News From Around The Internet: Dateline Jan 19, 2006

• Scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center, where the Stardust probe was shipped after landing in Utah this weekend, are happy with the comet particles brought back by the StarDust mission.
  
  
• New Horizons was scrubbed yesterday after a power outage at the John Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the probes operator. The next launch attempt will be Today from 1:08 to 3:06 p.m. ET.
  
  
• The final version of NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services Demonstration Contract was released yesterday. The proposals are due March 3, 2006.
  
  
• New Mexico's politicians are debating the planned spaceport. The Questions include cost and liability. Ironically, in Florida, Jeb Bush who has been chastised over not spending money to attract private space companies, is asking for $55 million to support space in Florida with $8 million going towards a new space port.
  
  
• Robin McKie, the science editor of the New Statesmen, thinks takes a look at the sad history of the Space Shuttle. You only read it once a day -djs
  
  
• Nick Allen tells us what he thinks of space tourism
  

  Spaceship Earth is fine by me - I don't need expensive tickets to travel on it, and I can also see outer space from it. It's the best spaceship we have. Rather than paying to leave it, maybe we should concentrate on looking after it - and all its passengers.

  I find this an ironic statement coming from an astrophysicist who's entire career is based on studying everything but Earth.