10.28.2005
Friday Flybys (vol. 22)
A bunch of items in the hopper that I didn't have a chance to post this week:Jeff Foust shares some notes from the COMSTAC meeting including Brant Sponberg's input regarding NASA commercialization efforts.
While merger lawyers for Lockheed and Boeing put together more stacks of info for the FTC, SpaceDev and Starsys sign their merger agreement.
Meanwhile, Thomas James cleverly calculates damages in connection with SpaceX's litigation. (And Rand's readers pick up on it here.)
Li Jing, a researcher with the National Astronomical Observatories, and the most quoted space law expert in China (and like, the only one?) tells Shanghai Daily that that moon for sale thing is baloney, not cheese.
And yes, Beijing is investigating the bogus moon real estate scheme. China's new adventures in space capitalism continue.
Speaking of which...thanks to Shenzhou-6 you'll want to buy Chinese space stocks.
And interesting musings at Rand's place about whether China will get to the moon before "we" do. (Of course that's not counting the fact that we were there 26 years ago.)
But never mind China, in the new issue of Discover, Fred Guterl, ponders the overlooked question, "Will the European Space Agency put astronauts on the Red Planet before NASA does?"
By the way, SpaceRef posts a transcript of House Science Committee hearing, The Future of NASA, (from June 28, 2005).
And how about this, on the shake-up at NASA. (The Washington Post via MSNBC)
I wasn't following this, but SpaceRef reports the House passed an AIA-supported bill "to create a federal inter-agency task force on aerospace workforce revitalization." Sounds good.
The topic of FAA/AST's 4th Quarter 2005 Quarterly Launch Report is Risk Perception and Communication in Commercial Reusable Launch Vehicle Operations. (I usually check AST's site, but Clark got there first.)
Phil Bowermaster of The Speculist (awesome blog) comments on the position of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs regarding moon property, "Gee, why does it upset the UN so much that they can't control the US when they apparently get to call the shots for the entire universe?"
All those cool, cute cubesats... Clark Lindsey has links. And there's even an item from MoFo's September 2005 Communications Law Bulletin on The Dawn of Personal Satellites.
Over on Out of the Cradle, following up on Rob's interview with Sam Dinkin of SpaceShot, Mark now interviews Jon Goff of Masten Space System about his company and insight for new space engineers. Looking foward to how the OoTC blogmasters can top those two interviews. (Unless, Brad Pitt and George Clooney?) (A girl can dream.)
collectSPACE covers the federal criminal trial of former Kansas Cosmosphere director Max Ary, indicted for stealing and selling museum artifacts. Somebody needs a time out.
President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan ratifies a treaty with Russia on the Baiterek rocket complex.
Also on the Russia front, Space.com reports Russia has agreed to launch a Brazilian astronaut to ISS.
Never mind this year's space elevator competition which no one won. It's all about next year.
Greg Olsen exercises his bragging rights.
What else? Oh. With all kinds of far-ranging chapters in Professor Reynolds' new book covering things like small is the new big, where will he fit all the space law material?
Just in time, pumpkin carving lessons.
And you don't have to check the candy calculator.
Now go. Get unusually close to Mars this weekend.
