Krone and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Executive Vice President 

Joanne Maguire, attendees said. USA spokeswoman Tracy Yates said Virginia Barnes, the company's 

· president and chief executive, did not attend the meeting because it conflicted with the USA advisory 

board meeting. Yates described the USA advisory board meeting as a "major event" that "involves all of 

our top management." "NASA was informed in advance that our [chief executive] would not be there 

and why. There was no issue," Yates said. Speculation about USA's future has been rampant since the 

space shuttle retired last summer, forcing the company to lay off workers in droves. While USA does 

have other NASA support contracts, these are dwarfed in size by the shuttle-focused Space Program 

Operations Contract. USA's Space Program Operations Contract was last extended in October and 

modified in November to cover shuttle program closeout activities, including getting the retired orbiters 

ready for museum display. The contract extension and modification, worth some $280 million combined, 

are set to expire at the end of September. USA announced no new contract wins in 2011 beyond the 

modification of its main Kennedy Space Center support contract. Web posted. (2012). [Sources: United 

Space Alliance Directed To Stop Pursuing New Business [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, January 6].] 

January 7: NASA will ramp up production at its Orion spacecraft factory at Kennedy Space Center this 

year, expanding the spaceport's role beyond launch operations to manufacturing vehicles that will carry 

astronauts into space. In a renovated high bay first erected for the Apollo moon-landing project, the 

tooling required to build Orion spacecraft is being put in place. A crew module, other structural elements, 

and all critical systems will be delivered in the next several months, and the first Orion spacecraft 

destined for orbit will electrically come to life. "There's a lot of work to be done over the next year to 

really put the vehicle together, to get it to that first power-up, and to make sure it's ready to go," Scott 

Wilson, NASA Orion Production Manager at KSC, said Friday. "It's going to be an exciting year." The 

effort marks a huge first for Florida's Space Coast. It will be the first time a NASA spacecraft production 

operation takes place at the launch site rather than a factory elsewhere. NASA spacecraft always have 

been built in other states; then the finished product would make its way to the Cape for launch. About 

260 people already work on Orion at KSC. That number will increase to 350 to 400 by June as 

preparations for the first flight test in early 2014 pick up. Coming after shuttle fleet retirement and the 

loss of thousands of jobs, the start-up of the Orion factory is welcome news. NASA is developing the 

Apollo-style Orion capsules to fly astronauts on missions beyond Earth orbit- to asteroids, the moon, 

Mars and other interplanetary destinations. The first of those expeditions probably won't take place until 

late in this decade or in the early 2020s. But NASA is making significant strides. Like Apollo capsules 

returning from lunar sorties, Orion spacecraft will make high-energy atmospheric reentries and parachute 

to water landings- splashdowns. So NASA is conducting parachute tests at the U.S. Army's Yuma 

Proving Grounds in Arizona, and water drop tests, including one Friday, at Langley Research Center in 

2 
Hampton, Va. Orion's first orbital flight test will put the spacecraft through a launch campaign, mission 

operations and a reentry sequence that is much faster and hotter than a shuttle return-to-Earth. The 

capsule will be launched atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air 

Force Station. A KSC team will handle recovery operations in the Pacific Ocean. Web posted. (2012). 

[Orion starts from the ground up in Brevard [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, January 7].] 

January 9: When the next big group of shuttle contractors is laid off in April, it will be the last time 

some depart with a special bonus rewarding skills that were deemed essential to flying the final missions 

safely. NASA and lead contractor United Space Alliance implemented the $100 million "critical skills" 

bonus in 2008, concerned about retaining the right personnel as the 30-year shuttle program wound down. 

Both say the added incentive to stay on the job, which offered eligible USA employees between 15 and 

26 weeks of pay on top of their standard severance package, was a success. But with the bonus program 

set to expire in April, some employees now face a difficult decision: Should they volunteer to be let go to 

bank the bonus, or try to hang on with a company whose future is highly uncertain? "The program 

accomplished what it was supposed to do," said.Kari Fluegel, a spokeswoman for Houston-based USA. 

"Our employees did an absolutely amazing job flying out the shuttle program safely and successfully. 

That's a debt that I believe the whole country owes to them." From the beginning, the bonus program 

was designed to end nine months after "wheels stop" on the final shuttle mission, which came when 

Atlantis touched down at Kennedy Space Center last July 21. About 6,500 people qualified when the 

program opened, then representing 60 percent of the company and 80 percent of its direct shuttle 

workforce. Just more than 3,500 have received the bonus to date. The exact number of employees to be 

let go in April was still being finalized, but once was projected at about 250- significantly fewer than 

the 1,100 workers still eligible to receive a bonus. Work to close out the shuttle program is dwindling, 

and no follow-on program is ready to absorb all ofUSA's roughly 3,000 remaining employees, about half 

of whom are based in Florida. To qualify for the bonus, employees had to work directly on the shuttle, 

not be a union member or top executive, and be nominated by a supervisor. The final bonus amount 

depends on the number of employees who end up sharing $100 million. Fifteen weeks of pay was the 

minimum, unless someone qualified for a pro-rated share later. But the value of a full share was expected 

to be greater, capped at 26 weeks. Web posted. (2012). [Last of shuttle layoffs loom for USA workers 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, January 9].] 

January 10: NASA has selected a.i. solutions Inc. of Lanham, Md., to receive a contract award that will 

enable the agency's Launch Services Program (LSP) to provide integrated services for the preparation and 

launch of NASA's next generation of scientific and exploration spacecraft. 

The Expendable Launch Vehicle Integrated Support 2 (ELVIS 2) contract has a potential maximum value 

of $138.1 million. This new contract resulted from a competitive, small business set-aside. The contract 

has a two-month phase-in period that begins February 2012, followed by a one-and-a-half-year base 

period extending from April 1, 2012, through Sept. 30, 2013. Two option periods are available that would 

bring the total period of performance to five years. TheEL VIS 2 contract supports LSP and LSPsponsored missions, activities and strategic initiatives for multiple NASA programs, the Defense 

Department, and other government agencies and commercial launch activities. The contract will provide 

LSP with program management support; vehicle engineering and analysis; launch site support 

engineering; communications and telemetry; technical integration services; LSP programmatic safety, 

reliability and quality support; support at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California; information 

technology support; and special studies. ["NASA Awards Launch Services Program Support Contract," 

NASA Contract Release #C12-001, January 10, 2012.] 

+The combined Delta 4 rocket and its Wideband Global SATCOM 4 spacecraft payload have 

successfully completed a thorough electrical test that simulated the countdown and booster's trek into a 

3 
supersynchronous orbit in preparation for the real blastoff next week. The craft was delivered to Cape 

Canaveral's pad 37B and mounted atop the United Launch Alliance-made rocket last Tuesday. The 

Integrated Systems Test then followed to verify the booster and cargo were in proper sync for flight. 

Now, technicians are moving into the last round of preps needed to ready the Delta and launch pad 

facility infrastructure for liftoff next Thursday, Jan. 19. Web posted. (2012). [Final preps underway for 

next week's Delta 4launch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, January 

10].] 

January 11: Citing a busy 2012 launch schedule, the director of Florida's storied rocket range said 

Tuesday that's proof there is life after NASA's shuttle program. "We are alive and well, and we are in 

business here in Central Florida," said Brig. Gen. Anthony Cotton, commander of the Air Force 45th 

Space Wing and director of the Eastern Range, the nation's prime rocket-launching region. A dozen 

launches are scheduled from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in the coming months, including missions 

that are critical to the International Space Station as well as U.S. troops operating in theaters around the 

world. First up this year: The Jan. 19 launch of a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket with a newgeneration military communications satellite. The launch window that night will extend from 7:38 to 9:11 

p.m. Targeted for a Feb. ?launch: A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a Dragon spacecraft. The mission: to 

demonstrate Dragon spacecraft can safely and reliably deliver cargo to the International Space Station. 

The following week, on Feb. 16, an Atlas V rocket is scheduled to launch with a communications satellite 

that will provide the Navy with a space-based 3G network. Another advanced military communications 

satellite is aiming for a launch in late April. Two top-secret National Reconnaissance Office payloads will 

be lofted this summer. A SpaceX Falcon 9 is targeting launch on an International Space Station supply -

run in July. A NASA science satellite is to be launched in August, followed by a Global Positioning 

System spacecraft in September. The third flight of the military's unmanned mini-shuttle- the X-37-

will start in October, and a NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite is slated for launch at the end of the 

year. The number of scheduled 2012 launches would top by one the number of missions launched in 

2011. The year 2011 included 4 Atlas V launches, the final three NASA shuttle flights, two Delta IV 

missions and the final launch of a Delta II rocket from the Cape. Web posted. (2012). [2012 to be busy 

year for rocket launches on Space Coast [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[20 12, January 11].] 

+NASA intends to increase Lockheed Martin's $6.4 billion Orion spacecraft contract by $375 million to 

compensate the company for conducting an early orbital flight test of the capsule in 2014. The extra 

money will enable the U.S. aerospace giant to procure a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket 

and launch services for the mission, which will blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Orion is 

being developed to fly U.S. and partner-nation astronauts on missions beyond Earth orbit- to asteroids, 

the moon, or Mars or other destinations. The 2014 flight test will launch an unmanned Orion on two 

highly elliptical orbits of Earth. Then the spacecraft will reenter the atmosphere at a velocity that is 84 

percent of the speed of a capsule returning from a moon mission. A NASA procurement announcement 

posted Jan. 6 says the flight will "test critical systems that contribute to 10 of the 16 highest risks to crew 

survivability and exploration mission failure." NASA wants to gather test data before the Orion 

spacecraft's final design is frozen in advance of manufacturing. Doing so will enable NASA to lessen the 

chance of a delay in the first piloted Orion exploration mission in December 2017. Boeing and SpaceX 

expressed interest in the flight test. NASA selected Lockheed Martin because analyses showed the 

company is the only contractor capable of completing flighttest objectives by early 2014. Web posted. 

(2012). [NASA to boost Orion spacecraft contract [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, January 11].] 

+ Space Florida, the State's aerospace economic development organization, has announced details of a 

sub-orbital flight program intended to stimulate market interest in microgravity research via sub-orbital 

4 
and parabolic flights from Florida. The Space Florida Sub-Orbital Flight Incentive Program will provide a 

partial reimbursement for customers to fly research payloads from Florida, equal to one-third of the 

published list price of an approved flight provider, up to a maximum of $10,000. Space Florida will 

provide this incentive in order to increase the volume of commercial and academic research payloads that 

fly from Florida. All flight research considered for the program should have either a terrestrial or space 

application. The program period commences on January 12, 2012 and is set to continue until December 

31, 2013. It is anticipated that a wide variety of flight providers will participate in the program. At this 

time, Masten Space Systems, Starfighters/StarLab and Zero G Corporation have shown interest, and it is 

probable that the number of participating flight providers will increase as the program grows. Web 

posted. (2012). [Space Florida Announces Sub-Orbital Flight Incentive Program~Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.spaceref.com/ [2012, January 11].] 

January 12: A Kennedy Space Center team this morning packed up a space shuttle main engine to be 

trucked to Stennis Space Center in Mississippi next week, as NASA transfers the engines from the shuttle 

program to the agency's new heavy-lift rocket. The engine will be the third shipped from KSC, the second 

that has flown in space. Twelve more will follow, with the last expected to leave Florida around April. 

NASA has 15 space shuttle main engines, of which 14 are certified for flight. Early versions of NASA's 

heavy-lift Space Launch System will use engines to power a first stage burning liquid hydrogen and 

liquid oxygen, assisted by shuttle-like solid rocket boosters. The system is supposed to evolve from a 

capability to lift 70 tons to 130 tons, growing from a height of 320 feet to 389 feet. It will fly the Orion 

crew capsule, which will be assembled at KSC. Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle main engines leaving KSC 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceref.com/ [2012, January 12].] 

+The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has scheduled the groundbreaking ceremony for its $100 

million exhibit that will showcase the space shuttle Atlantis. The event will be Wednesday, Jan. 18. 

Eventually, the 65,000-square-foot exhibit will be a centerpiece of the Brevard County attraction. It will 

spotlight the 30-year history of the space-shuttle program and give guests an up-close look at the orbiter, 

which was retired last year. Scheduled speakers at the groundbreaking include Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll; 

Chris Ferguson, former Atlantis commander; Bill Moore, chief operating officer of the visitor complex; 

Janet Petro, deputy director of the Kennedy Space Center; and Jeremy Jacobs, CEO of Delaware North 

Companies Parks & Resorts. The ceremony begins at 11 a.m. and is open to that day's guests of the 

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Web posted. (2012). [Kennedy Space Center Groundbreaking 

for Atlantis exhibit is Wednesday [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, 

January 12].] 

January 13: Applications close at the end of the month for a new group of astronauts to fly the Orion 

capsule beyond the space station to the Moon, Mars and points in between. So far more than 1 ,300 

would-be space travelers have applied for the job, hoping that Orion will become the ultimate enabling 

technology for deep-space human exploration. The figure is comparable to the response NASA received 

from its calls for space shuttle crews. Like everyone who has flown in space, the Orion applicants are 

risk-takers, willing to gamble their lives for a plunge into the unknown. And at this point, the unknown 

includes specific target destinations for the craft that NASA engineers call the "multi-purpose crew 

vehicle, or MPCV." While President Barack Obama has set a goal of sending humans to an asteroid by 

2025, that is only one possible destination for Orion. The first Orion flight on an SLS-tentatively set for 

2017-probably will go around the Moon, and the first flight with a crew-in 2021 under current plansmay follow suit. It is also possible that the capsule will dock with the ISS, as a backup crew-transport 

vehicle to the private spacecraft under development. Lockheed Martin, selected as the prime contractor 

on Orion in 2006, has been working on possible human missions with the capsule since 2007 and is 

looking for things to do with it on top of the original "back-to-the-Moon" plan. Web posted. (2012). 

5 
[Targets For Orion Visits Remain To Be Set [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.aviationweek.com/ 

[2012, January 13].] 

+ The aerodynamic tail cone to cover space shuttle Discovery's main engines and provide a smooth 

airflow during the piggyback ride atop the modified Boeing 747 carrier jet to the Smithsonian in April 

was installed onto the orbiter this week. The tail cone structure was moved from the Vehicle Assembly 

Building to the nearby Orbiter Processing Facility bay 1 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center where 

Discovery has been decommissioned. Discovery is being prepared for display at the Smithsonian's 

National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Web posted. 

(2012). [Ferryflight tail cone put onto shuttle Discovery [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, January 13].] 

January 16: As another sign of the changing landscape in the U.S. space program, NASA's long-time 

space shuttle launch director has joined United Launch Alliance to lead the commercial firm's human 

spaceflight operations. Mike Leinbach presided over the final space shuttle missions as the launch 

director from his perch on the top row of Firing Room 4 in the Complex 39launch control center, giving 

astronaut crews his signature sendoff of "good luck, Godspeed and have a little fun up there." But once 

the winged spaceships finished flying last summer, the future ofhum~m space missions by the U.S. have 

been stalled while waiting for development of commercial replacements. United Launch Alliance, which 

was formed in December 2006 to blend Lockheed Martin's Atlas 5 and Boeing's Delta 4 rocket programs 

into a collaborative organization for the Air Force's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, is 

vying to be the rocket-maker of choice for carrying future piloted craft. A native of Reading, Pa., 

Leinbach graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Architecture in 1976 and a Master of Engineering in 

Civil Engineering with emphasis in structural dynamics in 1981 from the University ofVirginia, 

Charlottesville. He began his NASA career in 1984 as a structural engineer in the design engineering 

directorate and served as a lead design engineer for a variety of launch pad systems including the orbiter 

weather protection and emergency egress slide wire systems. He advanced to the role of NASA test 

director in 1988 to direct daily operations at Launch Complex 39. In 1991, he was named shuttle test 

director, conducting the terminal countdown and launch of 17 missions. A stint in the late 1990s then 

saw him serve the deputy director of the space station hardware integration office to oversee processing at 

KSC and integrated testing of the station elements before assembly in orbit. Then came the role that 

Leinbach is most remembered for, becoming the space shuttle launch director in August 2000 as the 

person to give the final "go" for liftoff at T-minus 9 minutes. Web posted. (2012). [Former space shuttle 

launch director joins ULA [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, January 

16].] 

January 17: A satellite is set to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:38 p.m. Thursday. 

Secured atop a 218-foot United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket is the fourth in a new generation of 

Department of Defense communications satellites that can transmit vastly more information at higher 

speeds than their predecessors. There's only a 10 percent chance of strong ground winds during a launch 

window that extends to 9:11 p.m., and the odds are almost as good if the launch slips to Friday or 

Saturday. It's the first launch of 2012 from the Cape. Web posted. (20 12). [1st liftoff of 2012 will aid 

military [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, January 17].] 

January 18: Kennedy Space Center tourism officials, Florida's lieutenant governor and the final space 

shuttle commander Wednesday morning broke ground on the $100 million complex that will showcase 

the retired orbiter Atlantis. Construction of the 65,000-square-foot, 6-story-tall exhibit will begin soon in 

preparation for receiving the spacecraft early next year and a planned summer 2013 grand opening to the 

public. "The largest project ever undertaken here at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex ... is the 

new, $100 million home for space shuttle Atlantis, a place where NASA's longest running spaceflight 

6 
program will be honored," said Bill Moore, chief operating officer of the Visitor Complex. KSC's 

museum area has been run by the commercial Delaware North firm since 1995. They also constructed the 

sprawling Saturn 5 facility that houses one of the leftover Apollo moon rockets. "It is an honor to create 

the home for space shuttle Atlantis and to work with NASA to tell its story to the world," said Jeremy 

Jacobs, chairman and chief executive officer ofthe Delaware North Companies, said at the 

groundbreaking. Plans for Atlantis call for the orbiter to be displayed on support struts at an angle, its 60-

foot-long payload bay doors open just like the ship was flying high above Earth, and spectators being able 

to walk around to see all of the vehicle's exterior. The building also features plans to "tell the story" of 

the Hubble Space Telescope that the space shuttle program launched, fixed, upgraded and maintained on 

numerous servicing calls. And the International Space Station that the shuttles helped assemble in orbit 

will be prominently highlighted. Other details about specific items to be displayed alongside the orbiter 

are being worked out, as well as exact the arrival date for Atlantis, officials said. The tourism firm began 

work on the site last year when it removed the replica orbiter Explorer, an external fuel tank and the solid 

rocket boosters from the center's Shuttle Plaza area. A gantry still visible at Wednesday's groundbreaking 

will be tom down before construction of the Atlantis facility begins. Web posted. (2012). [Construction 

about to begin on shuttle Atlantis' new home [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, January 18].] 

January 19: The Air Force has sent into space a satellite that is expected to improve communications 

with military drones in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Officials say a Delta 4 rocket carried the 

WGS 4 satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 7:38 p.m. Thursday. It's the fourth in a series 

of military satellites that have been put into place since 2007. The next one is expected to be ready to 

launch next year. WGS stands for Wideband Global SATCOM. The satellites are replacing aging Defense 

Satellite Communications System spacecraft and have 10 times the speed and capacity of the older 

satellites. Web posted. (2012). [Air Force launches military satellite to improve communications with 

drone aircraft [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, January 20].] 

January 20: The first commercial cargo run to the International Space Station is off until spring. SpaceX 

planned to launch its unmanned supply ship from Cape Canaveral on Feb. 7. But the company said more 

testing was needed with the spacecraft, named Dragon. And on Friday, officials confirmed the launch 

would not occur until late March. Space station commander Daniel Burbank said as much as he'd like to 

take part in the historic event, it's important that SpaceX fly when it's ready. Burbank will return to Earth 

in mid-March. This first Dragon capsule to visit the space station will carry several hundred pounds of 

astronaut provisions -nothing crucial, in case of a failure. Astronauts aboard the space station will use a 

huge robot arm to grab and berth the Dragon. Web posted. (2012). [Delay for world's 1st commercial 

cargo run to space station, launch off until spring [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, January 20].] 

+The space capsule that carried the first American into space is leaving the Naval Academy. The 

Freedom 7 capsule carried academy graduate Alan Shepard into space in 1961 in a 15-minute Project 

Mercury suborbital flight. The capsule is heading to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Library in Boston. 

The academy says the NASA space capsule arrived at the school in 1998 and has been on display since 

then at its visitor center, where it will be until the end of February. The Naval Academy says it has 

produced 52 astronauts, more than any other college or university in the nation. Web posted. (2012). 

[Shepard space capsule leaving Naval Academy [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.wtop.com/ 

[2012, January 20].] 

+The shuffling of NASA's three retired space shuttle orbiters between the two remaining hangars at the 

Kennedy Space Center continued Friday morning as Atlantis was moved into a two-month storage at the 

Vehicle Assembly Building. The towmachine brought Atlantis the quarter-mile down the road starting at 

7 
8:27a.m. EST, then backed her into the center aisle of the 52-story building at 9:40a.m. EST. 

Technicians hooked up purging equipment stationed in the V AB that a NASA spokeswoman says is 

needed to preserve orbiter hardware that could be recycled for use by future programs. Endeavour has 

been parked in the V AB bay 4 since August, now she'll take the open Orbiter Processing Facility bay 2 

hangar that Atlantis vacated around Feb. 1 to resume the decommissioning and museum preparation work 

before going to Los Angeles later this year. But for the next several days, tourists can see both Atlantis 

and Endeavour inside the V ABby taking one of the Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex bus tours. 

Discovery is in OPF bay 1 and nearing completion of the Smithsonian display prep. She will swap places 

with Atlantis in mid-March and wait out the final weeks at the spaceport parked in the V AB before being 

ferried to the Dulles International Airport outside Washington in mid-April. Atlantis, which flew the final 

space shuttle mission, is scheduled for delivery to Kennedy Space Center's Visitor Complex next January. 

Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle Atlantis moves to V AB, but only for storage [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, January 22].] 

January 23: With the space shuttle fleet having retired in July, leaving NASA with no independent 

means to launch astronauts to the international space station, human spaceflight will be the primary focus 

of the agency's 2012 procurement activity. NASA intends to select one or two companies this year to 

finalize designs for commercially operated vehicles to ferry crews to and from the station starting around 

2017. The agency also intends to competitively award contracts for risk reduction studies for the Space 

Launch System (SLS), a congressionally mandated heavy-lift rocket that in combination with the Orion 

Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle will support manned missions beyond low Earth orbit starting as soon as 

2021. The next phase of the Commercial Crew Program, which was to feature fixed-price contract 

awards, will now be administered under a Space Act Agreement structure. A request for proposals is 

expected in late February, with plans to award Space Act Agreements to at least two aspiring providers by 

August. The object of the 21-month Space Act Agreements is to get competing crew taxis ready for 

production. The follow-on contracts, whose award date has not been announced, will be aimed at getting 

the vehicles up and flying to the international space station by 2017. Ed Mango, NASA's manager for the 

effort, said in December that most of the $406 million Congress appropriated for the agency's commercial 

spaceflight activities in 2012 will not be used for the third round of the Commercial Crew Program but 

will instead support the second round, which is set to wrap up in July. NASA requested $850 million for 

the activities this year, and the smaller amount approved by Congress was the rationale for 

pursuing Space Act Agreements for the upcoming round. Fixed-priced contracts, NASA reasoned, would 

be more costly to manage, and given the congressional appropriation the agency would have been able to 

support only a single provider. Five companies have received NASA funds in the first two phases of the 

Commercial Crew Program: Blue Origin, Kent, Wash.; Boeing Space Exploration Systems, Houston; 

Sierra Nevada Space Systems, Louisville, Colo.; Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Hawthorne, 

Calif.; and United Launch Alliance, Denver. While some NASA centers are gearing up to build or 

manage the next government-owned crew launching system, the agency's Kennedy Space Center in 

Florida is preparing to upgrade the infrastructure needed to get it off the ground. Kennedy this year will 

award the massive Test and Operations Support Contract, which covers many of the services formerly 

provided by United Space Alliance of Houston under the Space Program Operations Contract. Proposals 

for the new contract are due Feb. 21. The winning bidder will modernize Kennedy's ground and launchsupport infrastructure in preparation for the SLS/Orion missions. Web posted. (2012). [NASA Set To 

Start Spending for Big Human Spaceflight Programs in 2012 [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, January 24].] 

January 24: The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum is preparing to welcome the space 

shuttle Discovery into its collection. Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough (cluff) says the shuttle will be 

flown to Washington Dulles International Airport on the back of a Boeing 747 in April. A flyover is 

planned above the nation's capital before Discovery makes its final home at the museum's massive hangar 

in northern Virginia. Clough said Monday the flyover is planned for April 17. A museum spokeswoman 

8 
later said the flyover has not been confirmed, and details are still being finalized. A formal welcome 

ceremony is planned for April 19 at the museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Shuttle 

Endeavour will travel to the California Science Center in Los Angeles in the second half of the year. Web 

posted. (2012). [Space Shuttle Discovery headed to Smithsonian [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://news.yahoo.com/ [2012, January 24].] 

+ A spacewalker who tied the record for the most space missions, the military's highest ranking 

astronaut, and a former chief of the NASA astronaut corps will be inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall 

of Fame this May. Retired astronauts Franklin Chang-Diaz, Kevin Chilton and Charles Precourt were 

confirmed as the 2012 honorees by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, which oversees the Hall of 

Fame's annual selections. The three veteran space shuttle crew members will be added to the 79 

astronauts enshrined in the Hall ofFame since 1990, including all ofNASA's Mercury, Gemini and 

Apollo program pioneers. An induction ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, May 5, 2012 at NASA's 

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, where the Astronaut Hall of Fame is located. Web 

posted. (2012). [Three space shuttle veterans selected for Astronaut Hall of Fame [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.collectspace.com/ [2012,January 24].] 

January 25: Visitors to the Oklahoma Science Museum got a chance Tuesday to get up close and 

personal with the future of deep space exploration. A test version of the Orion spacecraft, fresh off a 

series of trials at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, arrived at the museum Monday en route 

to the Kem1edy Space Center in Florida. Museum officials say the Orion spacecraft will remain on the 

premises through Wednesday, after which it will make stops in Dallas and the U.S. Space and Rocket 

Center in Huntsville, Ala., on its way to Florida. Josh Byerly, a NASA spokesman traveling with the 

module, said the design of Orion is a throwback to the nation's earliest spacecraft. "They do look a lot like 

the Apollo spacecraft," he said. "But that was a tried and true design that's held up well."Byerly said the 

module will be used in Florida in the same way it was in New Mexico. Web posted. (2012). [NASA test 

spacecraft makes brief stop in Oklahoma City on way to Florida [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.newsok.com/ [2012, January 25].] 

January 26: This week, NASA is paying tribute to fallen astronauts who lost their lives in the pursuit of 

space exploration by holding a remembrance ceremony today (Jan. 26) at the Kennedy Space Center in 

Florida. Today's Day of Remembrance will honor the 45th anniversary Friday (Jan. 27) of the three 

astronauts who died in a fire at the launch pad while training for the Apollo 1 mission. The tribute 

ceremony also marks 26 years since the fatal shuttle Challenger accident on Jan. 28, and nine years since 

the loss of shuttle Columbia and its crew on Feb. 1. "NASA's Day of Remembrance was actually started 

after the Columbia accident," agency spokesman Allard Beutel told SP ACE.com. "By pure happenstance, 

the three high-profile accidents at NASA related to astronauts happened at relatively the same time of the 

year, separated by years, but all within a few days of each other. It was decided that NASA would put 

aside the last Thursday of January--:--- whatever that date happens to be-to pay tribute." During the 

ceremony at the Florida spaceport, NASA officials, including Kennedy Space Center director and former 

astronaut Bob Cabana, will participate in a wreath-laying at 10:30 a.m. EST (1530 GMT) at the Space 

Mirror Memorial at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor ,Complex. Web posted. (2012). [NASA Honors 

Fallen Astronauts in Solemn Ceremony [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.space.com/ [2012, 

January 25].] 

+ The ocean-going cargo vessel used to transport rocket stages from the manufacturing factory in 

Alabama to the two primary U.S. launch sites in Florida and California struck a bridge in southern 

Kentucky Thursday night, causing a section to collapse. The Eggner's Ferry Bridge, which crosses 

Kentucky Lake and the Tennessee River, was opened to traffic in 1932. Known as the Delta Mariner, it is 

owned and operated by Foss Marine. The shipping firm transports United Launch Alliance Delta 4 and 

9 
Atlas 5 components to Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The ship 

was carrying rocket parts to Cape Canaveral from the factory in Decatur, Alabama, when the crash 

occurred at U.S. Highway 68 and Kentucky Highway 80 over the Tennessee River Thursday at 8:15p.m. 

Central Time. "There are no injuries on the Mariner or the bridge. Initial inspections have shown that the 

flight hardware being transported was not damaged," ULA said in a statement. Web posted. (2012). 

[Section of bridge collapses after struck by rocket vessel [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, January 27].] 

+NASA safety watchdogs are warning that continued underfunding of the agency's commercial crew 

initiative could put astronauts at risk by increasing the temptation to cut comers in order to end U.S. 

dependence on Russia for accessing the international space station (ISS). Under the 2012 budget 

Congress enacted late last year, NASA will get less than half of the $850 million it requested to put at 

least two U.S. firms under contract this year to develop privately operated crew taxis. In a report released 

Jan. 25, the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP)- an outside group of experts chartered to sniff 

out NASA safety problems and recommend changes- says the $406 million Congress approved will not 

allow commercial crew transportation to the ISS by 2016. "In fact, if the new funding level continues into 

the future, it is the ASAP's belief that the program is in jeopardy, thus extending the current lack of a U.S. 

human spaceflight capability and resulting in no alternative to reliance on Russia to obtain access to the 

ISS," the ASAP wrote in its annual report. NASA, seeking to end that dependence, is preparing to solicit 

proposals for a two-year effort to prepare competing astronaut transportation concepts for production. But 

the ASAP points out that NASA managers are worried about commercial crew funding going forward and 

consider "inadequate budget" to be "the top program risk." In ASAP's view, an inadequately funded 

commercial crew program threatens more than just spacecraft development timelines; it could also 

compromise safety. The ASAP also took issue with NASA's abrupt about-face on the use of Space Act 

Agreements for the next phase of the commercial crew development program, known at the time as 

CCDev. NASA disappointed would-be commercial crew providers last summer when it announced it 

would award conventional fixed-price contracts, rather than more-flexible Space Act Agreements, for the 

next round ofCCDev awards. But after Congress halved the Commercial Crew Program's budget request 

in November, NASA announced Dec. 21 it would stick with Space Act Agreements. Web posted. (20 12). 

[Panel Report Warns that Underfunding May Affect Commercial Crew Program [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, January 27].] 

+ Friday marked the 45th anniversary of a launch pad fire that killed three NASA astronauts during 

testing of the then-new Apollo capsule. Reviews found many flaws in the craft's early design. Among 

other problems, engineers saved weight by filling the capsule with pure, low-pressure oxygen instead of 

air, which is 80percent inert nitrogen. Faulty wiring probably sparked the blaze that killed Roger 

Chaffee, Virgil "Gus" Grissom and Ed White, according to NASA and congressional investigations. The 

fire spread quickly in the pure-oxygen environment. The tragedy is still etched on the space agency's 

collective psyche. The agency held its annual day of remembrance last week. NASA Administrator 

Charles Bolden laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, and a ceremony at the Kennedy Space 

Center visitors center honored the three Apollo heroes and the 14 astronauts who later died in space 

shuttle disasters. Web posted. (2012). [45 years after America's first space tragedy, lessons linger 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.washingt~npost.com/ [2012, January 27].] 

January 28: The shuttle program was ending and the economic forecast was dire: Unemployment would 

hit 16 or even 17 percent as up to 8,000 space workers entered unemployment. Foreclosures would 

cascade through the housing market. Home sales would erode. And indeed, during the past three years as 

the Great Recession rolled across the country, dishing out its own punishment, the shuttle program hosted 

its final mission and those thousands of workers fell into joblessness. The housing market continued its 

post-bubble slump, with sale prices falling to decade-old lows. Unemployment peaked at 12.8 percent in 

January 2010, the highest it has been since the Apollo era (but well short of the predictions). Foreclosure 

10 
filings approached 10,000 in 2010, by far the highest total ever in Brevard County. The trends were all 

headed the wrong way. Now, with another full year of economic data added to the picture, a different 

. trend is emerging: improvement. Brevard, it seems, has absorbed the economic blow from the end of the 

shuttle program, and residents can expect the economy to improve, gradually. That means a net gain of 

jobs, more spending and more positive impact from economic development. In several key facets of the 

Brevard economy, 2011 was better than 2010, which indicates that, in many aspects, 2010 was the low 

point for the county since the recession began in late 2007. Unemployment averaged 11.3 percent for 

2011, down from 201O's 11.5 percent. The sale of existing homes was more than 6,800, 11 percent ahead 

of 201O's year-end tally of 6,110 and the highest since 2006. And foreclosure filings in 2011, at 3,925, 

were down by more than 41 percent from 2010 and the lowest since 2006. While no large space program 

is planned, jobs will be created by a number of smaller programs that Kennedy Space Center Director 

Bob Cabana and Space Florida Director Frank DiBello have worked to bring to Brevard. These programs 

include suborbital flights, renovation at KSC and commercial companies, Jim Muncy, an independent 

space consultant in Virginia, said. Web posted. (2012). [Space Coast economy moves on from shuttle's 

end [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, January 28].] 

January 29: There's no firm date yet, but sometime in early 2014, NASA intends to take its first major 

step toward rebuilding its human spaceflight program. The milestone is the maiden test flight of its Orion 

spacecraft, a launch that has come into sharper relief in the three months since·NASA and manufacturer 

Lockheed Martin announced it. As planned, an unmanned Orion capsule will begin its journey at Cape 

Canaveral and take two loops around Earth before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean. What's now 

clear is that the capsule will be sent into deep space, far beyond the lower Earth orbit of the International 

Space Station. At its peak, Orion's orbit is expected to extend nearly 3, 700 miles from Earth- the 

farthest a NASA spacecraft built for humans has gone since the early 1970s. Key is whether Orion can 

survive the brutal re-entry into Earth's atmosphere -where temperatures are expected to reach 4,000 

degrees - in preparation for a first human flight in 2021. Ultimately, NASA hopes Orion can carry 

astronauts back to the moon or to nearby asteroids. Besides the heat shield, the practice flight is designed 

to test 10 systems whose failure could be disastrous, including the capsule's flight software and 

parachutes. Like its Apollo-era predecessors, the four-person Orion capsule is designed to land in water. 

The test also gives NASA, and Orion manufacturer Lockheed Martin, a chance to showcase part of the 

agency's new exploration program, details of which were agreed to last fall after a year of tense 

negotiation among the White House, Congress and industry. Locally, the test flight, which will cost $375 

million, will provide Kennedy Space Center with some badly needed work. The retiremenfofthe shuttle 

led to the loss of at least 6,000 jobs. Lockheed Martin plans to employ as many as 400 workers for Orion 

at KSC as it approaches the test flight. Web posted. (2012). [Orion test to reach deep space- with broad 

NASA implications [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, January 29].] 

January 30: Hunter woman Kim Ellis has won a Federal Government Australian Endeavour Award and 

is heading to the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Hunter Valley woman is set to become an 

international space science academic. Medowie woman Kim Ellis has won a Federal Government 

Australian Endeavour Award and is due at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida in the United States in 

May. The award is worth nearly $20,000 and covers travel and other expenses. Ms Ellis trained as a 

chemist and later pursued astronomy and says she is looking forward to her time overseas. "I'll be the 

deputy academic co-ordinator there at the program which means I'll have 120 students to look after as 

well as about 15 teaching associates," she said. "Also I'll be preparing workshop and lecture material for 

space science and space law and policy." Web posted. (2012). [Hunter woman heads to NASA [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.abc.net.au/ [2012, January 30].] 

+While the Smithsonian gets ready to receive the retired space shuttle Discovery for display this spring, 

NASA, together with archivists spread across four states, is preparing to preserve the historic orbiter and 

its sister ships digitally and on paper. The agency's efforts, called "Space Shuttle Recordation" recently 

11 
became public through a new NASA website. "Recordation is a term generally used in the context of 

Historic American Building Surveys or Historic American Engineering Records," NASA's federal 

preservation officer Jennifer Groman told collectSPACE in an e-mail. "We at NASA have adopted the 

term for a broader purpose to cover the documentation efforts we are conducting as part of a 

memorandum of agreement with several state historic preservation officers and the Advisory Council on 

Historic Preservation for our Section 106 compliance under the National Historic Preservation Act." 

Section 106 requires federal agencies to take into account the effects of their undertakings on historic 

properties. In this case, it is NASA's decision to transfer the shuttles to museums for public display. 

Under its memorandum of agreement, NASA is generating a historical narrative of the development and 

design of the Space Transportation System, more commonly known as the space shuttle. "The 

recordation package will include measured drawings developed by the National Park Service and 

contractors based on laser technology, large format photographs, oral histories, videos and a 

bibliography," Groman said. According to its website, the recordation effort is paying special emphasis 

to the changes to the orbiters that were ordered in the wake of the two shuttle accidents. Shuttle 

Challenger was lost 73 seconds into its launch on Jan. 28, 1986 and Columbia was lost 16 minutes from it 

landing on Feb. 1, 2003. Discovery, which returned the fleet to flight after both of the tragedies, has been 

identified by NASA as the "shuttle of record," which means it has been and will be the orbiter most 

extensively documented and researched. A copy of the materials will also be held by the Library of Congress. 

Web posted. (2012). [Documenting Discovery: NASA, archivists work to record space shuttles' history 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.collectSPACE.com/ [2012, January 30].] 

12 
FEBRUARY 

February 1: Though thick smoke from a prescribed bum disrupted some operations today at Kennedy 

Space Center, the orbiter Endeavour successfully completed a planned move from the Vehicle Assembly 

Building to a nearby processing hangar. Endeavour began rolling at 9:54 a.m., nearly two hours later than 

planned, and was safely parked in Orbiter Processing Facility-2 a half-hour later. Tomorrow, Atlantis is 

scheduled to assume Endeavour's vacated spot in the assembly building's High Bay 4. Atlantis left OPF2 last month and now sits in the V AB's transfer aisle. The moves are part of NASA and contractor efforts 

to ready the retired shuttle fleet for museum display. Web posted. (2012). [Endeavour rolls from V AB to 

processing hangar at KSC [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 

1] 0] 

+Smoke from a 2,700-acre controlled bum covered Kennedy Space Center's industrial area Wednesday 

morning, prompting some road closures and instructions for employees who work in that area to stay 

home or work elsewhere. Some who had made it to work early complained about difficulty breathing, but 

no injuries were reported. The Headquarters Building, Space Station Processing Facility and others in the 

area were emptied of personnel and monitored for smoke and carbon dioxide levels. The center planned 

to delay workers' arrival at those sites today until 10 a.m. to ensure the air was clear, with forecasts 

showing wind might blow smoke back into the area. Employees were advised to check a center hotline in 

the morning to get an update on their status. Despite the haze blanketing the industrial area, Launch 

Complex 39 remained fully open and active. Atlantis was scheduled to take Endeavor' s place in an 

assembly building high bay this morning, moving a short distance from its temporary parking spot in the 

building's transfer aisle. But the move was postponed due to a minor glitch with ground support 

equipment. A new date was not set immediately. Web posted. (2012). [Smoke prompts KSC to tell some 

workers to stay home [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 1].] 

+ SpaceX's dream of fielding a spacelaunch system that is completely reusable is inching forward with 

the successful test-firing of its new SuperDraco engine at SpaceX's Rocket Development Facility in 

Texas. The powerful new SuperDraco will be installed in the side walls of the next-gen Dragon spacecraft 

and provide up to 120,000 pounds of axial thrust, enabling not only on orbit maneuvering, but emergency 

escape from the rocket tower should something go awry during launch. The Draco engines currently used 

on the Dragon spacecraft allow the robotic resupply capsule to maneuver on orbit and orient itself during 

reentry, but SpaceX has bigger plans for a system that will one day be able to return all elements--

including rocket stages--to Earth intact for reuse in later missions. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX test-fires 

its new super-powerful capsule engines [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, February 1].] 

February 2: Buyouts and layoffs will shave more than 200 employees from Kennedy Space Center's 

ranks during the next few months as post-shuttle downsizing continues. Prime shuttle contractor United 

Space Alliance, which has been cutting staff quarterly since before last year's final shuttle mission, plans 

to let go about 160 local employees on April 13. Nearly 140 "self-nominated," or volunteered, for the 

layoff during an application period that ended last week. So pending approval of those candidates, only a 

small number may receive unwanted notice by next week that they, too, must go. The April layoff is the 

last when selected contractors can collect a "critical skills" bonus worth up to 26 weeks of pay on top of 

their normal severance package. NASA funded the $100 million bonus program during the shuttle's final 

years as an incentive to retain essential personnel and ensure safe missions to the end. The bonus 

deadline and Houston-based USA's uncertain future didn't prompt a surge in employees looking to leave. 

Companywide, about 200 people volunteered for the 250 positions expected to be cut. USA currently 

employs just under 2,900, including about 1,500 in Florida, where work centers on closeout of the shuttle 

program and the delivery of three retired orbiters to museums. NASA, meanwhile, offered voluntary 

13 
buyouts last fall to more than 660 civil servants across the country, including up to 150 at Kennedy. It 

appears the number accepting the $25,000 offer will be well below those targets. At KSC, only about 122 

NASA employees planned to take the buyout, with Friday being the last day on the job for most, a KSC 

spokesman said. About 60 had already left by Dec. 31, out of273 agencywide. KSC confirmed some 

senior center managers were among those leaving with the buyout, including Mike Leinbach, the shuttle 

launch director; Joe Dowdy, special operations manager in the center director's office; and Jim Ball, 

deputy manager of center planning and development. Center employment has dropped from more than 

15,000 two years ago to about 8,900 people as of last October, with contractors making up almost the 

entire decline. KSC Director Bob Cabana has said he expects workforce levels to stabilize around 8,000, 

then gradually rebound to 10,000. Web posted. (2012). [KSC jobs to shrink by 200 this spring [Online]. 

· Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 2].] 

+One of NASA's 'industry partners, Sierra Nevada Corp. (SNC), recently delivered the primary structure 

of its first Dream Chaser flight test vehicle to the company's facility in Louisville, Colo., where it will be 

assembled and integrated with secondary systems. This is one of 12 milestones to be completed under 

SNC's funded Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP). "It's 

rewarding to see our partner's ideas and concepts come to fruition," said CCP Program Manager Ed 

Mango. "The company's delivery of its flight structure will allow them to make more strides toward 

launching NASA astronauts on American vehicles to the International Space Station." The Dream Chaser 

flight test vehicle, a full-scale prototype of the company's planned winged spacecraft, will be used to 

carry out several remaining NASA Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) milestones, 

including a captive carry· flight and the first free flight of the craft. ["NASA's Commercial Crew Partner 

Sierra Nevada Delivers Flight Test Vehicle Structure," NASA News Release #09-12, February 2, 2012.] 

+ United Launch Alliance (ULA) today announced the completion oftwo key milestones leading toward 

the certification of the Atlas V launch vehicle for human spaceflight. ULA has successfully completed 

the third and fourth milestones of its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) Unfunded Space Act 

Agreement (SAA). In December, ULA conducted a series of detailed reviews that reflected the 

culmination of efforts involving technical experts and representatives from NASA's Commercial Crew 

Program (CCP). A Tailored System Requirements Review (TSRR) was successfully conducted which 

summarized months of work with ULA and NASA. The team reviewed the detailed evidence that 

demonstrates how the existing, flight~proven Atlas V meets the intent of NASA's Human Spaceflight 

Certification requirements. The team paid particular emphasis to requirements traceability, verification 

and certification planning. Because Atlas Vis already certified to fly the nation's most complex 

exploration and national security missions, ULA was able to provide a wealth of detailed system and subsystem analysis, qualification, certification, and flight data resulting from 28 successful missions. A 

Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) Review also was conducted to evaluate safety-critical launch vehicle 

systems. This included the details of existing Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) data, 

Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA) results, explosion modeling analyses, system hazard analyses and 

fault coverage assessments. The PSA leveraged similar data developed in support of Atlas V launches of 

critical NASA missions including Pluto New Horizons, Juno and the Mars Science Laboratory. Web 

posted. (2012). [United Launch Alliance Completes Critical Milestones Toward Certifying Atlas V for 

Human Spaceflight [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceref.com/ [2012, February 2].] 

February 3: Amid signs space shuttle operator United Space Alliance (USA) may not be around to do 

the job, NASA is seeking an industry steward for millions of dollars worth of high-tech support 

equipment housed in the Shuttle Logistics Depot, a sprawling facility just a short drive from Kennedy 

Space Center in Florida. The facility itself, owned by a private landlord, would not be part of the deal. 

The 15,000-square-meter building that houses the machine shops and specialty labs previously used to 

keep the shuttle flying is currently leased by USA. The equipment itself, which was used to crank out and 

refurbish space shuttle parts, is owned by the space shuttle program office at Johnson Space Center in 

14 
Houston. USA, the Houston-based Boeing-Lockheed Martinjoint venture created in 1995 to maintain and 

operate the space shuttle, was set to continue its stewardship of the depot and the machinery housed there 

even after the company's shuttle support contract ends, according to Florida aerospace economic 

development officials. USA's plan called for putting the equipment to use for non-NASA customers, such 

as the Defense Department, until it was needed again to support a next-generation space transportation 

system. But new business was slow to materialize and that strategy finally imploded in December when 

USA's parent companies barred it from seeking any new business. NASA put out a request for 

information Jan. 18 to industry, advertising that it wanted to sign a five-year Space Act Agreement with a 

single company willing to take the equipment in the Shuttle Logistics Depot on loan. Prospective 

caretakers were told they had to keep the equipment within an SO-kilometer radius of Kennedy Space 

Center. NASA would provide no funding for the equipment's' upkeep and would reserve the right to ask 

for it back at any time. Web posted. (2012). [USA's Exit Sends NASA in Search of New Steward for 

Shuttle Equipment [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, February 3].] 

February 5: NASA controllers and curious spectators won't be the only ones watching the upcoming 

launch of the first commercial vehicle to the International Space Station. Lawmakers, administration 

officials and other policy makers with a role in deciding NASA spending will be watching as well. The 

launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, now scheduled for 

April, is billed as a demonstration mission to show the world a private company can safely deliver cargo 

to the space station. But the launch also can be seen as a test of whether it was a good idea to retire the 

shuttle and have the private sector take over the job of carrying crew and cargo to the space station. 

SpaceX is one of four companies receiving government funding to develop the new spacecraft. SpaceX 

initially planned the launch- with no crew on board- for February 7, but pushed back the date to at 

least April while it conducts additional tests. Recent missteps by Russia's space agency, which now 

provides rides to U.S. astronauts, add to the pressure to speed development by American companies. 

NASA announced Thursday that Russia's March 30 launch to bring crew to the space station has been 

delayed until May 15 because a descent capsule was damaged during a test. Web posted. (2012). 

[SpaceX launch will be a key test for NASA [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.usatoday.com/ 

[2012, February 5].] 

February 6: Kennedy Space Center workers have been given the all-clear to report to work as usual this 

morning following overnight concerns lingering smoke or fog could present a problem for the area this 

morning. Environmental health teams rode throughout the complex but didn't find any ofthe heavy 

smoke from a massive Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge controlled bum that seeped into buildings last 

Wednesday and forced supervisors to tell workers to stay home. "Everything is fine today," said Lisa 

Malone, spokeswoman for the Kennedy Space Center. "Everyone can report to work." The 2,000-acre 

prescribed bum was conducted last Tuesday, just south of the space center. The email alert about 

possible weather concerns went out to employees Sunday. The assessment of the roadways and buildings 

was conducted earlier this morning, providing supervisors with an all-clear, Malone added. Web posted. 

(2012). [Smoke no concern as KSC workers head back to work [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 6].] 

+ The hulking cargo ship that tore through a western Kentucky bridge last month is carrying millions of 

dollars of rocket components that will be used to blast satellites into space for NASA and Department of 

Defense missions. The Coast Guard on Monday allowed the Delta Mariner to move away from the 

damaged bridge so that debris, including twisted steel and asphalt, could be cleared from the boat's bow. 

The five-story tall ship struck the bridge on the Tennessee River on Jan. 26, tearing away a span and 

halting traffic on the western entrance to the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. The 

boat is carrying an Atlas V rocket and a Centaur upper stage component that belong to a rocket system 

that typically costs hundreds of millions of dollars to launch. The rocket parts had been sitting stranded on 

the ship for about 10 days until the Delta Mariner was moved on Monday. "The salvage operations are 

15 
proceeding as planned, and it is a significant milestone that the ship has now been relocated downriver 

and clear of the" bridge, Coast Guard Cmdr. Claudia Gelzer in Paducah said in a statement. The Delta 

Mariner was headed to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., with the rocket parts when it hit the 90-

year-old bridge, known locally as the Eggner's Ferry Bridge. Web posted. (2012). [Ship that hit Ky. 

Bridge has precious space [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.utsandiego.com/ [2012, February 6].] 

+NASA contractor InoMedic Health Applications at Kennedy Space Center won a Voluntary Protection 

Program STAR award from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration in January. The company 

provides occupational medicine services, environmental health, environmental services and health 

management to personnel at KSC. Based in Hampton, Va., the company is a service-disabled veteranowned small business. The award is presented for passing a rigorous inspection for comprehensive safety 

and health management systems. Only 75 businesses in Florida have been recognized. Web posted. 

(2012). [Medical company wins OSHA award [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 6].] 

+Legendary astronauts John Glenn and Scott Carpenter will be on the Space Coast this month to 

celebrate the 50th anniversaries of the nation's first two orbital human spaceflights. The two Project 

Mercury astronauts will appear at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Feb. 18 along with U.S. 

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, KSC Director Robert Cabana and NASA astronaut Stephen Robinson. 

Robinson flew with Glenn on the STS-95 shuttle mission in 1998. Glenn and Carpenter, the last two 

surviving members of the nation's first seven Project Mercury astronauts, will appear at a 6:30p.m. Feb. 

18 event dubbed "On The Shoulders of Giants." Web posted. (2012). [Astronaut legends John Glenn, 

Scott Carpenter to visit Space Coast [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

February 6].] 

February 7: As part of NASA's ongoing efforts to foster development of a U.S. commercial crew space 

transportation capability to and from low Earth orbit and the International Space Station, NASA has 

issued a call for industry to submit proposals for the Commercial Crew Integrated Capability Initiative. 

It's expected that proposals will lead to Space Act Agreements that will help NASA and the U.S. achieve 

safe, reliable, and cost effective human access to space. NASA expects to make multiple awards this 

summer, with values ranging from $300- $500 million. To provide industry a better understanding of 

this initiative so that they may provide more comprehensive proposals, NASA plans a pre-proposal 

conference on Feb. 14, at the Courtyard Marriott in Cocoa Beach, Fla. Proposals are due March 23. 

NASA's announcement asks industry to propose a base period of approximately 21 months, running from 

award through May 2014. The goals ofthe base period include completing the design of a fully integrated 

commercial crew transportation system, which consists of the spacecraft, launch vehicle, ground 

operations, and mission control. In addition, NASA is asking for the proposals to contain optional 

milestones beyond the base period leading to and culminating in a crewed orbital demonstration flight. 

["NASA Calls for New Commercial Crew Proposals," NASA News Release #12-045, February 7, 

2012.] 

February 8: Space Exploration- also known as SpaceX- has inked an agreement with Asia Satellite 

Telecommunications Co. Ltd. To launch two AsiaSat communications satellites in 2014 using SpaceX's 

Falcon 9 rocket. AsiaSat 6 and AsiaSat 8 are scheduled to launch in the first halfof2014 from SpaceX's 

launch complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The high-powered transponders on the satellite will 

enable the use of small antennas on the ground. The two satellites will serve Asia, the Middle East and 

Australasia. Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX manufactures and launches rockets and spacecraft. In 2010, 

SpaceX became the first commercial company to put a spacecraft into orbit and return it safely to Earth. 

Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX to launch AsiaSat satellites [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.bizjournals.com/ [2012, February 8].] 

16 
+NASA today said it was looking for technology that could offer green rocket fuel alternatives to the 

highly toxic fuel hydrazine used to fire up most rockets today. According to NASA: "Hydrazine is an 

efficient and ubiquitous propellant that can be stored for long periods of time, but is also highly corrosive 

and toxic. It is used extensively on commercial and defense department satellites as well as for NASA 

science and exploration missions. NASA is looking for an alternative that decreases environmental 

hazards and pollutants, has fewer operational hazards and shortens rocket launch processing times." 

NASA said it expects such green fuels would decrease environmental pollutants nut also reduce 

propulsion systems complexity, create fewer operational hazards, decrease launch processing times and 

increase performance. Of course creating and testing such fuels takes money and time. NASA noted it 

expects to make multiple contract awards for the technology with no single award exceeding $50 million. 

This isn't the first trip down the green fuel lane NASA has made. In 2009 the agency and the Air Force 

said they had successfully launched a 9ft rocket 1 ,300 feet into the sky powered by aluminum powder and 

water ice. Aluminum powder and water ice, or ALICE, has the potential to replace some liquid or solid 

propellants and is being developed by Purdue University and Pennsylvania State University to possibly 

replace liquid or solid rocket propellants. Web posted. (2012). [NASA wants green rocket fuel [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.networkworld.com/ [2012, February 8].] 

February 10: Orion teams are in the final stages of preparing for the first Generation II Parachute Test 

Vehicle (PTV2) airdrop at the end of this month. Following the failure of the last Capsule Parachute 

Assembly System (CPAS) test, the new system will be hoping for a successful outcome, when the vehicle 

is deployed out of the back of a C-17 aircraft over the US Army Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. The 

tests - which had included testing the giant parachutes for since-cancelled Ares I first stage recoverywere enjoying a good amount of success until an Orion PTV (first generation) suffered a failure back in 

2008, resulting in the vehicle crashing into the ground. Web posted. (2012). [Orion hoping for success 

with second generation parachute system [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/ 

[2012, February 10].] 

+The launch of NASA's second Orbiting Carbon Observatory, under construction to replace a satellite 

lost in 2009, will be delayed at least one year after the space agency terminated an agreement for the 

carbon-tracking mission to lift off on a Taurus XL rocket, officials said Friday. Officials with NASA and 

Orbital Sciences Corp., the Taurus XL contractor, told Spaceflight Now the arrangement to launch OCO 2 

in February 2013 was canceled earlier this month. Mike Curie, a spokesperson at NASA Headquarters in 

Washington, said the agency and Orbital Sciences agreed Feb. 2 to a bilateral contract modification 

leading to a "termination for convenience" of the Taurus XL launch contract for the OCO 2 satellite. The 

parties "came to an understanding to no longer pursue the launch ofOCO 2 on a Taurus XL," Curie said. 

NASA released a multi-mission request for launch service proposals that included OCO 2 on Feb. 3, 

according to Curie. All rockets covered by the NASA Launch Services contract are eligible to compete to 

fly the OCO 2 spacecraft. Once officials select a new rocket for OCO 2, Curie said NASA expects it will 

take about 27 months to launch the satellite. The timetable means OCO 2 will likely be grounded until at 

least mid-2014, more than a year after its previous target launch date. The NLS contract includes United 

Launch Alliance's Delta 2 and Atlas 5 rockets, SpaceX's Falcon 1 and Falcon 9launchers, Lockheed 

Martin's Athena 1 and Athena 2 boosters and Orbital's air-launched Pegasus XL, which is too small to loft 

the 972-pound observatory into the necessary 438-mile-high orbit. Web posted. (2012). [Carbon-sniffing 

satellite faces one-year delay [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, 

February 10].] 

February 11: A device created by a small business in Santa Maria could change the way Atlas 5 and 

Delta 4 boosters are tracked upon liftoff. The Vehicle Based Independent Tracking System, or VBITS, 

was developed by Santa Maria-based Space Information Laboratories, and its debut is scheduled for 

launch on a rocket this month in Florida. VBITS will allow crews to track rockets using GPS satellite 

technology instead of old-fashioned radar. The first of three required test flights is scheduled for Feb. 16 

17 
aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket set to blast off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Web posted. 

(2012). [Small company is sky-high [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.santamariatimes.com/ 

[2012, February 11].] 

February 13: The Obama administration is requesting $17.7 billion for NASA in its fisca12013 budget-

- down slightly from 2012 levels -- doubling the amount spent on development of new commercial 

manned spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the International Space Station and giving a substantial 

boost to the delayed and over-budget successor to the Hubble Space Telescope. Funding for the space 

station and ongoing development of new rockets and capsules for deep space exploration remains roughly 

constant, but the agency's hugely successful Mars exploration program will be sharply scaled back, in 

large part to offset gains in other areas. Putting an optimistic spin on the numbers, NASA Administrator 

Charles Bolden said "it's a $17.7 billion blueprint for NASA and the nation to embark on an ambitious 

plan of space exploration that will take us farther into the solar system than we've ever gone." The budget 

request represents the opening round in the administration's annual negotiations with Congress over 

federal spending and while the total for NASA may remain relatively constant, the emphasis given to 

various programs-- and how much money they will receive --likely will change in the months ahead. As 

it now stands, nearly $3 billion would go to International Space Station operations, including $1.3 billion 

for crew and cargo transportation. That figure includes the cost of launching U.S. and partner astronauts 

on Russian Soyuz spacecraft. Some $830 million is budgeted for the administration's ongoing drive to 

develop private-sector spacecraft to ferry astronauts to and from the space station and to end the agency's 

post-shuttle reliance on the Russians. That is roughly what the administration requested in fiscal2012, but 

Congress cut that figure in half, to $406 million, during budget negotiations. How the commercial space 

initiative will fare this time around remains to be seen. NASA's fiscal2013 budget includes $1.88 billion 

for ongoing work to develop a new heavy-lift booster and ground systems, along with another $1 billion 

for continued development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle that will be used for eventual 

missions to deep space targets ranging from nearby asteroids in the mid-2020s to the environs of Mars in 

the mid-2030s. The costly James Webb Space Telescope, NASA's follow on to the Hubble Space 

Telescope, would receive $628 million in 2013, a $109 million increase over 2012levels, while Earth and 

solar science missions would receive $1.8 billion and $64 7 million respectively, both reflecting slightly 

increased spending. But the president's 2013 budget proposal reduces the scope ofNASA's Mars 

exploration program, calling proposed joint missions with the European Space Agency "unaffordable." 

Overall, the budget would reduce funding for planetary science from $1.5 billion to $1.2 billion with 

additional reductions expected through 2017. If approved, the near-term impact would be to force NASA 

to back out of a 2008 agreement with the European Space Agency to share the costs of two ambitious 

Mars missions known as ExoMars, which called for launch of an orbiter in 2016 and two rovers in 2018. 

Along with searching for signs of past or present life on the red planet, the missions also would have 

tested technologies needed for a long-sought sample return mission. Bolden said NASA would focus on 

"medium-class" robotic missions to Mars, avoiding for now more expensive showcase missions like 

ExoMars and the Mars Science Laboratory, current en route to the red planet. Web posted. (2012). 

[NASA's 2013 budget boosts manned space, reduces Mars [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, February 13].] 

+ The forecast is favorable for Thursday's [February 161h] planned launch of a United Launch Alliance 

Atlas V rocket carrying the first in a new series of communications satellites operated by the Navy. 

There's an 80 percent chance of good weather during a launch window that opens at 5:46p.m. and 

extends to 6:30p.m. at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, with cumulus clouds the primary concern. 

Conditions at Launch Complex 41 are expected to worsen if the launch slips to Friday, with only a 60 

percent chance of acceptable weather. The 206-foot Atlas V, supported by five strap-on solid rocket 

boosters, is launching the first of the Navy's Mobile User Objective System, or MUOS, spacecraft. Web 

posted. (2012). [Forecast favorable for Atlas V launch on Thursday [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 13].] 

18 
+ Space agency NASA has switched off its last IDM Z9 mainframe. Chief information officer Linda 

Cureton said in a blog post that the environment had been kept alive this long "to support applications that 

we knew would soon be retired." "It was more cost-effective to keep the as-is architecture in place rather 

than migrate to a server environment," Cureton said. "When we were in the position to retire the 

applications, retiring the mainframe made sense." Cureton said there had been no new application 

development on NASA's mainframe infrastructure "for a while". "Our larger business applications run on 

SAP in a non-mainframe environment," she said. The mainframe retirement also realized cost savings in 

software licenses for the space agency. Web posted. (2012). [NASA powers down last mainframe 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.itnews.com.au/ [2012, February 13].] 

February 14: Kennedy Space Center would see more funding for its programs- but no significant 

change in employment- under the Obama administration's proposed 2013 budget. Center Director Bob 

Cabana said the overall spending plan and local impact were "good news" given the broader emphasis on 

reducing federal spending and deficits. "I'd say it's very good for the Kennedy Space Center," Cabana 

told reporters Monday. "Is it going to bring a lot of work? Not in this year coming up, but it's going to 

allow us to keep the workforce that we have working, and build on what we've already set in motion." In 

motion are efforts to close out the shuttle program and prepare launch pads and other facilities for use by 

the heavy-lift rocket and Orion crew capsule planned for deep space exploration, or by new commercial 

users. After at least a couple hundred more contractor layoffs expected soon because of the shuttles' 

retirement, Cabana expects center employment to remain around 7,500 through 2013, including about 

2,050 civil servants. Shuttle work would wrap up in 2013 with delivery of the last retired orbiters to 

museums, including Atlantis moving to the KSC Visitor Complex. Funding to modernize launch 

infrastructure would remain flat at close to a half-billion dollars, Cabana said. A program intended to tum 

the center into a "21st Century space launch complex" would be cut 67 percent, to $41 million, but 

another $404 million would go toward ground systems upgrades needed to launch an unmanned test flight 

of the heavy-lift rocket and Orion in 2017, and a crewed flight in 2021. Cabana said total funding 

funneling through KSC would increase by $323 million, to $2.1 billion. That's largely due to the 

increased funding NASA requested for development of commercial crew transpiration systems, a 

program managed at KSC. That $830 million request is more than double the total Congress approved 

this year. NASA hopes commercial vehicles are ready to launch astronauts from Florida to the 

International Space Station by 2017, ending reliance on Russian spacecraft. Other center activity will 

include continued support for launches of NASA science satellites on expendable rockets, and work by a 

new nonprofit to manage experiments performed in the National Lab portion of the space station. Web 

posted. (2012). [Budget 'good news' for KSC [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, February 14].] 

+ NASA needs sustained funding at the levels President Barack Obama recommended this week for 

commercial vehicles to launch astronauts from Florida by 2017, officials said Tuesday. "We think private 

industry could field a system in probably four or five years if they had adequate funding," said Phil 

McAlister, head of commercial spaceflight programs at NASA Headquarters. "If we get less money than 

that, obviously it will slip that date out a little bit further." McAlister joined space industry representatives 

at a conference to discuss the next phase in development of commercial transportation services needed to 

return NASA crews to the International Space Station on American vehicles instead of Russian 

spacecraft. McAlister believes the requested budget is attainable, noting that funding for commercial 

crew systems has grown steadily from $50 million a few years ago to $312 million last year and $406 

million this year. NASA has committed to operating the space station only through 2020. That horizon 

could be extended, but if it isn't, companies might decide it's not worth investing in vehicles that would 

only fly a handful of NASA crews. More clarity on how soon companies could be ready to fly, and how 

much money they're willing to invest, is expected when NASA awards its next round of development 

grants this summer. Proposals are due March 23. In July or August, NASA hopes to award agreements 

with multiple companies worth $300 million to $500 million over 21 months to complete designs for 

19 
"integrated" systems including rockets, spacecraft, ground systems and mission systems. Beyond that 

period, companies must offer plans for a potential three-day orbital test flight by a private crew before 

NASA certifies the vehicles' safety for its own crews. "We don't want a sales pitch," said Ed Mango, 

manager of NASA's Commercial Crew Program at Kennedy Space Center. "We want to know how are 

you technically going to go make this happen?" McAlister said companies' forthcoming proposals would 

show that U.S. private industry has the technical ability to fly crews to low Earth orbit and that an end in 

the human spaceflight gap was within sight. Web posted. (2012). [NASA targets $830M annually to reach 

local astronaut launch by 2017 [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

February 15].] 

+ Five legends in space exploration kicked off a yearlong celebration Tuesday of the 50th anniversary of 

Kennedy Space Center, recounting a half-century of adventures in and beyond Earth orbit. Ike Rigell set 

the stage with anecdotes from the earliest days of the great Space Race between the United States and the 

former Soviet Union, a time when Kennedy Space Center was not yet Kennedy Space Center and NASA 

still did not exist. JoAnn Morgan recalled being the first women to work amongst a cigarette-smoking 

bunch of white male engineers in black suits, skinny black ties and short-sleeved white shirts with penfilled pocket protectors. Steve Francois was a young engineer when the U.S. launched Pioneer 10, the 

first spacecraft to escape the grasp of Earth's gravity and the first to traverse the rocky asteroid belt 

between Mars and its destination, Jupiter. Long-time launch director Bob Sieck talked about the 

complexity involved with sending up the world's first reusable spacecraft and then turning NASA's 

shuttle orbiters around from flight to flight. And Lee Solid summed up what it takes to be part of the 

greatest adventure the human race ever has embarked upon. "The bottom line is, love what you do, and 

give it all you've got," Solid said. That's what it takes to be part of the exploration of space, Solid and 

others told crowd of 200 at the monthly luncheon meeting of the National Space Club Florida Committee. 

The sold-out event came during a week in which NASA, Project Mercury veterans and the Space Coast 

are celebrating the golden anniversary of the first two U.S. orbital human space flights. In 1962, 

legendary astronauts John Glenn, Scott Carpenter and Wally Schirra launched Feb. 20, May 24, and Oct. 

3, respectively, putting the U.S. on even footing with the Soviet Union, which had launched Sputnik in 

1957 and Yuri Gagarin in 1961. KSC also is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. In the early days 

of space exploration, the facility was the Launch Operations Directorate of Marshall Space Flight Center 

in Huntsville, Ala. On July 1, 1962, the site became NASA's Launch Operations Center, elevated to the 

same status level as Marshall and other NASA centers. On Nov. 29, 1963, a week after President John F. 

Kennedy was assassinated, the spaceport was given its current name. The Gemini program followed, and 

then NASA successfully carried out the Apollo moon-landing project, the Skylab space station program 

and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Flight before the advent of space shuttle operations and the assembly of the 

International Space Station. NASA now is investing in the development of private space taxis to fly 

people to and from the station and other Earth orbit destinations. The agency also is developing a new 

Orion crew vehicle for missions beyond Earth orbit and a heavy-lift rocket to support launch the new 

spacecraft. The moon, Mars, asteroids and other celestial destinations await U.S. astronauts. "We are 

celebrating 50 years of spaceflight here at Kennedy Space Center," said former NASA astronaut and 

current KSC Director Robert Cabana. "I believe our next 50 years are going to be as good or better than 

our first 50 years." Web posted. (2012). [Space legends launch a year of celebration [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 15].] 

February 17: Fifty years ago Monday, America needed a hero. And John Glenn was ready. With the 

Cold War at its coldest, the Soviet Union was boasting that its first man in space, and first to orbit the 

Earth, was evidence that it was technologically superior to the United States- a claim that chilled more 

than just America's space aspirations. Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard had flown a 15-minute suborbital 

flight the previous spring, just before President John F. Kennedy challenged the United States to push 

past Soviet technology and put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. But by the next winter, the 

United States still hadn't even put a human into orbit. Then on the morning of Feb. 20, 1962, Glenn- a 

20 
40-year-old former Marine test pilot - climbed into the tiny Friendship 7 Mercury capsule atop an Atlas 

rocket, for his 11 111 launch attempt. Seconds before launch- on live national TV - fellow astronaut 

Scott Carpenter came on the radio: "Godspeed, John Glenn." The rocket fired- and rose slowly off the 

pad at what was then Cape Canaveral Space Center. And almost five hours later, after three orbits of the 

Earth, America had its hero. "There was a lot of buildup to this, and I think America was at a low point. 

If there was such a thing as a national psyche, it was at a low point," said Glenn, who returned to what's 

now Kennedy Space Center on Friday. "And we think this was sort of the turning point. And people 

appreciated what we were doing. So there was this national attention. It was almost unbelievable." Now 

90 and a retired U.S. senator from Ohio, Glenn was joined by Carpenter, the only other surviving member 

of the original "Mercury 7" astronauts. Carpenter, now 86, was Glenn's backup and primary CapCom, his 

radio-link partner at launch control. He got the next launch, three months later, going for three orbits May 

24, 1962. To commemorate the 50th anniversary, the pair will be at the KSC Visitor Complex today as 

part of a full day of activities recalling the Mercury mission. Glenn stepped from the capsule hailed as a 

hero; he would go on to serve four terms in the U.S. Senate and run for president in 1984. Carpenter, as 

the second American in orbit, was merely famous- and went on to a career in oceanography. Fame, he 

shrugged Friday, "was just an occupational hazard." Web posted. (2012). [Glenn, Carpenter headline 

orbital anniversary [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, February 17].] 

+ With the next generation of space business just beginning to take seed at Kennedy Space Center, 

NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden declared Friday that the agency is turning the comer from the 

expired space shuttle program to its next missions. Bolden and KSC Director Bob Cabana met with KSC 

workers to assure them that the president's proposed $17.7 billion dollar budget contains what the facility 

needs to prepare for its next big missions: manned commercial flights to lower Earth orbit, and a longerterm heavy-lift rocket for deep space exploration. Bolden and Cabana toured a multi-payload processing 

facility where the transition is evident. The hangar-like building was used to process payloads and 

components for the space shuttle and International Space Station. Now it is leased to Lockheed Martin 

and is being prepped to process Orion, the capsule being developed to carry astronauts into deep space 

aboard a new heavy-lift rocket in the next decade. The 2012-13 budget proposed by President Barack 

Obama routes about $2 billion toward development of the rocket and $1 billion toward Orion. Another 

$500 million is set aside for updating Kennedy's launch pads. "I'm excited for the agency, but I'm 

especially excited for the KSC family, because, you know, we've been through some difficult times here. 

But we've turned the comer," said Bolden, a former astronaut. "When you're two years away from a very 

important launch, as we are, that gives you goose bumps." Web posted. (2012). [NASA's Bolden says 

KSC is preparing for its next mission [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ 

[2012, February 17].] 

February 18: NASA's prime contractor for its Orion deep space crew capsule is aiming to launch an 

early flight test in late 2013 and plans to at least double its work force at Kennedy Space Center between 

now and then. In what amounts to a paradigm shift, Lockheed Martin will manufacture Orion spacecraft 

at the launch site rather than a factory elsewhere- a first for KSC, which still is reeling from the loss of 

about 9,000 jobs as a result of the shutdown of the space shuttle program. NASA Administrator Charles 

Bolden, a former shuttle pilot and mission commander, said the Lockheed Martin decision to do 

production work at the KSC Operations & Checkout Building is a game-changer. "The No. 1 thing about 

bringing jobs back here to the Kennedy Space Center is that we bring jobs back to this communityhigh-tech, good-paying jobs that put American workers back to work in something that they know and 

love," Bolden said Friday during a visit to KS<;. Lockheed Martin holds a $6.4 billion contract to design, 

develop and build Apollo-style space capsules that will be able to transport astronauts on missions beyond 

Earth orbit - to asteroids, the moon, Mars, the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, or other 

interplanetary destinations. NASA late last year decided to add $375 million to the contract so that 

Lockheed Martin could carry out an early unmanned flight test. The goal: to launch an Orion capsule into 

a 5,000-mile-high orbit and then sim).llate the type of high-speed atmospheric re-entry astronauts would 

21 
fly on a return from the moon, Mars or other interplanetary destinations. NASA schedules show the flight 

test launching in early 2014, and Bolden is not pressing Lockheed Martin to launch earlier. But the 

contractor is aiming for late 2013- as early as October, company officials say. Lockheed Martin will 

begin production work on the capsule for that flight test at KSC in March, and the company's local Orion 

work force- which now numbers about 150-is expected to grow to about 188 this year. That number 

is expected to increase significantly in 2013, and by the end of that year, somewhere between 300 and 400 

people will be working for Lockheed Martin on the Orion project at KSC. NASA and Lockheed Martin 

aim to launch a second flight test around 2016. The aim would be to test an abort system designed to pull 

the spacecraft and astronauts safely off an exploding rocket. An unmanned orbital test flight is scheduled 

on NASA's heavy-lift Space Launch System in 2017, and NASA hopes to launch astronauts on a deep 

space mission in 2021. Web posted. (2012). [Orion aims for early test flight [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 18].] 

+The launch ofNASA's NuSTAR space telescope, a $165 million black hole-hunting X-ray observatory, 

will be delayed at least one week until March 21 to give engineers extra time to complete engineering 

reviews of the mission's air-launched Pegasus XL rocket, the space agency announced Friday. "The 

mission's launch is now scheduled for no earlier than March 21 to allow the launch vehicle team an 

additional week to complete necessary engineering reviews," said a statement released by NASA's Jet 

Propulsion Laboratory. "After the reviews, the team will begin final preparations for the rocket's delivery 

to the launch site at Kwajalein Atoll in the South Pacific." Technicians are preparing the Orbital Sciences 

Corp. Pegasus XL rocket and the NuSTAR spacecraft for launch at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. 

The rocket and its carrier airplane, an L-1 011 jumbo jet, will fly from California to K wajalein about a 

week before launch. Web posted. (2012). [One-week launch delay ordered for X-ray telescope [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, February 18].] 

February 19: John Glenn joined the proud, surviving veterans of NASA's Project Mercury on Saturday 

in celebrating the 50th anniversary of his historic orbital flight. The first American to orbit the Earth 

thanked the approximately 125 retired Mercury workers, now in their 70s and 80s, who gathered with 

their spouses at Kennedy Space Center to swap stories, pose for pictures and take a bow. "There are a lot 

more bald heads and gray heads in that group than others, but those are the people who did lay the 

foundation," the 90-year-old Glenn said at an evening ceremony attended by NASA officials, politicians, 

astronauts and hundreds of others. "We may be up on the point of that thing and get a lot of the attention, 

and we had ticker-tape parades and all that sort of thing. But the people who made it work ... you're the 

ones who deserve the accolade. So give yourselves a great big ovation," Glenn said, leading the crowd in 

applause. Glenn and fellow astronaut Scott Carpenter, 86, spent nearly an hour before the ceremony being 

photographed with the retirees, posing for individual pictures in front of a black curtain with a model of a 

Mercury-Atlas rocket. Glenn and Carpenter are the lone survivors of NASA's original Mercury 7 

astronauts. Earlier in the day, the Mercury brigade traveled by bus to Launch Complex 14. That's the pad 

from which Glenn rocketed away on Feb. 20, 1962. Web posted. (2012). [John Glenn reunites with 

Mercury workers who helped launch him 50 years ago this Monday [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .spaceflightnow .com/ [20 12, February 19].] 

February 20: Human spaceflight has become so common over the past five decades that it may be 

difficult to remember just how exciting it was when John Glenn became the first American to orbit the 

Earth 50 years ago today. For all the achievements of the U.S. human spaceflight program in the 

subsequent five decades, though, Glenn is dismayed at the state of the program today. NASA and the 

nation are celebrating Glenn's accomplishment on February 20, 1962 when he flew into space on 

Friendship 7 as part of the Mercury program. He had been beaten into orbit ten months earlier by Soviet 

cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin and the United States was trying mightily to catch up with its superpower 

rival. Alan Shepard reached the threshold of space on May 5, 1961, but his flight was 

suborbital. Nonetheless, it was enough to give President John F. Kennedy confidence to announce three 

weeks later that the United States would land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth by the 

22 
end of the decade. Glenn's flight and others in the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs proved that 

America was good to its word, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landing on the Moon on July 20, 

1969. Support for human spaceflight diminished dramatically after the Moon race was won, 

however. The space shuttle program was approved by President Nixon in 1972 and made its first flight 

in 1981. Repeated attempts to develop new systems to replace the shuttle failed. The 2004 decision by 

President George W. Bush to focus on returning astronauts to the Moon without a commensurate boost to 

NASA's budget meant the shuttle program would have to be terminated to free up money for the new 

program. The shuttle flew its final mission last year, and the United States currently has no way to 

launch people into space. When a new U.S. system will emerge is unclear and is largely dependent on 

funding. NASA is anticipating 2017 for the first U.S. commercial human space transportation system and 

2021 for its own new system. Web posted. (2012). [Fifty Years Ago Glenn Sailed Into Orbit; Today, 

He's Dismayed [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/ [2012, February 20].] 

+The next attempt to launch an Atlas V rocket and a new Navy communications satellite at Cape 

· Canaveral Air Force Station looks as if it might be Friday, but, as with previous attempts, weather could 

be iffy. Liftofffrom Launch Complex 41 that day would be targeted for 5:15p.m. with a 44-minute 

window extending to 5:59p.m. Air Force meteorologists at the 45th Space Wing on Monday issued an 

Atlas launch forecast for an attempt Friday. There is a 40 percent chance weather would be acceptable for 

launch then. The weather for attempts Saturday or Sunday would improve significantly. Forecasters say 

there is an 80 percent chance conditions would be acceptable either day. United Launch Alliance 

spokeswoman Jessica Rye said the company would be ready to launch on Thursday if the Eastern Range 

becomes available that day. The range provides tracking, weather forecasting and range safety services 

for all launches from the Space Coast. Web posted. (2012). [Atlas launch try possible Friday night 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 20].] 

+A figurative "for rent'' sign hangs on the front gate of John F. Kennedy Space Center. Among the 

facilities available: A space shuttle launchpad, slightly used; a giant crawler for moving rockets, still 

serviceable; two enormous mobile launch platforms; two space shuttle maintenance hangars; a 15,000-

foot concrete runway, one of the world's longest; and the blocky, 52-story Vehicle Assembly Building, 

with four soaring rocket assembly bays- and no waiting. America's spaceport turns 50 this year, and a 

wre'llching middle-age transition is under way. "I have a lot of facilities that we, NASA, no longer need," 

said Robert Cabana, Kennedy's director and a four-time space shuttle flier. "I don't have the money to 

maintain them, I don't have the money to tear them down. They're just going to sit and rot." That is, 

unless NASA can find some tenants. "We're putting out the word officially and unofficially that 

Kennedy Space Center is open for business," said Scott Colloredo, chief architect for ground systems 

here. At the apex of the space shuttle program, some 18,000 people worked here. Now, just 7,500 do. On 

a recent Wednesday morning, parking lots across the vast complex sat two-thirds empty. Since 2009, 

Cabana has handed pink slips to 9,000 engineers, technicians and office workers. "Do you know what that 

feels like?" Cabana asked as he stood inside one of Kennedy's hangars. He looked up at the space shuttle 

Discovery, where three workers were crawling inside the engine compartment. In April, Discovery will 

make a final flight to Dulles International Airport. Retirement awaits it at the National Air and Space 

Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center. Cabana outlined a vision for the spaceport's future. Instead of serving a 

single customer- the enormous shuttle program- he foresees Kennedy launching rockets from NASA 

and from private companies now racing to build a new generation of crewed space vehicles. But that 

vision depends on the rapid maturation of a commercial space industry. Critics say Congress has not 

delivered enough cash to support private development, and expected launch dates have already slipped. 

In 2010, President Obama spoke here and vowed to seed a commercial space industry, to replace the 

canceled Constellation program to return Americans to the moon. With NASA money, American 

companies would build rockets and spaceships to travel to low Earth orbit. They would deliver astronauts 

and cargo to the international space station and, someday, to privately owned space stations. For 2012, the 

Obama administration and NASA asked for $850 million to spread among American space companies. 

23 
Congress provided less than half that, $406 million. In 2010, Obama also pledged $40 million to 

transform Kennedy into a diversified research park. Energy, biotechnology and other high-tech companies 

were supposed to race for the funds - and the services of skilled workers along the 50-mile Space Coast. 

But Congress never delivered the $40 million; except for a few small projects, Kennedy has not 

diversified. Situated on Merritt Island, the space center and adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 

have launched all165 ofNASA's human spaceflights. During the Apollo program, the workforce swelled 

and surrounding Brevard County boomed from a sleepy area known for its Indian River oranges and 

grapefruit into a vibrant region with a surfeit of well-paid jobs. In the two decades to 1970, the population 

of the county swelled tenfold, to 250,000, as America aimed for the moon. Space became a seemingly 

permanent industry. Today, not all is gloom. The spaceport has recently managed to claw back a few 

hundred jobs. Lockheed Martin moved into a "clean room", where the Apollo capsules were prepped 40 

years ago, putting 150 people to work. The company is building the Orion capsule for NASA, with a test 

launch scheduled for 2014. NASA is developing Orion to travel into deep space; the test vehicle is set to 

arrive here in May. Boeing plans to move into one of the three space shuttle hangars. The state of Florida 

rented the building last fall for 15 years and subleased it to the company, which hopes to eventually put 

550 people to work building a capsule to fly to the international space station. NASA has asked Congress 

for $400 million in the coming year to retrofit launchpads and other facilities. By 2017, NASA hopes, it 

will fly a giant new rocket, the Space Launch System, on an uncrewed test flight. To accommodate the 

rocket, workers have already tom down the big gray tower on one of the two space shuttle launch pads. 

Cabana said NASA recouped $621,000 from selling miles of copper wire stripped out of the 25-story 

structure. NASA also plans to retrofit a mobile launch tower it never used. Built for the canceled 

Constellation rockets, the 39-story cross-hatched steel tower cost nearly $500 million and sits parked on 

Kennedy property. The future of the second shuttle launchpad remains uncertain. Colloredo said NASA 

officials were talking with "two or three" potential customers. One is California-based Space Exploration 

Technologies, or SpaceX. The company already occupies an old Air Force hangar and a smaller 

launchpad on Cape Canaveral, where it is readying a rocket and a capsule for an uncrewed test flight to 

the international space station in April or May. The company's founder, PayPal billionaire Elon Musk, 

has sketched out grand plans for bigger rockets that would call for the huge concrete curtain of the shuttle 

launchpad. But there's still no word on who mig~t be interested in renting the huge Vehicle Assembly 

Building. For now, the decommissioned space shuttle Atlantis rests on the building's floor, its engines 

removed, its windows blinkered. Behind Atlantis, a sea of gunmetal gray desks, tables, cabinets, office· 

chairs and other discarded furniture awaits removal. Among the castoffs is a lone white refrigerator, its 

door ajar. It bears a handwritten note that says, "Free to good home." Web posted. (2012). [Kennedy 

Space Center at 50: A spaceport in transition [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ [2012, February 20].] 

February 21: A team of former space shuttle technicians at the Kennedy Space Center is about to start 

working on NASA's first Orion spaceship, outfitting the prototype capsule for a test flight in Earth orbit 

as early as late 2013. Now under construction in Louisiana, the Orion multi-purpose crew vehicle will be 

shipped to Florida in May, when engineers will start crafting the capsule into a flight-ready spacecraft. 

Inside the space center's Operations and Checkout Building, technicians will add the Orion craft's heat 

shield, flight computers and avionics boxes. Lockheed Martin Corp., Orion's prime contractor, selected 

the O&C Building for final assembly of the spacecraft. Engineers in Florida will start receiving flight 

hardware for the first space-bound Orion as soon as March, as components for the craft's service module 

arrive at the space center. A structural mock-up of the service module will fly on the first mission in 2013 

or 2014. Jim Kemp, Lockheed Martin's director for Orion assembly, testing and launch operations, said 

about 150 employees now work on the program at KSC. The number is expected to grow to about 188 

workers later this year, he said. Web posted. (2012). [Florida workforce stands ready for Orion assembly 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, February 21].] 

24 
+The first flight of the Antares booster, one of two U.S. rockets selected to launch cargo to the 

International Space Station, will be delayed until at least late June as work to certify the launch pad 

continues on the Virginia coast, Orbital Sciences Corp. officials said Tuesday. Construction of the pad 

should be complete in early March, leading to certification of the facility's systems by the end of April, 

when Orbital will take control of the coastal complex to begin final flight preparations. If all goes 

according to plan, another Cygnus spacecraft could blast off around the end of 2012 on an operational 

resupply flight to the space station. The Antares launch complex, named pad OA, is located at Wallops 

Island, Va., and owned by the Virginia Commercial Space Flight Authority, a state agency created in 

1995. The launch pad. lies on NASA property. Web posted. (2012). [Launch pad rework pushes Antares 

launch to summer [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, February 21].] 

February 22: The steel structures that provided the backbone for blasting off to space could soon 

enliven the underwater world of grouper and snapper. Within a year, divers and fishermen hope to get 

more hulls, culverts and boulders as well as segments of NASA and military rocket launch towers to lure 

big grouper and other fish to an artificial reef about 1 7 miles off Cape Canaveral's shore. First, local 

officials must gain federal approval to add more material to an existing 4-square-mile area called the 

Brevard County Artificial Reef Site 2. The site is in water about 75 to 85 feet deep. Adding to the reef 

could help offset closed fishing areas farther out at sea, officials said, as well as easing fishing and diving 

pressure on nearby natural reefs. According to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public notice of the 

permit application, the project would put natural rock boulders, culverts, stormwater junction boxes, 

power poles, railroad ties, concrete road barriers and other similar concrete materials on the bottom. 

There would be no asphalt, creosote, petroleum or toxic residue. County officials also hope to add 

portions of old defunct·launch complexes from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and Kennedy Space 

Center. That could help the military and NASA defray costs of disposing of old launch complex material. 

"Instead, they can invest in a local project," said Matt Culver, Brevard County's boating and waterways 

program coordinator. Web posted. (2012). [Launch tower trash could tum into sea life's treasure 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 22].] 

+ How active NASA should be in ensuring, or even regulating, the safety of commercial crew vehicles is 

an issue that has been debated for some time, but a couple of events in the last week demonstrate that the 

issue is still on the minds of people on Capitol Hill. At last Friday's hearing about the administration's 

FY13 budget proposal for R&D programs, the first question posed to Office of Science and Technology 

Policy director John Holdren was not about proposed spending for NASA or other agencies, but about 

whether NASA had sufficient authority to oversee crew safety given its use of Space Act Agreements 

(SAAs). "I have a problem with this," said committee chairman Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX). "It's my 

understanding that NASA can't require the companies to meet any safety standards. I don't know how 

·that could have been left out." Hall then asked Holden how NASA would ensure that these vehicles 

"ultimate are going to be safe enough to take NASA astronauts to the International Space Station?" 

Holdren said he was not familiar with the details of the limits of Space Act Agreements on enforcing 

compliance to safety standards. "I can't imagine that NASA does not retain that responsibility" for 

ensuring crew safety, he said. "And if there is a problem in the agreements that would jeopardize that, I 

am sure we will fix it." Under a Space Act Agreement, NASA can't force companies to meet specific 

safety requirements. NASA originally planned that the third phase in the Commercial Crew Program 

would be done under a contract in part to mandate compliance. However, NASA backtracked in 

December, saying the next phase, like the first two, would use SAAs in order to make better use of 

limited funding. At a Commercial Crew program forum at the Kennedy Space Center earlier this month, 

NASA officials said they were confident that safety would be ensured without mandating compliance, 

since it will be in the companies' best interests to meet NASA's published safety standards in order to 

qualify for future contracts for crew transportation that will require meeting those standards. "So, our 

safety requirements are on the street and we would expect that any partner that might want to go after that 

service capability, and any commercial partner that might want to use NASA and its ISS as a potential 

25 
customer, will need to look seriously at those requirements and understand what they are and understand 

the safety parameters we have within those requirements," deputy program manager Brent Jett said at the 

February 7 briefing. A separate issue is the role ofNASA versus the FAA in regulating commercial crew 

launches. Such a mission would likely be considered a commercial launch and thus require a license from 

the FAA's Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST). Web posted. (2012). [The role ofNASA 

in commercial crew safety [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacepolitics.com/ [2012, February 

22].] 

February 23: This year will mark several major milestones for the development of the Space Launch 

System (SLS), with teams already pushing through a systems review process. The roadmap- which 

may include a "battleship" pathfinder core test at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in 2015 -runs 

through the opening mission in 2017, which has been named as Exploration Mission -1 (EM-1). 

Although the early SLS effort suffered from numerous reviews and alleged delaying tactics at the political 

level, 2012 has seen a noticeable increase in work on the SLS, especially via the construction of the 

development roadmap towards the maiden flight of the Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HLV) in 2017. It has 

been a long road to get to this point, where NASA's next flagship launch vehicle is now enjoying its the 

first full year of focused development, a path which started with the Review of Human Space Flight 

(HSF) Plans Committee (Augustine Panel) back in 2009. Thankfully, engineering and management teams 

had already begun a level of preparation on the SLS and hit the ground running by entering the System 

Requirements Review (SRR) checkpoint kickoff meetings the month after the official SLS 

announcement. With the Key Decision Point A (KDP-A) "memo" already approved, SLS finds itself into 

the Cross-Program SRR stage, along with a number of key hardware milestones and tests already under 

its belt. These include the five-segment Solid Rocket Booster Development Motor 3 firing success, J-2X 

upper stage engine full-duration testing, and RS-25 Ground Support Equipment, which is in the process of 

being positioned for future integration activities at the Stennis Space Center. The current meetings are 

working towards the joint System Requirements Review (SRR) and System Definition Review (SDR), 

which kicked off at the program level meeting stage this month, prior to its concluding meeting which is 

scheduled for March 29- a milestone which will feed into the major effort of the Preliminary Design 

Review (PDR), scheduled for June 28, 2013. Web posted. (2012). [Acronyms to Ascent- SLS managers 

create development milestone roadmap [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/ 

[2012, February 23].] 

+NASA has presented its Quality and Safety Achievement Recognition, or QASAR, award for 2011 to 

three Kennedy Space Center, Fla., employees; Humberto "Bert" T. Garrido, Joseph B. Hamilton and 

Francis "Frank" Merceret. NASA's QASAR award recognizes individual government and contractor 

employees who have demonstrated exemplary performance in contributing to the quality or safety of 

products, services, processes, or management programs and activities. "The first of NASA's four core 

values is safety, and without it, none of the agency's missions of exploration and scientific discovery can 

successfully happen. Bert, Joe and Frank exemplify that core value," said Kennedy Center Director Bob 

Cabana. ["NASA Presents Safety Award to Three Kennedy Employees," NASA News Release #15-12, 

February 23, 2012.] 

February 24: An Atlas V rocket carrying a new Navy satellite launched today from Cape Canaveral Air 

Force Station, Florida Today reported. The 44-minute launch window opened at 5:15p.m. The launch 

was scrubbed twice last week due to the weather. Today's forecast had called for a 40 percent chance of 

favorable weather for a launch. The rocket is carrying the Navy's Mobile User Objective communications 

satellite. Web posted. (2012). [Atlas V rocket blasts offfrom Cape Canaveral [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, February 24].] 

+The North Brevard Economic Development Zone Special District Board voted unanimously to add 

Exploration Park on NASA property at Kennedy Space Center to the zone. The expansion of the zone 

26 
also requires approval by the Brevard County Commission. The zone currently is contained within 

Brevard County Commission District 1, represented by Commissioner Robin Fisher. Exploration Park is 

just south of Fisher's district and is within District 2, represented by County Commission Chairman 

Chuck Nelson. Special District Board Vice Chair Brenda Fettrow said the move "seems to have the 

potential for great benefits" in helping attract businesses and jobs to Exploration Park, which is south of 

State Road 405/NASA Causeway. Funding for incentives used within the North Brevard Economic 

Development Zone will come from Brevard County and Titusville property tax revenue generated by new 

commercial and industrial development within the zone. Web posted. (2012). [Board lets zone extend to 

KSC [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 24].] 

February 28: For more than two decades, the shuttle program relied on a Cape Canaveral facility to test, 

repair and build thousands of spaceflight components no longer available from original manufacturers. 

Some considered the NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot's combination of agency-owned equipment and 

skilled contractors a "national treasure," and one well-positioned to transition to other industries after the 

shuttle program's end. Lead shuttle contractor United Space Alliance pursued new business 

opportunities, and last fall appeared to have secured a post-shuttle mission servicing military and 

commercial hardware at the Astronaut Boulevard facility. There was even talk of a new name for the 

eight-building complex. But plans changed abruptly when USA's parent companies, The Boeing Co. and 

Lockheed Martin Corp., began re-evaluating the joint venture's future and reportedly directed managers 

not to sign new contracts. Both USA and its parents have refused to comment on the company's future, 

which now may be limited to closing out the shuttle program. USA confirms only that it will wrap up its 

closeout work at the depotby April2013, after finishing several smaller contracts this fall for the 

Department of Defense and commercial customers. Web posted. (2012). [United Space Alliance iffy for 

future at KSC [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 24].] 

+ The Smithsonian Institution today released plans for four days of festivities to welcome the retired 

shuttle orbiter Discovery in April. NASA plans to ferry Discovery to the National Air and Space 

Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., on April17, weather permitting. Spectators at the center 

and across the Washington, D.C., area are encouraged to "spot the shuttle" during its final approach to 

Dulles International Airport atop a 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. A ceremony formally turning Discovery 

over to the museum is planned at 11:30 a.m. April19. Led by astronauts and the U.S. Marine Drum and 

Bugle Corps, Discovery will parade to a nose-to-nose meeting with Enterprise, the orbiter prototype 

Discovery is replacing. Enterprise is expected to be ferried to New York City within a few days later, 

where it will be readied for delivery to the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Web posted. (2012). 

[Discovery to be welcomed to Smithsonian in four-day event [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 28].] 

+ Stratolaunch is to complete the systems design review (SDR) of its new launch system "in the next 

couple of months". That is the timeframe set out by Jim Halsell, director ofStratolaunch systems at 

Dynetics, which has been contracted to design the technical integration and to mate and demate 

procedures and systems. "We are on the cusp of doing the systems design review, and we're moving 

toward a preliminary design review [PDR]," said Halsell. "Between those two, the SDR and the PDR, we 

will lock down the details of the technical approach, the outer mold lines of all the systems. It's the grunt 

early work of designing a complex system." Major system trades and exact specifications, including 

information crucial to operation such as maximum gross take-off weight and required runway length, will 

not be finalized until the PDR. Disclosed in December 2011, the ambitious Stratolaunch system involves 

a massive Scaled Composites-built aircraft with a SpaceX-built rocket suspended between twin fuselages. 

The system will launch payloads of up to 6,100kg (13,500lb) in weight and 5m (16.4ft) in diameter into 

low Earth orbit (LEO). Although Stratolaunch eventually hopes to launch people into orbit and will build 

to strict human spaceflight standards, design efforts are on hold while the focus is on building and testing 

the launch system. Although Stratolaunch officials have repeatedly mentioned plans to operate from the 

27 
NASA Kennedy Space Center (KSC) runway, one of the longest and widest runways in the world, there 

has as yet been no formal agreement between Stratolaunch and facility operator Space Florida. Operating 

from the KSC runway would enable Stratolaunch to fly south, closer to the equator, allowing greater 

payload and launch azimuth flexibility. Launching to the east over the Atlantic Ocean would take 

advantage of the Earth's rotation, allowing additional advantages. Web posted. (2012). [Stratolaunch 

nears conclusion of systems design review [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.flightglobal.com/ 

[2012, February 28].] 

February 29: Animal rights activists with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals today 

requested permission to use unused buildings at the Kennedy Space Center for a "Chimpanzee Empathy 

Museum" that would honor some of NASA's earliest test pilots- and put a spotlight on modem-day 

experimentation. "PET A's exhibit will show that while NASA has stopped blasting terrified 

chimpanzees into space and crippling them in crash tests, chimpanzees are still tormented in laboratories 

-and that cannot go on," says PET A Vice President of Laboratory Investigations Kathy Guillermo, in a 

statement. "With Congress considering a bill to ban experiments on these intelligent and social animals, 

it's the perfect time for an exhibit about what we have done to our closest primate relatives." Web posted. 

(2012). [PETA wants chimp 'empathy' museum at KSC [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ the write stuffblog [2012, February 24].] 

+A major contractor this week started converting the main motor for the abort system that will launch in 

early 2014 on NASA's first flight test of an Orion crew exploration vehicle. The Orion spacecraft is 

scheduled to blast off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a two-orbit flight that will test the 

capsule's heat shield during a high-speed atmospheric reentry. The idea is to simulate a return from a 

mission to the moon, Mars, an asteroid or other destinations beyond Earth orbit. Former NASA Chief 

Astronaut Charlie Precourt, who will be inducted this year into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, said the 

flight test is critical to America's next era of human space exploration. "This test flight is an extremely 

important milestone as we move forward with America's new human exploration spacecraft and heavylift launch system, enabling our human space flight program to conduct missions beyond Earth orbit," 

Precourt, General Manager and Vice President of Space Launch System for contractor ATK, said in a 

statement. President Obama in 2010 directed NASA to send astronauts on a mission to an asteroid by 

2025 and Mars by the mid-2030s. To that end, NASA is developing the Apollo-style Orion crew capsule 

and new heavy-lift rockets as part of its Space Launch System project. ATK is developing the main 

motor for the abort system that would pull an Orion capsule and its astronaut crew away from a rocket in 

the event of an explosion or other emergency on the launch pad or during launch. The company also is 

developing smaller abort system thrusters that would steer the capsule into position for the deployment of 

parachutes that would float a crew to a safe landing back on Earth. Web posted. (2012). [Orion escape 

system motor prepped for 2014 flight test [Online). Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, February 29].] 

+ A Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule stand on SpaceX's Cape Canaveral launch pad, where the 

company plans to perform a countdown and fueling test Thursday. The simulation at Launch Complex 40 

is part of preparations for a NASA demonstration flight that aims to deliver the Dragon to the 

International Space Station, possibly as soon as late April. A successful demonstration flight would prove 

Hawthorne, Calif.-based SpaceX is ready to begin delivering cargo to the station later this year under a 

$1.6 billion NASA contract. A SpaceX spokeswoman said the rocket would be lowered at the pad today, 

then raised to a vertical position again this evening, with the "wet dress rehearsal" beginning early 

Thursday morning. The test will load rocket-grade kerosene and liquid oxygen into the rocket's two 

stages, running through nearly an entire countdown. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX Falcon 9 on launch 

pad for fuel tests [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, February 29].] 

28 
+ The shuttle mockup destined for Space Center Houston has been taken down from its long-time perch 

at Kennedy Space Center and transported to the dock there to await its long journey to Clear Lake. As 

things now stand, that will be by barge from KSC to possibly a site near the Clear Lake Hilton and then 

up NASA Parkway to Space Center Houston. Sounds simply enough, but it isn't. We're not talking about 

putting a box on a boat; we're dealing with a big, heavy boy. Think large airplane. Waterways have to be 

deep enough and wide enough to handle it, not to mention a boat big enough to haul it. Most likely it will 

sit at the KSC dock for the next few weeks. There is no cost for the mock shuttle, but transporting it here 

will be pricey. It has to travel from Florida's east coast on the Atlantic Ocean, down around the southern 

tip of Florida, across the Gulf of Mexico into Galveston Bay and then Clear Lake. In December, Chevron 

donated $100,000 to help with the transportation costs, with Chevron's Joni Baird noting that "Space 

Center Houston is an important part of our community and a place for children and adults to learn about 

the incredible impact our space program has had on our lives." The mock shuttle had to be removed to 

make room for Space Shuttle Atlantis, which was awarded to KSC. While the mock shuttle was called 

Explorer, Allen said it probably would be renamed when it arrives here. Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle 

mockup ready to set sail, but. .. [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/ [2012, 

February 29].] 

+ In a surprise announcement Monday morning, Rep. Alan Austerman declared in a press conference that 

if the Alaska Aerospace Corporation cannot sign a large commercial contract by the end of the year, it 

could close or sell the Kodiak Launch Complex. Austerman, the Republican House majority leader, 

represents Kodiak Island in the Alaska Legislature and is a non-voting member of the Alaska Aerospace 

Corporation board of directors. According to the corporation's latest strategic plan, from 1993 through 

2011, Alaska Aerospace received approximately $26.6 million in state investment, $144.8 million in 

federal grants and $134.3 million in revenue from rocket launches. Sixteen rockets have blasted off from 

the corporation's flagship facility at Narrow Cape, the most recent in late September, when a Navy 

communica-tions satellite was lifted into orbit. The Kodiak spaceport can only launch small-lift rockets, 

and it has so far failed to attract enough customers to break even financially without an increasing amount 

of state support. To increase revenue, the corporation has proposed expanding the spaceport to launch 

medium-lift rockets, which are becoming commercially more important. Web posted. (2012). [Alaska 

Aerospace Corp. faces funding issues without contract [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.homernews.com/ [2012, February 29].] 

29 
MARCH 

March 1: SpaceX is draining propellant from a Falcon 9 rocket after successfully fueling it 

during a countdown dress rehearsal today at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. After beginning 

at T minus 7 hours, the countdown clock stopped as planned at T minus 5 seconds to conclude 

the test at Launch Complex 40, which ran systems and launch teams through procedures they'll 

follow on launch day. "The test went well," SpaceX said in a statement. "Over the coming days, 

we will continue to review the data as we prepare for our upcoming mission." The practice 

countdown was recycled at least once at T minus 10 minutes, according to Twitter updates 

provided by Kennedy Space Center. The companyhasn't yet commented on the rehearsal's 

results. SpaceX is preparing to fly a NASA demonstration mission that will send a Dragon 

capsule to the International Space Station, possibly by late April. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX 

completes dress rehearsal of Falcon 9launch at Cape Canaveral [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, March 1].] 

+ For more than 30 years, NASA's two Apollo-era crawler-transporters carried six space shuttles 

(Atlantis, Challenger, Columbia, Discovery, Endeavour and Enterprise) atop mobile launcher platforms 

from the Vehicle Assembly Building (V AB) to Launch Complex 39 at Kennedy Space Center. After 

traveling 2,190 miles (3,524 kilometers), crawler-transporter 2 (CT-2), which weighs about six million 

pounds, will receive two new diesel engines and generators so it can be used to carry NASA's Space 

Launch System heavy-lift rocket, currently under design, and new Orion spacecraft to the launch pad. 

Mary Hanna, the project manager for the crawler-transporters in NASA's Ground Systems Development 

and Operations Program, is overseeing the upgrade efforts. "The crawler has to be ready for the new 

future programs," Hanna said. "It's the only way to get launch vehicles out to the pads, and we're taking 

time now to do the upgrades so that we're ready." On Feb. 15, in High Bay 2 inside the V AB, NASA 

engineers and United Space Alliance engineers and technicians prepared the obsolete diesel engines, 

generators and associated parts for removal. The old engines, which were built in 1964 and installed as 

original equipment, ran the AC electrical system. Work began to remove the massive engines in late 

January when the crawler was moved from the crawler yard into the V AB. About 20 technicians and 

engineers coordinated efforts to remove the old engines and generators using the V AB's 325-ton overhead 

crane to lift them out. The new 1,500 kilowatt power diesel engines, built by Cummins Engines in 

Minnesota, arrived at Kennedy in mid-December and are being stored in the crawler maintenance yard. 

"The new engines are more powerful but they've a smaller footprint," Hanna said. After the engines are in 

place, Hanna said, there is a lot of work required to connect the electrical, plumbing and mechanical lines 

and installation will be completed by mid-June. The removed engines are being drained, cleaned and 

readied for transport by flatbed truck to Ransom Road where they will be resold or recycled. Hanna said 

crawler-transporter 2 is also undergoing other upgrades and modifications, including 16 higher capacity 

jacking cylinders; new roller bushings and roller shafts; upgraded electrical power system components; 

power, control and instrumentation cable replacement; and driver cab controls. Other upgrades include 

electrical control systems and programmable logic controller modernization, new instrumentation 

systems, a new belt pin lubrication system, new hydraulic valves and hydraulic tubing replacement. 

Structural shear web augmentation and corrosion control are ongoing tasks, as well. When all of the 

modifications have been completed, the crawler will be ready to carry NASA's heavy-lift rocket and other 

future space program vehicles to Launch Complex 39 for their tum to make space program history. Web 

posted. (2012). [Workers removed Apollo-era engines from crawler [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.collectspace.com/ [2012, March 1].] 

30 
+NASA's space shuttle Enterprise, which never flew in space but did pave the way for the United States' 

historic 30-year shuttle program, will arrive in New York on April 23, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space 

Museum announced on Thursday (March 1). The prototype orbiter's arrival in the Big Apple will start its 

journey to a new display at the Intrepid, a converted World War II aircraft carrier-turned-museum 

complex. Enterprise, which since 2003 has been on display at the Smithsonian National Air and Space 

Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, will be flown atop NASA's shuttle carrier aircraft, a 

Boeing 747, from Dulles Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. Weather 

permitting, the ferry flight will come less than a week after NASA's most-flown shuttle, Discovery, 

arrives at the Udvar-Hazy Center to take Enterprise's place within the Smithsonian's collection. "We are 

immensely excited about Enterprise's landing at JFK, and are readying the Intrepid/for her arrival," Susan 

Marenoff-Zausner, museum president, stated. "Introducing Enterprise to New York is a landmark 

occasion." Enterprise's final flight to New York will be the first time it has been in the air since it was 

flown to the Smithsonian in 1985. For the past two years, NASA shuttle technicians have inspected and 

prepared the orbiter to make sure it was ready for the trip from Washington, D.C. to New York City. The 

flight will mark a reunion with NASA 905, the modified Boeing 747 carrier aircraft, which first flew 

Enterprise for a series of atmospheric approach and landing tests in the late 1970s. The tests proved the 

reusable winged shuttles could return to Earth as a glider. Enterprise will stay about two months at the 

airport before being loaded onto a barge and shipped to the Intrepid. On its way down the Hudson River, 

it will pass by New York landmarks, including the Statue of Liberty and the site of the World Trade 

Center. Once at the Intrepid, Enterprise will be lifted off the barge by crane and placed onto the aircraft 

carrier's flight deck where it'll be on exhibit to the public starting this summer. Web posted. (2012). 

[Space shuttle Enterprise lands in New York City on April23 [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.collectspace.com/ [2012, March 2].] 

March 2: The Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft rolled back into their hangar in Florida on Friday, a 

day after completing a launch exercise in which cryogenic propellants were pumped inside the privatelydeveloped booster. Technicians hydraulically lowered the two-stage rocket from its launch mount 

Thursday night, and engineers planned to practice cargo loading techniques with the Dragon capsule 

Friday. SpaceX constructed a mobile access room, giving specialists a clean pathway into the Dragon 

spacecraft outside its pristine processing facility. The apparatus will permit SpaceX and NASA place 

items into the Dragon when the spacecraft is attached to its booster, just before the rocket is erected on the 

launch pad. Late cargo could include urgent spare parts, fresh food, or time-sensitive experiments. With 

the vehicle back inside the hangar at Cape Canaveral's Complex 40, SpaceX will unbolt the Dragon 

spacecraft, move it to a work stand and begin final processing before its scheduled launch to the 

International Space Station in late April. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX rocket back in hangar after cargo 

demo [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, March 2].] 

March 3: On Wednesday Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) director John Holdren 

appeared at a hearing of the Commerce, Justice and Science subcommittee of the House Appropriations 

Committee. The hearing was held in a location without webcasting capabilities, so there was limited 

coverage of the event. Those reports, though, suggest that a battle may be brewing in Congress between 

preserving the administration's requested funding for NASA's commercial crew program and restoring 

funding for the agency's Mars exploration program. Sciencelnsider reported that Holdren himself brought 

up that connection in his testimony regarding the decision to terminate NASA's participation in the joint 

ExoMars program with the European Space Agency. Holdren said the decision was one of many "tough 

choices" in the president's proposed budget for fiscal year 2013, which begins on 1 October. He said that 

NASA realized it needed $450 million more than Congress gave it this year to maintain progress on 

building a commercial crew vehicle that would replace the space shuttle in ferrying U.S. astronauts to the 

international space station. That money, Holdren said, had to come from somewhere else within NASA's 

$17.8 billion budget, which would remain flat under the president's request. Web posted. (2012). [Mars 

31 
exploration versus commercial crew? [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacepolitics.com/ [2012, 

March 3].] 

March 5: A significant amount of refurbishment work is taking place at the Kennedy Space Center 

(KSC), as the spaceport prepares to welcome the Orion spacecraft and Space Launch System (SLS) to the 

world-famous launch site. Work is taking place throughout the center, with the focus on the refurbishment 

being conducted on SLS' launch pad, Pad 39B. With the Space Shuttle orbiters now in their final phase 

of preparation for being moved to their retirement homes, the Kennedy Space Center is transitioning 

towards the new era, with SLS and Orion the centerpieces of the 21st Century spaceport effort. One of the 

largest projects involves the revitalization of the KSC Water and Wastewater Systems, which have been 

in place since the spaceport's initial construction, back during the drive towards the Apollo moon 

missions. The work- contracted to Speegle Construction II, Inc - is set to be completed in the spring of 

2013, is currently 15 percent complete, with work stretching from the V AB and Tum Basin area, along 

the crawlerway, out to both Pad 39A and 39B. This multi-phased effort will- through various · 

enhancements- improve water quality, reduce water consumption and required flushing, replace or repair 

aging pipes that are susceptible to breaks or leaks, and increase overall water and wastewater system 

reliability. These systems are vital to operations throughout the center for restrooms, food preparation, 

fire protection and sound suppression at the launch pads. Refurbishment of Pad 39B is noticeable even 

from a distance, as major work is conducted on the historic launch pad, which saw its shuttle assets 

demolished in order to allow for a "clean pad" for use by the Space Launch System (SLS)- a vehicle that 

will arrive at the pad complex via the Crawler Transporter and Mobile Launcher (ML). Work on the giant 

water tower is now in full swing, ahead of its scheduled completion date of July, 2012. The scope of 

work includes repairs to the interior of the 300,000-gallon, 285-foot elevated water tank (constructed in 

the late 1970s ), repairs to the piping system, and sandblasting and recoating of the exterior of the tank, 

piping and associated supports. However, work is also taking place on the pad itself, which remains a 

construction zone with access restricted to official business coordinated through the Pad B Operations 

Office. Web posted. (20 12). [Major KSC refurbishment work continuing ahead of SLS and Orion debuts 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/ [2012, March 5].] 

+ The March 2011 theft of the unencrypted computer was one of 5,408 cyber security incidents- many 

foreign-based- the space agency reported during the past two years, according to NASA Inspector 

General Paul Martin. The incidents, which include the installation of malicious ~oftware and 

unauthorized access to NASA systems, have caused disruptions and cost taxpayers millions in missing 

equipment and repairs. Some cases are clearly more serious than others, such as the theft of space station 

algorithms, though there's nothing to indicate the ISS was affected in any meaningful way. Kennedy 

Space Center recorded 973 incidents during 2010 and another 463 in 2011, spokesman Allard Beutel 

wrote in an email. He described them "as minor as someone receiving/reporting a suspicious e-mail, or as 

significant as a machine/ phone being reported stolen or confirmed infected with a virus or mal ware." 

Beutel said the "overwhelming majority" of these threats don't specifically target KSC or NASA. Most, 

he wrote, are the result of having a large number of computers in use daily and the wide range of Internet 

services delivered or accessed as part of the agency's multiple missions. Beutel said many of the cyber 

security issues involved employees who visited websites with infected links or ads, or received emails 

that linked to malicious code. "Many of these issues are identical to what virtually every user of the 

Internet faces daily," he said. Beutel attributed the substantial drop in cyber security incidents in 2011 to 

increased employee training, more aggressive patching of IT systems, and improved blocking of access to 

dangerous websites. Martin said the agency's vulnerability stems from two issues: It's a high-profile 

target that generates plenty of sought-after data, and it offers potential hackers a wide array of entry 

points. NASA manages approximately 3,400 websites- nearly half of all the federal government's nondefense sites -and is home to some 176,000 individual email addresses. Its assets include 550 

information systems that control spacecraft, collect and process scientific data, and enable NASA to 

interact with colleagues and researchers in other agencies and universities around the globe, according to 

32 
Martin. Web posted. (2012). [NASA cybersystems under attack [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, March 5].] 

+ By the end of this year, NASA's space shuttles will be in their new homes. Recently, the shuttles were 

on the move as part of the transition and retirement (T&R) activities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in 

Florida. On Feb. 1, NASA Vehicle Manager forT &R Bart Pannullo watched as shuttle Endeavour was 

backed out of the Vehicle Assembly Building (V AB) and towed to Orbiter Processing Facility-2 (OPF-2). 

The next day, shuttle Atlantis made an appearance outside the V AB as it was towed from the V AB 

transfer aisle into high bay 4 for temporary storage. Atlantis is being prepared for public display at the 

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in 2013. "It's been two beautiful days here for these operations 

and seeing people I haven't seen in a while," Pannullo said. "I'm not taking these events for granted." 

Endeavour was moved to OPF-2 so that technicians can continue to prepare it for display. The shuttle will 

remain in the OPF until it is ready to be ferried to the California Science Center in Los Angeles in the fall. 

Once inside the facility, Endeavour was leveled and safed. Then, water and Freon from lines in the 

shuttle's midbody were offloaded. The orbital maneuvering system (OMS) pods and forward reaction 

control system (FRCS) were delivered to the Hazardous Maintenance Facility (HMF) on Feb. 6 from 

White Sands, N.M. The FRCS was uncrated and transported to OPF-2 on the same day and was installed 

on Endeavour on Feb. 8. The OMS pods remain at the HMF and are scheduled to be installed on 

Endeavour in March. Pannullo said that while Atlantis is in the V AB, technicians will be working in the 

aft compartment to remove components that may be used in future programs, as well as continuing to safe 

the spacecraft. Future work on Atlantis includes reinstallation of its FRCS and OMS pods once it is 

moved back to the OPF in late March. Replica Shuttle Main Engines also will be installed, and sating of 

the pyrotechnic systems will be completed. Atlantis then will be configured for its display site, and 

prepared for its short trip to the visitor complex just down the road in early 2013. Web posted. (20 12). 

[Historic Shuttles to Arrive at Permanent Homes by Year's End [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.nasa.gov/ [2012, March 5].] 

+ The director of a local nonprofit established recently to manage science research on the International 

Space Station's National Lab has resigned. Jeanne Becker cited unrealistic expectations and concerns 

about a business relationship with a consultant that could threaten nonprofit status for the Center for the 

Advancement of Science in Space, or CAS IS. Formed by Space Florida and selected by NASA last year 

to take over management of non-NASA research at the space station, CASIS is headquartered at Kennedy 

Space Center's Space Life Sciences Lab. Space Florida had partnered with consultant ProOrbis to 

promote a CASIS management concept that sought to increase commercial benefit from microgravity 

research performed on the station. According to Becker's Feb. 29 resignation letter, the CASIS board 

pursued an ongoing business partnership with ProOrbis despite a legal opinion saying such an 

arrangement could endanger the organization's nonprofit status. In a separate statement, ProOrbis 

officials said potential conflicts of interest had been "satisfactorily addressed," and they "remain 

committed to the vitally important mission of CAS IS to serve the interests of the nation." Web posted. 

(2012). [Director ofKSC-based ISS nonprofit group resigns [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, March 5].] 

+The U.S. Air Force's second X-37B space plane marked one year in orbit Monday, continuing its 

clandestine mission more than 200 miles above Earth. The robotic spacecraft's purpose is secret, but Air 

Force officials acknowledge the vehicle is performing well one year after it blasted off on a United 

Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket on March 5, 2011. "We are very pleased with the results of the on-going 

X-37B experiments," said Lt. Col. Tom Mclntyre,X-37B program director in the Air Force's Rapid 

Capabilities Office. "The X-37B program is setting the standard for a reusable space plane and, on this 

one-year orbital milestone, has returned great value on the experimental investment." The X-37B space 

plane, also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, features an unpressurized cargo bay about the size of the 

33 
bed of a pickup truck. The Air Force has not disclosed its contents, only saying the mission is 

experimenting with the spacecraft, which is flying on its second mission. Web posted. (2012). [U.S. Air 

Force space plane marks one year in orbit [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ 

[2012, March 5).] 

March 7: NASA joins the Space Coast Stadium in Viera, Fla., to celebrate Space Day on Thursday, 

March 8. Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals spring training game with the Houston Astros 

will start offwith a blast as Bob Cabana, director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center.· in Florida, throws 

the first pitch at 1:30 p.m. EST. Kennedy will have a booth at the stadium where representatives will 

highlight some of the contributions the space agency has made to sports, transportation and everyday life. 

A full-scale test version ofNASA's new Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle also will be located outside 

the stadium to show the public the spacecraft that will take astronauts farther into space than ever before. 

["NASA Celebrates Space Day With the Space Coast Stadium," NASA Media Advisory #M18-12, 

March 7, 2012.] 

March 8: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has put together an excellent video featuring scientist Don 

Yeomans explaining why most of the doomsday scenarios simply won't come to pass. It starts, of course; 

by debunking the myth that the Mayan calendar ends on Dec. 21, 2012. It doesn't. It then goes on to 

cover some of the common apocalyptic scenarios being dangled about, including the Earth being struck 

by a rogue planet, a solar flare destroying Earth, or a magnetic polar shift. Web posted. (2012). [NASA 

Scientist explains why the world won't end in 2012 [Online]. Available WWW: http://www. forbes.com/ 

[2012, March 8].] 

March 11: SpaceX and NASA are in advanced discussions for the private space firm to use Kennedy 

Space Center's pad 39A, one of the spaceport's Apollo and space shuttle launch sites, as the Florida base 

for its Falcon Heavy rocket, officials said. NASA and SpaceX are studying how to assemble and launch 

Falcon Heavy rockets from pad 39A, including adding a facility to horizontally integrate the launcher's 

core stage, two strap-on boosters and upper stage, according to William Hill, assistant deputy associate 

administrator for NASA's exploration systems division. With 28 liquid-fueled core, booster and upper 

stage engines, the Falcon Heavy rocket is a behemoth booster designed to launch human and robotic 

exploration missions, massive U.S. military satellites, and huge payloads for commercial clients at 

competitive prices. Its first demonstration launch from California is scheduled for 2013. SpaceX plans to 

piece the rocket together on its side, then roll it to the launch pad and lift it vertical before liftoff. Fully 

fueled and assembled for launch, the Falcon Heavy will weigh 3.1 million pounds and stand 227 feet tall, 

according to SpaceX. "KSC did an assessment of options for SpaceX to consider relative to their nonexclusive use of pad 39A," said Michael Braukus, a NASA spokesperson, in an email to Spaceflight Now. 

"KSC is currently in a second round of more detailed discussion; however, no decisions have been made 

by either NASA or SpaceX at this time." The space agency has been looking to tum over some of its 

mothballed shuttle infrastructure to commercial programs, and one of the space center's three orbiter 

hangars will be home of final assembly and testing for a Boeing crew capsule bidding to ferry astronauts 

to the International Space Station. Part of the Vehicle Assembly Building, the shuttle's mobile launch 

platforms, and the KSC runway are also available to commercial entities. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX 

eyes shuttle launch pad for heavy-lift rocket [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, March 11].] 

March 12: The 30th Atlas 5 rocket began taking shape Monday as United Launch Alliance technicians 

hoisted the giant first stage onto the mobile launching platform for next month's mission to deploy an 

ultra-secure U.S. government communications satellite. At the Vertical Integration Facility adjacent to 

Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 launch pad, the stacking operations got underway to assemble the vehicle 

for its planned April 27 blastoff carrying the second Advanced Extremely High Frequency spacecraft. 

34 
Web posted. (2012). [Atlas 5 being stacked for its next U.S. military launch [Online). Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, March 12].] 

March 13: Space Shuttle Discovery, the oldest and most distinguished orbiter in the NASA shuttle fleet, 

has finished preparations for its final trip to The Smithsonian Institution's National Air & Space 

Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, VA. The shuttle, wrapped around a massive structure of 

. scaffolding, sat inside Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 1 (OFP-1) for final inspection and modifications 

before its ferry flight to DC. The last remaining tasks before closeout involved detail work inside the rear 

of the space craft. Where the three engines would normally be exposed are now covered by a white tail 

cone, a sign of the ferry flight soon to come. It will be no easy task to ferry the shuttles to their final 

destinations. Typically, any ferry flights that occurred during the 30 year span of the shuttle program 

came from California to Florida. For Discovery, it will mate at Florida's Kennedy Space Center and 

demate at Dulles International Airport in Virginia. Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle Discovery goes to 

Washington [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.washingtontimes.com/ [2012, March 13].] 

+ The Community Redevelopment Agency approved half the money requested for the Space Shuttle 

Monument Project on Tuesday. The US Space Walk of Fame Foundation requested $50,000, but the 

CRA, mostly made up of the city council, voted 5-1 to approve half the money to the project and deferred 

the decision for the remaining amount. Charlie Mars, president of the US Space Walk of Fame 

Foundation, said project could be completed within a year with full funding. Web posted. (2012). [Space 

Shuttle Monument Project granted half of required funding [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, March 13].] 

+ SpaceX today announced plans for two more launches of commercial communications satellites from 

Cape Canaveral by 2015. Two Falcon 9 rocket launches will deploy up to four telecommunications 

satellites in geosynchronous orbits for launch partners Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS) and Satelites 

Mexicanos (Satmex). "This announcement marks SpaceX's first launch contract in Mexico," SpaceX 

CEO Elon Musk said in a statement. "It is also the second launch contract in Asia that we have signed in 

the last month." SpaceX, of Hawthorne, Calif., said the deal's first launch was expected in late 2014 or 

early 2015, and the second in the fourth quarter of2015. The company last month announced plans for 

two launches from the Cape in 2014 for Asia Satellite Telecommunications Company Ltd. Web posted. 

(2012). [SpaceX announces 2 more launches from Cape Canaveral [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, March 13].] 

+Patty Stratton, Associate Program Manager at United Space Alliance (USA), has been selected by the 

National Space Club Florida Committee to receive its 2012 Dr. Kurt H. Debus Award. Stratton will be 

honored at the Debus Award Dinner on Saturday, April21, 2011. The formal event, which begins at 6:30 

pm, will be held at the Debus Conference Facility at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Visitor Complex. 

"The Space Club is proud to honor Patty for this esteemed award," said National Space Club Chair Steve 

Griffin. "She has over 30 years of service to our nation's space program and in her most recent role she 

directed integration of all USA Space Shuttle processing activities and oversaw 3,800 employees. Patty's 

dedication and influence was key to the Shuttle Program success." The Debus Award was created by the 

National Space Club Florida Committee to recognize significant achievements and contributions made in 

Florida to American aerospace efforts. It is named for KSC's first Director, Dr. Kurt H. Debus. Web 

posted. (2012). [Stratton to Receive Prestigious Debus Award [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.nscfl.org/ [2012, March 13].] 

March 14: Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) and United Launch Alliance (ULA) are 

probing NASA for details about using space shuttle launch infrastructure at the Kennedy Space Center in 

Florida, a senior agency official said. "NASA has responded to one request by SpaceX and is in the 

35 
process of responding to a second data/information request," Bill Hill, NASA associate administrator for 

space shuttle operations, said in a March 13 statement. SpaceX is interested in Launch Complex 39A, 

from which the final shuttle missions launched. The pad was also to be the launch site for the Ares rockets 

NASA was developing under the canceled Constellation program. Pad 39A "is one of the options we are 

considering for both Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy launches, but it depends on being awarded more 

launches from NASA," SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Grantham said. Hill also said NASA has received 

requests for information and data about Pad 39A from "other potential commercial users." United Launch 

Alliance, the Denver-based Boeing and Lockheed Martin joint venture, is the only other U.S. launch 

provider with rockets big enough to require use of the space shuttle facilities. "We have been in 

discussions with NASA about using former space shuttle infrastructure, and those discussions are 

ongoing," ULA spokeswoman Jessica Rye told Space News March 12. She declined to provide details 

about either ULA's queries to NASA or the agency's response. Neither SpaceX nor ULA has yet reached 

any agreement with NASA concerning Pad 39A, the companies said. NASA has been trying to find 

alternate uses for old shuttle support infrastructure at Kennedy Space Center since before the space shuttle 

flew its last mission last summer. The planned Space Launch System, a heavy-lift rocket NASA is 

building for future deep-space missions, would launch from Pad 39A, but NASA wants the site to support 

multiple customers. Web posted. (2012). SpaceX, United Launch Alliance Eye Shuttle Launch Pad 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, March 14].] 

March 15: A new Headquarters building is set to rise from the ground at the Kennedy Space Center 

(KSC), a building which is part of the overall revamp of the Florida spaceport. While the noise of 

spacecraft being launched from KSC won't be heard again until at least 2014, the sound of construction is 

already ringing out, as KSC prepares to launch both NASA and commercial vehicles. Preparations for the 

post Space Shuttle era began even while the orbiters were completing their final role of assembling the 

International Space Station (ISS). Although work at Pad 39B was in relation to the now defunct 

Constellation Program (CxP), the follow on program- centered around the Space Launch System (SLS)-

benefited from the head start, as the 600 feet tall Lightning Towers rose from the ground, not long before 

the Shuttle pad's infrastructure was raised to the ground. With a "clean pad" now residing at 39B- and 

the remaining shuttle pad mothballed at Pad 39A- KSC is in a position to not only launch NASA's new 

SLS vehicle, but also commercial vehicles, either from the clean pad or via 39A- the latter likely to be 

transferred to "Space Florida"- the State's aerospace economic development agency- ownership in the 

not too distant future. This work also stretches back from the pads, down the crawlerway and through to 

the industrial area, all part ofKSC's transition to a multi-user facility. "It is very challenging making the 

transition from a government program focused primarily on a single crewed spacecraft to a multi-user 

program," noted Trey Carlson, Master Planner for KSC in an interview with NASA.gov this week. "At 

the same time, we must be careful not to preclude any future uses with decisions that are being made 

today." Moving past the renovation work taking place on the launch infrastructure, this week saw the 

announcement of the plan to build a new headquarters building, to be carried out in two major phases, to 

.become the cornerstone for the Central Campus area. This new building will become an iconic site, 

backdropped by the massive Vehicle Assembly Building (V AB), for workers and visitors arriving at the 

spaceport by the middle of this decade. The work on the Central Campus will enable demolition of 

approximately 900,000 square feet of physical plant in the Industrial Area while rebuilding only about 

450,000 square feet. Between the 50 percent reduction in foot print and the considerably lower costs 

associated with the operation and maintenance of the new energy efficient facilities, KSC will save in the 

order of $400 million over the next 40 years. "We're going to see a dramatic return on investment with 

new facilities," Mr Carlson added. "With a constrained budget forecast we owe it to ourselves to look at 

options of how to operate the Center in a more sustainable manner." Located between the current HQ 

building and the Operations & Checkout (O&C) building on D Avenue, Central Campus Phase 1 will be a 

200,000 square foot facility that consolidates shared services, data centers, and office space in the 

Industrial Area. Central Campus Phase 2 is a 150,000 square foot facility that will be integrated to the east 

side of Phase 1 and provides additional office space. When Phase 2 begins, the current HQ Building will 

36 
be demolished. The Central Campus project was originally planned for implementation in four phases 

over eight years starting in FY20 12. The plan included replacement and consolidation of ten buildings in 

the Industrial Area and a complete gut-and-renovate of the O&C South Wing, a process which has 

already taken place on the North Wing in preparation for the future KSC programs. The phase 1 building 

is scheduled to begin construction in September, 2013, which would allow for a completion date of 

March, 2015. Web posted. (2012). [KSC's revamp to include new centerpiece HQ building on Central 

Campus [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/ [2012, March 15].] 

+ United Technologies Corp. (UTC) of Hartford, Conn., said March 15 it intends to sell its rocketpropulsion business, Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne specializes in rocket 

propulsion and space power systems. Based in Canoga Park, Calif., with major facilities in West Palm 

Beach, Fla., the company makes the RL-10 upper stage engines used on United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 

and Delta 4 rockets as well as the Delta 4's RS-68 main engine. Rocketdyne is also working on the J-2X 

upper stage engine for NASA's planned heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS). NASA has scheduled 

two SLS flights so far: one in 2017 and one in 2021. Neither mission calls for an SLS stack that includes 

a J-2X. The possible sale ofRocketdyne, whose business suffered following the retirement of NASA's 

space shuttle, has been rumored for months. Rocketdyne built and maintained the main engines used on 

the space shuttle fleet. Web posted. (2012). [Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne Up for Sale[Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, March 15].] 

+ The honor flag which flew on the final space shuttle mission, STS-135, aboard shuttle Atlantis, was at 

the funeral of slain Brevard County Sheriffs. Office deputy Barbara Ann Pill. Pill was shot and killed 

during a traffic stop of two alleged suspects. Web posted. (2012). [Honor Flag Flown on Final Shuttle 

Mission at Funeral of Slain Deputy[ Online]. Available WWW: http://www.americaspace.org/ [2012, 

March 15].] 

+ The launch of the first commercially built space capsule to the International Space Station will occur 

at the end of April, NASA officials announced today. California-based Space Exploration Technologies 

(SpaceX) is now aiming to launch its unmanned Dragon spacecraft on a demonstration flight to the 

orbiting outpost at 12:22 p.m. EDT (1622 GMT) on April30, the agency confirmed today via Twitter. 

This test flight was originally slated to occur in early February, but the mission was delayed to allow extra 

time to test the spacecraft and its software. The Dragon capsule will launch atop SpaceX's own Falcon 9 

rocket and, if successful, will be the first privately built spacecraft ever to rendezvous and dock with the 

International Space Station. The flight, which represents a crucial step forward for the commercial 

spaceflight industry, is designed to test the robotic spacecraft's ability to haul cargo to the orbiting 

complex. Web posted. (2012). [First Commercial Spaceship to Launch to Space Station April30[0nline]. 

Available WWW: http://www.space.com/ [2012, March 15].] 

March 16: United Launch Alliance donated $2,500 to the US Space Walk of Fame Foundation today in 

. Titusville to help preserve the history of the space industry. Jerry Jamison, vice president of launch 

operations for ULA, presented the check to Charlie Mars, president of the Space Walk of Fame 

Foundation. The US Space Walk of Fame is a monument park on the Indian River that honors astronauts 

and personnel that worked on American manned space projects. The foundation is also responsible for the 

US Space Walk of Fame Museum on 4 Main St. "The history they have collected at the museum takes us 

back to the very roots of our space industry," Jamison said. "The community needs to preserve this 

history." Web posted. (2012). [ULA donates $2,500 to US Space Walk of Fame Foundation [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, March 16].] 

+ Launch ofNASA's NuSTAR space observatory is going into an extended delay while engineers 

continue working on the Pegasus rocket software and await the next available opportunity in the U.S. 

37 
military's flight range in the remote Pacific. The Flight Readiness Review was held Thursday with 

officials at the Kwajalein Atoll launch site, the Pegasus rocket's homeport at Vandenberg Air Force Base 

in California and Kennedy Space Center where NASA manages the deployment mission. But that 

meeting concluded with the decision to postpone the launch from the no-earlier-than end-of-March 

timeframe. "The delay will allow additional time to assure that the flight software to be used with a new 

Pegasus flight computer will issue commands to the rocket as intended," NASA said in a statement. "The 

time required to complete the work moves the launch period beyond the timeframe currently available on 

the range at the launch site." NASA is working with officials at the Reagan Test Site on Kwajalein Atoll 

to determine a new launch opportunity. That next slot "is anticipated to be within the next couple of 

months," the NASA statement read. Web posted. (2012). [Circumstances cause long delay for Pegasus 

launch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, March 16].] 

March 17: Kennedy Space Center on Friday alerted about 2,300 employees that personal information, 

including their Social Security numbers, was put at risk by the theft of an employee's laptop computer 

earlier this month. A NASA human resources employee reported the laptop stolen from a car outside 

their Orange County home on March 5. By March 14, the center realized many more personnel were 

affected and more personal information was accessible than originally thought, according to Allard 

Beutel, a spokesman for Kennedy Space Center. In addition to Social Security numbers, the information 

included names, race, national origin, gender, date of birth, contact information, college affiliation and 

grade-point average. Beutel said email notification was sent Friday to about 2,300 civil servants and 

student interns- virtually the center's entire non-contractor workforce- and letters would follow in the 

mail. The email said there was no evidence the information had been abused and the "probability' is low" 

that it would be, because the computer was password-protected, and the information was not believed to 

be the reason for the laptop theft. "However, we cannot say with certainty the (personal information) is 

safe," the e-mail said. As a precaution, NASA will offer the employees a year's worth of identity and 

credit-monitoring provided by Idexperts. A "breach response team" is also evaluating IT security policies 

to prevent repeat incidents, and all employees received notices reminding them to protect mobile 

equipment. "More preventative actions and 'lessons learned' are expected to follow in the coming days 

and weeks to help stop this from happening again," said Beutel. Web posted. (2012). [KSC employees 

warned over effects of laptop theft [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

March 17].] 

March 18: With Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery buttoned up in the Vehicle Assembly Building (V AB) 

ahead of her flight to her retirement home, and with Enterprise ready to make way for Discovery and head 

to her new display site, the Shuttle team at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is focused on finishing 

Transition and Retirement (T &R) work for Atlantis and Endeavour. Atlantis and Endeavour are back in 

the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) after a series of moves back and forth between the OPF and V AB 

since they returned from their final delivery missions to the International Space Station (ISS) last year. 

Atlantis was recently moved back into OPF Bay 1, while Endeavour has been back in OPF Bay 2 since 

February 1. One of the OPF bays, OPF Bay 3, was released from Shuttle processing work last yearallowing it to be converted for use by Boeing and their CST -100 spacecraft -which meant a return to 

earlier times, when there were more orbiters than available OPF bays to process them. "And that was a 

question when we first started discussing the ability to tum over OPF-3 before we were done with all the 

vehicles," Stephanie Stilson, NASA Flow Director for Orbiter Transition and Retirement, noted during an 

extensive question and answer session with the media while Discovery and Atlantis were trading places 

on March 9. There are plans to do the same refit operation with OPF Bay 1 - as the Kennedy Space 

Center (KSC) moves forward with its dual use (NASA and Commercial) transition- which means that 

Atlantis will make one more trip to the VAB. "Atlantis will go back to the Vehicle Assembly Building 

for another period of time of storage," Ms Stilson said, "and that's because of our goal to tum over OPF-1 

as soon as we can to that new customer. "I don't know who that is, but there is a new customer. So 

Atlantis will spend some time in the Vehicle Assembly Building, we'll do work while it's there and then 

38 
bring it back into the OPF before it goes out to the Visitors Complex." Atlantis is currently scheduled to 

make that trip down Kennedy Parkway to the Visitors Complex in November. Web posted. (2012). 

[Engineers preparing Atlantis and Endeavour for the end ofT&R ops [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .nasaspaceflight.com/ [20 12, March 18].] 

March 19: A small but visible sign of the times occurred Saturday at Kennedy Space Center's launch 

pad 39A when technicians removed the seven slidewire baskets that were part of the emergency escape 

system for space shuttle astronauts. The baskets were released from the from the 195-foot level of pad's 

service tower to travel down the wires to the landing zone 1 ,200 feet to the west for the final time. The 

baskets are being put in storage. A braking system catch net and drag chain slowed and then halted the 

baskets sliding down the wire approximately 55 miles per hour in about half a minute. The baskets were 

the heart of the pad evacuation plan if an emergency arose. Crews would have egressed the orbiter, 

hurried to the other side of the tower and hopped into the carriers to be whisked off the launch gantry and 

down to the ground bunker. Each basket could hold up to three suited astronauts. Web posted. (2012). 

[Escape baskets for shuttle crews removed from pad [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .nasaspaceflight.com/ [20 12, March 18].] 

+It's natural for people dealing with post-layoff issues to be bitter and point out flaws in the organization 

they left behind. The people who've left the space shuttle team are no different. One of their recurring 

complaints about NASA is thafthe contractor work force was gutted, but the people who worked for the 

government have kept their jobs. An analysis last year of federal government payroll data by USA Today 

showed that NASA had among the lowest percentages of people laid off or fired among all federal 

agencies. In the shuttle's final year of flight, the agency had just 13 people let go out of a nationwide 

work force of almost 19,000 people. There is some downsizing this year. Some people are voluntarily 

moving on or retiring, and those jobs are not all necessarily being refilled as NASA adjusts for the future. 

KSC Director Robert Cabana last week mentioned a reduction in the center's NASA staff of about 50 

people. That was focused in center operations, which basically is the more generic administrative support 

function for a center. That's an area NASA is trying to streamline nationwide and makes sense at a place 

like KSC. While the government work force is about the same size as during shuttle, the total number of 

people moving around the center doing things every day is about half what it was. NASA still has a 

relatively flat budget, with the same amount of money being spent on the same kinds of projects, but 

they're different ones, and new contractors are being hired. NASA hired the United Space Alliance to 

operate its space shuttle fleet day to day. After years of service, NASA shut down the shuttle program that 

was the company's primary reason to exist. So, most of the company's workers were no longer needed 

after closing flights last year. A few are left preparing the orbiters for museums. USA workers made up a 

huge portion of the shuttle work force, much larger than their NASA-employed counterparts. Those folks 

are still needed by NASA to work on other programs, basically on whatever comes next. So the agency 

has identified its priorities, assigned projects to centers, and workers within the agency were assigned to 

them. To pick onone guy, Ed Mango, once a leader in the shuttle orbiter projects office for the 

government side at NASA, isn't needed to do that work anymore. However, Ed is a smart, talented 

spaceflight veteran and NASA is still in the space-flight business. One of the agency's priorities now is 

overseeing and coordinating the agency's work with private companies on the initiative to develop 

commercial space vehicles to take astronauts from Florida to the International Space Station. Mango leads 

the commercial crew project office, headquartered at Kennedy Space Center. That's what his employer, 

NASA, needed him to do next. Contractors do the same. Web posted. (2012). [NASA moves contractor 

jobs as needed [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, March 19].] 

March 21: Lawmakers from Florida's 24th House seat, which includes Kennedy Space Center, have a 

long tradition of endorsing reduced federal spending- while doing their best to guard NASA dollars. In 

keeping with that practice, U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams, R-Orlando, this week wrote House appropriators and 

39 
asked that they protect spending for several NASA initiatives that would help KSC. These include plans 

to modernize KSC facilities, build new space taxis and construct a crew capsule that one day could take 

astronauts to a moon or nearby asteroid. "With our nation's debt topping $15 trillion it is imperative that 

Congress stops spending at its reckless rate. I sent a letter to members of the House Appropriations 

Committee Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies to request that they 

prioritize NASA's funding so it can continue its core missions, while still reflecting the need for fiscal 

discipline in our federal spending," Adams said in a statement. The White House has proposed a $17.7 

billion budget for NASA in 2013. Web posted. (2012). [Adams spells out NASA wish list [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, March 21].] 

March 22: Concerned about the design of some propulsion system components in its Dragon capsule, 

SpaceX engineers turned to a small NASA team for advice. The so-called Partner Integration Team, one 

of seven assigned to work with each of the companies developing commercial crew vehicles, put SpaceX 

in touch with the right NASA expert. The connection helped "get us to solution in at timely manner," said 

Garrett Reisman, head of SpaceX's program to upgrade the Dragon for human spaceflight. NASA is 

counting on such collaboration to speed the development of private space taxis and restore America's 

ability to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station. While independent safety advisers 

recognized the important role the NASA partner teams will play as the Commercial Crew program 

progresses- company proposals for a third round of NASA funding are due Friday- they also raised 

concern that government officials could get too cozy with their commercial partners. "It will be 

important to ensure that the tendency to 'over-identify' with the contractor does not result in a lack of 

objectivity by the NASA representative," the Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel wrote in its annual report. 

While supporting the companies, the teams also act as a front line for the agency to monitor work and flag 

concerns. The panel recommended NASA rotate team members so "a fresh set of eyes are always 

protecting the government's interest." After working together for barely a year, NASA team leaders and 

their commercial counterparts don't anticipate problems. "Our religion is not to get SpaceX up there," 

said Jon Cowart, a Kennedy Space Center engineer who leads the team assigned to the Hawthorne, Calif., 

company. "Ours is to get the right people doing a good, safe job up there." The partnerships reflect a new 

way of doing business for a major NASA program, as early development of commercially operated 

rockets and spacecraft for human spaceflight proceeds under non-traditional contracts called Space Act 

Agreements. The arrangement means NASA can't dictate vehicle designs or tell the companies how to 

solve a particular problem, but can only discuss past experience dealing with similar issues during its 

decades of spaceflight. Like teachers working with students, NASA can provide information but never 

answers, said Scott Thurston, the KSC manager overseeing the partner teams. If a partner asks for 

specific help; as SpaceX did with its Dragon propulsion system, it pays NASA for the work under 

separate agreements. Web posted. (2012). [Safety group warns NASA's Commercial Crew adviser teams 

to stay objective [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, March 22].] 

March 23: NASA expects to order launches for three Earth science missions by the end of the summer, 

and United Launch Alliance (ULA) looks like the strongest contender for the job with its medium-lift 

Delta 2 rocket, an agency official said. NASA sent a request for proposals to its current stable of 

approved launch services providers- ULA, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), Orbital 

Sciences Corp. and Lockheed Martin Corp. -in early February seeking bids for three missions: Soil 

Moisture Active-Passive, Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 and the Joint Polar Satellite System-1. 

Proposals are due AprilS, with the launches taking place from 2014-2017. Steve Volz, associate director 

of flight programs in NASA's Earth Science Division, said only two of the approved NASA Launch 

Services 2 vendors, ULA and SpaceX, currently have rockets that meet the agency's criteria. But he said 

the limited flight heritage of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket- two successes in two launches, with a third 

slated for April 30- puts it at a disadvantage. "Right now, the two possible proposals ... are the Delta 2 

from ULA and the SpaceX Falcon 9," Volz told the NASA Advisory Council during a March 21 meeting 

here. "Delta 2 can bid, and they're certified; it's easy. Falcon 9, they may bid, but they haven't been 

40 
certified, so there's a risk on those." The Delta 2, which for years was the most reliable vehicle in the U.S. 

fleet, is out of production, but ULA has five of the vehicles remaining for sale. ULA spokeswoman 

Jessica Rye confirmed March 22 that the company will be bidding the Delta 2 for the NASA contract. 

SpaceX spokeswoman Kirstin Grantham said March 22 that her company will bid for at least a share of 

the work. "We are submitting a certification plan with our proposal," she said. While Volz was skeptical 

that Falcon 9 could achieve NASA certification in time to launch any of the three upcoming missions, the 

vehicle is "likely to be a viable contender" for Earth science missions "that launch in 2018, 2019, 2020." 

Jim Norman, director of the NASA Launch Services Program, said in a March 22 email that the launch 

solicitation is open to rockets that "will meet (at minimum) Category 2 certification" requirements. Those 

requirements call for one to three successful flights and a raft of NASA reviews. NASA previously had 

given the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 launch contract to Orbital, but rescinded the award after an 

Orbital-built Taurus XL failure destroyed NASA's Glory climate-monitoring satellite last March. An 

earlier Taurus XL failure destroyed the original Orbiting Carbon Observatory craft. NASA has looked at 

using the U.S. Air Force Minotaur 4 rocket, assembled by Orbital using excess missile stages, but Volz 

said the agency is unlikely to go that route. The Delta 2 last launched in October, when it delivered the 

Suomi NPP climate and weather satellite to orbit. Web posted. (2012). [Delta 2 Seen as Front-runner for 

3-Launch NASA Contract [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, March 23].] 

March 24: Space Florida and the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium sponsored the first Space 

Flight Payloads Workshop at the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa, Florida this week. The high-tech 

conference started with a Skype cell phone call from Dr. Alan Stem, director of the Florida Space 

Institute. His opening comments served to welcome guests to the workshop. Fourteen companies & 

universities pitched their products in hopes of having customers purchase sub-orbital time in space. 

Starfighters which is based at Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) utilizes F1 04 aircraft to deliver payloads. This air show act turned payload delivery system has already begun 

working with Star Lab and 4Frontiers Corp to launch payloads to sub orbit via the same delivery systemthat launched missiles at enemy aircraft in years gone by. NASA sent representatives working on the 

NASA Flight Opportunities Program to encourage attendees to continue to bring their concepts and ideas 

to the space agency. "We are very excited to hear their ideas once they have their technical information in 

order," said Nancy Zeitlin with NASA. "We will then work to see their concepts are channeled to the 

right agency for partnership agreements- as no single organization will be able to do it alone." Web 

posted. (2012). [Payloads Workshop Highlights Commercial Space Efforts [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.americaspace.com/ [2012, March 22].] 

March 27: After several delays, NASA has launched five rockets from Virginia that are part of a study 

of the upper level jet stream. The rockets began blasting off just before 5 a.m. Tuesday from NASA's 

space center on Wallops Island. Bad weather had postponed other planned launches last week. The 

Anomalous Transport Rocket Experiment (ATREX) will help scientists understandthejet stream, which 

is located 60 to 65 miles above Earth's surface. After launching, the rockets released a chemical tracer to 

form white clouds that allowed scientists and the public to visualize the winds. A NASA news release 

says the launches and clouds were reportedly seen from as far south as Wilmington, N.C.; west to 

Charleston, W.Va.; and north to Buffalo, N.Y. Web posted. (2012). [NASA launches suborbital rockets 

from space center on Virginia coast [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, 

March 27].] 

+NASA's activities in social media were recognized on Monday in New York when the agency's official 

Twitter feed, @NASA, received a Shorty Award for the best government use of social media. The Shorty 

Awards honor the best of social media across sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, 

Foursquare and others. NASA's nomination cited multiple aspects of the agency's social-media efforts, 

including the popular Angry Birds in Space game and encouragement of science among young people. 

41 
Web posted. (2012). [NASA's Twitter Account Receives Shorty Award [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceref.com/ [2012, March 27].] 

March 29: Billionaire JeffBezos, the founder of Amazon.com, says he has discovered massive Saturn 5 

rocket engines on the Atlantic Ocean floor east of Florida, capturing the attention of NASA and space 

enthusiasts. Using sonar, a team funded by the business magnate located the F-1 rocket engines from the 

Apollo 11 moon landing mission lying 14,000 feet under the sea, according to Bezos. He said they plan to 

raise at least one of the engines from the ocean floor. The five F -1 engines on the Saturn 5's first stage 

collectively produced 7.5 million pounds of thrust and burned for nearly 3 minutes. The first stage was 

supposed to fall back into the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles east of Cape Canaveral, Fla. Apollo 11 

launched from the Kennedy Space Center on July 16, 1969. Four days later, Neil Armstrong and Buzz 

Aldrin became the first humans to land on the moon. "Though they've been on the ocean floor for a long 

time, the engines remain the property of NASA," Bezos wrote. "If we are able to recover one of these F-1 

engines that started mankind on its first journey to another heavenly body, I imagine that NASA would 

decide to make it available to the Smithsonian for all to see." NASA spokesperson Bob Jacobs said the 

agency foresees no problems with Bezos's plan. Bezos sent NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden an email 

detailing his work. The Atlantic Ocean east of Cape Canaveral is littered with rocket debris from 

hundreds of launches since the 1950s. Thousands of rocket boosters, engines and pieces of hardware have 

fallen into the sea since the dawn ofthe space program. Another private firm recovered Liberty Bell 7, a 

sunken Mercury capsule, from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in 1999. Liberty Bell 7's escape hatch 

blew open after splashing down following a 15-minute suborbital flight in 1961. Web posted. (2012). 

[NASA sees no problem recovering Apollo engines [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, March 29].] 

+ Two lawmakers are asking the investigative arm of Congress to look into the Brevard nonprofit 

organization NASA hired to manage the International Space Station's national lab following the abrupt 

resignation of its executive director. Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards, a Democrat, and California Rep. 

Dana Rohrabacher, a Republican, said they would like the Government Accountability Office to examine 

whether the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, or CASIS, is prepared to fulfill the contract 

it received to coordinate non-NASA research on the station. "It would be a great idea for us to request a 

look at the center's operations because, for me, the resignation of the executive director and the problems 

that she highlighted are really troubling," Edwards said during a hearing Wednesday of the House 

Science, Space and Technology Committee. A spokesman for the center, which was started by Space 

Florida and began operations about six months ago at Kennedy Space Center, said it would welcome 

GAO scrutiny. The center's first executive director, Jeanne Becker, resigned Feb. 29, citing concerns 

about conflicts of interest and political pressure. The center's board, comprised of Space Florida officials, 

acknowledged disputes over the pace and direction ofCASIS' early work, and named Jim Royston, 

director of strategy and planning, to replace Becker on an interim basis. The change in leadership already 

has drawn the notice of NASA, which sent a letter to the board last week reminding them of contract 

obligations CASIS is supposed to meet. "We have objective milestones that we've asked them to meet 

(and) to give us an extra assurance that they can actually meet those in light of the uncertainties and the 

problems that they've had during startup," William Gerstenmaier, associate NASA administrator of the 

Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, told lawmakers. NASA spokesman David 

Weaver said Wednesday the agency was eager to review and validate the response it had received from 

CASIS to Gerstenmaier's letter. Web posted. (2012). [Lawmakers want GAO to keep eye on Brevard's 

CASIS [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, March 29].] 

+NASA's commercial crew program came under fire Wednesday from lawmakers who questioned its 

price tag, its long-term viability and the decision to provide companies hundreds of millions of dollars to 

develop the rockets and spacecraft that will send astronauts and cargo to the International Space Station 

42 
and back. "I believe the core mission of NASA is to build cutting-edge systems that allow us to expand 

our knowledge of the universe," Alabama Republican Sen. Richard Shelby told NASA Administrator 

Charles Bolden. "This administration seems to think that NASA's job is to use taxpayer money as 

venture capital to support speculative commercial companies, the future Solyndras of the space industry." 

Shelby's comparison of the space agency's commercial crew initiative was to the Energy Department 

program that loaned more than $500 million to a California solar panel that went bankrupt was the 

harshest criticism hurled at Bolden during a Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday. 

The hearing was to examine NASA's proposed $17.7 billion budget for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1. 

The commercial crew program is one of NASA's top three priorities, along with the James Webb Space 

Telescope ($628 million was requested) and the heavy lift rocket and capsule ($3 billion was requested) 

that eventually is supposed to carry astronauts to Mars. The budget would givethe commercial crew 

program almost $830 million, more than twice what Congress provided last year. Bolden and other 

NASA officials say it's crucial the program be fully funded this year so they no longer have to rely onor pay- the Russians beyond 2017. Web posted. (2012). [Lawmakers question price, viability of 

NASA's commercial crew program [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

March 29].] 

+Welcome to the Operations and Checkout building at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Originally built 

. to receive moon-bound Apollo spacecraft, the "O&C" was added to the National Register of Historic 

Places in the 2000. Now, people call it "The Spacecraft Factory Of The Future." A $55 million 

restoration transformed the O&C into a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for NASA Orion 

spacecraft. In a first for KSC, the Apollo-style capsules that will take American astronauts to asteroids, 

the moon, Mars and other interplanetary destinations will be produced at the launch site. "We actually 

moved the factory here," said Jules Schneider, senior manager for Orion assembly, integration and 

production operations with spacecraft manufacturer Lockheed Martin. "This is where we'll put Orion 

together, integrate it, test it, arid make sure that we have a spacecraft that will do what it's required to do." 

Historically, NASA spacecraft have been built elsewhere and then transported cross-country to KSC. But 

to save time and money, Lockheed Martin took a new approach. "You build and you test on-site, and you 

save time, schedule and cost," said Glenn Chin, NASA's deputy manager for Orion production 

operations. And that's a big deal here on Florida's Space Coast, a community still reeling from the 

shutdown ofNASA's shuttle program and the resulting loss of thousands of jobs. This year, Orion 

production work is starting in earnest. Inside a historic high bay now gleaming anew, 150 people already 

are hard at work, preparing to build an Orion spacecraft for an inaugural flight test scheduled for early 

2014. The factory work force will climb to about 190 by the end of this year, said Jim Kemp, Lockheed 

Martin's director of Orion assembly, testing and launch operations. And by early 2014, some 350 to 400 

people will be working on the production line. A significant percentage of the factory workers have and 

will come from the shuttle program. The Orion spacecraft for the 2014 flight test will begin coming 

together at the O&C over the next several months. Web posted. (2012). [KSC site reborn for shuttle 

successor [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, March 29].] 

+Launch of the Delta 4 rocket has been pushed back to Monday, April2. The extra few days will give 

engineers more time to complete an assessment of the Delta 4's second stage engine, according to United 

Launch Alliance. Liftoff on Monday will be at 4:04p.m. local time (7:04p.m. EDT; 2304 GMT). Web 

posted. (2012). [California launch ofDelta 4 rocket slips to Monday [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, March 29].] 

March 30: Technicians will load more than 1,000 pounds of food and clothing into SpaceX's Dragon 

capsule next month for delivery to the International Space Station on the commercial craft's first flight to 

the outpost. Josh Byerly, a NASA spokesperson, said the cargo is comprised of mostly low-value items 

such as food, water, and clothing to supplement supplies delivered this week aboard Europe's Automated 

43 
Transfer Vehicle. The SpaceX flight will also carry some research payloads, including student 

experiments and scientific gear for NanoRacks, a company which designs low-cost research platforms for 

the International Space Station. The space station crew will unload cargo from the Dragon spacecraft 

after its scheduled arrival at the orbiting lab May 3. The astronauts will replace the supplies with 660 

kilograms, or 1 ,455 pounds, of equipment for return to Earth. Supplies for the Dragon mission are already 

arriving at the Kennedy Space Center, where they are being packaged and prepared for flight inside the 

Space Station Processing Facility, according to George Diller, a NASA spokesperson at KSC. The cargo 

aboard the Dragon craft's first flight to the space station will not go toward the commitment in SpaceX's 

$1.6 billion contract to transport 44,000 pounds of supplies to the complex over 12 operational flights. 

"This was additional cargo that was added so that we could fully check out the cargo capability on the 

demo mission," Byerly said. SpaceX's operational Commercial Resupply Services missions could begin 

as soon as August, assuming the upcoming test flight goes well. Web posted. (2012). [Half-ton of cargo 

on Dragon's space station manifest [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, 

March 30] .] . 

March 31: The end of the space shuttle program means the end of Shuttles Dugout Sports Bar and Grill. 

It's a restaurant that catered to NASA employees for several decades. "We were very dependent on 

workers at the Kennedy Space Center," said Shuttles owner Bill Grillo. Shuttles has been in business 

since the dawn of the now ended shuttle program thirty years ago. Hundreds of astronauts and KSC 

employees have stopped by for meals. But once workers at the nearby Kennedy Space Center no longer 

carrie in, the owner was forced to put it up for sale. Grillo said in the months following the final shuttle 

launch, and the layoffs which followed, his business took a 70 percent dip in sales, forcing him to shutter 

the doors. Grillo adds he hopes the next spaceflight program will bring back enough workers to re-open. 

Web posted. (2012). ['Shuttles' restaurant up for sale [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .cfnews 13 .com/ [20 12, March 31].] 

44 
APRIL 

April 2: After several days of precautionary analysis and reviews, the Delta 4 rocket has been cleared for 

blastoff Tuesday afternoon at 4: 12 p.m. local time (7: 12 p.m. EDT; 2312 GMT) from Vandenberg Air 

Force Base, California. The classified mission to launch a surveillance satellite for the National 

Reconnaissance Office was postponed from last week to verify the deployable nozzle system on the 

vehicle's upper stage. At a Monday afternoon gathering of launch officials, the final review was 

completed and approval granted to move into the countdown activities overnight. Tuesday appears to 

offer the best weather conditions for the next several days. Forecasters are predicting a 60 percent chance 

of allowable winds for the rocket to fly. Web posted. (2012). [West Coast Delta 4 rocket poised for 

launch Tuesday [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, April2].] 

+NASA and Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) will invite 50 of their social media followers to a 

two-day NASA Social April 29-30 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The event is expected to 

culminate in the launch of SpaceX's second Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) 

demonstration flight. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket is targeted to lift off at 12:22 p.m. EDT on April30, in an 

attempt to become the first commercial company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station. 

["NASA, SpaceX Announce NASA Social for Falcon 9 Launch Attempt," NASA News Release #12-

103, April 2, 2012.] 

+ Unhappy with delays, shifting contracting strategies and a proposed budget increase, lawmakers took 

aim on NASA's commercial crew initiative last week in a continuing narrative of questioning as the 

agency fights to maintain the program's relevance. Some legislators, fearing job losses in their 

constituencies, have viewed the commercial crew program with skepticism since it was announced as 

NASA's near-term strategy for human spaceflight when the Obama administration canceled the behindschedule Constellation moon program in 2010. Congress cut NASA's fiscal2012 commercial crew 

budget request by more than half, appropriating $406 million to the program for the fiscal year ending 

Sept. 30. The budget forced NASA to abandon its procurement strategy in the next phase of the program 

and return to Space Act Agreements, a more flexible, less rigid mechanism to partner with commercial 

providers. Instead of signing contracts with the companies developing spacecraft and rockets to carry 

humans into orbit, NASA will make roughly two-year agreements to fund industrial work without the 

level of insight gained in traditional federal contracts. Companies in the next stage of the program, due to 

begin in late summer, will finish the design and much of the development of human-rated launchers and 

spacecraft, leading to flight tests by mid-decade. But because of the funding hit in fiscal2012, the start of 

manned commercial flights to the International Space Station will likely not begin until2017. Until then, 

NASA will purchase round-trip flights for U.S. astronauts on Russian Soyuz capsules. Web posted. 

(2012). [Senate appropriators offer rebuke of commercial crew [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, April2].] 

April3: NASA should select a destination to explore beyond Earth orbit as soon as possible and also 

identify milestones to get there, an advisory group says. The failure to do so will delay the planned 

launch early next decade of American astronauts on solar system expeditions. "Given the budget reality 

and the development time for new hardware and software, which is estimated to be at least 10 years, now 

is the time to pick a specific destination," NASA Advisory Council Chairman Steven Squyres said in a 

recent letter to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "In addition, the near and interim steps in order to 

achieve the ultimate objective should also be defined~" President Barack Obama in April 2010 challenged 

NASA to send American astronauts to an asteroid by 2025 and launch human expeditions to Mars in the 

2030s. To that end, NASA is developing a heavy-lift rocket- the Space Launch System -and the 

Orion multipurpose crew vehicle. An initial flight test of the Apollo-style Orion space capsule is targeted 

45 
for early 2014 on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. A first 

flight test of an Orion spacecraft on a Space Launch System rocket is slated for 2017, with a crewed test 

set for 2021. Human expeditions beyond Earth orbit could begin as early as 2022, the advisory council 

noted. The selection of a specific destination would focus NASA, international space agencies, and 

contractor teams. Web posted. (2012). [Mission goal crucial soon, NASA advisory panel says [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April3].] 

+NASA's NuSTAR X-ray astrophysics observatory, grounded in March by concerns with its Pegasus 

rocket, will have an opportunity to launch in June from a remote Pacific military base, space agency 

officials said Tuesday. Engineering reviews of the air-launched Orbital Sciences Corp. Pegasus rocket 

continue, according to NASA, with officials focusing on software to be used by a new computer flying on 

the Pegasus for the first time. The reviews were not finished in time for the $165 million mission to be 

ready before the end of a launch window in late March. "We're still working on the flight software 

program," said George Diller, a spokesperson at the Kennedy Space Center. The clamshell-like nose 

cone on the Pegasus rocket has been cleared for launch. Engineers were studying commonality between 

the Pegasus payload fairing and the shroud on the ground-launched Taurus rocket, another Orbital 

Sciences vehicle, which failed due to fairing separation problems on back-to-back flights in 2009 and, 

2011. The Pegasus booster has flown 40 times, and the upcoming launch will mark the 25th mission of 

the Pegasus XL configuration, which features more powerful rocket motors than earlier versions. The 

Pegasus XL rocket is fully assembled inside a hangar at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Technicians 

will tow the rocket to the base's runway a few weeks before launch and bolt it to an L-1 011 carrier 

aircraft, which will fly the Pegasus and NuSTAR payload to Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. 

Web posted. (2012). [Launch ofNASA X-ray telescope targeted for June [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April 3].] 

+ Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana said the center is turning the comer and will have a 

stable work force of about 10,000 in the future, counting contractors. There currently are about 8,000 

people working there, including 2,049 NASA employees. Cabana made his comments Tuesday, as he 

updated the Brevard County Commission on developments at NASA and KSC. "I really believe we have 

a great future," Cabana told the commissioners, citing efforts to transition from the space shuttle program 

that ended last year to working on development of a heavy-lift vehicle for transporting future astronauts. 

Cabana said that a heavy-lift vehicle will be ready for an unmanned flight in 2017 and a manned flight in 

2021. "Obviously, we'd like to see it fly sooner, and given more money, we could," he said. Cabana said 

KSC never will get back to the work force levels it had during the Apollo moon mission program or the 

space shuttle program. He said partnerships with private companies are the key to the future at KSC, 

which he envisions as a "multiuser spaceport." Web posted. (2012). [KSC chief sees rise in employment 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April 3].] 

+A NASA Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), a modified 747 jet, will transport Discovery to Washington 

Dulles International Airport in Sterling, Va., on Tuesday, April17. 

Tuesday, April 10 --5:30p.m. SCA arrival at Shuttle Landing Facility 

Saturday, April14 --5 a.m.-6 p.m. Discovery rollout from Vehicle Assembly Building's high bay 4 to 

Shuttle Landing Facility mate/demate device 

Monday, April16-- 7:30a.m. SCA/Discovery backout ofmate/demate device 

Tuesday, April 17-- Discovery departs at first light (approximately 7 a.m.) ["NASA Announces Events 

for Shuttle Discovery Departure," NASA Media Advisory #M12-59, April3, 2012.] 

April 4: The museums awarded retired space shuttle orbiters got a relative bargain. NASA in late 2008 

estimated institutions would have to pay $42.8 million to cover the costs to prepare and transport each 

orbiter for public display, but the actual cost is now expected to be roughly a quarter of that. First, NASA 

46 
agreed to pay to decommission the vehicles after their final flights, dropping the price to $28.8 million. 

Then the space agency got a clearer picture of the additional work necessary and how much contractors 

would charge to do it. New cost estimates range from $9.6 million to deliver Enterprise to $13.7 million 

for Endeavour, with the cost for Atlantis still under negotiation. NASA will pay the $11.1 million tab for 

Discovery, which is scheduled to be ferried April 17 from Kennedy Space Center to the Smithsonian 

Institution's National Air and Space Museum. The lower numbers are good news for the four sites 

expecting to receive orbiters this year, including KSC Visitor Complex, but raise a question of whether, in 

hindsight, more museums could have secured the funding necessary to submit competitive bids. Two of 

13 finalists- the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, and the U.S. Space & Rocket 

Center in Huntsville, Ala.- acknowledged the day before the decisions were announced April 12 that 

they couldn't come up with the nearly $29 million then required, according to a report by NASA's 

inspector general. Web posted. (2012). [Landing a deal: Estimates fall for preparing shuttles for museums 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April4].] 

+A rocket carrying a top-secret payload blasted off Tuesday from the California coast. The Delta IV 

rocket lifted off at 4:12 p.m. from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, about 130 miles northwest of Los 

Angeles. The reconnaissance office~ which oversees the nation's constellation of spy satellites, has kept 

mum about the purpose of the mission and directed United Launch Alliance to cut off the live broadcast 

three minutes after liftoff. ULA, the joint venture of rocket builders Lockheed Martin Corp. and Boeing 

Co., said it was the first time the Delta IV had been launched this way. The launch was delayed nearly a 

week as engineers worked to fix an issue with the upper stage engine. Web posted. (2012). [Rocket with 

secret payload launches from Vandenberg AFB [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April4].] 

+ KSC Federal Credit Union recently announced the retirement of Chief Executive Officer Maureen 

Lowe. Lowe, 54, was appointed president and chief executive officer of the credit union in October 2009. 

She started at the credit union in 1981 as a teller and ascended through various management positions to 

become chief executive. The credit union's board of directors voted to hire San Francisco-based 

O'Rourke and Associates to facilitate the search for a new CEO. Merritt Island-headquartered KSC, the 

second largest credit union in Brevard County, has 14 branches throughout Brevard and Volusia counties 

with assets of$579.5 million and 52,301 members. Web posted. (2012). [KSC Credit Union seeking new 

CEO [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April4].] 

+ IMAX Corp. is donating its first cameras used to film aboard the space shuttle to the Smithsonian's 

National Air and Space Museum in Washington. The large-format cameras used to make 70-mm films 

will be donated to the museum in a ceremony Wednesday. They'll become part of the Smithsonian's 

permanent collection. Nearly 100 NASA astronauts were trained to operate the IMAX cameras in space. 

They created the first giant-screen images of Earth and of life in zero gravity. The result was a series of 

six IMAX space films, including "The Dream is Alive," "Blue Planet," "Destiny in Space" and "Mission 

to Mir." One camera was kept in the space shuttle cabin and another in its cargo bay. Between 1984 and 

1998, IMAX cameras were flown on at least 17 space shuttle missions. Web posted. (2012). [IMAX gives 

2 space shuttle cameras to Smithsonian [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

April4].] 

+ Sunday night, the CBS newsmagazine "60 Minutes" aired a segment on the impact the retirement of 

the Space Shuttle program has had on Florida's Space Coast, including profiling some of the people who 

lost their jobs as a result and the broader economic impact on the community. Ifs hard not to sympathize 

with those people who have struggled to find work in the months since losing their jobs. The segment, 

though, has taken on something of a political dimension as well. "President Obama cancelled NASA's 

plan to replace the space shuttle in favor of a more modest program," CBS's Scott Pelley said in his 

47 
introduction to the segment. "And then, Congress slashed the funding for that." The implication, also 

expressed in the segment, was that many or even most would still have jobs there ifPresident Obama 

hasn't pushed to cancel Constellation in 2010. (Left unsaid is just how many shuttle-specific workers 

would have been let go even if Constellation had been retained, especially since the program was at the 

time of its cancellation still several years from the first Ares 1/0rion flight.) Congress also gets dinged for 

cutting commercial crew funding, with again the implication that more money would have retained more 

KSC jobs, although most of the current commercial crew development work is being done outside of 

Florida. On Tuesday, NASA administrator Charles Bolden argued, "missed an awful lot of important 

context about the end of that era and where we're headed from here." Constellation was behind schedule, 

lengthening the gap in US human space access, he said, while commercial entities can more quickly to fill 

that gap, with NASA following with the Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion. He also noted that 

unemployment is going down in Brevard County, the heart of the Space Coast, and had reached its lowest 

levels since May 2009, more than two years before the final shuttle flight. By that time, though, the 

segment had been used as ammunition against the Obama Administration. Web posted. (2012). ["60 

Minutes" segment becomes a political football [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spacepolitics.com/ [2012, April4].] 

AprilS: The Space Coast will get a chance to bid goodbye to Discovery when the orbiter departs 

Kennedy Space Center later this month and heads to the Smithsonian for retirement. Bolted onto the top 

of a modified 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Discovery is scheduled to take off from the three-mile runway 

at KSC at first light- around 7 a.m.- on April17. If weather conditions allow, the piggybacking 

orbiter will be flown over KSC and the KSC Visitor Complex and then south to Patrick Air Force Base. 

The duo then will doubleback, flying north over Space Coast beaches before making a final pass over 

KSC and the Shuttle Landing Facility. Then it will depart the vicinity. The 747 will ferry Discovery to 

Dulles International Airport in Chantilly, Va. The orbiter will be removed from the carrier aircraft and 

transported to the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center on April 

19. Web posted. (2012). [Discovery prepped for farewell Space Coast flyover [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, AprilS].] 

+Members of Ohio's congressional delegation urged NASA to strip a Florida nonprofit of its status as 

manager of the international space station's national laboratory and give the job to a Cleveland-based 

group instead. "In light of the events of the last six months, culminating with the resignation of the head 

of the Center for Advancement in Science and Space (CASIS), we are writing to encourage you to 

reconsider your contract, and express our strong support for reconsideration of the Space Laboratory 

Associates proposal to manage the International Space Station (ISS) National Laboratory," the lawmakers 

wrote in an April 4 letter to Mark Uhran, NASA assistant associate administrator for ISS. U.S. Sen. 

Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) took the lead on the letter, which was co-signed by 13 of Ohio's 18 U.S. 

representatives and published on Brown's website. NASA spokesman Mike Curie said April4 that "no 

decision has been made at this time to take any action to alter the CASIS cooperative agreement." 

CASIS spokesman Bobby Block told Space News that the Florida nonprofit "is meeting its milestones 

established by NASA and we are working at overtime to maximize use of the ISS U.S. National 

Laboratory. CASIS, a group backed by Florida's economic development agency Space Florida and 

headquartered in the Space Life Sciences Laboratory at the southern tip of the Kennedy Space Center, 

was selected by NASA in July to manage all non-agency science on the U.S. side of the ISS, which an act 

of Congress has designed a national laboratory. Web posted. (2012). [Ohio Delegation Calls on NASA to 

Fire ISS Nonprofit [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, AprilS].] 

+NASA has selected United Launch Services, LLC of Englewood, Colo., to launch the Geostationary 

Operational Environmental Satellites-Rand S, or GOES-Rand GOES-S. The spacecraft will launch in 

October 201S and February 2017, respectively, aboard Atlas V S41 rockets from Space Launch Complex48 
41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The total cost of the GOES-Rand GOES-S launch services 

is approximately $446 million. This estimated cost includes launch service for the Atlas V and additional 

services under other contracts for payload processing; launch vehicle integration, mission unique launch 

site ground support, and tracking, data and telemetry services. The advanced spacecraft and instrument 

technology used on GOES-Rand GOES-Swill result in more timely and accurate weather forecasts. It 

will improve detection and observation of meteorological phenomena that directly affect people's lives. 

The GOES-Rand GOES-S Flight Projects Office, which oversees the development of the Space Segment, 

is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., The overall GOES-Rand GOESS Program is managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NASA's Launch 

Services Program, based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is responsible for Atlas V launch 

vehicle program management and launch services.["NASA Awards Launch Contract forGOES-Rand 

GOES-S Missions," NASA Contract Release #C12-016, April5, 2012.] 

April 8: The clock once again is ticking at Kennedy Space Center, but this time the countdown won't end 

with a space shuttle blasting into orbit. Instead, officials with NASA and the state are racing to find new 

tenants. for several vacant shuttle facilities at KSC before the money to maintain them runs out- which 

is expected to happen by fall2013. "We have a short window of opportunity," said Joyce Riquelme, head 

of the center's development office. "We don't want to have a bunch of abandoned facilities sitting around 

for who knows how long." With the space-shuttle program ended, NASA either must find someone to 

lease major buildings- such as the facility where workers repaired shuttle tiles- or abandon them, 

because the cash-strapped agency lacks the money to demolish them. Besides looking bad, the crumbling 

buildings would hinder efforts to remake KSC into a modem spaceport, an initiative estimated to cost 

$2.3 billion during five years. There has been some success. In October, Boeing agreed to lease one of 

three shuttle garages- known officially as an Orbiter Processing Facility- to assemble a new space 

capsule at KSC. The project could employ as many as 550 workers, a major first step in helping KSC 

recover from the loss of 7,000 shuttle jobs. And officials with NASA and Space Florida, the state's 

aerospace-development agency, said they're working hard to find tenants for the two other shuttle 

garages, along with several other buildings. Among the more promising developments is the possibility 

that Stratolaunch- a new space company launched by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and 

SpaceShipOne designer Burt Rutan- will use KSC's 3-mile-long shuttle landing strip as home for its 

massive space plane. The giant aircraft is being built to carry spacecraft to high altitudes before launching 

them into orbit. "We are in discussions with NASA and Space Florida regarding establishing [KSC] as 

our primary base of operations," said Gary Wentz, Stratolaunch president and CEO. He said he hoped to 

have an agreement "within the next two months." Last year, NASA floated a list of 19 KSC facilities and 

complexes worth about $2.5 billion that it wanted to share or lease; to date, only a handful ofdeals have 

been inked. With a plan now in hand, NASA aims to spend $2.3 billion during five years, much of it to 

ready the center for the new rocket and capsule, broadly known as the Space Launch System. Web posted. 

(2012). [NASA races to find tenants for vacant shuttle facilities [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .orlandosentinel.com/ [20 12, April 8].] 

+Given the delays launching the year's first Atlas 5 rocket due to high-altitude winds and scheduling 

conflicts with a Navy submarine missile test off Cape Canaveral, the next Atlas Illission is moving out a 

week or so as a result. A spokesperson for the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center confirmed 

the targeted April27 Launch date will slide into early May. But the exact date depends on avoiding 

another schedule conflict on the Eastern Range at the Cape, which is booked for the planned April 30 

blastoff of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon cargo vessel on the first private spacecraft launch to 

the International Space Station. That mission has its primary and backup attempts reserved on the Range, 

pushing the Atlas to May 5. But if the Falcon goes on time or experiences a lengthy delay in advance, the 

Atlas will be postured to leap forward a couple of days to fly as soon as around May 3. The Air Force-run 

Range provides all of the critical and necessary tracking, communications and safety services for Cape 

Canaveral rocket launches. It needs time between missions to reset equipment to support the next vehicle 

49 
in the queue. Realigning the Atlas target date will ensure ample time for assembling and preparing the 

massive 19-story rocket for flight, as well as building slack back into the overall schedule. Web posted. 

(2012). [A May launching now planned for next Atlas 5 [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, April 8].] 

April 9: After recently detailing plans for shuttle Discovery to fly a farewell tour over Space Coast 

beaches after taking off next Tuesday atop a 747, NASA today confirmed plans for low passes over 

Washington, D.C. area landmarks before landing there. Discovery is bound for Dulles International 

Airport, adjacent to the Smithsonian Institution annex in suburban Virginia where it will be permanently 

exhibited in retirement. NASA said the orbiter and its carrier aircraft would fly about 1 ,500 feet over 

landmarks including the National Mall, Reagan National Airport, National Harbor and the Smithsonian's 

Udvar-Hazy Center between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. on April17. The plans were approved in partnership 

with the Federal Aviation Administration. Weather or technical issues could impact the timing and route. 

Discovery is expected to be formally transferred to the National Air and Space Museum during a 

ceremony April19. Web posted. (2012). [Discovery to fly over DC landmarks [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April9].] 

.+Nearly two months after a burst pipe sent water gushing through a ceiling and cascading down stairs, 

causing nearly $5 million in damage, dozens of people are getting ready to return to work in a stateowned lab facility at Kennedy Space Center. "It was quite dramatic," Steve Bennington, chief scientific 

officer for Cella Energy, said of the leak at the Space Life Sciences Lab. "You could have taken a kayak 

down the stairs at one point." Building owner Space Florida says 75,000 square feet, or 68 percent of the 

facility, sustained some degree of damage. Fortunately, it was concentrated in office areas on the second 

floor and mostly spared laboratories and experiments. The state aerospace development agency paid only 

a $1,000 deductible, with insurance covering the rest of the estimated $4.6 million in damage. The facility 

is expected to resume normal operations April 16. Opened in 2003, the lab is a centerpiece of ongoing 

efforts to establish the Space Coast as a hub for microgravity research. It's the anchor of a planned 

research and development complex called Exploration Park, and current tenants include the nonprofit 

manager of the International Space Station's National Lab. Around noon Feb. 17, Bennington heard a 

loud crack, poked his head above a second-floor cubicle and immediately saw collapsed ceiling tiles. and 

water pouring through the opening. A six-inch main pipe feeding the fire sprinkler system had cracked in 

the west stairwell in the three-story, 110,000-square foot facility, said Tina Lange, a Space Florida 

spokeswoman. The system, reacting as if a fire required suppression, began pumping water through the 

pipe at a rate of 1 ,500 gallons per minute, until it pooled ankle-deep on parts of the second floor and 

trickled down to the ground floor. Employees grabbed laptops and belongings and scurried out, setting off 

an alarm to alert authorities. There was excitement but no panic, Bennington said. KSC firefighters 

responded quickly. No one was injured. No official cause for the pipe's break has been determined yet. In 

recent weeks, crews have replaced extensive amounts of drywall, ceilings, carpets and office furniture on 

the first and second floors. NASA helped relocate between 60 and 80 employees representing at least 

seven tenants to temporary offices and labs in KSC's Space Station Processing Facility. "KSC was 

extremely accommodating," Lange said. In addition to Cella Energy, affected tenants included NASA, 

the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space, Molecular Power Systems, Innovative Health 

Applications, Kentucky Space Authority and University of Florida. Web posted. (2012). [KSC's Space 

Life Sciences Lab nears reopening following flooding [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April9].] 

+The second annual NASA OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Video Contest awards ceremony will be held at 

the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Fla., on Thursday, April12, at 10 a.m. EDT. 

The contest is run by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center's Innovative Partnerships Office in Greenbelt, 

Md., and aims to raise student awareness of how NASA technologies provide benefits to the public, as 

50 
well as show the similarities with the popular OPTIMUS PRIME character from Hasbro's 

TRANSFORMERS brand. Students nationwide in grades 3-12 were able to participate in this year's 

contest. The ceremony will include managers from NASA and Hasbro, the winning students, along with 

the associated NASA innovators and their commercial partners, and Peter Cullen, the voice of OPTIMUS 

PRIME. ["NASA OPTIMUS PRIME Spinoff Awards ceremony at Kennedy April12," NASA Media 

Advisory #M19-12, April 9, 2012.] 

April tO: United Launch Alliance this week announced a new division dedicated to supporting NASA's 

human spaceflight programs. The Human Launch Services team will help NASA and its partners develop 

capabilities to send crews to low-Earth orbit and beyond, ULA said in a news release. ULA's Atlas V 

rocket is the anticipated launch vehicle for three of the four companies currently receiving NASA funding 

to develop commercial spacecraft that could carry astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017. 

George Sowers, who previou;ly headed ULA's business development and advanced programs team, will 

lead the new organization, headquartered in Denver with support at NASA centers. Web posted. (2012). 

[ULA launches support division [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April 

1 0].] 

April12: The visitor complex at Kennedy Space Center is offering the public opportunities to see 

Discovery and meet astronauts who have flown aboard it as NASA prepares to transport the winged 

spaceship to the Smithsonian. Saturday and Sunday, people can take a special tour that will include a 

drive-by of Discovery at the Shuttle Landing Facility, where the orbiter will be hoisted atop a 747 carrier 

aircraft before its departure from KSC next Tuesday. The tour includes a drive-by of launch pad 39A and 

culminates at the Apollo-Saturn V Center. On Monday, astronauts from the first and last Discovery 

missions will make appearances. "It should be a really cool program with (members of) both crews 

there," said visitor complex spokeswoman Andrea Farmer. Next Tuesday, there will be limited 

availability for guests to watch the 7 4 7 and Discovery take off from, and then fly over, the Shuttle 

Landing Facility. Discovery is expected to depart around 7 a.m. Web posted. (2012). [Here's your shot to 

see Discovery [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April 12].] 

+ The Space and Astronomy Lecture series organized by Brevard Community College Professor Fiorella 

Terenzi will have its final presentation of the academic year at 7 tonight at Astronaut Memorial 

Planetarium. America's future in space will be the topic of the panel discussion at the facility at BCC's 

Cocoa campus. Entitled "What's Next: A Turning Point in the United States Space Program," the panel 

discussion brings together three leaders from NASA and the private sector. John Kelly, Local Editor for 

Florida Today, will moderate the panel. Panelists include: • Janet Petro, Deputy Director, NASA 

Kennedy Space Center, who oversees the work of the 9,000 or so government and contractor workers at 

the space center. • Frank DiBello, President and CEO of Space Florida, which fosters aerospace-related 

economic development in Florida. Space Florida aims to retain, grow and expand aerospace business in 

Florida. • Mike Leinbach, Director of Human Spaceflight Operations, United Launch Alliance. Formerly 

the head of the shuttle launch team at KSC, Leinbach is working to make the company's Atlas V rocket. 

the next American rocket to carry people to space. Web posted. (2012). [Want to discuss US' space 

future? Visit planetarium tonight [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April 

12].] 

April13: United Space Alliance, NASA's lead space shuttle contractor, today shaves its work force by 

10 percent with its latest round of layoffs, which include 181 employees based at Kennedy Space Center. 

In all, 269 employees are leaving company offices in Florida, Texas and Alabama, the majority of them 

( 186) through voluntary layoffs officially called self-nominations. More than half the departing 

employees were the last to receive a "critical skills" bonus that was offered as an incentive to help retain 

those skills through flyout of the shuttle program, which completed its last mission last July. All laid off 

51 
employees receive a severance package. After today's cuts, Houston-based USA expects to have 2,589 

employees, including 1 ,323 at KSC. Another round of reductions is planned in the fall. Web posted. 

(2012). [United Space Alliance lays off 10% of work force [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April 13].] 

+Space shuttle Discovery flew the most missions ofNASA's five orbiters, 39. But on her inaugural 

mission, she balked. It was June 25, 1984. Michael Coats, now director of the Johnson Space Center in 

Houston, was the pilot. As the countdown hit "five," the first of Discovery's three main engines flared, 

then the second. The shuttle rocked forward and back, pulling at the eight big bolts holding her to the 

launchpad- a motion known as the "twang." The third engine never lit. "As we were twanging, 

suddenly it got very quiet," said Coats, whose adrenaline was pumping; this was the Navy flier's first 

space launch, too. "We could hear seagulls screaming outside. We rocked back and forth for a second. As 

we're digesting the fact we're not going, the first comment came from Steve Hawley sitting behind us. He 

said, 'I thought we'd be a lot higher when the engines cut off."' After technicians replaced the faulty 

engine, Discovery finally took wing on Aug. 30, spending the first seven of her eventual365 days in 

space. Robert Cabana piloted Discovery twice, in 1990 and 1992. Now director of Kennedy Space Center, 

he recalled the eery tension of riding the elevator up to the cockpit at 4 a.m. for his first launch. "You look 

at this vehicle and it's venting and it's creaking and it's like it's alive, like it's breathing," he said. "And 

you just cannot believe you're going to be inside there blasting off in three hours." That time, Discovery 

launched on schedule. "That first launch, nothing can prepare you for that. It's shaking and vibrating. All 

those pops and cackles you hear on TV? You hear that in the cockpit, too." Eight-and-half minutes later, 

the rumbling ride ends. "It's like you're in a freight train that's gotten rear-ended," said Cabana. "It feels 

like you come to a stop, but you've just stopped accelerating and you're going 17,500 miles per hour. It's 

just this amazing ride uphill, this sense of speed and acceleration. What a phenomenal vehicle. Once you 

get off the [solid rocket boosters], it's just as smooth as can be on the three main engines. It's like electric 

drive. It's amazing." Web posted. (2012). ['What a phenomenal vehicle': Discovery's pilots recall 

amazing rides [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ [2012, April 13].] 

+It's still a "Field of Dreams" proposition-"ifyou build it, they will come." Even so, NASA's as-yetunrealized efforts to offload routine human space access onto the private sector is beginning to ripple 

across the U.S. launch industry in ways that could go well beyond transporting people and their stuff into 

space. Brash entrepreneurs like Elon Musk, who openly declares his intention to take over the worldwide 

launch industry with lower-cost launchers than the competition's, are exerting downward price pressure 

on traditional launch-vehicle manufacturers. And the possibility of an off-planet economy in low Earth 

orbit (LEO) has triggered a new round of innovative launcher designs, not all of them "paper rockets" and 

some of them quite different from traditional vehicles. "We've selected the Atlas V for our test flights 

through the Commercial Crew Program," says John Mulholland, vice president and manager of 

Commercial Programs for Boeing Space Exploration. "But we will continue to maintain our design to be 

compatible with multiple launch vehicles so that we can competitively procure launch vehicles in the 

future, which is important for us to maintain best value, obviously. The launch vehicle is such a huge 

portion of our offer." Mulholland's group has just completed the preliminary design review on the CST100, Boeing's entry into the NASA-run commercial crew development competition. Two other teams 

have baselined the Atlas V to launch their space taxis, but Atlas-builder United Launch Alliance (ULA) is 

not resting on its laurels. The Boeing/ Lockheed Martin joint venture is scrambling to cut costs of its 

Atlas V and Delta IV launcher lines to meet the anticipated competition from Musk and other startups, 

while stressing the demonstrated reliability of their products and working to improve them. And as ULA 

goes after the nascent human space-flight market with the Atlas V it uses to launch big governrnent 

satellites and space probes, new entrants in the commercial cargo and crew game are not pinning their 

hopes on the human market alone. If a launcher is reliable enough to send astronauts aloft, the argument 

goes, it certainly is reliable enough to handle high-value satellites and other spacecraft, and perhaps open 

up new space businesses such as satellite servicing and orbital tourism. If it all works out-and that 

52 
remains a pretty large "if'-NASA's commercial approach to carrying astronauts to low Earth orbit could 

lower the cost of space access to the point that the business cases for new LEO applications can close. 

Beginning with the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program initiated by thenAdministrator Michael Griffin, NASA has invested about $925 million of taxpayer seed money to help 

create a private human spaceflight industry. That money has attracted significant private investment, and 

the agency is optimistic that this can generate one or more new ways to get humans and cargo to the 

International Space Station (ISS) for less money than traditional government procurements. The COTS 

program could start to pay off as early as next month, provided Musk's Space Exploration Technologies 

Inc. (SpaceX) succeeds in getting its next Dragon capsule off the ground with its Falcon 9 rocket and 

berthed at the ISS for the first time, carrying 1,000 lb. of food and other relatively low-value cargo. 

Orbital Sciences Corp., NASA's other COTS partner, also hopes to reach the station this year with its 

Cygnus cargo vehicle riding the company's new Antares liquid-fueled launcher. That could be just the 

beginning. With the space shuttle fleet retired, NASA is paying Russia more than $60 million a seat to 

train and fly astronauts to the ISS in Soyuz capsules. Starting with $50 million in federal economic 

stimulus package funding in fiscal2009, NASA has been seeding development of commercial space taxis 

under its Commercial Crew Development (CCDev) and Commercial Crew Integrated Capability 

(CCiCap) initiatives. Web posted. (2012). [How Commercial Space is Paying Off Now [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.aviationweek.com/ [2012, April13].] 

April14: A transporter that hauled Saturn V moon rockets and the space shuttles out to oceanside 

Kennedy Space Center launch pads is being modified for next-generation rockets that will be larger than 

any launchers ever developed. Now in High Bay No.2 of the Vehicle Assembly Building, the crawler is 

being refurbished by a crew of about 50 to 60 people. Its AC power system is being upgraded with 

generators that produce twice as much electricity as its shuttle-era generators. Its roller bearings are being 

replaced. Steering pumps are being refurbished. When the project is finished in 2015, the crawler will be 

able to handle a load up to 18 million pounds. A Space Shuttle stack and mobile launcher platform 

weighed about 12 million pounds. Top speed for the crawler will remain the same: 1 mph with a full 

load; 2 mph unloaded. Odometer mileage to date: 2,100 miles. A trip to pad 39B, where the new heavylift rockets will launch: 4.2 miles. Web posted. (2012). [Venerable crawlers get next-generation upgrade 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April14].] 

+ Discovery remains on track to leave Kennedy Space Center for good Tuesday morning despite winds 

delaying the orbiter's attachment to a carrier aircraft on Saturday. Crews plan to lift Discovery onto the 

747 jumbo jet today. "There's no impact to the scheduled departure on Tuesday," said KSC 

spokeswoman Tracy Young. The ferry flight is expected to take off around 7 a.m. Tuesday on a nonstop 

trip to Dulles International Airport, near the Smithsonian Institution annex where Discovery will be 

publicly displayed. It's the first offour retired shuttles to be shipped to a museum since the final missions 

last year. Early Saturday, Discovery was towed about two miles from the Vehicle Assembly Building to 

the shuttle runway. There it was hooked up to a sling in a special gantry used to place orbiters on or 

remove them from their carrier aircraft. "We're very happy because everything has gone well to get to 

this point," Stephanie Stilson, the KSC manager overseeing the delivery of each orbiter, said Saturday 

morning. "When I start to think about this (being) the last time we'll do this with Discovery, it is sad." 

But just as happened so often during normal shuttle operations, weather changed the plans. Gusting 

winds exceeded allowable limits for lifting an orbiter, forcing managers to postpone the move. Assuming 

conditions have improved today, Discovery will be hoisted 60 feet up to allow the 747 to roll underneath. 

Then the orbiter will be lowered down and bolted to the plane. The work was expected to start at 5 a.m. 

and be completed by mid-morning. Early forecasts suggest the ferry flight will be able to proceed on 

schedule, but a final decision will follow a weather briefing early Tuesday. Before heading north, the 

piggybacked plane and spaceship plan to fly low over KSC and local beaches north of Patrick Air Force 

Base. Stilson expects an emotional sendoff from shuttle workers and fans. "I hope that they savor the 

fact that it is the end ofDiscovery's time in space and the end of Kennedy Space Center's attachme"nt to 

53 
Discovery," she said. "I think you'll see a lot of tears." Web posted. (2012). [Windy weather delays 

Discovery lift [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April14].] 

April 15: Space shuttle Discovery has touched the ground at Kennedy Space Center one last time. This 

morning, the orbiter was hoisted into the air to be secured on top of a modified 747. The jumbo jet, 

known as a Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, will ferry Discovery to retirement at the Smithsonian. Crews are 

working today at KSC to complete the attachment and ready Discovery for its Tuesday departure from the 

Space Coast. They had hoped to mate Discovery to the plane on Saturday but high winds forced a delay. 

On Tuesday, the piggybacked plane and spaceship will depart KSC, fly low over the KSC Visitor 

Complex Rocket Garden and then tour local beaches as far south as Patrick Air Force Base, giving the 

Space Coast a chance to say a final goodbye. Discovery, the shuttle fleet leader, will become the first 

orbiter to enter retirement. Web posted. (2012). [Discovery secured onto 747 for Tuesday departure 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April 15].] 

April16: This week NASA's space shuttle Discovery will fly low over Washington, D.C., atop a jumbo 

jet and roll into its new permanent home with the Smithsonian Institution. Discovery will touch down at 

Dulles International Airport on Tuesday, weather permitting, and the National Air and Space Museum's 

Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, will host a big outdoor ceremony on Thursday to 

welcome their new space-worn acquisition. But once the spaceship is settled into the museum, visitors 

won't be able to hop into the commander's seat and fiddle with switches-the institution intends to seal up 

Discovery indefinitely. To provide an unprecedented look at Discovery and the other retired space 

shuttles, both inside and out, photographers with National Geographic recently captured more than two 

dozen ultrahigh-resolution, 360-degree pictures of each orbiter. NASA and United Space Alliance, the 

agency's prime contractor for servicing the shuttles, made the interactive panoramas possible by granting 

news organizations unprecedented access to the hundred-ton spaceships after each final shuttle flight. 

"When the shuttles were flying, workers had to maintaip the integrity and cleanliness of the vehicles. We 

had to keep them safe for spaceflight" and so couldn't allow much outside access, said Lisa Fowler, a 

NASA spokesperson at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "Now that they're being readied for display, 

we've been able to grant more access into them." Web posted. (2012). [Space Shuttle in Extreme Detail: 

Exclusive New Pictures [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.national geographic.com/ [2012, April 

16].] 

April17: The space shuttle Discovery soared over the Washington Monument, the White House and the 

Capitol in a high-flying salute to the nation's capital Tuesday. The world's most traveled spaceship, 

hitching a ride on top a Boeing 7 4 7 jet, took a couple of leisurely spins at an easy-to-spot 1 ,500 feet 

around Washington after a flight from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Thousands packed the National Mall to watch 

the pair swoop by. The shuttle-jet combo was set to land at Dulles International Airport. On Thursday, it 

will be towed to its permanent installation at the Smithsonian's annex in northern Virginia. Discovery 

departed Florida's Kennedy Space Center at daybreak. Nearly 2,000 people -- former shuttle workers, 

YIPs, tourists and journalists -- gathered along the old shuttle landing strip to see Discovery off. A cheer 

went up as the plane taxied down the runway and soared into a clear sky. The plane and shuttle headed 

south and made one last flight over the beaches of Cape Canaveral -- thousands jammed the shore for a 

glimpse of Discovery -- then returned to the space center in a final salute. Cheers erupted once more as 

the pair came in low over the runway it had left 20 minutes earlier and finally turned toward the north. 

Discovery-- the fleet leader with 39 orbital missions-- is the first of the three retired space shuttles to 

head to a museum. It will go on display at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, taking the place of the 

shuttle prototype Enterprise. The Enterprise will go to New York City. Endeavour will head to Los 

Angeles this fall. Atlantis will remain at Kennedy. NASA ended the shuttle program last summer after a 

30-year run to focus on destinations beyond low-Earth orbit. Private U.S. companies hope to pick up the 

slack, beginning with space station cargo and then, hopefully, astronauts. The first commercial cargo run, 

54 
by Space Exploration Technologies Corp., is set to take place in just another few weeks. For at least the 

next three to five years-- until commercial passenger craft are available in the United States-- NASA 

astronauts will have to hitchmultimillion-dollar rides on Russian Soyuz capsules to get to the 

International Space Station. Web posted. (2012). [Space shuttle Discovery arrives in D.C. after historic 

final flight [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, April17].] 

+Space Shuttle Discovery, the NASA orbiter that spent a year's worth of time among the stars, 

completed its final journey Tuesday when it landed at Washington Dulles International Airport on the 

back of a Boeing 747. Blunt-nosed and blemished, the worn spacecraft atop the jumbo jet elicited cheers 

from a crowd of thousands gathered around the airport to catch a glimpse of a moment in history. "When 

are you ever going to see something like that again?" asked Daniel Pallotta, a Boston resident who drove 

down with his son to watch the shuttle landing. "You're not. This was awe-inspiring." The Discovery, 

NASA's longest-serving shuttle, traveled from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida to its new permanent 

home at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly. 

Within hours of its landing, the 75-ton, 184-foot-long shuttle was moved to a secure location where crews 

worked to decouple it from the jet and prepare it for its close-up with its sister shuttle, Enterprise. On 

Thursday, officials plan to face the two shuttles nose to nose before Discovery moves into the James S. 

McDonnell Space Hangar attached to the museum. The Enterprise, which never went into space, is set to 

become the shuttle-in-residence at New York's Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. A public ceremony 

to commemorate the switch is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday and will includes a speech by astronaut and 

former Ohio Sen. John Glenn, the first American to orbit Earth who flew on Discovery at the age of 77. 

Half of the Discovery's 31living commanders also will be there. The space shuttle passed low over the 

Washington area for about an hour Tuesday before landing at Dulles shortly after 11 a.m., drawing 

spectators to gathering spots atop buildings, along the Mall, and along the Potomac River. Motorists on 

the Capital Beltway and many other highways pulled over to watch as Discovery circled overhead, 

causing traffic jams in several spots, officials said. "They had a lot of folks just stopping in various 

places," said Cpl. Anthony Washington of the Maryland State Police barrack in Forestville. "It just 

seemed to be pretty chaotic today." No serious accidents were reported, but state police got calls for a 

number of fender benders and troopers responded to severaljammed areas to help get traffic moving 

again, he said. After watching the shuttle fly directly above him, Daniel Choi, a planetary scientist with 

the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt said the experience was "more emotional than I thought it . 

would be." Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle Discovery flyover dazzles D.C. area [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.washingtontimes.com/ [2012, April17].] 

April18: A key congressional panel on Wednesday proposed giving NASA less than it wants for the 

program that will replace the shuttle in ferrying U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station. 

Members of a House Appropriations subcommittee proposed spending $500 million in fiscal 2013 on the 

Commercial Crew program. That's about $325 million less than the Obama administration requested. The 

proposal comes a day after a Senate Appropriations subcommittee voted to provide $525 million for the 

program. The Commercial Crew program has been helping a handful of private companies develop the 

spacecraft and rockets that could carry crew to the space station. The program's goal was to move 

forward with at least two systems that would be capable of transporting astronauts to the outpost by 2017. 

Though less than the $829.7 million NASA had requested as part of its fiscal year 2013 budget, both the 

House and Senate levels are more than the $406 million Congress gave the program for the current fiscal 

year. NASA considers the commercial program a top priority. Not only does the agency have to pay 

Russia about $450 million a year to ferry astronauts to the space station, but the lack of a vehicle to 

transport astronauts from the U.S. is a symbolic sore point for a nation that has dominated space travel for 

decades until the shuttle's retirement in July. Lawmakers say the Commercial Crew program costs too 

much and have questioned whether the government should spend hundreds of millions of dollars helping 

private companies develop the rockets. The Senate subcommittee overseeing NASA voted Tuesday to 

fund the entire agency at $19.4 billion for fiscal2013, an increase of$1.6 billion over the current year. 

55 
Most of that increase would result from shifting the acquisition -but not the operation- of weather 

satellites from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to NASA. Without the money for 

satellite procurement, the subcommittee's proposal represents a $41.5 million cut from NASA's fiscal 

2012 budget. The House bill would fund NASA at $17.6 billion, about $226 million below fiscal2012 

levels and $138 million below the president's request. The proposal includes about $2.9 billion for the 

heavy-lift rocket and capsule, and $628 million for the James Webb Space Telescope. Web posted. 

(2012). [Panel proposes $500M for shuttle successor [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .floridatoday.corn/ [20 12, April 18].] 

+The main stage of NASA's planned heavy-lift Space Launch System exploration rocket will carry four 

surplus RD-25D space shuttle main engines, as NASA and main-stage prime contractor Boeing move 

toward preliminary design review (PDR) on the big new rocket by the end of the year. With the first flight 

scheduled in 2017, Jim Chilton, Boeing vice president and program manager for exploration launch 

systems, calls the development schedule "sporty." But selection of the basic four-engine configuration is a 

significant step in developing the launch vehicle NASA plans to use for exploration beyond low Earth 

orbit in the 2020s and beyond. Engineers considered three- and five-engine versions of the main stage, 

and settled on four for "money, time and performance" reasons. After the supply ofRD-25Ds is used up, 

plans call for a throwaway version of the reusable shuttle engine designated the RD-25E. "A five-engine 

version takes another engine, so it costs more; it drives mass into the vehicle, so you end up flying a little 

higher, you carry a little more prop," Chilton said at the National Space Symposium here. "A three-engine 

version, for some of the later missions, might have had to be upgraded too soon." Other design features 

selected in the run-up to PDR include an 8.4-meter-dia. for the stage, which will be extended to the SLS 

upper stage when its development begins at an as-yet-undetermined point in the future. Chilton says the 

diameter was selected to minimize ground-infrastructure modifications at Kennedy Space Center, where 

the SLS will use the Vehicle Assembly Building and launch pad facilities originally built for the Saturn V 

Moon rocket and later the space shuttle. Still to be determined is precisely how the main stage will 

accommodate the advanced strap-on booster that NASA plans to build later to increase the vehicle's 

initial 70-metric-ton capability to 130 metric tons. Web posted. (2012). [SLS Main Stage Will Have Four 

Engines [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.aviationweek.com/ [2012, April18].] 

April19: A little more than a year after its final trip to space, shuttle Discovery on Thursday took its 

place in the Smithsonian Institution's national collection of aerospace artifacts, beginning a new mission 

to inspire future explorers. "It will be on display not only as a testament to events of our time, but also as 

an inspiration to future generations," said Mercury astronaut John Glenn, who flew aboard Discovery in 

1998 at age 77. "It will be a symbol for our nation of spaceflight that presents optimism and hope and 

challenge and leadership, and aspiration to explore and to excel." An estimated crowd of 10,000, many 

waving small American flags, gathered in a field outside the National Air and Space Museum's UdvarHazy Center to cheer Discovery's arrival as an overcast morning turned warm and bright. At 11 a.m., 

Discovery commanders, including Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana, paraded NASA's oldest 

surviving orbiter 1,000 feet from the edge of Dulles International Airport, where it had been removed 

overnight from a 747 carrier aircraft, to a nose-to-nose meeting with orbiter prototype Enterprise. 

Spectators immediately appreciated the difference between the approach and landing test orbiter and one 

that flew in space more than any other spacecraft - 39 times, totaling over 148 million miles during 365 

days in orbit. Enterprise's white paint gleamed, and its belly was a uniform black. In contrast, Discovery's 

white thermal blankets looked dingy and scuffed, and its heat-shielding tiles were charcoal gray, evidence 

of wear and tear and the trauma of fiery re-entries through the atmosphere .. In addition to celebrating the 

engineering marvel shuttles represent, NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden directed the crowd to 

recognize the work force that made flights possible. "That's when it hit me," said Travis Thompson, a 

Mims resident and 33-year program veteran who recently departed lead shuttle contractor United Space 

Alliance, which has been laying off thousands of employees. Along with Thompson, Pat Floyd of Merritt 

Island, who will leave USA next week, was part of a group of contractors who trailed Discovery with a 

56 
banner that read, "We're Behind You, Discovery!" Employees had signed it before the final flight. "It's 

awesome to watch people around the country that you had no clue really cared that much about the 

vehicle," he said. "To have (Discovery) come here is poetic justice. This is where it needs to be." Floyd's 

next task: helping to bolt Enterprise on top of the 747 carrier aircraft that ferried Discovery from Florida 

on Tuesday. Enterprise is targeting a Monday ferry flight to New York City, its first flight since being 

delivered to the Smithsonian in 1985. NASA plans to ferry Endeavour to Los Angeles in September and 

move Atlantis to the KSC Visitor Complex in November. Thursday evening, crews towed Discovery to 

its final resting spot in the center of the McDonnell Space Hangar at the Udvar-Hazy center, where it will 

be displayed as if it has just rolled to a stop after landing. Surrounding Discovery are Mercury, Gemini 

and Apollo-era capsules and other human spaceflight artifacts, and a collection of rockets. Discovery's 

Canadian-built, 50-foot robotic arm will join the display. Web posted. (20 12). [For a retired Discovery, 

it's Mission: Inspiration [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April 19].] 

April 20: Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana and 45th Space Wing Vice Commander Col. 

Rory Welch will be the guest speakers at the May investor meeting of the Economic Development 

Commission of Florida's Space Coast. Cabana and Welch will provide a look into current Brevard 

County space and military activities. The update follows a March visit to Washington, D.C., by an EDCsponsored delegation of community and business leaders which met with key lawmakers to discuss future 

funding for space and military programs in this area. Web posted. (2012). [Cabana, Welch to speak at 

EDC event [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April20].] 

April21: With all the fanfare of the shuttle Discovery fly out to Washington this week another great 

milestone in space was being celebrated over at NASA's Visitor Center. A small group of paying guests 

participated in a brief talk I question & answer session with former Apollo astronauts to mark the 40 

anniversary of the flight of Apollo 16. The thirty minute event was attended by Luna Module 

Pilots (LMP) from Apollo missions 13, 14 & 16. Astronauts Charlie Duke (Apollo 16), Edgar Mitchell 

(Apollo 14) and Fred Raise (Apollo 13) gave highlights from their missions before answering 

questions. Fred Raise gave a jokingly dissertation about the importance to stay away from your back up 

crew. "Even as we train together the other crew would do anything to become a prime crew member," 

said Raise. This was the case with the Apollo 13 crew, Command Module Pilot (CMP) Ken Mattingly 

was replaced with the rookie back-up CMP John Swigert because Mattingly had been exposed to the 

German measles but was the only crew member that had never had the measles. Both prime and back up 

crew had been exposed after back up (LMP) Charles Duke contracted German Measles from one of his 

children. The event ended with each guest receiving a signed copy of Charlie Duke's book 

'Moonwalker'. Apollo 16 was the fifth NASA mission to land men on the moon. Web posted. (2012). 

[Apollo Astronauts Celebrate 40111 Anniversary of Apollo 16 at KSC Visitor Complex [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.americaspace.com/ [2012, April21].] 

April23: The landmark test mission of the privately built, unmanned Dragon cargo spacecraft to the 

International Space Station has been pushed back from April 30, with the launch likely being delayed by a 

week. "After reviewing our recent progress, it was clear that we needed more time," SpaceX 

spokeswoman Kristin Grantham said in a statement today. "While it is still possible that we could launch 

on May 3rd, it would be wise to add a few more days of margin in case things take longer than expected. 

As a result, our launch is likely to be pushed back by one week, pending coordination with NASA." 

SpaceX and NASA officials met last Monday for a flight-readiness review, and held another review 

today, NASA says. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX cargo capsule's mission to ISS delayed to early May 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.usatoday.com/ [2012, April23].] 

' + NASA officials will meet this afternoon to review the latest weather forecasts and determine if orbiter 

prototype Enterprise can be ferried from Northern Virginia to New York City as early as Wednesday. 

57 
The flight atop a 747 carrier aircraft was once planned for today, but was postponed indefinitely due to 

bad weather expected in the Washington, D.C. and New York areas. A large region of low pressure 

dominating the East Coast has made it difficult to reliably predict an acceptable day for the ferry flight, a 

NASA spokesman said. NASA will make an announcement if a date is set today. Otherwise, the flight 

remains targeted for no earlier than Wednesday. NASA last week ferried Discovery from Kennedy Space 

Center to Dulles International Airport and then delivered the retired orbiter to the Smithsonian National 

Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Web posted. (2012). [NASA checks 

weather for shuttle prototype Enterprise's trip to NYC [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April23].] 

+A gleaming new spacecraft valued at over $1 billion to serve in the top-notch mission of providing the 

president and military leaders a secure and survivable communications link in wartime was mounted atop 

its Atlas 5 rocket at Cape Canaveral today. The second Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite, 

AEHF 2, is scheduled for blastoff next week, Thursday, May 3, two days earlier than expected because 

the Eastern Range suddenly became available. The SpaceX Falcon 9 vehicle on its voyage to the 

International Space Station had planned to go during an instantaneous liftoff opportunity April 30, with a 

backup launch date of May 3 to rendezvous with the outpost. That drove the earliest Range slot for the 

Atlas to May 5. However, lingering problems forced SpaceX to again delay its long-awaited cargodelivery demonstration trip to the station, scrapping any plans to launch next week and putting the Atlas 

first in line for blastoff from Cape Canaveral. The Air Force-controlled Range provides all of the 

necessary tracking, communications and safety services for Cape launches, and needs time in between 

flights to reset equipment in support of the next booster in the lineup. The Atlas launch window on May 

3 extends from 2:46 to 4:46 p.m. EDT (1846-2046 GMT). Web posted. (20 12). [Atlas 5 topped with antijam communications satellite [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, April 

23].] 

+According to NASA officials, the "Freedom Star" and "Liberty Star" ships are docked at the NH State 

Pier in Portsmouth in preparation for their next mission involving the SpaceX launch. Trent J. Perrotto, a 

public affairs office at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., wrote in an e-mail on Monday afternoon 

the two NASA ships will collect video and images when the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches on April 

30 at 12:22 p.m. According to NASA's website, this mission is "a demonstration flight by Space 

Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, as part of its contract with NASA to have private companies 

launch cargo safely to the International Space Station." Web posted. (2012). [Two NASA Ships Sail into 

City [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.portsmouth-nh.patch.com/ [2012, April23].] 

April24: NASA has again pushed back Enterprise's ferry flight to New York City because of uncertain 

weather. Now, the space agency is tentatively targeting Friday. Managers made the decision after a 

weather briefing Tuesday, saying that a large region oflow pressure dominating the East Coast continued 

to make forecasting difficult. Conditions on Friday are expected to be more stable. Enterprise will fly atop 

a 747 carrier aircraft from Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., to John F. Kennedy 

International Airport. The test orbiter is beginning its move from the Smithsonian Institution to its new 

display home at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, where it is expected to arrive by barge in June. 

During the ferry flight between 9:30a.m. and 11:30 a.m., the piggybacked Enterprise and 747 plan to fly 

low over New York City landmarks including the Statue of Liberty. Discovery landed in Washington last 

week and is now on display. Web posted. (2012). [NASA aims for Friday flight for Enterprise [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April24].] 

+ Senate and House budget bills would cut up to 40 percent from NASA's requested budget to pay for 

new commercial spacecraft to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station and end U.S. reliance on 

Russia for crew transportation. The Senate's appropriations subcommittee for NASA marked up a 

58 
spending plan with $525 million allocated for commercial crew. The House's budget calls for the program 

to receive $500 million in fiscal year 2013, which begins Oct. 1. The budget proposals were released 

April 1 7 and April 19, and the bills still must be passed by each body of Congress, and their differences 

must be resolved in a joint conference committee. NASA expects any significant reduction from the 

agency's requested $830 million for commercial crew development to push back the resumption of 

domestic human space travel into low Earth orbit, a capability lost after the retirement of the space 

shuttle. Congress last year cut NASA's budget proposal to $406 million for fiscal year 2012, which runs 

through Sept. 30. That is less than half of the space agency's proposal, and NASA officials blamed the 

budget for a predicted delay in the beginning of crewed space missions from 2016 until2017. Without 

the $830 million next year, NASA's commercial crew program will face another delay, according to top 

space officials. Web posted. (2012). [Congress wary of fully funding commercial crew [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, April24].] 

+ Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is gearing up for a busy week in early May with United Launch 

Alliance and SpaceX targeting rocket launches from neighboring pads on May 3 and May 7, respectively. 

ULA's Atlas Vis carrying a military communications satellite, while SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket aims to 

deliver an unmanned Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. "Just confirmed with NASA that 

May 7th is go for launch of Falcon 9 & Dragon to the Space Station," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said 

Tuesday afternoon on Twitter. ULA moved up by two days its scheduled launch of the Air Force's second 

Advanced Extremely High Frequency program satellite. Blastoff is targeted for 2:46 p.m. May 3, the 

opening of a two-hour window at Launch Complex 41. Web posted. (20 12). [Back-to-hack launches set 

for early May [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April24].] 

+ NASA and local authorities are investigating a custodial worker's death Tuesday near a former shuttle 

launch pad at Kennedy Space Center. The man was found around 2:15p.m. in a support building near the 

liquid oxygen storage tank at launch pad 39A, KSC officials said. "Our emergency response team was 

unable to revive him," said Lisa Malone, a KSC spokeswoman. Kennedy Space Center security, the 

Brevard County Sheriffs Office and the Brevard County Medical Examiner's Office were collaborating 

on the investigation. The deceased man was in his 50s and employed by Rockledge-based Brevard 

Achievement Center, which has a contract to provide custodial services at the center that involves about 

100 employees. The man usually worked at the launch pad, where access is restricted and carefully 

monitored, Malone said. No hazardous activities were in progress during the relevant period Tuesday, and 

the liquid oxygen tank is empty and inert. The man had been seen earlier Tuesday, but a pad team leader 

began looking for him after realizing he had not seen the man for a while, Malone said. That's when the 

pad leader found the man in the small support building, a facility used to write up reports, make phone 

calls or perform other administrative work. "We are still gathering facts, and all the authorities are 

working together to determine what happened," she said. Web posted. (2012). [Worker found dead at 

KSC [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April24].] 

April 25: John Jacobs said that the last time he was in Portsmouth, he was just a child and had arrived in 

town onboard a ferry along with his parents. Earlier this week, Jacobs made his second visit to the Port 

City, only this time he arrived onboard the Liberty Star, a special National Aeronautics and Space 

Administration ship, along with scientists tasked with monitoring a first-of-its-kind space launch. Jacobs, 

43, is captain ofthe Liberty Star, a 180-foot vessel that arrived Sunday at the Port ofNew Hampshire 

with another NASA ship, the Freedom Star. Crews on both vessels are preparing for a unique mission at 

sea, during which they will capture high-definition video and thermal imagery of an upcoming launch of a 

commercial rocket headed to the International Space Station. The project from SpaceX is the first in 

which a commercial spacecraft will carry cargo to the space station. The launch of the Falcon 9 rocket 

and its Dragon capsule was first scheduled to take place at Cape Canaveral, Fla., on Monday, April30, 

but has been pushed back to May 7. Jacobs, who works for United Space Alliance as a contractor hired by 

59 
NASA, will lead a team of scientists from the Scientifically Calibrated In Flight Imagery team, based at 

NASA's Langley Research Center, to a destination a few hundred nautical miles off the coast. It will be 

Jacobs' job, along with Capt. Mike Nicholas of the Freedom Star, to steer the ship as the SCIFLI team 

attempts to document the launch. Using thruster capability, Jacobs said he will monitor the radar and then 

maneuver the ship to get the best positions for the imaging equipment on board. Web posted. (20 12). 

[NASA mission 'one-shot' deal [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.seacoastonline.com/ [2012, 

April25].] 

+ A man found dead at Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday appears to have died of natural causes, 

according to the man's employer. The unidentified custodial worker was found about 2:15p.m. in a 

support building near the liquid oxygen storage tank at launch pad 39A, KSC officials said. The man 

worked for Brevard Achievement Center of Rockledge and had worked at KSC since 2008. "Regarding 

the cause of death, while we are still waiting on the medical examiner's office to confirm, all indications 

are that he died of natural causes," reads a statement posted on Brevard Achievement Center's website. 

The man is described as in his 50s. His family requested he not be identified, said Rosalind Weiss, 

marketing and development administrator for Brevard Achievement Center. Brevard County sheriffs and 

KSC officials said they did not have the man's name and confirmed the death was not suspicious. "It's 

always sad to lose a member of the KSC family," said Lisa Malone, a KSC spokeswoman. Web posted. 

(2012). [KSC worker died of natural causes· [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[20 12, April 25].] 

+ SpaceX engineers have completed loading hypergolic maneuvering propellant into the Dragon capsule 

at Cape Canaveral, according to a company spokesperson. The propellant will fuel the Dragon 

spacecraft's 18 Draco thrusters during the ship's flight to the International Space Station. The thrusters, 

which each generate up to 90 pounds of thrust, will regulate the craft's approach to the space station. The 

Draco thrusters also control the Dragon's attitude, or orientation, throughout the mission. They can fire in 

bursts as short as a few milliseconds or for many minutes to adjust the capsule's orbit and return it to 

Earth, according to SpaceX. SpaceX designed and built the Dragon thrusters in-house. The Draco 

thrusters bum monomethyl hydrazine fuel and nitrogen tetroxide oxidizer. The Dragon capsule contains 

eight propellant tanks- four each for the fuel and oxidizer. Launch preparations are continuing while 

SpaceX and NASA officials review the results of hardware-in-the-loop testing, which validates the 

performance of the Dragon spacecraft during the final phase of its approach to the space station. Launch 

remains set for May 7 at 9:38a.m. EDT (1338 GMT). Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX launch preps press 

on with Dragon fueling [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, April25].] 

April 26: Enterprise, the prototype space shuttle orbiter, is set to take flight today for the first time in 

more than 26 years. Bolted atop a 747 jumbo jet, Enterprise is moving from the Washington, D.C., area to 

its new display home in New York City. The ferry flight from Dulles International Airport to John F. 

Kennedy International Airport is scheduled to take place between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m., weather 

permitting. The piggybacked vehicles plan to fly low over Big Apple landmarks, including the Statue of 

Liberty and the Intrepid, Sea, Air & Space Museum, where Enterprise is expected to go on display in 

June. Enterprise performed critical approach and landing tests in 1977 and last flew in 1985, when NASA 

gave it to the Smithsonian Institution. Last week, the retired shuttle Discovery took Enterprise's place on 

display at the National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. Web posted. 

(2012). [Shuttle Enterprise bound for the Big Apple [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April26].] 

+ Former Ohio Sen. and astronaut John Glenn will be among 13 people who will receive the Presidential 

Medal of Freedom, President Barack Obama announced Thursday. Glenn, a 90-year-old native ofNew 

Concord, Ohio, served as a Democratic U.S. senator for 24 years. Before that, he was an astronaut and 

60 
U.S. Marine aviator who served in World War II and Korea. Fifty years ago, he became the first 

American to orbit the Earth. In 1998, at age 77, he became the oldest person to visit space. Glenn .said in 

an interview Thursday that he was surprised when the White House called him a few weeks ago to inform 

him that he would receive the medal. "I appreciate it very much," he said. "It is a great honor." Last year, 

Glenn received a Congressional Gold Medal at a ceremony in the U.S. Capitol, along with Apollo 11 

astronauts Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. Earlier this year, he was honored on the 

50th anniversary of his historic space flight. And last week, he participated in the festivities when the 

Space Shuttle Discovery was retired to the Smithsonian Institution. Web posted. (2012). [Ohio natives 

John Glenn, Toni Morrison to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.cleveland.com/ [2012, April26].] 

+NASA will be hosting a "tweet chat" tomorrow with the space agency's Commercial Crew & Cargo 

Program Office manager Ed Mango. The chat will take place at 2 p.m. EDT. The chat is being held to 

detail NASA's efforts to regain the ability to launch U.S. astronauts to orbit. NASA has been increasing 

its social media presence with Twitter at the forefront of these efforts. The space agency is preparing for 

the upcoming launch ofSpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and its Dragon spacecraft. This launch will be crucial 

in determing how well NASA's commercial efforts are faring. Web posted. (2012). [NASA To Hold 

"Tweet Chat" With C3PO Program Manager [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.americaspace.com/ 

[2012, April27].] 

April27: Mark Nappi, who led United Space Alliance's Florida operations during the shuttle program's 

final years of flight, leaves the company today to join another Kennedy Space Center contractor. Nappi 

oversaw USA's local operations beginning in 2008 when many were concerned about the ability of 

NASA and its lead shuttle contractor to safely fly out the final missions while simultaneously laying off 

thousands of contractors. Mark has contributed a unique blend of technical expertise and exceptional 

leadership," said Virginia Barnes, president and CEO of Houston-based USA. "He has made a permanent 

and positive impact on our nation's human spaceflight program, and on all those who have worked with 

him." On Monday, Nappi joins QinetiQ North America as senior vice president and program manager of 

the company's $1.9 billion Engineering Services Contract at KSC. The contract's work includes design 

and development of ground systems needed for processing of launch vehicles, spacecraft, and payloads, 

flight systems engineering and operation of laboratories and developmental shops, according to QinetiQ's 

Web site. Nappi's KSC engineering and management career began in 1985 with Lockheed Martin Corp. 

Nappi moved to USA in 1996 when the 50-50 joint venture owned by Lockheed and The Boeing Co. was 

formed. Web posted. (2012). [United Space Alliance's local chief takes new KSC role [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April27].] 

+ In a city understandably wary of low-flying aircraft, New Yorkers and tourists alike watched with joy 

and excitement Friday as space shuttle Enterprise sailed over the skyline on its final flight before it 

becomes a museum piece. Ten years after 9/11, people gathered on rooftops and the banks of the Hudson 

River to marvel at the sight of the spacecraft riding piggyback on a modifiedjumbo jet that flew over the 

Statue of Liberty and past the skyscrapers along Manhattan's West Side. "It made me feel empowered. 

I'm going to start crying," Jennifer Patton, a tourist from Canton, Ohio, said after the plane passed over 

the cheering crowd on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, the floating air-and-space museum 

that will be the shuttle's permanent home. Onlookers bundled up on the blustery spring day along the 

piers on the West Side, cameras slung around their necks. The roar of the aircraft could barely be heard 

over the howling winds. In truth, the camera angles on TV made it seem as if the shuttle was a lot closer 

to the buildings than it really was. The low-altitude flight was well-publicized, and few people were 

caught off-guard. Not one person called 911 to report a low-flying plane, police said. That's a striking 

contrast to what happened in 2009 when the Pentagon conducted a photo-op flyovef'inlower Manhattan 

by a passenger jet and F-16 fighter. The sight of the aircraft flying past the Statue of Liberty and lower 

61 
Manhattan's financial district set off a flood of 911 calls and sent office workers rushing into the streets in 

panic. On Friday, the jet carrying the shuttle turned east and flew over central Long Island. Nassau 

County office workers looked out their windows in delight as it passed over the Roosevelt Field Mall, 

near the spot where Charles Lindbergh took off for Paris in 1927. The shuttle then touched down at 

Kennedy Airport, where a controller radioed: "Welcome to New York, and thanks for the show." The 

shuttle will be taken to the Intrepid by barge in June and is scheduled to open to the public in mid-July. 

Enterprise never went on an actual space mission; it was a full-scale test vehicle used for flights in the 

atmosphere and experiments on the ground. Web posted. (2012). [Close encounter: New Yorkers watch 

with excitement as shuttle passes low over the skyline [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, April27].] 

+For 50 years, it's been a critical part of Florida's economy. But now our space industry is struggling to 

survive. The retirement of the shuttle program has left thousands of workers jobless. And, it's also called 

into question whether Florida's days as America's pre-eminent space state are over. After 30 years and 

more than 130 missions, the space shuttle program has disappeared into history. And now the talent, 

technology and patriotism that helped drive it may be in jeopardy of disappearing, too. Tim Pickens 

works at Dynetics, a NASA contractor in Huntsville, Alabama. He's committed to reviving Florida's space 

industry, not least because his company depends on it. Now that manned missions launching from Cape 

Canaveral are no more ... He says it'll be up to a handful of private space flight companies to help inspire a 

national movement. Pickens says only the government can pioneer that kind of technology, and if enough 

people ask for it, Washington will pay for it. But, there's no guarantee manned launches will return to 

Florida. That's why Farrukh Alvi spearheads a research hub aimed at using space technology in other 

ways. "I suspect that Florida will not be the only one that's going to be launching things -Texas, New 

Mexico and others. But, you need to have a more diverse economy, so even if it's very successful, you do 

not want to just invest in there - you need to diversify." Web posted. (2012). [Florida's Space Industry 

Struggles to Survive [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.wctv.tv/ [2012, April27].] 

+To help spur the development of a new fleet of commercial spacecraft to carry astronauts to and from 

the International Space Station, NASA has partnered with select private companies to foster the design 

and testing of the new vehicles. But the firms that received funding from NASA are not the only players 

in the game. NASA has also made deals with several other commercial companies under so-called 

unfunded Space Act Agreements. As part of these arrangements, the agency provides expertise that could 

help the companies develop their vehicles or launch systems, but does not give out any money. Utahbased Alliant Techsystems (ATK), the company that manufactured the space shuttles' solid rocket 

boosters, signed an unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA) with NASA in September to jointly work on 

the company's Liberty rocket, which could launch astronauts into orbit by 2015 or 2016, company 

officials have said. Web posted. (2012). [NASA Offers Expertise to Help Private Companies Build 

Rockets, Capsules [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.space.com/ [2012, April27].] 

+ It's not going into space, but the mock-up Orion capsule, which arrived at the Kennedy Space Center in 

Florida this week, at least is a sign of a post-shuttle life. The vehicle comes to Florida from manufacturer 

Lockheed Martin's plant in Colorado to serve as a test vehicle for the ground processing systems under 

development for NASA's next human space program, which is designed to fly astronauts to the moon, 

asteroids, Mars and other destinations in deep space, beyond the space station's 240-mile-high orbit. 

NASA's first test flight of an Orion capsule is scheduled for 2014. Web posted. (2012). [NASA's New 

Spaceship Arrives for Tests [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.news.discoverv.com/ [2012, April 

27].] 

April30: A powerful Atlas V rocket is being prepped this week for the launch Thursday of an advanced 

military communications satellite capable of surviving and operating during a nuclear war. The 197-foot62 
tall Atlas Vis scheduled.to blast off during a launch window that will extend from 2:46p.m. to 4:46p.m. 

Thursday. Now stacked in an assembly building at Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force 

Station, the rocket will be moved to its launch pad on Wednesday morning. The United Launch Alliance 

rocket will boost the second in a series of five Air Force Advanced Extremely High Frequency spacecraft. 

The AEHF-2 is designed to provide survivable, global, secure, protected and jam-resistant 

communications for high-priority military ground, sea and air assets. A ULA overview of the payload 

says the satellite says it allows the National Security Council and commanders in all services to "control 

tactical and strategic forces at all levels of conflict through general nuclear war." The early weather 

forecast for the launch indicates there is a 60 percent chance conditions will be acceptable for flight on 

Thursday. The prime concerns will be the chance that electrically charged clouds could sweep into the 

area during the launch countdown. A rocket flying through electrically charged cloud trigger destructive 

bolts of lightning. In the event of a delay, the forecast for Friday called for similar conditions and a 60 

percent chance of acceptable weather. Web posted. (20 12). [United Launch Alliance gearing up for Atlas 

launch Thursday [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April30].] 

+With a brief burst of flame Monday, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket engines appeared to show they were 

ready for a much longer bum next Monday that could boost a Dragon capsule toward the International 

Space Station. The two-second, full-power firing of nine first-stage Merlin engines occurred on a second 

attempt that won't be available next week. The rocket must launch during a split-second window at 9:38 

a.m., or wait at least several days for another try. Computers halted Monday's initial test countdown with 

4 7 seconds to go because an unspecified technical parameter was set improperly, a SpaceX launch 

manager said during the company's live Webcast of the event. Uncertainty about what had happened 

immediately raised questions about whether SpaceX might need to delay its launch attempt. But after 

reviewing the incident, engineers resumed the countdown about an hour later, and it continued all the way 

until fire and smoke bellowed from beneath the 157-foot rocket on its pad at Launch Complex 40. 

Known as a "static fire" test, the all-white rocket remained bolted to the pad while the engines fired just 

long enough to test their performance. "So far things look good," company spokeswoman Kirstin 

Grantham said in an email. "Engineers will now review data as we continue preparations for the 

upcoming launch." The test was the latest in preparations for a NASA demonstration mission that could 

make the Dragon the first commercial spacecraft to visit the space station. Web posted. (2012). [Falcon 9 

engine test delights SpaceX [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, April30].] 

63 
MAY 

May 1: Twin NASA satellites designed to probe and predict changes in Earth's radiation belts arrived at 

the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday; ready to begin several months of testing and assembly before 

lifting off on an Atlas 5 rocket in August. Riding inside a U.S. military cargo plane from Maryland, the 

twin spacecraft touched down at the spaceport's runway at 7:54a.m. EDT (1154 GMT) Tuesday, 

according to George Diller, a NASA spokesperson. Built at Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics 

Laboratory in Laurel, Md., the satellites will investigate what causes the donut-shaped radiation belts 

surrounding Earth to expand and contract as solar storms erupt and propagate through space. The 

Radiation Belt Storm Probes are due for launch Aug. 23 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket. 

The $530 million mission is scheduled to last at least two years. Between now and launch, engineers will 

install solar panels on each satellite, test each spacecraft's systems, fill their tanks with propellant and 

encapsule the eight-sided vehicles inside the Atlas payload fairing. The satellites will be prepared for 

launch at the commercial Astrotech processing facility near KSC. The spacecraft will fly through the 

inner and outer Van Allen radiation belts, named for their discoverer, James Van Allen, who was lead 

scientist for the first U.S. satellite to reach orbit- Explorer 1. Web posted. (2012). [Radiation Belt Storm 

Probes arrive at Florida launch site [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, 

May 1].] 

+Three more astronaut veterans- Air Force Gen. Kevin Chilton, Dr. Franklin Chang Diaz and Air 

Force Col. Charlie Precourt- will be joining the Astronaut Hall of Fame Saturday at the Kennedy Space 

Center Visitor Center. Chang Diaz, a Costa Rican-American with a doctorate in physics, is a veteran of 

seven space shuttle flights who has logged more than 1,601 hours in space, last flying in 2002. Chilton 

was the pilot on space shuttle Endeavour's maiden voyage and the commander of Atlantis' STS-76 

mission to the Russian space station Mir. He returned to active duty Air Force and became commander of 

the Strategic Air Command, retiring with four stars in 2011. Precourt flew on four space shuttle missions 

from 1993 to 1998. They'll be inducted during 3 p.m. public ceremonies at Kennedy Space Center Visitor 

Complex, on State Road 405 east ofTitusville. The trio will be the 80th, 81st and 82nd members of the 

Astronaut Hall of Fame. Web posted. (2012). [Chilton, Chang Diaz, Precourt headed to Astronaut Hall of 

Fame [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ the write stuffblog [2012, May 1].] 

+Mission managers met this morning for the Launch Readiness Review, the final formal gathering to 

examine the status of the Atlas rocket, the AEHF 2 spacecraft, the ground support network and weather 

forecast for Thursday's planned climbed to orbit. The review culminated with a consensus to press ahead 

with countdown operations starting with Wednesday's rocket rollout to the Complex 41 pad starting at 10 

a.m. EDT. Thursday's liftoff of the Atlas rocket from Cape Canaveral is targeted for 2:46p.m. EDT, the 

opening of a 120-minute launch opportunity extending to 4:46p.m. EDT. The launch weather outlook 

has improved a bit, prompting an increase in odds of acceptable conditions to 70 percent. Web posted. 

(2012). [Atlas 5 rocket set for rollout to pad and blastoff [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, May 1].] 

+ The long-awaited launch of a commercial cargo ship bound for the International Space Station almost 

certainly will be delayed from May 7 to at least May 10 and possibly longer, sources said late Tuesday, to 

give company engineers additional time to complete pre-flight tests and checkout. Multiple NASA 

sources said the current May 7 target had been ruled out, although there was confusion in some quarters 

as to whether there might be a slim chance of keeping on schedule if additional analyses could be 

completed in time. That did not appear likely, but NASA had no official comment on the launch date 

discussions because the SpaceX flight is being billed as a commercial operation and "it's up to SpaceX to 

make any announcements," one official said. Kirstin Brost Grantham, a SpaceX spokeswoman, had no 

64 
immediate comment. Because of test requirements and the nature of the space station's orbit, SpaceX 

cannot attempt back-to-back launch attempts on successive days. For this demonstration flight, attempts 

can only be made every third day. For a launch on May 7, SpaceX would have a backup opportunity on 

May 10. After that, the company would have to stand down until May 19 or even later to make way for 

launch of a Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying three fresh station crew members. The Soyuz TMA-04M 

spacecraft is scheduled for launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:01 p.m. EDT 

(GMT-4) on May 14 with docking expected two days later. Web posted. (2012). [Next Monday's SpaceX 

Falcon 9launch date in doubt [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, May 

1].] 

May 2: Sierra Nevada Corp., one of the four companies developing spacecraft that could fly NASA 

crews to the International Space Station, will visit the Space Coast on Friday [May 4] to discuss interest 

in locating operations on the Space Coast. Mark Sirangelo, the head of Colorado-based Sierra Nevada 

Space Systems, will join dignitaries including Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, Kennedy Space Center Director 

Bob Cabana and local economic development officials for an 11:30 a.m. event at the Cocoa Beach Hilton. 

Invitations distributed by Space Florida bill the event as the "Launch of Sierra Nevada Corporation in 

Florida." Sierra Nevada and state officials "will discuss the potential for expanded space operations in 

Florida and next steps," Space Florida says. Carroll will recognize "near-term employment potential," 

according to a press release. Sierra Nevada is developing the Dream Chaser spacecraft, which resembles 

a mini-space shuttle. It plans to launch from Florida atop United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket. Web 

posted. (2012). [Sierra Nevada to discuss potential Florida operations [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 2].] 

+ NASA managers argued Tuesday a proposal by lawmakers to immediately select a single provider for 

commercial crew transportation services would undermine the agency's strategy of reducing the cost of 

space travel through private industry. Officials are in the middle of evaluating industrial bids for the 

commercial crew program's next phase, with a goal of selecting at least two companies by August to 

continue developing rockets and spacecraft for the next two years. NASA plans to award multiple 

industry teams each between $300 million and $500 million under agreements set to run until at least May 

2014. But a House budget bill would direct NASA to immediately choose one provider and sign a 

development contract. The House spending plan provides $500 million to NASA's commercial crew 

program in fiscal year 2013, which begins Oct. 1. A Senate appropriations bill gives NASA a $525 

million mark for commercial crew, but it does not call for a shift in procurement strategy. Both funding 

levels are less than NASA's-request for $830 million in fiscal2013. The Senate and House budgets must 

pass their respective bodies, and their differences must be sorted out in a conference committee. This 

year's commercial crew budget is set at $406 million, about half of NASA's request. The less-thanrequested budget caused NASA to adjust its schedule for the start of operational astronaut flights to the 

space station from 2016 until2017. Web posted. (2012). [NASA: Competition at core of commercial 

crew program [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, May 2].] 

+ SpaceX has called off the scheduled launch of its Falcon 9 rocket, which was to carry the company's 

Dragon capsule to a rendezvous with the International Space Station. Here's the company's latest email 

message: Update on SpaceX COTS 2 Launch I At this time, a May i 11 launch appears unlikely. SpaceX is 

continuing to work through the software assurance process with NASA. We will issue a statement as 

soon as a new launch target is set. Web posted. (2012). [Falcon 9 won't launch on Monday [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ the write stuffblog [2012, May 2].] 

+Space Florida this week received the Economic Development Leadership Award from CoreNet Global, 

a leading business association for corporate real estate professionals and economic developers. The award 

recognized the deal, brokered by Space Florida, with Enterprise Florida and the Economic Development 

65 
Commission of Florida's Space Coast also involved, that brought Boeing to Kennedy Space Center to use 

Orbiter Processing Facility Bay 3 to manufacture, assemble and test its Crew Space Transportation 

spacecraft. The Economic Development Leadership Award recognizes leadership, best practices and 

innovations in economic development representing national, state, regional and local interests. "The 

Boeing Company's decision to develop and manufacture the CST -100 on the Space Coast will have a 

tremendous impact not only on the local economy, but also the future of America's commercial space 

program," said EDC President and CEO Lynda Weatherman. Web posted. (2012). [Space Florida wins 

honor for KSC deal [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 2].] 

+Bay Area Houston's mock space shuttle is being prepared for its journey to Clear Lake and will 

probably arrive here around June 1, Space Center Houston President Richard Allen said Wednesday. 

After examining the depth of waters the vehicle will travel from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, around 

the Gulf of Mexico and across Galveston Bay and Clear Lake to its Space Center Houston destination on 

NASA Parkway, it was determined the waters are deep enough so no dredging will be necessary, Allen 

explained. The mock shuttle is the full-size orbiter mockup that has been on display at the Kennedy Space 

Center Visitor Complex in Florida for a number of years. And, it may tum out to be better than a real 

space shuttle. The advantage is visitors can walk through the mockup while they cannot access the flight 

and mid-level decks on the real retired shuttles, which were given to Washington, New York, California 

and Kennedy Space Center. The mock shuttle is sitting in the spot where KSC wants to place Space 

Shuttle Atlantis, so Kennedy officials called up offering the mock shuttle right after it was learned the 

Johnson Space Center area had been snubbed when the retired shuttles were. passed out. Once approval 

came, Allen and Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership President Bob Mitchell have been working for 

a number of months on moving the mock shuttle. There is no cost for the shuttle but there will be for 

transportation and providing a facility to house it. As Allen said earlier, "The devil is in the details." 

Chevron donated $100,000 toward the costs at a December fundraiser in Houston. Most likely, it will 

travel by barge. Plans for the move are being finalized now, Allen said, promising more news soon. Web 

posted. (2012). [Mock shuttle due here around June 1 [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 3].] 

May 4: One of the private· companies developing new commercial spacecraft that could carry equipment 

and astronauts into space, Sierra Nevada Corp., repeated its interest Friday to bring many of its operations 

to Florida, only this time the company announced it is seeking state subsidies. Friday's announcement 

came after a meeting at Space Florida's Kennedy Space Center offices, and included supportive 

statements from Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll and others. Sierra Nevada, which first revealed the prospects of 

Florida plans last summer, now is seeking incentives packages from Florida that would include facilities 

and training programs. The company declined to comment on whether it also seeks any tax breaks of cash 

incentives. Last July 7, Sierra Nevada, of Louisville, Colo., and NASA signed a 30-year deal to allow the 

company to launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The company plans to use Atlas V rockets, 

which must be launched there. In addition to launching from the cape, Sierra Nevada and NASA 

announced last summer the company could process its Dream Chaser spacecraft and land it here after a 

flight, with help from KSC technical teams. On Friday, Sierra Nevada announced its desire for a state 

incentives package first. "Today we announced we are entering our application with Florida and Space 

Florida to look at using the. facilities," said Sierra Nevada Executive Vice President Mark Sirangelo. 

"What we confirmed today is we are launching from Florida, we are basing our vehicle fleet here and 

we'll do our post-launch processing here." However, those last two operations may be contingent on 

negotiations with Space Florida and local officials, he said. Web postc:d. (2012). [Sierra Nevada repeats 

its interest in bringing space business to Florida, this time seeking state aid [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, May 4].] 

66 
+ On Friday, NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana participated in an event with federal 

and state officials to discuss the future plans of Sierra Nevada Corp., one of NASA's industry partners, in 

Florida. "Partnerships are key to our future success," said Cabana. "We look forward to expanding our 

partnership with Sierra Nevada here at Kennedy Space Center. "KSC has an extremely talented and 

dedicated work force, and unique processing capabilities and facilities that can help our commercial 

partners be successful. "Sierra Nevada is already part ofthe KSC team through the space act agreement 

we signed last year, and we look forward to their more visible presence, as we continue to enable the 

commercial space industry and truly make KSC a multi-user spaceport of the future." ["Kennedy Director 

Looks Forward to Expanded Industry Partnership," NASA News Release #22-12, May 4, 2012.] 

May 7: United Launch Alliance workers represented by the International Association of Machinists and 

Aerospace Workers will report to work today, said Nick Mrdjenovich, District Lodge 166 business 

representative. Sunday afternoon, union members voted to reject ULA's proposed three-year contractbut they failed to reach a two-thirds majority vote authorizing a strike, Mrdjenovich said. The labor pact 

affects 277 union workers involved in launch operations at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. 

Mrdjenovich did not have vote tallies available, but he said the strike threshold fell five votes short. 

Therefore, he said the union will accept the contract proposal. Web posted. (2012). [ULA union strike bid 

falls short [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 7].] 

+ Dianne Ivey parlayed a job making electrical harnesses for Chrysler automobiles into a 32-year career 

in the nation's space shuttle program. Now she's working on what she calls "a third millennium vehicle," a 

spacecraft that will carry astronauts on missions to the moon, Mars; asteroids or other interplanetary 

destinations. Her message to Americans: "We still have a human spaceflight program, and we're building 

harnesses and getting ready for our mission, and we're working toward that every day." Ivey, 57, of 

Rockledge is a senior aerospace technician with United Space Alliance, a subcontractor to Lockheed 

Martin, which holds a $6.4 billion contract to manufacture Orion spacecraft for human expeditions 

beyond low Earth orbit. Dressed in a white lab coat, Ivey works in a low bay at the Kennedy Space 

Center Operations and Checkout Building. She is one of about two dozen people fabricating the wire 

harnesses that will route power to Orion spacecraft systems, bringing the vehicles electrically to life. In 

2008, she began cross-training for work on the Orion spacecraft, making electrical harnesses for capsule 

development tests. Now Ivey is working on harnesses for the Orion spacecraft that will be launched on an 

inaugural flight test in early 2014, and she's happy to tell people she still works in U.S. human 

spaceflight. Web posted. (2012). ['It's the beginning of a new future' [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 7].] 

May 8: The Orion spacecraft production line is starting up at Kennedy Space Center, and John Nesbitt is 

more than ready to begin building the capsule for a first flight test in early 2014. "You'll be able to pop 

me like a balloon because I'll be so excited. It's going to be great. I mean, everybody feels that way," said 

Nesbitt, a senior aerospace technician with Orion subcontractor United Space Alliance. "It's the coolness 

factor of the whole thing- on to the next program." Nesbitt, 44, is one of about 300 people at KSC who 

already are working on the Orion project, doing prep work for the $375 million flight test. Funded by 

NASA, the mission will put the Apollo-style capsule through the type of high-speed re-entry it would 

need to survive on a return from the moon, Mars, asteroids or other interplanetary destinations. Mounted 

atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket, the Orion will blast offfrom Launch Complex 37 

at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Orion manufacturer Lockheed Martin will carry out the flight and 

provide NASA with data after the mission. With the production line at the Operations and Checkout 

Building ramping up, Lockheed Martin expects its Orion work force at KSC to grow to 350 to 400 by the 

end of2013. Web posted. (2012). [Excitement builds as Orion spacecraft production nears at KSC 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 8].] 

67 
+NASA has officially set the new launch date of Saturday, May 19,for SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and 

Dragon capsule, which will head for the International Space Station. SpaceX was shooting for April 30, 

then May 7, but needed to sort through some software issues. Because the U.S. Air Force was launching 

an Atlas 5 rocket, then the Russians have a May 10 Soyuz to ferry up three fresh astronauts, 

including Commander Oleg Kononenko of the Russian Federal Space Agency, Flight Engineer Don Pettit 

ofNASA and Flight Engineer Andre Kuipers of the European Space Agency. So the second delay 

pushed SpaceX back a couple of weeks. Web posted. (2012). [NASA officially sets new launch date for 

SpaceX: Saturday May 19[0nline]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ the write stuff 

blog [2012, May 8].] 

+ The International Space Station's National Lab could serve as a platform for pharmaceutical and 

biotechnology companies to test new drugs and better treatments for conditions like bone loss, scientists 

advising the lab's nonprofit manager said Tuesday. But the Brevard County-based Center for the 

Advancement of Science in Space, or CASIS, says there's still much work to be done to raise awareness 

about the lab's existence and potential commercial benefits, and no guarantee of medical breakthroughs. 

"The real tough scientific question is, is it really better in space than on Earth?" said Dr. Timothy 

Yeatman, the center's interim chief scientist, of the research environment. "Now it has to be answered, so 

now's the time to do that." Yeatman led a panel of scientists in reviewing more than 135 biological 

experiments NASA flew in space over a decade. Of that batch, he said, there were "no real standouts" that 

definitively proved commercial opportunities. That is a priority for NASA now that assembly of the $100 

billion station is complete and emphasis is on research, or "utilization." CASIS will announce a 

solicitation for experiments next month, which officials said could fly aboard U.S. or Russian vehicles as 

soon as next year. Web posted. (2012). [Center for the Advancement of Science in Space aims to 

showcase uses ofiSS [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 8].] 

+ NASA has signed off on the astronaut layout of SpaceX' s planned seven-passenger crew capsule after 

some NASA engineers and astronauts cozied into one in the SpaceX showroom and pronounced it fit. 

Officially, NASA declared that SpaceX's plans passed another milestone, the seventh of 10, by 

demonstrating that the layout will allow astronauts to maneuver effectively in the vehicle. Several veteran 

space shuttle astronauts and NASA engineers conducted the evaluation during a pair of two-day-long 

reviews. That news comes just a few days before SpaceX's planned May 19th launch of a cargo version 

of the Dragon, atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, From Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. If all goes well 

with that test flight, the Dragon will dock with the International Space Station and deliver about 1 ,200 

pounds of supplies, marking the first time a commercial vehicle has docked and supplied the station. The 

bigger goal though is a crew capsule, set for two to five years away. Web posted. (2012). [As SpaceX 

awaits launch of cargo capsule, crew capsule gets test site [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ the write stu.ffblog [2012, May 8].] 

May 9: NASA's new super-sized rocket will be ready by late 2017 to launch an unmanned Orion 

spacecraft on a looping mission around the moon and a high-speed return to Earth, a senior agency 

manager said Tuesday. A similar mission with astronauts onboard would follow in 2021 from Kennedy 

Space Center, a flight that will clear the way for a new era of human space exploration. "From that point, 

we'll be ready to go anywhere you want to go in the solar system," said Todd May, manager of the Space 

Launch System Program Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. "The 

question is, 'Where do you want to go?'" With the Orion crew exploration vehicle production line 

starting up at KSC, May briefed industry and community leaders on the gigantic rocket that will launch it. 

He spoke before a sold-out crowd of about 300 at a National Space Club Florida Committee luncheon at 

the Radisson Resort at the Port in Cape Canaveral. First, NASA intends to build Space Launch System 

rockets that can loft 70 metric tons. Then, that system will evolve into rockets that can launch 130 metric 

tons. At that point, the Space Launch System will rival the NASA Saturn V rocket that propelled Apollo 

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astronauts on round trips to the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Ultimately, it will be the biggest 

rocket ever devised by human engineers. Web posted. (2012). [NASA 'super rocket' on schedule for 

2017launch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 9].] 

+Sierra Nevada Corp., one of the firms vying to build a commercial space taxi for NASA, plans a series 

of automated and piloted atmospheric flight tests of its lifting body Dream Chaser spacecraft beginning 

this summer, ultimately leading to an orbital demonstration mission in 2016, according to company 

managers. The flight tests will initially prove the Dream Chaser's aerodynamic qualities using an 

engineering article being outfitted at Sierra Nevada's space campus in Louisville, Colo. Using a 

combination of public and private funding, Sierra Nevada is developing the Dream Chaser to carry up to 

seven astronauts to the International Space Station and back to Earth. NASA has promised the company 

$125 million so far, with the bulk of the money already awarded to Sierra Nevada upon completion of 

predetermined development milestones. "Our mission is very specific: to take crew and cargo to the 

International Space Station and to low Earth orbit," said Mark Sirangelo, Sierra Nevada's executive vice 

president and chairman of its space systems division. Sierra Nevada has provided the Dream Chaser 

program with "tens of millions" of dollars in internal funding, but less than NASA's total investment, 

according to Sirangelo. The remaining NASA funds will be released after the Dream Chaser's 

preliminary design review, scheduled for late May, and captive and free flight tests over Colorado and 

California. The Dream Chaser is based on the HL-20 lifting body concept studied by NASA's Langley 

Research Center from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Launching into orbit on top of a United Launch 

Alliance Atlas 5 rocket, the spaceship will dock with the International Space Station and can stay there for 

more than six months. At the end of its mission, the craft will enter the atmosphere and make a piloted 

touchdown at the Shuttle Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Web posted. 

(2012). [Dream Chaser test plan outlined by Sierra Nevada [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, May 9].] 

+Joining a growing list of aerospace companies competing to build a commercial crew taxi for NASA, 

rocket contractor ATK announced Wednesday it could launch astronauts into orbit by 2015 aboard the 

firm's Liberty rocket and a composite module derived from existing programs. But the Liberty bid faces 

stiff competition from other companies hoping to snare a slice of NASA funding. And Congress is likely 

to appropriate less funding than NASA requested for the commercial crew program, potentially leading to 

delays for any company which wins an award. NASA is counting on commercial providers to build a 

crewed rocket and spacecraft to end U.S. reliance on Russia's Soyuz capsules for astronaut trips to the 

International Space Station. A proposal for the Liberty rocket and spacecraft was submitted to NASA in 

March. The space agency expects to announce in August awards of between $300 million and $500 

million to at least two companies over a 21-month period. ATK is vying for NASA awards with SpaceX, 

Boeing Co., Sierra Nevada Corp., and other companies working on commercial crew transportation 

vehicles. Unlike other companies, ATK's Liberty program is currently operating entirely on private 

funding. But much of Liberty's design, including the rocket's propulsion systems and the composite 

spacecraft, would recycle previous work on government-funded programs in the United States and 

Europe. ATK's late 2015 target date for the system's first crewed flight is earlier than its competitors say 

they will be ready for a similar mission. Web posted. (2012). [ATK adds crew capsule to Liberty rocket 

proposal [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, May 9].] 

May 10: NASA is being directed to speed up its selection of a company to ferry astronauts to the 

International Space Station. A spending bill the House approved Thursday says NASA needs to make an 

"immediate" choice of a company for the corinnercial crew program. Currently, NASA is providing 

subsidies to four companies vying to develop a system that could carry astronauts to the station by 2017. 

And the program calls for NASA to award its next round of funding to at least two companies this 

summer. The spending measure, which still needs Senate review and approval, was authored by Rep. 

69 
Frank Wolf, R-Va., chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that oversees NASA's budget. It 

also covers other federal agencies. The bill would provide about $1 7 billion to the space agency in fiscal 

2013, including money for its top three priorities: development of a "heavy-lift" rocket and spacecraft for 

a future crewed mission to Mars, the launch of a powerful new space telescope, and the commercial crew 

program. The commercial crew effort has come under greater scrutiny lately from lawmakers who 

question why NASA isn't moving faster. The last shuttle flew in July and NASA is paying Russia more 

than $60 million each time it flies a U.S. astronaut to the orbiting lab. Web posted. (2012). [House: 

NASA needs to step it up [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 10].] 

May 12: At 9:58a.m. this morning (Friday May 11), technicians unplugged Space Shuttle Endeavour 

marking the final power down of NASA's last powered orbiter and termination of all power flowing to 

the flight deck. Today, Endeavour was euthanized. The flight deck went dark for the last time as 

Endeavour is being prepped inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 (OPF-2) for final departure from the 

Kennedy Space Center later this year and display at her final resting place in Los Angeles. As Endeavour 

was powered back up this past week for one final time to carry out decommissioning and sating activities, 

a tiny media group was invited to crawl inside and photographically record the flight deck as a living 

spaceship for the last time in history. Endeavour was the youngest in NASA's fleet of three surviving 

orbiters and designated as vehicle OV -105. She flew 25 missions over a spaceflight career that spanned 

19 years from the inaugural flight in 1992 to the final flight in 2011 to deliver the dark matter hunting 

Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) to the International Space Station (ISS). Altogether, Endeavour 

spent 299 days in space, orbited the Earth 4671 times and traveled over 197 million kilometers ( 123 

million mi). Endeavour's power termination on May 11, 2012 comes almost exactly one year since her 

final launch on the 16 day long STS-134 mission on May 16, 2011. Since then technicians have been 

removing hazardous materials and propellants from the orbiters hydraulic and fuel lines and thoroughly 

cleansing Endeavour to make it safe for museum display to the general public. The power must be on to 

drain and purge the toxic materials. Power to NASA's two other orbiters, Discovery and Atlantis, was 

terminated in December on the 16th and 22rd respectively. Web posted. (2012). [Endeavour UnpluggedLast Picture Show from the Flight Deck of a Living Space Shuttle Orbiter [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.universetoday.com/ [2012, May 12].] 

May 13: The space shuttle Enterprise has been separated from the NASA 747 Shuttle Carrier at John F. 

Kennedy International Airport, just weeks after flying over New York City. The shuttle is now resting 

under a de-icing shed at the airport. Next month it will be taken by barge to the aircraft carrier USS 

Intrepid, the floating air-and-space museum that will be the shuttle's permanent home. The shuttle is 

scheduled to open to the public in mid-July. Enterprise never went on an actual space mission; it was a 

full-scale test vehicle used for flights in the atmosphere and experiments on the ground. Web posted. 

(2012). [Enterprise separated from 747 at JFK Airport [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 13].] 

May 14: NASA has announced a modification of its NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract with 

Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) of Hawthorne, Calif., to add an additional configuration of the 

Falcon 9 rocket to its fleet. The SpaceX Falcon 9 vl.l launch service will be available to the agency's 

Launch Services Program to use for future missions in accordance with the on-ramp provision ofNLS II. 

The NLS II on-ramp provision provides an annual opportunity for new launch service providers to 

compete for future missions and allows existing launch service providers to introduce launch vehicles not 

currently on their NLS II contracts. The NLS II contracts are multiple award, indefinite delivery/indefinite 

quantity contracts with ordering periods through June 2020. The NLS II contracts support the goals and 

objectives of the agency's Science Mission Directorate, Human Exploration and Operations Mission 

Directorate, and the Office of the Chief Technologist. Under the contract, NASA also can provide launch 

services to other government agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 

70 
The Launch Services Program Office at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for 

program management. ["NASA Modifies Launch Service Contract To Add Falcon 9 Rocket," NASA 

Contract Release #C12-019, May 14, 2012.] 

+A U.S. astronaut who once taught science at Melbourne High will rocket up to the International Space 

Station today on a six-month expedition aboard the orbital laboratory. Veteran shuttle mission specialist 

Joe Acaba will be the first NASA "educator astronaut" to fly a long-duration mission on the space station, 

and he is eager to get underway. Acaba is slated to blast off on a Russian Soyuz rocket, commanded by 

veteran Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, at Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11 :01 p.m. 

EDT today. The third seat is being taken by spaceflight rookie Sergei Revin. The trio is scheduled to 

arrive at the station at 12:39 a.m. EDT Thursday- Acaba's 45th birthday. A hydro-geologist who once 

managed a marine research center on a remote Bahamian island, Acaba said he is looking forward to 

being a subject for human research deemed critical to preparing for future interplanetary expeditions. 

Among the experiments: Research aimed at gauging the effect of weightlessness on the human heart and 

how the cardiovascular systein reacts during a return to normal gravity on Earth. Web posted. (2012). 

[Former Mel High teacher Joe Acaba ready to rocket to ISS [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 14].] 

+As the nation's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle fleet prepares for its 50th flight next month, the 

U.S. Air Force on Monday announced the purchase of an Atlas 5 and a Delta 4 for future military satellite 

deployments. Rocket services provider United Launch Alliance was awarded the $398 million firmfixed-price contract to launch the Navy's Mobile User Objective System 4 spacecraft, MUOS 4, aboard 

the most-powerful version of the Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and a GPS navigation bird 

aboard a Delta 4 booster. An Atlas 5 successfully deployed the first MUOS satellite in February, 

beginning construction of a new mobile communications satellite constellation to create a 3G celiular 

telephone network for. voice, data and video services to military troops on the move. The Atlas 5-551 

rocket needed to haul the hefty MUOS spacecraft features a five-meter nose cone, five solid-fuel boosters 

and single-engine Centaur. Atlas 5 has been tapped to launch MUOS 2 and MUOS 3 as well. The 

orbiting system is designed to include four primary satellites and one in-space spare. The other launch in 

Monday's contract covers a Global Positioning System satellite atop a Delta 4 rocket. The announcement 

did not specify which spacecraft in the GPS sustainment it would cover. A pair of Delta 4 rockets have 

launched GPS 2F satellites from Cape Canaveral in the past two years, flying in the Medium+ ( 4,2) 

configuration with a four-meter upper stage and two strap-on solid motors. The 50th EEL V launch is 

scheduled for June 18 from the Cape when an Atlas 5 flies the classified NROL-38 mission for the 

National Reconnaissance Office. A Delta 4-Heavy on the 51st mission follow closely behind on June 28 

for another NRO deployment from Florida. Web posted. (2012). [Two more military missions booked on 

EELV rocket fleet [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, May 14].] 

+The National Space Society (NSS) calls on Congress to ease export control regulations on spacecraft 

and related items, as urged by the Departments of Defense and State in their recent, joint "Section 1248" 

report, "Risk Assessment of the United States Space Export Control Policy". This report concluded that 

spacecraft and their components, designated as dual-use items, can safely be removed from the U.S. 

Munitions List (USML), which is controlled under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) 

by the Department of State. Once off the USML, the report recommends that these items be placed on 

the Commerce Control List (CCL) managed by the Department of Commerce. Experts maintain that a 

failure to implement this change not only would continue to cause harm to the American space industrial 

base, but could actually pose a threat to national security and potentially impede current and future space 

exploration efforts. ["NSS Urges Congress to Ease Export Control Restrictions on Satellites and SpaceRelated Items," National Space Society Press Release, May 14, 2012] 

71 
May 15: NASA says Boeing is best equipped to provide two cryogenic upper stages derived from the 

Delta 4 rocket to power the agency's Orion capsule on a test flight around the moon in 2017 and send 

astronauts on a voyage to lunar orbit in 2021, according to documents posted on a federal government 

procurement website. The space agency issued a sole-source award to Boeing on April 27 for a feasibility 

study on the compatibility of the Delta Cryogenic Second Stage, or DCSS, with the Space Launch 

System, a heavy-lift rocket designed to dispatch astronaut crews on expeditions to the moon, asteroids, 

Mars, and other deep space destinations. The $2.4 million contract also covers an evaluation of the upper 

stage against NASA's human-rating requirements. Boeing will also determine what modifications are 

needed for the Delta 4 second stage to fly with the Space Launch System. The Delta 4's hydrogen-fueled 

upper stage includes an RLIOB-2 engine built by Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, or PWR. The engine 

generates 24,750 pounds ofthrust and has flawlessly flown on all19 Delta 4 missions to date. Space 

agency officials declined comment on the upper stage acquisition until they formally select a procurement 

strategy. But NASA released a justification document for the sole-source study award to Boeing, 

outlining internal market research and a public request for information solicitation which indicated the 

Delta 4 second stage is the only propulsion system available to meet NASA requirements. Web posted. 

(2012). [NASA intends to use Delta 4 upper stage on moon flights [Online]. Available WWW: 

hty,;//www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, May 15].] 

May 16: The best time to do a little renovating is when everyone is out of the house - something 

homeowners know and something NASA appears to appreciate too. The space agency is experiencing 

empty-nest syndrome in a big way, with the shuttles heading for museum retirement and the next manned 

American space vehicle not scheduled to fly until2016 - unless it's 2018 or 2025 or who knows when? 

That leaves the huge and now-vacant vehicle assembly building (V AB) quieter than it's been since it first 

opened its 45-story doors in 1966. With half-century old cables snaking behind its walls, aging electronics 

running the cranes overhead and leaky plumbing feeding the heating, cooling and water systems, it's 

crying out for a little This Old House love. And now it's going to get it. The V AB's gross dimensions 

were headspinning in 1966 - and still are. The iconic old building is 526ft. tall, by 716ft. deep by 518 

ft. wide (160m by 218m by 158m). It has more than 129 million cu. ft. (3.6 million cu. meter) of space. In 

the changeable Florida climate, it even has its own weather, with tiny cloud-like formations sometimes 

gathering near its ceiling. The foundations for the building go 160 ft. ( 49 m) deep. All that space was 

necessary because the V AB was built to accommodate the massive Saturn V rocket - 363 ft. (111 m) tall 

and made up of three stages, plus an escape tower. The stages would be lifted and stacked on top of one 

another, and a massive crawler would then take the completed booster on its 3.5 mi. (5.6 km) journey to 

the launch pad, moving at the decidedly patient clip of 1 mph (1 .6 klh). Booster and crawler together 

weighed so much that the gravel that lined the path underneath would be crushed to powder as they 

passed. After 1973, when the last Saturn V flew, the V AB was retrofitted for its far longer career as an 

assembly hangar for the 184 ft. (56m) shuttle. But last summer the shuttle program came to an end, and 

NASA has begun work on a new Saturn-like - and Saturn-sized - booster known prosaically as the 

space la,unch system (SLS). The SLS is planned to be a sweet-looking machine, but given NASA's 

depressing history of start-stop projects, plenty of people are convinced it will never fly. About 13 mi. (20 

km) of copper cabling have already been removed, with another 37 mi. (56 km) to go. All of it will be 

replaced by pinky-width fiber optic cables. The five overhead cranes, which can lift up to 350 tons (317 

metric tons), are still sound, but their electronics and other controls will be ripped out and replaced. 

Spigots and pumps for the fire control system - which was up to code in 1966 but falls short of modem 

standards - will be removed and replaced next year. Most important, the seven fixed work platforms that 

are attached to the walls at different heights and were built for the Saturn V will be replaced by 10 new 

ones that can be repositioned as needed. That's critical in an era in which NASA plans to lean on private 

contractors like Elon Musk's SpaceX to get humans and cargo to and from low-Earth orbit, while the SLS 

is used principally for deep space exploration. Such a variety of launch vehicles requires flexibility; if you 

don't know exactly what rocket you'll be assembling on any one day, after all, you'd better be able to 

accommodate them all. Even so extensive a renovation will not take all that long. Since the V AB 

72 
structure itself is sound, engineers expect to complete their work by 2014. The effort they expend between 

now and then will make things that much sweeter if the new rockets actually show up - and that much 

more forlorn if they don't. Web posted. (2012). [NASA Renovates Its Biggest, Baddest House [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.time.com/ [2012, May 16].] 

May 17: The California Science Museum said it has raised nearly half of the $200 million needed to 

build a permanent exhibit for the space shuttle Endeavour. The museum recently received a donation 

from the Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Oschin Family Foundation that will allow it to start the design phase of the 

project. The museum didn't disclose the amount of the gift, citing an agreement it made with the 

foundation. When the display opens in 2017, it will be called the Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center in 

memory of a real estate developer and astronomy enthusiast, and will feature Endeavour in a vertical 

position, as if it's ready to launch. Until then, Endeavour will be housed in a temporary exhibit currently 

under construction. It is slated to be bolted to the top of a modified jumbo jet and arrive in Los Angeles in 

late September. Since NASA retired the shuttle fleet last year, technicians have been busy prepping the 

shuttles to their final destination as museum pieces. Atlantis remained in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Last 

month, Discovery wowed crowds by swooping over the nation's capital before landing in Virginia where 

it will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution's hangar at Dulles International Airport. Several weeks 

later, the prototype shuttle Enterprise sailed over the Statue of Liberty and past the skyscrapers along 

Manhattan's West Side before touching down at Kennedy Airport. It will be towed by barge next month 

to New York City's Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. Web posted. (2012). [California museum gets 

. big gift to build space shuttle exhibit [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

May 17].] 

+Putting U.S. astronauts aboard private spacecraft originally was intended to accelerate the pace and 

slash the cost of manned exploration. But now, National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials 

are debating whether the plan'~ main goal should be fostering jobs to stimulate the economy. Tension 

between boosting science or the economy erupted during a meeting earlier this year at the agency's 

Washington, D.C., headquarters . .Addressing a group of high-level outside advisers, NASA Deputy 

Administrator Lori Garver emphasized that the primary aim of outsourcing cargo and crew transportation 

to private industry is to promote thousands ofhigh-techjobs. Alarmed, aerospace experts on NASA's 

safety panel shot back that the program's direction should remain focused on long-standing engineering 

and performance criteria: building rockets and capsules able to reliably reach Earth's orbit. Critics of the 

agency say moves to play down short-term transportation goals in favor of broader economic stimulus are 

clouding the future of U.S. human spaceflight and raising questions about safety. Web posted. (2012). 

[NASA Stresses New Mission [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.wsj.com/ [2012, May 17].] 

May 18: Observers from Cape Canaveral to Capitol Hill will be keenly watching SpaceX's commercial 

voyage to the International Space Station launching Saturday, and although officials bill the mission as a 

test flight, its outcome could buoy or blunt support for a private space race ih human spaceflight. 

Recognizing the breadth of attention given Saturday's launch and arrival at the space station three days 

later, officials from NASA and SpaceX have one message: This is a test flight. And that means to expect 

the unexpected. SpaceX aims to launch its privately-built Dragon capsule Saturday aboard a Falcon 9 

rocket, fly the craft to the International Space Station, and deftly approach the complex for astronauts to 

grab the free-flying satellite with a robot arm. It is the first time a private company has attempted such a 

feat. If successful, the flight would be a confidence boost for SpaceX and NASA, which are partners for 

at least 12 unmanned cargo delivery flights to the space station over the next few years. The space 

agency has paid SpaceX $381 million in an agreement to help pay for the design, development, and 

testing of the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft. SpaceX has spent $1.2 billion to date, including 

public and private capital. NASA and SpaceX are also jointly funding the design of a crewed version of 

the Dragon spacecraft to transport astronauts to the space station later this decade. SpaceX is competing 

73 
with other aerospace companies for further NASA fmancing to support development of rockets and 

spacecraft for human occupants. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX's historic commercial mission is 'just a 

test flight' [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, May 18].] 

May 19: The launching of a privately owned cargo rocket heading to the International Space Station was 

aborted at the last second on Saturday morning. The rocket's nine engines had ignited, but computers 

detected a high pressure in the chamber of the center engine and shut them down. The rocket is held 

down during the final engine checks and never left the launching pad. The rocket and its cargo capsule, 

both built by the Space Exploration Technologies Corporation of Hawthorne, Calif., represent an 

important step in NASA's evolution to rely more heavily on commercial companies for its human 

spaceflight program. If the capsule, the Dragon, reaches the space station, it will be first commercial 

spacecraft to dock there. All previous vehicles, like NASA's space shuttles and Russia's Soyuz capsules, 

were government operated. In the evening, SpaceX officials said they had identified a faulty valve as the 

problem and said the next launching attempt would be on Tuesday at 3:44a.m. Web posted. (2012). 

[Launching of Rocket by SpaceX Is Aborted [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nytimes.com/ 

[2012, May 19].] 

May 20: For the past half-century, the $5.6 billion, "irreplaceable" Kennedy Space Center has operated 

as a NASA-monopolized installation, said master planner Trey Carlson. But looking 20 years ahead, 

stakeholders will include a growing number of still-unknown commercial space start-ups; NASA's heavylift rocket program; federal agencies like the Department of Defense and Department of Energy; and the 

state of Florida, in conjunction with its other spaceports. How should KSC morph its 144,000-acre 

footprint to handle this transformation? "(NASA) dictated how we developed, how things went, because 

they had all the money. How do we go from that to a multi-user spaceport on federal property?" Carlson 

asked the Space Coast Transportation Planning Organization during a recent meeting. KSC's master plan 

has not received a major revision since 2003, Carlson said. That was a year before President George W. 

Bush announced his now-scrapped plan to create a lunar outpost and sent astronauts to Mars. Now, 

Carlson's department has drafted a 44-page master-strategy rewrite through 2031 - much of which "flies 

in the face" of typical NASA planning. For example, new safety guidelines must be set "so Company A 

doesn't make a mistake and blow up Company B," he quipped. These concepts were approved in 

February at NASA headquarters. Now, Carlson's office will spend the next 12 to 15 months fleshing out 

details. Among infrastructure and operational initiatives discussed during the TPO meeting: * Introduce 

simplified billing policies offering flexibility for commercial companies, including calculating up-front 

how much a launch will cost. "They want to buy services by the yard. They don?t want to have to pay for 

a standing army, the way we've been used to operating for a while," Carlson said. * Fashion launch-pad 

architecture to accommodate multiple vehicles. "We have never used more than one pad for more than 

one launch vehicle," he said. *Forge maintenance partnerships with the Florida Department of 

Transportation for KSC's five rail and vehicle bridges. *Establish a rail link with Port Canaveral. "With 

this vision of diversifying ourselves, we will be in a better position five years from now and 10 years 

from now," Carlson said. "When - not if, but when - the federal government once again changes its 

mind of how it wants to use the space center, NASA will adapt and change appropriately," he said. Web 

posted. (2012). [KSC master-pian rewrite under way for new launches [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 20].] 

+ SpaceX has replaced a check valve in one of the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage engines, but analysis 

continues before the company proceeds with another launch attempt Tuesday morning. Engineers traced 

the cause of Saturday's aborted launch countdown to a valve in engine No. 5, the center engine in the 

Falcon 9 rocket's tic-tac-toe layout of Merlin engines on the first stage. Computers detected higher-thanallowable pressures inside the engine's thrust chamber after ignition and ordered a cutoff of the 

countdown a half-second before liftoff. The launch opportunity Tuesday comes at 3:44:38 a.m. EDT 

74 
(0744:38 GMT). The Falcon 9 rocket remains vertical at Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad. Web 

posted. (2012). [Valve replaced on Falcon 9 engine as analysis continues [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, May 20].] 

May 22: The second demonstration mission for NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services 

(COTS) program is under way as SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft lifted off Tuesday 

from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 3:44a.m. EDT. "I want to congratulate SpaceX for 

its successful launch and salute the NASA te~m that worked alongside them to make it happen," NASA 

Administrator Charles Bolden said. "Today marks the beginning of a new era in exploration; a private 

company has launched a spacecraft to the International Space Station that will attempt to dock there for 

the first time. And while there is a lot of work ahead to successfully complete this mission, we are 

certainly off to good start. Under President Obama's leadership, the nation is embarking upon an 

ambitious exploration program that will take us farther into space than we have ever traveled before, 

while helping create good-paying jobs right here in the United States of America." The Dragon capsule 

will conduct a series of checkout procedures to test and prove its systems, including the capability to 

rendezvous and berth with the International Space Station. On Thursday, May 24, Dragon will perform a 

flyby of the space station at a distance of approximately 1.5 miles to validate the operation of sensors and 

flight systems necessary for a safe rendezvous and approach. Live NASA TV coverage beginning at 2:30 

a.m. ["SpaceX Launches NASA Demonstration Mission to Space Station," NASA News Release #12-

161, May 20 2012] . ( 

+ In addition to a Dragon capsule headed to the International Space Station, SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket 

on Tuesday flew an unusual payload the company didn't publicize- human remains. The rocket's 

second stage carried a canister containing portions of cremated remains from more than 300 people for 

Houston-based Celestis, Inc., which markets "memorial spaceflights." The ashes included some from 

Mercury astronaut Gordon Cooper and actor James Doohan, better known as Scotty on the original "Star 

Trek." The Falcon 9's successful voyage made up for two failed attempts to fly ashes for Celestis aboard 

SpaceX's first rocket, the smaller Falcon 1. Web posted. (2012). [Falcon 9 carried human remains into 

space [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 22].] 

May 24: The shuttle orbiter replica Explorer is on its way to Houston this morning after departing 

Kennedy Space Center today atop a barge. Welded down on the vessel, the full-scale, high-fidelity replica 

departed the tum basin near the Vehicle Assembly Building around 6:40 a.m. and is expected to float 

through the locks at Port Canaveral at about 9 a.m. The barge then will make its way out into the Atlantic 

Ocean, round the southern tip of the Florida peninsula, and then cross the Gulf of Mexico to Texas. The 

trip to Space Center Houston, the visitor complex at NASA's Johnson Space Center, is expected to take 

about 1 0 days. Built by Guard Lee in Apopka, Explorer was installed at the Kennedy Space Center 

Visitor Complex in 1993 and displayed next to a gantry-like tower. Yisitors could view a mock-up 

payload in its cargo bay as well as the replica's cockpit and a mannequin wearing an early version of a 

bright orange launch-and-entry suit. The model is 122.7 feet long, 54 feet tall and has a wingspan of 78 

feet. It was moved to a parking lot at the Launch Complex 39 Press Site late last year to make room for 

the $100 million building that will house the orbiter Atlantis in retirement. That building is under 

construction now. Atlantis will be moved there late this year and the building will open to visitors in mid2013. Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle replica on way to Houston from Kennedy Space Center [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 24].] 

+ NASA selected URS Corporation of Orlando, Fla., to perform architecture and engineering studies and 

provide designs and other professional services to replace and restore bridges at NASA's Kennedy Space 

Center and the adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The maximum potential value of 

this indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract will not exceed $30 million for work that starts in 

75 
May and extends for five years, with four one-year options. Work under the contract includes completing 

design packages and performing studies, and providing detailed cost estimates, surveys, reports, 

environmental permit applications and environmental certificates of compliance. URS will provide 

designs with low environmental impact and use sustainable materials. ["NASA Awards Architecture and 

Engineering Contract for Bridges," NASA Contract Release #C12-021, May 24, 2012] 

+ The Boeing Company has successfully completed a new milestone in the development of software that 

will operate its Crew Space Transportation (CST) spacecraft. The company is one of NASA's partners 

developing commercial crew transportation capabilities to ferry U.S. astronauts to and from low Earth 

orbit and the International Space Station. With the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) of its software on 

May 18, the company now has completed more than 40 milestones under partnerships supporting NASA's 

Commercial Crew Program (CCP). "When it comes to designing a spacecraft safe enough to transport 

humans, software is as important as the hardware," said Ed Mango, CCP manager. "Boeing has made an 

excellent effort to take safety into consideration while developing critical software components of its 

spacecraft." Boeing's CST-100 is designed to be a reusable, capsule-shaped spacecraft, capable of 

transporting up to seven people or a combination of people and cargo. It is compatible with a variety of 

expendable launch vehicles. Boeing has selected United Launch Alliance's Atlas V rocket for initial CST100 test flights. Software is essential to all operational aspects of the spacecraft, including launch, orbital 

maneuvering, docking with and separating from the space station, re-entry and landing. The testing is part 

of a NASA-funded Space Act Agreement under the second round of the agency's commercial crew 

development (CCDev2) activities, which could eventually lead toward human spaceflight certification of 

the CST-100. The Boeing team is on schedule to complete its remaining CCDev2 milestones in the next 

few months, including an orbital maneuvering/attitude control engine hot fire test that will provide 

additional data on significant elements of the spacecraft design. All ofNASA's industry partners, 

including Boeing, continue to meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew 

transportation capabilities. ("NASA Commercial Crew Partner Boeing Meets Software Milestone," 

NASA News Release #12-170, May 24, 2012] 

May 29: SpaceX today announced its first commercial contract to launch a heavy-lift rocket still in 

development. The Falcon Heavy will launch an Intelsat communications satellite to geosynchronous orbit, 

according to a news release. The timing of the launch and value of the contract were not specified. 

SpaceX says it offers Falcon Heavy launches for between $80 million and $125 million. SpaceX is 

building a Falcon Heavy launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The first version of the 

rocket is expected to arrive there late this year and launch a first test flight next year. Featuring three core 

Falcon 9 boosters strapped together, SpaceX's says the Falcon Heavy will be the most powerful rocket 

since the Saturn V, blasting off with 3.8 million pounds of thrust from 27 engines first-stage engines. 

Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX announces Falcon Heavy launch deal with Intelsat [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, May 29].] 

May 30: After 15 months circling the planet on its clandestine military mission, the Pentagon's miniature 

space shuttle will be corning back to Earth for a pinpoint touchdown at Vandenberg Air Force Base in the 

next couple of weeks. Launched atop an Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral on March 5, 2011, the 

winged craft has been operating in low-Earth-orbit carrying out a mission of unknown purpose. The 

military considers the payload classified. Built by Boeing's Phantom Works division, the spaceplane is 29 

feet long with a wing span of 14 feet. It can weigh up to 11 ,000 pounds fueled for launch. The in-space 

design life is 270 days, but good performance on this mission enabled ground controllers to keep it aloft 

significantly longer. This is the second of the Orbital Test Vehicles to fly in the X-37B program, 

following the maiden mission in 2010 that spent 224 days in space, frequently maneuvering in what was 

considered to be a shakedown cruise to demonstrate the spaceplane's capabilities. The original vehicle has 

been refurbished for shipment to Cape Canaveral and a return to space. Another United Launch Alliance 

76 
Atlas 5 rocket will haul the craft to orbit in a liftoff targeted for October. Web posted. (2012). [Air 

Force's mini space shuttle prepares for landing [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .floridatoday.com/ [20 12, May 30].] 

+ A mission 20 years in the making is about to culminate with the launch of a one-of-a-kind satellite. 

NASA announced today that its NuST AR telescope could be shot into orbit as early as June 13. NuST AR, 

short for Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, will be able to create images of high energy X-rays, 

making it capable of studying cosmic phenomenon such as black holes and how exploding stars form the 

elements that make up our universe. The new telescope will have 10 times the resolution and 100 times 

the sensitivity of similar telescopes. NuST AR will undergo a flight readiness review on June 1, if it 

passes that it will be strapped to an aircraft for transport to a launch pad on Kwajalein Atoll in the central 

Pacific Ocean. If everything goes according to plan, Orbital Sciences Corp. will shoot NuST AR into 

. space aboard one of its Pegasus XL rockets. Web posted. (2012). [NASA to launch powerful telescope 

array [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.cnn.com/ [2012, May 30].] 

May 31: SpaceX's Dragon capsule splashed down this morning in the Pacific Ocean, wrapping up a 

mission that seemed to hit every target set. The historic flight ended at 11:42 a.m. EDT as the capsuleits bright parachutes deployed - landed right near its target zone off the coast of Southern California. A 

recovery team including a 185-foot barge and tug, an 80-foot crew boat and two 25-foot rigid hull 

inflatable boats (RIBs) had reached the recovery spot. The barge was expected to "pluck" Dragon out of 

the ocean, and begin the two to three day journey back to the Port of Los Angeles. NASA and SpaceX 

declared the mission, which began at 3:44a.m. May 22 with a blast offfrom Cape Canaveral Air Force 

Station on a Falcon 9 rocket, an unqualified success. Three days after launching, the capsule made history 

by becoming the first commercial cargo vessel to berth at the International Space Station. And now, · 

SpaceX has done it again: repeating their December 2010 success when Dragon became the first private 

spacecraft to launch, orbit the Earth and successfully re-enter. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX's Dragon 

capsule successfully splashes down [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

May 31].] 

77 
JUNE 

June 1: A full-scale shuttle orbiter replica displayed for 18 years at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor 

Complex has arrived at its dock in Clear Lake near Johnson Space Center. The arrival of the orbiter 

dubbed "Explorer" kicks off a weekend of "Shuttlebration" events at Space Center Houston, JSC's visitor 

center. Explorer is set to be loaded onto a transfer vehicle Saturday. On Sunday, it will make a three-hour 

parade down NASA Parkway from the dock near the Nassau Bay Hilton to its new display site at Space 

Center Houston, escorted by scout troops and marching bands. The mock-up orbiter left Kennedy Space 

Center on a barge last Thursday, after months parked in a lot at the center's turn basin, near the Vehicle 

Assembly Building. The Visitor Complex moved the high-fidelity replica, built by Guard-Lee Inc. of 

Apopka, to make way for a $100 million exhibit building that will house NASA's retired flown orbiter 

Atlantis. Houston, the home ofMission Control and the astronaut corps, was not one of the four sites 

NASA awarded retired shuttles, so the replica has been dubbed a consolation prize. Web posted. (2012). 

[Former KSC orbiter mockup set for 'shuttlebration' [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 1].] 

June 2: Loaded with an X-ray telescope payload for NASA, the winged Pegasus rocket left the assembly 

hangar and joined up with its L-1011 carrier aircraft Saturday at Vandenberg Air Force Base in 

California. The Orbital Sciences booster will depart the West Coast on Tuesday for a two-day ferry flight 

to the Kwajalein Atoll in the central Pacific Ocean, part of the U.S. Army's vast missile range. On launch 

day, currently targeted for June 13 (U.S. time), the carrier jet will haul the rocket to 39,000 feet and 

release it at 11:30 a.m. EDT (1530 GMT), allowing the three-stage Pegasus to propel the NuSTAR 

satellite into orbit. The remote site was selected for the NuST AR launch since the Pegasus will be aiming 

for an equatorial orbit, the type of perch that Kwajalein is well positioned to reach. Weighing 772 

pounds, the spacecraft is ideally sized for the Pegasus launch that will be making its 41st flight. Its 

heritage includes deploying over 70 satellites since 1990 for NASA, commercial customers and the U.S. 

military. Web posted. (2012). [L-1011 and Pegasus tour at Vandenberg [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, June 2].] 

June 4: The prototype space shuttle Enterprise has arrived in New Jersey, the first half of its trip to the 

flight deck of a decommissioned aircraft carrier in New York City. The shuttle left Kennedy Airport 

Sunday morning on a barge and was towed past thousands of spectators to Jersey City. The shuttle had 

been at JFK since it flew from Washington atop a 747 jet earlier this spring. A spokeswoman for the 

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum says the shuttle's wingtip sustained light cosmetic damage during the 

trip when a gust of wind caused it to graze a wood piling. No other damage was reported. On Tuesday, 

the Enterprise is to be taken to the Intrepid on Manhattan's West Side where a crane will lift it onto the 

flight deck. Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle prototype Enterprise towed to NJ before final NYC stop 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 4].] 

+ A mini-shuttle competing to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station began a series of lowaltitude flight tests this week in Colorado. On Tuesday, a heavy-lift Erickson Air-Crane helicopter hoisted 

Sierra Nevada Corp.'s Dream Chaser spacecraft into the sky for about an hour near Rocky Mountain 

Metropolitan Airport. The test assessed the full-scale Dream Chaser's aerodynamic flight performance, 

and is a precursor to an autonomous approach and landing test planned later this summer at Edwards Air 

Force Base in California. The Dream Chaser is one of four vehicles being developed with NASA seed 

money, and a contender to fly astronauts by 2017. NASA's Commercial Crew Program, based at KSC, 

plans to award its next round of development funding this summer to at least two systems. Other 

companies currently receiving funding include Blue Origin, The Boeing Co. and SpaceX. Web posted. 

78 
(2012). [Dream chaser begins test flight [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, June 4].] 

+The U.S. human spaceflight program is undergoing a monumental transformation that will usher in a 

new era of low-cost commercial space exploration, a senior NASA official said Monday. More than a 

half-century after the world's first human space missions, NASA is preparing to shift U.S. operations in 

low-Earth orbit to commercial companies. "We are loosening our grip and working with the private 

sector in new ways so that we can reduce the cost of getting to and from low-Earth orbit," NASA Deputy 

Administrator Lori Garver told young aerospace students and professionals at the opening of International 

Space University's 25th Space Studies Program. The move is enabling NASA to develop the launch 

system and spacecraft required for human expeditions to deep space destinations, Garver said. And it will 

be the young students and professionals who will orchestrate space exploration in the future. About 130 

people from 31 nations gathered at Florida Institute of Technology for the opening of the nine-week ISU 

program, which is being hosted by the university and NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Between now and 

early August, the attendees will take part in core courses and workshops that cover all aspects of space 

programs and enterprises- from space science and systems engineering to space policy, business 

management and satellite applications. Then they'll split into teams and tackle tough issues, such as 

micrometeorite and orbital debris, future spaceports and next-generation space stations. Web posted. 

(2012). [Space U 'a natural fit' [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 

4].] 

+ Sheriffs officials have launched an investigation after a group of about 30 employees for a contractor 

at Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station reported they are victims of identity theft 

and unable to receive their taxes. "I have 27 complainees documented that when they filed their tax 

return.s they were compromised," Brevard County Sheriffs Agent Fernando Dominicis said. Dominicis is 

investigating how the employees' personal information was shared. The victims are all employees of G4S 

Government Solutions and most worked as firefighters at KSC and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, 

according to Kevin Smith, president ofTransport Workers Union Local525 in Cocoa Beach, which 

represents some of the employees. Most of the victims tried to file taxes electronically and were then 

notified that their taxes had already been filed, Smith said. Of more than 100 total firefighters, "about 35 

percent of them have had their identities stolen at some point or somehow." The number of victims isn't 

strange, according to Dominicis, a fraud investigator. "Unfortunately, it happens all year round 

throughout the country," he said. What is unusual is that they all work together, Dominicis said. G4S 

conducted an internal review of systems and procedures after being notified of the group of potential 

victims, company officials said. They also contacted benefits providers to see if there were any breaches. 

"Based on our internal review and discussions with our benefits vendors, we determined that all personal 

information has been handled appropriately," G4S spokeswoman Susan Pitcher said in a statement. "G4S 

GS and our vendors are committed to taking every reasonable precaution to maintain the security of 

personal identifiable information." Web posted. (2012). [27 in Brevard go to file taxes, find refunds 

ripped off [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 4].] 

June 5: Slung beneath the belly of its L-1 011 carrier jet, a three-stage Pegasus XL rocket and its NASA 

space telescope payload flew away from Vandenberg Air Force Base Tuesday afternoon en route to a 

distant atoll in the equatorial Pacific where the launch will originate next week. The fully assembled 

. rocket left its home port at 12:58 p.m. local (3:58p.m. EDT; 1958 GMT) destined for the Kwajalein Atoll 

in the Marshall Islands, part of the U.S. Army's vast missile range in the central Pacific Ocean. The rocket 

will be powered throughout the ferry flight so engineers stationed aboard the aircraft can monitor Pegasus 

systems and its state of health. Arrival at K wajalein will kick off several days of final tests, rehearsals 

and reviews before the June 13 (U.S. time) launch to deliver NASA's NuST AR X-ray space observatory 

into orbit around Earth on a $180 million mission to seek out black holes. Web posted. (2012). [Pegasus 

79 
rocket sets sail to launch NASA telescope[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ 

[2012, June 5].] 

June 6: Enterprise has landed on the deck of its new retirement home, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space 

Museum in New York City. A crane hoisted the prototype shuttle orbiter on to the World War II aircraft 

carrier docked on Midtown Manhattan's West Side around 4:15p.m., completing a nearly seven-week 

journey from its previous display site at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum. 

Enterprise left the Smithsonian's Udvar-Hazy Center April19 to make way for Discovery, and was 

ferried April27 from Dulles International Airport to John F. Kennedy International Airport. Starting 

Sunday, a barge carried Enterprise through New York Harbor and up the Hudson River - a journey that 

included a scrape with a Jersey City, N.J., railroad bridge that caused minor damage to the right wing. 

The barge left Jersey City around 10:15 a.m. today, carrying the orbiter past the Statue of Liberty and 

Lower Manhattan. The Intrepid will build a climate-controlled pavilion around the orbiter -- with its ferry 

flight tail cone still attached -- on the carrier's flight deck. A public exhibit is expected to open next 

month, and fundraising is under way to build a permanent land-based exhibit facility. Enterprise flew 

approach and landing tests for NASA in 1977 and performed other early shuttle program tasks, like fit 

checks at a Kennedy Space Center launch pad. It was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1985. 1t will be 

displayed at the Intrepid. NASA awarded Enterprise and three retired space-flown orbiters to museums in 

April 2011 . Discovery went to the Smithsonian in April. Later this year, Endeavour is bound for the 

California Science Center and Atlantis for the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Web posted. 

(2012). [Enterprise prototype lands on aircraft carrier in Manhattan [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 6].] 

+ The Obama administration is asking Congress to continue the federally sponsored insurance program 

for the nation's growing commercial space industry. The program expires Dec. 31 . Administration 

officials and aerospace industry representatives told a House Science, Space and Technology 

subcommittee Wednesday it's imperative such indemnification for launch and re-entry of spacecraft be 

renewed for another five years or the economic benefits of commercial space might fly overseas. 

"Extension of the indemnification provision would continue to enable the industry to attract and maintain 

a customer base in the face of international competitors" that carry such coverage, said George Nield, 

who heads the Federal Aviation Administration's Office of Commercial Space Transportation. Congress 

created the insurance program in 1988, the year before the first commercial launch, when Space Services 

Inc. fired the CONSORT-I satellite into orbit from the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. 

There have been 206launches since then, including last month's much-heralded flight by SpaceX's 

Falcon 9 rocket that sent the unmanned Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. FAA officials 

predict 290 commercial launches will take place around the world from 2012 to 2021 to support telecommunications, satellite imagery, and missions to the ISS and science payloads, according to the House 

Science, Space and Technology Committee. Modeled after the insurance system for the nuclear power 

industry, the indemnification program is comprised of a risk-sharing arrangement between the federal 

government and the private sector to cover third-party claims in the event of a catastrophic loss during 

launch or re-entry. A company must buy a fixed amount of insurance for each launch under a formula set 

by the FAA. The federal government is liable for claims above that amount. Web posted. (2012). [Reps 

urge renewal of commercial space insurance [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, June 6].] 

+ A senior House member dropped a demand that NASA cut short its competition to develop commercial 

space taxis and quickly pick a single partner to fly astronauts to the International Space Station. U.S. 

Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., head of the subcommittee that oversees NASA's budget, said Tuesday he would 

support full funding for two crew systems and partial funding for a third when the agency awards its next 

round of development funding in July or August. Those awards, expected to total $300 million to $500 

80 
million per system over nearly two years, are intended to complete designs of vehicles that could fly 

crews to the outpost by 2017. In April, the House Appropriations Committee recommended NASA 

quickly select a single crew transportation provider to speed up its availability. The committee said 

continued funding for multiple competitors -NASA this year is funding development of four spacecraft 

- risked wasting money in an attempt to create a commercial market for crewed orbital spac.eflight. Wolf 

also said he would support the Senate's slightly higher suggested program budget in 2013 of$525 million 

instead of $500 million. Both amounts are well below the $830 million the Obama administration 

requested. Wolf asked NASA to assess commercial partners' finances, management and business 

viability to limit the risk to taxpayers, and requested an updated multi-year "roadmap" for the program. 

The Obama administration's strategy to fly both cargo and crews commercially gained momentum last 

month when SpaceX successfully flew an unmanned cargo capsule to the space station and returned it to 

Earth, becoming the first private company to do so. After the shuttle's retirement last year, the U.S. must 

pay Russia for rides to the station until the commercial systems are ready. Web posted. (2012). 

[Lawmaker now backs plan to fund several crew-capsule competitors [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 6].] 

+Commander Doug Waller of the Brevard County Sheriff's Office and Jeffrey Eberts of United Space 

Alliance have won this year's top management awards from the Florida Space Coast Council. The FSCC 

is part ofthe National Management Association, the leadership organization devoted to "the personal and 

professional development of America's work force." It is comprised of five chapters that include 

members from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Spacelift Range Systems, United Space Alliance, and a 

community chapter. Waller and Eberts received their awards at a recent banquet at Tradewinds Restaurant 

at the Duran Golf Course in Viera. Web posted. (2012). [FSCC honors BCSO's Waller and USA's 

Eberts with its top management award [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.brevardbusinessnews.com/ [2012, June 6].] 

June 7: Kennedy Space Center technicians on Thursday repaired leaks in rocket propellant pipes a day 

after potentially hazardous fumes prompted the evacuation of two shuttle hangars. Nearly 60 people 

evacuated Orbiter Processing Facilities Nos. 1 and 2 around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday after a technician in 

the latter reported smelling a whiff of highly toxic hydrazine. "The standard procedure is if you smell 

hydrazine, we're evacuating," said center spokesman Mike Curie. "Hydrazine is corrosive and it's very 

dangerous if you were to come in contact with it or to breathe it." Safety personnel wearing protective 

suits confirmed hydrazine levels exceeded the permissible amount of 0.01 parts per million, Curie said. 

The problem with the pipes was detected Tuesday as crews began the process of cleaning and removing 

them, part of efforts to de-service the hangars after the shuttle program's retirement last year. The pipes 

are mostly clear and capped but contain residual amounts of liquid, particularly in elbows and joints, 

Curie said. On Tuesday, air was blown through the pipes to find potential leaks before workers flushed 

the pipes with cleaning fluids. Some leaks were found in OPF-2 and repairs were scheduled for 

Thursday. Employees were not considered to be at any immediate risk since the pipes are essentially 

empty. They are trained, however, to spot hydrazine's fishy or ammonia-like smell and report it 

immediately. A technician did that Wednesday. Both hangars were evacuated because they are connected 

to each other. No one was injured or received medical treatment. On Thursday, workers wearing 

protective "SCAPE'' suits, or Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensembles, completed the 

previously scheduled repairs. The hangars reopened for normal operations by early afternoon. Shuttle 

Endeavour is currently housed in OPF-2, and Atlantis is next door in OPF-1. The retired orbiters are 

awaiting delivery to museums in September and November, respectively. Atlantis is coming to the KSC 

Visitor Complex. Web posted. (2012). [KSC repairs hydrazine leak after evacuation [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 7].] 

81 
+ Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is one small step closer to beginning routine supply 

runs to the international space station (ISS) now that NASA has verified that the company safely returned 

35 kilograms of time-sensitive cargo from the orbiting outpost. This so-called early return cargo, packed 

into four bags, reached NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston June 2 - 57 hours after splashing 

down aboard SpaceX's Dragon capsule in the Pacific Ocean. Preliminary assessments by ISS program 

officials at Johnson show that the shipment is in good condition, NASA spokesman Josh Byerly said June 

7. The safe return of this cargo was one of the objectives SpaceX had to fulfill for its historic 

demonstration flight to be considered a success. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX Returns Cargo To NASA 

in Good Shape [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, June 8].] 

June 8: NASA is canceling an X-ray astronomy mission that would have launched from Florida's Space 

Coast in late 2014. The reason: It's over budget. A small explorer spacecraft equipped with sophisticated 

X-ray telescopes would have been launched on a Pegasus XL-class rocket into an orbit inclined 28.5 

degrees to the equator. U.S. missions launching into that type of orbit typically blast off from either 

NASA's Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The contract would have most 

likely gone to Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., which manufactures and launches Pegasus XLrockets. The vehicles are carried aloft by an L-1 011 aircraft, released at an altitude of about 40,000 feet, 

and then launched into low Earth orbit. Pegasus missions have flown out of the Shuttle Landing Facility 

at KSC in the past. But other companies, including Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. of Denver, 

Space Exploration Technologies of Hawthorne, Calif., and United Launch Alliance of Littleton, Colo., 

also could have bid. NASA selected the Gravity and Extreme Magnetism SMEX, or GEMS, mission in 

2007. SMEX is a NASA acronym for Small Explorer, a class of relatively low-cost science missions. 

The GEMS mission was cost-capped at $105 million, a figure revised to $119 million in 2012 dollars. 

Paul Hertz, director ofNASA's Astrophysics Division, said Thursday an independent cost analysis 

showed the cost of the mission would have been 20 to 30 percent more than the cost cap. So NASA 

"made the very difficult decision" to cancel the mission, Hertz said. To date, NASA has spent about $37 

million on the project. Total estimated cost ofterminating contracts is an additional $13 million, Hertz 

said. The project still was in the formulation phase; no instruments for the mission had been developed 

yet. Web posted. (2012). [Budget woes force NASA to cancel2014launch [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 8].] · 

+ Space Florida President Frank DiBello will speak at the National Space Club meeting Tuesday. He will 

discuss the possibilities for economic development in a presentation titled, "Future Directions for 

Florida's Space Industry." Since May 2009, DiBello has led Space Florida, which serves as the single 

point of contact for aerospace-related economic development in Florida. Web posted. (2012). [DiBello to 

speak at Space Club luncheon [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 8].] 

+A panel session for the International Space University's Space Studies Program 2012 participants [will 

be held] at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8 p.m. on June 12. The Soffen Memorial Panel 

session will provide the opportunity for SSP participants to engage with today's leaders in the planetary 

.science field. The panel session is in honor of Gerald Soffen, NASA scientist and leader of NASA's 

Viking Mars mission. Reporters planning to attend need to meet Tracy Young in the lobby of the 

Operations Support Building II at 7:30p.m. The OSB II is the five-story bui\ding adjacent to the Press 

Site. The session will be moderated by George Tahu, NASA program executive, Planetary Science 

Division, NASA Headquarters. Panelists include: --Pete Worden, director, NASA Ames Research Center; 

--Claudia Alexander, project scientist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory; --Scott Hubbard, professor, Stanford 

University; --Bill Nye, CEO, The Planetary Society. ["NASA Invites Media to Soffen Memorial Panel 

Session June 12," NASA Media Advisory #M28-12, June 8, 2012.] 

82 
June 10: The NASA control center that gave the command to lauJ;Ich rockets to the moon and send space 

shuttles into orbit will be opened for public tours this week for the first time in more than 30 years. 

NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida announced that beginning this Friday (June 

15), a limited number of daily tours will take guests into the spaceport's historic Launch Control Center 

(LCC). Tour-goers will have the rare opportunity to enter the room where directors and engineers 

supervised the countdown for all 152 launches of the Apollo moon landing and space shuttle programs. 

"This is [a] rare opportunity that NASA has worked with us to provide- access to the Launch Control 

Center," Bill Moore, chief operating officer of visitor complex, said in a statement. "It might be another 

30 years before guests will receive a behind-the-scenes opportunity like this again." The KSC Up-Close: 

Launch Control Center (LCC) Tour will run through the end of the year. The new tour takes visitors 

inside Firing Room 4, one of the Launch Control Center's four firing rooms and the one from which the 

shuttle's final 21 launches were controlled. Inside, guests will pass by the consoles where engineers 

monitored the computerized control system's thousands of system checks every minute leading up to 

launch. They'll see the countdown clock and the large video monitors on the walls. Visitors will also enter 

the "bubble room," with its wall of interior windows through which the Kennedy Space Center 

management team viewed what went on in the firing room below. "With so much on the line, the people 

who worked in this room were under tremendous pressure not only in daily operations but particularly as 

the countdown proceeded," Bob Sieck, a former launch director, said in a statement. "They had to handle 

the tension and their emotions as the tests became faster, the astronauts took their place in the shuttle and 

thousands of people and news media were gathered outside to watch the launch." In addition to the 

"bubble" looking in, visitors will look out the LCC's iconic windows -windows "through which you 

could see mankind's future," said architect Martin Stein. His concept for the LCC won an award for 

industrial design from the American Institute of Architecture in 1965. In addition to the firing room, the 

tour also showcases the LCC's lobby, which features 152 wall plaques- one for every mission guided 

there since its first, the unmanned Apollo 4 in 1967. Included are the manned Apollo moon missions, the 

international Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975, the Saturn rocket launches for Skylab space station in 

the mid-1970s, and the launches for the 30-year shuttle program. The tour also includes drive-by views of 

one of the shuttle launch pads and then ends at the Apollo/Saturn V Center, where guests can see one of 

the three remaining Saturn V rockets, and then join the visitor complex's regular tour. The Launch 

Control Center Tour is the second in a series of rare access tours celebrating Kennedy Space Center's 50th 

anniversary. Web posted. (2012). ['Go' for tours: Public invited inside NASA's historic Launch Control 

Center [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.collectspace.com/ [2012, June 10].] 

June 11: The final days of preparations are underway at Cape Canaveral for next Monday morning's 

Atlas 5 rocket flight on a milestone-setting mission for America's Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle 

fleet. Now topped with its secret satellite cargo for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office, the United 

Launch Alliance-built rocket is targeting liftoff sometime between 8 and 10 a.m. EDT (1200-1400 GMT) 

from the Cape's Complex 41 pad. The exact time has not yet been revealed, given the hush-hush nature 

of the mission. The Launch Readiness Review is planned for Friday, which gives approval to transport 

the 19-story rocket aboard its mobile platform from the vehicle assembly building to the pad. Rollout is 

slated for Saturday 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT). Web posted. (20 12). [ 501h EEL V rocket set for launch 

next Monday[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, June 11].] 

June 12: The U.S. and Canada are setting the stage for a lunar prospecting mission aimed at 

demonstrating technologies that could open the solar system to human exploration. In a sandy yard at 

Kennedy Space Center, engineers and scientists are developing a prototype of a rover designed to extract 

oxygen from hydrogen-rich lunar soil and produce water. The four-wheeled prototype will face critical 

field tests in Hawaii in July. A fully tested, flight-ready rover still needs to be developed, and a launch 

vehicle still must be procured. But project managers are confident that their technology development 

project eventually will be elevated to a fully funded mission- one that would be cost-capped at $250 

million. "It is the next logical step" in lunar exploration, said William Larson, whose title is In Situ 

83 
Utilization Project Manager at KSC. Manufacturing water on the moon would yield oxygen for 

astronauts to breathe, as well as provide water for drinking, cooling systems, radiation shielding, growing 

plants and even for rocket propellant. Deep-space mission costs would drop dramatically because 

spacecraft would be able to refuel at propellant depots - eliminating the need to carry up all fuel from 

Earth's surface. The prototype being developed at KSC- dubbed Artemis Jr.-is equipped with aUshaped Canadian rover, Canadian excavating tools, and U.S. science instruments. It would use a 

scientific divining rod - a neutron spectrometer - to locate hydrogen-rich soils, likely at a site near the 

moon's south poles. Lunar soils contain abundant oxygen. Rotary, percussion and corkscrewing drills 

and augers would extract regolith from the lunar surface to a depth of one meter. Then samples would be 

heated up in an oven that could convert oxyge'n and hydrogen to water vapor and ultimately, water drops. 

A second oven would analyze samples for hydrogen, helium, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, 

nitrogen, ammonia and other chemical constituents. Methane is another useful rocket propellant. 

Hydrogen and carbon monoxide can be combined to make it. The next big step for the technology 

development project is to travel to Hilo, on the island of Hawaii, for field tests near Mauna Kea, a 

towering volcano that last erupted 4,600 years ago. Larson said the Mauna Kea region provides the most 

lunar-like soil on Earth, and the goal is to simulate a full nine-day mission for the solar-powered rover, 

one in which more than two dozen soil samples are extracted and processed. The rover will travel about 

three kilometers, or 1.8 miles, and Ewan Reid, an operations engineer with the Canadian Neptec Design 

Group, will be one of the people driving the prototype. Web posted. (2012). [Do deep space quests start 

with this rover prototype? [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 12].] 

June 13: Space industry pioneer Sam Beddingfield, whose career spanned from Project Mercury to the 

shuttle program, died Wednesday. He was 78. Beddingfield, who lived in Titusville, joined NASA in 

1959 at the urging of Gus Grissom, whom he'd flown with at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, 

Ohio. Grissom became one of the seven original Mercury astronauts, and he thought Beddingfield, an 

aeronautical engineer, should work in the space industry, too. As the story goes, Beddingfield said, "I 

don't know anything about space," recalled Charlie Mars, president of the U.S. Space Walk of Fame 

Foundation. Grissom apparently replied: "Nobody else does, either." Beddingfield came to Florida, 

starting work at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in 1959. At the time, NASA had 33 employees. All 

were assigned ID numbers. Beddingfield's: No.4. It was Beddingfield who strapped Alan Shepard, the 

first American in space, into his capsule. Sam was an icon of the space industry," Mars said. "He was 

here in the very beginning." Beddingfield's engineering career took him through the Mercury program 

and the Apollo launches. When NASA embarked on a new program, Beddingfield was one of the 

engineers to design the shuttle. He left the program as deputy director of shuttle operations in 1985. "I 

had worked through 23 launches and decided enough was enough," Beddingfield was quoted as saying in 

a NASA story about him being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Space Club 

in 2006. Web posted. (2012). [Space pioneer's career spanned history of NASA [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 13].] 

+A small X-ray telescope was boosted into orbit by an air-launched Pegasus XL rocket Wednesday, the 

first step in an ambitious low-cost mission to study supermassive black holes believed to be lurking at the 

cores of galaxies like Earth's Milky Way and to probe the creation of heavy elements in the cataclysmic 

death throes of massive stars. The mission got underway with a dramatic pre-dawn launch from an L1 011 jet at an altitude of about 40,000 feet above the Pacific Ocean some 120 miles south of the 

Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands. Tucked into the nose cone of a three-stage solid-fuel Pegasus XL 

rocket, the NuSTAR spacecraft was dropped like a bomb at 12 p.m. EDT (GMT-4; 4 a.m. Thursday local 

time). After a five-second fall, the first stage of the winged Pegasus booster ignited with a rush of flame 

to begin the steep climb to orbit. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Dulles, Va., provided the carrier aircraft, the 

Pegasus XL booster and the NuST AR satellite to NASA and the mission operations team at the California 

Institute of Technology under a "Small Explorer" program contract valued at nearly $180 million. The 

Pacific Ocean launch zone was selected to enable the spacecraft to reach a scientifically favorable orbit 

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tilted just six degrees to the equator. Web posted. (2012). [Air-launched Pegasus boosts NASA telescope 

to space [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, June 13].] 

June 16: An unmanned Air Force space plane steered itself to a landing early Saturday at a California 

military base, capping a 15-month clandestine mission. The spacecraft, which was launched from Cape 

Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida in March 2011, conducted in-orbit experiments during the mission, 

officials said. It was the second such autonomous landing at Vandenberg Air Force Base, 130 miles 

northwest of Los Angeles. In 2010, an identical unmanned spacecraft returned to Earth after seven 

months and 91 million miles in orbit. The latest homecoming was set in motion when the stubby-winged 

robotic X-37B fired its engine to slip out of orbit, then pierced through the atmosphere and glided down 

the runway like an airplane. "With the retirement of the space shuttle fleet, the X-37B OTV program 

brings a singular capability to space technology development," said Lt. Col. Tom Mcintyre, the X-37B's 

program manager. "The return capability allows the Air Force to test new technologies without the same 

risk commitment faced by other programs. We're proud of the entire team's succ~ssful efforts to bring 

this mission to an outstanding conclusion." With the second X-37B on the ground, the Air Force planned 

to launch the first one again later this year. An exact date has not been set. The twin X-37B vehicles are 

part of a military program testing robotically controlled reusable spacecraft technologies. Web posted. 

(2012). [Unmanned space plane lands in Calif. [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, June 16].] 

June 17: Marking only the fifth delay-and-rollback scenario in 27 flights from Cape Canaveral, the Atlas 

5 rocket returned to the assembly hangar today to fix a ground equipment issue. The Atlas was moved 

from the nearby Vertical Integration Facility to the Complex 41 pad Saturday morning. After uncovering 

an environmental control system duct problem, officials determined the rocket platform needed moved 

back into the VIF to perform this repair. Technicians will get to work fixing the issue today, then return 

the vehicle to the pad on Monday, give the crew its sleep-sync day on Tuesday and launch on Wednesday, 

with the countdown starting a little after 1 a.m. Wednesday's launch is targeted to occur at 8:28a.m. EDT 

(1228 GMT). Weather forecasters, in their most recent outlook issued yesterday, predicted a 70 percent 

chance of acceptable conditions for a Wednesday morning launch. Cumulus clouds and gusty winds were 

the worries. Meteorologists expected scattered low- and high-level clouds, isolated showers in the area, 

good visibility, easterly win<;ls of 14 gusting to 20 knots and a temperature of 77 degrees. Web posted. 

(2012). [Atlas 5 rocket launch reset for Wednesday morning [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, June 17].] 

June 18: Launch conductor by day, star of stage by night, Doug Lebo is a character. And he hopes to put 

on a show Wednesday as he oversees the countdown to the planned launch of an Atlas V rocket and a 

super-secret national security satellite. The United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket had been scheduled to 

blast off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station this morning. But the launch was 

delayed 48 hours after the launch team discovered that an environmental control system duct had failed 

near its connection with the mobile launch tower and needed to be replaced. The weather forecast for 

launch Wednesday remains favorable. Meteorologists with the Air Force 45th Space Wing Weather 

Squadron say there is a 70 percent chance conditions will be acceptable for flight. When Lebo and the rest 

of the Atlas V launch team report for duty, they'll be stepping through a highly choreographed sequence 

of countdown activities including fueling the towering rocket for flight. Inside the Launch Control Center 

at the Atlas Space Operations Center, Lebo planned to oversee an assistant being certified to be a fullfledged launch conductor. The person in that job is responsible for coordinating the work of two-dozen 

engineers operating various rocket or spacecraft systems as countdown clocks tick toward zero, and 

liftoff. Web posted. (2012). [ULA launch director sets stage, awaits 'thrill' of Atlas V liftoff [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 18].] 

85 
+ Sally Ride was the sort of trail blazer who literally blazed a trail across the sky. When the first female 

NASA astronaut blasted off into space on June 18, 1983, her rocket burned a path to the stars that showed 

women could have the Right Stuff, too. "In an instant, little girls learned that even the sky wasn't the 

limit," Ride's NASA bio says. At 31 , she was also the youngest American ever in space. Web posted. 

(2012). [Sally Ride, NASA's first female astronaut, took flight 29 years ago [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.nydailvnews.com/ [2012, June 18].] 

June 19: As it does with passenger planes, the Federal Aviation Administration will license flights of 

commercial rockets and spacecraft carrying astronauts. But when NASA crews are on board, the space 

agency will continue to certify that the flights are safe. An agreement announced Monday outlined those 

roles, clarifying how the two agencies plan to share oversight of commercial crew flights to the 

International Space Station. NASA hopes to begin flying crews commercially by 2017 and is working 

with a group of companies to fund the development of new vehicles. The agency expects to announce 

around mid-July the winners of its next round of seed funding to complete system designs, Bolden said. 

The agency plans to fund three companies, two with full awards - expected to range from $300 million 

to $500 million over nearly two years - and one with a partial award. Monday's announcement 

confirmed industry expectations for how NASA and the FAA would partner to sign off on crewed flights 

to the station. The process will work much like it did during SpaceX's recent unmanned demonstration 

flight to the outpost. The FAA, which licenses commercial space missions, approved the launch andreentry of the company's Dragon capsule, focused on the safety of the general public. NASA, meanwhile, 

was concerned about the Dragon's ability to safely fly around and berth with the space station to deliver 

its cargo. For future crewed missions, the agency has published the human-rating standards it will use to 

certify commercial vehicles' safety, and it will perform flight readiness reviews before giving a "go" for 

launch. NASA will have no involvement in flights of non-NASA astronauts to private space stations or 

other destinations. That will be up to the FAA and the flights' customers. Web posted. (2012). [NASA, 

FAA to share space crew safety oversight [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, June 19].] 

June 20: United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket is scheduled to blast off from Launch Complex 41 at 

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. This will be: 

• The 613th launch for Atlas program since 1957 

• The 325th Atlas to occur from Cape Canaveral 

• The 202nd mission for the Centaur upper stage 

• The 179th use of Centaur by an Atlas rocket 

• The 31st launch of an Atlas 5 since 2002 

• The 50th Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle flight 

• The 27th Atlas 5 to occur from the Cape 

• The 23rd Atlas 5 under United Launch Alliance 

• The 1Oth Atlas 5 launch overseen by the Air Force 

• The 20th 400-series flight of the Atlas 5 

• The 12th Atlas 5 to fly in the 401 configuration 

• The 13th Atlas launch for the National Reconnaissance Office 

• The 6th Atlas 5 launch for the NRO 

• The 3rd Atlas launch of2012 

Web posted. (2012). [Here's a look at some stats about today's mission. [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, June20].] 

+ The 50th Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle launch successfully lifted a national security payload 

into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station today. EELV provides the U.S. access to space by 

86 
making launch vehicles more affordable and reliable through the use of two families.of launch vehicles, 

United Launch Alliance's Atlas V and Delta IV. "Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle has allowed us to 

successfully launch 50 nationally critical missions over the last I 0 years," said Gen. William L. Shelton, 

commander Air Force Space Command. "We are proud of this launch success record, an amazing record 

in the history of space flight." The 45th Space Wing conducted today's successful launch of a United 

Launch Alliance-built Atlas V launch vehicle carrying a classified National Reconnaissance Office 

satellite from Space Launch Complex 41. The EEL V program launches from both CCAFS and 

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. Web posted. (2012). [50th Successful Evolved Expendable 

Launch Vehicle Launch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.afspc.af.mil/news/ [2012, June 

20].] 

+ It may seem hard to believe, but the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Orlando, Fla. is 50 years old. 

NASA, which is 53, is offering visitors access to several key areas of the facility that weren't accessible 

before. A special Kennedy Space Center Up-Close Tour runs through the end of2012 to provide visitors a 

look inside the 525-foot-tall vehicle assembly building where the Apollo rockets and space shuttles were 

assembled. One of the world's largest buildings, it had been off limits to the public for more than 30 

years, until the tour was added in November. The tour gives visitors a chance to check out rocket and 

space shuttle launch pads and the 6 million-pound crawler-transporters, which moved the shuttle from the 

building to its launch pad. Center officials said the opportunity to visit the vehicle assembly building is 

being offered for a limited time: Web posted. (2012). [Kennedy Space Center marks 501

" year [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.boston.com/ [2012, June20].] 

+ At a Senate Commerce subcommittee hearing today, three Senators directed mostly friendly questions 

at a panel of government and private sector witnesses regarding the risks and opportunities of commercial 

spaceflight. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX) emphasized that while commercial crew is needed for 

the near term, NASA should not "shortchange the future." NASA needs to adequately fund the Space 

Launch System (SLS) and its Orion capsule, she insisted. As for that future, subcommittee chairman Bill 

Nelson (D-FL) and Michael Gold ofBigelow Aerospace were bullish on the future ofmicrogravity 

research for the pharmaceutical industry in particular. Hutchison sternly chastised NASA Administrator 

Charlie Bolden at an earlier hearing for, in her view, baldly taking $300 million from the SLS/Orion 

effort to put into commercial crew in the FY2013 budget request. Today, she wanted an assurance from 

NASA's Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations Bill Gerstenmaier that NASA 

would not do that again. He said his job was to deliver commercial crew as well as SLS/Orion in a timely 

manner "and we're working hard to do that" within existing budget constraints. He agreed that NASA is 

committed to move both forward and to "find the balance to keep human spaceflight in this nation 

strong." While that was not an explicit "yes," Hutchison appeared to accept the answer as the assurance 

she requested. Her focus was on ensuring that "in 2020, when ISS will go away, most likely," the United 

States does not face another gap in human spaceflight like today. Web posted. (2012). [Commercial 

Crew Critical for ISS, but SLS/Orion Needed for Future, Senators Stress [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/ [2012, June 20].] 

June 21: Presidential Science Advisor John Holdren told the House Science, Space and Technology 

Committee yesterday that despite what some people say, the United States is the world leader in space 

activities. "We continue ... to lead the world in space, although sometimes the contrary is asserted," he 

told Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). "Our planetary exploration programs have absolutely no peer ..... 

some people say China is overtaking [us]. China just put its first woman in space a few days ago. We put 

our first woman in space, Sally Ride, in 1983. One can go through the list. China is talking about maybe 

being able to land someone on the moon in 2020. We did it in 1969." Holdren strongly disagreed. "By 

any respectable set of metrics I know of, the United States is stilt number one in space and intends to stay 

that way." On more specific NASA issues, Holdren told committee chairman Ralph Hall (R-TX) that he 

87 
and President Obama are confident NASA can specify and oversee safety requirements for commercial 

crew systems even though NASA currently is using Space Act Agreements instead of Federal Acquisition 

Regulation (F AR)-based contracting. Rep. Steve Palazzo (R-MS), chair of the space and aeronautics 

subcommittee, asked what would happen if the companies did not perform or went out of business-- what 

would NASA own for the money it is expending. Holdren replied that NASA's funding is an investment 

in the private sector that will yield more efficient and less expensive space missions and the idea is not for 

NASA to "own" anything. Holdren defended NASA's planetary science budget, which was cut 20% in 

the President's FY2013 budget request. Repeating what others in the administration have been saying, 

Holdren told Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) the Mars program is "robust" despite the budget constraints 

and "we have not, by any means, given up our leadership in planetary exploration." Web posted. (2012). 

[Holdren: U.S. is Number One in Space and Intends to Stay That Way [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/ [2012, June 21].] 

June 22: NASA has awarded a contract extension to United Space Alliance of Houston to provide 

mission and flight crew operations support for the International Space Station and future human space 

exploration. The $17.4 million extension of the Integrated Mission Operations Contract covers groundbased human spaceflight operations capability development and execution. This contract includes support 

for mission planning and preparation, crew and flight controller training, and real-time mission execution. 

The initial period of extension runs from Oct. 1, 2012 through Sept. 30, 2013. There is a $17.8 million 

option to extend the contract for another year effective from Oct. 1, 2013, through Sept. 30, 2014. The 

total potential value of the cost-plus-award-fee contract would be $35 million, if the option is exercised, 

This contract extends the original contract, which was in effect from November 2008 through September 

2012. ["NASA Extends Contract for Mission, Crew Operations Support," NASA Contract Release 

#C12-024, June 22, 2012.] 

June 24: The Delta 4-Heavy rocket, sporting more-powerful main engines, is counting down the days to 

blastoff this week carrying a super-secret payload for the National Reconnaissance Office. Liftoff of the 

triple-barreled booster will occur sometime Thursday morning during a period of 5:30 to 10:30 a.m. EDT 

(0930-1430 GMT), officials say. At last check Friday, engineers were looking at a vent relief valve on the 

rocket that could need replacing. But officials said if such a swapout got ordered the unplanned work 

should fit within the existing schedule with no impact to the targeted Thursday launch date. It will mark 

the debut launch of the upgraded RS-68A powerplant on the three booster cores. Built by Pratt & Whitney 

Rocketdyne, each hydrogen-fueled engine will deliver 702,000 pounds ofliftoffthrust, an increase of 

39,000 pounds over the current RS-68 engines successfully flown 29 times to date. The Heavy will be 

flying for the sixth time in history and the Delta 4 program will be achieving its 20th mission to date. 

Web posted. (2012). [Launch week is here for Delta 4-Heavy rocket [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, June 24].] 

June 25: The forecast doesn't look great for Thursday morning's planned launch of a classified satellite 

atop a Delta IV Heavy rocket. There's only a 30 percent chance of conditions good enough for a planned 

6:16a.m. liftoff from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, according to the Air 

Force's 45th Weather Squadron. Heavy clouds arid strong ground winds could pose problems during a 

launch planning period that extends to 10:30 a.m. The forecast improves slightly on Friday, to a 40 

percent chance of favorable weather. The National Reconnaissance Office mission would be the sixth by 

United Launch Alliance's Delta IV Heavy, which features three first-stage boosters strapped together. It 

would be the first launch using Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne's upgraded RS-68A main engines, the 

most powerful hydrogen-fueled liquid rocket engines ever built. The launch is planned just eight days 

after an Atlas V lifted another NRO satellite to orbit from the Cape. Web posted. (2012). [Weather may 

bump Thursday's rocket launch to Friday [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[20 12, June 25].] 

88 
June 26: Already having been powered off for the final time, the shells of rocket pods installed on her 

tail and nose and key components removed for future use, technicians Tuesday finished inserting replica 

main engines on space shuttle orbiter Atlantis for permanent display at Kennedy Space Center's Visitor 

Complex. Using old-generation nozzles to give a realistic-looking appearance, the replica engines do not 

include the internal turbopumps, controllers or other parts that an actual shuttle powerplant featured. 

NASA is keeping its allotment of current-generation engines in protective storage to power the future 

Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket. Installation began Monday when the first engine was mounted to 

Atlantis' center-engine position. The lower-left engine was installed early Tuesday, then after a break for 

a passing rain shower, the third engine was hauled from the prep shop over to Orbiter Processing Facility 

bay 1 for the shuttle's lower-right position. Atlantis will be rolled out of the hangar Friday morning, 

weather permitting, and moved to the Vehicle Assembly Building for storage. The orbiter is scheduled 

for delivery to KSC's museum this fall where a new display exhibit is beirig constructed to give the public 

an up-close look at the retired spaceplane with her payload bay doors open as if orbiting the planet. The 

facility opens next July, around the second anniversary of the final space shuttle mission. Web posted. 

(2012). [Atlantis fitted with. engine replicas for museum [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, June 26].] 

+ Lockheed Martin Corp. is preparing to ship the pressure shell for the first space-bound Orion capsule 

from a Louisiana factory to the Kennedy Space Center, where it will be readied for liftoff on an orbital 

test flight in 2014. Technicians at Lockheed Martin's Michoud plant in New Orleans completed the final 

weld on the Orion spacecraft's core structure Thursday. Arrival at the Kennedy Space Center is scheduled 

for July 2. Officials do not expect any impact to the shipment plans from Tropical Storm Debby, which is 

swamping Florida with flooding rains this week. Forecasters expect the system to move over the Atlantic 

Ocean by the end of the week. The Orion capsule's first voyage in space- called Exploration Flight Test 

1 - will verify the spacecraft's heat shield during re-entry at speeds mimicking what the capsule will 

experience on subsequent missions to the moon, asteroids, or other deep space destinations. Speeds 

during the craft's re-entry will reach more than 20,000 mph as it plunges back to Earth from a peak 

altitude of 3,000 miles. NASA officials say the Orion spacecraft will experience temperatures up to 4,000 

degrees Fahrenheit during re-entry. The EFT -1 mission will blast off on a United Launch Alliance Delta 

4-Heavy rocket in 2014. ULA is modifying the Delta 4 rocket's launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force 

Station for the Orion test flight. The company is changing the configuration of the pad's work platforms 

and adding a new swing arm to reach the Orion spacecraft on top of the powerful booster. Lockheed 

Martin and United Space Alliance employees will work on the Orion spacecraft inside the Operations and 

Checkout Building at the space center in the same high bay used to prepare Apollo missions for launch to 

the moon. Web posted. (2012). [Space-bound Orion capsule to arrive in Florida next week [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, June 26].] 

+ NASA has modified its NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract with Orbital Sciences Corporation of 

Dulles, Va., to add the Antares launch vehicle, formerly known as Taurus II, for future missions. The 

NLS II on-ramp provision provides an opportunity annually for launch service providers not presently 

under NLS II contract to compete for future missions, and allows launch service providers already under 

contract to introduce launch vehicles not currently on their NLS II contracts, such as Antares. NLS II 

contracts are multiple award, indefinite delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with ordering periods 

through June 2020. The contracts provide for a minimum capability of delivering agency payloads 

weighing approximately 550 pounds or more to a minimum 124-mile-high circular orbit with a launch 

inclination of28.5 degrees. The launch service providers also may offer a range of vehicles to NASA to 

meet higher payload mass and orbit requirements. These contracts support the goals and objectives of the 

agency's Science Mission Directorate, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, and 

Office of the Chief Technologist. Under the contract, NASA also can provide launch services to other 

government agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Launch 

Services Program Office at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for program 

89 

r 
management. ["NASA Adds Orbital's Antares To Launch Services II Contract," NASA Contract 

Release #C12-027, June 26, 2012.] 

+Pratt and Whitney Rocketdyne has successfully completed a series of tests on a thruster destined for 

Boeing's Commercial Space Transportation spacecraft, designated CST-100. 

Boeing is one of several companies working to develop crew transportation capabilities under the 

Commercial Crew Development Round 2 agreement with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The goal 

of the program is to help spur innovation and development of safe, reliable and cost-effective spacecraft 

and launch vehicles capable of transporting astronauts to low Earth orbit and the International Space 

Station. Twenty-four thrusters will be part of the spacecraft's orbital maneuvering and attitude control 

system (OMAC), giving the CST-100 the ability to maneuver in space and during re-entry. The thrusters 

also will allow the spacecraft to separate from its launch vehicle if an abort becomes necessary during 

launch or ascent. During tests conducted at the White Sands Space Harbor in Las Cruces, N.M., an 

OMAC thruster was fired in a vacuum chamber that simulated a space-like environment of 100,000 feet. 

The tests verified the durability of the thrusters in extreme heat, evaluated the opening and closing of its 

valves and confirmed continuous combustion and performance. All of NASA's industry partners, 

including Boeing, continue to meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew 

transportation capabilities. ["Thruster Tests Complete for NASA Partner Boeing's Crew Capsule," 

NASA News Release #12-214, June 26, 2012.] 

+ NASA has modified its NASA Launch Services (NLS) II contract with Orbital Sciences Corp. of 

Dulles, Va., to add the Antares launch vehicle, formerly known as Taurus II, for future missions. The 

NLS II on-ramp provision provides an opportunity annually for launch service providers not presently 

under the NLS II contract to compete for future missions, and allows launch service providers already 

under contract to introduce launch vehicles not currently on their NLS II contracts, such as Antares. NLS 

II contracts are multiple award, indefmite-delivery/indefmite-quantity contracts with ordering periods 

through June 2020. The contracts provide for a minimum capability of delivering agency payloads 

weighing approximately 550 pounds or more to a minimum 124-mile-high circular orbit with a launch 

inclination of28.5 degrees. The launch service providers also may offer a range of vehicles to NASA to 

meet higher payload mass and orbit requirements. These contracts support the goals and objectives of the 

agency's Science Mission Directorate, Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, and 

Office of the Chief Technologist. Under the contract, NASA also can provide launch services to other 

government agencies, such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Launch 

Services Program Office at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is responsible for program 

management. [NASA Adds Orbital's Antares to Launch Services II Contract," NASA Contract Release 

#C12-027, June 26, 2012.] 

June 28: A Cape Canaveral facility with a long history serving the space shuttle program will remain 

open under new management, preserving a local manufacturing capability and expanding its operations 

beyond the space industry. Craig Technologies will take over the NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot on 

Astronaut Boulevard and maintain roughly 1,600 pieces ofNASA equipment housed there, the company 

and space agency confirmed Thursday. Starting Jan. 1, the facility operated for years by United Space 

Alliance will become the new headquarters for Melbourne-based Craig Technologies, which will use the 

equipment on loan from NASA to bolster a recently launched machine and tool division. The move could 

help the engineering and technology services contractor win new business that creates jobs. The depot, 

known as the "NSLD," was developed for the shuttle program and used to inspect, test and build 

thousands of space system components, some no longer available from original manufacturers. The 

agreement with Craig Technologies enables NASA to preserve that capability for future spaceflight 

programs without having to bear the annual cost of maintaining equipment it doesn't need during a gap in 

spaceflight programs. "Partnering with Craig Technologies will benefit new customers who will use this 

90 
valuable equipment in the near-term, while enabling Kennedy to retain ownership so that when we are 

ready, we will use it for future spaceflight endeavors," said Mike Curie, a Kennedy Space Center 

spokesman. Web posted. (2012). [Company will keep Cape's shuttle shop open [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, June 28].] 

+ NASA has selected three companies to provide architect and engineering professional environmental 

remediation services at Kennedy Space Center, Fla., the adjacent Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 

(CCAFS) and other NASA locations. The combined maximum potential value for the three contracts is 

$91 million. Services will be performed during a five-year period beginning this year. The companies 

selected are Geosyntec Consultants of Boca Raton, Fla.; Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. of Cape 

Canaveral, Fla.; and Tetra Tech of Pittsburgh, Pa. Under the contract, the three companies will compete 

for fixed-price work orders to develop and implement contamination assessment and remediation 

requirements for Resource Conservation and Recovery Act sites and petroleum contamination for NASA 

at Kennedy and CCAFS. ["NASA Selects Contracts for Environmental Remediation Services, NASA 

Contract Release #Cl2-026, June 28, 2012.] 

June 29: Consolidating NASA's sprawling network of field centers came to the forefront of discussions 

here between top agency officials and an independent panel established to carry out a congressionally 

mandated review ofNASA's structure and management. NASA says its 10 field centers employ about 

18,000 civil servants and four times as many contractors. These centers, some of which predate the 1958 

National Aeronautics and Space Act that created NASA, house a variety of specialized scientific and 

engineering facilities, many of which are underutilized today. The ad hoc panel of the National Research 

Council (NRC) has its origins in the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of2012 

(H.R. 2112), which funded NASA and other federal agencies. The law set aside $1 million for the NASA 

inspector general "to commission a comprehensive independent assessment of NASA's strategic direction 

and agency management." The inspector general delegated the task to the NRC. The final report should 

"recommend how NASA could establish and effectively communicate a common, unifying vision for 

NASA's strategic direction that encompasses NASA's varied missions," the agency's inspector general 

said in its directives to the panel. Speaking to the panel June 26, James Beggs, who ran NASA from 1981 

to 1985 said, "There is too much institution for the program, and there is too much program for the 

budget. If we are stuck with a budget of the current size, $17 billion plus ... then we've got too much 

institution for a long time and we've got to figure out a way to shut part of it down." Web posted. 

(2012). [NASA Review Committee Mulls Field Center Consolidation [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, June 29].] 

+ The United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket has made its twentieth launch Friday morning 

from Space Launch Complex 37B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, carrying the classified NROL15 payload for the United States National Reconnaissance Office. The launch time was 13:15 UTC (09:15 

local time) - after the countdown suffered three holds in a row during the terminal count stage - two of 

which related to out of family Fill and Drain valve indications. For the NROL-15 mission, the Delta IV, 

Delta 360, flew in the Heavy configuration, which consists of three Common Booster Cores (CBCs); one 

as the first stage and two as boosters. The Common Booster Cores are 40.8 metres (133.9 feet) long, and 

5.1 metres (16.7 feet) in diameter. Each is powered by a single Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-68A 

engine. Web posted. (2012). [Delta IV Heavy launches NROL-15 from Cape Canaveral [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/ [2012, June 29].] 

+ On Sunday, NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida celebrates 50 years of launching humans and 

machines to other planets and into low Earth orbit. Since its inception as the Launch Operations Center on 

July 1, 1962, Kennedy has supported a variety of launch vehicles and payloads. The Mercury, Gemini and 

Apollo programs carried astronauts on space missions that culminated in moon landings. Planetary probes 

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lifted off on journeys that expanded our knowledge. The space shuttles launched 135 times and helped 

build the International Space Station. Kennedy Director Bob Cabana said, "In 50 years, less than a 

lifetime, Americans first pioneered paths into orbit, then made confident strides onto the surface of 

another world and sent instrument-laden machines into the perilous reaches of space beyond the solar 

system. All those voyages began here, made possible in large measure by the professionalism, 

determination and boldness of the Kennedy team." A 50th Anniversary website charts the five-decade 

history ofKennedy Space Center and includes a video that chronicles some of the center's most 

impressive milestones. As it turns 50, Kennedy is transitioning to the launch complex of the future, 

revamping existing infrastructure and facilities to provide the flexibility to host a variety of vehicles. "We 

have learned so much about exploring new horizons," Cabana said. "In our endeavors, we've also come to 

realize that there is so much out there for us to discover. Kennedy is the linchpin to NASA's new 

undertakings because we are, and always have been, the nation's premier launch site." In partnership with 

NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, the Commercial Crew Program at Kennedy is spurring the 

innovation and development of commercial spacecraft and launch ,vehicles to transport our astronauts to 

and from low Earth orbit and the International Space Station. Kennedy also will be the starting point for 

NASA's Orion crew capsule and Space Launch System heavy-lift rocket, which will provide an entirely 

new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Kennedy's Launch Services Program is 

preparing for at least 25 missions to various destinations, including Mars, Pluto and our sun. ["NASA's 

Kennedy Space Center Celebrates 50th Anniversary July 1," NASA News Release #31-12, June 29, 

2012.] 

92 
JULY 

July 1: Fifty years ago today, NASA activated a lunar launch center on North Merritt Island, setting the· 

stage for some of the greatest adventures in history. Created to meet an extraordinary Cold War 

challenge, what we now call Kennedy Space Center began rising from mosquito-infested marshland in 

east-central Florida. The Space Coast was born. NASA and the Army Corp. of Engineers would begin 

negotiations with land owners on North Merritt Island to acquire 80,000 acres for "a large space vehicle 

launch facility." Three months after President John F. Kennedy's call to send American astronauts to the 

moon, NASA wanted to expand its presence at Cape Canaveral and build a spaceport for manned lunar 

launches. What followed was a four-year, $800 million project that the industry trade magazine 

Architectural Forum called "one of the most awesome construction jobs ever attempted by Earth-bound 

men." Launch Complex 39 at KSC required a hangar big enough to assemble Saturn V moon rockets that 

stood 363 feet tall and 33 feet wide. At 525 feet tall, the Vehicle Assembly Building covers 8 acres and is 

one of the largest buildings by volume in the world. Launch gantries standing 45 stories tall would top 

mobile launch platforms. Giant tracked crawler transporters would be needed to haul the mammoth 

rockets to the launch pad. To support the 12 million-pound load, NASA would have to build a 100-footwide "crawlerway" comprising a 7-foot-deep bed of stones topped by a layer of asphalt and a surface 

made of Alabama river rocks. On July 1, 1962, NASA officially activated its Launch Operations Center, 

now known as KSC, granting the lunar launch site equal status with other agency field centers. 

Previously, it had been the Launch Operations Directorate of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in 

Huntsville, Ala. The John F. Kennedy Space Center, so named by Executive Order 11129 on Nov. 29, 

1963,just seven days after the assassination of America's 35th president. Web posted. (2012). [A brief 

history ofKennedy Space Center's 50 years [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, July 1].] 

+ Editorial: By Robert Cabana: A vibrant future: Fifty years after NASA established a spaceport to 

launch men to the moon and probes to explore the far reaches of our solar system, Kennedy Space 

Center's mission has not wavered. This week, our team is celebrating five decades of extraordinary 

accomplishments and unprecedented abilities. We're also gearing up for a vibrant future full of 

processing, testing and launching the most complex machines ever built. When the spaceport commenced 

on July 1, 1962, as the Launch Operations Center, its founders knew the complex would be a national 

resource capable of supporting a wide array of v~hicles. During this decade, we're going back to those 

roots with the help of the Ground Systems Development and Operations Program by revamping existing 

infrastructure and facilities to give us the flexibility to host a variety of vehicles as we transition to the 

launch complex of the future. As our namesake, President John F. Kennedy, stated many years ago when 

he challenged the country to send astronauts to the lunar surface, this business is hard. But this team was 

up to the challenge then, and we will rise above it again as we reach even greater heights during the years 

ahead. We have learned so much about exploring new horizons. In our endeavors, we've also come to 

realize there is so much out there for us to discover. I often tell my team Kennedy Space Center is the 

linchpin to NASA's new undertakings because we are, and always have been, the nation's premier launch 

site. This complex still is a national resource, but it will take the continued support of this community to 

93 
take bold new steps in space. It was difficult to say farewell to our beloved space shuttles and the many 

folks who dedicated their lives to that phenomenal program. I hope each one of you gets the opportunity 

to visit the shuttle Atlantis once it's on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. It might 

help you understand the sheer magnitude of what can be accomplished when you combine tenacity with 

innovative thinking and the ability to adapt. The agency recently entrusted us with its newest human 

spaceflight program, a first for the center. In partnership with the Johnson Space Center in Houston, the 

Commercial Crew Program at KSC is spurring the innovation and development of commercial spacecraft 

and launch vehicles to transport our astronauts to and from low Earth orbit and the International Space 

Station. We'll also be the starting point for NASA's Orion crew capsule and Space Launch System heavylift rocket, which will provide an entirely new capability for human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. 

Our Launch Services Program is as busy as ever, too, gearing up for at least 25 missions to study places, 

such as Mars, Pluto and our sun. It's hard to convey everything our center is working on right now, but 

rest assured we are busier than ever. Our lights are still on, O\lf doors are still open and the list of 

extraordinary things we plan to accomplish in this lifetime is long. Cabana is the director of Kennedy 

Space Center and a former space shuttle astronaut and commander. Web posted. (2012). [Op-Ed; Robert 

Cabana: A vibrant future [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, July 1].] 

July 2: More than 450 guests at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida welcomed the arrival of the 

agency's first space-bound Orion spacecraft Monday, marking a major milestone in the construction of 

the vehicle that will carry astronauts farther into space than ever before. "Orion's arrival at Kennedy is an 

important step in meeting the president's goal to send humans to an asteroid by 2025 and to Mars in the 

2030s," NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver said. "As NASA acquires services for delivery of cargo 

and crew to the International Space Station and other low-Earth destinations from private companies, 

NASA can concentrate its efforts on building America's next generation space exploration system to 

reach destinations for discovery in deep space. Delivery of the first space-bound Orion, coupled with 

recent successes in commercial spaceflight, is proof this national strategy is working." The space-bound 

Orion will launch on Exploration Flight Test-1 , an uncrewed mission planned for 2014. The spacecraft 

will travel3,600 miles above the Earth's surface, 15 times farther than the International Space Station's 

orbital position. This is farther than any spacecraft designed to carry humans t has gone in more than 40 

years. The primary flight objective is to understand Orion's heat shield performance at speeds generated 

during a return from deep space. In advance of the 2014launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, 

Fla., a 400-person Orion production team at Kennedy will apply heat shielding thermal protection 

systems, avionics and other subsystems to the spacecraft. Web posted. (2012). [Space-bound Orion 

capsule arrives at Kennedy Space Center [Online]. Available WWW: htt,p://www.orlandosentinel.com/ 

[2012, July 2].] 

+ The first space-bound Orion capsule, the centerpiece of NASA's post-shuttle push to break out oflowEarth orbit for eventual manned flights to a variety of deep space targets, was officially unveiled at 

NASA's Florida spaceport Monday. The spacecraft will be outfitted for an unmanned test flight in 2014. 

"As KSC celebrates its 50th anniversary this month, I can't think of a more appropriate way to celebrate 

than by having the very first Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle here at KSC," Center Director Robert 

Cabana, a former shuttle commander, told more than 400 managers, engineers and technicians gathered at 

Kennedy's Operations and Checkout Building. "Orion is ushering in a new era of space exploration 

beyond our home planet, enabling us to go farther than we've ever gone before. The future is here, now, 

and the vehicle we see here today is not a Powerpoint chart. It's a real spacecraft, moving toward a test 

flight in 2014." The green interior pressure vessel that will make up the core of the first Orion capsule 

was delivered to Kennedy last week. Over the next year or so, engineers will attach a heat shield, install 

avionics systems and flight computers, along with other critical components. If all goes well, the capsule 

will be launched on an unmanned test flight-- Exploration Flight Test 1, or EFT-1 --in 2014. NASA is 

designing a new Saturn 5-class heavy-lift rocket known as the Space Launch System, or SLS, for future 

manned exploration missions into deep space using Orion capsules. But the first test flight in 2014 will be 

94 
launched using a Delta 4 rocket built by United Launch Alliance. The flight plan calls for the Delta 4 to 

put the Orion MPCV on a trajectory carrying it to an altitude of some 3,600 miles before it slams back 

into the atmosphere at more than 20,000 mph, roughly comparable to the velocities that will be 

experienced by astronauts returning from deep space missions. If that mission goes well, NASA managers 

hope to launch another unmanned Orion atop an SLS rocket in 2017 to characterize the performance of 

the system in an integrated test. A third flight in the 2021 time frame will include a crew of up to four 

astronauts. Along with developing new rockets and capsules for deep space missions, NASA also is 

funding development of commercial manned spacecraft intended to ferry astronauts to and from the 

International Space Station. The first manned test flight of a commercial spacecraft could come as early 

as 2015. But the first crewed NASA flight to the space station is not expected until 2017 at the earliest. 

Web posted. (2012). [NASA shows off first Orion capsule with KSC ceremony [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, July 2].] 

+Editorial: By Lori Garver, NASA deputy administrator: "Lift off." For 50 years those words have not 

only signaled another launch from Kennedy Space Center, they have symbolized America's unquestioned 

leadership in the exploration of our solar system. Since its formal opening on July 1, 1962, NASA's John 

F. Kennedy Space Center has served as the departure gate for every American manned mission and 

hundreds of advanced scientific spacecraft. From Project Mercury to the Apollo moon missions, from our 

30-year space shuttle program and International Space Station to the Hubble Space Telescope and Mars 

rovers, KSC has served as NASA's premier space launch center. This week, as KSC celebrates its 50th 

anniversary, we have more evidence that its future will be even brighter. On Monday, I joined Florida 

Sen. Bill Nelson and KSC Director Bob Cabana in a ceremony at the center celebrating the arrival of the 

Orion spacecraft, part of NASA's next generation exploration system. When Orion takes its first test flight 

in 2014, it will go farther than any spacecraft developed for human spaceflight has flown since astronauts 

returned from the moon. President Obama has set a goal of sending humans to an asteroid by 2025 and to 

Mars in the 2030s. Congress agreed that the best way to do that was for NASA to let our industry partners 

take the lead on delivery of cargo and crew to the International Space Station and other low Earth orbit 

destinations so that we could concentrate on building America's next generation exploration system, the 

Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System. It is estimated that final construction and integration 

work on Orion will support at least 350 Space Coast jobs. Our new strategy is producing tangible results. 

In May, SpaceX became the first private company to launch from Cape Canaveral, dock to the space 

station and return its Dragon 9 capsule safely back to Earth. And President Obama has proposed $500 

million in investments in NASA's 21st century Space Launch Complex, including millions to transform 

KSC's launch infrastructure for government and commercial users. For 50 years, Kennedy has been 

America's gateway to space. With new missions and infrastructure improvements in the works, we are 

confident that the road to space will continue to go through KSC. Web posted. (2012). [My Word: Even 

brighter future ahead for KSC [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, July 

2].] 

+U.S. Navy Capt. Alan Poindexter, a retired NASA astronaut, was killed in a water scooter accident in 

Florida over the weekend. Poindexter flew two space shuttle missions, one aboard Atlantis as pilot and 

one on Discovery as commander, logging more than 669 hours in space before retiring from NASA in 

December 2010 to return to the Naval Postgraduate School in California. Web posted. (2012). [Retired 

NASA astronaut Alan Poindexter, 1961-2012 [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.cnn.com/ [2012, 

July 2].] 

July 3: In the quiet, peaceful setting of a storage bay in the northwest comer of NASA's cavernous 

Vehicle Assembly Building at the Kennedy Space Center on Monday afternoon, a handful of 

photographers got the chance to walk underneath, around and above the orbiter Atlantis, the spaceship 

that flew the final space shuttle mission a year ago this month. The spaceplane flew 33 missions in a 

95 
quarter-century of spaceflight, accumulating 307 days in space, 4,848 orbits of Earth and 125,935,769 

miles traveled. She deployed memorable planetary probes, the Magellan radar mapper to Venus and 

Galileo to tour Jupiter, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, plus numerous military and commercial 

satellites, conducted a majority of cooperative dockings to the Russian space station Mir, gave the Hubble 

Space Telescope its last tuneup and labored to construct the International Space Station by hauling 

multiple modules. She then sailed into history with a final climb to orbit last July 8 and one final landing 

on July 21, bringing the wheels of the space shuttle program to a stop. Atlantis is in temporary storage as 

NASA closes down its orbiter hangars one by one. After Endeavour is finished undergoing her museum 

display preps in the sole remaining hangar next month, the two ships will swap places. For now, tourists 

from the KSC Visitor Complex can go inside the V AB to see Atlantis. The bustling crowds break up the 

silence of the building with periodic bus stops, emitting "oooo's" and "ahhh's" as they get to see a 

spaceship for the first time. Web posted. (2012). [The majesty of a spaceship: Up-close with Atlantis 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, July 3].] 

+ A TK announced Tuesday its Liberty space transportation system will comprise crew and cargo 

modules to haul seven astronauts and up to 5,000 pounds of supplies and science experiments to the 

International Space Station on the same flight. The combined crew and cargo capability differentiates 

ATK from its commercial competitors, which plan to offer only limited resupply capacity on crewed 

missions. "Liberty's expanded service allows us to bring a commercial capability delivering up to seven 

crew members, 5,000 pounds of pressurized cargo, along with external cargo in a single flight," said Kent 

Rominger, ATK vice president and program manager for Liberty. "This results in tremendous value since 

all other commercial offerings would need two flights to accomplish what Liberty does in one." 

Astronauts and cargo will blast off on a Liberty rocket, which ATK is proposing for NASA's commercial 

crew program. NASA expects to award two companies between $300 million and $500 million in 21-

month agreements beginning as soon as this month. The space agency plans to release about half that 

amount of funding to a third company, which will continue development of a commercial crew 

transportation system at a slower pace. ATK is currently working on the Liberty proposal with private 

funding, and company officials say government financing is necessary to meet a schedule calling for a 

first piloted mission to low Earth orbit by late 2015. The aerospace firm has an unfunded Space Act 

Agreement with NASA, where the space agency shares expertise with ATK but does not pay an award. 

Web posted. (2012). [ATK extends Liberty proposal to include cargo resupply [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, July 3].] 

+NASA has signed a new partnership with Craig Technologies of Melbourne, Fla., to maintain an 

inventory of unique processing and manufacturing equipment for future mission support at the agency's 

Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Under a five-year, non-reimbursable Space Act Agreement, NASA will 

loan 1,600 pieces of equipment to Craig Technologies. The equipment supported Space Shuttle Program 

capabilities such as flight hardware and cable fabrication. It was used in manufacturing, repair and 

inspection processes necessary for spaceflight hardware, avionics and ground processing. "This is an 

innovative way to ensure that space shuttle era technology and tools are reused for other hi-tech, private 

sector purposes along the Space Coast," said David Weaver, NASA's associate administrator for the 

Office of Communications. "This is all part of NASA's plan to support the transition to the next era of 

exploration, creating good-paying American jobs and keeping the United States the world leader in 

space." Craig Technologies will be able to use the equipment for five years beginning January 2013 or 

until NASA requires use of it, whichever comes first. Craig will be required to operate, maintain and store 

the property at a single location within a 50-mile radius of Kennedy. The equipment currently is located 

in the NASA Shuttle Logistics Depot in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and managed by United Space Alliance 

(USA). The equipment will remain there through the end of the year when the current USA lease expires. 

["NASA Signs Agreement with Craig Technologies for Kennedy's Unique Equipment," NASA News 

Release #12-223, July 3, 2012.] 

96 
July 6: Excalibur Almaz Inc. (EAI) has successfully completed its Commercial Crew Development 

Round 2 (CCDev2) partnership with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. Through CCDev2, NASA is 

spurring innovation and development of safe, reliable and cost-effective spacecraft and launch vehicles 

capable of transporting astronauts to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station. EAI, based in 

Houston, began exchanging technical information with NASA about its human spacecraft concept for low 

Earth orbit crew transportation in October 2011 under an unfunded Space Act Agreement (SAA). The 

company and NASA reviewed the design of the spacecraft, its systems requirements and compatibility 

with launch vehicle alternatives. Additional milestones included presentations on how the company plans 

to test and integrate its spacecraft in advance of a crewed launch. All of the EAI SAA milestones were 

completed by June 19. "During this unfunded Space Act Agreement with EAI, NASA learned valuable 

information about how the company plans to upgrade the existing capsule with modem flight 

capabilities," CCP Manager Ed Mango said. "We commend the EAI team for completing all of their 

established milestones during this partnership." EAI plans to upgrade human space capsules built and 

tested decades earlier with new internal systems and a service module. The spacecraft can accommodate 

three crew members and accompanying cargo during trips to low Earth orbit. It will consist of a reusable 

reentry capsule, launch abort system and expendable service module. EAI plans to outfit the spacecraft 

with the ability to land on the ground, rather than in the ocean. All of NASA's industry partners continue 

to meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew transportation capabilities. Web 

posted. (2012). [NASA and Excalibur Almaz Inc. Complete Space Act Agreement [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.spaceref.biz/ [2012, July 6].] 

July 8: One year ago, the shuttle Atlantis thundered into history on the 135th and final launch of 

America's Space Transportation System after 31 years of service. Web posted. (20 12). [The final shuttle 

launch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, July 8].] 

July 9: The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP) will hold its 3rd Quarterly Meeting for 2012 at 

the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. This discussion is pursuant to carrying out its statutory 

duties for which the Panel reviews, identifies, evaluates, and advises on those program activities, systems, 

procedures, and management activities that can contribute to program risk. Priority is given to those 

programs that involve the safety of human flight. The agenda will include: Updates on the Space Launch 

System; Updates on the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle; Updates on the Commercial Crew Program; 

Kennedy Space Center Safety Program Overview; NASA Responses to ASAP Recommendations. Web 

posted. (20 12). [NASA Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel, 11:30-12:30 ET, Kennedy Space Center 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/ [2012, July 9].] 

+ NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida has announced a new partnership with Cella Energy Inc. that 

could result in vehicles being powered by hydrogen, which is cleaner and produces no greenhouse gases. 

This new approach to hydrogen will be the focus of research, development and possible production during 

the five-year Space Act Agreement (SAA) between Kennedy and Cella. The company has formulated a 

way to store hydrogen safely in tiny pellets that still allow the fuel to be burned in an engine. Because of 

its rocket work, Kennedy has the infrastructure and experience necessary to handle hydrogen safely. Cella 

hopes to make its micro-bead technology practical enough to be used as a fuel in most kinds of 

machinery, cars, and perhaps even spacesuits and portable electronics. The eventual goal is to use it in 

fuel-cell engines, which combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity and produce water as the 

only exhaust product. Kennedy has worked with fuel-cell technology in Apollo spacecraft and space 

shuttles. The company already has offices in the Space Life Sciences Laboratory at Kennedy and is 

expected to become an early tenant at Exploration Park, a research center now under construction at the 

space center. Under the agreement, Kennedy will serve as a consultant to Cella for developing an 

integrated solution for hydrogen storage and help Cella incorporate Kennedy-developed hydrogen sensing 

color-changing polymers. Cella also is interested in working with lightweight aerofoam and aeroplastic, 

97 
another NASA innovation, notable for their thermal-insulating properties. ["NASA Partners With Cella 

Energy on Hydrogen Technology," NASA News Release #34-12, July 9, 2012.] 

July 10: Brevard County is back in the space race. That was the reaction from lawmakers, economic 

development officials and the founders of a Utah-based company called Rocket Crafters Inc., which on 

Tuesday announced plans to move its fledgling high-tech aerospace operation to Titusville. A soon-tobe-manufacturer of suborbital space planes and developer of innovative propulsion systems, Rocket 

Crafters laid out an ambitious program to create hundreds of jobs for the area over the next several years 

while dramatically advancing the concept of point-to-point transportation. Filling those jobs would be 

aerospace engineers, designers, pilots, program managers, administrators and others. According to its 

ambitious production schedule, the company would have about 1 ,300 employees by 2017-18. Rocket 

Crafters' plan is to build aircraft that would take offlike traditional jets, fly into sub-orbit and then land 

like a jet thousands of miles away, completing a journey that would take about one-sixth the time it would 

take a traditional airliner. The company selected Titusville over sites in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and 

Texas mainly because of its space resources - including experienced aerospace workers and 

knowledgeable officials - and an incentive package that included the city of Titusville providing the 

company a temporary, 23,000-square-foot hangar, testing facility and headquarters on the edge of Space 

Coast Regional Airport. The state and county also agreed to several performance-based incentives. In 

two years, Rocket Crafters hopes to complete a 400,000-square-foot facility on 33 acres of airport land 

that it would fill with equipment. Total cost: More than $70 million. Web posted. (2012). [Rocket 

Crafters move brings Titusville back to the future [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, July 10].] 

July 11: NASA partner Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) has completed a successful test of the nose 

landing gear for its full-scale Dream Chaser engineering flight test vehicle. The completed test and an 

upcoming flight test are part of SNC's Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) agreement 

with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The gear test is an important milestone to prepare for the 

upcoming approach and landing test of the Dream Chaser Space System later this year. It evaluated the 

impact the nose landing gear will experience on touchdown in order to ensure a safe runway landing. 

SNC is one of seven companies developing commercial crew transportation capabilities to ferry U.S. 

astronauts to and from low Earth orbit and the International Space Station. The Dream Chaser is the only 

spacecraft under CCDev2 that is winged and designed to land on a conventional runway. It is designed to 

carry as many as seven astronauts to space. SNC tested the spacecraft's main landing gear in February. 

This nose landing gear test completes the milestones leading up to the upcoming approach and landing 

test, which will complete the CCDev2 partnership. All of NASA's industry partners, including SNC, 

continue to meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew transportation capabilities 

under CCDev2. ["NASA's Commercial Crew Partner Sierra Nevada Completes Dream Chaser Nose 

landing Gear Test," NASA News Release #12-231, July 11, 2012.] 

+ Production work on NASA's first space-bound Orion spacecraft is beginning at Kennedy Space Center 

and manufacturer Lockheed Martin is on track for a first flight test in 2014, a company official said today. 

James Kemp, Lockheed Martin's senior Orion production manager at KSC, told a crowd of about 200 

people, that about four months of production work is beginning at the Operations and Checkout Building 

at KSC. The work on the spacecraft crew module is cranking up in the wake of its delivery last week. 

Designed to fly four astronauts on deep space missions, the module will be outfitted with various 

subsystems over the coming months. Then the crew module will be integrated with a service module, a 

heat shield and a launch abort system. It represents the first time spacecraft factory production work has 

been done at KSC. The fully integrated spacecraft is scheduled to be launched in 2014 aboard a Delta IV 

Heavy rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Kemp said at a National Space Club luncheon. The 

flight will test the spacecraft's heat shield during the type of high-speed reentry a vehicle would make 

98 
during a return from an asteroid, the moon, Mars or other deep space destinations. Web posted. (2012). 

[Production work begins on Orion spacecraft at KSC [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, July 11].] 

July 12: NASA partner Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has completed an important design 

review of the crewed version of its Dragon spacecraft. The concept baseline review presented NASA with 

the primary and secondary design elements of its Dragon capsule designed to carry astronauts into low 

Earth orbit, including the International Space Station. SpaceX is one of several companies working to 

develop crew transportation capabilities under the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) 

agreement with NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP). Through CCDev2, NASA is helping the 

private sector develop and test new spacecraft and rockets with the goal of making commercial human 

spaceflight services available to commercial and government customers. In the June 14 review conducted 

at the company's headquarters in Hawthorne, Calif., SpaceX provided details about each phase of a 

potential crewed mission. This included how the company plans to modify its launch pads to support such 

missions, Dragon's docking capabilities, the weight and power requirements for the spacecraft, and 

prospective ground landing sites and techniques. The company also outlined crew living arrangements, 

such as environmental control and life support equipment, displays and controls. "SpaceX has made 

significant progress on its crew transportation capabilities," NASA CCP Manager Ed Mango said. "We 

commend the SpaceX team on its diligence in meeting its CCDev2 goals to mature the company's 

technology as this nation continues ·to build a real capability for America's commercial spaceflight needs." 

Safety was a key focus of the review. The SpaceX team presented NASA with analyses on how its 

SuperDraco launch abort system would perform if an emergency were to occur during launch or ascent. 

The review also outlined plans for getting astronauts away from danger quickly and safely on the way to 

low Earth orbit, in space and during the return home. ["NASA Commercial Partner SpaceX Completes 

Dragon Design Review," NASA News Release #12-233, July 12, 2012.] 

+ Drastic cuts to NASA's budget are threatening pay and benefits for Kennedy Space Center's fire and 

rescue personnel; workers said Thursday, sparking a union protest outside the space center. "We are here 

today to send a very poignant message to both the company G4S and NASA to keep their hands off what 

the fireman have already earned," said Kevin Smith, president of Transport Workers Union Local525. 

The union represents workers for G4S Government Solutions, formerly Wackenhut. It took over NASA's 

fire and rescue contract at Kennedy Space Center eight months ago. The workers are negotiating a new 

contract, which is to begin in December. During the first year of its contract, G4S agreed that salaries and 

benefits would remain unchanged. But now, fire and rescue workers say the company wants to cut pay by 

20% and eliminate the workers' pension plan. NASA spokesman Mike Curie told CNN, "no new 

employees will be covered under the previous pension plan," going forward. "G4S is attempting to 

negotiate a 401k plan with the union." Curie also said that "under the Kennedy protective service contract, 

workers who are covered under the previous contract benefit plan are not losing any benefits." The protest 

comes more than a year after NASA ended its 30-year space shuttle program and the loss of thousands of 

related jobs throughout Florida's Space Coast. Web posted; (2012). [Firefighters at Kennedy Space 

Center protest possible pay cuts [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.cnn.com/ [2012, July 12].] 

+NASA invites its social media followers to a two-day NASA Social Aug. 2-3 to celebrate Kennedy 

Space Center's 50 years of human spaceflight. NASA Socials are in-person meetings with people who 

engage with the agency through Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social networks. Participants will 

receive a unique perspective into Kennedy's 50 years of launching humans and machines into low Earth 

orbit and to other planets. They will be treated to speakers from Kennedy's past, present and future, and 

tour the historical launch pads ofNASA's early days through the present-day facilities that supported the 

Space Shuttle Program and Kennedy's transition to the future. The event will culminate with Kennedy's 

participation in NASA's first-ever multi-center simulcast to preview the landing of the Mars Science 

99 
Laboratory's Curiosity rover. The simulcast will be held at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. 

["NASA Invites Social Media Followers to Kennedy Space Center, NASA Media Advisory #M12-130, 

July 12, 2012.] 

July 13: Four companies will split $200 million in NASA funds to study concepts for the side-mounted 

boosters needed to power future configurations of the planned heavy-lift Space Launch System (SLS), the 

U.S. space agency said July 13. The selected companies will now begin contract negotiations with 

NASA, the agency said in a press release. Awards for the 30-month study contracts are due in October, 

said NASA spokeswoman Kim Henry. NASA will use the results of the studies it funds to develop a 

solicitation for the next-generation SLS booster system. That solicitation is due out in 2015, according to 

NASA's press release. SLS is the congression-ally mandated heavy-lift rocket NASA is designing for 

future deep-space missions. Early SLS flights will launch with five-segment solid rocket boosters 

developed by ATK Launch Systems of Magna, Utah, for the cancelled Constellation program. Future 

SLS configurations, however, must be able to lift 130 metric tons to low Earth orbit. To do that, SLS will 

need new boosters that are more powerful than the ATK-developed solids. These next-generation boosters 

could be either solid- or liquid-fueled, NASA has said. Web posted. (2012). [Four Companies Picked for 

Advanced Booster Studies [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, July 13).] 

+ The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that will hirrl two satellites into orbit next month to probe 

the harsh environment of Earth's radiation belts and understand the extremes of space weather began 

taking shape Friday at Cape Canaveral. At the Vertical Integration Facility adjacent to Cape Canaveral's 

Complex 41launch pad, technicians hoisted the giant first stage onto the mobile launching platform as the 

stacking operations got underway to assemble the vehicle for its planned Aug. 23 blastoff with NASA's 

Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission. Friday's operation featured the first stage, known as the Common 

Core Booster, being rotated vertical, maneuvered into the 30-story VIF building and then the 106.6-footlong stage stood upright on the mobile platform. Bronze in color and 12.5 feet in diameter, the stage is 

equipped with a dual-nozzle RD-180 main engine that will burn kerosene fuel and supercold liquid 

oxygen during the initial four minutes of flight. Stacking was delayed by two days due to unfavorable 

weather conditions. Once the first stage was locked into position, the interstage adapter was scheduled to 

be set in place. This barrel-like structure tapers from the first stage's large diameter to the skinner Centaur 

upper stage that will be installed on Monday. The payload and nose cone, already encapsulated together, 

come to the VIF for installation in early August to complete the 19-story-tall vehicle for flight in the 

Atlas' 401 configuration. Rollout to the launch complex occurs Aug. 21 as the 1.4-million pound 

platform rides the rail tracks 1,800 feet from the VIF to the pad. The seven-and-a-half-hour countdown 

operation begins at 8:38 p.m. EDT on Aug. 22, leading to cryogenic liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen 

fueling operations in the overnight hours for a planned blastoff at 4:08a.m. EDT Aug. 23. The day's 

launch window stretches 20 minutes. There is another Atlas 5 launch between now and then, however. At 

California's Vandenberg Air Force Base, an Aug. 2 blastoff is planned with a classified payload for the 

National Reconnaissance Office. Also coming up later this year for the busy Atlas program is the Oct. 26 

deployment of Pentagon's X-37B orbital spaceplane taking its third voyage and launch of NASA's next 

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite on Dec. 6. Web posted. (2012). [Atlas 5 rocket being stacked for 

NASA science mission [Online). Available WWW: htto://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, July 13].] 

+ Job hunters hoping for a shot at work on a next-generation human spacecraft resembling a miniature 

shuttle filled a hotel conference room and lined hallways here Thursday morning. "I'm encouraged 

there's so many good and talented people available, but it's sad that there are so many people that are 

looking for work that have been helping our nation's space program in the past," said Jim Voss, a former 

astronaut who heads development of Sierra Nevada Corp. 's winged Dream Chaser spacecraft. The Dream 

Chaser is among the private sector vehicles competing to fly NASA crews to the International Space 

Station by 2017. NASA plans to give two companies "full" awards worth $300 million to $500 million 

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over 21 months, and one company a "half'' award. An announcement is expected in late July or early 

August. Sierra Nevada eventually expects to employ about 200 people on the Space Coast, gradually 

ramping up to that total as two planned test launches approach in 2016. Web posted. (2012). [Spacerelated job seekers flood Sierra Nevada event in Brevard [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, July 13].] 

July 16: One of the world's most reliable space boosters ever built, suspended in a state of uncertainty 

for the past several months, won a rebirth today when NASA purchased three more Delta 2 rockets for 

future launches. The United Launch Alliance-made vehicle was dealt a bleak future when the U.S. Air 

Force left as the Delta 2's anchor tenant in 2009 and NASA flew what was its final planned payload on 

the medium-class launcher last October. With no future missions on the manifest, it was possible that the 

workhorse rocket would fade away into history despite hardware available to build five more vehicles. 

NASA's contracting arrangement established in 2010 didn't even include the Delta 2 as an option when 

buying rockets for science spacecraft deployments, but that changed with an "on-ramp" deal last fall that 

put the rocket back in the lineup for space agency satellites to choose. Then came today's announcement 

that literally breathed new life into venerable rocket program, assigning three satellite launches to the 

Delta 2 that will occur from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The launch trio and all of the 

assorted processing support, oversight, engineering and telemetry costs amount to $412 million. "ULA is 

honored NASA has selected the Delta 2 launch vehicle to launch these critical science payloads," said 

Michael Gass, ULA president and CEO. Web posted. (2012). [NASA gives the Delta 2 rocket a new 

lease on life [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, July 16].] 

+NASA tapped United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) to 

launch a total offour Earth Science missions between 2014 and 2016, the agency said in a pair of press 

releases issued late July 16. United Launch Alliance of Littleton, Colo., got a $412 million contract to 

launch three of the missions aboard Delta 2 rockets from Space Launch Complex 2 at Vandenberg Air 

Force Base, Calif. ULA will launch NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive spacecraft in October 2014, 

the Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2 in July 2014, and the Joint Polar Satellite System-I in November 

2016. NASA in March said that ULA was likely to get a contract for these missions. Hawthorne, Calif.-

based SpaceX, meanwhile, will get $82 million to launch Jason-3, which a French-U.S. satellite that will 

measure the height of global sea surfaces. The mission will ride to space aboard a Falcon 9 in December 

2014 from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 4, NASA said. The missions stand to be SpaceX's first 

launch of a NASA science satellite. SpaceX also bid on the trio of Earth Science launches that went to 

ULA. ULA has parts for five Delta 2 rockets left in its inventory. The rocket last flew in October, when it 

launched NASA's Suomi NPP weather and climate satellite from Vandenberg. NASA Earth Science 

officials have said that they are willing to pay a premium price for launch reliability to avoid losing any 

more payloads. Back-to-back failures of Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Taurus XL rocket in 2009 and 2011 

doomed two Earth science satellites at a cost of about $1 billion to the agency, NASA Earth Science 

Director Michael Freilich said July 10. Web posted. (2012). [NASA Taps ULA, SpaceX for Earth Science 

Launches [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, July 16].] 

July 17: A Brevard Community College training facility for space workers has moved offKennedy 

Space Center and will expand the scope of technology courses it offers as part of an effort to better 

prepare workers for some of the new industries gaining a foothold on the Space Coast. "We're going to 

take what we learned in aerospace and broaden it to other technologies," said AI Koller, executive 

director of the SpaceTEC/ CertTEC Testing and Certification Center in Cape Canaveral. The center is 

not abandoning its space focus, though. It also plans to train workers for SpaceX, which recently sent a 

commercial cargo module to the International Space Station. "The center has done a superb job training 

space workers and will continue providing that service as NASA and the nation's space program move 

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into a new era," BCC President Jim Richey said. Web posted. (2012). [BCC's SpaceTEC training center 

expands horizons [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, July 17].] 

+ NASA is conducting a nine-day field test starting Tuesday outside Hilo, Hawaii, to evaluate new 

exploration techniques for the surface of the moon. These mission simulations, known as analog missions, 

are performed at extreme and often remote Earth locations to prepare for robotic and human missions to 

extraterrestrial destinations. The In-Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) analog mission is a collaboration of 

NASA partners, primarily the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), with help from the Pacific International 

Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES). The ISRU analog mission will demonstrate techniques 

to prospect for lunar ice. The testing site near Hilo features lava-covered mountain soil similar to the 

ancient volcanic plains on the moon. The two main tests under way are the Regolith and Environment 

Science and Oxygen and Lunar Volatile Extraction (RESOLVE) and Moon Mars Analog Mission 

Activities (MMAMA). The demonstration includes CSA's Artemis Jr. rover and a drill. These devices 

support the NASA RESOLVE payload. RESOLVE is designed to prospect for water, ice and other lunar 

resources. It also will demonstrate how future explorers can take advantage of resources at potential 

landing sites. The rover and its onboard instrumentation are about as tall as a human and weigh about 660 

pounds, three times heavier than the equipment that would be used on an actual mission. Lessons learned 

from the ISRU project will become increasingly important as NASA embarks on deep-space missions. 

Instead of having to launch from Earth with all the supplies needed, a human crew could go into space 

knowing that natural resources already are waiting for them. ["NASA Conducts Mission Simulations in 

Hawaii," NASA News Release #12-237, July 17, 2012.] 

July 18: Forrest S. McCartney, former director of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center, died July 17, 

2012, with his family in attendance. He was 81 years old. McCartney, of Indialantic, Fla., was Kennedy's 

director from Sept. 1, 1987, until Dec. 21, 1991. "It is with great sadness that I learned of the passing of 

former Kennedy Space Center Director Forrest McCartney," said Kennedy Director Robert Cabana. 

"Forrest was one of the finest gentlemen I have ever known, and no one cared more for the KSC team 

than Gen. McCartney. He was always out in the processing areas talking with the troops and getting the 

pulse ofKSC. He was a man with the highest integrity who always did the right thing. He will most 

certainly be missed." McCartney served as director of Kennedy under detail from the U.S. Air Force 

beginning Oct. 1, 1986. He came to NASA from the position of commander, Air Force Space Division 

and concluded a distinguished 35-year military career on Aug. 31, 1987, with a retirement ceremony at 

the office of the Secretary of the Air Force in the Pentagon. Web posted. (2012). [NASA Mourns Loss of 

Former Kennedy Director Forrest McCartney [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceref.com/ 

[2012, July 18].] 

+NASA Administrator Charles Bolden issued the following statement Wednesday on the death of 

former Kennedy Space Center Director Forrest McCartney: "On behalf of the entire NASA family, I wish 

to express our condolences on the passing of Retired United States Air Force Lt. General and former 

Kennedy Space Center Director Forrest S. McCartney. After 35 years of distinguished service in the 

Unites States Air Force, McCartney was named Kennedy Space Center director in 1987, only months 

after the fateful Challenger accident had shocked the nation and put the shuttle program on hiatus. 

McCartney's visionary leadership resulted in the shuttle's return-to-flight and a stellar safety record during 

his five-year tenure. In the 50-year history of Kennedy Space Center there have been only 10 directors. 

Forrest McCartney was one of the finest. As an engineer, a patriot and a leader, McCartney leaves an 

indelible mark on America's space program. His service to his country and to Kennedy earned him 

distinguished service medals from both the Air Force and NASA. We are grateful for his many 

contributions and we honor his legacy by rededicating ourselves to the values of exploration, education 

and inspiration that were the hallmarks of his life. Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Ruth and 

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the McCartney family." ["NASA Administrator Offers Condolences on the Passing of Former Kennedy 

Center Director Forrest McCartney," NASA News Release #12-242, July 18, 2012.] 

+ Friends and family on Wednesday remembered Forrest McCartney as an American patriot who led a 

devastated Kennedy Space Center work force through the difficult recovery from the 1986 Challenger 

disaster. McCartney, 81, a retired Air Force lieutenant general and the fourth director of KSC, died late 

Tuesday after a short illness. Family surrounded him when he passed away at a hospice in Palni Bay. At 

McCartney's request, no services are planned. "Forrest was a good man. He was a good husband, a good 

father, a good grandfather, a good friend and a great patriot," said George English, the former director of 

KSC's Executive Management Office and a close friend. "He was a good man." A strong, personable 

leader, McCartney, a longtime resident of Indian Harbour Beach, played a huge role in rebuilding the 

shuttle program after the Challenger disaster. His leadership paved the way to the successful launches of 

critical national security satellites, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Magellan Venus radar mapper, the 

Galileo Jupiter probe, the Ulysses solar explorer and, ultimately, the International Space Station. 

"Everyone here at Kennedy will miss him greatly," said KSC spokeswoman Lisa Malone. "He came into 

Kennedy at a critical time. It was a time when the workforce needed healing, and he knew that and took 

that to heart. He got the center through a difficult transition time -through the return to flight after 

Challenger." He'll best be remembered for being loved not only on the fourth floor ofKSC's 

headquarters building, but on shop floors, too. "I've always felt that the real work gets done on the floor, 

and not up in the front office," McCartney told Florida Today in a recent interview. So after Challenger, 

McCartney spent at least half of his time visiting work sites around the center. "I never realized it would 

be such a wonderful adventure. Not in my wildest imagination did I believe that I would have as much 

satisfaction, and just plain fun, as being the center director at Kennedy Space Center," McCartney said. 

Web posted. (2012). [McCartney crucial in healing a heartbroken KSC [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, July 18].] 

July 19: The Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum's brand-new exhibit showcasing the space shuttle 

Enterprise officially opened to the public today (July 19), and hundreds of excited men, women and 

children waited patiently in line for the chance to get up-close and personal with the city's newest and 

most impressive space artifact. To celebrate the opening of the new Space Shuttle Pavilion, the Intrepid 

hosted a special ceremony Thursday morning at the museum here, which is located at Pier 86 on 

Manhattan's West Side. Web posted. (2012). [Space Shuttle Enterprise Wows New Yorkers at Intrepid 

Museum [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.space.com/ [2012, Julx 19].] 

+ NASA partner United Launch Alliance (ULA) has completed a review of its Atlas V rocket to assess 

its compliance with NASA human spaceflight safety and performance requirements. ULA has partnered 

to launch Boeing's CST-100, Sierra Nevada's Dream Chaser and Blue Origin's Space Vehicle on missions 

to low Earth orbit and the International Space Station. NASA provided technical consultation during the 

ULA review. ULA is one of several companies working to develop crew transportation capabilities under 

the Commercial Crew Development Round 2 (CCDev2) agreement with NASA's Commercial Crew 

Program (CCP). Through CCDev2, NASA is helping the private sector develop and test new spacecraft 

and rockets with the goal of making commercial human spaceflight services available to commercial and 

government customers. The Atlas V has launched numerous satellites and robotic missions into space for 

NASA, including the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover and the Juno probe to Jupiter. 

Requirements to launch humans will require more stringent criteria, so the company has to show its 

rocket can meet the extra demands. Among adjustments required to evolve the Atlas V for human 

spaceflight, designers would have to modify the launch pad so crew members can board the spacecraft. 

The upper stage of a crewed Atlas V would require the use of two Centaur engines, stronger than the 

current Atlas V upper stage that uses a single engine. The onboard flight computers would be 

programmed to guide the rocket on a more managed path through the sky into orbit. Sensors also would 

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be added to the rocket to detect emergency situations for the crew. All of NASA's industry partners, 

including ULA, continue to meet their established milestones in developing commercial crew 

transportation capabilities under CCDev2. ["NASA Partner United Launch Alliance completes Two Atlas 

V Reviews," NASA News Release #12-245, July 19, 2012.] 

July 20: The NASA launch pad from which Apollo 11 lifted off for the first manned moon landing and 

Atlantis left Earth to fly the last space shuttle mission is now open to the public for tours. Launch Pad 

39A at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida is the latest, limited-time tour stop being offered by 

the NASA spaceport's visitor complex. The tours - which also include separate trips to KSC's 52-story 

tall Vehicle Assembly Building (V AB) and the Launch Control Center (LCC) -are now being offered as 

part of the center's 50th anniversary celebration. "These are very rare opportunities that NASA has 

worked with us to provide to our visitors from Florida, across the United States and overseas," Bill 

Moore, chief operating officer of NASA's Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, said in a statement. 

"With exciting new space exploration programs coming to the Kennedy Space Center, we may never have 

access to such historic places like this again." Pad 39A was one of two large launch complexes built in 

the 1960s to support the Saturn V launches to the moon, Saturn m launches to the Skylab space station 

and space shuttle launches to deploy and service satellites and build the International Space Station. Pad 

39A's twin, Pad 39B, was stripped of its iconic launch support towers last year to make way for possible 

future commercial and government launch vehicles. Pad 39A, which supported 92launches since 

November 1967- 12 Saturn V rockets and 80 shuttles- is being maintained to support NASA's Space 

Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift next generation booster now being developed. The current downtime 

between launches has allowed the opportunity for the visitor complex to bring guests closer to the launch 

pad than ever before. Web posted. (2012). [Next stop, the launch pad: NASA's Apollo, shuttle launch 

site opens for tours [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.collectspace.com/ [2012, July 20].] 

July 23: Former NASA astronaut Sally Ride died today after losing her battle with pancreatic cancer. A 

physicist, Dr. Ride was the first American woman in space and spent the rest of her career encouraging 

girls and young women to pursue science careers. Ride was among the first group of NASA astronauts to 

include women in 1978. In 1983, she became the first American woman to fly in space on the seventh 

space shuttle mission, STS-7. She flew a second time on STS-41G in 1984. She was assigned to another 

mission, but it was delayed following the 1986 space shuttle Challenger tragedy. Ride served on the 

presidential commission that investigated the Challenger accident and afterwards was assigned to NASA 

headquarters to look at the future of the space program. The 1987 "Ride Report" recommended a return to 

the Moon and, someday, journeys to Mars, but cautioned that Mars missions should be a step, but not the 

next step, for the U.S. program. Her report also recommended a Mission to Planet Earth, which 

popularized the phrase as describing a long term series of robotic earth observing missions that came to 

include NASA's Terra, Aqua and Aura spacecraft. Ride left NASA soon after the report's completion to 

return to academia. In addition to academic posts at Stanford and UC San Diego, she founded Sally Ride 

Science to motivate girls and young women to study science. She also was a member of the commission 

that investigated the space shuttle Columbia tragedy in 2003, the only person to serve on both space 

shuttle accident investigations. Web posted. (2012). [Sally Ride Loses Battle With Cancer [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.nytimes.com/ [2012, July 23].] 

+ NASA has launched a rocket carrying an inflatable heat-shield technology demonstration flight from 

its Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The agency says a Black Brant XI sounding rocket carrying the 

Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment was launched Monday morning. It's projected to splash down 

about 100 miles east of Cape Hatteras, NC. Web posted. (2012). [NASA launches rocket from Virginia 

facility [Online]. Available WWW: htto://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, July 23].] 

July 24: Florida Highway Patrol troopers are investigating a deadly crash involving a car and a bicyclist 

near the Kennedy Space Center. The crash happened at about 8:50 a.m. today at Kennedy Parkway near 

104 
Jerome Road, not far from the Main Gate 3 entrance to Kennedy Space Center on Merritt Island. The 

identity of the person killed has not been released. "The (troopers) are still investigating it. But what we 

have right now is that it is a vehicle that may have struck a person on a bike," said Trooper Wanda Diaz 

of the Florida Highway Patrol. A medical helicopter from First Flight had initially been called to the 

scene but was then cancelled, officials report. Brevard County Fire Rescue and Kennedy Space Center 

Fire Rescue crews also responded. Web posted. (2012). [1 killed with car hits bicycle near KSC Main 

Gate 3 [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, July 24].] 

July 25: Brevard County commissioners approved $182,400 in incentives to help persuade rocket maker 

XCOR Aerospace Inc., to open a manufacturing and operations center at Kennedy Space Center, a project 

the company said would create 152 jobs. In a presentation prepared for delivery at Tuesday's County 

Commission meeting, XCOR indicated that the potential Florida operation would be at KSC and its 

shuttle landing facility. The project would include hangar and flight operations, vehicle manufacturing, 

engine assembly and space tourism elements. Because the project would be on KSC property, a more 

traditional approach of the county providing property-tax breaks for the company tied to job creation 

would not work in this case, according to Assistant County Manager Stockton Whitten. The county 

incentives will act as a local match for nearly $1 million worth of state incentives under the Florida 

Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund Program. XCOR builds, tests, sells and operates reusable, rocketpowered space vehicles and rocket engines that can be used for suborbital, orbital and deep-space 

applications. It hopes to develop such businesses as launching small satellites to low-earth orbit, as well 

as having a role in environmental and military-related missions. Web posted. (2012). [Brevard County 

approves a deal for XCOR [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, July 25].] 

July 26: NASA has selected RTD Construction, Inc., of Zephyrhills, Fla., to provide construction 

services for the revitalization of Kennedy Space Center's water distribution and waste water collection 

systems. The maximum potential value for the two-year fixed price contract is approximately $25.6 

million. RTD Construction, Inc. will replace more than 125,000 feet of existing water mains and various 

water valves, hydrants, fittings and connections. The company also will replace or refurbish 33 sewer 

systems and replace more than 25,000 feet of sewer pipes and associated electrical and communications 

systems and wiring. Subcontractors working with RTD Construction on the revitalization contract include 

MIL-CON Electric Company of Merritt Island, Fla.; Santis Engineering, Inc. of Cape Canaveral, Fla.; 

Killebrew Inc. of Lakeland, Fla.; and EE&G Construction & Electrical, LLC of Melbourne, Fla. ["NASA 

Selects Contract For Water and Waste Water Revitalization," NASA Contract Release #Cl2-031B, July 

26, 2012.] 

July 30: United Space Alliance plans to lay off 148 workers at Kennedy Space Center in September, 

according to a notice filed last week with the state Department of Economic Opportunity. The notice said 

employees working in administrative and support, waste management and remediation services would be 

affected. "It's a continuation of the ramp-down following the end of the space shuttle program, so there's 

not one particular group of people targeted," USA spokeswoman Kari Fluegel in Houston said. The last 

shuttle mission ended July 21, 2011. About 8,000 space industry workers have lost their jobs as the 30-

year-old shuttle program came to an end. The latest layoff will take place on Sept. 28. "We expect 

additional layoffs as we continue to complete the transition and retirement work (on the space shuttles,)" 

Fluegel said. Just over 2,500 remain at work for USA in Alabama, Houston and Florida, with nearly 

1,300 in Florida. Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle contractor USA to lay off 148 at Kennedy Space Center 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, July 30].] 

+Fifty years ago, on Feb. 23, 1962, President John F. Kennedy traveled to Florida to honor Mercury 

astronaut John Glenn at historic Hangar S on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Three days earlier, Glenn 

made history, becoming the first American to orbit Earth- a feat that put the fledgling U.S. space 

program on equal footing with the Soviet Union in a Cold War battle for technological and ideological 

105 
supremacy. The space agency is in the midst of a post-shuttle era examination of all its facilities at KSC 

and Cape Canaveral. The goal: Determine which facilities will be needed to move ahead with the 

development of new rockets and spacecraft for deep space missions; which facilities might entice 

commercial space taxi companies, and which facilities no longer have a reason for being. "Unfortunately, 

there are some buildings that aren't sustainable anymore, some that we can't really afford to maintain," 

said Torn Engler, deputy manager of the Center Planning and Development Office at KSC. "This is a 60-

plus-year-old building. It has a lot of maintenance issues, and it's actually beneficial to the center to put 

them on the abandon list and then eventually demolish them because they are too expensive for us to 

maintain." The annual operating cost at HangarS: $148,000. NASA this summer will request proposals 

for a demolition design contract, and then select a company to develop the ways and means to bring the 

building down. It's unclear exactly when the demolition contractor will be selected, but the entire process 

is likely to take a year. Web posted. (2012). [NASA's historic HangarS faces bitter end [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, July 30].] 

July 31: Top-secret surveillance spacecraft and several smaller research satellites will be launched 

aboard an Atlas 5 rocket scheduled for blastoff from Vandenberg Air Force Base early Thursday. The 

United Launch Alliance rocket is sitting at Space Launch Cornplex-3 East on South Base, where crews 

have spent the past several months preparing the booster for blastoff. The team is shooting for liftoff at 

12:40 a.m. Thursday, Air Force officials said. The actual launch window remains top secret but officials 

earlier said the liftoff would occur by 1 :30 a.m. However, unfavorable weather or technical troubles can 

delay launches. Mission managers are set to meet today for a final launch readiness review. Web posted. 

(2012). [Top-secret spacecraft set for launch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.lornpocrecord.com/ 

[2012, July 31].] 

+NASA has paid off the $511 millionthat was needed to cover a pension shortfall at United Space 

Alliance (USA), which maintained and operated the space shuttle fleet until its retirement last year, the 

agency confirmed July 31 . "NASA received the fmal voucher for payment on Wednesday, July 18, and 

paid it on Monday July 23," agency spokesman Josh Buck wrote in a July 31 email to Space News. The 

payment closes the books on NASA's biggest unsettled expense from the shuttle era. The agency had to 

cover the pension shortfall because its contract with Houston-based USA, a joint venture of Boeing Co. 

and Lockheed Martin Corp., allows the company to charge NASA for all personnel expenses. NASA has 

known since 2010 that covering the USA pension shortfall - created by stock market declines prior to 

that time, and by provisions in contract law that affected when USA could bill the government for 

retirement expenses - likely would cost $500 million or more. The agency asked Congress for $548 

million to be paid out in 2012 so that it could write USA the check, but lawmakers appropriated only 

$470 million, instructing NASA to make up the difference by diverting money budgeted for USA-led 

shuttle retirement activity. Buck said NASA followed that directive. USA was established 17 years ago to 

operate the space shuttle fleet on NASA's behalf. The shuttle program ended last July. Web posted. 

(2012). [NASA Settles Space Shuttle Contractor Pension Liability [Online]. Available WWW: 

htffi://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, August 1].] 

106 
AUGUST 

August 1: NASA's highly anticipated announcement about the winners of its next awards for 

development of commercial crew spacecraft is planned for 9 a.m. Friday, the agency said this afternoon. 

Kennedy Space Center, home of the Commercial Crew Program, will host a press conference at 10 a.m. 

featuring NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana and 

Commercial Crew Program Manager Ed Mango. The agency is expected to name up to three companies it 

will provide up to $500 million in funding through the spring of 2014. ATK, The Boeing Co., Sierra 

Nevada Corp. and SpaceX are considered the finalists. One or more of those firms could win NASA 

contracts to ferry astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017. Web posted. (2012). [NASA to 

announce commercial crew awards Friday [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, August 1].] 

+ NASA's social media followers at seven field centers around the nation will virtually come together at 

a NASA Social on Friday, Aug. 3, to preview the landing of the Mars Science Laboratory's (MSL) 

Curiosity rover on Aug. 6 EDT (Aug. 5 PDT). NASA Socials are in-person meetings with people who 

engage with the agency through Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and other social networks. Events' will be 

held simultaneously at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif.; Glenn Research Center in 

Cleveland; Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.; Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, 

Calif.; Johnson Space Center in Houston; Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Langley 

Research Center in Hampton, Va. Kennedy will be celebrating its 50th anniversary during its NASA 

Social. From 12:30 to 2:30p.m. EDT, every center will be connected with JPL, which manages the MSL 

mission for NASA, via a multi-center NASA Television simulcast. NASA Social participants at each 

center will have the opportunity to ask questions of the JPL science and engineering teams during the 

simulcast. More than 150 social media followers also will tour their respective host NASA center. 

"NASA Hosts Social Media Events Across Seven Agency Field Centers," NASA Media Advisory 

#M21-144, August 1, 2012.] 

August 2: A team at KSC will be starting a series of tests of a prototype lander that won't fly in space 

but is developing technologies future human or robotic missions might use. Called Morpheus - after the 

Greek god of dreams- the 1 0-foot diameter, 2,300-pound "spacecraft" consists of four silver spherical 

propellant tanks topped by avionics boxes and a web of wires. It arrived at KSC from Houston last week 

after 18 months of work at Johnson Space Center that included low test flights while tethered to a crane. 

A first untethered flight could be performed as soon as next week, working up within several months to a 

roughly half-mile hop across a simulated lunar landscape set up near the north edge of the center's 

15,000-foot shuttle runway. In all, 16 flights are planned to test new propulsion and navigation systems. 

Work on some of the systems began in 2006, when NASA's Constellation program planned a human 

return to the moon. Kennedy's wide-open space at the end of the shuttle runway provided a convenient 

location for the test flights, which will climb as high as 1,600 feet, reach up to 70 mph and last as long as 

two minutes. The 330-by-330-foot "hazard field" includes five potential landing pads, 311 piles of rocks 

and 24 craters that mimic an area on the moon's south pole. "We're not landing on something that looks 

like a big open grass field, we're landing on something that looks like a planetary body," said Gregory 

Gaddis, the project's KSC manager. The field's surface and craters were formed from fine rocks that 

lined the center's crawlerway before its most recent refurbishment ahead of the shuttle program's end. 

Web posted. (2012). [Morpheus lander prototype ready for KSC tests [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 2].] 

+The Atlas 5 rocket was fueled up and ready for launch early Thursday on the NROL-36 mission from 

Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. However, a mandatory piece of equipment for the Range went 

down and the issue couldn't be resolved in time for liftoff before the day's launch opportunity ran out. 

Officials ordered a 24-hour scrub. The new liftoff time for the next launch attempt tonight is 12:27 a.m. 

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local. Web posted. (2012). [Atlas 5 rocket launch from California scrubbed 24 hours [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 2].] 

+ NASA's Kennedy Space Center is celebrating its 50th anniversary by opening its gates for virtual tours 

through a partnership with Google Maps. The launch pads that sent Americans to the moon, probes to 

distant planets and space shuttles into Earth orbit are just a few clicks away through Google's largest 

special collection of Street View imagery to date, totaling 6,000 panoramic images of Kennedy. Google 

Maps with Street View lets you explore Kennedy's facilities, roads and structures through 360-degree 

street-level imagery that includes the Apollo/Saturn V Center, Space Shuttle Main Engine shop, Orbiter 

Processing Facility-3, the Launch Control Center, the Space Station Processing Facility and the center's 

iconic Vehicle Assembly Building. Users may go directly to Google Maps, search for "NASA Shuttle 

Landing Facility," and drag the orange "pegman" icon on the left-hand side to an area outlined in blue. 

From there, users can navigate around the area by moving up and down pathways and looking around in 

360 degrees. The Street View feature in Google Maps enables users to see Kennedy as it transitions to 

the multipurpose launch complex of the future, revamping existing infrastructure and facilities to provide 

the flexibility to host a variety of commercial and government spacecraft, rockets and other craft. 

["NASA and Google Partner to Release 360-Degree Interactive Images of Kennedy Space Center on 50th 

Anniversary, NASA News Release #42-12, August 2, 2012.] 

August 3: NASA on Aug. 3 announced its selection of Boeing Space Exploration of Houston and 

SpaceX of Hawthorne, Calif., for fmal-phase development funding under its Commercial Crew Program, 

designed to provide domestic astronaut transportation services to and from the international space station. 

Boeing will receive $460 million during the 21-month performance period of its Commercial Crew 

Integrated Capability (CCiCap) Space Act Agreement; SpaceX garnered $440 million. Whereas Boeing 

and SpaceX are developing wingless capsules, Sierra Nevada Space Systems of Louisville, Colo., is 

offering a more maneuverable lifting body design borrowed from an old NASA program dubbed HL-20. 

Sierra Nevada's Space Act Agreement is valued at $212.5 million. Passed over for a CCiCap award was 

ATK Aerospace of Magna, Utah, the longtime supplier of solid rocket motors for NASA's now-retired 

space shuttle fleet. If Boeing and SpaceX meet all of their self-imposed, NASA-approved milestones in 

the 21-month CCiCap base period, their designs for astronaut taxi systems will undergo a critical design 

review, the final hurdle to clear before construction can begin. Sierra Nevada's crew transportation 

system would not undergo a critical design review at the end of its Space Act Agreement. Web posted. 

(2012). [Boeing, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Stay in Race for Commercial Crew [Online]. Available 

WWW: htt.p://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, August 3].] 

August 4: As announced on Friday by NASA officials as they revealed the winners of the Commercial 

Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) awards, Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will hold an industry forum 

on August 8, 2012 at KSC to provide an update on NASA's plans. KSC's procurement office released the 

details yesterday. The forum will be from 1 :00-2:00 pm ET at the KSC press site and will be webcast and 

available via teleconference. Details are in NASA/ KSC's announcement. Topics will be: *An update 

from Program Forum held February 7, 2012; *Overview of Commercial Crew Certification Strategy;* 

Commercial Crew Program's (CCP) intentions for future procurement opportunities;* Two Phase 

Acquisition Approach for Certification; *Phase 1 -Certification Products Contract (CPC) Procurement 

Summary; * Short clarification question and answer session. Web posted. (2012). [NASA To Hold 

Commercial Crew Program Forum at KSC on August 8 [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/ [2012, August 4].] 

August 6: Kennedy Space Center crews this morning attached a tail cone to the orbiter Endeavour, one 

of the last major preparations for its planned ferry flight to California next month. Endeavour is expected 

to depart its processing hangar for the final time to move into the Vehicle Assembly Building on Aug. 16, 

swapping places with Atlantis. A multi-day ferry flight to Los Angeles International Airport is officially 

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still planned for mid-September, but tentatively targeting a Sept. 17 start. Based on that plan, the orbiter 

wbuld be rolled to the Shuttle Landing Facility on Sept. 14 to be hoisted atop a 747 carrier aircraft. 

Endeavour is bound for public display at the California Science Center. The shuttle program's youngest 

orbiter, Endeavour flew 25 times between 1992 and 2011. NASA has already delivered Discovery to the 

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., and Enterprise to 

the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. Atlantis could be moved to the KSC Visitor 

Complex in November. Endeavour's tail cone was moved into Orbiter Processing Facility-2 on Friday 

and installation began this morning. The operation will be completed Tuesday. Web posted. (2012). 

[Preparations for shuttle Endeavour's trip to California near end [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 6].] 

August 7: Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) have stepped up their evaluations into finding a suitable 

facility to house the Dream Chaser fleet in Florida. With the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) confirmed as 

their fleet's HQ, several buildings- ranging from an Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) to other available 

buildings at the famous spaceport- may become viable options. Pitted against two capsules- SpaceX's 

Dragon and Boeing's CST-100- Dream Chaser is the only option that is a lifting body vehicle, derived 

from the NASA Langley HL-20 spaceplane concept from the 1980s. Being different is a positive angle 

for SNC, who have previously cited Dream Chaser's "dissimilar redundancy" when compared to its 

competitors. Dream Chaser will not launch from the Shuttle launch pads at Complex 39, instead it will 

launch atop an Atlas V from SLC-41 at Cape Canaveral. However, of the three main commercial 

contenders, it will be the most active at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), utilizing the Shuttle Landing 

Facility (SLF) for its return from space, but also using the spaceport for its processing needs. Web · 

posted. (2012). [SNC evaluating KSC processing facilities to house the Dream Chaser fleet [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/ [2012, August 7].] 

+NASA's Ed Mango will be guest speaker at Tuesday's Aug. 14luncheon meeting of the National 

Space Club at the Radisson Resort at the Port, Cape Canaveral. The program manager of the Commercial 

Crew Program at Kennedy Space Center will speak on "Innovation and the Next Step in U.S. Space 

Transportation." Web posted. (2012). [NASA leader to speak at space lunch [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 7].] 

August 8: With no more space shuttles to land, Kennedy Space Center is seeking an outside partner to 

take over operation of its 15,000-foot runway known as the Shuttle Landing Facility. A commercial or 

government operator could start managing the facility as soon as October 2013, working to broaden its 

use to include takeoffs and landings of suborbital space vehicles carrying tourists or satellites. "The 

direction we're moving is away from merely a landing facility to a launch and landing facility," said 

Mario Busacca, chief ofKSC's Spaceport Planning Office. Release of the facility to an outside manager 

could be the first step toward a new model for how the entire center is run. Master planners have 

envisioned a future in which the spaceport is managed more like an airport, with NASA one of many 

customers sharing the costs. "This will be a good test case for us to understand how that (concept) would 

work in the long term," said Tom Engler, deputy manager ofKSC's Center Planning and Development 

Office. On Wednesday, KSC asked interested parties to submit proposals for how they would operate and 

maintain the runway and surrounding facilities. Located two-and-a-half miles northwest of the Vehicle 

Assembly Building, the Shuttle Landing Facility, or SLF, opened in 1976. It supported the landings of78 

shuttle missions between 1984 and 2011. Various NASA and Defense Department aircraft also use the 

runway. NASA is now testing a prototype lunar lander in a field at its northwest end. Kennedy is 

completing an assessment of the potential environmental impact resulting from greater use of the runway. 

A recent study funded by Space Florida and the Federal Aviation Administration estimated the suborbital 

market could be worth up to $1.6 billion within a decade. According to a draft environmental assessment 

released in May, multiple suborbital operators could each perform hundreds oftakeoffsand landings a 

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year there by 2015. Web posted. (2012). [KSC looks for runway partner [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 8].] 

+ The lineup of Atlas 5 rocket launches this month -- a national security satellite deployment from 

California and a NASA space weather research project from Florida -- will flip-flop in order to give the 

Air Force more time to sort out Range instrumentation troubles that stalled the West Coast blastoff 

originally planned Aug. 2. The lineup of Atlas 5 rocket launches this month -- a national security satellite 

deployment from California and a NASA space weather research project from Florida -- will flip-flop in 

order to give the Air Force more time to sort out Range instrumentation troubles that stalled the West 

Coast blastoff originally planned Aug. 2. That puts the Aug. 23 launch of the Radiation Belt Storm 

Probes from Cape Canaveral next in the firing order. The rocket has been assembled and is scheduled to 

be topped by the tandem spacecraft on Thursday. At Vandenberg Air Force Base, meanwhile, engineers 

continue their analysis and troubleshooting to understand a problem with the Western Range that cropped 

up late in the countdown on Aug. 2. The issue scrubbed the rocket's attempt to launch that day and the 

vehicle remains grounded awaiting a new liftoff date. "During (the) countdown, Western Range 

Operations Control Center safety personnel identified an issue in the Mission Flight Control Center. The 

center processes radar, optical and telemetry data from instrumentation sites located on and off 

Vandenberg and displays and processes commands for the mission flight control officer, whose main 

responsibility is to terminate the flight of the launch vehicle should we need to for public safety reasons," 

the Air Force said in a statement to Spaceflight Now. Hoping the Range trouble would be fixed sooner 

rather than later, officials tentatively retargeted the launch for Aug. 14 or 15, the last opportunities to 

perform the California mission without impacting the Florida flight on Aug. 23. The time necessary to 

complete the review of data from one launch before granting clearance to the next one requires about a 

week between missions. But in meetings this week, the decision was made to stand down from the 

California launch for now and focus on getting the Aug. 23 flight performed for NASA. Whenever that 

rocket does launch, it will carry a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office known as 

NROL-36. Web posted. (2012). [California Atlas 5 launch delayed a few more weeks [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, August 8].] 

August 9: NASA Inspector General Paul K. Martin today released an audit examining NASA's leasing 

practices for its underused facilities. NASA is the ninth largest property holder in the Federal 

Government, controlling approximately 5,400 buildings and structures that support NASA research, 

development, and flight activities. In total, these assets occupy 44 million square feet and are estimated to 

cost more than $29 billion to replace. Given the programmatic and fiscal challenges facing NASA, 

Agency managers must balance the need to reduce NASA's real property footprint with ensuring that 

NASA retains currently underutilized facilities that it may need to support future missions. NASA has 

several options after identifying real property as underutilized, including making the property available 

for lease to other Federal, state, or private organizations. Properly implemented, leasing can generate 

revenue to offset facilities operations and maintenance costs. However, Federal law requires NASA to 

dispose of property for which it does not have a current or future mission use. Moreover, leasing 

unneeded property cuts against the Agency's efforts to reduce its real property footprint. Accordingly, 

NASA must be careful not to use leasing as a substitute for disposing of underutilized property for which 

it has no current or future use. This Office of Inspector General (OIG) review found that while NASA 

has made improvements to its leasing program in recent years, the Agency faces significant challenges to 

maximizing the benefits of its leasing program. Specifically, we found that NASA did not have clear 

guidance to ensure that property identified for leasing had a current or future mission use; lacked a 

complete inventory of space available for lease as well as an effective marketing program to attract 

potential tenants; lacked internal controls to ensure that its leases provide the best value to NASA and are 

fair to potential partners; and did not have guidance to ensure that in kind consideration that it accepts as 

part of a leasing arrangement benefits NASA. Absent better controls and improved guidance, the OIG 

concluded that NASA will be hard-pressed to maximize the full potential of its leasing program to help 

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reduce the cost of maintaining underutilized facilities while meeting its obligation to ensure that leasing 

does not become a substitute for disposing of excess property. As NASA considers expanding its leasing 

agreements to help manage its infrastructure challenges, the OIG recommended that the Agency 

strengthen its guidance, training, and documentation requirements to ensure it is receiving the highest 

possible benefits from its lease agreements and that the agreements are made in the most transparent 

manner to ensure fairness to all parties. NASA agreed to take actions to address each of our 

recommendations. Web posted. (2012). [NASA's Infrastructure and Facilities: Assessment of Agency's 

Real property Leasing Practices [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceref.com/ [2012, August 

9].] 

+A small vertical-takeoff-and-landing rocket being used to test advanced technologies veered off course 

an instant after liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center Thursday, crashed and exploded in a spectacular 

burst of fire and smoke. There were no injuries or other property damage, officials said. The Morpheus 

rocket was designed and built by engineers at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to test advanced 

technologies and approaches to integrated propulsion and guidance, navigation and control that could be 

used in the future for cargo missions to the moon. The rocket's engine bums liquid oxygen and methane, 

a propellant that can be easily stored in space. The Morpheus rocket has been test fired while attached to a 

crane, but engineers were staging its first untethered free flight Thursday near the Kennedy Space 

Center's shuttle runway. The rocket's engine appeared to ignite normally and the vehicle climbed 

vertically for just an instant before tipping over and crashing on its side. A few moments later, as the 

wreckage burned, a secondary explosion erupted, presumably the result of a ruptured tank. "During 

today's free-flight test at Kennedy Space Center, the Project Morpheus vehicle lifted off the ground and 

then experienced a hardware component failure, which prevented it from maintaining stable flight," 

NASA said in a brief statement. "No one was injured and the resulting fire was extinguished by Kennedy 

fire personnel. "Engineers are looking into the test data and the agency will release information as it 

comes available. Failures such as these were anticipated prior to the test, and are part of the development 

process for any complex spaceflight hardware. What we learn from these tests will help us build the best 

possible system in the future." On its web page, Morpheus engineers described the rocket as a 

demonstration test bed for "green propellant propulsion systems and autonomous landing and hazard 

detection technology. Web posted. (2012). [Small test vehicle veers out of control, crashes at KSC 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, August 9].] 

+ A Titusville priest is credited with saving the life of another clergy member caught in the waves off 

Playalinda Beach during a Wednesday afternoon excursion. The incident happened about 1 p.m. 

Wednesday as 52-year-old priest at St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Church in Titusville and the unidentified 

priest were at the popular, undeveloped beach, located along the Canaveral National Seashore. The 

priest, who was revived, was airlifted to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne where is 

expected to survive, reported Jeff Taylor, spokesman for Brevard County Fire-Rescue. The near 

drowning unfolded near pier one ofthe popular beach. Witnesses said the priest was in the water when he 

appeared in distress. Rescue crews from Brevard County and the Kennedy Space Center responded. 

Kennedy Space Center's public safety officers were investigating the incident. Web posted. (2012). 

[Priest saves priest from drowning atPlayalinda Beach [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 9].] 

August 10: NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes, RBSP, are set to launch aboard a United Launch 

Alliance Atlas V 401 rocket Aug. 23. The 20-minute launch window for the twin probes at Cape 

Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 begins at 4:08a.m. EDT. Launch commentary 

coverage, as well as prelaunch media briefings, will be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's 

website. RBSP will explore space weather -- changes· in Earth's space environment caused by the sun --

that can disable satellites, create power-grid failures and disrupt GPS service. The mission also will allow 

researchers to understand fundamental radiation and particle acceleration processes throughout the 

. 111 
universe. ["NASA Sets Radiation Belt Storm Probes Mission/Atlas V Launch Events Coverage," NASA 

Media Advisory #M44-12, August 10, 2012.] 

August 12: The Exploration Flight Test Orion (EFT -1) is into its first month of outfitting operations, 

aimed at turning what is a shell of a structure into a real spaceship. The outfitting operations at the 

Kennedy Space Center (KSC) will take 17 months, using the bulk of the processing flow timeline ahead 

of its scheduled launch atop of a Delta N Heavy in 2014. As many as 400 members of the Orion team 

will work on final assembly and integration operations prior to the EFT -1 uncrewed launch in 2014, 

outfitting the vehicle's structure to that of the Orion depicted in NASA pictures and videos. One of the 

first tasks is to install the windows on the crew module- as much as there won't be a crew onboard to 

take in the view. "The Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) Crew Module pressurized structure was relocated 

into its processing station within the High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) clean area at KSC's 

Operations & Checkout building in preparation for installation of the secondary structures," noted Orion 

status. "The crew impact attenuation system (CIAS) bracket drilling operations and installations have 

been completed and the team has started work on installing the windows on the vehicle as well as the 

development flight instrumentation sensors. Over the next 17 months, it will undergo outfitting with 

subsystem components and testing in support of the EFT-1 flight test in 2014." Web posted. (2012). 

[NASA EFT-1 Orion into 17 months of outfitting at KSC [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/ [2012, August 12].] 

August 14: A pair of hardened spacecraft that will explore the harsh environment of Earth's radiation 

belts and the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket that will provide the singular power to hurl the two 

satellites into looping orbits will undergo a combined checkout Tuesday. The Integrated Systems Test for 

the rocket and the twin Radiation Belt Storm Probes will be run to confirm the booster and payload are 

ready for their departure from the launch pad next week. The tip-to-tail electrical checkout verifies 

systems throughout the 19-story vehicle and stacked satellites are working properly ahead of the predawn 

blastoff Aug. 23. RBSP and the Atlas have been operating on separate paths during manufacturing and 

assembly. But they finally met last Friday, getting bolted together in preparation for the launch. Current 

operations are being performed in the Vertical Integration Facility next to the Complex 41 pad at Cape 

Canaveral. Rollout of the rocket to the pad atop its mobile platform is planned for next Tuesday. The 

satellites were readied for flight at the commercially-run Astrotech satellite processing campus in 

Titusville. After the two spacecraft were placed one on top of the other, then encapsulated in the rocket's 

two-piece nose cone in the cleanroom and placed aboard board a trailer-like transporter for the drive to 

the rocket's assembly building. Web posted. (2012). [Radiation probes and Atlas 5 getting ready to fly 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, August 14].] 

August 15: NASA has selected A-P-T Research Inc. of Huntsville, Ala., to provide mission assurance, 

engineering and risk assessment services at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The maximum 

potential value for the four-year cost-plus-award-fee Safety and Mission Support Services II (S-MASS II) 

contract is $36 million. A-P-T Research Inc. will perform the mission assurance, engineering and risk 

assessment services in the disciplines of safety, reliability, and quality at Kennedy and all Kennedyassigned facilities at sites that include Vandenberg Air Force Base and NASA's Dryden Flight Research 

Center in California. Subcontractors working on the S-MASS II contract include Mantech International 

Corp. ofFairfax, Va.; SAIC ofMcLean, Va.; GP Strategies Corp. ofElkridge, Md.; Davis Strategic 

Innovations Inc. of Huntsville; and Cummings Aerospace of Huntsville. ["NASA Awards Contract for 

Kennedy Space Center Safety and Mission Support Services," NASA Contract Release #C12-041, 

August 15, 2012.] 

+ Eight years after space experts, astronauts and other influential people in aerospace gathered for what 

turned out to be the last Space Congress, organizers are attempting to revive the program. Promising a 

leaner version of past gatherings that will reflect the changing landscape of the space industry in Brevard 

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County, one that still involves government support of programs but also recognizes the growing influence 

of private and commercial industry participants, organizers have announced a Space Congress will be 

held Dec. 7. "We're expecting 100 to 150 coming to the event, as opposed to twice that number before," 

said Frederick Martin, general chairman of the new Space Congress. "And it's going to be one day 

instead of three. Once considered the world's premier aerospace conference, the Space Congress made its 

debut in 1962 and was staged annually by the Canaveral Council ofTechnical Societies. Then, in 2005, 

the congress was combined with the Cape Canaveral Spaceport Symposium. In 2006, the joint event was 

moved to Orlando and subsequently canceled. David Fleming, chairman of the Canaveral Council of 

Technical Societies and one of the organizers of this year's event, said no one expects the new Space 

Congress to look like past ones. Fleming attended the final two Space Congresses and said they were 

impressive. But the landscape has changed dramatically since then, said Fleming, an associate professor 

of aerospace engineering at the Florida Institute of Technology. A speakers list is under development, 

and organizers hope to get some top names in aerospace from Brevard County to speak at the event. The 

Space Congress will focus on what's happening on the Space Coast as far as aerospace and detail what 

needs to be done to promote the space industry. Web posted. (2012). [Rebooted Space Congress changes 

with industry [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 15].] 

August 16: During another occasion marking a shuttle program "last," Kennedy Space Center crews on 

Thursday lightened the mood with a likely first: a shuttle sporting "bling." Endeavour backed out of its 

processing hangar for the last time with one wheel covered by a spinning silver hubcap with cutouts of 

five orbiters, the number that flew in space. "It just kind of shows we're trying to keep it light," said 

NASA's Stephanie Stilson, who is overseeing the orbiters' preparations for public display and said it was 

her first time seeing the accessory she called "a little bit ofbling." "There's a lot of negativity in the sense 

that (shuttle contractors) are losing their jobs, and we're well aware of that. We live that every day," she 

said. "They're not going to let the negativity of losing jobs affect them enjoying the moment, and that's 

what's really important." Endeavour swapped places with Atlantis, pausing for a final meeting before 

both depart Kennedy for museums - Endeavour across the country to the California Science Center in 

Los Angeles and Atlantis down the road to the KSC Visitor Complex. Endeavour is scheduled to take off 

atop a 74 7 carrier aircraft one month from today. It will spend its final weeks here inside the Vehicle 

Assembly Building, before moving to the runway Sept. 14. Atlantis is targeting a Nov. 2 roll to the 

Visitor Complex. "We've finished all the work on Endeavour," Stilson said. "Atlantis is close to being 

complete." Atlantis took Endeavour's spot in Orbiter Processing Facility-2, the last of three orbiter 

hangars that is still actively used. Remaining work includes the installation of mock-up airlock and 

cameras, and finishing touches in the crew compartment and around a set of replica main engines. 

Atlantis is expected to return to the assembly building in mid-October, a move that will mark the end of 

the orbiters' involvement in NASA's Shuttle Transition and Retirement program. The Visitor Complex 

will handle Atlantis from there. Back in April, NASA and United Space Alliance teams delivered 

Discovery to the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, Va., and the 

prototype Enterprise to New York, where it recently opened for display at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space 

Museum.On Thursday, dozens of employees gathered to watch and take pictures ofKSC's two remaining 

orbiters as they met nose to nose. Between them, the space ships logged 58 of the 135 shuttle missions. 

Stilson said she and her team were happy to have reached another milestone in the more-than-yearlong 

effort to prepare the shuttles for public display. But it was sad for many to see Endeavour- fitted with a 

tail cone for its upcoming ferry flight- exit its hangar for the last time, especially for those who had 

spent entire careers working on that orbiter. At least they got to see it. Another round of layoffs is 

expected in September. Endeavour's custom hubcap was actually designed before the final shuttle 

mission, which Atlantis flew last July, and was signed by some of its crew members. On Thursday, they 

had a little fun with a little bling, shuttle style. Web posted. (20 12). [Last two shuttles at Kennedy Space 

Center swap places [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 16].] 

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August 17: Weighing less than 31 pounds, Explorer 1 was America's first satellite. It was launched Jan. 

31, 1958 in the International Geophysical Year (IGY), on a Juno I rocket. The Juno I was basically a 

Redstone missile with more powerful fuel. Instead of alcohol, a hydyne and liquid oxygen (LOX) fuel 

combination provided 10 percent more thrust. Pioneering rocket fuel scientist Mary Sherman Morgan, 

who engineered the fuel mixture, suggested calling her new fuel invention "bagel and LOX," but 

"hydyne" was chosen instead by the U.S. Army. This was the only Juno launch to use this fuel. Explorer 

1 produced the first scientific discovery of the Space Age: the Van Allen Radiation Belts. Over 50 years 

later, the Van Allen Radiation Belts still present a mystery. A mystery that will now be probed by a new 

mission: the Radiation Belt Storm Probe (RBSP), due to launch at 4:08 a.m. Thursday. The launch 

window extends for 20 minutes. This time an Atlas V rocket will loft twin probes into a highly elliptical 

orbit that will skim just 373 miles above the Earth's surface to a maximum altitude of approximately 

23,000 miles, the distance of the geosynchronous satellites. To measure the differences between different 

layers of the radiation belts, one satellite will slightly overtake the other, changing the distance between 

them. In addition, the orbits will slowly turn, taking in all time zones over the course of two years to 

measure the effect of the angle of the Sun on the processing going on between the solar wind and the 

Earth's magnetosphere. Web posted. (2012). [Stargazing: New mission zooms through Van Allen belts 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 17].] 

August 19: This week's planned launch of an Atlas V rocket carrying a pair of NASA science satellites 

has been delayed by a day, to Friday, United Launch Alliance reported Sunday evening. ULA needed 

time to ensure that an engine problem discovered on a different Atlas V rocket during testing in an 

Alabama factory does not also exist on the rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Launch Complex 

41. Launch of NASA's Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission is now scheduled for 4:07a.m. EDT Friday. 

Forecasts show a 60 percent chance of favorable conditions during the 20-minute launch window. A 

Launch Readiness Review was planned Monday morning at Kennedy Space Center, to be followed by 

press briefmgs on the mission and its science objectives starting at 1 p.m. Web posted. (2012). [Launch 

ofNASA science satellites delayed to Friday [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, August 20].] 

August 20: Launch teams conducted tests Monday on an Atlas V rocket scheduled to launch later this 

week from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to ensure there's no problem with the system that controls 

the steering of its main engine. An issue arose Saturday evening during testing of another RD-180 engine 

at United Launch Alliance's factory in Decatur, Ala. Monday's test and data review were expected to 

provide the confidence necessary to proceed with a 4:07 a.m. Friday launch attempt. A final review to 

sign off on Friday's launch attempt was planned for this afternoon at Kennedy Space Center. "We did 

have high confidence that we would be able to get through this, but we did want to perform today's 

confidence testing as well as complete a data review," Tim Dunn, the NASA launch director for the 

mission, said Monday during a press conference at KSC. The testing prompted a one-day delay in the 

launch of the twin satellites flying NASA's $686 million Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission, or RBSP. 

If the launch team is satisfied, the 189-foot rocket would roll a quarter-mile to its Launch Complex 41 pad 

around 10 a.m. Wednesday at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. There's a 60 percent chance of 

favorable weather during Friday's 20-minute launch window, with a chance of thick cloud cover. Web 

posted. (2012). [Teams run tests on Atlas V [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, August 20].] 

+NASA's weird traditions detailed. When the launch team was preparing for STS-1- the first orbital 

shuttle flight - people would bring in covered dishes to share during prelaunch and postlaunch 

operations. NASA test director Norm Carlson joined in the potluck, and on April 12, 1981 -launch day 

- he brought a small crock pot of beans and cornbread. The launch was a success, and the beans and 

cornbread disappeared. Carlson doubled his offering of beans and cornbread for STS-2's November 12 

launch, and again they were devoured after the shuttles reached orbit. He kept bringing in larger quantities 

114 
of beans until it got to be too much. Instead, he set up an 18 quart cooker on the fourth floor of the 

Launch Control Center. The call of"Beans are Go!" became the traditional signal of a successful launch 

that was celebrated with a helping of beans made to Carlson's recipe: Successful Launch Beans, 

Courtesy of Norm Carlson,.former NASA Test Director Chief 

Put 6 lbs. of dried Great Northern Beans in an 18-quart electric cooker. 

Cut 10 lbs. of smoked ham into cubes. 

Add ham and ham bones to beans. 

Add 11 shaker of lemon pepper. 

Add 3 lbs. chopped onions. 

Add 2 stalks chopped celery. 

Add 1 tsp. liquid smoke. 

Cover with water and cook for at least 8 hours. 

Enjoy! Famous Launch Day Cornbread: Martha White Self-Rising Com Muffin Mix I Follow directions 

on box. Web posted. (2012). [Steak, Beans and Vests: NASA's Weird Traditions [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://news.discovery.com/ [2012, August 20].] Web posted. (2012). [Launch tradition gets its 

start [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nasa.gov/ Spaceport News[2001, Aprill2].] 

August 21: Rocketing away on its maiden mission, an inaugural ascent loaded with a paying passenger, 

the Atlas 5 debuted 1 0 years ago Tuesday in a flight packed with compelling suspense. It was August 21, 

2002, the Lockheed Martin-made booster was fueled up on its Cape Canaveral launch pad at Complex 41, 

counting down to blastoff at 6:05p.m. EDT (2205 GMT). Web posted. (2012). [Atlas 5 rocket@ 10 

years: A decade since debut launch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, 

August 21].] 

+One of the iconic ships that ferried the space shuttle's solid rocket boosters (SRBs) back to shore after 

they splashed down in the Atlantic Ocean- will be leaving the shores of the Space Coast. NASA's MV 

Liberty Star will be sent to the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. This is part of a 

memorandum of understanding or MOU signed by NASA and the Transportation Department's Maritime 

Administration (MARAD). Under this agreement signed on Tuesday Aug. 21 Liberty Star will be used 

by the National Defense Reserve Fleet- as a training vessel. In this capacity, the ship will be used by 

midshipmen at the Merchant Marine Academy. Liberty Star will be used to teach these midshipmen 

modem towing techniques and other required skills. NASA will still retain access to Liberty Star if the 

space agency needs it and if it is available. "Liberty Star served NASA well during the Space Shuttle 

Program," said NASA's Acting Associate Administrator Robert Lightfoot. "We know it will greatly 

benefit the Kings Point midshipmen, and we're proud that Liberty Star will continue to serve the United 

States with distinction." There are two SRB recovery vessels, MV Liberty Star and MV Freedom Star. 

Each of these vessels are currently operated by United Space Alliance (USA). According to a NASA 

press release, NASA is also looking for a suitable use for Freedom Star as well. As such, this vessel might 

also be leaving Florida in the near future. Both SRB recovery ships were launched in 1981 and worked to 

recover the spent shuttle SRBs after they had completed their task of sending space shuttle crews to orbit. 

These ships were constructed at the Atlantic Marine Shipyard on Fort George Island in Florida. Each 

recovery ship is capable of towing approximately 60,000 pounds (27,000 kilograms). The ships utilize 

auxiliary engines and other measures so when they coasted up the Banana River they would avoid 

harming Florida's Manatee population.These vessels have been used by other agencies as well as for 

other purposes by NASA. NASA's sister organization, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric 

Administration or NOAA, has used the recovery ships in the past. NASA has employed them in the 

agency's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to monitor launch vehicles during 

ascent. Web posted. (20 12). [Another Piece of Shuttle History Leaving Cape Canaveral [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.americaspace.com/ [2012, August 21].] 

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August 22: A 19-story Atlas V rocket carrying twin NASA satellites rolled to its pad this morning in 

preparation for a 4:07a.m. Friday launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The United Launch 

Alliance rocket began rolling from its vertical integration tower around 8 a.m. and took about 30 minutes 

to travel a quarter-mile to the Launch Complex 41 pad just south ofKennedy Space Center's former 

shuttle pads. The move was made early enough so rocket-grade kerosene fuel can be loaded into the first 

stage booster today before expected afternoon thunderstorms arrive. More propellant will be loaded on 

launch day. The rocket is set to launch NASA's $686 million Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission, 

which will use a pair of satellites to study the Van Allen radiation belts for two years. The launch was 

delayed a day to test the steering system on the rocket's RD-180 main engine, but a Launch Readiness 

Review on Tuesday concluded there were no problems. Air Force meteorologists' most recent forecast 

has improved slightly to a 70 percent chance offavorable weather during Friday's 20-minute launch 

window, with a chance for thick clouds. Web posted. (2012). [Atlas V rolls to Cape Canaveral launch pad 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 22].] 

+ Early Friday, thousands of gallons of cryogenic propellant are scheduled to be pumped into a 19-story 

Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a few hours before its planned 4:07a.m. blastoff with 

a pair of NASA satellites. Security personnel will set up roadblocks to secure a perimeter around the 

rocket's blast zone. Fire crews will be on hand in case something goes wrong. In the Atlas Spaceflight 

Operations Center a few miles from Launch Complex 41, Jason Buckley will watch the countdown 

unfold, knowing he helped put each of those elements in place to enable the rocket's thundering liftoff. 

"It's bright and it's loud and you can feel it," Buckley said of his close-up launch view. "It's a big rumble 

that you feel. The whole building kind of shakes." The 45-year-old Rockledge resident and United 

Launch Alliance employee specializes in providing "base support" for Cape launches. He coordinates and 

schedules a wide variety of tasks that support engineers' and technicians' work to ready a launch vehicle 

for flight. Web posted. (2012). [Meet Atlas V's right-hand man [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 22].] 

August 23: Kennedy Space Center's goal to become a more commercial spaceport received a boost 

Thursday with XCOR Aerospace's announcement that it planned to test, fly and eventually build 

suborbital spacecraft here. The Mojave, Calif.-based company's two-seater Lynx space plane could start 

taking off and landing at the shuttle runway in 2014, with a next-generation version flying customers 

regularly the following year. XCOR estimates it could hire more than 150 people locally by 2018, and 

executives said the area's skilled former shuttle workforce was key to their decision to base a 

manufacturing site on the Space Coast. "Thanks to NASA's long history here, there was just the right 

·group of people here with exactly the right skills we need," President and co-founder Jeff Greason said 

during an announcement at the KSC Visitor Complex. "I really look forward to taking advantage of it as 

we move forward to serial production of vehicles where, just like a lot of other operations, it really has to 

be done right every time." State and local agencies have offered the company $2.7 million in incentives, 

according to Space Florida President Frank DiBello. Space Florida also will offer financing that could 

help build a hangar and manufacturing facility near KSC's three-mile runway, though no agreements are 

final yet. Web posted. (2012). [At KSC, XCOR sees right people, right place [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 24].] 

+ NASA Administrator Charles Bolden announced Thursday new milestones in the nation's commercial 

space initiatives from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The latest advances made by 

NASA's commercial space partners pave the way for the first contracted flight of cargo to the 

International Space Station (ISS) this fall and mark progress toward a launch of astronauts from U.S. soil 

in the next five years. Bolden announced Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has completed its 

Space Act Agreement with NASA for Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS). SpaceX is 

scheduled to launch the first of its 12 contracted cargo flights to the space station from Cape Canaveral in 

October, under NASA's Commercial Resupply Services Program. Through the COTS program, NASA 

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provides investments to stimulate the American commercial space industry. As part of its COTS 

partnership, SpaceX became the first commercial company to resupply the space station in May, 

successfully launching its Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to the orbiting complex. During the 

historic mission, the Dragon was captured by astronauts using the station's robot arm, unloaded and safely 

returned to Earth carrying experiments conducted aboard ISS. Later this winter, Orbital Sciences Corp. 

plans to carry out its first test flight under COTS. Bolden also announced NASA partner Sierra Nevada 

Corp. has conducted its first milestone under the agency's recently announced Commercial Crew 

Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative. The milestone, a program implementation plan review, marks 

an important first step in Sierra Nevada's efforts to develop a crew transportation system with its Dream 

Chaser spacecraft. CCiCap is an initiative of NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) and an Obama 

administration priority. The objective ofthe CCP is to facilitate the development of a U.S. commercial 

crew space transportation capability with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access to 

and from the space station and low Earth orbit. After the capability is matured, it is expected to be 

available to the government and other customers. NASA could contract to purchase commercial services 

to meet its station crew transportation needs later this decade. ["NASA Administrator Announces New 

Commercial Crew and Cargo Milestone," NASA News Release #12-293, August 23, 2012.] 

August 24: NASA hopes to make a second attempt to launch its Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission at 

4:07a.m. Saturday, after today's attempt scrubbed due to a problem with equipment needed to track the 

Atlas V rocket during flight. A new launch time won't be confirmed until engineers understand a 

problem with a tracking beacon required to be working properly for a launch to proceed. "The frequency 

of that C-hand tracking beacon was drifting from the range systems that are picking that up," said Tim 

Dunn, NASA launch director for the $686 million mission. "We don't launch unless we're absolutely 

certain, so this is one of those cases." The problem could lie with the beacon on the 189-foot United 

Launch Alliance rocket or with Eastern Range equipment. Dunn said launch teams would review data to 

assess the problem and probably know more within a few hours after the scrub. Today's countdown to a 

planned 4:07 a.m. liftoff appeared to be proceeding smoothly and the weather forecast was excellent. But 

as the launch team began its final readiness poll to pick up the countdown from a planned hold at T -minus 

four minutes, the range reported it was no-go. There wasn't enough time to resolve the beacon issue 

during the 20-minute launch window. Saturday's launch window is the same: It opens at 4:07a.m. and 

lasts 20 minutes. There's a 60 percent chance of favorable weather conditions. The RBSP mission 

consists of twin spacecraft that will spend two years studying Earth's Van Allen radiation belts to better 

understand how they respond to solar storms. Web posted. (2012). [Atlas launch scrubbed until Saturday 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 24].] 

August 25: Neil Alden Armstrong, who made the "giant leap for mankind" as the first human to set foot 

on the moon, died on Saturday. He was;82. His family said in a statement that the cause was 

"complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures." He had undergone heart bypass surgery this 

month in Cincinnati, near where he lived. His recovery had been going well, according to those who 

spoke with him after the surgery, and his death came as a surprise to many close to him, including his 

fellow Apollo astronauts. The family did not say where he died. A quiet, private man, at heart an 

engineer and crack test pilot, Mr. Armstrong made history on July 20, 1969, as the commander of the 

Apollo 11 spacecraft on the mission that culminated the Soviet-American space race in the 1960s. 

President John F. Kennedy had committed the nation "to achieving the goal, before the decade is out, of 

landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to Earth." It was done with more than five months to 

spare. On that day, Mr. Armstrong and his co-pilot, Col. Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., known as Buzz, steered 

their lunar landing craft, Eagle, to a level, rock-strewn plain near the southwestern shore of the Sea of 

Tranquility. It was touch and go the last minute or two, with computer alarms sounding and fuel running 

low. But they made it. "Houston, Tranquility Base here," Mr. Armstrong radioed to mission control. 

"The Eagle has landed." A few hours later, there was Mr. Armstrong bundled in a white spacesuit and 

helmet on the ladder of the landing craft. Planting his feet on the lunar surface, he said, "That's one small 

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step for man, one giant leap for mankind." (His words would become the subject of a minor historical 

debate, as to whether he said "man" or an indistinct "a man.") In all, 12 American astronauts walked on 

the moon between then and the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The Apollo 11 mission capped a tumultuous 

and consequential decade. The '60s in America had started with such promise, with the election of a 

youthful president, mixed with the ever-present anxieties of the cold war. Then it touched greatness in the 

civil rights movement, only to implode in the years of assassinations and burning city streets and campus 

riots. But before it ended, human beings had reached that longtime symbol of the unreachable. The 

moonwalk lasted 2 hours and 19 minutes, long enough to let the astronauts test their footing in the fine 

and powdery surface- Mr. Armstrong noted that his boot print was less than an inch deep- and set up 

a television camera and scientific instruments and collect rock samples. After news of Mr. Armstrong's 

death was reported, President Obama, in a statement from the White House, said, "Neil was among the 

greatest of American heroes." "And when Neil stepped foot on the surface of the moon for the first 

time," the president added, "he delivered a moment of human achievement that will never be forgotten." 

Charles F. Bolden Jr., the current NASA administrator, said, "As long as there are history books, Neil 

Armstrong will be included in them, remembered for taking humankind's first small step on a world 

beyond our own." Mr. Bolden also noted that in the years after the moonwalk, Mr. Armstrong "carried 

himself with a grace and humility that was an example to us all." The historian Douglas Brinkley, who 

interviewed Mr. Armstrong for a NASA oral history, described him as "our nation's most bashful 

Galahad." His family called him "a reluctant hero who always believed he was just doing his job." 

Indeed, some space officials have cited these characteristics, as well as his engineering skills and 

experience piloting X-15 rocket planes, as reasons that Mr. Armstrong stood out in the astronaut corps. 

After the post-flight parades and a world tour for the three Apollo 11 astronauts, Mr. Armstrong gradually 

withdrew from the public eye. He was not reclusive, but as much as possible he sought to lead a private 

life, first as an associate administrator in the space program, then as a university professor and director of 

a number of corporations. Web posted. (2012). [Neil Armstrong, First Man on the Moon, Dies at 82 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nytimes.com/ [2012, August 25].] 

+ Norm Carlson, NASA's lead test conductor for the Apollo 11 launch, first met Neil Armstrong at the 

KSC astronaut quarters for a flight briefmg prior to launch to brief the crew on what to expect and go 

through prelaunch procedures. "He was a great man and very personable with the people he worked 

with," Carlson said. "He was very appreciative to the launch team and all the NASA folks." Carlson 

believes the loss of Armstrong will be felt beyond the United States. "He will be greatly missed, not only 

by the NASA people but the world." Web posted. (2012). [Carlson reacts to Armstrong's passing 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 25].] 

+ Jay Honeycutt, former KSC director, worked with Neil Armstrong during his Apollo flight and again 

when Armstrong was deputy chair of the shuttle Challenger disaster investigation. "He certainly deserved 

every accolade he could ever have gotten, but it was his belief that it was the entire team that was 

successful, and it wasn't just he and Buzz that made that flight what it was," Honeycutt said. It was his 

1966 Gemini 8 mission where Armstrong really showed his mettle. The capsule had a "struck thruster that 

certainly was a heartbeat away from disaster, and he pulled that off and saved the mission." It was 

Honeycutt who put crews through lunar landing simulations. "Neil never blinked, even with the best we 

could throw at him," he said. Web posted. (2012). [Astronaut was one cool customer [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 25).] 

+ The following is a statement from NASA Kennedy Space Center Director Robert Cabana regarding 

the death of former test pilot and NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong. He was 82. "Neil Armstrong was a 

true American hero, and one of the nicest gentlemen around. He was the epitome of what an engineering 

test pilot should be, and a role model for everyone who aspired to be an astronaut. "He always took the 

time to share his thoughts on technical issues and his experiences from the past. "I feel very privileged to 

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have known him. He will be missed." Web posted. (2012). [Kennedy Space Center Director Statement on 

Neil Armstrong's Death [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceref.com/ [2012, August 25].] I 

August 26: NASA will let Tropical Storm Isaac pass before making a third attempt to launch a pair of 

radiation belt probes, possibly Thursday. With the forecast expected to deteriorate, launch managers 

early Saturday decided against asking launch teams to perform a third countdown in as many days. A 

first launch attempt Friday scrubbed due to a technical problem. Saturday, thunderstorms, clouds and 

lightning kept the 189-foot United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket grounded. Today, the rocket carrying 

twin spacecraft will roll back to the shelter of its vertical processing tower at Cape Canaveral Air Force 

Station's Launch Complex 41. "It just made sense in this case to take it off the launch pad, let the storm 

pass, and make another attempt next week," NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said. The next launch 

opportunity is at 4:05 a.m. Thursday, pending approval by the Air Force's Eastern Range. The $686 

million RBSP mission aims to send twin satellites on a two-year study of the Van Allen radiation belts. 

The inner and outer belts, ranging from hundreds to about 25,000 miles above the planet, can damage 

satellites and power grids and endanger astronauts. Scientists hope to improve their understanding of 

how the belts respond to solar storms and better predict their behavior. Web posted. (2012). [NASA sits 

tight on flight until Isaac drifts away [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

August 26].] 

August 28: A week after being scrubbed due to various issues, an Atlas V rocket will be rolled back out 

to the launch pad. Launch is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 30 at 4:05 a.m. The rocket is carrying the 

Radiation Belt Storm Probes, which is a pair of spacecraft that will be released into earth's Van Allen 

radiation belts. Solar storms can cause those belts to contract and expand, posing a risk to communication 

satellites, crippling GPS services, TV and cell phone signals, and even shutting down power grids. Web 

posted. (2012). [Atlas V rocket to roll out to launch pad today [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.cfnews13.com/ [2012, August 28].] 

+ Out in the Florida sunshine and surviving thunderstorms, rain, hail, lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes 

and even a rare snow flurry sits the large illuminated digital countdown clo~k. Close to the edge of 

NASA's Kennedy Space Center's (KSC) tum basin facing the press site this is one of the most-watched 

timepieces in the world. Recently this historic landmark received a touch up. Included in television 

coverage and launch photos this clock dates back to the Apollo days. Using standard incandescent 40 watt 

light bulbs the timepiece is controlled from a room in the Launch Control Center (LCC). From this 

location the 'Timing & Imaging Support Group' technicians monitor and distribute the official time to 

NASA facilities including firing rooms. Before a launch, the clock counts down, showing the remaining 

time until T -zero, after launch the clock counts forward in + mission elapsed time. About a week before 

launch activity the clock bulbs are checked and replaced as needed. Now that the space shuttle era is over, 

the clock will not go dark, it will illuminate the countdown of NASA launches that liftoff from nearby 

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). Web posted. (2012). [Countdown Clock Touched Up for 

Future Missions [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.americaspace.com/ [2012, August 28].] 

August 29: Media are invited to attend a KSC ceremony to honor former test pilot and NASA astronaut 

Neil Armstrong at 1 p.m. EDT, Friday, Aug. 31, at the Apollo/Saturn V Center. Kennedy Space Center 

Director Bob Cabana will lead the ceremony. Web posted. (2012). [Kennedy Space Center Honors Neil 

Armstrong Friday [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceref.com/ [2012, August 26].] 

August 30: A two-year mission to study Earth's Van Allen radiation belts is under way after a successful 

launch this morning from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Twin NASA probes were deployed about 

80 minutes and 90 minutes after their 4:05 a.m. blastoff atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, 

prompting cheers from the launch team. "I'm very happy to report we have two healthy spacecraft on 

orbit," Rick Fitzgerald, mission project manager from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics 

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Laboratory, said in a post-launch press conference. The spacecraft have already successfully deployed 

power-generating solar panels. Liftoff came on the third attempt to launch NASA's $686 million 

Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission, after scrubs last Friday and Saturday. A smooth countdown 

culminated in the 189-foot rocket rumbling from Launch Complex 41 at the opening of a 20-minute 

launch window. The rocket quickly disappeared into a low bank of clouds above the pad before emerging 

as a bright streak of orange light in a night sky shared by a nearly full moon. The two spacecraft, for now 

named RBSP-A and RBSP-B, will study how the radiation belts respond to solar storms. Web posted. 

(2012). [Atlas V lifts NASA radiation belt probes to orbit [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 30.] 

August 31: Though the Space Coast is less than 150 miles from Tampa, it might as well be on Mars for 

the attention given to NASA by Mitt Romney during the Republican convention this week. As has been 

the case for most of the campaign, Romney largely ignored the issue ____:_ heightening anxiety even among 

some Republicans about how a Romney administration would impact NASA and Kennedy Space Center. 

But before making any decisions, Romney first needs to win the White House. That path runs through 

Florida and - to a small degree- the KSC area, which has been battered since NASA retired the shuttle 

and slashed thousands ofKSC jobs. Though the shuttle's 2011 retirement had been in the works since the 

Bush administration, many Space Coast residents still blame Obarna, especially since he also canceled 

·Constellation. Romney doesn't need to worry about these votes, but he may have to contend with growing 

support in Florida for Obama's efforts to jump-start the commercial-rocket industry. The commercial 

push is helping to bring hundreds of jobs back to the KSC area, such as Boeing's decision last year to hire 

as many as 550 workers to build so-called space taxis out of an abandoned KSC shuttle garage. Web 

posted. (2012). [Romney stays quiet about his views on NASA [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 30.] 

+ The orbiter Endeavour will fly over Cocoa Beach on its way to California later this month, weather 

permitting, but it won't be flying over the Cocoa Beach Air Show. Despite a request from event 

organizers, NASA is not postponing Endeavour's scheduled Sept. 17 departure from Kennedy Space 

Center. Mounted atop a modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Endeavour will make stopovers in 

Houston and a back-up shuttle landing site in the Mojave Desert before arriving at Los Angeles 

International Airport on Sept. 20. The Cocoa Beach Air Show is scheduled to take place the following 

weekend: Sept. 22 and Sept. 23. Event organizers wanted NASA to delay departure and fly the orbiter 

over the air show, saying it would be an economic boon for an area hit hard by layoffs resulting from 

shuttle fleet retirement. The request was backed in writing by U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando; U.S. 

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Miami; U.S. Rep. Bill Posey, R-Rockledge; and U.S. Rep. Sandy Adams, ROrlando. Endeavour is headed for the California Science Center, which is 12 miles away from the airport 

in Los Angeles. Jeff Rudolph, CEO of the museum, told Posey in an Aug. 8 letter that the logistics 

involved in the move made a departure delay unrealistic. Web posted. (2012). [Endeavour will not delay 

exit for air show [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, August 31.] 

+ There's a rare blue moon tonight, a fitting wink to Neil Armstrong by the cosmic calendar. Today is 

the day of a private service for Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, who died last Saturday in 

Ohio at age 82. A blue moon occurs when there's a second full moon in one calendar month. It won't 

happen again until July 2015. The full moon cycle is 29.5 days so a blue moon is uncommon and has 

come to mean something rare. The moon actually won't be colored blue. Armstrong's family has 

suggested paying tribute to him by looking at the moon and giving the astronaut a wink. Web posted. 

(2012). [Blue moon on same day as Neil Armstrong service [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .usatoday.com/ [20 12, August 31 .] 

+ Dozens of family and invited friends paid final tributes Friday in private services to Ohio native and 

rocket man Neil Armstrong, a week after the first man to walk on the moon died at age 82. Media were 

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barred from the invitation-only event, held at a club in Indian Hill, the upscale suburb that Armstrong 

called home. Armstrong sons Rick and Mark were to give eulogies to their father. Also expected to speak: 

businessman and friend Charles Mechem; and Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio. Astronaut William Anders and 

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden are on the guest list. A public memorial will be Sept. 12 in 

Washington with a final resting place still undetermined. President Barack Obama ordered flags to fly at 

half-staff to honor Armstrong. Armstrong's family has suggested memorial contributions to two 

scholarship funds in his name or to the Neil Armstrong New Frontiers Initiative at Cincinnati Children's 

Hospital. His wife, Carol, is on the hospital's board. Web posted. (2012). [Family, friends pay tribute to 

moonwalker Neil Armstrong [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

September 1].] 

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SEPTEMBER 

September 3: Space shuttle Endeavour's final12-mile journey through the streets of South Los Angeles 

already promises to be a meticulously planned spectacle: a two-day parade, an overnight slumber party in 

Inglewood and enough hoopla to create a giant traffic mess. But for some residents in South L.A., the 

excitement of the shuttle rumbling through their neighborhoods quickly faded when they learned that 400 

trees will be chopped down to make room for the behemoth. The California Science Center -

Endeavour's final home - has agreed to replant twice as many trees along the route from the shuttle's 

docking place at Los Angeles International Airport to Exposition Park. Many worry that the replacements 

- young, wiry trees that will provide little shade - will pale in comparison to the mature magnolias that 

line the Crenshaw corridor. Others are concerned that the bare streets will further depreciate property 

values. City officials and the science center are hoping the historical significance of housing the shuttle 

will offset the tree loss. Web posted. (2012). [Tree removal for space shuttle arrival tempers excitement 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 3].] 

September 4: Western Range officials at Vandenberg Air Force Base said final testing Tuesday 

confirmed the troubles that postponed an Atlas 5 rocket launch last month have been resolved. Liftoff of 

the United Launch Alliance-made booster carrying a classified spy satellite payload for the National 

Reconnaissance Office is rescheduled for Sept. 13 sometime during a period between 1:45 and 4:15 p.m. 

local PDT (4:45-7:15 p.m. EDT; 2045-2315 GMT). The software issue during the Aug. 2launch attempt 

hit Vandenberg's Mission Flight Control Center that computes radar, optical and telemetry data for safety 

specialists who track the rocket's path. The center has over 80 servers, eight operating systems and 

thousands of software processes, the Air Force says. Web posted. (2012). [Range now good to go for 

upcoming California Atlas 5 [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

September 4].] 

September 5: Bearing handwritten messages like "Welcome home," "Our very own" and "May you 

always be preserved and protected," a 38-foot beam was hoisted into place Wednesday to top off the 

future home of space shuttle Atlantis. A crane lifted the nearly 2,000-pound steel beam 116 feet up to the 

highest point on the $100 million facility, the peak of a sweeping arc facing the entrance to the Kennedy 

Space Center Visitor Complex. An American flag and short cypress tree were mounted on the beam, 

following the tradition for such ''topping out" ceremonies. Journeyman ironworker Bobby Corley of 

Kissimmee helped bang home four bolts that secured the beam. "Awesome," he said afterward of the 

experience. "We're building the place they're going to house the new space shuttle at. Most of us have 

been out here since the first column was stood up and watched it come up out of the ground, so it's been a 

memorable job." Atlantis is two months from a daylong, 9.8-mile journey outside KSC's gates to its 

90,000-square-foot retirement home. The route will roll down Kennedy Parkway, detour by KSC 

headquarters, cut back across 5th street and pause at the Space Life Sciences Lab before winding around 

Space Commerce Way to the Visitor Complex. The shell of the exhibit structure is complete and will be 

walled in on three sides by Atlantis' planned Nov. 2 arrival. It's set to open to the public in July. "This is 

her permanent home," said Tim Macy, director of project development at the Visitor Complex. "You will 

be very proud of it." Visitors entering the Atlantis exhibit will walk by high-fidelity models of the white 

solid rocket boosters and orange external tank used to launch shuttles. Reaching 195 feet above sea level, 

they should be visible from much of northern Brevard County, Macy said. Guests will enter a second 

story "reveal theater" to see Atlantis suspended 18 feet above the ground and angled 43 degrees with its 

payload bay doors open and a replica robotic arm deployed, as if it was within 150 yards of the 

International Space Station. Then, winding their way down to floor level, they'll see a full-scale replica of 

the Hubble Space Telescope and interactive exhibits on shuttle program operations and history- 62 

exhibits in all. "You'll be completely immersed in all things shuttle as soon as you get in here, from the 

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how it started to the people that were involved in it, the missions that went on," Macy said. "We're going 

to blow you away." For now, the facility is a construction site bustling with up to 180 workers each day. 

On Wednesday, many took turns signing and writing messages with a white marker on the ceremonial 

beam before it was lifted into place at 10:48 a.m. KSC veteran Roy Tharpe also signed the beam, just like 

he had during the 525-foot Vehicle Assembly Building's construction more than 45 years ago. "It's 

really poetic that we have Atlantis' beam today just like we had the V AB ceremony in the 60s," said 

Tharpe, president of Space Gateway Support. The tradition of using trees in topping out ceremonies dates 

to ancient Scandanavian religious practices, when the topmost bough of a tree used to build a new home 

was placed on the roof to appease tree spirits, according to The Ironworker, a union publication. KSC 

Director Bob Cabana remembered a ceremony that unfolded in space, when astronaut Joe Tanner affixed 

a sticker of an evergreen tree to the International Space Station during a 2000 spacewalk. "This topping 

out of a building, it's always a special occasion," he said. "Atlantis, the last space shuttle to ever fly in 

space, is going to look like it actually is in space here at the Kennedy Space Center, and I can't think of a 

more fitting place to tell that story. Web posted. (20 12). [KSC marks 'topping out' of future Atlantis 

exhibit [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 5].] 

+ Speaking at a press conference today, NASA officials said that the first operational SpaceX 

cargo launch to ISS is scheduled for October 9 or 10, but could be as early as October 5. The reason for 

the launch date uncertainty is when the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station will be available for the 

launch. SpaceX launches from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) on that range, which is adjacent to 

NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Right now the range is not free until October 9 or 10, but SpaceX will 

be ready to go as early as October 5. NASA said it would prefer the 5thbecause it is trying to squeeze in 

the mission before the arrival of a Soyuz spacecraft with three new ISS crewmembers. That Soyuz is 

scheduled for launch on October 15 and would dock on October 17 if it follows the usual profile. SpaceX 

completed the test phase of its commercial cargo program in May with the successful launch, berthing 

and recovery of the Dragon capsule. Now the program moves into the operational phase. SpaceX is 

under contract to provide 12 cargo launches for NASA between now and 2015. Web posted. (2012). 

[First Operational SpaceX Launch Set for October 9 or 10, But Could Be Earlier [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.spacepolicyonline.com/ [2012, September 5].] 

+Retired space shuttles are being readied for museums, but there's one piece of equipment at the 

Kennedy Space Center that dates back to before the moon landing and it's not going anywhere; NASA's 

giant crawler transporter is the only machine with enough muscle to move Apollo rockets and space 

shuttles out to the launch pad, and after nearly 50 years on the job the agency's decided there's still no 

better way to transport heavy loads. It's about as wide as a six lane highway, higher than a two story 

building, with huge caterpillar treads at each of its four corners. With the mobile launch platform and a 

rocket or space shuttle on its back, the crawler en route forthe launch pad was like a skyscraper rolling 

slowly down a highway. Regular roads can't handle the five and a half million pound weight of the 

crawler. NASA has two crawler transporters. Crawler two is being upgraded from its current lifting 

capacity of 12 million pounds -the combined weight of the shuttle and mobile launcher- to 18 million 

pounds, for NASA's new heavy lift rocket. The crawler re-fit is part of a $2 billion plan to modernize the 

Kennedy Space Center, and as NASA moves to partner with commercial rocket companies it aims to 

make the center as versatile as possible. Web posted. (2012). [NASA's Historic Giant Crawler Gets a 

Tune Up for Modern Times (PICS) [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.transportationnation.org/ 

[2012, September 5].] 

September 6: There was a powerful roar in Utah on Thursday as rocket testers fired one of the boosters 

used by Delta 4 vehicles for added thrust during launches of military communications satellites, 

reconnaissance spacecraft and the Global Positioning System. ATK ignited the booster in a horizontal 

test-stand at 11: 15 a.m. Mountain Time ( 1: 15 p.m. EDT; 1715 GMT) as part of nozzle qualification 

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efforts. The successful event built further confidence in the nozzle design that the aerospace company has 

made in-house to replace the previous nozzle hardware purchased from a subcontractor for production of 

the Delta 4 motors. Delta 4 rockets can use either two or four strap-on motors depending on the weight 

and targeted orbit of satellite payloads, providing the necessary thrust to propel the vehicle off the launch 

pad at Cape Canaveral and Vandenberg Air Force Base. The solids are larger, more powerful cousins to 

the Delta 2 and Delta 3 rockets. Web posted. (2012). [Solid rocket booster design test-fired for Delta 4 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, September 6].] 

+ NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) strives to be innovative in all of its programs, projects and 

practices, and that ingenuity comes from the center's greatest asset, its workforce. As part of a new 

initiative to help foster worker innovation and creativity, Kennedy on Thursday hosted its first Innovation 

Expo, which is designed to highlight employee innovations in the workplace that help shape the future of 

the center and the agency. The expo provided an opportunity for employees to hear from outside speakers 

and to pitch their own ideas of ways to improve Kennedy. "Our NASA history demonstrates the 

greatness of American innovation, and KSC has always played a key role in that history," Kennedy 

Director Bob Cabana said. "Innovation is a part of our jobs, and now more than ever, we need to 

collaborate and innovate in new and exciting ways to fulfill our goal of transforming KSC into a vibrant, 

multiuser spaceport." Throughout the day, employees toured labs and facilities across the center that 

normally are not open to the general workforce. In addition, they heard from innovative and inspirational 

speakers from companies such as Disney, Sierra Nevada Corp., and the Boy Scouts of America. The expo 

also featured Kennedy Kick-Start, a competition for employees to receive as much as $5,000 for 

equipment needed to implement their ideas at the center. The selected innovators will be announced 

Friday, Sept. 7. Kennedy works to spur innovation on a daily basis. By retrofitting its world-class ground 

systems and facilities for both government and commercial users, and infusing innovative ideas into 

ongoing and forward-looking programs such as Launch Services, International Space Station, 

Commercial Crew, Orion and Space Launch Systems, the center helps NASA reach America's space 

exploration goals. ["Kennedy Hosts First Innovation Expo for Employees to Spur New NASA Ideas," 

NASA News Release #49-12, September 6, 2012.] 

September 7: ATK's Liberty rocket and crew capsule scored lower than competitors on technical and 

business grounds in NASA's commercial crew competition, in which Boeing Co., SpaceX, and Sierra 

Nevada Corp. netted $1.1 billion in government funding, according to a selection statement posted on 

NASA's website. The document describes NASA's rationale for bypassing ATK and selecting other 

proposals to receive a cache of fmancing. NASA announced Aug. 3 it will award more than $1.1 billion 

to Boeing, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada. The money will be paid as the companies accomplish predefmed 

milestones, such as design reviews and tests, over the next 21 months. NASA expects one or more of the 

companies will offer operational crew transportation services to the International Space Station by 201 7. 

NASA had low technical confidence in the Liberty proposal, which included contributions from 

Lockheed Martin Corp. and Europe's EADS Astrium aerospace and defense conglomerate, according to 

the selection statement, which was signed by Bill Gerstenmaier, head of NASA's human exploration and 

operations directorate. "I found the ATK proposal to be the weakest of the four proposals," Gerstenmaier 

wrote. Trina Helquist, an ATK spokesperson, said the company was assessing the future of the Liberty 

program. ATK officials previously said Liberty's development would be significantly slowed without a 

NASA investment. With government funding, ATK projected Liberty's first piloted orbital test flight in 

2015. Web posted. (2012). [ATK 'moving on' after Liberty commercial proposal loss [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, September 7].] 

+ Armstrong, the first man to set foot on the moon, told his family this was how he wanted to be buried. 

"It was his wish," family spokesman Rick Miller said. Details of the burial have not been released and 

might not be. The Navy confirmed it would perform the ceremony, but it would not say where, when or 

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from which ship, citing the Armstrong family's wishes for privacy. It was not known whether the burial 

will be a full-body burial or a dropping of ashes. Web posted. (2012). (Neil Armstrong to be buried at sea 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.usatoday.com/ [2012, September 7].] 

+ As part of a new initiative to help foster worker innovation and creativity, NASA's Kennedy Space 

Center is funding a dozen employee ideas designed to improve the center. The funding comes from 

Kennedy Kick-Start, an employee competition to further encourage innovation. The new competition was 

held Thursday during the first Innovation Expo. The event highlighted employee innovative work and 

showed how it helps to shape the future of the center and NASA. Sixteen employees gave 90-second 

pitches of potential center improvements that would cost less than $5,000 in equipment. The ideas ranged 

from 3-D printing of a working robot hand to commissioning artists to recycle space shuttle hardware as 

art. A panel of eight judges consisting of Kennedy Center Director Bob Cabana and senior management 

from organizations across the center selected 12 projects to fund immediately and complete within fourto-six months. The selected innovations were announced Friday, and they are:- Publish mission audio on 

an Internet radio station to provide a more consistent and inexpensive feed; - Purchase 150 smart-surge 

protectors to distribute across the center to save on energy expenses; - Commission artists to recycle space 

·shuttle hardware into art pieces that can be displayed across the center; - Study the artificial gravity 

effects on hydroponics grown on the International Space Station; - Study the benefits of a virtual control 

panel, which would enable employees to shut off valves, and do work remotely; - Encourage online 

collaboration, which could in tum reduce travel expenses and increase productivity; - Study planetary ice 

mining by down-hole energy injection; - Study the ability to generate power for the center through waste 

heat recovery; - 3-D printing of a functional robotic hand; - Separation of water ice froni regolith in 

vacuum by methods of melting; - Pneumatic conveyor for large volumes of regolith which could reduce 

the time and expense of studies and student programs, such as lunabotics; - "Quick-Attach" to Humvee 

vehicle mounting interface for exploration payloads and excavation implements. Kennedy works to spur 

innovation on a daily basis. By retrofitting its world-class ground systems and facilities for both 

government and commercial users, and infusing innovative ideas into ongoing and forward-looking 

programs such as Launch Services, International Space Station, Commercial Crew, Orion and Space 

Launch Systems, the center helps NASA reach America's space exploration goal. ["NASA Kennedy 

Space Center Funds Employee Innovations," NASA News Release #51-12, September 7, 2012.] 

September 10: NASA cited SpaceX's flight experience with the Dragon spacecraft and Boeing's 

methodical approach to designing a crew capsule in its decision to award the companies $900 million to 

develop a human-rated commercial spaceship, according to a document released last week. Proposals by 

Boeing and SpaceX were the strongest received by NASA in the commercial crew competition, which 

bypassed a bid submitted by rocket-builder ATK and selected Sierra Nevada Corp. for a partial award of 

$212 million, according to a selection statement posted on a NASA website. The 21-month agreements 

with Boeing, SpaceX and Sierra Nevada were signed to fulfill NASA's Commercial Crew Integrated 

Capability, or CCiCap, phase of the commercial crew program, which aims to develop a privately-owned 

human space transportation system to deliver astronauts to the International Space Station by 2017. Web 

posted. (2012). [NASA's commercial trio: Winning strengths outlined [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, September 10].] 

+Endeavour is one week from departing Kennedy Space Center for good. On Tuesday, NASA's 747 

carrier aircraft will fly from California to Kennedy Space Center to pick up the retired shuttle orbiter. 

Early Friday, Endeavour is scheduled to roll from the Vehicle Assembly Building to the shuttle runway, 

whe~e it will be hoisted and bolted atop the Boeing jumbo jet. The piggybacked vehicles will back out of 

a large gantry Sunday morning in preparation for a planned takeoff around 7 a.m. next Monday. A low 

fly-over of Brevard County's coastline is planned before Endeavour moves on to Texas and then 

California. It's expected to arrive at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 20, weather permitting. In 

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mid-October, Endeavour will roll12 miles through downtown L.A. streets to its new display home at the 

California Science Center. The ferry flight is the shuttle program's last. Discovery was ferried to the 

Smithsonian Institution in Chantilly, Va., in mid-April, and Enterprise left there for New York City days 

later. Atlantis will be towed, not flown, about 10 miles to the KSC Visitor Complex. That trip is planned 

Nov. 2. Web posted. (2012). [Endeavour in final week at Kennedy Space Center [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 10).) 

+ The giant High Bay 3 (HB-3) platforms - previously used during the stacking and mating of Space 

Shuttle hardware - are being dismantled and removed from the Vehicle Assembly Building (V AB). The 

giant facility at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) is being transitioned from Shuttle operations to 

accommodate the Space Launch System (SLS). The V AB is an iconic building at the heart of the Florida 

spaceport, originally built to handle the integration and processing needs of the giant Saturn V launch 

vehicle, including the inating of the Apollo crew capsule. The huge facility stands 525 feet tall and 

consists of four High Bays and a transfer aisle, including two giant bridge cranes that can span its upper 

reaches to transport hardware across its expanses. High Bays 1 and 3 were used for integration and 

stacking of the complete Space Shuttle vehicle. High Bay 2 was used to process the Shuttle's External 

Tank (ET) after its arrival from the Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF), in what were known as checkout 

cells. High Bay 4 was also used for ET checkout and storage, as well as for payload canister operations 

and Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) contingency handling. While no commercial vehicles have committed 

to using the V AB at this time, the next big government vehicle - the Space Launch System (SLS) - will 

be using the famous building, not least because it's the only facility on the Space Coast that can host the 

Heavy Lift Launch Vehicle (HL V). The only problem is the fixed platforms in the High Bays are still 

configured for use only with the Space Shuttle, meaning they have to be removed, ahead of the 

installation of a new set of "relocatable" platforms. The work, designed by BRPH Architects-Engineers, 

Inc. - and contracted to Ivey's Construction, Inc.-is expected to last until March, 2013. The fate of the 

famous platforms is not known, although the contract includes their disposal, likely to involve the 

breaking down of the large structures on site, prior to being sent for scrap. Web posted. (2012). [Vehicle 

Assembly Building High Bay 3 platform removal begins for SLS [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/ [2012, September 10].) 

September 11: A Boeing 747 touched down at Kennedy Space Center at 5:05p.m. today, six days 

before its planned departure from Florida with the retired space shuttle Endeavour. The Shuttle Carrier 

Aircraft labeled NASA 905 took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California at 11 :30 a.m. Eastern 

time and made a direct flight to Kennedy, approaching the shuttle runway from the northwest to the 

southeast. The modified jumbo jet parked on an apron near a gantry that will be used to hoist Endeavour 

and bolt it atop the 747 on Friday. Weather permitting, the piggybacked aircraft and spaceship plan to 

take off around 7 a.m. Monday to begin the shuttle program's final ferry flight. Flyovers are likely of the 

KSC Visitor Complex, Patrick Air Force Base and other parts of the' Space Coast. The cross-country 

ferry flight to Los Angeles International Airport is the shuttle program's last. It's expected to end Sept. 

20, including stops at Ellington Field in Houston and the Dryden Flight Research Center in California. In 

mid-October, Endeavour will roll from LAX to the California Science Center to take up residence in a 

new display hangar slated to open Oct. 30. An advance team of NASA and United Space Alliance 

personnel is already in Los Angeles setting up the special equipment that will be used to remove 

Endeavour from the 747. In April, NASA 905 ferried Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum's 

Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., where it replaced the prototype orbiter Enterprise. Enterprise then 

was flown to New York's John F. Kennedy Airport and barged to the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space 

Museum in Manhattan. Atlantis is scheduled to roll from KSC to its nearby Visitor Complex on Nov. 2, 

completing NASA's transfer of retired orbiters to their public display sites. Web posted. (2012). [747 

arrives at KSC for Endeavour ferry flight [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, September 11).) 

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+The owner of three local general-aviation airports now wants to take over operations of Kennedy Space 

Center's Shuttle Landing Facility as part of a two-pronged approach to attract more space-related 

companies to the area. The Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority tonight will seek Brevard County 

Commission support in its bid to operate the Shuttle Landing Facility, a 15,000-foot-long runway that 

opened in 1976. It is asking the County Commission to approve a resolution to indicate that the authority 

"is the logical choice to be the entity responsible for assisting NASA in repurposing the Shuttle Landing 

Facility as a multiuser spaceport." Kennedy Space Center is seeking applications by Sept. 24 to operate 

and maintain the landing site and surrounding facilities, and could decide on a governmental or 

commercial operator by next spring. The new operator could take over as early as October 2013. 

Titusville-Cocoa Airport Authority Board Chairman Jerry Sansom said being selected by KSC to operate 

the Shuttle Landing Facility would work well in conjunction with the authority's separate ongoing effort 

to have its Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville designated a spaceport by the Federal Aviation 

Administration. Sansom said he expects FAA approval by the end of next year. For example, Rocket 

Crafters, a Utah-based company that recently decided to establish operations at Space Coast Regional 

Airport, is hoping to demonstrate that its project to provide high-speed, point-to-point air transport could 

operate from a conventional airport, Sansom said. It would be able to take off and land from Space Coast 

Regional Airport if that airport gets a spaceport license. At the Titusville airport, Rocket Crafters plans to 

design, test and launch suborbital spacecraft-- powered by jet engines and hybrid rockets-- that 

eventually could travel to Europe, South America, Africa and other international hubs as part of a pointto-point transportation system. A conventional airport operator like the Titusville-Cocoa Airport 

Authority could qualify for certain federal and state transportation grants for upgrades to the Shuttle 

Landing Facility, grants not available to a commercial entity. Web posted. (2012). [Titusville-Cocoa 

Airport Authority pursues shuttle strip [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

September 11].] 

+ A suborbital rocket that was to perform test flights at Cape Canaveral as soon as this fall crashed today 

during a test flight in Mojave, Calif. Masten Space Systems said its reusable Xaero vehicle, which 

launches and lands vertically, was lost during a flight to about 3,300 feet. "Our test objectives were met 

and initial results show the vehicle performed better than expected at altitude," the company said in a 

statement. "However, the vehicle was lost during final approach to landing, and the initial cause appears 

to be a throttle valve failure." Masten in May 2011 signed a $400,000 agreement with Space Florida to 

perform a series of demonstration flights from the state-owned Launch Complex 36 at Cape Canaveral 

Air Force Station. The tests were described as pathfinders to help Space Florida develop operational 

requirements for vertically launched and landed suborbital rockets, and for Masten to evaluate the Cape as 

a potential base for flight operations. Space Florida recently said the Cape tests were expected no earlier 

than Oct. 1. Web posted. (20 12). [Masten Space Systems rocket mishap could delay Florida tests 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 11].] 

September 12: NASA on Wednesday released a request for proposals for the first of two contract phases 

to certify commercially developed space systems in support of crewed missions to the International Space 

Station. Through these certification products contracts, NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) will 

ensure commercial missions are held to the agency's safety requirements and standards for human space 

transportation system missions to the space station. NASA's request for proposals outlines a two-phase 

approach in which the first phase awards will be made to multiple companies. The companies will 

provide data related to the development of their Crew Transportation System (CTS) design, including a 

spacecraft, launch vehicle, ground and mission operations and recovery. NASA plans to award up to $10 

million to each company in early 2013 for the first phase. The first phase will last about 15 months, 

during which companies will outline their strategies to meet the agency's required standards and safety 

requirements before a CTS could be approved to fly NASA astronauts to the space station. "We're 

looking forward to a strong U.S. industry response for this certification phase," said Ed Mango, NASA's 

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CCP manager. "This is a major step in certifying transportation systems that can meet America's goal of 

transporting our astronauts to and from the space station." At the conclusion of the first phase, the agency 

anticipates more than one company will be ready to compete for the second certification phase contract. 

The second phase will be open to any company with systems at the design maturity level of Phase 1. The 

second phase will include development, testing, evaluation and certification activities enabling NASA to 

assess and approve the CTS capability for performing space station missions in compliance with NASA 

requirements. The objective of CCP is to facilitate the development of a U.S. commercial crew space 

transportation capability with the goal of achieving safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the 

space station and low Earth orbit. After the capability is matured and expected to be available to the 

government and other customers, NASA could contract to purchase commercial services to meet its 

station crew transportation needs. Web posted. (20 12). [NASA Requests Proposals for Initial Contracts 

to Certify Commercial Crew Transportation Systems [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceref.com/ [2012, September 12].] 

+A top NASA official told lawmakers Wednesday the agency is on track with its next crewed mission 

into deep space: A trip to an asteroid and then to Mars. But lawmakers and outside experts raised 

concerns during the congressional hearing about the program's cost, particularly the $30 billion price tag 

connected to the "heavy lift" rocket, and the relatively few test flights planned before embarking on a key 

deep space mission. Dan Dumbacher, NASA's deputy associate administrator for Exploration Systems 

Development, told members of a House Science, Space and Technology subcommittee that NASA and its 

team of private contractors are "making excellent progress" toward launching an unmanned test flight in 

2017 in preparation for the real mission by 2025. Tests measuring water impact, acoustics, vibrations and 

parachute landings of the Orion crew vehicle are either under way or nearly complete, and the 

manufacturing of its heat shield has begun, he said. Design work is under way on the $30 billion "heavy 

lift" rocket known as the Space Launch System that will carry Orion, Dumbacher said. His comments 

Wednesday came nearly a year after NASA unveiled the design of the rocket, which is billed as the most 

powerful U.S. rocket since the Saturn V that took Apollo astronauts to the moon in the late 1960s and 

early 1970s. If the timeline holds, a manned test flight of the Space Launch System and Orion capsule 

will take place in 2021. If that's successful, an asteroid landing would be targeted by 2025, followed by a 

landing on Mars sometime in the 2030s. Web posted. (2012). [Mission to Mars may be pricey [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 12].] 

+ After a six-week delay to unravel a puzzling Range software glitch, United Launch Alliance's Atlas 5 

rocket will try again Thursday afternoon to deploy a classified national security payload and batch of 

hitchhiking cubesats into space from California. Liftoff is targeted for 2:39p.m. local (5:39p.m. EDT; 

2139 GMT). The steady march of the payload orbit moved the launch about 10 hours earlier than the 

original blastoff time from the late-night try Aug. 2. The mission will originate from Vandenberg Air 

Force Base's Space Launch Complex 3-East, a "classic pad" with a retractable service gantry and fixed 

umbilical tower. It stands in contrast to the Atlas 5's launch site at Cape Canaveral that assembles its 

rockets in an adjacent building and rolls the vehicles out to the spartan pad on a mobile platform. Web 

posted. (2012). [Atlas 5 rocket launch set to go Thursday from California [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .spaceflightnow .com/ [20 12, September 12].] 

+ Space Florida's board on Wednesday approved funding to modernize a former shuttle hangar for use 

by The Boeing Co. and for work that could lead to the acquisition of the shuttle runway and other 

Kennedy Space Center property to support commercial space operations. "We have several specific sites 

in mind that we want to pursue, one of which I don't mind commenting on, is the Shuttle Landing 

Facility," said Space Florida President Frank DiBello. Under a unanimously approved resolution, up to 

$2.3 million could be spent to perform environmental reviews, land surveys, title searches and other 

activity that DiBello said could expedite or encourage the transfer of U.S. government property to the 

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state to advance commercial space opportunities. Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, the head of Space Florida's 

board, said such work would increase the state's flexibility to attract new commercial business, as it did 

when it acquired a shuttle hangar, Orbiter Processing Facility-3, where Boeing plans to assemble a private 

space capsule. The board had previously approved $5 million to demolish old infrastructure inside the 

hangar, work that has just begun. On Wednesday, it approved another $5 million for the project's second 

modernization phase. The funding comes from the Florida Department of Transportation's budget for 

space-related infrastructure improvements. KSC has been seeking commercial and government partners 

to take over facilities it no longer needs. DiBello must submit a proposal to NASA and the U.S. 

Department of Transportation detailing sites it is interested in acquiring and the benefits to the federal 

government. Web posted. (2012). [Space Florida approves funds to work KSC sites [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 12].] 

September 13: Canaveral National Seashore officials wiped out plans for a November surf festival at 

Playalinda Beach, but the organizers don't want to take no for an answer. Keith Lyerly, who is seeking to 

resurrect a charity event held 33 years ago at Playalinda, is asking the park service to balance its mission 

to protect the seashore with the needs of the community. Canaveral National Seashore Superintendent 

Myrna Palfrey denied the request for a special-use permit last month, saying the festival would create 

significant conflict and limit the use of beach facilities for other visitors. "The activity is inconsistent with 

the purpose of the seashore," Palfrey said. "He would really have to tone down the activity and the 

numbers." Organizers appealed to National Park Service regional director David Vela, who stood by the 

decision to deny the permit. Web posted. (2012). [Park wipes out Playalinda fest [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 13].] 

+A public memorial service will be held today for Neil Armstrong at the Washington National 

Cathedral. Armstrong, who awed Americans and the world when he became the first person to stand on 

the moon, died Aug. 25 at age 82. The memorial service begins at 10 a.m. and will be broadcast live on 

NASA Television. Among those attending: NASA chief Charles Bolden, members of Armstrong's 

family and current and former astronauts. Bolden, former Secretary of the Treasury John Snow and 

Apollo 17 mission commander Eugene Cernan will offer tributes. Armstrong's Apollo 11 crewmate, 

Michael Collins, who orbited the moon while Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin touched its surface, will lead 

prayers. Jazz singer-songwriter Diana Krall is scheduled to sing at the service. In 1974, Armstrong, 

Aldrin and Collins presented the National Cathedral with a moon rock brought back during their mission 

as part of the 5th anniversary celebrations of their historic moon mission. Web posted. (2012). [Memorial 

Service planned for Neil Armstrong today [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, September 13].] 

+An Atlas 5 rocket carrying a classified satellite for the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office blasted off 

Thursday from the central California coast. The launch vehicle's main engine ignited on time at 2:39p.m. 

PDT for a mission described only as being in support of national defense. Web posted. (2012). [US 

launches classified defense satellite for National Reconnaissance Office [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ [2012, September 13].] 

September 14: Kennedy Space Center crews this morning rolled Endeavour from the Vehicle Assembly 

Building to the shuttle runway, where it will be lifted and set atop a 747 carrier aircraft today. The move, 

which began around 5 a.m., was the last step before Endeavour's planned takeoff Monday morning atop 

the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to start the shuttle program's final ferry flight. A planned four-day, crosscountry journey will take Endeavour to Los Angeles International Airport. In mid-October, the retired 

orbiter will roll about 12 more miles through downtown L.A. to its permanent display home at the 

California Science Center. The flight will include stops in Texas and California and flyovers of NASA 

facilities that have supported the shuttle program. After takeoff around 7 a.m. Monday, weather 

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permitting, the piggybacked aircraft and spaceship are expected to fly over Cape Canaveral Air Force 

Station, down the Brevard County coast to Patrick Air Force Base, over the Pineda Causeway and back 

up the Indian River Lagoon, then angle over the KSC Visitor Complex and Shuttle Landing Facility for a 

final farewell to the Space Coast. Web posted. (2012). [Space Shuttle Endeavour rolls toward final exit 

from Brevard [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 14].] 

+ A black granite plaque marks the spot where space shuttle Endeavour rolled to a stop to end its final 

mission on June 1last year, 9,641 feet from the northwest end of Kennedy Space Center's runway. 

Around 7 a.m. Monday, a modified 747 jumbo jet carrying Endeavour will take off from the 15,000-foot 

runway officially called the Shuttle Landing Facility, marking its last use by a shuttle. The shuttle 

program's final ferry flight will take Endeavour to its permanent display site in Los Angeles. It follows 

Discovery's departure from Kennedy and Enterprise's commute from Washington, D.C. to New York 

City, both in April. "Those are hard partings," said Michael Ciannilli, a NASA test director and landing 

recovery director. "A lot of the workforce here worked their entire life on these vehicles and gave their 

blood, sweat and tears, along with their family support, to do this mission, and now it's saying goodbye to 

that time in their life." The runway will remain, but NASA doesn't want to pay to operate and maintain it 

anymore. The agency recently requested proposals, due Sept. 24, from government or commercial 

partners that could take over the facility within a year. NASA envisions commercial space planes 

launching and landing on the runway, taking people or payloads on suborbital and orbital flights. XCOR 

Aerospace recently announced plans to test and eventually manufacture its reusable Lynx suborbital 

spacecraft at KSC, flying as often as four times a day. Space Florida and the Titusville-Cocoa Airport 

Authority have publicly expressed interest in managing the facility known as the SLF. With its shuttle 

days over, Center Director Bob Cabana is mulling a name change. Riquelme said one option was Space 

Landing Facility, which would preserve the original acronym but fails to capture the anticipated 

horizontal launches. The top contenders now are the Space Launch and Landing Facility or Horizontal 

Launch and Landing Facility. From the beginning of the shuttle program, a runway was as important as a 

launch pad. Unlike any U.S. space vehicle before it, the shuttle would not splash down in the ocean but 

glide back through the atmosphere and touch down like an airplane. By 1976, a three-mile concrete strip 

as wide as a football field was open for business at KSC. But it was not until the 1Oth shuttle mission in 

1984 that NASA's confidence in the orbiters' handling and weather conditions combined to permit a 

landing in Florida. Earlier landings were at Edwards Air Force Base in California; with one at White 

Sands Space Harbor in New Mexico. Challenger blew out a tire on that first landing in 1984, prompting a 

smoothing out of the deep grooves that had been carved to help water runoff. Orbiter wheels touched 

down 77 more times at KSC through 2011 . The last three "wheels stop" locations are commemorated 

with etchings on the runway's centerline. A granite plaque sits parallel to each etching on the runway's 

eastern edge, where they won't interfere with ongoing operations. They note the fmallanding date and 

location where the nose gear stopped, and some career statistics: total number of missions flown, days in 

space and miles flown. Designed by local artist Chad Stout, owner of C Spray Glass Blasting in Cocoa, 

the 2.5-inch-thick markers are made to last. Flying at Mach 25, a shuttle had begun its re-entry halfway 

around the world and would be home within an hour. Twin sonic booms announced the orbiter's 

approach, building excitement. After it touched down and rolled to a stop - 58 times during the day and 

20 times at night at KSC - the convoy swarmed the orbiter to ensure the safety of the crew and vehicle. 

Web posted. (2012). [Space shuttle's runway harbors own set of stories [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 14].] 

+ The Boeing Company completed its first performance milestone Aug. 23 for NASA's Commercial 

Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) initiative, which is intended to lead to the availability of human 

spaceflight transportation services for government and commercial customers. In its Integrated Systems 

Review (ISR), Boeing presented the latest designs of its CST -100 spacecraft, United Launch Alliance's 

Atlas V rocket launch system, and ground and mission operations. These designs will serve as the 

baseline for further development work to be accomplished during CCiCap. The company also discussed 

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its plans for safety and mission assurance, which ultimately will contribute to achieving certification of 

the system for human spaceflight. Technical experts from NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) 

participated in the review in Houston. They are in the process of providing comments and advice based on 

more than 50 years of human spaceflight experience. "All of our industry partners are gearing up to push 

their human spaceflight technologies further than ever before so America can have its own crew 

transportation system around the middle of the decade," said Ed Mango, CCP's program manager. "This 

review was just the first of many exciting and valuable milestones Boeing is expected to complete during 

its funded partnership with NASA." At the review, Boeing also presented results from numerous tests 

that were conducted as part of its earlier Commercial Crew Development Round Two Space Act 

Agreement with NASA. These tests included parachute and air bag drops, abort engine firings and wind 

tunnel tests. NASA's new CCiCap agreements follow two previous commercial endeavors by the agency 

to spur the development of crew transportation systems and subsystems. Work by NASA's industry 

partners duringCCiCap will set the stage for a crewed orbital demonstration mission around the middle 

of the decade. Future development and certification initiatives eventually will lead to the availability of 

human spaceflight services for NASA to send its astronauts to the International Space Station, where 

critical research is taking place daily to benefit all of humanity. The overall goal of NASA's commercial 

space efforts is to make low Earth orbit more accessible and open for business for other government and 

commercial customers. ["Boeing Completes First Milestone For NASA's Commercial Crew Initiative," 

NASA News Release #12-311, Septemb_er 14, 2012.] 

+ Prime contractors on NASA's next-generation human space exploration vehicles are finding it 

unusually difficult to obtain the space-qualified electronics and other components they need to stay on 

schedule, a situation they say will likely get worse if there is instability in the space agency's out-year 

funding for the projects. Testifying before the House Science space and aeronautics subcommittee, 

Lockheed Martin Vice President and Orion Program Manager Cleon Lacefield said today that the lead 

times for rac1iation-hardened electronic parts and other specialized hardware is a major challenge for 

meeting schedule. "I think our supply chain in the United States is very fragile," Lacefield said. "When 

we look at the triple-e parts needed for avionics, all the electronic components, in the environment that we 

see, which is a radiation environment in deep space, those components are very hard to find in the United 

States right now." Lacefield's remarks were echoed by Jim Chilton, exploration vice president at Boeing 

, who is responsible for Space Launch System (SLS) stage development. Chilton told Aviation Week his 

company, too, is finding it difficult to purchase needed parts in the small lots needed for civil space 

development when the dwindling list of suppliers of all types of space-qualified hardware is hard-pressed 

to keep up with demand from customers that order in larger quantities. Both programs have flight test 

schedules to meet, beginning with Lockheed Martin . NASA plans to fly an Orion testbed on a Delta IV 

launch vehicle in 2014 to evaluate how well its thermal protection system performs in a planetary return 

simulated by a two-orbit, high-apogee trajectory. Lacefield said the supply chain problem extends beyond 

electronic components able to withstand the environment outside the Van Allen Belts, and include the 

weight-saving composite parts that make up about 40% of the Orion capsule's structure. Web posted. 

(2012). [Supply Chain Seen Slowing NASA Capsule, Rocket Development [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.aviationweek.com/ [2012, September 14].] 

September 15: A long-anticipated analysis of an obligatory across-the-board cut to the US government's 

budget reveals the devastating impact the cut would have on federal science agencies. Known as the 

'sequester', Congressional lawmakers inserted the sweeping cut into legislation that raised the 

government's debt ceiling deal last year so that it would act as a negative incentive. Its deep proposed 

cuts in both defense and non-defense spending were set to kick in come January 2013- but only if 

Congress failed to agree on how to lower the US deficit. Now, with efforts to reach agreement long 

abandoned and the cuts looming, the White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released a 

document on 14 September that describes the projected carnage across federal departments including 

those that fund science. "Today's OMB report confirms the worst," said Hunter Rawlings, President of 

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the Association of American Universities in a statement. "A budget sequester in January would have a 

terrible short- and long-term impact on the nation's investments in scientific research and education." 

While neither side of Congress wants this mixture of cuts to actually take place, no one believes that 

politicians can negotiate a better deal until after November's election. By that point, they will have a scant 

few weeks to figure out a better plan. Web posted. (20 12). [Impact of impending US budget cut on 

science revealed [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nature.com/ [2012, September 15].] 

+ The KSC Visitor Complex recently instituted a $10 parking fee for automobiles and motorcycles and 

$15 for motor homes and RVs. Admission is $50 for adults. Parking remains free for annual passholders. 

The attraction showcasing man's accomplishments in space exploration is following a practice used by 

other popular theme parks in Central Florida to generate revenue. "That fee goes to support the 

maintenance, development and operations of the visitor complex," said Andrea Farmer, spokesman for 

the KSC Visitor Complex. Web posted. (2012). [KSC visitor complex adds $10 parking fee [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 15].] 

September 17: NASA says bad weather has forced it to put off the piggyback flight of the space shuttle 

Endeavour to California, where the now-retired spacecraft will be put on display. The space agency 

announced Sunday that it has pushed back the start of the multi-day flight until Tuesday, a day later than 

planned. Storms forecast over the Southeast prompted the delay, NASA said in a statement announcing 

the postponement. NASA still hopes to deliver Endeavour, the baby of the shuttle fleet, to Los Angeles 

by Thursday, the agency said. The spacecraft and its Boeing 747 carrier are slated to make several stops 

and low-level flyovers along the route, with overnight stops in Houston -- home to the mission control 

center for the U.S. manned space program-- and at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in southern 

California. Dryden is located at Edwards Air Force Base, the landing site for the first shuttle missions. 

The jet-shuttle combo will make low-altitude passes over NASA's Stennis Space Center on the 

Mississippi Gulf Coast and the agency's Michaud Assembly plant near New Orleans, where the shuttles' 

external fuel tanks were built; over the White Sands Test Facility in New Mexico, a last-resort landing 

site where shuttle pilots trained; and over San Francisco, Sacramento and other northern California sites. 

Endeavor is scheduled to be on display at the California Science Center in Los Angeles by late October. 

Built as a replacement for the ill-fated shuttle Challenger, it made 25 flights into space between 1992 and 

2011. The other two surviving orbiters, Discovery and Atlantis, are also being put on display at museums. 

Atlantis will be at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida; Discovery at the Smithsonian 

Institution's National Air and Space Museum annex in Virginia. Web posted. (2012). [Bad weather delays 

Endeavour's last trip [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.cnn.com/ [2012, September 17].] 

September 18: United Launch Alliance's Atlas-Centaur rocket has been put together for deploying the 

Air Force's third Orbital Test Vehicle flight, a mission that will demonstrate the reusability of the X-37B 

spaceplane when it blasts off Oct. 25. The bronze first stage of the vehicle was erected atop the mobile 

launch platform inside the Vertical Integration Facility at Cape Canaveral on Thursday, Sept. 13. After 

setting the interstage adapter hardware in place, the Centaur upper stage was hoisted high into the 

assembly building on Saturday, Sept. 15. The upcoming spaceflight will be the second for this particular 

X-37B vehicle, which spent 224 days, 9 hours and 24 minutes aloft between April and December 2010 on 

the inaugural OTV shakedown cruise. A second vehicle spent 468 days, 13 hours and 2 minutes on a 

voyage from March 2011 to this past June that circled the globe more than 7,000 times. Web posted. 

(2012). [Another Atlas 5 readied to launch mini space shuttle [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, September 18].] 

September 19: NASA managers and aerospace industry representatives met Sept. 19 for a chance to 

discuss the request for proposals that will begin NASA's certification process for integrated crew 

transportation systems. This certification process will help NASA to eventually purchase service missions 

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to fly astronauts to and from the International Space Station. During the Certification Products Contract 

(CPC) Pre-Proposal Conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, commercial crew and space 

station program officials made presentations and answered industry questions about the two-phase 

acquisition strategy the agency is taking to certify these new systems to meet its crew transportation needs 

no later than 2017. "Why is this (CPC) important?" asked Maria Collura, program certification manager. 

"It reduces the risk for us as we enter Phase 2 and also gives us confidence in enabling the readiness for 

services as soon as possible." Beginning in February 2013 when awards are anticipated, Phase I, called 

CPC, will allow NASA to work with CPC contractors to establish critical systems engineering and safety 

tools and certification plans so that Phase 2 can be spent actually building, verifying and validating the 

systems. It will be up to the companies to decide how they prove their systems are safe enough to fly to 

low Earth orbit, but the agency will certify the systems through the use of this phased contract prior to 

allowing missions crewed by NASA astronauts. "We believe this will benefit both parties so that we can 

move forward together into Phase 2 on common ground," said Tom Simon, chair of the CPC Evaluation 

Team. "It's very important to agree on what's required for a NASA certification and to have common 

expectations so that when the plans are executed we can focus on determining if the results meet the 

criteria defined in the plans." Up to this point, NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) and its 

industry partners have been operating under Space Act Agreements. That strategy has continued to 

advance the development of systems for the country as a whole through NASA's Commercial Crew 

Development Rounds 1 and 2 and the newly awarded Commercial Crew Development Integrated 

Capability (CCiCap). CCP's phased acquisition will allow NASA and industry to iron out how systems in 

development could meet all of NASA's safety and performance requirements for crewed missions to the 

space station. "Just to be clear, those requirements have been locked in place for quite some time," said 

Ed Mango, CCP manager. "All we have been doing is updating them with clarifications and expanding 

our supporting information helping to make sure that they are clearer for industry to understand." "The 

CPC effort is critical to defining a complete system that is safe enough to fly our astronauts to the 

International Space Station," Mango said. The transition between the two phases is expected to take 

place in mid-2014. While both phases will be open to any company to submit a proposal, Collura said 

Phase 2 will build on Phase 1 and companies that are interested in receiving a contract for NASA crew· 

transportation are encouraged to submit proposals for Phase 1. Web posted. (2012). [Common Ground 

Key to Certifying Commercial Systems [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nasa.gov/ [2012, 

October 1].] 

+ Space shuttle Endeavour is on its way to California after taking off from Kennedy Space Center to 

begin an orbiter's final ferry flight atop a 747 carrier aircraft. The piggybacked jumbo jet and spaceship 

took off from KSC's 15,000-foot shuttle runway at 7:22a.m. to begin a low loop 1,500 feet over the 

Space Coast. About 20 minutes later they made a final farewell pass just 200 feet over the shuttle runway 

before banking west toward Orlando and disappearing behind low clouds. "For those of us that worked 

on a space shuttle, and especially for those of us who had the privilege to fly on board, we see a great 

beauty," said NASA astronaut Kay Hire, a former shuttle engineer at KSC. "So the first thought is, what a 

beautiful ship. But also, for me personally, I'm experiencing a great deal of pride, because this is now an 

opportunity to share Endeavour with the world." There was a smattering of applause from the estimated 

2,400 invited and paying guests watching Endeavour's departure from the runway midfield, but it was 

mostly quiet. The first leg of a planned three-day ferry flight will take Endeavour to Ellington Field near 

Johnson Space Center in Houston, where it is expected to land after 11:45 a.m. EDT. After reaching Los 

Angeles International Airport on Friday, Endeavour will go on permanent display at the California 

Science Center next month. Endeavour, which was built to replace the lost Challenger, flew 25 shuttle 

missions starting in 1992. Web posted. (20 12). [Endeavour leaves Space Coast [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 19].] 

+ Astronauts from NASA's earlier missions would get to keep- and sell- some of the space artifacts 

and other items they acquired during their historic flights, under bipartisan legislation the House passed 

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Wednesday. The legislation was proposed after NASA contested astronaut Jim Lovell's auction last year 

of the checklist he kept from the ill-fated Apollo 13 flight that never made it to the moon. The checklist, 

complete with handwritten calculations Lovell made to steer the damaged spacecraft back to Earth, 

fetched nearly $389,000 in November. Other cases came to light later. NASA officials were forced to 

explain why for the past several years they have been challenging ownership of the same mementos 

agency managers had told astronauts decades before they could keep. The House bill now heads to the 

Senate. Web posted. (2012). [House approves bill to let astronauts keep space artifacts [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 19].] 

September 20: Disappointed with the direction of NASA's human spaceflight program over the past two 

decades, two Texas congressmen introduced legislation Thursday aimed at de-politicizing the agency. 

Rep. John Culberson, a Houston Republican, said the lawmakers were pushing the proposal "today to 

restore the NASA we know and love." The proposal, called the Space Leadership Preservation Act of 

2012, would create a 1 0-year term for the NASA administrator - inspired by the 1 0-year term of the 

nonpartisan FBI director - and the establishment of an 11-member board of directors. Under the act, the 

president, speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate would each appoint three 

members of the board and the Senate and House minority leaders would each select one. It is cosponsored by Culberson, Sugar Land Rep. Pete Olson, Florida Rep. Bill Posey and Virginia Rep. Frank 

Wolf. The measure has no Democratic sponsors. The bill has virtually no chance of winning passage in 

the waning days of the current Congress. But GOP lawmakers were laying down a marker for debate over 

NASA's future in the next Congress. Web posted. (2012). [Legislation would change how NASA is led 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.chron.com/ [2012, September 20].] 

+ NASA says the space shuttle Endeavour will honor former Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle 

Giffords with a flyover of her hometown, Tucson, on its way from Texas to a California museum where it 

will be displayed. NASA spokeswoman Lisa Malone says Thursday's flyover was requested by Giffords' 

husband, retired astronaut Mark Kelly, who is the last person to fly the shuttle. Malone says the flyover 

gives NASA the chance to recognize Giffords' legacy as a longtime advocate and champion of American 

human spaceflight. Giffords resigned from Congress earlier this year to focus on her recovery from 

wounds suffered in a 2011 attack in Tucson in which six people were killed and she and 12 others were 

injured. The plane carrying the shuttle will fly low over several cities en route to California. Web posted. 

(2012). [Endeavour to honor Giffords with Tucson flyover [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 20].] 

+ Space shuttle Endeavour has departed Houston on its trek west to retirement in a Los Angeles 

museum. Endeavour, atop a modified jumbo jet, left Thursday morning after a one-day stop at the home 

ofNASA's Mission Control. The retired shuttle took off Wednesday from its old home in Kennedy 

Space Center in Brevard County. It continues its journey to Los Angeles International Airport, where it's 

scheduled to land Friday. In mid-October, Endeavour will be transported down city streets to the 

California Science Center. This is the last flight for a space shuttle. The plane transporting the Endeavor 

will do a flyover of Tucson, Ariz., along the way to honor former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. 

Houston's bid for one of the retired shuttles was rejected, and it has instead received a replica. Web 

posted. (2012). [Endeavour leaves Houston for new home in Calif. [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 20].] 

+ Space shuttle Endeavour is generating excitement Thursday as it flies from Texas to Edwards Air 

Force Base in California's Mojave Desert. People took to Twitter, Facebook and other social media (see 

below) as the shuttle departed Houston and made a flyover of Austin, posting their photos of the retired 

orbiter as it passed near local landmarks. The shuttle left Houston shortly after 5 a.m. PDT on Thursday 

en route for Edwards Air Force Base, where it is expected to touch down around 12:30 p.m. after a 30-

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minute flyover around the base. Riding atop a modified Boeing 747, the shuttle has already dipped low 

over the Texas state Capitol in Austin. It landed at El Paso's Biggs Army Airfield at 7:12 PDT for 

refueling, NASA officials said, and is scheduled to fly over NASA's White Sands Test Facility in New 

Mexico before heading to Tucson for another low pass. To welcome the space shuttle to Southern 

California, NASA has invited 40 of its social media followers, including space enthusiasts, to the Dryden 

Flight Research Center on the Edwards base. The participants were randomly selected from online 

registrations that took place in August, according to information published by the space agency. Web 

posted. (2012). [Space shuttle Endeavour flyovers generate social media buzz [Online]. Available 

WWW: http:/ /latimesblogs.latimes.com/ [20 12, September 20].] 

+ There is a photography saying that sometimes the most important thing to do for a great photo is to "be 

there." And when the "there" is from special access, the photos are often unique. A recent example was 

Wednesday's final flight of space shuttle Endeavour from the Kennedy Space Center. There were lots of 

great photos from news photographers on the scene but some of the best photos were made from the chase 

planes escorting the 747 carrying the shuttle. The good news for us is that since the photos were made by 

NASA, they are easy for you to see. The photos are posted to their nasahqphoto account on flickr.com 

and you can even download high-resolution versions for non-commercial use. Web posted. (2012). [See 

shuttle photos on the NASA Flickr account [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ 

[2012, September 20].] 

September 21: SpaceX will begin its first official resupply flight to International Space Station on 

October 7, NASA announced Thursday. Following the success of a demonstration flight in May, the 

privately owned space company is scheduled to transport about 1 ,000 pounds of supplies to the space 

station and bring back more than 1,200 pounds of scientific material and space station hardware. It will be 

the first of 12 such missions, NASA said. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket and unmanned Dragon cargo 

spacecraft will launch from Cape Canaveral at 8:34p.m. ET on October 7, with the next day as a backup 

date. The CRS-1 mission should reach the space station on October 10 and return several weeks later. 

Web posted. (2012). [NASA, SpaceX set launch date for first official resupply flight [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.cnn.com/ [2012, September 21].] 

+ The state wants to develop a commercial launch complex at Kennedy Space Center, a move that could 

persuade SpaceX not to pursue a similar site elsewhere in the country. In a letter sent Thursday to NASA 

Administrator Charles Bolden and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll 

requested 150 undeveloped acres at the northern end of the space center, near the former citrus 

community of Shiloh. With Federal Aviation Administration approval, the site would operate outside the 

jurisdiction of the U.S. Air Force's Eastern Range, which provides safety and tracking for launches from 

KSC and Cape Canaveral. "The State proposes to develop and operate this site as a commercial launch 

complex independent of the neighboring federal range and spaceports," Carroll wrote. In addition to the 

launch site property bordering Brevard and Volusia counties, the state requested facilities and land at 

KSC's shuttle runway, which NASA has said it intends to tum over to an outside operator. The letter was 

sent a week after Space Florida's board, chaired by Carroll, unanimously passed a resolution to acquire 

KSC property to support commercial space operations and to spend up to $2.3 million for environmental 

and other studies. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said he wants another pad exclusively for launches of . 

commercial satellites that would complement the Hawthorne, Calif.-company's existing complex at the 

Cape. He anticipates launching 12 to 15 times a year within several years and wants more control over 

schedules, so commercial customers would not have to wait in line behind high-priority national security 

or science payloads. SpaceX is already performing an environmental review of property on Texas' coast 

near the Mexican border, and has reportedly explored other sites. Carroll's letter did not identify SpaceX 

as the intended user of the proposed launch complex, but Space Florida has said it is scouting for 

locations that would satisfy the company's needs. A SpaceX spokeswoman declined to comment on the 

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company's interest in the Florida proposal. NASA did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

KSC is currently modifying one of its two former shuttle launch pads for a planned deep space 

exploration rocket, and has said it intends to make the other shuttle pad available for commercial use. In 

2008, a NASA study of potential commercial launch complex sites, including one located in the northern 

part of KSC, drew opposition from residents concerned about wildlife and loss of refuge access. Carroll's 

letter requested cooperation from the Secretary of the Interior, acknowledging the sensitivity of the 

property within the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, but said the state believes its proposed 

activity "will pose no significant impacts to the environment." Carroll noted Florida's longstanding 

support of the space program, including granting NASA the use of more than 56,000 acres and investing a 

half-billion dollars in infrastructure. "Florida is experienced in space-related endeavors, and is well 

prepared to become a public steward of the requested assets," she wrote. Web posted. (2012). [Florida 

makes play for launch pad [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 

21].] 

+ Space shuttle Endeavour has landed safely at the Los Angeles International Airport after a whirlwind 

aerial tour around California landmarks. Strapped to the back of a 747 jumbo jet, Endeavour touched 

down Friday afternoon after a nearly 5-hour flyover. Endeavour will retire at the California Science 

Center. Before its retirement, it took to the skies, looping over the state Capitol, Golden Gate Bridge, 

Hollywood Sign and other icons. Thousands turned out to see Endeavour soar one last time. Endeavour 

flew 25 missions and spent 299 days in space. Web posted. (2012). [Endeavour on the ground at Los 

Angeles airport [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 21].] 

September 22: Top NASA officials have picked a leading candidate for the agency's next major 

mission: construction of a new outpost that would send astronauts farther from Earth than at any time in 

history. The so-called "gateway spacecraft" would hover in orbit on the far side of the moon, support a 

small astronaut crew and function as a staging area for future missions to the moon and Mars. At 277,000 

miles from Earth, the outpost would be far more remote than the current space station, which orbits a little 

more than 200 miles above Earth. The distance raises complex questions of how to protect astronauts 

from the radiation of deep space - and rescue them if something goes wrong. NASA Chief Charlie 

Bolden briefed the White House earlier this month on details of the proposal, but it's unclear whether it 

has the administration's support. Of critical importance is the price tag, which would certainly run into the 

billions of dollars. Placing a "spacecraft at the Earth-Moon Lagrange point beyond the moon as a test 

area for human access to deep space is the best near-term option to develop required flight experience and 

mitigate risk," concluded the NASA report. From NASA's perspective, the outpost solves several 

problems. It gives purpose to the Orion space capsule and the Space Launch System rocket, which are 

being developed at a cost of about $3 billion annually. It involves NASA's international partners, as 

blueprints for the outpost suggest using a Russian-built module and components from Italy. And the 

outpost would represent a baby step toward NASA's ultimate goal: human footprints on Mars. But how 

the idea- and cost- play with President Barack Obama, Congress and the public remains a major 

question. The price tag is never mentioned in the NASA report. Web posted. (2012). [Sentinel Exclusive: 

NASA wants to send astronauts beyond the moon [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, September 22].] 

September 23: As of June 30, Brevard Workforce had $9.1 million left to spend of a $15 million 

National Emergency Grant awarded in 2010 to help displaced shuttle workers. The U.S. Department of 

Labor provided a first grant installment of $7.8 million. In April of this year, it approved the remaining 

$7.2 million and extended the grant one year to June 14, 2013. Any money not spent by then must be 

returned. Brevard Workforce has refocused the resources on "core and intensive" services such as 

workshops and one-on-one counseling that experts say are less expensive and can serve more people than 

job training. Most of the cost is for the staff needed to provide the services. The On-the-Job Training 

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program that was the grant's original focus was costly because it anticipated paying portions of the 

salaries of high-wage aerospace workers while they were trained in new fields. There is no penalty if 

Brevard Workforce fails to achieve the grant's goals for numbers of people served and employed, but 

agency officials said doing so could make it harder to win similar grants in the future. Web posted. 

(2012). [Missed goals may hurt grant efforts [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, September 23].] · 

September 25: Space Florida has used its ability to help with financing to provide $62.5 million in credit 

to support the construction of the Space Shuttle Atlantis Exhibit at Kennedy Space Center Visitor 

Complex with the help of Bank of America. Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, operator of 

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex for NASA since 1995, will use the loan to complete construction 

on the $73 million permanent showcase facility for the retired Atlantis Orbiter. Scheduled to open next 

summer, the $100 million project includes the 90,000-square-foot Atlantis exhibit, orbiter display 

preparation, transportation, interactive exhibits and utilization of space shuttle program artifacts. The loan 

will be repaid with Visitor Complex concessions. The Atlantis exhibit will tell the story of the 30-year 

space shuttle program through more than 60 interactive, hands-on experiences. The exhibit is expected to 

bring 326 new construction jobs to the Space Coast during the next two years. Other phases of the exhibit 

will be under construction after the opening in 2013. Web posted. (2012). [Local business briefs: Space 

Florida helps finance exhibit [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

September 25].] 

+ The Turner Classic Movies cable channel is joining with NASA to give an out-of-this-world opening 

to a series of film screenings. "Forbidden Planet," the 1956 science fiction film that introduced Robby the 

Robot, will be the first movie in the next Road to Hollywood screening series sponsored by TCM, part of 

the Turner Broadcasting System unit of Time Warner. The film is scheduled to be shown Oct. 13 at the 

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida, and also transmitted to the International Space Station 

for viewing by the astronauts on board; movies are part of what NASA calls psych support, or 

psychological support, for astronauts aboard the space station. One of those astronauts, the American 

Sunita Williams, is to introduce "Forbidden Planet" from space to the attendees at the Kennedy Space 

Center screening. Web posted. (2012). [TCM to Screen 'Forbidden Planet' on Land and on the Space 

Station [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nytimes.com/ [2012, September 25].] 

September 26: NASA's decision to spend more than $60 million to retrofit a mobile launch tower built 

for the now-canceled Ares I rocket, enabling it to support a new heavy-lift rocket, was "technically 

feasible and the most cost-effective option," an audit said Tuesday. But it's still uncertain whether the 

modified mobile launcher, which stands more than 400 feet tall at Kennedy Space Center and has cost 

$234 million to date, will be suitable for larger planned versions of the rocket called the Space Launch 

System, or SLS. Two NASA-backed studies supporting the decision were based on limited information 

about preliminary SLS designs, according to the audit by the NASA Office of Inspector General. 

"Because SLS vehicles will increase in size as they evolve, those early studies may not have addressed all 

the challenges or costs associated with launching the larger vehicles," the report says. The studies 

estimated it would cost between $54 million and $74 million to modify the mobile launcher's base and 

tower. Kennedy now expects to spend $62 million to strengthen the mobile launcher's base and widen its 

exhaust port by February 2015. Another $112 million will outfit the structure with propellant, gas, power 

and communications lines, and test and activate the system in time for an unmanned SLS test launch 

planned in 2017. In all, the entire retrofit is estimated to cost $174 million. Other options to modify a 

space shuttle mobile launcher platform or build a new mobile launcher were projected to cost $93 million 

and $122 million, respectively, according to an internal study by Kennedy and contractor personnel. The 

modification work is necessary because the first version of the SLS is more than twice as heavy as the 

Ares I. Also, the SLS blasts off with two solid rocket boosters and a set of liquid-fueled engines, 

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compared to the single solid first stage that was envisioned for Ares I. In addition to cost considerations, 

modifying the existing mobile launcher met congressional direction for the new exploration program to 

maximize prior investments in the shuttle and Constellation programs. Over time, the SLS design is 

supposed to "evolve" to increase the weight it can lift to space from 70 tons to 130 tons. And between 

2017 and the 2030 timeframe, the rocket is expected to grow from 320 feet to 389 feet and add more than 

1 million pounds while integrating new propulsion technologies. The increasing height may change where 

umbilical lines providing power, gases and propellant connect from the launch tower to t!J.e rocket, and 

the location of a crew access arm and emergency escape system. The audit acknowledged those changes 

are years away. The auditors recommended close coordination between Kennedy and the two centers 

managing development of the SLS and Orion crew capsule to ensure that changes in the rocket's design 

are clearly communicated and understood. Web posted. (2012). [Audit supports retrofitting mobile 

launch tower at KSC [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.coin/ [2012, September 26].] 

September 28: The first SpaceX launch for NASA's Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contract is 

scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 7, from Space Launch Complex 40 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in 

Florida. There is a single instantaneous Iaurich opportunity for the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule at 

8:35p.m. EDT. Backup launch opportunities are available on Oct. 8 and Oct. 9, if needed. The launch of 

the Dragon spacecraft, designated SpaceX CRS-1 , will be the first of 12 contracted flights by the 

company to resupply the International Space Station and is the second trip by a Dragon to the station, 

following a successful demonstration mission in May. Under the CRS contract, SpaceX will restore an 

American capability to deliver and return significant amounts of cargo, including science experiments, to 

the orbiting laboratory -- a capability not available since the retirement of the space shuttle. The Dragon 

will be filled with about 1,000 pounds of supplies. This includes critical materials to support the 166 

investigations planned for the station's Expedition 33 crew, including 63 new investigations. The Dragon 

will return about 734 pounds of scientific materials, including results from human research, 

biotechnology, materials and educational experiments, as well as about 504 pounds of space station 

hardware. ["NASA Coverage Set for Oct. 7 SpaceX Launch to Space Station," NASA Media Advisory 

#M12-194, September 28, 2012.] 

September 29: Prime shuttle contractor United Space Alliance on Friday shaved its workforce by 

another 6 percent, cutting 157 jobs, including 121 at Kennedy Space Center. The cuts reduced USA's 

Florida employee count to 1,073, down from about 5,500 at the start of2010. Company-wide, 2,263 

employees remain. In addition to the layoffs here, USA cut 35 positions in Texas and one in Alabama. 

USA spokeswoman Tracy Yates said the Houston-based company's latest quarterly layoffs were part of 

continued downsizing as NASA's shuttle Transition and Retirement program winds down. "As this work 

scope continues to decrease, additional employees will be released from the company," Yates said. "The 

next workforce reductions are tentatively scheduled for December and January." Since the last shuttle 

mission in July 2011 , NASA and USA have ferried three retired orbiters (including the prototype 

Enterprise) to museums. Atlantis, the last shuttle left at KSC, is scheduled to move to the KSC Visitor 

Complex on Nov. 2. While readying the orbiters for public display, USA has also been closing out 

facilities no longer needed for the shuttle. Some of those, such as hangars, a launch pad and the runway, 

could be turned over to new commercial or government users. USA, a 50-50 joint venture between The 

Boeing Co. and Lockheed Martin Corp., will continue work that supports ground operations at KSC, the 

International Space Station, development of the Orion crew capsule and other contracts, Yates said. As 

with earlier rounds of layoffs, employees departing Friday left with severance packages ranging from four 

to 26 weeks of pay based on their years of service. The company no longer awards additional "critical 

skills" bonuses that were implemented as incentives to help retain key personnel to ensure safe flyout of 

the shuttle. Those bonuses were last paid out in April. Web posted. (2012). [USA further reduces staff at 

KSC, other installations [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 

29].] 

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September 30: The military's mysterious mini-shuttle operations might be consolidated on Florida's 

Space Coast, and the upcoming third flight of the Air Force vehicle might land at Kennedy Space 

Center's three-mile shuttle runway. In what could be an economic boon for an area still reeling from the 

2011 retirement of the U.S. shuttle fleet, the Air Force said Thursday it was considering moving X-37B 

operations to KSC or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Moreover, the upcoming third flight of the 

unmanned X-37B- a hush-hush vehicle also known as the Orbital Test Vehicle, or OTV- could be 

capped with a return to NASA's Shuttle Landing Facility. Maj. Tracy Bunko, a spokesperson for the Air 

Force Rapid Capabilities Office, said the service is "looking at space shuttle infrastructure for possible 

cost-saving measures, including the potential for consolidating landing, refurbishment and launch 

operations at Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral Air Force Station." It was not immediately clear 

how many jobs might be brought to the Space Coast if the Air Force consolidates X-37B operations here. 

But such a move would almost certainly add dozens, if not hundreds, of civil service and contractor jobs 

that would help fuel a next-generation economic engine on Florida's Space Coast. Two of the military 

mini-shuttles were built for the Air Force, and each has flown in space once. The vehicles are launched on 

United Launch Alliance Atlas V rockets. The first two flights ended with ground-breaking autonomous 

atmospheric re-entries and landings at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The third flight of an X3 7B is scheduled to launch in late October aboard an Atlas V rocket at Space Launch Complex 41 at the I 

Cape. The mission will mark the first X-37B re-flight. The spacecraft launched on the inaugural X-37B 

mission in April2010. It flew in space for about 225 days. The second X-37B spacecraft launched in 

March 2011 and spent 469 days in space- well beyond its 270-day orbital warranty. Web posted. 

(2012). [Mini-shuttle X-37B talk stirs optimism on Space Coast [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, September 30].] 

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OCTOBER 

October 1: New plans to convert an abandoned citrus town into a Space Coast rocket hub has 

triggered another round of fighting between environmentalists and the aerospace industry- and 

this time the rocketeers could have an edge. At issue is the ghost town of Shiloh, which straddles 

the border between Vol usia County and Brevard and sits at the northern boundary of Kennedy 

Space Center. State officials envision a new launchpad for commercial-rocket companies and 

they've asked NASA to give about 1 SO acres of undeveloped KSC land around Shiloh to Space 

Florida, a public-private agency that wants to create the proposed facility. Though NASA has yet 

to respond, the request has drawn the notice of Florida environmentalists, who successfully 

opposed a similar effort four years ago on the grounds that it would scar Merritt Island National 

Wildlife Refuge, a 140,000-acre sanctuary that overlays KSC. "Some of these bad ideas have a 

way of being reborn," said Charles Lee of Audubon Florida. Lee said a Shiloh site could harm 

rare wildlife - including the scrub-jay, one of at least 15 threatened or endangered species at the 

refuge- and also curtail fishing and other outdoor recreation at neighboring Canaveral National 

Seashore. "The problems would be either magnified or lessened depending upon exactly where 

the [launch] site is," Lee said. "But suffice it to say it is in an area where the losses to the national 

wildlife refuge could be severe." Details on its exact location are vague. Space Florida, which 

acts as a state booster to the aerospace industry, recently commissioned a $2.3 million study of 

the Shiloh area to determine the best place to build a launchpad and its impact on the 

environment. Frank DiBello, head of Space Florida, said the impact study should be done by 

next summer. "Until we do the environmental and engineering studies, we won't be able to draw 

the lines for you," he said. But DiBello added that he hoped that Space Florida could avoid 

another brawl with bird-watchers and other naturalists, who in 2008 helped shelve a similar 

proposal to build a spaceport with two launchpads at a cost of at least $500 million. Space 

Florida didn't provide cost estimates for the current proposal, nor how payments would be split 

between the agency and interested rocket companies. DiBello said what was important at this 

point was bringing together all the interested parties, including environmentalists. Web posted. 

(2012). [Plan for new Launchpad worries environmentalists [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .orlandosentinel.com/ [20 12, October 1].] 

+ A Delta IV rocket is being prepped for launch this week from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station but 

the weather likely will be a factor on launch day. The United Launch Alliance rocket is scheduled to blast 

off from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at 8:10a.m. Thursday, the opening of a 

19-minute launch window. Its payload: an advance U.S. Air Force Global Positioning System (GPS) 

spacecraft that will help guide American and allied military troops on missions around the world. A 

civilian signal also is in ubiquitous use around the globe. A forecast from the Air Force 45th Space Wing 

Weather Squadron calls for a 60 percent probability of acceptable weather on launch day. But there is a 

40 percent chance that thick clouds and rain could force a launch delay. A rocket flying in those 

conditions could trigger destructive bolts of lightning. The forecast for Friday is the same. On Saturday, 

there would be a 70 percent chance of acceptable launch weather, the forecast says. Web posted. (2012). 

[Delta IV rocket prepped for Thursday launch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ 

[2012, October 1].] 

+ While SpaceX's prepares to launch the first commercial cargo resupply mission to the International 

Space Station, planned at 8:35 p.m. Sunday, NASA's other commercial cargo partner took a long-awaited 

step forward today. Orbital Sciences Corp. rolled the first stage of its Antares rocket to a Virginia launch 

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pad to mark the formal start operations there, after four years of development and months of delays 

completing the pad at the state-run Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on Wallops Island. The Dulles, Va.-

based company now must complete a series of tests before space station resupply missions can begin next 

year under a $1.9 billion contract. The Antares rocket's two liquid-fueled first-stage engines will be testfired in four to five weeks, leading up to a first test launch of the rocket. By December or early next year, 

the Antares will launch a Cygnus cargo spacecraft on a demonstration mission to the space station, similar 

to one SpaceX's Dragon capsule flew successfully in May. The tests will be performed under NASA's 

Commercial Orbital Transportation Services demonstration program. SpaceX, of Hawthorne, Calif., 

recently graduated from that program to begin operational flights under a $1.6 billion Commercial 

Resupply Services contract. Web posted. (2012). [Orbital Sciences rolls out Antares rocket stage at Va. 

Launch pad [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 1].] 

October 2: Inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Tim 

Keyser, the midbody mechanical lead with United Space Alliance (USA), and Ray Propst, USA Atlantis 

flow manager, watched as space shuttle Atlantis' two 60-foot-long payload bay doors were closed for the 

final time Sept. 20. "It's a proud moment for me helping to prepare this orbiter for display," Keyser said. 

"It doesn't get any better than this." Propst said, "It's an honor to work with these folks, who continue to 

skillfully perform these complex tasks in spite of the obvious distractions." During shuttle missions, the 

payload bay doors were controlled from the flight deck. But since the final power down of Atlantis 

occurred on Dec. 22, 2011, the operation to close the doors would have to be accomplished a different 

way. In his role as move director for the Atlantis payload bay door closure operation, Keyser carefully 

monitored all of the activities and gave the "go" to close the doors. Bob Emerson, a USA mechanical 

engineer, used the payload retention latch control box, which was connected to Atlantis' door drive 

motors, to begin the process of slowly closing the left, or portside door, and then the right, or starboard 

door. The entire process took only about an hour, with the actual closing of both doors taking under two 

minutes. Technicians on platforms at both ends of the payload bay doors used speed wrenches in gear 

boxes located on Atlantis to lock the doors in place. Another technician slowly was moved along in a 

bridge bucket above Atlantis to lock the centerline latches in place. Closing the payload bay doors is part 

of NASA's Transition and Retirement work on the remaining space shuttle at Kennedy. Web posted. 

(2012). [Atlantis' Payload Bay Doors Closed for Final Time [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.nasa.gov/ [2012, October 2].] 

+ The head of Florida's aerospace development agency said plans for a new commercial launch complex 

at Kennedy Space Center do not include closing State Road 3, Volusia County's only access to the Merritt 

Island National Wildlife Refuge and Playalinda Beach. "There is no plan on our part to close down any 

part of (the former State Road 3)," Frank DiBello, president and CEO of Space Florida said during a 

telephone inter.view Monday. In a letter dated Sept. 20, sent to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray 

LaHood and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll requested that 150 acres of 

undeveloped land near the former citrus community of Shiloh, close to the northern boundary of Kennedy 

Space Center, be transferred to the state. The land would be developed for a commercial spaceport. In 

the same letter, Carroll, who is chairwoman of the Space Florida board, said the state wanted to reacquire 

"existing highway right-of-way and improvements of the former State Road 3, from its intersection in 

Vol usia County to a point appropriate for the access requirements of the proposed launch complex." 

Despite that statement, DiBello said that there is "nothing in any plan or document that we have that even 

considered closing State Road 3." DiBello said officials still haven't decided what specific site they want 

to acquire for the launch complex. Web posted. (20 12). [State request for land near KSC rekindles 

environmental worries [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.news-joumalonline.gov/ [2012, October 

2].] 

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October 3: The nation's newest GPS satellite is mounted atop a United Launch Alliance Delta IV 

Medium rocket at Cape Canaveral. Standing 206 feet tall at Launch Complex 37, the powerful rocket is 

scheduled to blast off at 8:10a.m. Thursday [October 4], the opening of a 19-minute launch opportunity. 

A liftoff anytime during that launch window would put the satellite on course for an operating orbit 

11 ,000 miles above the planet. The weather forecast is favorable. There is a 60 percent chance conditions 

will be acceptable for launch. The main concerns: a chance of thick electrically charged clouds or rain in 

the area. A rocket flying in those conditions could trigger destructive bolts of lightning on its way toward 

orbit. The launch will be the 52nd GPS mission for Delaney - a string that dates back to Feb. 14, 1989. 

The Delta IV payload is the third in a series of 12 advanced navigation spacecraft being built by Boeing 

for the U.S. Air Force. Web posted. (2012). [Thursday's Delta IV launch will deliver crucial GPS 

satellite [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 3].] 

October 5: The latest forecast continues to show a 60 percent chance of weather good enough to allow a 

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to blast off from Cape Canaveral at 8:35p.m. Sunday. Atop the rocket are a 

Dragon capsule packed with cargo for the International Space Station and a small communications 

satellite. A weak frontal boundary nioving slowly through the Florida peninsula could produce thick 

clouds and scattered showers Sunday evening. The launch window is instantaneous. If the launch should 

delay for a day or two, the forecast is excellent Monday and Tuesday, with an 80 percent chance of 

favorable conditions both days. The space station resupply mission is the first of 12 SpaceX plans to fly 

under a $1.6 billion NASA contract. Flying as a secondary payload is the first in a new generation of 

satellites being fielded by New Jersey-based Orbcomm. Web posted. (2012). [Falcon 9 forecast 60 

percent 'go' for Sunday night [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 

5].] 

October 6: Generating less than its normal25,000 pounds of thrust because of a still unknown problem, 

the upper stage engine on the Delta 4 rocket had to fire for longer periods of time Thursday morning 

before ultimately delivering the GPS payload into the right orbit, overcoming the adversity to achieve 

success. Delta 4 rocket-maker United Launch Alliance and RL10B-2 engine provider Pratt & Whitney 

Rocketdyne have convened a review panel to look into the telemetry recorded during the ascent and 

determine what caused the low-thrust condition. Officials say it is too soon to know what, if any, impact 

the situation will have on plans to launch an Atlas 5 rocket with the Pentagon's X-37B miniature space 

shuttle using a Centaur upper stage equipped with a similar-yet-different RL10 powerplant Oct. 25. 

Thursday's voyage of the 20-story rocket set sail at 8:10a.m. EDT (1210 GMT) from pad 37B at Cape 

Canaveral Air Force Station topped with the Global Positioning System 2F-3 navigation satellite. A pair 

of strap-on solid-fuel boosters provided extra power for the first 95 seconds of flight, assisting the 

cryogenic first stage in climbing away from Earth. Web posted. (2012). [Delta 4 rocket overcomes engine 

issue during launch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, October 6).] 

October 7: A private spacecraft is on its way to resupply the International Space Station for the first 

time, opening a new era for NASA and the commercial spaceflight industry. SpaceX's Dragon cargo 

capsule blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop a Falcon 9 rocket at 8:35p.m. tonight, 

lighting the night sky with an orange glow as it roared northeast over the Atlantic Ocean. The unmanned 

Dragon spacecraft separated from the rocket in what SpaceX called a "picture-perfect" orbit to start a 

roughly two-day flight to the station, where three astronauts and cosmonauts await its arrival. "We are 

right where we need to be at this stage in the mission," SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a statement after 

the launch. "We still have a lot of work to do, of course, as we guide Dragon's approach to the space 

station. But the launch was an unqualified success." SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said later that 

one of the rocket's nine first-stage Merlin engines apparently shut down prematurely, but the anomaly did 

not affect the flight. A video showed debris falling from the bottom of the rocket 80 seconds into flight, 

but it wasn't immediately clear if it was related to the engine problem. The launch made real a concept 

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first proposed in 2004, when NASA announced plans to retire the shuttle after completing the space 

station and to rely on commercial vehicles to ship cargo to the outpost. NASA in 2006 picked SpaceX for 

a program that helped develop and test its new rocket and spacecraft, and in 2008 awarded the company a 

$1.6 billion contract for 12 commercial resupply missions. The Dragon's successful test run to the station 

in May this year paved the way for contracted missions to begin. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden 

called Sunday's launch "a historical event in the annals of spaceflight." The Dragon is carrying about 

1 ,000 pounds of food and crew supplies, spare parts and science experiments, and is expected to return 

late this month with twice as much cargo. A freezer used to store biological samples won attention for its 

more palatable payload on the ride up: cups of vanilla and swirled chocolate ice cream for a microgravity 

treat. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch lights up night sky [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 7].] 

October 8: A Falcon 9 rocket engine suddenly lost pressure and shut down early in Sunday night's 

launch, causing a protective fairing to rupture and spew debris from the bottom of the rocket, SpaceX 

confirmed Monday. The company said the failure did not affect eight remaining first-stage engines that 

performed as designed to deploy a Dragon cargo craft headed for a Wednesday morning rendezvous with 

the International Space Station. "Falcon 9 did exactly what it was designed to do," SpaceX said in a 

statement Monday. "Like the Saturn V, which experienced engine loss on two flights, Falcon 9 is 

designed to handle an engine out situation and still complete its mission." The Hawthorne-Calif., 

company, however, did fall short on one objective: a prototype commercial communications satellite that 

hitched a ride as a secondary payload was deposited in a lower-than-intended orbit. The satellite's owner, 

· New Jersey-based Orbcomm, said they were working to determine if the orbit could be raised using the 

satellite's on-board propulsion system. The Falcon 9 blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 

at 8:35p.m. Sunday, beginning the first of 12 station resupply missions planned under a $1.6 billion 

contract. Seventy-nine seconds into the flight, one of nine Merlin 1 C engines suddenly lost pressure and 

computers commanded it to shut down, SpaceX said. Slow-motion video replays showing chunks of 

debris blowing away from the rocket fueled speculation that the engine had exploded. NASA will support 

the review led by SpaceX, said agency spokesman Josh Byerly. "NASA will provide any technical 

· expertise or advice that we can, but we are confident that SpaceX will conduct a robust examination," he 

said. The Falcon 9 anomaly came three days after a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket experienced . 

an unexpected loss of pressure in its upper stage RL-1 0 engine. The Delta IV successfully lifted a Global 

Positioning System satellite to orbit for the Air Force. ULA is studying the issue to see if it could impact 

the planned Oct. 25 launch of an Atlas V rocket that flies with a similar engine. The launches were the 

fourth for the Falcon 9 since 2010, and the 21st for the Delta IV since 2002. SpaceX said that was not the 

case because it continued to receive data from Engine No. 1, which occupies the bottom-right slot in a 

group arranged like a tic-tac-toe box. Rather, the company said its initial reviews suggested that the 

engine's release of trapped pressure shattered a fairing designed to protect it from aerodynamic stress. 

SpaceX said it would continue to investigate the failure's cause and apply lessons learned to future 

flights. The next Falcon 9launch is tentatively planned in January. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX Falcon 9 

engine fails during flight [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 9].] 

October 9: SpaceX said today that a Falcon 9 rocket engine shut down prematurely during Sunday's 

launch but did not explode, and the rocket performed as designed to send a Dragon capsule on its way to 

the International Space Station. According to a company statement, initial reviews suggest that the 

sudden loss of pressure and shutdown of Engine No. 1 may have caused a protective fairing around the 

engine to rupture "due to the engine pressure release," creating the debris seen in video replays of the 

launch. "We know the engine did not explode, because we continued to receive data from it," the 

statement says. The engine problem one minute, 19 seconds into the flight from Cape Canaveral did not 

impact the remaining eight first-stage Merlin engines , which burned for extra time to compensate for the 

lost thrust. The rocket deployed a Dragon cargo carrier close to its intended orbit and the spacecraft is on 

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its way to a Wednesday morning rendezvous with the station. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX: rocket 

engine did not explode [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 9].] 

October 10: He's responsible for overseeing NASA's multimillion-dollar investment in the development 

of commercial space taxis that will ferry American astronauts to the International Space Station. Ed 

Mango is the program manager at NASA's Commercial Crew Program Office at Kennedy Space Center. 

Veteran space reporter Todd Halvorson and reporter Michelle Spitzer interviewed Mango ahead of 

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket launch. They asked him about candidate spacecraft and the challenges that lie 

ahead. QVESTION:Ed runs the commercial crew program, and that's the next step in this transition, 

away from shuttle and to the next generation of US. human space flight. The next step is to procure 

astronaut transportation from commercial companies. Now Ed, you recently decided to continue funding 

three different companies for the development of commercial crew transportation services. Could you tell 

us who you picked, a little bit about their vehicles, and why you selected them?MANGO: We have three 

companies that we're working with today. The first is SpaceX. SpaceX plans to take their Dragon cargo 

vehicle and convert it into a crew vehicle. In order to do that, obviously flying in space is very hard ... 

when you put crew on it you just add a level of risk and you have to mitigate those risks. So you have to 

have an abort system which can keep the crew alive and be able to work within the crew environment. 

The second company we have is Boeing Aerospace. Boeing has their CTS-1 00 which is also a capsuletype vehicle. It will fly on an Atlas V rocket right here from the Cape as well. And their system is trying 

to use as many systems that have already been developed ... repackaging stuff that works very well, and 

trying to keep the costs down that way. And our third company is Sierra Nevada Corporation. And Sierra 

Nevada is a blended-body vehicle. Their company is out of Boulder, Colo. Their idea is you launch a 

vehicle with wings and it lands on a runway - very similar to shuttle. That vehicle will also launch on an 

Atlas V. And so right now, we're in a competitive mode with all three companies. They're all designing 

their systems ... and by the middle of2014, we'll have another competition, really to figure out who we 

want to take through certification and then we hope to fly by the middle of2017. QUESTION:So at the 

end of this particular phase of the program, where will these three companies be in terms of the 

development process?MANGO: All of them have slightly different paths to get to the same end point 

because there's always more than one route to get there. In the case of SpaceX ... they will also have a 

couple oflaunch abort tests right here from the Cape by the middle of2014, one with just their capsule 

and one with their entire vehicle and then they'll abort going halfway up in to the atmosphere to really 

check out maximum drag and how their abort system works at that point. Boeing will be going also 

through an integrative design state ... and then they're doing a lot of testing on multiple systems and 

they're bringing all their systems together in this integrated design. Sierra Nevada is continuing to 

develop their Dream Chaser vehicle and they will basically fly that vehicle on automated landings at first 

and eventually with crew. They're going to be flying those vehicles with automated landings throughout 

the middle of2014, about 10 or so landings, at Edwards Air Force Base. QUESTION: What do you say to 

get (people) excited about the next step?MANGO: Well, I would tell you for the Space Coast, all three of 

these vehicles are going to fly right from here. So that is outstanding. Obviously, SpaceX is going be 

doing work here also. Space X also has a number of missions for the (cargo resupply) contract. Boeing, if 

they were to continue on through these competition phases and get in the next couple rounds, they're 

going to be building their vehicle right here in Florida. And Sierra also will be launching from here and 

doing landings from here. QUESTION:How big a deal is it for Brevard to actually make the transition 

from being more than just the launch operation, but being able to manufacture spacecraft in that period 

before you go into a launch?MANGO: I think it's outstanding for the Brevard area. I think a number of 

these companies have all figured out that we have great skills and great talent here in Brevard County. 

Most of them would like to have started a couple years ago to get the shuttle folks as they were coming 

off the shuttle work, but ... that skill base is still here and I think all those companies would like to be 

building on that skill base. And once you start building manufacturing capability, like here in Brevard 

County, as they begin to build those vehicles here, that will become the mainstay, probably for a whole 

generation of building spacecraft here. So all this kind of work being done here says that the nation, and 

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these companies, are looking to the skilled workforce right here on the Space Coast. QUESTION: We did 

lose a lot of people after the shuttle stoppingflying. The last mission was last July. And I'm wondering 

with the transition into being both launch and manufacturing operations, do you think that that will 

enable us to offSet the number ofjob losses we've seen in the last several years?MANGO: I can't tell you 

about the number of jobs because I don't know that. But I think as Brevard County grows, in order to 

have a manufacturing capability, whether it be airplanes, spacecraft, rockets, whatever it might be, we're 

now moving into the high-tech arena in which those are very good jobs, jobs that have longevity. When 

you're building a vehicle, type one today and type two tomorrow, it continues, it becomes a generational 

thing ... Once you get into the manufacturing mode, that will become a mainstay for the Brevard county 

area. QUESTION: What does itfeellike to be part of a team that is reclaiming, if you will, an American 

indigenous capability to get our own astronauts into space?MANGO: My team is so motivated to make 

this happen because we do want an American vehicle to be flying again. It embodies everything that we 

do. Web posted. (2012). [Commercial crew chief bullish on Brevard [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 10].] 

+ Jim Bolton spent a quarter-century working on the nation's shuttle program at Kennedy Space Center. 

For seven years and seven months, he even served as NASA's vehicle manager for the orbiter Atlantis. 

Now Bolton, 54, is playing a key role in an extreme makeover: modifying the landmark Vehicle 

Assembly Building for supersized rockets being designed to send American astronauts to deep space 

destinations. Back in the early 1960s, President John F. Kennedy challenged America to send astronauts 

to the moon and return them safely to Earth by the end of the decade. To that end, NASA designed the 

363-foot-tall Saturn V rocket. Sketching with pencil on paper, German rocket scientist Kurt Debus 

conceived a huge hangar for Saturn V assembly. Etched into the drawing are high bays in each comer of 

the giant, boxlike building, and there is a transfer aisle in between for the delivery of rocket stages and 

other hardware. Construction began in July 1963 and was completed in early 1966. Still one of the largest 

buildings by volume in the world, the V AB covers eight acres and is 525 feet, 10 inches tall. NASA 

modified the building for the shuttle program in the late 1970s, and now, with the orbiter fleet retired, 

engineers are preparing the V AB for its next role: rockets that will rival the Saturn V. NASA's Space 

Launch System is being developed to launch Orion crew vehicles and astronauts on missions to asteroids, 

the moon, Mars and other destinations, starting in the mid-2020s. The first version of what will be an 

evolvable family of rockets will stand 320 feet tall and be capable of lofting 70 metric tons - more than 

double any operational vehicle today. A first unmanned flight test of the 320-foot rocket, and an Orion 

capsule is scheduled for late 2017, and hardware for the vehicle will begin arriving at KSC in 2016. 

NASA also is developing a 130 metric-ton behemoth that will stand 384 feet tall- 21 feet taller than the 

Saturn V moon rockets. So Bolton and other engineers with NASA's Ground Systems Development and 

Operation Program are in the midst of the most extensive renovation ever of the V AB. Much of the 

building's infrastructure is original. So NASA's aim in part is to bring the facility up to modem building 

and safety codes. A corroded fire suppression system will be replaced along with aging boilers and 

chillers that feed hot and cold water to the facility. More than 50 miles of Apollo-era copper cabling is 

being pulled out, and a modem fiber-optic network will be put in. The building's electrical system will be 

upgraded. Also to be refurbished: Four 456-foot doors to the four high bays- the world's largest- and 

five primary overhead cranes that hoist rocket stages and other hardware. Bolton, a married father of two, 

is now focusing on the removal of work platforms in High Bay 3, which is being renovated for the supersized rockets. The work platforms enabled technicians, engineers and inspectors to assemble and check 

out Saturn V rockets and space shuttles. "They will be taken down, and they are going to be 

deconstructed and the components will be taken away, and that will leave a high bay basically a shell," 

Bolton said. During the next few years, NASA will install 20 new platforms to provide access to towering 

Space Launch System rockets. "The idea is we will be able to accommodate the Space Launch System 

rocket and any derivations of the design that we can foresee," Bolton said. Web posted. (2012). [NASA 

gets V AB ready for the next generation [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

October 10].] 

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October 11: Just before 11:30 p.m. Thursday, the massive hangar doors opened, revealing the last space 

shuttle ever built. Lights beamed onto the belly ofthe spacecraft as the shuttle made its first steps toward 

its fmal retirement home, the California Science Center. The shuttle emerged into the darkness of a crisp, 

chilly fall night, below partly cloudy skies. Soon enough, the shuttle disappeared onto a taxiway into the 

darkness. Over the next two days, the 170,000-pound shuttle is expected to travel at no more than 2 mph 

along a 12-mile route that includes Westchester Parkway, La Tijera Boulevard, Crenshaw Boulevard and 

Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The shuttle is moved by four computer-controlled transporters that will 

help it negotiate complex turns and avoid streetside obstacles. At points along the way, the space vehicle 

will be inches away from buildings and protrude onto driveways and sidewalks. Because of the enormous 

weight of the shuttle, thousands of heavy steel plates have been used to reinforce city streets. Endeavour 

is scheduled to arrive at the California Science Center by 9 p.m. Saturday. En route, the public can see the 

shuttle at a number of public viewing areas on Friday along Manchester Boulevard in Inglewood, 

including Isis, Hindry and Glasgow avenues as well as La Cienega Boulevard. On Saturday, there will be 

several designated public viewing areas, including the Forum in Inglewood, the intersection of Crenshaw 

and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, and certain parking lots in Exposition Park. Web posted. (2012). 

[NASA gets V AB ready for the next generation [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.latimes.com/ 

[2012, October 12].] 

+ Satellite messaging service provider Orbcomm on Oct. 11 said its prototype second-generation 

satellite, launched Oct. 7 into a bad orbit by a Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Falcon 9 

rocket, had fallen out of orbit but had provided enough data to proceed with the launch of the full 

constellation starting next year. Fort Lee, N.J.-based Orbcomm, which plans to launch all18 secondgeneration satellites aboard two SpaceX Falcon 9 rockets, said it would be filing an insurance claim of 

$10 million to cover the loss of the satellite and the cost of the launch and the insurance policy. Web 

posted. (2012). (Satellite left stranded by SpaceX rocket falls from space [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.nbcnews.com/ [2012, October 13].] 

October 12: A team of experts from NASA and SpaceX will examine what went wrong Sunday when 

one of nine engines aboard a SpaceX rocket failed during a NASA mission to the International Space 

Station. The joint investigative team, announced today by NASA and SpaceX, is expected to piece 

together data from the Falcon 9 launch, specifically the failure of its Engine 1 about 79 seconds after taKeoff. Though the rocket survived the malfunction and ultimately was successful in completing its primary 

mission - getting a capsule filled with NASA supplies to the station - it failed in its secondary mission, 

the delivery of an Orbcomm satellite to orbit. Web posted. (20 12). [NASA, SpaceX joint to investigate 

launch glitch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, October 12].] 

+ Felix Baumgartner stood alone at the edge of space, poised in the open doorway of a capsule 

suspended above Earth and wondering if he would make it back alive. A second later, he stepped off the 

capsule and barreled toward the New Mexico desert as a tiny white speck against a darkly-tinted sky. 

Baumgartner, a 43-year-old Austrian, hit Mach 1.24, or 833.9 mph, according to preliminary data, and 

became the first person to reach supersonic speed without traveling in a jet or a spacecraft. The capsule he 

jumped from had reached an altitude of 128,100 feet above Earth, carried by a 55-story ultra-thin helium 

balloon. Web posted. (2012). [Millions soar as 'Fearless Felix' jumps from edge of space [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 12].] 

October 14: Since the massive shuttle program ended, small businesses are being sought out by the 

federal government. NASA acknowledges that small businesses are innovation hubs and can complete 

space industry jobs more quickly for less. That might be why NASA has passed its annual small-business 

contracting goal by more than 28 percent, spending $2.6 billion on small-business contracts. NASA has 

made bold moves to harness the innovation and efficiency of smaller companies. "We're actually being 

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given free rein. They're counting on rapid development and lower costs and overhead," said Don Platt, 

founder of Micro Aerospace Solutions Inc. in Melbourne. "We're working on a pretty large mission with a 

company in Los Angeles for a solar cell project for a small satellite." NASA is overseeing the project, but 

has tried not to micromanage the operation, which is developing software for the spacecraft. "NASA told 

us to push back on them when we feel the requirements are overbearing," Platt said. "They've actually 

been very flexible." The new NASA effort extends from Melbourne to New York. Honeybee Robotics, 

for example, is a small space technology company of about 40 employees in Manhattan. On its resume: a 

sample storage system that acts as a robotic lab assistant for the Mars Curiosity Rover, which landed in 

August, as well as a robotic dust-removal tool to brush off Martian rock samples. Honeybee Robotics 

aims to perform work on the Orion capsule, which is being built in Brevard County. Using smaller 

companies helps NASA reach its goal of creating more business opportunities to put more people to 

work. While NASA has surpassed its small-business contracting goal for two years in a row, the 

administration still lags in contracting goals for areas including women-owned businesses and servicedisabled veteran-owned businesses. Web posted. (2012). [NASA taps into small businesses [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 14].] 

+It was supposed to be a slow but smooth journey to retirement, a parade through city streets for a 

shuttle that logged millions of miles in space. But Endeavour's final mission turned out to be a logistical 

headache that delayed its arrival to its museum resting place by about 17 hours. After a 12-mile weave 

past trees and utility poles that included thousands of adoring onlookers, flashing cameras and even the 

filming of a TV commercial, Endeavour arrived at the California Science Center on Sunday to a greeting 

party of city leaders and other dignitaries that had expected it many hours earlier. Endeavour was still 

inching toward a hangar on the grounds of the museum mid-Sunday afternoon. "It's like Christmas!" said 

Mark Behn, 55, a member of the museum ground support team who watched the shuttle's snail-like 

approach from inside the hangar. "We've waited so long and been told so many things about when it 

would get here. But here it is, and it's a dream come true." Movers had planned a slow trip, saying the 

shuttle that once orbited at more than 17,000 mph would move at just 2 mph in its final voyage through 

Inglewood and southern Los Angeles. But that estimate turned out to be generous, with Endeavour often 

creeping along at a barely detectable pace when it wasn't at a dead stop due to difficult-to-maneuver 

obstacles like tree branches and light posts. Despite the holdups, the team charged with transporting the 

shuttle felt a "great sense of accomplishment" when it made it onto the museum grounds, said Jim 

Hennessy, a spokesman for Sarens, the contract mover. Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle Endeavour reaches 

LA museum home [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 15].] 

October 17: A few days after the high-visibility move of Space Shuttle Orbiter Endeavour to her 

retirement home, a quieter move marked the end of an era October 17th at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) 

when NASA and United Space Alliance (USA) workers rolled Orbiter Atlantis out of Bay 2 of the Orbiter 

Processing Facility (OPF) for the final time, en route to High Bay 4 of the Vehicle Assembly Building 

(V AB). Riding on top of the Orbiter Transporter System (OTS), Atlantis looked at a distance like she 

was getting ready for another launch; however, the Shuttle integration cells in the V AB are now being 

dismantled, much as the veteran spaceship's systems were decommissioned over the past fifteen months. 

Atlantis' move also marks the completion of major Transition and Retirement (T&R) processing and the 

vehicle is now ready for her move down the road to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center on 

November 2. The OTS was parked on the tow-way in front of OPF Bay 3 for a few hours as a part of an 

employee event to give time for the gathered employees to walk around the orbiter, take pictures, and eat 

ice-cream provided for the event. The roll to the V AB was one of the last in a long series for Atlantis this 

year, as all around the spaceship facilities have been decommissioned and retired and her sisterships have 

said goodbye to the Space Center. As it turned out, the vehicle stayed in OPF-2longer than originally 

planned, with the vehicle being powered down for the final time on December 22. In the last few months 

in OPF-2, work to configure Atlantis for museum display was completed. Web posted. (2012). [Atlantis' 

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team comforted by the orbiter retiring at her home port ofKSC [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/ [2012, October 17].] 

+ Despite hopes to restore massive government spending for the aerospace industry, the trajectory of 

Brevard County's space industry likely will be guided by this concept: commercial. "I think we'll be 

back to passing budgets the way they ought to be passed," U.S. Rep. Bill Posey said Wednesday at an 

Aerospace and Defense Roundtable in Melbourne. "There is going to be less (government) spending in 

the future, no doubt about it." Posey plans to introduce a bill to put NASA funding on a long-range basis, 

which would make it more secure. Roundtable participants were from Harris Corp., Lockheed Martin, 

Space Florida, United Launch Alliance, SpaceX, ATK Aerospace Group and the University of Central 

Florida. However, at the meeting, the most impressive numbers were announced by Scott Henderson, 

director of mission assurance and integration for SpaceX, the first commercial company to launch a 

capsule to the International Space Station. The California company plans six launches in 2013, eight in 

2014 and 10 in 2015. All the launches will be paid for by commercial enterprises, most of which are 

lofting communications satellites. In addition, SpaceX is developing a manned capsule for NASA that it 

hopes will be selected to someday carry astronauts to the International Space Station. In 1980, the U.S. 

launched 100 percent of the world's commercial payloads, a percentage which has fallen to virtually 

nothing. By 2015, some 17 percent of launches will lift offfrom the U.S. on SpaceX rockets, Henderson 

said. "We're starting to bring some of them back," he added. Military and aerospace companies in 

Brevard are fearful that the sequester budget cuts, which could go into effect after Jan. 1, could drain their 

budgets deeply and disrupt the focus of the U.S. space industry. Web posted. (2012). [Space industry 

executives discuss commercial space's potential on Space Coast [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 17].] 

October 18: Mustachioed Terry White is still is known as "The Mayor of the OPF," three shuttle 

processing hangars collectively called the Orbiter Processing Facility at Kennedy Space Center. Now 63, 

the North Merritt Island resident was there on March 25, 1979, when Columbia rolled into OPF Bay No. 

1 in advance of the first flight of NASA's then-nascent shuttle program. Let the record show that White 

also was here 33 years, six months and 23 days later, when Atlantis became the last shuttle orbiter to roll 

out of one ofthe hangars. Mounted atop a 76-wheeled, yellow transporter, the spaceship on Wednesday 

rolled over to the KSC Vehicle Assembly Building, finishing the first leg of a final journey to its new 

home, a $100 million facility being built at KSC Visitor Complex. "It's a little bit of a dry-moment-inthe-throat because this is the last time we'll roll an orbiter out of an Orbiter Processing Facility," White 

said. "In 1979, we rolled the first one in, and now today, the last one is going out, and the saddest part of 

it is, it's not going out for flight." Stephanie Stilson, the NASA manager in charge of prepping shuttle 

orbiters for museum display, called it "a somber event." Fleet leader Discovery already has been 

delivered to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Stephen F. Udvar Hazy Center in 

Chantilly, Va., outside Washington, D.C. The prototype Enterprise is at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space 

Museum in New York city. Endeavour inched its way through the streets of Los Angeles this past 

weekend and now is at the California Science Center. Now Atlantis, the last ofNASA's orbiters, is 

scheduled to make its way Nov. 2 to the KSC Visitor Complex. Back on April 29, 2011 , White escorted 

President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, their daughters Malia and Sasha, and First MotherIn-Law Marian Robinson on a tour. The presidential VIPs walked into an OPF hangar, and when they 

looked up, they were surprised to see the black tile-covered belly of Atlantis. White gave them a handson tutorial of the shuttle's Thermal Protection System - the tiles, blankets and composite carbon 

components designed to withstand extreme temperatures encountered during atmospheric re-entry - up 

to 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. The First Family went upstairs to peer into the ship's crew cabin. They 

walked alongside the ship's starboard wing and checked out its landing gear. They got multiple photo 

ops. So how did White get that assignment? "Well, because they call me 'The Mayor of the OPF,' and 

for years I've been handling guests," he said. Obama was impressed with White's alabaster moustache, 

148 
and with the shuttle's heat shield system. Web posted. (2012). [Atlantis rolls out, heads to V AB for last 

visit [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 18].] 

+Orbital Sciences Corp. is in a "final push" to launch its first Antares rocket by the end of this year, 

assuming ':1 successful completion of a series of fueling and engine tests due to begin next week, the 

company's chief executive said Thursday. Engineers moved an Antares first stage to the launch pad at 

Wallops Island, Va., on Oct. 1 to begin several weeks of testing ahead of a 30-second hotfire of the 

rocket's two AJ26 engines, which is now expected in early November. "We really are in that final push 

leading up to the flight test," said David Thompson, Orbital's chairman and CEO, in a conference call 

with investors Thursday. Orbital Sciences is developing the Antares rocket and the Cygnus automated 

cargo freighter to resupply the International Space Station under a $1.9 billion contract with NASA. 

NASA and Orbital are partners in funding development of the Antares and Cygnus programs. NASA is 

providing up to $288 million in government money to support the design and testing of the vehicles. 

Several propellant loading, or cold flow, tests are planned before the hotfire to demonstrate the launch 

pad's fueling systems and rehearse countdown procedures. The first fueling rehearsal is scheduled for next 

week, according to Thompson. Launch pad OA, a facility owned by the Commonwealth of Virginia, lies 

on the property of NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia's Eastern Shore. The 30-second firing in 

early November will generate about 680,000 pounds of thrust, checking the integrity of the launch pad 

and first stage structure, which is designed by Yuzhnoye and built by Yuzhmash in Ukraine. "Assuming 

these tests go smoothly we will replace the rocket that is now on the launch pad with the second Antares 

vehicle and conduct the test flight in December," Thompson said. The first stage on the launch pad now 

will be recycled and used on a future flight. Web posted. (2012). [Orbital making process in Antares 

launch preparations [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, October 18].] 

October 22: Blue Origin completed a launch pad abort demonstration of its pusher escape system last 

week, notching the final milestone in a cost-sharing development agreement with NASA's commercial 

crew program, the company announced Monday. Designed to facilitate full reusability of Blue Origin's 

suborbital New Shepard spacecraft, the pusher-type abort system lifted a full-scale crew capsule to an 

altitude of 2,307 feet in a simulated escape from a launch pad emergency. The capsule parachuted to a 

soft landing 1,630 feet away from the launch site, according to Blue Origin, the start-up space firm 

established by Amazon.com founder JeffBezos. The test occurred at Blue Origin's facility near Van 

Hom, Texas. The abort system will provide passengers on the suborbital New Shepard vehicle with an 

escape capability throughout the launch sequence, and it also will inform the design of the escape system 

on Blue Origin's orbital spacecraft. Last week's test flight was the final milestone outlined in a $22 

million agreement in the second, or CCDev 2, phase of NASA's commercial crew program. Blue Origin 

received $3.7 million in the first round of commercial crew agreements, which began in 2010. Web 

posted. (2012). [Start-up space firm tests pusher escape system [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .spaceflightnow .com/ [20 12, October 22].] 

October 24: The Cape Canaveral Lighthouse Foundation has advocated and worked toward the complete 

restoration of the site at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station that is home to the only lighthouse operated by 

the U.S. Air Force. The initial lighthouse was built at Cape Canaveral in 1848. A second taller one at 167 

feet was completed in 1868 and was moved to its present site, about one mile inland, in 1893. The 

foundation was established in 2002 to help the 45th Space Wing preserve and protect the lighthouse. 

Work has been ongoing since then, but more remains. Web posted. (2012). [Cape Canaveral lighthouse 

renovations off to a good start [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 

24].] 

October 28: A patch of cracked, overgrown asphalt beside State Road 3 marks the spot where Bob 

Hogan's childhood home stood in Shiloh, just inside the northern Brevard County line. In the 1950s; the 

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citrus community of roughly 20 families was a stop on the road down to the Beacon 42 and Allenhurst 

fish camps, hot spots that drew celebrities such as baseball great Joe DiMaggio and country music star 

Little Jimmy Dickens. The people and groves are long gone, forced out in the early 1960s when NASA 

chose to base its Apollo program moonport on Merritt Island, buying or seizing by eminent domain 

140,000 acres that included a wide buffer stretching north to Shiloh. Now, 50 years later, Shilo!J_ is again 

drawing government interest. But this time for its potential value to a modem version of the space 

program: a launching site for the private rockets and spacecraft expected to fuel the industry's post-space 

shuttle growth. The state recently asked NASA to give it 150 acres in that area of Kennedy Space Center 

and the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge so it can develop a state-owned, commercial spaceport. 

It's not a sure thing: environmental concerns doomed two previous proposals to develop within the 

refuge, and some are bracing for another fight. And California-based SpaceX, the company expected to 

use the complex if the state's proposal moves forward, remains noncommittal as it explores sites across 

the country. "We are looking at capability here, just north of the Cape," company President Gwynne 

Shotwell said before the Oct. 7 launch of a Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule from Cape Canaveral Air 

Force Station to the International Space Station. "But there's a number in play at this point." The other 

contenders she mentioned: Texas, Georgia, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. SpaceX, whose Dragon spacecraft is 

set to return to Earth today, is seeking an additional location that offers more freedom to operate outside 

the confines of existing NASA and military-controlled pads. The company believes it can launch more 

often and efficiently that way, helping to lower costs, win more launches and create more jobs. The new 

state proposal hopes to succeed where the two before it failed. In 2008, area residents packed public 

hearings to pan a NASA feasibility study that suggested two locations for a multi-user launch complex. 

One was near Black Point Wildlife Drive and Playalinda Beach, both huge draws for visitors to the refuge 

and Canaveral National Seashore. Shiloh didn't make the cut at the time because it fell within two or 

three miles of inhabited areas. That failed to satisfy the conservative five-mile buffer requirement NASA 

set for the study, but is now considered adequate by the state. Less well-remembered is a state-funded 

study that identified Shiloh as a finalist for a commercial spaceport in 1989, just as the state was 

establishing the authority that evolved into Space Florida. The governor and house speaker immediately 

yanked it from consideration, with the speaker calling the study sloppy. Some environmentalists and 

refuge supporters viewed the latest proposal just as skeptically. But Space Florida and some who lined up 

against NASA in 2008 say the current situation is completely different and applies lessons learned from 

the past. Shiloh is far north of the NASA site that upset so many four years ago, and therefore is expected 

to have less impact on access to popular recreation areas. The state is now proposing to develop a fraction 

of the 12,000 acres it envisioned back in 1989. Since the state sent its request to NASA on Sept. 20, 

Space Florida representatives have begun meeting with stakeholders including Audubon Florida and the 

Merritt Island Wildlife Association, a refuge support organization. They are promising to work 

collaboratively to select land that imposes the least impact and are offering assurances that the 

development would be limited. Since its creation in 1963, the refuge has faced the threat that NASA 

could take back the land for space operations. As part of its new proposal, the state recommends NASA 

transfer the area north of Haul over to the Department of the Interior to ensure its permanent protection. 

Space Florida's board has approved spending up to $2.3 million for environmental and engineering 

studies that are expected to help identify the optimal location for a Shiloh launch complex, which may fall 

all or partially in Volusia County. Charles Lee, Audubon's director of advocacy, isn't yet convinced by 

the pitch. It raises all the same issues the NASA study did, he said, just shifting the impacts to wildlife 

and visitors farther north. As before, he questions why vacant facilities at Kennedy and the Cape can't be 

put to use, especially after the shuttle program's retirement. If there are barriers to smooth commercial 

launch operations on government-run facilities, he said, those should be the focus of negotiations. He 

described Space Florida's proposal as "unrefmed" and a speculative attempt to satisfy one company's 

desires. DiBello says multiple companies are interested in the state's commercial spaceport concept, 

which also envisions management of the shuttle runway for use by spacecraft launched or landed like 

planes. Layne Hamilton, the refuge's manager from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wants more 

detail about the complex's location, but offered a long list of potential environmental, cultural and 

150 
economic impacts for any site north ofHaulover Canal. Protected species, including Florida scrub jays 

and Eastern indigo snakes, frequent the area, as do large concentrations of waterfowl and wildlife, 

including white-tailed deer, bobcat, coyotes, hawks and ow Is. The north end of the refuge offers the best 

waterfowl hunting in Central Florida, Hamilton said, and 6,000 upland acres are slated to be opened for 

deer and hog hunting by 2014. "Significant" pre-Columbian and colonial historic sites, including a British 

plantation ruin, are also located throughout the area. The concerns arise as the refuge prepares to celebrate 

its 50th anniversary in January with the slogan, "50 years of space for wildlife." The Merritt Island 

Wildlife Association, which opposed the NASA study along with the refuge in 2008, recently heard a 

presentation by Space Florida and took no formal position. The association's board includes space 

program veterans and current and former elected officials along with traditional environmentalists. Board 

President Dan Click said early discussion reflected a broad range of opinion but concluded there's no 

point worrying about environmental impacts until NASA weighs in on the request and any site is better 

defined. NASA has offered little comment so far. "We've worked with state of Florida previously in 

working out commercial ventures," said KSC spokesman Mike Curie. "We've had a number of beneficial 

agreements with Space Florida, and I'm sure everyone will evaluate this one and see how we can 

proceed." While it was obvious environmental issues would present obstacles, other factors have changed 

considerably since the NASA debate. Back then, the shuttle program was still in full swing and many 

doubted its end was near. Now more than 7,000 shuttle contractors are out of work, with more layoffs 

coming. SpaceX was still largely unknown. Now it's a key NASA contractor and the best hope to win 

back commercial satellite launches that have abandoned the U.S. And previously, commercial space 

wasn't seen as ready. Now NASA is asking commercial providers to launch cargo and crews to the space 

station, the Air Force is seeking competition to reduce launch costs and suborbital spacelines are close to 

taking flight. Web posted. (2012). [Launch-pad talk focuses on long-gone hometown [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, October 28].] 

October 29: With satellites playing increasingly important roles in everyday life, NASA is developing 

the technology to build Earth-orbiting, roving "service stations" capable of extending the life of these 

spacecraft. Engineers at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida are assisting the space agency's Goddard 

Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., in developing the concept for bringing a high-technology gas 

pump, robotic mechanic and tow truck to satellites in space. There are 149 government-owned spacecraft 

and 275 commercial satellites currently in geosynchronous Earth orbit, or GEO, around the Earth. Placed 

22,300 miles above the Earth, these satellites play key roles in communications, science, defense and 

weather monitoring. GEO permits these spacecraft essentially to stay over the same point, allowing for 

constant coverage of a designated position. This is crucial for satellites relaying meteorology and 

television signals covering specific portions of the globe. According to Tom Aranyos, technical 

integration manager in NASA's Fluids and Propulsion Division at Kennedy, engineers at the Florida 

spaceport are supporting the hypergolic propellant refueling portion of the Goddard-led study examining 

how free-flying servicing spacecraft could expand options in orbit for governnient and commercial 

satellite owners. Preliminary work with a technology demonstrator is underway on the International Space 

Station. The crew of space shuttle Atlantis' STS-135 flight delivered the Robotic Refueling Mission, or 

RRM, hardware to the station in July 2011. During a spacewalk, astronauts Mike Fossum and Ron Garan 

transferred the RRM onto a temporary platform on the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator, also 

known as Dextre, a two-armed robot developed by the Canadian Space Agency that serves as part of the 

station's Mobile Servicing System. RRM now resides on the Express Logistics Carrier 4 platform outside 

the station. "Kennedy, as part of the Goddard team, is studying and performing preliminary tests for the 

design, development and qualification testing of the critical subsystem for an in-orbit hypergolic 

propellant transfer system," said Aranyos, who is leading Kennedy's technical team for the project. "That 

will include a pumping system with high metering accuracy and hose management system to transfer 

propellant to multiple client locations on existing orbiting satellites." In the near future, Kennedy's 

engineering team will design and perform functional risk reduction tests on a propellant transfer module 

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similar to a flight-like unit. Web posted. (2012). [NASA Centers Work on Satellite Servicing 

Technologies [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.parabolicarc.com/ [2012, October 29].] 

October 30: Throwing open the doors to schoolchildren and the world Tuesday, the California Science 

Center's display of the retired space shuttle Endeavour is up and running in Los Angeles. Just over two 

weeks ago, the ship made a three-day trek through the LA city streets in a surreal procession from the 

international airport to the learning center at Exposition Park. Tuesday's grand opening featured 

California Gov. Jerry Brown, local dignitaries and museum officials, Bill Nye the Science Guy, several 

former shuttle astronauts and scores of youngsters to commemorate the event. Web posted. (2012). 

[Museum display of shuttle Endeavour opens to public [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, October 30].] 

+ NASA Television will provide live coverage of events surrounding space shuttle Atlantis' move to the 

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida for permanent public display. At 2 p.m. EDT 

Thursday, Nov. 1, NASA TV's media channel will air a news briefmg about the transformation of 

Kennedy Space Center to a multiuser spaceport. The briefing participants are: -- Lisa Colloredo, associate 

manager, Commercial Crew Program; -- Scott Colloredo, chief architect, Ground Systems Development 

and operations Program; -- Bruce Reid, Kennedy Space Center mission manager for Landsat Data 

Continuity Mission; -- Jody Singer, deputy manager, Space Launch System Program. At 3:30p.m., 

NASA TV's media channel will air a briefing about the future of human spaceflight. The participants are: 

-- Robert Cabana, director, Kennedy Space Center; -- Bill Hill, assistant deputy associate administrator 

for Exploration Systems Development;-- Ed Mango, manager, NASA Commercial Crew Program. On 

Friday, Nov. 2, NASA TV will begin coverage at 7 a.m. as Atlantis departs Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly 

Building (V AB). The shuttle will make the 1 0-mile journey from the V AB to the visitor complex atop a 

76-wheel flatbed vehicle called the Orbiter Transportation System, stopping along the route for a 

retirement ceremony at about 10 a.m. Ceremony participants include: -- NASA Administrator Charles 

Bolden; -- Robert Cabana, NASA Kennedy Space Center director; -- Current and former astronauts of 

Atlantis' final mission, STS-135; --Bill Moore, chief operating officer, Delaware North Companies Parks 

and Resorts, Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Following the ceremony, Atlantis will travel to 

Space Florida's Exploration Park for a presentation and viewing opportunity for visitor complex guests 

before departing for its new home. NASA retains the title to Atlantis and is providing it to the visitor 

complex for the public to view. Engineers have been preparing the shuttle for public display as part of 

NASA's transition and retirement processing of the shuttle fleet. A grand opening of Atlantis' new home 

at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is planned for July 2013. ["NASA Television Airs Space 

Shuttle Atlantis' Final Move," Media Advisory #M12-210, October 30, 2012.] 

October 31: More than 30 astronauts will lead space shuttle Atlantis on the homestretch of its 9.8-mile 

trip Friday to its new home at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Tim Macy, director of project 

development and construction for Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, which operates the 

Visitor Complex, said the parade of astronauts was just added to Friday's schedule. Final preparations are 

under way for the orbiter's daylong trip to the Visitor Complex from KSC Vehicle Assembly Building. 

Atlantis' journey aboard a 76-wheeled Orbiter Transporter System vehicle will start at 6:30a.m. and end 

at 6 p.m., with several planned stops along the way, including a three-hour stop at Space Florida's 

Exploration Park. More than 300 people are helping coordinate the move. The public will be able to buy 

tickets to view part of the journey and see Atlantis up close that day. About 8,000 spectators are expected, 

not counting current and former space workers. Macy said the fmal 150 yards of the trip will be the most 

challenging, as the massive orbiter must make a right turn from State Road 405/NASA Parkway into the 

Visitor Complex area. It then will be maneuvered into its new building with only about 2 feet of clearance 

available on either side of its wings. Atlantis must then be put in place within 6 to 8 inches of its final 

mark. It later will be adjusted to within about 1.5 inches ofthe designated spot. The Atlantis exhibit 

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building and exhibits are still under construction, with the attraction scheduled to open in July. Macy said 

Atlantis will be surrounded by 62 interactive exhibits, including ones designed by creative specialists who 

have worked for such entertainment giants as Disney and Universal. "It's going to blow you away," Macy 

said. The 90,000-square-foot building itself is about 60 percent complete, although most of the exhibits 

won't be added until several months before the opening. One early arrival during a media tour of the 

building Tuesday afternoon was a vent hood, nicknamed the "beanie cap," that was used to vent gaseous 

oxygen vapors away from the space shuttle prior to liftoff. Web posted. (2012). [Astronauts will lead 

Atlantis home at Visitor Complex [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

October 31].] · 

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NOVEMBER 

November 1: A perception persists in some quarters that Atlantis' exit today from Kennedy Space 

Center, the last move of a retired shuttle, marks the end of human spaceflight and even of the center itself. 

Not so, NASA officials repeated Thursday. In fact, with a little more than half the workforce it had a few 

years ago - still more than 8,000 employees- KSC will continue a busy transition intended to transform 

it into a multi-user spaceport and the launching point for deep-space exploration. "It fmally brings 

fmality to our shuttle program, a phenomenal, 30-year history in that program, and it accomplished a 

great deal," center Director Bob Cabana said of Atlantis' 9 .8-mile roll to its new home at the Visitor 

Complex. "But we have not been standing still for the last year." As Atlantis leaves, crews are tearing out 

the equipment from one former orbiter processing hangar to set it up for The Boeing Co.'s planned 

assembly of a commercial crew capsule. KSC is the home of NASA's Commercial Crew Program, under 

which the agency is helping Boeing and two other companies to fund and design privately operated space 

taxis. Cabana said an agreement with a potential tenant for ihe other shuttle hangars was in the works. 

Meanwhile, a high bay in the Vehicle Assembly Building, which Atlantis is expected to depart around 7 

a.m. today, is being renovated to support a heavy-lift rocket NASA is developing to carry astronauts to 

the moon, an asteroid or eventually Mars. The Space Launch System is slated for a ftrst, unmanned test 

launch in 2017 from pad 39B, a former shuttle pad now in a "clean" pad configuration that could 

potentially support launches of different kinds of rockets. In the Operations and Checkout Building, a 

prototype of the Orion crew capsule that will eventually fly atop the giant rocket is being prepared for an 

unmanned test flight in 2014 from Cape Canaveral. A mobile launch tower, crawler-transporter and a 

ftring room have also undergone renovations. And NASA is reviewing proposals to take over operation 

of the former shuttle runway as a commercial airport and spaceport that would support horizontal 

launches and landings. Cabana said KSC is helping NASA headquarters respond to a request from the 

state of Florida for roughly 150 acres at the north end of the center for development of a commercial 

launch complex. "We are going to take a close look at it and provide a response that I think will be the 

right answer for this area and for the state and for what we want to go do," Cabana said. Atlantis' move 

will feel bittersweet, Cabana said, but he'll also feel pride in the shuttle program's accomplishments and 

knowledge that the history will be shared with millions of visitors. "It's going to be phenomenal, and to 

know that we are going to share that with everybody that comes here, that gives me great pride," he said. 

"That makes me happy." Web posted. (2012). [Cabana: KSC's future is wide-ranging [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 1].] 

+ Even after space shuttle Atlantis is safely inside its new home at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor 

Complex tonight, much work will remain to get the exhibit ready for its planned opening in July. And 

while the orbiter will be the star of the show, offtcials promise much more to catch your eye. Among Tim 

Macy' s favorite features is an interactive wall with touchscreens offering highlights of individual shuttle 

missions, as well as simulators that will give visitors a taste of what it takes to land an orbiter. Macy, 

director of project development and construction for Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, which 

operates the Visitor Complex for NASA, said, for 13-year-old boys, a memorable exhibit may be one 

detailing how astronauts go to the bathroom in space. In promotional material, Visitor Complex officials 

described the exterior of the Atlantis exhibit as "comprised of two sweeping architectural elements, or 

wings, representing the space shuttle's launch and return. The outer layer of the building, which will be 

cloaked in iridescent hues of orange and gold, represents the ftery glow of re-entry. The taller, internal 

wing of the building will be covered in a shimmering tile pattern in varying tones of gray, designed to 

represent the tiled underside of the orbiter." Even the entryway is designed to be a spectacle. This is how 

Visitor Complex officials describe it: "At the entrance to the Atlantis exhibit, guests will be greeted by a 

full-size, upright, replica external tank and two solid rocket boosters. On the opposite side of the tank and 

booster assembly, a silhouette of the orbiter is attached to show guests its exact size and placement." 

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Web posted. (2012). [Spotlight's on shuttle Atlantis, but that's not all [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 1].] 

+ Stephanie Stilson's latest project is about to come to a climactic finish, one complete with pomp, 

circumstance and spectacular fireworks. "We're finally here," Stilson said Oct. 17 as Atlantis rolled out 

of its hangar at Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 39, heading temporarily to the 52-story Vehicle 

Assembly Building. The short move was a somber first leg of a fmal journey that will culminate today 

with the orbiter's delivery to the KSC Visitor Complex. "I think, when we started working (shuttle fleet) 

retirement, nobody could actually visualize this moment," said Stilson, the NASA manager in charge of 

prepping the winged spaceships for museum display, and ensuring safe delivery to their retirement roosts. 

"We knew it would come eventually." Atlantis is the fmal orbiter to depart. For Stilson, 42, of Canaveral 

Groves, today's cross-center move largely will bring an end to an 18-month shuttle "transition and 

retirement" effort. "I think it will be mixed emotions," said Stilson, who previously had served as the . 

"Flow Director" - the NASA ground processing manager - for Discovery, for 11 years and 11 flights. 

On the one hand, ceremonies today will celebrate Atlantis and its significant role in space exploration. On 

the other hand, "it will be difficult for us to know it'll be the last time she'll be in the LC-39 area," Stilson 

said. "But at least we're going to keep her close by." Web posted. (2012). [Stephanie Stilson: 'We knew 

it would come eventually' [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 

1 ].] 

November 2: Space shuttle Atlantis' 1 0-mile move to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is well 

under way this morning following departure from Kennedy's Vehicle Assembly Building at about 6:30 

a.m. EDT. The 76-wheeled orbiter transporter carrying Atlantis will stop near Kennedy's Headquarters 

building for a 20-minute signing ceremony at 10 a.m., then travel to Space Florida's Exploration Park for 

a viewing opportunity for visitor complex guests before departing for its new home. To clear the way for 

Atlantis, 120 light poles, 23 traffic signals, 56 traffic signs and one high-voltage line were temporarily 

removed prior to start oftoday's journey. Atlantis arrived at Kennedy in Aprill985. The spacecraft 

traveled 125,935,769 miles during 33 spaceflights, including 12 missions to the International Space 

Station. Its fmal flight, STS-135, closed out the Space Shuttle Program era with a landing on July 21 , 

2011 . Since then, engineers have been preparing Atlantis for public display as part of NASA's transition 

and retirement processing of the space shuttle fleet. A grand opening of Atlantis' new home at the 

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex is planned for July 2013. Web posted. (2012). [Atlantis' 10-Mile 

Move Continues to Go Smoothly [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nasa.gov/ [2012, November 

2].] 

+ Atlantis route to KSC visitor Complex is depicted in the following map. 

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Web posted. (2012). [Atlantis: Route to KSC Visitor Complex [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 2].] 

+ Atlantis in 1998 became the first orbiter outfitted with a modern "glass cockpit," one that replaced oldfashioned mechanical dials, gauges and green cathode ray displays. And a look back at its 33 flights 

shows a history of firsts - some stellar, world-renown successes, others still hush-hush, super-secret. 

"An amazing career," said Stephanie Stilson, the NASA manager in charge of prepping Atlantis for 

display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. "A storied past for sure." NASA's OV-104 

(Orbiter Vehicle 104) was contractually born on Jan. 29, 1979. Assembly of its crew module began on 

March 3, 1980, and its delta-shaped wings arrived at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., three months 

later. Atlantis rolled out of the plant on March 6, 1985, and then over to nearby Edwards Air Force Base. 

Flying atop a 747 carrier aircraft, Atlantis arrived at Kennedy Space Center on April9, 1985. Its first 

flight- STS-51J - blasted off from Launch Complex 39A on Oct. 3, 1985. The spaceship landed at 

Edwards four days later. In between, five astronauts reportedly deployed two advanced military 

communications satellites. The classified mission was the second of 10 fully dedicated Department of 

Defense shuttle flights flown between 1985 and the end of 1992. Atlantis was a military workhorse, 

flying five of those clandestine missions - more than any other shuttle. And Atlantis, which is named 

for a research vessel operated by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, also made its mark in solar system 

and galactic exploration. The orbiter in 1989 launched NASA's first interplanetary flight from the 

shuttle, dispatching the Magellan Venus radar mapper. NASA's Galileo mission to Jupiter launched 

aboard Atlantis that same year, and the orbiter in 1990 hauled up the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, 

which studied highly energetic explosions in distant galaxies. But Atlantis might best be remembered for 

its contributions to the International Space Station- particularly a tenuous first phase when the U.S. and 

the former Soviet Union joined to fly shuttle missions to the Mir space station. Atlantis flew the first 

seven of nine shuttle docking missions to Mir. Seven NASA astronauts completed long-duration tours on 

Mir, and America and Russia bridged significant language, cultural and operational barriers. Dubbed 

"Phase One," the shuttle-Mir program paved the way for the assembly of the International Space Station. 

People who worked on Atlantis at KSC remember OV -104 as a record-setter. In the shuttle processing 

world, minimizing "turnaround time" -the time between a shuttle landing and its next launch- always · 

was a key goal. In 1985, Atlantis laid down a benchmark that still stands. Atlantis capped its first flight 

with a California landing, was transported back to KSC and launched again in fast fashion. "It returned to 

space 50 days after it landed," said Terry White, 63, a longtime shuttle processing facility manager. "We 

had it in the hangar 26 days," White said, far short of the more typical three- to six-month processing 

time. Web posted. (2012). ['An amazing career': Atlantis painted a proud legacy [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 2].] 

+ Accompanied by a fleet of astronauts spanning NASA's entire existence, Atlantis made a slow, solemn 

journey to retirement Friday, the last space shuttle to orbit the world and the last to leave NASA's nest. 

Atlantis reached its new home at the Kennedy Space Center's main tourist stop close to sundown, after a 

one-way road trip that spanned nearly 12 hours. A couple dozen astronauts spanning NASA's Mercury, 

Gemini, Apollo and space shuttle programs - moonwalkers included- welcomed Atlantis to its new 

$100 million exhibit, still under construction. The hardier ones walked alongside the spaceship for the 

home stretch. Among the big astronaut names: Mercury's Scott Carpenter, Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin and 

Eileen Collins, the first female shuttle commander. It was a day full of fanfare and farewells. Atlantis 

began the 10-mile trek just before dawn, emerging from the massive Vehicle Assembly Building and 

riding atop a 76-wheeled platform. About 200 workers gathered in the early morning chill to see the 

spaceship out in the open for the final time. They were joined by the four astronauts who closed out the 

shuttle program aboard Atlantis more than a year ago. Portions of Atlantis' fmallaunch countdown 

boomed over loudspeakers before the shuttle hit the road. Employees gathered in front of a long white 

banner that read, "We Made History," and below that the single word "Atlantis." They followed the 

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spaceship for a block or two, then scattered as the shuttle transporter revved up to its maximum 2 mph. 

The convoy included a dozen trucks and vans, their lights blinking. The fact that several hundred shuttle 

workers are about to lose their jobs, now that Atlantis is being turned over to the visitor complex, 

dampened the mood. Thousands already have been laid off. "The untold story of the lastJcouple years, the 

last missions that we flew, is the work force. I mean, the contractors knew that their numbers were ·going 

to go down ... and yet they kept doing their jobs," said NASA's Angie Brewer, who was once in charge of 

getting Atlantis ready for flight. Some were too upset to even show up. Friday's event marked the true 

end to the 30-year shuttle program. Atlantis made its way down broad industrial avenues, most of them 

off-limits to the public. So the trek did not replicate the narrow, stop-and-go turns Endeavour encountered 

last month while navigating downtown Los Angeles. Web posted. (2012}. [FinallO-mile trek for shuttle 

Atlantis, staying at Kennedy Space Center as tourist exhibit [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .orlandosentinel.com/ [20 12, November 2].] 

+ Talk about pomp and circumstance. Merritt Island High's honor guard and the Titusville High 

Marching Band fronted Atlantis. Trailing the orbiter were about three dozen shuttle astronauts. A sleek, 

white-and-blue T-38 Talon jet soared overhead, and 7,000 people- NASA and contractor workers and 

their families- showed up to see the orbiter at a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity Friday near NASA 

Headquarters in the KSC Industrial Area. Sometimes sober, sometimes rousing, it was a fitting changeof-command ceremony for the last NASA shuttle orbiter to be transferred to a museum. Gathered NASA 

officials and other dignitaries, including NASA chief Charles Bolden, put Atlantis under the stewardship 

of Delaware North Park Services, the company that operates the KSC Visitor Complex. "Although it's 

the end of Atlantis flying in space, it's not the end. It's not the end for KSC," former astronaut Bob 

Cabana, the lOth and current director ofKSC, told the assembled crowd. "We're charging into the future, 

preparing for commercial operations to low Earth orbit, for exploration once again beyond our home 

planet, continuing to meet the needs of NASA's science mission with our expendable rockets. And it's not 

the end of Atlantis, because Atlantis now takes on a mission of inspiration of future generations." Web 

posted. (2012). [With new owner of Atlantis, an all-new mission [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 3].] 

+ United Launch Alliance plans to blast a U.S. Air Force space plane into orbit Nov. 27, pushing back 

the launch to complete investigating a rocket engine anomaly that occurred during an Oct. 4 mission. The 

Centennial-based rocket company, the main launch contractor for the nation's military and intelligence 

services, has been studying why the second-stage engine on a Delta IV rocket lost pressure while putting 

an Air Force GPS into orbit last month. The GPS satellite was placed in the right orbit, and the mission is 

considered a success. Still, ULA and the Air Force are delaying the space plane-launch aboard an Atlas V 

rocket until the Delta IV's engine investigation is completed. The Nov. 27 space plane mission, which 

had been tentatively set for Nov. 14, will be the third test flight for the Air Force's unmanned X-37B 

Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-3). The reusable, Boeing-built space plane was last launched on March 5, 

2011. The pilotless craft stayed in orbit for 469 days and landed June 16. Web posted. (2012). [Air Force 

space launch delayed as engine investigation continues [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.bizjournals.com/ [2012, November 2].] 

+ The flying machine that ushered in NASA's space shuttle program has suffered storm damage in New 

York City [October 30111

]. Shuttle prototype Enterprise weathered Superstorm Sa.ndy this week at the 

Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, but it sustained minor damage to its vertical stabilizer, or tail. A 

small piece of foam came off, said a museum spokesman. The damage was confirmed Friday by both the 

museum and NASA as shuttle Atlantis concluded its journey to retirement at Florida's Kennedy Space 

Center. Enterprise will be repaired at the earliest opportunity, the Intrepid museum said in a statement. 

The museum remains closed because of storm damage. Enterprise was flown atop a modified jumbo jet 

to New York in April and moved to the Intrepid museum in June. Web posted. (2012). [Space Shuttle 

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Enterprise suffers damage from Sandy'[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nydailvnews.com/ [2012, 

November 3].] 

November 4: Although the new $100 million facility to showcase the space shuttle Atlantis won't be 

finished and opened to the public until next July, tourists can get a "sneak peak" of the retired orbiter this 

week parked inside the exhibit hall at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The viewing 

opportunity is available through next Sunday during daily windows of 2 to 5 p.m., when construction 

work will not be occurring. You can access the area to see Atlantis through the gift shop at the Shuttle 

Launch Experience attraction. "Sneak-a-Peek" is part of regular admission to the Visitor Complex, 

officials said. "We are excited to offer this rare opportunity for Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex 

patrons," said Bill Moore, chief operating officer of Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. "We know 

they will cherish seeing Atlantis in this unique setting before construction is completed and the exhibit is 

unveiled to the world next July." In the next few weeks, Atlantis will be removed from the 76-wheel 

transporter that hauled the shuttle to the Visitor Complex last Friday, wrapped in a protective covering to 

keep dirt and dust off the spacecraft and raised 36 feet above the ground and tilted 43.21 degrees to its 

fmal display orientation for support pedestals to be brought into place. Erecting the fmal wall of the 

building and establishing air conditioning should be fmished early next month. Web posted. (2012). 

[Early peak at Atlantis inside retirement home [Online). Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, November 4].] 

+ After SpaceX's Dragon capsule berthed at the International Space Station last month, the action from 

the first private resupply mission was essentially over until Dragon's departure weeks later. Why not take 

advantage of the lull to sell some T-shirts? "While Dragon's at the space station, get your 'Year of the 

Dragon' tee and more here," SpaceX tweeted, providing a link to an online store offering shirts, hats and 

onesies. Talk about commercial spaceflight. Other NASA contractors sell merchandise but rarely 

promote it during the high-stakes, high-cost space missions to which they contribute, either preferring or 

being asked to keep a low profile behind their government customer. But flying a commercial mission in 

which it led the operation of both a rocket and spacecraft it designed, SpaceX seized the opportunity to 

promote its brand and connect with fans through the gear and social media. "(The store) was launched as 

a response to public demand," said Katherine Nelson, vice president for marketing and communications 

for the Hawthorne, Calif-based company. "We heard loud and clear through social media, and directly, 

that the general public wanted the opportunity to purchase SpaceX gear. We hope to evolve our product 

offerings in the future." A pair of experts in marketing and space memorabilia saw the product placement 

as reflective of the modem communications era in which 1 0-year-old SpaceX came of age, and as 

evidence that private space efforts are rekindling old enthusiasm for spaceflight. Web posted. (2012). 

[Sales launch: SpaceX uses Dragon's success to roll out merchandise [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 4].] 

November 6: Work to redesign a launch complex at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station to support human 

flights could create 250 to 300 aerospace and construction jobs in Brevard County, United Launch 

Alliance says. ULA is expected today to announce it has selected Hensel Phelps Construction Co. of 

Orlando to help plan modifications to Space Launch Complex 41 that would enable commercial crew 

missions on Atlas V rockets. During 21 months, Hensel Phelps will assist Denver, Colo.-based ULA with 

the design and development of an access tower and an access arm astronauts would use to enter a 

spacecraft sitting atop the Atlas V. The firm also will work on the system astronauts and support 

personnel would use to escape the rocket in an emergency and a safe haven where they could take shelter 

before fully evacuating the pad area. The work is being performed in partnership with The Boeing Co., 

whose CST-100 capsule is one of three private space taxis being developed with support from NASA's 

Commercial Crew Program. The CST -100 would launch atop an Atlas V. In August, the Kennedy Space 

Center-based program awarded Boeing $460 .million, SpaceX $440 million and Sierra Nevada Corp. 

$212.5 million to complete system designs - including the rocket, ground and mission systems - by 

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May 2014. Web posted. (2012). [ULA taps company to modify pad 41 [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 6].] 

November 7: Rocket-maker United Launch Alliance is putting in motion efforts to modify its Atlas 5 

rocket pad at Cape Canaveral into a human launch site capable of loading astronaut crews in commercial 

spacecraft of the future. The firm announced this week it has hired Hensel Phelps Construction Co. of 

Orlando, which built the site a dozen years ago, to manage the upcoming project. ULA says the project 

could ultimately create 250-300 aerospace and construction jobs in Brevard County. Hensel Phelps will 

partner with ULA, officials said, to design the crew accommodation tower and access arm needed for 

astronauts at Complex 41 to board their spacecraft. What's more, an emergency egress system will be 

created to provide astronauts and pad workers a way to rapidly evacuate the area in the event of a 

dangerous situation. The deal also includes developing the overall project requirements, cost and schedule 

projections, and risk mitigation for modifying to the existing launch facilities for commercial crew 

operations in a 21-month program. Work to build Complex 41 began in 1963 and the pad opened for 

business in 1965, hosting 27 Titan rocket launches through 1999 that sent NASA's Viking landers to 

Mars, the twin Voyager probes to the solar system's outer planets and various other communications and 

military satellites into Earth orbit. Atlas 5 is the rocket of choice for Boeing's CST -100 capsule and Sierra 

Nevada's Dream Chaser vehicle in NASA's Commercial Crew Integrated Capability (CCiCap) program to 

launch astronauts from U.S. soil into low-Earth orbit, ending the gap in human spaceflight after retirement 

of the space shuttles. Web posted. (2012). [Atlas 5 pad modifications add astronaut accommodations 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, November 7].] 

November 8: Space Florida's board today approved spending up to $5 million to repurpose Kennedy 

Space Center facilities for potential use by a classified military program. Labeled Project Coyote, the 

program was not discussed but is widely speculated to be the U.S. Air Force's X-37B reusable minishuttle. The Air Force has previously said it is exploring cost-savings that could be achieved by 

consolidating X-37B launch, landing and refurbishment operations in one location. Landing and 

refurbishment currently are performed in California, but the Air Force has also said the third unmanned 

X-37B mission-- targeted for a Nov. 27launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station atop an Atlas V 

rocket -- could land on KSC's shuttle runway. During its meeting at the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel today, 

Space Florida's board made no mention of the KSC facilities in question. But documents have linked 

Project Coyote to the former shuttle hangars officially called Orbiter Processing Facilities 1 and 2. 

Separately, the board approved another $5 million to continue work to ready a third shuttle hangar--

OPF-3 --for use by The Boeing Co. to assemble a commercial crew capsule. A first $5-million 

demolition phase is already under way. The additional funding approved today would go toward a second 

modernization phase. All the funding for work on the hangars comes from the Florida Department of 

Transportation, which has a $15 million budget this fiscal year for space infrastructure upgrades. Web 

posted. (2012). [Kennedy Space Center could house secret Air Force X-37B program [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 8].] 

+ Officials from NASA partner United Launch Alliance announced Thursday that they've chosen an 

Orlando company to provide construction services oil a Cape Canaveral launch pad. A NASA manager 

says Central Floridians can expect a growing demand for workers at Cape Canaveral over the next few 

years. Ed Mango heads up NASA's Commercial Crew Program, which works closely with private 

companies like Boeing, Sierra Nevada Corporation, and Space X to develop new vehicles for manned 

spaceflight. He says ULA's choice of Hensel Phelps Construction Company in Orlando for work on the 

launch pad is just the start. "All these companies we're engaged with today, all three of them, have 

significant work that they're going to be doing at the Cape," Mango says. "So the picture looks quite 

bright over the next...two to four years here around the Cape for high-tech jobs, both in the engineering 

world and the construction world, and also in the technician and quality world for processing hardware." 

ULA has said the work at the launch pad will eventually create up to 300 jobs. Web posted. (2012). 

159 
[NASA Official: Space Jobs Slowly Coming Back to Cape Canaveral [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.wmfe.org/ [2012, November 8].] 

+ Planning and discussion took about 16 years. But it was the push of local and state officials that 

persuaded the Navy to start refurbishing and updating a 1950s-era missile test complex at Naval 

Ordnance Test Unit into the new Strategic Weapons System Ashore facility that prompted action. Work 

is under way on what will be a large missile test facility that consolidates work currently conducted by 

defense contractors from at least four sites around the country. It also initially will bring dozens of 

military and civilian jobs to the Space Coast - some estimates saying as many as 100 within three years 

- and then possibly more. The construction is take place over an existing underground structure at 

launch complexes 25 and 29, where Fleet Ballistic Missile test launches were fired in the 1950s. Web 

posted. (2012). [Cape's Navy missile site will expand [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 8].] 

November 9: NASA has renamed two satellites launched in August for James Van Allen, a pioneering 

astrophysicist who discovered the radiation belts surrounding Earth. Formerly known as the Radiation 

Belt Storm Probes, the Van Allen Probes began their two-year science mission Oct. 28 after a 60-day 

commissioning phase. The Van Allen Probes are investigating what causes Earth's donut-shaped radiation 

belts to swell and contract as solar storms erupt and propagate through space. James Van Allen is credited 

with the 1958 discovery of the radiation belts using Explorer 1, the first successful U.S. satellite. Web 

posted. (2012). [NASA's radiation belt probes named for James Van Allen [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, November 9].] 

November 10: Sixteen months after NASA's last shuttle flight, the final four astronauts to fly on one of 

America's winged orbiters have moved on. Two now are working in the private sector, still involved in 

the American aerospace industry. Two remain at NASA, working on the future of U.S. human 

spaceflight, preparing for missions beyond Earth orbit. Together, they are representative of a NASA 

Astronaut Office in the midst of dramatic change -- a corps that is just a third of the size it was in the year 

2000. "Last night, we asked the question: 'Where do you think we're all going to be in five years?' And it 

makes me wonder," mission commander Chris Ferguson said a week ago Friday as he and his crew 

escorted Atlantis to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, where it will be displayed in retirement. 

Ferguson guided Atlantis to a July 21, 2011, landing at Kennedy Space Center's three-mile shuttle 

runway, winding up NASA's 135th shuttle mission and more than three decades of shuttle fleet 

operations. NASA now is investing in the development of commercial spacecraft to ferry U.S. and 

partner nation astronauts to the International Space Statidn, which will operate until at least 2020 and 

perhaps 2028. At the same time, NASA is developing supersized rockets and the Orion crew exploration 

vehicle for missions into deep space. But it likely will be 2017 or later before U.S. astronauts are flying 

on commercial space taxis or the Apollo-style Orion deep space explorer. Consequently, the size of the 

Astronaut Office is dwindling. The corps now numbers 52 -- about 66 percent less than the 149 astronauts 

employed by the office in 2000. NASA in 2013 will select nine to 15 new astronaut candidates from a 

pool of 6,3 72 applications submitted in response to an announcement of opportunity in late 2011. NASA 

in the post-shuttle era of U.S. human spaceflight aims to keep the size of the astronaut corps at about 65 --

the number needed to support International Space Station operations. The members ofNASA's 21st 

astronaut class will be announced in the spring of 2013. They will replace some of about two dozen highachieving astronauts who have left the agency since the beginning of 2011 -- the final year of shuttle 

operations. Web posted. (2012). [Spacefarers fewer, but recruits wait in wings [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 10].] 

+ The Vehicle Assembly Building, or V AB, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida is undergoing 

renovations to accommodate future launch vehicles. A project of Ground Systems Development and 

Operations, or GSDO, space shuttle-era work platforms have been removed from the V AB's High Bay 3 

160 
and accommodations are being made to support a variety of future spacecraft, including NASA's Space 

Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift rocket. The changes are part of a centerwide modernization and 

refurbishment initiative in preparation for the next generation of human spaceflight. One of the largest 

buildings in the world, the V AB was constructed in the mid-1960s to support stacking of the Apollo 

Saturn V rockets that took American astronauts to the moon. In the late 1970s, the facility was 

refurbished to accommodate the space shuttle. Following three decades of flight, the space shuttle was 

retired in 20 11. 

Plans now call for the V AB to be able to support multiple types of space vehicles, including the SLS, 

Orion spacecraft and commercial rockets. NASA is partnering with private industry on rockets and 

spacecraft to take astronauts to low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station. SLS will be an 

advanced heavy-lift launch vehicle providing a new capability for human exploration beyond Earth orbit. 

"After more than 45 years of use, it was time to clear out and update the garage," said Jose Lopez, V AB 

senior project manager in the Vehicle Integration and Launch Support Branch ofGSDO. "What makes 

this project such a major undertaking is the size." The V AB is 526 feet tall, 716 feet long and 518 feet 

wide. It covers eight acres and encloses more than 129 million cubic feet of space. The building was 

constructed to withstand hurricanes and tropical storms with a foundation consisting of 30,000 cubic 

yards of concrete and 4,225 steel pilings driven 160 feet into bedrock. The first step in the plan was to 

remove space shuttle-era work platforms, a project that presented 11umerous challenges. There were eight 

box-like support structures surrounding the shuttles during stacking in the V AB. One box platform 

structure had been removed in 2009 in preparation for the launch of the Ares I-X test vehicle in October 

2009. Each platform structure had work stands, connections for electricity, water, pneumatics and other 

commodities. Ivey's Construction Inc. of Merritt Island, Fla., began the task in early September. Working 

closely with NASA and other Kennedy contractors such as United Space Alliance and URS, as well as an 

on-call architectural and engineering firm BRPH, they helped ensure all systems in the V AB were 

disconnected from the platforms. Web posted. (2012). [NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building Prepared for 

Multiple Rockets [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.brevardtimes.com/ [2012, November 10].] 

November 14: Stephen Whitney is one of about 85 firefighters at Kennedy Space Center whose 

situations changed dramatically when the security contract at the spaceport changed hands near the end of 

the space shuttle program. As the nature of the work needed at KSC changed, NASA opened the security 

contract to new bids. G4S Government Solutions in Palm Beach Gardens lost the contract at first, but the 

British company got the decision overturned after a lengthy legal battle. This year, G4S tried to reduce 

costs during union negotiations, prompting picketing by firefighters. The protests were. called off Oct. 1 

when the deadline to settle the contract passed and G4S implemented new terms without the union's 

approval, said Kevin Smith, president of the Transport Workers Union. Firefighters' salaries, which 

average about $25 per hour, were not cut. But the union estimates each firefighter lost about $20,000 per 

year from the combined impact of reductions in benefits such as retirement, stipends and uniform 

allowances, among others. Reductions in hours and overtime also impacted take-home pay. Insurance 

premiums more than doubled, according to the firefighters. The union has filed complaints with the 

National Labor Relations Board, Smith said. The union also appealed to NASA, but spokesman Mike 

Curie said federal regulations prevent the agency from getting involved. Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle 

era's end triggered contract change [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

November 14].] 

+ Engineers are combing.through data from SpaceX's October cargo mission to the International Space 

Station, examining a rocket engine failure, electronics glitches from suspected radiation, and a power loss 

that could have imperiled precious medical samples returned from the outpost, NASA officials said 

Wednesday. SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft successfully completed the commercial resupply flight, but the 

mission had to overcome several anomalies almost from the moment of its Oct. 7 launch. The mission's 

Falcon 9 booster suffered an engine failure moments after liftoff from Cape Canaveral, Fla., and 

investigators from SpaceX and NASA have found "no smoking gun" on the cause of the problem, 

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according to Mike Suffredini, NASA's space station program manager. The rocket's computer detected a 

sudden loss in pressure in the combustion chamber of one of the first stage's Merlin 1 C engines and 

commanded the engine to shut down 79 seconds after liftoff, according to SpaceX. The company formed 

a joint review team with NASA to fmd the cause of the engine failure, but despite going over an 

"enormous amount of data" in the last month, investigators have not determined the root cause of the 

engine problem, Suffredini said Wednesday in a meeting of the NASA Advisory Council's human 

exploration and operations subcommittee. Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO and chief technology officer, said 

Wednesday it will "probably be several weeks" before the investigation releases any findings. Web 

posted. (2012). [SpaceX, NASA scrutinize anomalies from cargo flight [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, November 14].] 

+ The business and science of launching payloads into space happens in Brevard, and when Atlas and 

Delta rockets ascend, they do so under the banner of United Launch Alliance, a venture owned by 

Lockheed Martin and Boeing. Having launched 64 successful missions, it is set to launch nine more in 

2013 and 10 the next year. The company also is committed to the community its employees live and work 

in, and is generous. Its 600 employees have contributed about 14,000 hours of community service and 

ULA has donated more than $5 million to various causes. Thus, ULA is a candidate for Business of the 

Year in Florida Today 's annual Volunteer Recognition Awards. "Since the formation of United Launch 

Alliance in December 2006, the company has been committed to a robust corporate citizenship program 

that primarily targets the need to excite our next generation of engineers," said Rob Rains, president of 

the United Way of Brevard, who nominated ULA for the VRA. "Every year, ULA has team volunteer 

events, making an impact with a great variety of local nonprofit organizations." Rains added that ULA 

and its employees raised more than $336,000 for United Way in the past seven years. Web posted. 

(2012). [ULA's Brevard help goes well beyond launch pads [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 14].] 

+ The morning ofNov. 14th, 1969, was stormy at NASA's Cape Canaveral launch site, but the [Apollo 

12] Saturn Von the launchpad was going to the moon regardless. Conditions weren't bad enough to force 

a scrub, and President Nixon was on site so no one wanted to see the schedule slip. At 11 :22 a.m., the 

monster rocket roared to life and cleared the tower. It was a perfect launch for the first 37 seconds. Then, 

all hell broke loose. Inside the Command Module, Commander Pete Conrad saw a flash through the 

window at the same time as he felt the rocket shudder. Almost immediately the spacecraft's master alarm 

rang through the cabin and the control panel lit up like a Christmas tree with warning lights. Conrad joked 

that they might have been hit by lightning. They didn't know it at the time but they had. Twice. As the 

Saturn V rose through the electrically charged storm clouds, it turned into a lightning rod. Two separate 

bolts struck the rocket then followed its contrails all the way to the launch pad to strike again. Two and a 

half minutes after the first strike took out their displays, everything in the spacecraft was running 

normally. The crew, displaying the characteristic giddiness of three men who had nearly escaped a 

fatality, spent the rest of their ascent to orbit in fits of laughter. Web posted. (20 12). [History of Space 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.discovery.com/ [2012, November 14].] 

November 15: The space shuttle Atlantis has been encased in a protective plastic, a wrap that will keep 

the spacecraft dust-free while construction crews fmish building the exhibit hall to showcase her to the 

public. Atlantis arrived at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on Nov. 2, rolling into the $100 

million attraction that will be fmished and opened to the world next July. Since reaching the retirement 

home, Atlantis was offloaded from the 76-wheel motorized transporter and secured to beams that will be 

used for lifting the 152,700-pound craft into its display configuration. Workers this week covered the 

shuttle with the same type of wrapping you might see around boats being shipped down the highway. It 

will keep the dust and debris from coming in contact with the priceless artifact in the construction zone. 

The final wall of the building, left unassembled in order to get the massive orbiter inside, will be finished 

in the coming weeks. The facility should have the air conditioning system established in early December. 

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In the next few days, the crane and rigging company hired by KSCVC will finish the delicate job of 

raising Atlantis 36 feet off the ground and tilting the orbiter 43.21 degrees to the port side, the final 

display orientation to mimic the shuttle still flying in space. Next spring, the plastic will be removed in 

preparation for opening Atlantis' payload bay doors. Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle Atlantis wrapped in 

protective covering [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, November 15].] 

November 16: The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has ended its traditional free "Salute to 

Brevard Residents" weekend after 12 years. Instead, Brevard's most popular paid tourist attraction is 

introducing an alternative: a month of 70-percent-off tickets for Brevard residents and their guests in a 

program being called "30 Days of Giving." That reduces the basic ticket price to $15 plus tax for adults 

and $10 plus tax for children ages 3 to 11, compared with the regular price of $50 for adults and $40 for 

children. To participate in the discount, which starts Saturday and runs through Dec. 16, Brevard 

residents are encouraged to bring canned goods and other non-perishable food items to the entry plaza, 

with the suggested donation of at least one food item per guest. Through food contributions, local visitors 

to the complex support the Central Brevard Sharing Center in Cocoa, North Brevard Charities Sharing 

Center in Titusville and South Brevard Sharing Center in Melbourne. Representatives of local sharing 

centers said that, while they appreciate the visitor complex's continued support for local food pantries, 

they're concerned the new setup might not yield as much food as the free weekend did. Up to 15 percent 

of annual food donations to the local pantries had been generated by the free weekend. David Brubaker, 

vice president of the Central Brevard Sharing Center, who coordinates with the visitor complex staff on 

behalf of the three sharing centers, said he believes the change was a business decision that operators the 

visitor complex had to make. Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts operates the tourist complex 

for NASA. Andrea Farmer, public relations manager of the visitor complex, said the change is caused in 

part by the increased expense of staffing and maintenance costs at the complex during the three-day 

Salute to Brevard Residents weekend, when attendance might reach 20,000, but many guests get in free. 

Farmer said the visitor complex plans to promote the "30 Days of Giving" program heavily. Delaware 

North also is encouraging its more than 600 employees to contribute to the food drive. Delaware North 

also matches employee contributions to the United Way of Brevard campaign. Web posted. (2012). [KSC 

visitor Complex ends annual free weekend for Brevard residents [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 16].] 

+ After seven years in the top spot at Johnson Space Center, director Mike Coats told employees Friday 

that he will retire at year's end. The center's deputy director, four-time space flight veteran Ellen Ochoa, 

will replace Coats. Web posted. (2012). [Johnson Space Center director announces his retirement 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.chron.com/ [2012, November 16].] 

November 19: Submerged beneath the concrete of Kennedy Space Center's launching pad that sent 

humans to the moon resides a fortified bunker and network of tunnels to save the lives of workers and 

astronauts in a cataclysmic disaster. It is the Apollo-era Emergency Escape System, and this piece of 

spaceflight history remains in place at pad 39A almost 45 years after its construction in the midst of the 

space race. Picture the mighty Saturn 5 moon rocket, fueled and poised for blastoff from the Florida 

spaceport. But something goes wrong and everyone at the seaside complex must evacuate to safety. The 

answer that designers created for men to survive a detonating rocket was this protective cocoon built 

under the sloping northwest comer of both twin pads at Complex 39. For the astronauts or crew support 

personnel at the top of the rocket, they would rely on a high-speed descent elevator to reach the base of 

the mobile platform. They join technicians working on the platform to jump down a chute on the northside of the platform that connected to the teflon-lined slide that rapidly gets them underground. That 

200-foot slide empties into the aptly-named "rubber room" with its rubber floors meant to absorb the 

impact of the explosion occurring on the pad surface 40 feet above them. Hopping off the landing ramp, 

the people would scurry to their left into the fallout shelter, a domed room suspended on shockdampening springs and sealed off with massive blast-proof doors. Inside, the chamber held 20 chairs, a 

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toilet and carbon dioxide scrubbing equipment to keep the occupants alive until rescue teams arrive. And, 

if a further escape is required, on the opposite side of the dome is another door leading out into an airlock 

and the entrance to a tunnel burrowed under the western field of both pads. It was the elaborate safety 

measures put in place as the Apollo Program got underway. Later, a slide-wire system would be added to 

evacuate crews from atop the umbilical tower, whisking them out and away from the pad instead of 

relying on the elevator to go down for accessing the "rubber room" slide. Still, the dimly-lit cavern, 

draped in mystique and almost spooky to walk through, has stood the test of time as space shuttle after 

space shuttle thundered away from pads 39A and 39B above. The rooms on both neighboring complexes 

were capped off and removed from use. The 1 ,200-foot escape tunnels were converted into air-intakes, 

funneling fresh air into the environmental control system and used in purges to the space shuttle. The B 

pad room was condemned due to lead paint concerns, but the A pad room remains accessible through the 

airlock doorway next to the hub of the environmental control system below the pad deck. Web posted. 

(2012). [Photos: the safety cavern under Apollo launch pads [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, November 19].] 

November 20: In the Kennedy Space Center hangar that Discovery once called home, an excavator's 

jaws on a recent afternoon clamped onto a third-floor catwalk, ripped a section away and dropped it into a 

tangled pile. Thundering booms echoed as another excavator smashed a mound of scrap metal in the 

opposite corner. It was a loud and jarring scene inside the 25-year-old hangar previously known as 

Orbiter Processing Facility 3, or OPF-3, a place shuttle workers took extensive precautions to keep free of 

dirt and debris that could damage an orbiter being readied for flight. And it's the most tangible evidence 

yet that unneeded shuttle infrastructure may have a future serving private spacecraft, and that KSC is 

shifting to a new way of doing business after the shuttle's retirement. The renamed Commercial Crew 

and Cargo Processing Facility, or C3PF, and other nearby facilities are being readied for The Boeing Co. 

to manufacture, assemble and test its CST -100 commercial crew capsules, work that could eventually 

create 550 jobs. Boeing is one of three companies competing to carry NASA astronauts to the 

International Space Station, flights targeted to begin in 2017. The seven-person capsule's command 

module would be assembled in the high bay, and its service module in an adjacent low bay where space 

· shuttle main engines were once refurbished between flights. Boeing also plans to lease the nearby 

Processing Control Center, a three-story office building, bringing its planned footprint to more than 

227,000 square feet. Web posted. (2012). [Former KSC shuttle hangar undergoes massive transformation 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 20].] 

November 21: A Kennedy Space Center crew today is moving a massive crawler-transporter several 

miles as part of tests of recent modifications to upgrade the Apollo-era hardware for NASA's next heavylift rocket. The 6.3 million pound machine, whose base is the size of a baseball diamond, carried Saturn 

V rockets and space shuttles from the Vehicle Assembly Building out to their launch pads. The eighttracked crawler-transporter recently rolled 3.4 miles out to pad 39A, where it climbed up the stand and 

lifted and lowered a mobile launcher platform. Today it is returning to a park site near the V AB, a trip 

expected to take about six hours at an average speed of 0.8 mph. The crawler's $50 million overhaul is 

expected to be completed in 2015. "It's almost 50 years old, and some of the systems, it's about time to 

change it up and get ready and prepare for the new program," said Mary Hanna, NASA CrawlerTransporter Project Manager. "We've had a very, very successful two weeks of testing." Web posted. 

(2012). [KSC tests upgraded crawler-transporter [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 21].] 

+ Next week's planned launch of the U.S. military's mini-shuttle is being delayed another two weeks, 

presumably to complete an investigation into engine trouble during a recent Delta rocket launch. Now the 

third flight of an Air Force X-37B is being tentatively targeted for Dec. 11, officials said Wednesday. No 

exact launch time or launch window has been announced. Launch of the Orbital Test Vehicle aboard an 

United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station had been set for next 

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Tuesday. The delay follows three previous slips in the launch date. The OTV-3 mission had been slated 

for Oct. 25. That target date subsequently slipped to Oct. 30. Then it was moved to Nov. 13. The slips 

stem from engine trouble encountered during the Oct. 4 launch of a ULA Delta IV rocket and an Air 

Force Global Positioning System satellite. Engineers detected reduced thrust levels during the firing of 

the Delta IV's second-stage Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RL 10 engine. The $122 million navigation 

satellite was delivered to its intended orbit despite the problem. The Atlas V rocket employs a different 

version of the Rocketdyne RL 10 engine. Mission managers want to ensure the same type of engine 

trouble is not .encountered on the Atlas V flight. Web posted. (2012). [Mini shuttle launch delayed again 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 21].] 

+ Robert Cabana is the director of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where he manages 

a team of about 8,600 civil service and contractor employees. He completed his astronaut training in 1986 

and has flown four space shuttle missions, notably serving as commander of Endeavour in 1988 on the 

first space station assembly mission. Cabana spoke with Tom Fox, who writes the Washington Post's 

Federal Coach blog and is the vice president for leadership and innovation at the Partnership for Public 

Service. Fox also heads up the Partnership's Center for Government Leadership. How did your career 

path lead you to NASA? When I was five-years old, my mom and I took a trip to D.C. and I distinctly 

remember seeing the Wright Flyer and Spirit of St. Louis at the Smithsonian. After that, all I ever wanted 

to do was to fly. I went off to the Naval Academy because I wanted to be a naval aviator, and then I ended 

up taking a commission in the Marine Corps. After flying in the Marine Corps and becoming a test pilot, I 

learned NASA was taking applications for the shuttle program. I met all the qualifications and said, "Hey, 

I can actually do this." Folks often ask me how someone becomes an astronaut. I tell them, "persistence." 

I didn't get into flight school the first try and I didn't get into the astronaut program the first try. The 

Kennedy Space Center is celebrating its 5Oth anniversary this year. What are some of your aspirations 

for the next 50 years? We're tninsforrning the Kennedy Space Center into a 21st-century launch complex. 

We want to make it a multi-user space port, where there are government and commercial launches for 

crew and cargo, for suborbital, orbital and flights of exploration beyond earth. We're expanding 

partnerships with commercial companies to utilize excess shuttle capabilities that we no longer need. 

We're exploring contract options with SpaceX, Sierra Nevada Corporation and Boeing to fly our crews to 

the International Space Station, so we don't have to rely on our Russian partners. In the meantime, we 

will continue to meet NASA's science needs by launching science missions. So it's a time of transition, 

but an exciting time. It's going to be progressive and evolutionary, but the key is that we're putting the 

infrastructure in place to make it happen. How do you engage your employees during the transition from 

the space shuttle program? You have to chart a clear course to the future and get the team to buy in to it, 

be a part of it and give them the responsibility to make it happen. The very first thing I told my team 

when I came here four years ago was that the shuttle program was going to end. I said that we have to be 

ready for that transition, and it's going to be hard. I told my team there's going be a lot of people who are 

going to be out of work, and we have to do our best to help find work for them, and help them get through 

this transition. I think it's critical to be clear about the path forward. What leadership techniques do you 

use to connect with your staff? I really believe in servant leadership. You have to put the welfare of your 

people above your own. Good leaders care for their people. Leaders don't say, "I did it." They give credit 

to the team. Leaders also need to get down onto the floor and talk with the people that you work with. 

Ask them what they're doing. They want to tell you about the things that they're working on. You'll learn 

more from walking around on the floor than you'll ever learn sitting in some conference room up on the 

top floor. What other leadership qualities are important? You have to have integrity. Nothing can cause 

you to lose respect of your people and not be a good leader if you don't have integrity. They know when 

you're not telling the truth. Charting a clear path for the future is essential. And never stop learning. 

You've got to be open to new things. As we grow older change is hard. Learning new things is hard. How 

does NASA attract and motivate young scientists and engineers? I'm so impressed with the new hires 

who are coming out ofcollege. They have computer skills that are just phenomenal. They have so many 

tools that we never had. We allow them to use some of those tools. We give them a challenging task, let 

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them learn and give them the opportunity to be innovative. We listen to what they have to say, and are 

amazed at what they come up with. We're fortunate at NASA. Young people want to be part of this 

program. How many people can come to work every day and know that they're making the difference not 

just in the future of our nation, but of our planet? Who are your top leadership role models and what 

have you learned from them? I've been fortunate to serve under so many good leaders, I would hate to 

single one out as better than the rest. From my vantage point, what made me respect them and want to 

follow them, was that they were technically excellent in their field, they excelled at what they did. They 

challenged me and I didn't want to let them down. They had integrity and could be trusted. They clearly 

communicated what they wanted accomplished and held people accountable. They genuinely cared for 

the people that worked for them, and helped them to be successful. Web posted. (2012). [Out of this 

world: Talking leadership with Kennedy Space Center director Robert Cabana [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ [2012, November 21].] 

November 22: Like a symbol of the space program itself, a historic transporter inched closer to its postshuttle future at Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday. The six-million pound crawler-transporter, one of 

two built to haul Saturn V rockets, fired up a new pair of generators and - surprisingly quietly for such a 

massive machine - rolled slowly away from a launch pad where it spent two weeks testing upgraded 

systems. Forty-six years after it became operational, the eight-tracked "crawler" is undergoing an 

extensive overhaul to support NASA's next heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System, which will be its 

heaviest load yet with an initial estimated weight of 14 million pounds. After a year of work, NASA and 

contractor teams are wrapping up the first phase of a $50 million upgrade expected to be completed in 

2015. Original generators and engines have been replaced with a more powerful set, along with the 

brakes, lubrication and software systems and miles of cables and wiring. Still to be improved: roller 

bearing assemblies, the jacking and leveling system and gearbox. When the work is done, the crawler 

will be able to carry up to 18 million pounds, well above the 12 million-pound load of a shuttle on its 

mobile launcher platform. "It was pretty extraordinary before, and we're making it even more 

extraordinary," said Terry Berman, the United Space Alliance project manager. The crawler was put 

through tests, including climbing launch pad 39A's ramp, where brakes are needed, and picking up and 

lowering a mobile launcher platform. Despite a few bugs, the new systems have "done phenomenal," 

Hanna said. The crawler's base, which is the size of a baseball infield, appeared to be a gleaming, freshly 

painted gray. Its eight tracks, and the belts of one-ton shoes snaking around them, looked worn from their 

years and miles traveled over the center's river-rock crawlerway. A team of about 30 USA personnel 

monitored the crawler's systems and progress, which averaged 0.8 mph and was expected to peak at just 

over 1 mph. A truck hosed down the path ahead to minimize loose dirt and debris that could cause a jam. 

All the crawler needed was a rocket to carry. Web posted. (2012). ['Crawler' aces tests in post-shuttle life 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 22].] 

November 24: Some of the most satisfied employees year-in, year-out work at the Nuclear Regulatory 

Commission and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to the Partnership for 

Public Service, a nonprofit that encourages careers in government. Employment specialists say job 

satisfaction is critical for doing the public's business. "All the research shows that the more engaged 

employees are, the more committed they are, the more effective an organization is," said John Palguta, 

vice president of policy with the Partnership, which ranks hundreds of federal agencies each year in a 

report entitled "Best Places to Work." The partnership develops its rallkings using employee responses to 

a survey by the Office of Personnel Management. The 2012 survey of more than 687,000 workers was 

released last week. The OPM said 80 percent of them enjoyed their work, and more than two-thirds would 

recommend their agency to others. The partnership's report for 2012 is due out next month. Web posted. 

(2012). [Ranking agencies by job satisfaction [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/ [2012, November 24].] 

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+ SpaceX has delivered a Falcon 9 rocket to Cape Canaveral while continuing an engine-problem 

investigation that will delay the booster's planned launch from mid-January to early March. Company 

and NASA engineers are still sorting out what caused one of nine Merlin engines to shut down early 

during the Oct. 7 launch of a Dragon cargo capsule to the International Space Station, NASA officials 

told an advisory comniittee. The NASA Advisory Council's Human Exploration and Operations 

Committee also learned at its Nov. 14 meeting about several anomalies the Dragon spacecraft 

experienced during its first commercial resupply mission to the station. ·But Mike Suffredini, NASA's 

ISS program manager, said last month that the outpost is well-stocked, and there is no urgency to fly the 

next Dragon mission, the second of 12 under a $1.6 billion contract. The Falcon 9 successfully delivered 

the Dragon to orbit despite the engine shutdown 79 seconds after liftoff. A commercial satellite flown as 

a secondary payload, however, was left in a lower-than-desired orbit and re-entered the atmosphere within 

days. Debris blew away from the rocket when the engine suddenly lost pressure. That was not an 

explosion, SpaceX said, but likely a release of pressure that shattered an aerodynamic shell around the 

.engine. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX engine probe delays Jan. flight [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 24].] 

November 26: NASA's first orbital flight-model Orion crew capsule will have to be repaired before its 

planned 2014 debut after its aft bulkhead cracked during recent pressure testing at the Kennedy Space 

Center in Florida, a NASA spokeswoman said last week. The cracks were discovered during a proof 

pressure test the week of Nov. 5. Proof testing, in which a pressure vessel is subject to stresses greater 

than those it is expected to encounter during routine use, is one of the many preflight tests NASA is 

performing on Orion to certify the craft is safe for astronauts, agency spokeswoman Rachel Kraft said. 

"The cracks are in three adjacent, radial ribs of this integrally machined, aluminum bulkhead," Kraft 

wrote in an email. "This hardware will be repaired and will not need to be remanufactured." It took Orion 

prime contractor Lockheed Martin Space Systems of Denver about a year to make the vehicle that was 

damaged. Kraft did not say how long it would take to repair the capsule, built as part of a program 

intended to take astronauts to destinations beyond low Earth orbit. Lockheed Martin's Orion prime 

contract, awarded in 2006, is worth $6.23 billion. NASA added $375 million to that award in December 

so Lockheed Martin could buy a Delta 4 Heavy rocket for the Exploration Flight Test 1 launch. Delta 4 is 

not Orion's primary carrier rocket. NASA is building the massive Space Launch System rocket at the 

Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., to loft Orion on missions beyond low Earth orbit. Web 

posted. (2012). [NASA discovers cracks in its deep-space Orion capsule [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/ [2012, November 26].] 

+ At the north end of Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is a launch complex where unmanned Atlas 

rockets blast off with super-secret national-security satellites. Four towering lightning protection masts 

surround the pad, which also has been the embarkation point for robotic NASA spacecraft flying missions 

to the moon, Mars, Jupiter and Pluto. Mike Leinbach looks out over the landscape and envisions 

something else: American astronauts riding an elevator to the top of a 22-story crew access tower, 

crossing a swing arm, and then boarding a U.S. spacecraft atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. 

Fifty-one years after Alan Shepard's inaugural U.S. human spaceflight, America no longer is capable of 

launching its own astronauts into orbit. NASA's shuttle orbiters are ensconced in museums. And in a 

post-Cold War irony, the U.S. is reliant on Russia to fly astronauts into space. "This is going to happen. 

·We are going to put American astronauts into orbit on American rockets again," said Leinbach, 59, the 

longtime NASA shuttle launch director who now is director of human space flight operations for ULA. 

"It's just a question of time." The clock is ticking. Literally for Chris Ferguson, the veteran U.S. 

astronaut who commanded the last space shuttle mission and is on a short list to command the first piloted 

test flight of the Boeing spacecraft being developed to carry U.S. crews. Ferguson tracks "Mission 

Elapsed Time," or MET, a measure of days, hours and minutes since liftoff of an American manned space 

mission, on his Omega Speedmaster X-33, the watch of choice for U.S. astronauts. At 11:29 a.m. EDT 

today, the Mission Elapsed Time on his watch will reach 507 days- 507 days since liftoff of Atlantis, 

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NASA's final shuttle mission and the end, temporarily, of America's manned launch capability. 

Ferguson has no plans to reset his MET tracker until liftoff ofthe Boeing CST-100's test flight atop an 

Atlas V rocket, which is being targeted for 2016. Ferguson, who joined Boeing last December, and 

Leinbach are on the front lines of an epic effort to restore U.S. human spaceflight capability - and a 

crucial, alternative means of getting people to and from the International Space Station. "This is an active 

launch pad, for national security space, and NASA. And so in order to build a new structure out here, 

while we're launching offthis facility, is going to be a trick," Leinbach said. Modular components will be 

built off-site. "We'll bring them in. We'll stack them up like dominoes in between launches," he said. "So 

you'll see, in time, the construction of this tower. It's going to be a permanent structure here, and we're 

really excited about it." The skyline at America's rocket ranch is in for a slight change. And in time, U.S. 

astronauts will be flying once again on U.S. rockets and spacecraft. Web posted. (2012). [U.S. on the 

clock to return to orbit [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.msnbc.rnsn.com/ [2012, November 26].] 

+ NASA's original jumbo jet, which was used to ferry the space shuttles around the country, has landed 

at Ellington Field in Houston, where it is to stay. The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), often referred to 

using its tail number, NASA 905, was most recently used to fly space shuttle Endeavour to Los Angeles 

in September. The 747 jetliner was seen by millions of people as it made its way from the Kennedy Space 

Center in Florida to California, where it performed a scenic flyover of the state with Endeavour riding 

piggyback. After Endeavour was offloaded, the SCA took off from Los Angeles International Airport, 

without fanfare, on what was reported to be its final flight: a 20 minute trip to NASA's Dryden Flight 

Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California. There, it was to join its sister SCA, 

NASA 911 , as a parts donor for another ofNASA's 747 jetliner-based programs, the Stratospheric 

Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA). Then a flight plan was filed for Ellington Field. NASA 

905 was flown to Houston on Oct. 24, just in time for it be on hand for the Wings Over Houston Air 

Show. The rumor on the flight line was that the public display was a preview of things to come. Web 

posted. (2012). [NASA Space shuttle-carrying jet lands for good [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.cbsnews.com/ [2012, November 26].] 

November 27: NASA is evaluating options for repairing the first Orion crew capsule slated to fly in 

space after it suffered cracks during recent pressure testing at Kennedy Space Center. The damage is not 

expected to delay a planned launch of the unmanned spacecraft from Cape Canaveral on a test flight in 

2014, officials say. "The intent is to diagnose root cause and repair the cracks in time to support a second 

. scheduled window for loads testing early next year," NASA spokeswoman Rachel Kraft said in an e-mail. 

The cracks appeared during a "proof pressure" test in KSC' s Operations and Checkout building. NASA 

is developing Orion to fly astronauts on deep space exploration missions to the moon, an asteroid or 

beyond. A first crewed flight from KSC is targeted for 2021. Web posted. (2012). [Pressure test reveals 

cracks in Orion space capsule [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

November 27].] 

+ Space launch company Stratolaunch has parted ways with manufacturer Space X, dissolving a 

partnership dating from the project's inception. "Stratolaunch and Space X have amicably agreed to end 

our contractual relationship because the current launch vehicle design has departed significantly from the 

Falcon derivative vehicle envisioned by SpaceX and does not fit well with their long-term strategic 

business model," says Gary Wentz, Stratolaunch CEO, in a 27 November email. "Moving forward, 

Stratolaunch has engaged Orbital Sciences Corporation to evaluate and develop alternative solutions with 

the objective of arriving at a design decision in the early spring timeframe. The other segment contractors 

will continue to proceed forward in accordance with existing plans since their interfaces have been 

defmed," he adds. Despite the close relations, Stratolaunch's updated designs required "significant 

structural mods to incorporate a fin/chine configuration," according to Wentz. Initial concepts did not 

include a chine, which is a structural extension of the wing root along the sides of the vehicle, useful for 

providing lift at high speeds. According to a source familiar with the matter, the design changes necessary 

168 
would have forced SpaceX to make substantial modifications of their manufacturing process, which 

would effectively negate crucial commonalities with the company's signature Falcon 9 launch vehicle. 

Web posted. (2012). [Stratolaunch and SpaceX part ways [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.flightglobal.com/ [2012, November 27].] 

November 28: NASA's Mars rover Curiosity marked one year away from Earth Monday (Nov. 26), but 

the car-size robot's work on the Red Planet is just getting starte~l. Curiosity launched from Florida's Cape 

Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 26, 2011, then endured an eight-month cruise through deep space to 

the Red Planet. The $2.5 billion rover touched down on Aug. 5, executing an unprecedented series of 

maneuvers that saw it lowered to the Martian surface on cables by a rocket-powered sky crane. Since that 

dramatic landing, Curiosity has driven 1,696 feet (517 meters) and returned more than 23,000 raw images 

to its handlers here on Earth, NASA officials said. But there's much more to come. Curiosity is just 16 

weeks into a two-year prime mission that aims to determine if its Gale Crater landing site can, or ever 

could, support microbial life. The rover carries 10 different science instruments to help it in this quest, 

including one called Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, which can identify organic compounds - the 

carbon-containing building blocks of life as we know it. Web posted. (20 12). [Mars Rover Curiosity 

Celebrates 1st Birthday Off Earth [Online]. Available WWWt http://www.space.com/ [2012, November 

28].] 

+ This week and next, all5,300 sixth-graders in Brevard County will be bused to Kennedy Space Center 

Visitor Complex on a mission aimed at stoking interest in science, technology, engineering and 

mathematics (STEM) careers. Herb Yamada, an engaging engineer from Lockheed Martin, is the central 

figure in a sidesplitting introduction to the principles of aeronautics and astronautics. And there is the 

Shuttle Launch Experience- the attraction that allows kids to sense an earth-shaking nine-minute flight 

into orbit. "I want to see how it is to go up into space like the other astronauts," said Bibiana Dolcin, 11, 

of MILA Elementary on Merritt Island. Working side-by-side with other classmates, Dole in put together 

a prototype of an International Space Station truss. The kids used plastic K'Nex toys to build their smallscale girders, and then tested them on stands with weighted loads. Previous programs focused on science, 

technology and mathematics, but the K'Nex truss work involved engineering. Students are steeped in both 

academic and hands-on experience with the engineering process. "The kids really love it," MILA teacher 

Sherri Wallauer said. "It's just really important because we connected what we do with the trusses here 

(at Space Week) with the trusses on the International Space Station." More than 60 schools will send· 

sixth-graders to the 1Oth annual Brevard Space Week. Web posted. (20 12). [KSC to kids during Space 

Week: Aim high [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 28].] 

November 29: Researchers from several local companies and universities have won opportunities to fly 

small payloads· aboard the International Space Station. They were among eight winners of the ISS 

Research Competition sponsored by Space Florida and NanoRacks, announced today at the American 

Society for Gravitational and Space Research's meeting this week in New Orleans. The local winners 

included scientists at Kennedy Space Center-based Cella Energy and CSS-Dynamac, plus Florida Tech, 

the University of Central Florida and the Sanford-Burnham Medical Institute at Lake Nona. In 

"NanoLab" boxes provided by NanoRacks, the eight research payloads are expected to be flown to the 

station's U.S. National Lab on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon capsule tentatively scheduled for 

launch in December 2013. Space Florida, the state aerospace development agency, will cover the 

transportation cost. Web posted. (2012). [Brevard researchers to fly payloads aboard ISS [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, November 29].] 

+ It is a space shuttle orbiter like you've never seen before -- wrapped in a plastic cocoon, perched atop 

pedestals and tilted at a steep angle-- while construction crews finish building a massive exhibit hall 

around the spaceship. The site is the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and the star of the new $100 

million, privately-financed attraction is Atlantis. The museum, dedicated to telling the story of the 30-year 

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shuttle program, is set for a grand opening to the world next July. Now secure atop beefy support 

columns and rolled at a 43.21-degree angle, the 152,700-pound spacecraft will sit patiently for the next 

several months while the interior of the facility is decked out with 62 exhibits, many of them hands-on 

experiences, plus a full-size replica of the Hubble Space Telescope that spans the first and second floors, 

an International Space Station presentation, a memorial area for remembrance, a small theater and even 

the gaseous oxygen vent hood taken from the old shuttle launch pad 39B. Atlantis is wrapped with the 

protective covering to keep dirt and debris off the vehicle while construction continues around her. It will 

be removed in March and the payload bay doors opened in April, a four-to-five-day process, Macy said, 

as the 60-foot-long clamshell doors get swung open and then supported with tiny wires dropped from the 

ceiling above. The open side of the building where the orbiter rolled in now has its skeletal frame in place 

and should be fully erected by mid-December, allowing the air conditioning system to be started up. A 

dehumidifier will extract water from the air for reuse flushing the toilets and rainwater collected from the 

roof will be recycled for irrigation around the complex. What's more, that wall will support a 125 by 40 

foot LED television to show Earth's horizon and scenes behind the orbiter as the public walks around 

Atlantis. The ship arrived aboard a 76-wheel, V12 transporter, trekking 9.8 miles from the Vehicle 

Assembly Building at KSC's Complex 39 to the Visitor Complex on Nov. 2. Following green lines 

painted on freshly-laid asphalt, motorized hauler shimmied into the building to park Atlantis in her final 

resting place. Atlantis flew into space 33 times, traveling 125,935,769 miles and covering 4,848 orbits 

during 307 days aloft. Web posted. (2012). [Shuttle Atlantis lifted, tilted in museum home [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, November 29].] 

November 30: NASA's top administrators, baffled by continued congressional resistance to funding the 

agency's commercial crew program, this week said supporters should revamp how they advocate for 

privatized human spaceflight. After the retirement of the space shuttle, NASA is turning to the private 

sector to supply U.S. crew transportation to the International Space Station. Until a domestic provider 

becomes operational, NASA has procured astronaut seats on Russian Soyuz vehicles. The commercial 

crew transportation initiative was announced by the Obama administration in February 2010, but nearly 

three years later, NASA's top managers are still selling the program's merits to lawmakers. In August, 

NASA announced Boeing Co., SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp. won agreements to receive up to $1.1 

billion through May 2014 to continue designing and testing human-rated commercial rockets and 

spaceships. NASA expects at least one of the companies will have an operational crew transportation 

system by 2017. Concerned that NASA was shortchanging other priorities, including the governmentowned Space Launch System and Orion exploration programs, Congress declined to appropriate the 

White House's requested funding for the commercial crew program for the last two years. The space 

agency is spending less than half the money it said it needed for fiscal year 2013, which began Oct. 1. 

Congress was unable to pass a federal budget before the last fiscal year's spending package expired, and 

lawmakers extended funding to NASA and other agencies at fiscal 2012 levels. The continuing resolution 

runs until March 27 and extends the commercial crew program's $406 million annual budget for the first 

six months offiscal2013, affecting the rate at which the program can spend money. The Obama 

administration proposed giving the commercial crew program $830 million in fiscal2013 . "We are 

obviously not communicating this well," said Lori Garver, NASA's deputy administrator, who said the 

agency has had a tough time selling commercial crew transportation and technology development funding 

on Capitol Hill. "I can't believe we're losing this argument." So far, NASA expects the commercial crew 

milestones to remain on schedule through the timeframe of the continuing resolution, according to 

Candrea Thomas, an agency spokesperson. Web posted. (2012). [NASA still making the case for 

commercial crew [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, November 30].] 

170 
DECEMBER 

December 3: Workers at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida shrink-wrapped, lifted 

and then last week, slowly and carefully tilted the 152,700-pound (69,300 kilograms) retired spacecraft, 

such that they placed Atlantis at an angle only previously seen when it was in space. The steep angle and 

raised position was designed to give visitors an eye-level view of Atlantis, as if they were on board the 

International Space Station (ISS) and the shuttle had just backed away. The illusion will be enhanced by a 

backdrop of the Earth from space, as will be projected on a 125- by 40-foot (38 by 12 meters) LED 

screen. Despite the precarious angle, Atlantis is secure in its final orientation. The lift and tilt was 

achieved using industrial jacks from below, rather than cranes from above. The team practiced before 

raising the shuttle using a 130,000-pound block of concrete to stand in for the weight of the orbiter. 

Angling Atlantis was the last of the planned moves for the retired winged spacecraft, which logged 

125,935,769 miles (202,673,974 km) while flying 33 times to space, including on NASA's final mission 

of the 30-yeat space shuttle program. Earlier this month, Atlantis was delivered to the visitor complex 

from the nearby Kennedy Space Center and rolled into its new 90,000 square-foot home. Before being 

raising the full 36 feet (11 m) into the air, Atlantis was shrink-wrapped- from nose to tail- in plastic, 

to protect it as its exhibition building is completed and more than 60 related displays and artifacts are 

moved in and positioned around it. Supported by massive steel beams and held in place by the same 

hardware that kept the shuttle mounted on top of NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft, Atlantis' final resting 

place has its left wingjust 7.5 feet (2.3 m) off the ground. Atlantis' nose sits 26.5 feet (8 m) high. Atlantis 

will rema,in wrapped until March, when the plastic will be removed and preparations will begin to open its 

two 60-foot (18 meter) payload bay doors using a cable and pulley system suspended from the ceiling of 

the five-story building. In the meantime, work will continue on finishing the facility, including sealing its 

fourth wall, through which Atlantis entered. Preparations also continue on the building's exterior, which 

was designed to immerse visitors in the space shuttle's story. Web posted. (2012). [Tilt! Space shuttle 

Atlantis posed for museum display [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.nbcnews.com/ [2012, 

December 3].] 

December 5: A new report examining ways to improve NASA's efficiency offers a simple but politically 

volatile suggestion: Think about downsizing the agency's 10 field centers, including Kennedy Space 

Center. The report, requested by Co~gress and released Wednesday by the National Research Council, 

acknowledges the benefits of spreading facilities around the country, "where they can tap into localized 

talent." But that decentralized system also makes it harder for NASA to redeploy workers and missions 

where they make the most sense, the report says. In addition, civil service protections and other 

constraints complicate broad workfofce reductions and disposal of excess property. As a result, NASA 

has underutilized facilities, significant deferred maintenance and modernization costs, and workforce 

skill-maintenance issues. Albert Camesale, who chaired the commission that authored the report, told 

reporters the panel is not recommending that centers be closed or downsized, partly because they didn't 

analyze which tasks could be consolidated and who should be doing them. "But we do know if you're 

tight on resources, that you've got to look at everything," he said. Camesale noted that NASA spends 

only about 3 percent of its budget on the aeronautics program yet the four centers established for 

aeronautics projects employ nearly 25 percent of the agency's workforce. It doesn't mean those workers 

are unproductive but suggests NASA might not be using them efficiently, he said. The report notes that 

multiple field centers were established during the early years of the space race for different reasons, 

including supporting regional economic development and increasing political support for NASA. And 

that's precisely why it's unlikely any centers would close. Web posted. (2012). [Panel suggests NASA 

look at downsizing centers [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, December 

5].] 

171 
+ Florida Tech and the International Space University recently agreed to further cooperation between the 

two institutions, including joint study activities, lectures and student exchanges. The two universities 

began working together this summer when the ISU Space Studies Program took place in Florida and was 

hosted by Florida Tech and Kennedy Space Center. "Occasionally one is fortunate enough to develop a 

relationship that makes both institutions better," said T. Dwayne McCay, Florida Tech's executive vice 

president and chief operating officer. "The (agreement) we signed extends those opportunities for at least 

the next five years and, we hope, even longer." The memorandum of understanding was signed in 

November at ISU in Strasbourg, France. Web posted. (2012). [Florida Tech, space university agree to 

continued partnership [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, December 5].] 

+ SpaceX has been awarded its first two Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EEL V)-class missions. 

The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center will use SpaceX Falcon rockets in 2014 and 2015 to 

launch DSCOVR (Deep Space Climate Observatory) and STP-2 (Space Test Program 2). The DSCOVR 

mission will be launched aboard a Falcon 9 in late 2014, while STP-2 will be launched aboard the Falcon 

Heavy in mid-2015. Both will launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force 

Station. The Air Force contract is designed to bring new entrants to the EELV program. Web posted. 

(2012). [SpaceX awarded Air Force launch contracts [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .floridatoday.cornl [20 12, December 5].] 

December 6: Fly you to the moon? That's what a company launched by several ex-NASA executives 

would like to do - for the right price. The Golden Spike Company bills itself as the first private venture 

planning to offer routine exploration expeditions to the lunar surface. It joins a growing roster of 

commercial entries, such as SpaceX, Moon Express and Virgin Galactic, that are developing spacecraft 

capable of traveling beyond the Earth's atmosphere. The firm is the brainchild of former NASA science 

chief Alan Stern and Gerry Griffin, a former Apollo flight director and former director of NASA Johnson 

Space Center. They hope to start launching the flights by the end of the decade, assuming fmancial 

backing and sufficient advance ticket sales. Griffin, who also served as deputy director of Kennedy Space 

Center, said the technical know-how to explore space has grown so widespread over recent years that it's 

spawned a slew of private-sector start-ups, including Golden Spike, that wouldn't have existed a decade 

ago. "We're in the midst of a historic era in commercial space flight," he said during a news conference 

at the National Press Club on Thursday to unveil the company's plans. He said Golden Spike will help 

customers achieve objectives "based around science, business, national prestige and personal 

accomplishment." Golden Spike will market trips to "nations, individuals, and corporations with lunar 

exploration objectives and ambitions." It expects to do its first lunar mission at a cost of about $7 billion 

and pay for expenses by charging for transport and selling naming rights, among other creative methods, 

Stern said. But the company still needs financial backers. Web posted. (2012). [Golden Spike Company 

promises lunar visits in this decade [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

December 6].] 

+ Air Force and United Launch Alliance officials will meet today hoping to confirm plans for a Tuesday 

afternoon launch of a secret military space plane from Cape Canaveral. The Air Force's 45th Space Wing 

said in a news release Thursday that launch of the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle atop an Atlas V rocket was 

scheduled for a five-hour window between 1:03 p.m. and 6:03 p.m. Tuesday. The launch follows weeks 

of investigation into an upper-stage engine problem during ULA's Oct. 4launch of a GPS satellite on a 

Delta IV rocket. Next week's launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station would be the third by an 

unmanned OTV, which resembles a miniature space shuttle measuring 29 feet long and 15 feet wide. The 

Air Force says its two OTV spacecraft are testing advanced guidance, navigation and control systems. 

They are also a rapid-turnaround technology demonstrator. Officials have said that the spacecraft 

launching next week, making its second voyage, could land on Kennedy Space Center's runway. The first 

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two missions touched down in California. Web posted. (2012). [Military's secret X-37B Orbital Test 

Vehicle awaits OK [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, December 6].] 

December 7: United Space Alliance today bids goodbye to 119 Kennedy Space Center employees in its 

latest round of layoffs. NASA's lead shuttle contractor, a joint venture between The Boeing Co. and 

Lockheed Martin Corp., is continuing a multi-year downsizing as closeout of the shuttle program nears 

completion. Today's cuts will drop the Houston-based USA's Florida headcount to slightly more than 

900 employees. Another 129 are slated to leave Jan. 4. All laid-off employees have been eligible for 

severance packages and help finding new jobs. Web posted. (2012). [119 KSC United Space Alliance 

workers lose jobs today [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, December 7].] 

+ United Launch Alliance (ULA) said a fuel leak was behind a performance issue with a Delta 4 rocket's 

upper-stage during an Oct. 4 launch but that the hiccup should not affect similar hardware aboard the 

Atlas 5 rocket now being prepped to launch a U.S. Air Force space plane Dec. 11. The launch of the X37B space plane from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., had been scheduled for Oct. 25 but was 

delayed to allow ULA and the Air Force to investigate the earlier anomaly. The space plane's mission is 

classified. The fuel leak, in the interior of the thrust chamber of the Delta 4's Pratt & Whitney-built RL1 0 engine, occurred during the successful launch of a GPS satellite from Florida. It started during the first I 

engine start sequence of the launch, ULA said in a Dec. 7 press release. The Atlas 5 slated to launch the 

X-37B space plane, or Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV), uses a different variant of the RL-10 engine. ULA 

spokeswoman Jessica Rye said company inspectors at the Cape performed extra work ahead of a Dec. 7 

launch readiness review to make sure the Atlas 5 was not at risk of having the same issue. "What we're 

doing is looking at [the Atlas 5's] upper engine, doing borescope inspections and making sure at this 

point about that engine, that one in particular," Rye said. "Typically, we would not do that type of 

inspection, but it's something that we can do if we want to get a better look at the engine." ULA said its 

investigation into the Oct. 4 anomaly continues. However, "all credible crossover implications from the 

Delta anomaly for the OTV -3 Atlas vehicle and engine system have been thoroughly addressed and 

mitigated, culminating in the flight clearance decision for the OTV -3 launch," the company said. The 

Boeing-built X-37B scheduled to launch Dec. 11 has flown in space once before, logging 225 days in 

orbit following its April22, 2010, launch. Another X-37B returned to Earth in June after 469 days in 

space. The next spacecraft slated to fly on a Delta 4 is the Wideband Global Satcom 5, a military 

communications satellite that will launch from Cape Canaveral. Due to the ongoing ULA and Air Force 

investigations, there is no launch date for that mission, which had been scheduled for early 2013. Web 

posted. (2012). [Leak cited in Delta 4 Anomaly; X-37B Is Cleared to Launch [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www .spacenews.com/ [20 12, December 7].] 

December 8: The early forecast is iffy for the planned 1:03 p.m. Tuesday launch of a secret military 

min-shuttle from Cape Canaveral atop an Atlas V rocket. Air Force meteorologists predict there's a 40 

percent chance of favorable weather during a five-hour launch window. An approaching cold front is 

likely to produce chances of lightning, cumulus and thick clouds and disturbed weather. The odds are the 

same if the launch slips to Wednesday. The Air Force is attempting to launch an unmanned X-37B Orbital 

Test Vehicle for the third time. United Launch Alliance on Friday confirmed the rocket's readiness for 

launch. While an investigation continues into an upper-stage engine glitch during an October Delta IV 

rocket flight, officials are confident they have addressed "all credible crossover implications" for the 

Atlas V, which uses a similar engine. Web posted. (2012). [Weather iffy for Tuesday's planned minishuttle launch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, December 8].] 

December 11: A classified military space plane blasted off into orbit Tuesday (Dec. 11) on the third 

mission of the U.S. Air Force's X-37B program. The X~37B vehicle,, also called Orbital Test Vehicle-3, 

or OTV -3, launched atop an Atlas 5 rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) at 

173 
1:03 p.m. EST (1803 GMT). The Air Force has been secretive about the details of the space plane's 

mission and its classified payload, which sits in a payload bay about the size of a pickup truck bed. 

Experts have suggested the vehicle could be used for materials science, space surveillance, imaging and 

reconnaissance. The mission is being managed by the Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. Web posted. 

(2012). [Classified Air Force Space Plane Launches on Secret Mission [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.space.com/ [2012, December 11).) 

December 12: NASA has awarded contracts to Boeing Co., SpaceX and Sierra Nevada Corp. to begin 

the process of ensuring commercial crew spacecraft meet the space agency's stringent safety standards for 

human spaceflight. The contracts open the next phase of NASA's commercial crew program. NASA 

expects the two-step certification strategy to last up to four years, culminating in test flights to the 

International Space Station by 2017. Each company will receive about $10 million. The contract period 

begins Jan. 22 and runs through May 2014. "I congratulate the three companies for their selection," said 

Ed Mango, commercial crew program manager at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. "This is the 

program's first major, fixed-price contract. The effort will bring space system designs within NASA's 

safety and performance expectations for future flights to the International Space Station." Boeing, SpaceX 

and Sierra Nevada won federal investments in August to continue designing, building and testing vehicles 

to carry astronauts to the International Space Station. After the space shuttle's retirement, NASA is 

turning to privately-owned, government-supported transport systems for low Earth orbit. The Space Act 

Agreements have a combined value worth up to $1.1 billion. Like the certification contracts, the 

development deals run through May 2014. Boeing is developing the seven-person CST-100 crew capsule, 

SpaceX is upgrading its Dragon cargo spacecraft for human passengers, and Sierra Nevada is working on 

the Dream Chaser, a lifting body spacecraft designed to land on a runway. Web posted. (2012). [NASA 

kicks off commercial crew certification process [Online). Available WWW: 

http://www .spaceflightnow .com/ [20 12, December 12].] 

+ Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) has discovered the root cause of a premature engine 

shutdown during the company's first paid cargo flight to the international space station in October, but the 

Hawthorne, Calif., rocket and spacecraft maker is not ready to make the results of its months-long 

investigation public, a company executive said. "We're doing one of the final out briefs on the most 

probable cause for the engine issue with [NASA's international space station program manager, Michael 

Suffredini] later this week," SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said Dec. 11 at a Washington Space 

Business Roundtable luncheon here. "We're not going to release what we found but I think we've got a 

good most probable cause identified. The data supports that." One of the nine first-stage engines on 

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket shut down prematurely 79 seconds after liftoff Oct. 7 at the start of an 

otherwise successful space station cargo run. The only publicly released details about the engine failure so 

far come from a statement SpaceX put out the day after the launch, which boosted the company's Dragon 

cargo capsule toward the station. "We know the engine did not explode because we continued to receive 

data from it," SpaceX said in an Oct. 8 press release. "Our review indicates that the fairing that protects 

the engine from aerodynamic loads ruptured due to the engine pressure release, and that none of Falcon · 

9's other eight engines were impacted by this event." SpaceX has at least seven launches on the manifest 

for 2013, including the debut of the Falcon Heavy from the company's new West Coast launch pad at 

Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. The first NASA mission in which a Falcon 9 with Merlin 1D engines 

will be used is a space station cargo run now scheduled for July, according to an internal NASA manifest. 

Before that mission, which would be SpaceX's third for NASA under a $1.6 billion Commercial 

Resupply Services contract awarded in 2008, the company plans to launch three commercial payloads 

with the upgraded Falcon 9. However, Shotwell said, there is no contractual requirement for SpaceX to 

test the upgraded Falcon 9 before using it to resupply the space station. Web posted. (2012). [SpaceX 

Discovers Cause of October Falcon 9 Engine Failure [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, December 12).] 

174 
December 13: Federal scientific agencies stand to lose thousands of jobs from sequestration, an industry 

report predicted Thursday. The Aerospace Industries Association, a trade group for government 

contractors, found in its study that the automatic cuts set to take effect on Jan. 2, 2013, unless there is a 

deficit reduction deal would cost 20,500 NASA contractors their jobs in 2013, while the National 

Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration could shed more than 2,500, largely in satellite building 

and operation. AlA based its estimates on the Office of Management and Budget's guidelines that 

sequestration would slash both agencies' budgets by 8.2 percent. "Such a deep and reckless cut to these 

agencies would senselessly jeopardize U.S. space leadership and stifle exactly the kind of investment in 

innovation that our economy needs," the group wrote in its report. AlA speculated that because the 2010 

NASA Authorization Act prohibits any cuts to its federal workforce through fiscal year 2013, all the jobs 

the agency losses would come from the private sector contractors. NASA did not rule out the potential 

for non-civil servant job loss, saying that while it has begun preliminary discussions to plan for 

sequestration, it does not believe the cuts will ultimately take place. Web posted. (2012). [Study: 

Thousands would lose jobs from NASA, NOAA budget cuts [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.govexec.com/ [2012, December 13].] 

+ It probably won't be able to fuel Doc Brown's flux capacitor on his DeLorean time machine, but 

NASA researchers are hoping a new device that will be tested on the International Space Station can tum 

trash into power. The Trash to Gas Reactor is a miniature version of large waste incineration facilities on 

Earth that generate electricity or fuel. This could help with the accumulating trash on the ISS and be used 

on future missions beyond Earth orbit, as well as help the trash problem in areas of the world where there 

are neither large power plants nor garbage processing facilities. The prototype of the Trash to Gas Reactor 

is a meter-long (3 foot-long) device that looks strikingly similar to the "Mr. Fusion" reactor in the second 

"Back to the Future" movie. Just like Doc Brown and Marty, astronauts can throw in things like food 

wrappers, used clothing, food scraps, tape, packaging and other garbage accumulated by the crew and the 

reactor will tum it into potential power, such as methane gas, or even oxygen or water. The team 

developing the reactor is hoping to have their prototype ready to fly on the ISS by 2018. A team led by 

Paul Hintze at the Kennedy Space Center has built an SO-pound small reactor to test theories about 

incinerating a variety of trash ranging from used clothes to uneaten food. The reactor holds more than 

three quarts of material and bums at about 1,000 degrees F, about twice the maximum temperature of an 

average household oven. It's expected to take astronauts four hours to bum a day's worth of trash from a 

crew of four. The team estimates that during the course of a year in space- one half the length of time a 

mission to Mars is expected to take -trash processing for a crew of four would create about 2,200 pounds 

of methane fuel, enough to power a launch from the lunar surface, Hintze said. Web posted. (2012). 

[NASA's Version of Mr. Fusion [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.universetoday.com/ [2012, 

December 13].] 

December 14: The Obama administration is seeking $60.4 billion in federal aid for Hurricane Sandy 

relief efforts, which would include repairs at the National Air and Space Museum and NASA's launch 

facilities on the East Coast. The White House's requests were outlined in a letter sent late last week to 

congressional leaders from Jeff Zeints, director of the Office of Management and Budget. The bulk of the 

proposed aid money would go toward efforts to repair homes and public infrastructure ravaged by the 

record-breaking superstorm and infuse cash into efforts to prepare for future storms. But the White 

House also asked for $4 million to allow NASA to fix eroded dunes and berms that protect launch sites at 

the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Under the plan, another 

$2 million would go to the Smithsonian to help the institution fix roof damage at its network of museums 

in the Washington, D.C., area, including the National Museum of Natural History, National Museum of 

American History, National Air and Space Museum and National Zoo. But all that rides on approval from 

Congress. The Senate is to begin debating its own version of the package Monday afternoon. That 

proposal matches the White House's requested $60.4 billion, although it would make available $15 

million for repairs at NASA facilities through 2018, according to a senate summary of the bill. Web 

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posted. (2012). [Proposed Sandy Aid Package Would Help NASA, Smithsonian [Online]. Available 

WWW: htto://www.space.com/ [2012, December 14].] 

December 16: The United Space Alliance sign on its Cape Canaveral building came down over the 

weekend, becoming yet another local symbolic event marking the end of the U.S. Space Shuttle program. 

The NASA contractor has recently undergone several rounds of layoffs, including announced layoffs of 

over 100 employees at Kennedy Space Center to take place this month through January, and 148 

employees last September, according to documents filed with the Florida Department of Economic 

Opportunity. Similar to the end of the Apollo program, the end of the shuttle program has had a 

devastating economic impact on Florida's Space Coast which now has the highest foreclosure rate in the 

U.S. Web posted. (2012). [United Space Alliance Sign Comes Down [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.space.brevardtimes.com/ [2012, December 14.] 

December 17: After a Taurus XL launch vehicle failed to loft the Orbiting Carbon Observatory (OCO) 

in February 2009, NASA used another Taurus XL to launch the Glory climate-monitoring spacecraft 

despite a recommendation from its own engineering safety office to ground the Orbital Sciences Corp. 

rocket until key components could be requalified. The agency accepted a risk of a similar mishap on the 

March 2011 launch attempt that was calculated as high as 50%, a gamble that resulted in the loss of the · 

$424 million mission when the vehicle's payload shroud once again failed to open and pulled the satellite 

into the ocean off Antarctica. Since then, NASA has decided against using a Taurus XL to launch the 

replacement OC0-2 mission. Other Orbitai vehicles, including the air-launched Pegasus and a new 

Antares rocket, use a version of the same fairing separation system that is most likely responsible for the 

combined $700 million loss of two key climate-study satellites. Orbital's original name for Antares was 

Taurus II. Web posted. (2012). [NASA Launched Glory Despite Open Component Questions [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.aviationweek.com/ [2012, December 17.] 

+ Santa and Mrs. Claus have stopped by the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex located in Florida. 

This marks the second year that the duo have used hypergolic-fueled reindeer to travel from the North 

Pole to the new home of space shuttle Atlantis. The operators of the Visitor Complex, Delaware North 

Parks & Companies, invited Mr. and Mrs. Claus to greet guests and to host "Holidays in Space," which 

includes a broad array of events and activities honoring this festive time of year. The event began this 

year on November 23 and will last through January 1. Web posted. (2012). [Kennedy Space Center 

Celebrates 'Holidays in Space' [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.americaspace.com/ [2012, 

December 1 7.] 

December 18: NASA on Monday awarded a contract worth up to $1.4 billion over nearly 10 years to 

manage the ground systems and facilities that will be needed to launch astronauts on exploration missions 

from Kennedy Space Center. Jacobs Technology of Tullahoma, Tenn., won the Test and Operations 

Support Contract, or TOSC, which essentially replaces United Space Alliance's contract to operate the 

space shuttle fleet, which NASA retired from flight last year. The work will include activities such as 

assembling NASA's planned heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket and mating it with an Orion crew 

capsule inside the Vehicle Assembly Building, mounting the vehicles on a mobile launcher and rolling 

them out to pad 39B for launch. NASA is targeting a 2017 test flight of the rocket without a crew, and a 

2021 launch with a crew. Maintenance offacilities such as a V AB high bay, the launch pad, a crawlertransporter and mobile launcher are included in the work. The contract also replaces one held by The 

Boeing Co. to prepare payloads for launch to the International Space Station. The ISS cargo will be 

prepared for launch on commercial or international partner vehicles. Some work may also be performed 

for NASA's KSC-based Launch Services Program, which procures expendable rockets for launches of 

science satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station and other sites. USA, which has laid off more 

than 4,000 KSC shuttle workers in recent years, did not bid on the contract. NASA did not immediately 

176 
name other finalists. Web posted. (2012). [Tenn. Company lands NASA contract [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, December 18.] 

+ The next addition to NASA's constellation of Tracking and Data Relay Satellites has arrived at the 

Kennedy Space Center, landing this morning aboard a military transport aircraft after a cross-country ride 

inside a shipping container from Boeing's factory in Los Angeles. Dubbed TDRS K, this latest spacecraft 

for the agency's global communications infrastructure is scheduled for launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket from 

Cape Canaveral's Complex 41 on Jan. 29. Today's arrival, touching down at the Shuttle Landing Facility 

at 8:29a.m. EST in the Air Force C-17, kicks off the launch campaign for the satellite, which will include 

final testing, the loading of maneuvering propellant and encapsulation within the rocket's nose cone. 

Those activities will be performed in the spacecraft preparation facilities at the commercial Astrotech 

campus in Titusville over the next month. Once packed within the Atlas shroud, TDRS K will be hauled 

across the river to the rocket's assembly hangar Jan. 17 for mounting atop the booster. Stacking of the 

Atlas at the Vertical Integration Facility aboard a mobile launch platform begins with the first stage's 

erection on Jan. 3. After putting the interstage in place, the Centaur upper stage gets hoisted on Jan. 4. 

Web posted. (2012). [NASA's TDRS K shipped to the Cape for Jan. 29launch [Online]. Available 

WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, December 18.] 

December 19: United Space Alliance (USA), the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture established to 

operate and maintain NASA's now-retired space shuttle fleet, has shut down its Washington lobbying 

operation, a company spokeswoman said. In a Dec. 18 email, USA spokeswoman Tracy Yates confirmed 

the early December departure of Meghan Allen, who last year succeeded Kate Kronmiller as the 

company's vice president of government affairs. "The USA Government Affairs position in Washington 

has been eliminated," Yates said. "USA does not have a Washington, D.C. lobbying operation." There 

were only about 2,500 people working for USA as of July 31, down from as many as 11,000 in 2005, 

. when the shuttle program was still going strong. The Houston based company still holds several 

government contracts, which are keeping what remains of its workforce busy in Florida and Texas. Web 

posted. (2012). [USA Shutters Washington Office [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.spacenews.com/ [2012, December 19.] 

+ The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has a new, temporary ticket deal: One child, age 11 and 

younger) gets in free with one paid adult admission. The offer is valid through Jan. 7. Now through Jan. 

7, 2013 at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex children under 11 are free with a paid adult ticket. 

Web posted. (2012). [Kids free at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex until Jan. 7 [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/ [2012, December 19.] 

December 20: LDCM [Landsat Data Continuity Mission] was shipped to Vandenberg assembled and 

nearly ready to fly. A Comprehensive Performance Test will be performed on Dec. 27, followed by the 

loading of maneuvering fuel on Jan. 3. Cleaning of the satellite will be completed before final inspections 

on Jan. 6 and closeouts on Jan. 11. The two halves of the rocket's nose cone will be brought together to 

encapsulate the spacecraft on Jan. 23 in preparation for delivery of the payload to the Space Launch 

Complex 3-East pad on Jan. 25. The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket has been on the pad since 

October, undergoing its own set of pre-flight checkouts. This will be NASA's first California launch of 

the Atlas 5. Liftoff is planned for Feb. 11 at 10:04 a.m. local time (1 :04 p.m. EST; 1804 GMT). The day's 

launch window extends 44 minutes to 10:48 a.m. local. Web posted. (2012). [Next Landsat shipped to 

Vandenberg for launch [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ [2012, December 

20.] 

+ The KSC Visitor Complex is looking for help naming the new home of space shuttle Atlantis. Current 

and former KSC employees can submit a name that will be an icon of the KSC Visitor Complex for 

177 
decades to come. The name should evoke a powerful emotion and create a sense of must see; r epresent 

the legacy of the Space Shuttle Program; appeal to all ages, particularly children and families; sound 

exciting and interactive, as well as easy to use and remember; and motivate people to visit Kennedy Space 

Center and see Atlantis. Submissions for suggested names are being accepted now through 5 p.m. Friday, 

Dec. 28. E-mail distribution. (2012). [KSC Daily News Re: "Orbiter Home Naming Contest" 

[Electronic]. December 20, 2012.] 

December 21: A 38-year-old woman who handles public affairs for NASA faces charges she faked 

driving permits to cover up her DUI-related driver license suspensions, federal and state investigators 

report. She was charged with five third-degree felony counts of forgery involving public records after 

agents from the Inspector General's office raised questions in October over whether she misrepresented 

her driving status by presenting falsified temporary driving permits made on a home computer, records 

show. Investigators said she used the counterfeit permits to use government-owned vehicles to drive 

media representatives on Kennedy Space Center grounds. The civil servant was arrested by Brevard 

County sheriff's investigators at Kennedy Space Center on Thursday and was back at work today. Web 

posted. (2012). [NASA public affairs employee arrested on forgery charge [Online]. Available WWW: 

http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, December 21.] 

December 27: Tourists coming to America's spaceport at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex 

are being greeted by a modernized entrance, a facelift officially unveiled Thursday as part of the park's 

expansion in the coming years. Privately run by Delaware North Companies Parks & Resorts, the 

KSCVC is the public's gateway into the Kennedy Space Center, where men launched to the moon and all 

135 space shuttle missions originated. Now, the museum is in the midst of a makeover that will see the · 

shuttle Atlantis attraction open next July, the Astronaut Hall of Fame relocate to the main KSCVC 

campus from its original location across the river, renovations made to the eateries and gift shops and the 

bus tour loading dock that shuttles the public into operational areas of the space center spruced up for 

boarding guests. "We are self-funded," said Bill Moore, chief operating officer of the Kennedy Space 

Center Visitor Complex, who added that a portion of revenue generated by guests is reinvested to make 

the upgrades. The new entry plaza, replacing the design of yesteryear, features a three-dimensional 

NASA "meatball" logo and a 75-foot-long, 30-foot-high, 5,000-gallon blue-granite water fountain with an 

etching of former President John F. Kennedy and his words from the immortal 1962 "moon speech" that 

launched mankind's quest to land astronauts on the lunar surface. There's also new ticket stations, selfservice admission kiosks and turnstiles to bring tourists into the park. A new 2,500-square-foot gift shop 

has been built outside the turnstiles, allowing customers to purchase space items without having to enter 

the complex. In all, KSCVC has spent $16 million on the entrance area, which leads into the Rocket 

Garden, where launchers of the past stand on display. There's even a full-scale replica of the MercuryAtlas booster, complete with the capsule markings of Friendship 7 that took John Glenn into orbit nearly 

51 years ago. Lining the sidewalks are trails with embedded Tennessee River rocks, the same material 

that coats the "crawlerway" connecting the Vehicle Assembly Building and twin launch pads at Complex 

39. The park now "flows" from west to east, taking guests from the Rocket Garden, through the center 

section where the IMAX theaters are located and eventually culminating with the Atlantis exhibit and the 

Shuttle Launch Experience thrill ride. The old design had the entrance positioned in the middle of the 

park. With the entrance now rejuvenated, KSCVC is preparing to open its star attraction in July -- the 

permanent home for the retired space shuttle orbiter Atlantis. Web posted. (2012). [KSC museum gets 

makeover ahead of Atlantis opening [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.spaceflightnow.com/ 

[2012, December 27.] 

+ A billionaire-backed commercial space venture unveiled with fanfare a year ago has undergone a 

major change but continues to eye Kennedy Space Center as its eventual base of operations as it moves 

toward a 2017 test launch. Stratolaunch Systems, funded by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, is 

178 
developing the world's largest aircraft -- boasting a wingspan longer than a football field -- to carry 

rockets that would launch satellites from the sky and, possibly someday, people. The company and 

SpaceX recently ended their partnership after SpaceX, which was to contribute a smaller version of its 

Falcon 9 rocket to the project, determined changes to its production lines would be too disruptive. 

Stratolaunch is now studying rocket designs with Orbital Sciences Corp., and CEO Gary Wentz said the 

company is targeting a 2017 test launch from KSC, where a hangar and integration facilities would likely 

be built near the former space shuttle runway. "That is our current thinking, yes, that we intend to come 

there," said Wentz, a University of Central Florida graduate. He began his career at KSC before moving 

to NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., where Stratolaunch is headquartered. "We'd 

like to conduct a demo mission from the Cape, so all the planning that we're doing right now would focus 

that effort there at Kennedy." Kennedy's wide, three-mile runway and distance from population centers 

are good fits for Stratolaunch's early flight operations, though other locations may be considered, Wentz 

said. Stratolaunch, which was publicly introduced in December 2011, hopes to provide lower-cost 

launches by freeing itself from ground-based range infrastructure and weather restrictions and enabling 

quicker flight turnarounds. Web posted. (2012). [Despite shift, KSC's in Stnitolaunch's sight for 2017 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, December 27.] 

+ They typically winter no farther south than New Jersey. Maybe Hurricane Sandy steered them off 

course or disrupted their usual diet of schooling fish. Biologists aren't sure why razorbills, penguin-like 

birds, have flocked to the Space Coast and elsewhere in Florida. The black birds with white underbellies 

flapped their way to Kennedy Space Center, where Audubon members spotted a few recently during their 

annual Christmas Bird Count. "Everybody's talking about it," said Ned Steel, who coordinates the 

Audubon count on Merritt Island, which includes the secure area of the space center. Blogging birders ' 

have dubbed it a "razorbill invasion of Florida," posting their photos as proof on a Google pin map. 

Before this year, there had been only 1 7 sightings of razorbills reported to Florida's bird surveillance 

program, state wildlife officials said. During this month's local Audubon counts, participants identified 

two razorbills at the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, the first time the species had been spotted 

there in more than 40 years, Steel said. Another Audubon count this month in Cocoa spotted one of the 

birds for the first time in more than 60 years. The International Union for Conservation of Nature 

includes razorbills on its annual list of threatened species, labeling them as of "least concern," among· the 

less serious of several categories of endangerment. Web posted. (2012). [Penguin-like bird pops up in 

Brevard [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, December 27.] 

December 28: After years of rising costs, the U.S. Air Force will change the way it purchases space 

launches for the U.S. Government. A memo, made public earlier this month, from Department of Defense 

acquisition chief Frank Kendall, reportedly supports two approaches to Jurchasing space launches in an 

affordable way. The government will pursue a block buy of 36 cores from experienced rocket builder 

United Launch Alliance, and will open 14launches to competitive bids. ULA's Delta IV and Atlas V 

rockets, known as evolved expendable launch vehicles, have a remarkable record of success since their 

development in the late 1990s. The company has a monopoly on large government launches. However, 

Boeing and Lockheed Martin merged to create ULA in 2006 and could not compete with Russian and 

European competitors for commercial launches. The new approach will put more pressure on ULA to 

compete for commercial launches. Web posted. (2012). [Air Force revises launch purchases [Online]. 

Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, December 28.] 

December 30: After assisting in the dramatic deliveries of four orbiters to museums across the country, 

Kennedy Space Center is close to completing a massive but otherwise unglamorous mission: shutting 

down the shuttle program. Over 30 years of flight, the program occupied more than 270 facilities at KSC 

- from small sheds to the giant Vehicle Assembly Building- and accumulated hundreds of thousands 

of pieces of property, all of which must find new owners or be thrown away. On a recent morning, 

179 
roughly 20 large cardboard boxes provided a sample of what's left. In box No. 122921, an electric 

typewriter topped a pile of dusty television sets. Others held scrap metal, pipes, tote trays, foam mats and 

signs. "It's not the glory stuff," said George Jacobs, manager ofKSC's shuttle closeout effort. "It's the 

PVC pipes, it's the old TVs. It's everything we needed to do our job to fly the shuttle." That job ended in 

July 2011 when Atlantis returned from the International Space Station on the 135th and final mission. 

KSC teams shifted their focus to preparing three space-flown orbiters for public display and 

transportation to their new homes. Each journey- from Discovery's piggyback flight to the Smithsonian 

Institution outside Washington D.C. to Endeavour's trip through the streets of Los Angeles- drew 

throngs of onlookers who stopped cars and gathered on rooftops for a chance to "spot the shuttle." No one 

is watching now. "All the fun stuff that's very visible had been done, and now it's all the stuff that no one 

really wants to do," said Dorothy Rasco, head of NASA's Shuttle Transition and Retirement program, or 

"T&R," at Johnson Space Center in Houston. Across NASA, the initiative began with a million line 

items of property worth $18 billion (including the orbiters), Rasco said, and a team comprised of about 

200 civil servants and 1,000 contractors. Just 150,000 of those line items remain, the majority of which 

will be transferred to KSC's new contractor for ground systems operations, Jacobs Technology. By 

January, the Transition and Retirement team will have shrunk to about 20 civil servants and 200 

contractors. By next month at KSC, the last facilities will be "safed" of hazardous materials and turned 

over to the center. They include the V AB, Orbiter Processing Facility-2 - the last of three orbiter 

hangars to be cleared out - a tile shop, logistics warehouse and a solid rocket booster facility at Cape 

Canaveral Air Force Station. The center will decide what to reuse or, in some cases, to demolish. By late 

March, months ahead of schedule, the work will be done for all but a few people. The shuttle shutdown 

will have cost $400 million, not including another $500 million in pension payments to lead shuttle 

contractor United Space Alliance. NASA needed some components and facilities for future programs. 

The heavy-lift Space Launch System rocket, for example, plans to fly initially with shuttle main engines 

and shuttle-derived solid rocket boosters. It will be processed in a V AB high bay, carried by a crawlertransporter and launched from pad 39B, all former shuttle infrastructure. If NASA didn't need the 

property, it was made available to federal agencies or other potential owners through the General Services 

Administration. The Navy, for example, snagged landing aids from the shuttle runway. A partnership 

with the state transitioned an orbiter hangar to The Boeing Co. as a manufacturing site for commercial 

crew capsules. During Transition and Retirement, an average of 6,000 items a month were moved to 

KSC's excess property site on Ransom Road for pickup by new owners or disposal, up from 1,600 during 

normal operations. "This is not rocket science," said Jacobs, a shuttle engineer and manager since 1987. 

"We're getting rid of stuff." That's harder than it sounds. Careful thought has been given to whether items 

should be tossed or kept for future programs, and there's always concern about making mistakes. The 

process can be fraught with emotion as specialized, sometimes expensive pieces of equipment are labeled 

obsolete. Near the boxed items inside Orbiter Processing Facility-2, a metal-and-Plexiglas frame rested 

on the floor. It used to protect an orbiter's nose. Red plastic shells, neatly stacked on a pallet, once fitted 

together to guard lines in the orbiter's aft section from dings while workers were inside. A silver, 

refrigerator-sized machine equipped with dials and hoses measured pressure in the small gaps between 

shuttle cockpit windowpanes, a test that won't be performed again. And then there was an apparent 

keeper: one sealed wooden box was labeled as holding an unidentified "Critical Space Item." Crews 

found Apollo-era consoles in a V AB room, evidence of that program's less orderly shutdown in the early 

1970s. Someone found a book that pitched the early shuttle concept to Congress, promising a 96-hour 

turnaround between flights- considerably faster than the five-month reality. A roped-off section of the 

V AB's cavernous center transfer aisle serves as another staging area for excess items. Recently, rows of 

tall file cabinets and shelves stood in front of a wall-mounted diagram titled "V AB Space Shuttle 

Processing Flow." Contractor layoffs have followed each orbiter delivery, each facility closeout that 

brought the job nearer to its end. USA cut another 119local employees on Dec. 7, and plans to cut 

hundreds more positions by next spring. NASA's civil servant team is dispersing to other assignments. 

Brewer will stay on, one of the very last KSC employees linked to the shuttle program. "We'll turn off the 

180 
lights, I guess," she said. Web posted. (2012). [Making way for the future at Kennedy Space Center 

[Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, December 30.] 

December 31: 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. 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. Web posted. (2012). [House passes bill to 

rename NASA facility for Armstrong [Online]. Available WWW: http://www.floridatoday.com/ [2012, 

December 31.] 

181 
D' OV 103 

APPENDIX A 

SPACE SHUTTLE ORBITERS 

DEPARTURES 

Fen:r .fligllf departure . 1pril 17, 2012 

Ferry flight arrival 

Overland transport 

Museum installation 

Endeavour OV-105 

Shuttle Laudiug Facili(r, 1\SC 

April17, 2012 

Dulles International Airport, Washington D.C. 

April19, 2012 

Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar 

Hazy Center, Chantilly, Virginia 

April19, 2012 

James S. McDonnell Space Hangar 

Fen:r .flight departure September 19, 2012 

Shuttle Laudiug Facili(r. 1\SC 

Ferry flight stopover September 19-20, 2012 

Ellington Field, Houston, Texas 

Ferry flight refueling stop September 20, 201i 

Biggs Army Airfield, El Paso, Texas 

Ferry flight stopover September 20, 2012 

Edwards Air Force Base, California 

Ferry flight arrival September 21 , 2012 

Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, California 

Overland transport October 13-14, 2012 

California Science Center, Los Angeles, California 

Museum installation October 14, 2012 

Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Display Pavilion 

Atlantis OV-104 

o~·erlaml tramport .\'ovemher 2, 2012 

Transport stopover 

Museum installation 

J 'chide As.'iemh(r Buildiug, 1\SC 

November 2, 2012 

Space Exploration Park 

November 2, 2012 

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Florida 

182 
APPENDIXB 

2012 MAJOR NASA LAUNCHES 

Spacecn~fi: /\'uST4.R f.\'uclear Spectroscopic Tele.,cope Array/ 

Launch Vehicle: Pegasus 

Launch Site: Kwajalein Atoll 

Launch Date: June 13, 2012 

Spacecrtdi: RBSP /Radiation Belt Storm Probes! 

Launch Vehicle: Atlas V · 

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station 

Launch Date: August 30, 2012 

183 
APPENDIXC 

2012 MAJOR LAUNCHES 

CAPE CANAVERAL 

Spacecrt~ft: JJ 'GS-4 

Launch Vehicle: 

Launch Site: 

Launch Date: 

Delta 4 

Cape Canaveral AFS, Complex 3 7B 

January 20, 2012 

Spacecraft: MUOS 

Launch Vehicle: 

Launch Site: 

Launch Date: 

Atlas 5 

Cape Canaveral AFS, Complex 41 

February 24, 2012 

Spacecraft: A Ell F-2 

Launch Vehicle: 

Launch Site: 

Launch Date: 

Atlas 5 

Cape Canaveral AFS, Complex 41 

May4, 2012 

Spacecrtdt: 1\'RO 

Launch Vehicle: 

Launch Site: 

Launch Date: 

Atlas 5 

Cape Canaveral AFS, Complex 41 

June 20, 2012 

Spacecrtdt: 1\'RO 

Launch Vehicle: 

Launch Site: 

Launch Date: 

Delta 4 

Cape Canaveral AFS, Complex 3 7B 

June 29, '2012 

Spacecrt~ft: GPS 

Launch Vehicle: 

Launch Site: 

Launch Date: 

Delta 4 

Cape Canaveral AFS, Complex 37B 

October 4, 2012 

Spacecraft: X-3 78 Orbital Test Velzicle 

Launch Vehicle: 

Launch Site: 

Launch Date: 

Atlas 5 

Cape Canaveral AFS, Complex 41 

December 11, 2012 

184 
APPENDIXD 

2012 COMMERCIAL LAUNCHES 

CAPE CANAVERAL 

Spacecrt~fi: Dm;:on 

Launch Vehicle: 

Launch Site: 

Launch Date: 

Company: 

Falcon 9 

CCAFS, Complex 40 

May22, 2012 

SpaceX 

Spacecrt~fi: CRS-lfCommercial Resupp(v Service.\ Flight/ 

Launch Vehicle: 

Launch Site: 

Launch Date: 

Company: 

Falcon 9 

CCAFS, Complex 40 

October 8, 2012 

SpaceX 

185