November 22

The Commission on the Future of the U.S. Aerospace Industry has urged the White House, Congress and NASA to help shape public space travel into a viable 21^st century business.

One way to get things moving, the report urges, is open up Shuttle seats to the general public.

A flourishing space tourism market could lead to a market that would ultimately support a robust space transportation industry with airline-like operations, the Commission's final report observes.

"The government could help encourage this by allowing NASA to fly private citizens on the Space Shuttle," notes the Commission's report issued this week.

-- Leonard David

November 21

ESA's Envisat Satellite Photographs Prestige Oil Spill off Spanish Coast

Oil from the wrecked tanker off the northwest coast of Spain had already reached the Spanish coast when ESA's Envisat satellite acquired this radar image of the oil slick, stretching more than 93 miles (150 km), on Sunday, November 17 at 10.45 UTC.

The 26-year-old tanker, Prestige, can be seen as a bright white point located about 62 miles (100 km) off the coast. Support vessels are identifiable as smaller white points surrounding the ship. The huge oil slick is clearly visible as a dark plume emanating from the stricken ship and stretching to the northwest coast of Spain.

The image was captured by the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) onboard the Envisat spacecraft, launched by ESA last March. The ASAR was operating in its wide-swath mode covering an area approximately 250 miles (400 km) by 250 miles (400 km).

Strong winds in the area resulted in lighter oil components being blown off while heavier constituents have been moved around on the sea surface, leaving characteristic dark feathery trails. These winds also caused some degree of mixing between the oil and the surrounding sea, reducing the level of oil at the surface and making it more difficult to detect. If a smaller volume of oil had been spilt, or if the spill had occurred further from the coast, it is possible that these strong winds could have ensured the oil dispersed harmlessly, with no adverse impact on the coastal environment.

Press reports indicate that oil has already fouled a 125-mile (200-km) stretch of Spanish coastline.

November 20

Missing Pilot Linked to NASA Theft

HOUSTON (AP) _ A man who apparently jumped to his death from a small plane at 9,000 feet was under investigation on suspicion of stealing NASA technology, authorities say.

Officials continued to search a 20-square-mile area for Russell Edward Filler's body Tuesday after he went out the door of the single-engine plane Sunday.

Waller County Sheriff's Department Lt. John Kremmer said the plunge appeared to be intentional. He said Filler apparently had no parachute.

Federal authorities last week had contacted Filler, a 47-year-old engineer for a NASA space station contractor, after they traced a NASA-owned laptop computer to his home. The computer, which did not contain sensitive data, disappeared Oct. 25.

Filler told authorities he bought the computer for $500 through an ad posted in a grocery store, said Harris County Sheriff's Capt. Robert Van Pelt. A deputy was completing a report to charge Filler with theft, Van Pelt said.

On Sunday, Filler went to Hooks Airport in Spring, a Houston suburb, saying he needed more hours to renew his pilot's license. When the flight instructor looked away, Filler apparently opened the cockpit door and unfastened his seat belt, Waller County Sheriff Randy Smith said. The instructor saw Filler's feet going out the door.

"We're trying to reconstruct the life of the individual the last few days to see what was going on in his world," Kremmer said.

Filler had worked for United Space Alliance since 1996 in a part of the company that does ground testing for the international space station.

A company spokesman had no comment.

November 19

Japan's 'Earth Simulator' is World's Fastest Computer

Spysat Photos May Show Noah's Ark

Satellite sleuth Porcher Taylor has his fingers crossed. Later this week, the government is set to release oodles of old Keyhole spysat imagery.

In the batch may be KH-9 imagery taken in 1973 showing what Taylor calls the "Ararat Anomaly" in Turkey - perhaps the remains of Noah's Ark, or just a very strange rock outcropping.

As Taylor of Richmond, Virginia tells it there was "intense debate" for years about that KH-9 imagery among Central Intelligence Agency photo interpreters at the National Photographic Interpretation Center (NPIC).

In that time period, the CIA conducted routine satellite surveillance over a Soviet missile depot to the east of Mt. Ararat. Some one turned the cameras on too early and acquired Mt. Ararat instead. A major icecap meltdown was clearly visible on the mountain, especially near the Northwest corner of Ararat's Western Plateau at 15,500 feet. What the imagery shows was hotly debated within intelligence circles some 30 years ago, Porcher told SPACE.com.

Meanwhile, Insight Magazine writer, Timothy Maier, last week reported that newly released CIA documents show the search for Noah's Ark worked its way into White House levels in the 1990s. While the declassified documents don't shed light on what exactly has been spotted on Mt. Ararat, they do show just how high up the political chain discussion reached, Maier reports.

-- Leonard David

November 18

Algerian Satellite Brought to Plesetsk Spaceport
 
MOSCOW.  Nov  18  (Interfax) - Algeria's  AlSat-1  satellite  was brought  to  the  Plesetsk state experimental spaceport  from  Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport on Monday.

Rosoboronexport helped deliver the satellite, the  Russian  Space Troops' press service told Interfax on Monday.

The Russian Mozhayets satellite was delivered to Plesetsk earlier, the  press  service  said. Both satellites will be launched  onboard  a Cosmos-3M  light rocket booster (made by the Polyot Company) under  the International  Cooperation Program. The launch is  scheduled  for  late November 2002.

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