Much to everybody’s surprise, the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) was anointed with the name: The James Webb Space Telescope, after the space agency’s second administrator. That decision is thought to have come from the top, courtesy of current NASA chief, Sean O’Keefe, who holds the highest regard for Webb’s administrative skills.

The space agency points out that, while the late James Webb is best known for his managerial skills in shaping the Apollo Moon program, he also spurred into being a vigorous space science program. He was responsible for more than 75 launches during his tenure, including America’s first interplanetary explorers.

Here at the World Space Congress, however, specifically among astronomers, the NASA-picked name falls flat. Christening the super-observatory the James Webb Space Telescope has irked the space science community. They would have preferred the scope be named after an astronomer, taking after the Hubble Space Telescope example.

Edwin P. Hubble was a staff astronomer at Carnegie Institution’s Mount Wilson Observatory. The general picture of the universe established in his work remains at the heart of present-day cosmology.

One better choice would have been Princeton University astronomer, Lyman Spitzer. In 1946, it was Spitzer who first proposed putting a telescope in space.

Rumors are hot here at the World Space Congress that Survivor TV game show executive producer, Mark Burnett, is back on track and working deals with the Russians on flying a person into orbit.

Meanwhile, singer Lance Bass of the band ‘N Sync could be headed for a Soyuz liftoff next April, bankrolled by $20 million in sponsor money.

NASA is reportedly irked about the on/off switch thrown multiple times on sending Bass skyward. Word here is that the space agency may take another hard look at the Bass affair, perhaps pressing for a tightening of regulations allowing tourist-like treks to the International Space Station.

If you’re around 53-years old, got oodles of money – many tens of millions – you’re perfect for a two-week trip into orbit to visit a space station. That’s one finding from what appears to be one of the most comprehensive and detailed surveys yet done regarding public space travel. The Futron Corporation in Bethesda, Maryland detailed their survey at the World Space Congress today.

Futron experts forecast that by 2021 they’ll be 60 passengers per year flying into orbit, representing revenues in excess of $300 million. At that same time period, suborbital – quick up and down space shots – should also be available, with 15,000 passengers flying per year yielding $700 million in revenues.

Phil McAlister, Futron’s Director of Space & Telecommunications, said the highest percentage of those surveyed simply want to view the Earth. However, the study clearly shows that an increase in demand for space travel by the public is best fed by an on-orbit destination, such as a commercial on-orbit facility.

-- Leonard David

A study of expeditions here on Earth provides clues on crew selection for long-duration space missions.

Two psychologists reported here at the World Space Congress that women add an element of "emotional support" to long distance space travel crews. Furthermore, that same support and help to other team members is not evident in all-male groups. Lastly, selection of couples with strong bonds to each other is another paradigm for crew selection for extended missions.

Psychologists Gloria Leon of the University of Minnesota and Gro Sandal of the University of Bergen in Norway have studied three situations of people in isolated and extreme environments.

Leon and Sandal evaluated the psychological trials and tribulations of a two woman international dyad that traversed the Antarctic continent; an international team of women that trekked across Greenland; and three married couples from different nations that were icelocked on a boat in the High Arctic.

The psychologists also note the need for women in these groups to have a confidant with whom to share concerns. That could increase the overall efficiency of isolated teams, they reported.

-- Leonard David

An ET scale of believability is being launched today here at the World Space Congress. Called the Rio Scale, the idea is to devise a method to determine the credibility of any claim that intelligence elsewhere in the universe has been detected.

The concept has been unveiled by the International Academy of Astronautics’ Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Permanent Study Group.

The Scale runs from zero –for non-credible claims of detection – to ten for a completely reliable detection. Judging the credibility of any claim would fall under the duties of a special panel of SETI scientists.

The Rio Scale has been initiated by Ivan Almar of Hungary, along with Jill Tarter of the SETI Institute in California. The hope is to give the media and the public solid footing on claims that ET contact has indeed been made.

"If SETI researchers pick up a signal, it will be very useful to have a scheme in place for assessing the importance and reliability of the discovery," said Seth Shostak of the SETI Institute.

-- Leonard David

Wanted: A bunch of lightweights. That’s what Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) is after for their commercial parabolic flights. The privately held space entertainment company plans to start sustained weightlessness flights in 2003 within the United States using specially modified Boeing 727 aircraft.

The company announced the formation of their company here at the World Space Congress. They are already head over heels about marketing relationships with three major companies: Space Adventures, NOVESPACE and Omega World Travel. A variety of public packages are planned, with the expectation of being less expensive and more accessible than trips outside the U.S. for the experience.

"We want to come to a city near you and take the parabolas to the person," said Byron Lichtenberg, a former shuttle astronaut and President of ZERO-G.

-- Leonard David

HOUSTON -- Like the space station orbiting overhead, "Space City" Houston is under construction -- big time.

World Space Congress (WSC) attendees negotiating their way to the George R. Brown Convention Center cannot fail to notice the fact that half the city seems to be under renovation.

The reason: The 2004 Super Bowl, the U.S. pro football championship, which Houston is hosting. The city is also the site of the 2004 major-league baseball All-Star Game.

To prepare for both events, a trolley system linking downtown to the football stadium is being built. It's the latest in a series of downtown-renovation projects in the past seven years that have a combined value of nearly $4 billion, according to the Houston Downtown Management District.

But if the downtown is growing, the space-sector employment is decreasing. Jim Reinhartsen, president of the Clear Lake Area Economic Development Foundation, said NASA Johnson Space Center employment has remained relatively stable and now stands at 3,185.

Space-industry employment, however, has shrunk with the declining importance of manned space flight as a NASA spending item.

Today's private-sector space industry employment is around 12,500, Reinhartsen said. "It follows the NASA budget for human spaceflight," said Reinhartsen. "In fiscal-year 1991, human spaceflight was 48 percent of NASA's budget. That overall NASA budget has remained pretty much unchanged in the past 10 years, and now human space flight is 38 percent of the total, and heading toward 30 percent."

-- Peter de Selding

An analysis by the Teal Group on military space spending is to be detailed Monday at the World Space Congress. The study group has found that unclassified military space contract actions during fiscal year 2002 (ending September 30) totaled $4.22 billion. That figure is up from $1.56 billion during fiscal year 2001. According to Teal Group analyst, Marco Caceres, military space contracts were awarded to 32 companies, 31 company subsidiaries and other organizations, including joint ventures. The largest single unclassified military space contract action during fiscal year 2002 was $2.15 billion. That money went to Lockheed Martin Space Systems for restructuring the Space Based Infrared Systems High (SBIRS-High) project.

-- Leonard David

For the near-term, the health of space commerce is not doing well. "Even two years ago, there was better outlook. The reality is…it’s gotten worse," said Martin Cabaniss of The Boeing Company in Houston, Texas.

"There is over capacity and fierce competition. Most of this is keyed to the cost of reusable launch vehicles and being able to develop the new technologies," Cabaniss said, reporting the findings of his Boeing colleague, James Peters, at the World Space Congress.

At present, a "significant oversupply of launch capacity exists," Cabaniss said.

Cabaniss said that the next space race is a paradigm shift from tossing astronauts to the Moon. The space race kicked off in the late 1950s was politically driven, where cost was a low priority and public backing was high, he said.

The next space race will be economically driven, with return-on-investment priority #1.

Looking outward into the future, Cabaniss highlighted growth areas in remote sensing, as well as space-based energy. One futuristic commercial opportunity, he reported, is Helium-3 mining on the Moon, an activity to fuel fusion reactors expected to be "the major energy source of the 21^st century."

In concluding remarks, Cabaniss said that current projections indicate no growth over the next five years in commercial space markets. Overall, the market structure is moving from oligopoly to "perfect competition" with over capacity and fierce price competition. Long-term growth is tied to new technology and reduced payload-to-orbit launch costs to stimulate demand.

As for space tourism, Cabaniss is in a wait-and-see mode. "Again, the cost to orbit is the driver. It cost too much to get there. If that launch vehicle cost doesn’t come down, then space tourism won’t become a reality," he said.

-- Leonard David

One buzz among many at the World Space Congress is Europe’s go-ahead on spelling out a strategy for human and robotic exploration of the Moon, Mars, as well as asteroids.

The European Space Agency (ESA) wants to hone a multi-decade program under its Aurora initiative. Early this week, ESA approved the start of assessment studies for the first four robotic missions in the program: Two "Flagship" missions, and two "Arrow" missions.

For the lower costing, but technologically rich Arrow-class experiments, ESA green-lighted: A re-entry vehicle/capsule test in Earth orbit geared to validate how best to return samples from Mars to Earth. Also approved is a Mars Aerocapture demonstrator – hardware would enter Mars orbit by using friction with the planet’s upper atmosphere and a skill eventually to be used on piloted expeditions to the red planet.

For the up-scale, more costly Flagship-class endeavors, ESA approved the Exo-Mars mission – a fully equipped rover to search for Martian life. A second project, a Mars Sample Return mission also has been okayed.

The just approved studies will help clarify feasibility and mission requirements and open the way to the early phase of the industrial work in 2003.

As currently envisaged, the main milestones of the Aurora program are: two Mars Sample Return missions (2011-2017); the decision to go ahead with a human mission (2015); a robotic outpost on Mars and possible human mission to the Moon (2020 - 2025); and a human mission to Mars (2025 - 2030).

-- Leonard David