Dateline Feb 17, 2006, News from the Internet

• The US and India may enter into an agreement on space cooperation soon


• Mike Griffin finished his hearing yesterday with the House Science Committee. For the most part he sympathized the congressmen worried about space science and aeronautic research, but I think he almost lost it once:

  'Why was it not considered cannibalizing when science was eating into the Human Space flight budget!' Griffin retorted.
  
  'No one complained,' was the response from lawmakers.
  
  'But I'm complaining! Griffin fired back. 'We've been struggling for 30 years. It needs to be fixed. We need the CEV ready no later than 2013 to 2014. (To go to the) Moon in 2018 (would require us to progress) without any slips.

  He also pointed out that science went from 25% of the NASA budget in 1992 to 32% today. "'We cannot afford everything wanted by the scientific community" he said. And neither can anyone else.
  

  Other articles about his testimony are at MSNBC.com, New Scientist



• Sea Launch had a sucessful launch of the EchoStar X into geosynchronous orbit on Wednesday. They two previous scrubs on Feb 8 and 12.


• Rick Homans, head of economic development for the state of New Mexico, had a press conference yesterday Afternoon. According to Michael Belfiore, the New Mexico legislature yesterday morning voted to approve spending $100 million to build the nation's first purpose-built commercial spaceport. Homans said "It's all systems go for the spaceport." RFP for the design will be coming out in March with construction beginning early 2007. Good luck New Mexico. See also Space.com and KTSM El Paso


• Space Adventures and Prodea, the Ansari family's investment firm, have teamed up and made an agreement with the Russian Space Agency to build explorer suborbital craft. The craft would be purchased by Space Adventures and sold to operators around the globe. Explorer would take five people 62 miles into space. Space Adventures/Prodea said they will be making an announcement today and Monday about operators. Space Adventures has one advantage over all the other suborbital players, since they have actually put three space tourists in orbit aboard the ISS via the Russian Soyuz. The Ansari family provided the seed money for the famous Ansari X-Prize. Here is the press release. More as it is released.
  
  C-21 on which the Explorer is based.